chapter twenty three
it's alive
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Josie still couldn't believe it, Ian was dead, but no body, so it seems like the girls had lied. "He wasn't moving, okay, and he was not breathing." Aria said, trying to reassure the girls. "Because he was dead," Emily said, making Spencer look over. "Is dead. Not was, is," Spencer corrected her. "So, unless we're saying Ian's a zombie, someone moved the body." Josie said to them.

"It was probably stuffed in the trunk of A's car." Hanna said. "It's probably on its way to a meat grinder." Emily said, making Josie cringe at the thought. "Oh, Em, come on, you gotta quit watching those horror films." Josie said with a shake of her head as Aria nodded in agreement. "You guys, A's probably watching us right now." Spencer whispered to her friends, trying not to be too loud. "Any one of these people could be A." Josie whispered back as she subtly looked around. "Yeah, half the town is here." Hanna said just before Garrett walked up to them in his police uniform.

"They wanna see you girls down at the station. I'm here to drive you." he said making Josie shift lightly, this felt off. "Well, Uh, I saw my parents earlier. They're gonna wanna know where we're going." Aria said as she looked around for her parents. "They'll meet us there. Come on. Let's go." he said, guiding the girls to one of the squad cars, even though Josie had to sit squished in between Aria and Spencer, she felt safer that way than going with a different cop.

As they were driving Garrett went down an alleyway making the girls confused. "Hey, I thought we were going to the police station." Hanna said, confused and scared as Garrett parked his car in the alleyway. "Why are we stopping?" Spencer asked from the backseat. "Garrett?" Emily and Josie said in sync, scared. "Let's go." he said but Hanna shook her head. "No, I'm not going anywhere." Hanna denied. "Get out of the car." Garrett demanded them, causing Hanna to look back at her friends before they all began getting out, including Garrett.

Garrett faces the girls once they've all gotten out. "It's not safe to talk in the car." Garrett said to them. "lt doesn't feel safe out here, either." Josie said with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry if I scared you." he apologised. "There's things you need to know before you start answering questions," he told them. "We're listening." Spencer said. "All right." he paused for a second before continuing.

"The police cannot know you were blackmailing lan and that I was helping you. It's a serious crime." he said to them. "Well, what about the messenger?" Josie asked as she pulled her jacket tighter around her. "He doesn't want any trouble." Garrett assured them. "And the money?" Hanna asked. "For now, I'm hiding it." he answered. "What about the videos?" Spencer asked as she looked at him. "Do you still have them?" he asked her, causing the girls to share a look as Emily nodded, making Spencer turn back to Garrett. "Yeah, we made a copy." Spencer answered him.

"I've never asked you guys how you got them, and I don't wanna know," he paused. "But you'd better be prepared to tell the police because that's--that's the first question they're gonna ask." he finished before Garretts radio went off. "Officer Reynolds, what's your ETA?" another officer asked, causing him to reach for the radio on his shoulder, not before giving a look to the girls. "Uh, yeah, we're en route." he said. "Roger that." the other officer said. Garrett focuses back on the girls.

"I hate asking you to lie like this, but are we all clear?" he asked and the girls nodded. "We'll keep the videos a secret." Spencer said. "For now." Josie added as she gave Garrett a look. "Okay, good. Let's get back." he said, guiding the girls back to the car. "I'm sorry we got you into this." Emily to him. "Well, we'll be okay, we just need to stick to our story, yeah?" he said and Emily nodded and got in the car with the rest of the girls, not noticing Jenna nearby, listening in.

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The girls had stayed over at Spencers last night, Josie had called Richie and informed him of what happened, to say he was worried was an understatement. "Ugh, my brain is numb from all those cop questions." Hanna muttered, making Josie laugh softly from where she layed on Spencer's bed. "I don't think I'd be here if it wasn't for A." Spencer said, exhausted. "A killed lan to keep you here." Aria told her. "I'm sorry, but that is not a comforting thought." Josie added with a raised eyebrow. "A gives so she can take. We know that." Emily said. "So, what's the bitch gonna ask for?" Hanna asked, confused. "Whatever it is...I don't think we can afford it." Spencer said, making Josie sigh.

