Ethan's Pov

It was the next day and can I just say that I regret leaving homecoming. I missed out on so much yesterday.

Emily got hurt and Toby had taken her to the hospital, but after he got her there he took off and now we don't know where he is.

Apparently, Hanna went back to the hospital to steal the files to find out more about Jenna and Toby, to get some dirt on them. Mostly on Toby.

And what they found shocked them to the core and they had to tell me and Emily right away.

So right now, me, Spencer and Aria are at Emily's house, in her room.

Me and Aria were sitting on her bed while Spencer was standing.

"It was all in his shrink's file. Toby and Jenna had a relationship" Aria said.

"Way beyond step-siblings" Spencer said and Aria nodded.

"Yeah, they...were involved" Aria said.

"Romantically?" Emily asked, confused and a bit weirded out.

"I doubt I'd call it romantic. I doubt she had much of a choice" Spencer scoffed.

I glared at her in anger and annoyance, not wanting to deal with shit right now, before looking back at Emily.

"And that's what Alison saw when she threw the stink bomb" Aria said.

"Yeah, and she threatened to expose Toby, which is probably why he wanted her dead" Spencer added.

"And not just her, us. You" Aria said.

Emily sighed and closed her eyes, running her hand through her hair. While I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

This earned disbelieving looks from my sister and Aria.

"You don't believe us?" Spencer asked.

"I do" Emily said.

"I don't" I scoffed, earning shocked looks from my sister and Aria.

The girls are thinking that Toby forced Jenna to be in a relationship with him.

However, that's not the truth. I know the truth.

How do I know?

Because this was the one secret that Alison shared with me.

She told me that Jenna was the one forcing Toby to be in a relationship with her. She even showed me videos as proof.

How she got the videos? I have no freaking clue.

But that's enough for me to know that Toby isn't a bad person. He never was.

But my sister nor my best friends can see that. And after what happened, I'm not sure Emily is going to be on my side anymore.

"I do believe you, I...I just don't get it" Emily sighed.

Spencer and Aria gave her confused looks, while I sighed and decided to speak up.

"If Toby 'killed' Alison and wanted to do the same to Emily, then why is she sitting on her bed and not in a body bag?" I asked, crossing my arms.

This time, the girls didn't know what to say about that so they just kept quiet, glancing at each other.

Emily sighed, making us look at her.

"I told the police that when I went out for air, I tripped" Emily said.

"Why didn't you just tell them he attacked you?" Aria asked, shocked.

"Because Toby isn't like that. I know that he wouldn't have attacked her" I defended.

Emily gave me a small smile while Spencer and Aria were giving me, once again, disbelieving looks.

"And I didn't want to say anything until I talked to you guys first" Emily said.

"Well, the truth is in the file" Spencer said.

"And the file is filled with loads of bullshit" I muttered under my breath.

Luckily they didn't hear me, so Spencer sighed and looked at Emily again.

"You can tell them everything now" Spencer said.

"She can't tell them everything. You have to leave out the file" Aria said.

"Fine. Leave out the file" Spencer sighed in annoyance, putting her coffee on top of Emily's drawer.

We heard footsteps and turned around to see Hanna walking into the room.

"Who knew Rosewood had this many cops" Hanna scoffed, rolling her eyes.

I chuckled at that before she took out Toby's files from her purse.

"I went to put this back, and they were outside the doctor's office talking to Toby's shrink. They know this was stolen" Hanna said.

I sighed and shook my head while Emily extended her hand out.

"Can I see that?" Emily asked.

Hanna nodded and handed the files to her before looking at the rest of us.

"If anyone saw me go into that building last night, I am so hosed" Hanna sighed.

"I doubt it. It was late at night, there's no way anybody was there during that hour" I said, earning a nod from Spencer.

We heard someone's phone ringing and turned to see it was coming from Aria.

"Is that from...?" Spencer asked but Aria shook her head.

"No, my mom. 'Ask your father if he plans to take the car in this week.' My parents have gone from not talking to not texting" Aria sighed.

"Damn" I said, shaking my head.

"Ugh, this sucks" Aria groaned.

Life sucks.

"I better go home" Aria said, getting up from the bed.

"Yeah, we should probably go, too" Spencer said and I nodded, getting up from Emily's bed.

"Uh, no. I just got here" Hanna said in annoyance.

I chuckled and shook my head at her as Spencer grabbed her coffee and bag.

"Hey, what do I do with that?" Hanna asked, pointing towards the file.

"Just shove it in your locker tomorrow. We'll figure it out later. Bye" Aria said, flashing a smile towards Emily before leaving.

"Feel better, Em" Spencer said.

Emily nodded and Spencer left. I sighed and grabbed my bag, looking at Emily and flashing her a smile.

"Get some rest, you'll need it" I softly said.

She smiled at me and nodded. I leaned down and placed a brotherly kiss to her head before leaving.

Back At Home

I returned back home and went straight to my room, feeling tired and wanting nothing more then to sleep.

I was laying on my bed, looking at my phone and going through a few things.

I heard a knock at my door and I picked my head up.

"Come in" I said.

The door opened to reveal my mom, holding a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

"Hey sweetie, what are you doing?" Mom asked.

"Oh nothing really. I've already finished my homework so I'm just playing on my phone" I shrugged.

Mom nodded and walked over to my bed, sitting down next to me.

"How