"Spence, I mean, you didn't...." Aria trailed off. "You didn't see anything?" she asked, referring to last night at the bell tower. "I saw a black hoodie, black boots and gloves." Spencer said as she looked up at Aria. "Well, I think it's safe to say that A's not Jenna." Aria says, looking at her friends. "Are we sure?" Hanna asked. "A sees everything, Hanna." Josie said tiredly. "I'm starting to think we should tell someone about her. Him. It." Emily stammers out. "What's the worst thing that can happen?" she asks.

"A knows all of our secrets." Spencer said. "Yeah. people find out, we'll always be those girls who blinded Jenna Marshall." Hanna added. "And now we're those girls who are afraid of A." Emily shot back. "No, Em. I mean, you're right, but look, we have so much to lose." Josie said sadly. "Ugh, I feel like I have a hangover and never went to the party." Hanna mumbled. "We need caffeine." Spencer whines before going to get up and get some for them but Aria stops her.

"Oh. No offence, but can I make it?" Aria asked, making Spencer look at her in disbelief. "Seriously?" she asked. "I'm with Aria." Emily and Josie said in sync as they got up. "Yeah. Sorry, Spence, but your coffee gives me the shakes." Hanna said as she got up along with the others. "Amateurs." Spencer mutters as she follows her friends, but once they get downstairs they see their parents there, talking. "What's going on?" Aria asked hesitantly. "Mom?" Hanna asked her mother when none of them answered. "Uh, Veronica, since this is your idea." Ashley said as she faced Spencer's mother, who stood up to address the kids.

"The accusations you made about lan have....cast a bright spotlight on all of you." she informed them, making Josie frown. "Spencer is still a person of interest in Alison's murder and now the police seem to think you four are also involved." she continued. "Ian killed Alison, okay? and last night, he tried to kill me." Spencer said as she walked down the stairs fully, trying to get her mother to understand. "Yeah, we were all there, we told you what we saw," Josie said, defending Spencer. "And we heard you." Jennifer said softly, hoping to calm her daughter down. "We don't need to rehash what we talked about last night, this is about moving forward." Bryon added.

"While the police sort through this, we want you to see a grief counsellor." Veronica admitted making Josie cross her arms over her chest. "She's a therapist who can help you deal with Alison's death." Ella said as she sat on the couch. "And what appears to the police to be an obsession with trying to pin her death on lan." Veronica adds. "You think we're lying?" Emily asked in shock. "Emily, I believe you." Pam, Emily's mom said. "It's the way it looks that concerns us." she adds

"This is a preemptive strike, and the goal is to garner police and public sympathy." Veronica explained. "I'm not going to a shrink, that's what friends are for." Hanna said, with crossed arms. "You can't be the only one who doesn't go." Ashley said to her daughter. "Maybe you'll get more out of it than you think." Ella said hopefully. "This is bull–" Hanna starts but it cut off her mother. "Hanna." Ashley scolded.

"Do you believe us?" Spencer asked. "What I know is that one of my daughters is in the hospital and the other one's in trouble, and it's my job to protect you both." Veronica explained softly. "You didn't answer the question." Spencer said sadly, not caring about what her mother was saying, as all the parents went silent. "But you haven't heard from lan for a reason. He's dead." Aria said, frustrated. "Dead men don't get up and walk away." Peter Hastings said from where he stood near the kitchen island.

"We told you, someone moved the body." Josie explained as she looked between the parents. "Who? Who would do that? And why?" Veronica asked as a knock interpreted their conversation before the girls could answer. Peter walked to the door and opened it to reveal it was Toby. "ls Spencer home?" he asked. "You shouldn't be here, Toby." Peter said as Spencer eyed her father as he spoke to Toby as she stood straighter. "Is she okay?" he asked softly. "No, she isn't." Peter said. "Spencer's in trouble and you're not helping her." Peter said, causing Toby to drop his head. "Whether you've earned it or not, you have a reputation. My daughter can't be seen with you." Peter finished.

"I would never do anything to hurt Spencer." Toby said, defending himself. "Good. If you mean that, you'll stay away from her." Peter said, before shutting their back door, before he makes eye contact with his youngest daughter, who looks at him in shock. "I'm sorry, Spencer." he says but Spencer doesn't care, she unlinks her arm with Aria and walks back up the stairs, the girls following her, leaving the parents downstairs.

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The next day Richie and Josie were walking the halls, ignoring the looks Josie was receiving. "I believe you, if it means anything," he says as they stop at her locker. "Thank Rich," she mumbles, making him frown, he hated seeing her like this. "It'll be over before you know it," Richie says as he pulls her into a hug. "I hope so. The girls and I are being forced into seeing a grief counsellor," she tells him as he nods.

"That might be good, finally getting some closure with Allison," he said, trying to make her feel better about this whole situation. "Maybe, but all I know is, this won't–this doesn't feel like the end," she says, looking over at him as he frowns in confusion. "Then what does it feel like?" he asked. "The beginning," she said shakily as she frowned. "Hey, i won't let anything happen to you or the girls," he said as they met up with girls before they entered a classroom, but the hushed whisper went silent as the girl stepped foot into the classroom.

"Girls," Richie whispered, nodding over to the whiteboard, making them follow his eyesight, to a game of hangman on the board, with L, A, R under it, almost spelling out LIARS, the only sound was giggles of some students as the girls looked at it, but soon enough the bell rang, causing the girls and Richie to go sit in their seats, ignoring the other student who they knew were talking about them as Mr. Fitz walked into the classroom, going to wipe off the hangman game on the board when the door to the classroom opened.

"Need some help with that Mr. Fitz?" someone asked, making everyone look up to see Noel. "You can take your seat, Mr. Kahn." Mr. Fitz said, still cleaning off the chalkboard. Noel smirks as he shuts the door, going to his seat. "What's up, Noel," Someone said as he passed. "Hey." he said. "Suspension over?" someone asked as he sat in his seat. "Ah." he exhaled before turning to Aria. "Miss me?" he taunted.

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"I still don't trust him," Spencer said as she, Aria and Josie watched Noel from a distance. "How does Noel Kahn get suspended and then come back more popular than he was when he left?" Aria asked in shock as she watched Noel speak with some jocks and cheerleaders. "Maybe it has something to do with that winning smile." Josie joked with a faux smile before frowning again as Mr. Fitz walked up to them.

"Aria, do you have a minute? I'd like to speak with you about your essay." he asked as Spencer and Josie looked towards Aria who looked at Ezra. "You don't have to go." Josie whispers to her but Aria just mouthed an 'yeah' to her, smiling. "I'll see you two in a minute," she said, before walking towards Mr, Fitz, leaving Spencer and Josie.

"I think I'm falling for Richie," Josie blurted out, making Spencer turn to her wide-eyed. "What?" she asked, a smile creeping onto her face. "Yeah," she breathed out. "I–I just don't wanna ruin everything if he doesn't feel the same," she says sadly, looking towards her friend who sighs and pulls the blonde into a hug. "He's crazy if he doesn't," she said, making Josie smile as she hugged Spencer back.

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The girls were waiting at the grief counsellors office, waiting for Hanna, who they knew was trying to stall but she had no idea, they had waited for her to get started, only the sounds of cars passing by as the door opened, making everyone look towards Hanna, who had bags upon bags, evidence of shopping. "Sorry I'm late, but have you been downtown?" Hanna said as she walked inside.

"The sales are huge." she added as she went around as she stood in front of a seat. "You must be Hanna. I'm Anne." Their counsellor said, introducing herself to Hanna. "So, what did I miss?" Hanna asked, looking towards her friends. "Not a thing." Josie said, giving Hanna a tight smile. "We waited for you." Spencer said. "Damn." Hanna muttered, making Josie stifle a laugh.

A little bit later, the girls and the counsellor were in conversation. "It sounds like you credit Alison for the friendship." Anne said as she looked at the girls. "We became friends because of her." Emily said softly as Josie played with the bracelet Allison had given her. "But she's gone, and the five of you still seem very close." Anne observed. "We weren't always." Josie said, after a moment, making it silent. "We lost touch when Ali went missing." Aria said, filling her in. "What brought you back together?" Anne asked as the girls shared a look. "You don't all have to agree." she added. "There are no right or wrong answers here." she said.

"Her death." Spencer said with a sigh as he leaned against her hand. "She means when they found her." Josie said. "When they found her body." Emily added. "Do you think you were looking for closure?" Anne asked. "We were looking for answers." Spencer said softly, looking at her friends. "The answer to who murdered Alison." Anne guessed, making the girls silent again.

"The four of you don't have to go through this alone." she said comfortingly. "This is a safe place to talk. Nothing you say here goes beyond these walls." she continued. "Do we...?" Aria trailed off. "Do we wanna talk about that thing?" she continued just before their phones went off, making the girls freeze. "What is it?" Anne asked, confused. "Um, I think our time is up." Spencer said with a tight smile as they all got up.

Once they were outside, the girls checked their phones. "Ah, it's not A. It's just my mom." Aria said in relief. "Yeah, same here. She wants me to come home." Hanna said as Josie nodded in agreement as Spencer stopped, spotting Today a few feet from them, they made eye contact as they shared a smile before Jenna came out of a store, going to Toby, making her frown as Emily noticed the newspaper. ""What really happened?"" she said in shock, walking towards it, gaining the attention of her friends, causing them to gather around it. "They found lan's car by the train station and $10,000 that he took from his bank account." Spencer read it , making Josie's heart drop. "They think he skipped town, we made up a story because we knew he left?" she continued to read in shock as their phones went off again.

UNKNOWN ID
l spy a liar.
⎯ A

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The next day, the girl had gotten a message from Aria that they needed to talk, so they met up with her at Emily's. Aria had gotten a message from A about Mr. Fitz. "A had to have followed me to Ezra's and he, she, shim, must've seen me get that key from under the doormat." Aria said as she looked over the photo and message that A had sent her.

"Let me see that." Hanna asked, causing Aria to pass the phone to her as Emily looked over her shoulder. "Okay, I see books, photographs, magazines." Hanna said before a smile creeped onto her face and she took a glimpse at Aria before looking back at the phone. "What?" Aria asked, confused. "ls that a Playboy?" Hanna asked with a smile. "What?" Spencer and Josie asked in sync as they leaned over to get a look. "Right there. Under that black thing on the cabinet." Hanna explained as she showed them the photo. "That black thing is called a typewriter." Spencer said dryly. "Han, that's not a Playboy, that's a Playbill." Aria explained to her, causing Josie to laugh as Aria smiled in amusement.

"I don't think what's missing matters, A wants us to know she can come and go through Ezra's apartment." Emily said. "When's it gonna stop? Remember where we were a few months ago?" she asked. "Visiting me in the hospital." Hanna said. "A hit Hanna and kept on going." Emily said. "A didn't even hesitate before pushing lan. It's almost like it was no big deal." Spencer chimed in. "I don't wanna be sitting next to you guys at another funeral." Josie said sadly. "You think we should tell the therapist?" Spencer asked in shock

"We were really close to telling her yesterday, It felt so good." Aria said as he looked at her friends. "Telling Anne wouldn't be like telling our parents, I mean, she has to keep it a secret, right?" Josie asked. "Look, okay, I know we promised Garrett we wouldn't show the video to the cops." Aria said, pausing as she sighed. "But I mean, if we want Anne to believe us..." Aria trailed off.

"A picture's worth a thousand words." Spencer said, finishing Aria's sentence. "You know, she was wearing a gorgeous pair of Chloes." Hanna said, making the girls confused. "Who?" Aria asked. "The shrink." Hanna answered. "And this is relevant to this conversation because...?" Josie asked. "You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes." Hanna said matter of factly. "I really heard her when she said that we don't have to go through this alone." Emily said. "Do we all agree?" Spencer asked after a moment.

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"Thank you for seeing us today." Aria said as she and the girls sat down on the couch in Anne's office. "Sounded like there was something you really wanted to tell me." she replied as she looked at them. "There's also something we wanted to show you." Emily said as she pulled out her laptop from her bag. "Um, I just wanna get one thing straight here. You're not allowed to tell anyone anything that we say in here, right?" Hanna asks. "Unless you tell me something that leads me to believe that you're a danger to yourself or to someone else." Anne says.

"Okay." Aria says before glancing at Hanna. "Hanna?" she asks as she notices Hanna staring at something. "I didn't know Tory made those boots in brown." Hanna said, referring to Anne's shoes, making Josie sigh. "Are you satisfied?" she asked, as she leaned forward and looked at Hanna. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Go ahead, Emily." Hanna said, looking towards Emily, who had her laptop open.

"I-I think we should tell her first, and then..." Emily trailed off as her friends nodded. "Yeah, sure." Spencer whispered but when no one spoke Hanna looked at Aria. "Aria?" Hanna asked, hoping she'd explain. "We did drift apart after Alison went missing, and it's true that her....her death brought us back together." Aria explained as Josie's eye drifted to Anne's wall but she caught sight of something that made her freeze. "But I don't know if we'd be as close as we are now–" Aria said but Josie cut her off. "This talk is premature." Josie blurted out, confusing everyone, her eyes still on Mr. Fitz's Hollis College diploma, making Emily, Spencer and Hanna follow her eye line.

"Uh, I'm sorry we wasted your time." Emily said, putting her laptop away. "What just happened here?" Anne said, confused as the girls stood up. "Um, you know, we need to figure out what we wanna say so that we can communicate more, um, effectively." Josie said as Hanna grabbed the diploma. "And that's what we'll do, so we're gonna reschedule." Emily added, as she stood up, as well as Aria. "You girls called me, remember?" Anne asked as she looked at them. "Uh, yeah. I'm really sorry about this." Aria stammered as the girls walked out of her office.

Once the girls were outside. "Well, if she didn't think we were crazy before, she does now." Aria said as Hanna pulled Mr. Fitz's diploma out of her bag. "What was that?" Aria asked, confused before Hanna handed her the diploma. "Where did you get this?" Aria demanded after she had grabbed it off Hanna. "Bookshelf behind the shrink." Hanna answered.

"This is what A took from Ezra's." Aria uttered in shock. "A knows we're coming here." Spencer said to her friends. "And that we were gonna tell." Josie added. "How is A always one step ahead of us?" Aria asked as hugged the diploma to her chest. "Starting to think that bitch has powers." Hanna says, making Josie sigh as she looks at Aria. "You've gotta tell Ezra to change his locks." she said.

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Later that night Josie was doing her homework when her mother knocked on the wall of her door, making her look up at her, confused. "Hey mom, what's up?" Josie asked as she put her pen down and sat up a bit. "Can we talk?" Jennifer asked. Josie nodded, making her mother walk into her room and sit on the end of her daughters on her bed. "Well, your therapist called me today and she didn't tell me what happened, but she doesn't think it's gonna be helpful to continue seeing you girls as a group." she said, making Josie confused. "Don't blame her." Josie muttered sadly. "And based on your sessions, she's making a recommendation that I'm going to have to back her up on." Jennifer said softly, already feeling guilty for this.

"A recommendation for what?" Josie asked, scared as she sat up on her knees. "She doesn't believe you girls are capable of maintaining a healthy friendship at the moment so she's recommending that you spend some time apart, and she's seen this before, after a traumatic loss, it's not uncommon for a close-knit group of friends to disconnect from the outside world," Jennifer said, remembering the words Dr. Sullivan had told her over the phone today.

"But–But that's not what's happening." Josie stuttered out, feeling herself going to start crying. "It's not forever." Jennifer said, trying to assure her daughter. "Are you telling me that I can't see my friends?" Josie asked in shock. "It's just the girls, just for now, you can still see Richie." Jennifer said but Josie turned her head away, making her mother sigh before standing up, kissing the crown of Josie's head before walking out of her room.

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Later that night, Josie was woken up by her phone going off, it was an S.O.S from Spencer, making her jump from her bed, grabbing a hoodie before slipping out of her house, trying not to wake her mother. She met the girls in a greenhouse near Spencer's place. "Anyone could have sent that, Spence." Aria said. Spencer had found Melissa's phone, with a text from Ian on it. "It could just be some kook trying to mess with Melissa," Hanna said, agreeing with Aria. "Maybe, but it doesn't seem random, "It's not safe. I can't tell you?"" Spencer said, reciting the message that Ian or whoever it was had sent to Melissa.

"Can't tell you what?" Josie asked, confused. "Where he is." Spencer said as she looked at Josie. "Guys, lan is dead. We all saw him." Aria said but Josie didn't know if she was trying to reassure her of her friends. "There's only one way to know for sure. Send a reply." Hanna said, making Spencer pull the phone out and start typing. "How do I know this is you?" she says quietly as she types out the message and not a moment later the phone beeps, signalling a reply, which read 'ask me anything.'

"Um, what's something that only lan would be able to answer?" Hanna asks. "Oh, I know." Spencer says quietly. "What are we naming our baby?" Spencer said quietly typing out the message. "Wait, what is the name?" Josie asked as she looked at Spencer. "Taylor." Spencer whispered back when the phone beeps with a reply. Taylor. Spencer showed the girls, making them all gasp. "It's him." Hanna said in shock. "Ian's alive." Spencer said shakily as they heard a thud, making them all gasp.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
FIRST CHAPTER OF SEASON TWO !!  i was gonna wait till i finished writing season two but i couldn't anymore so updates might be slow for a bit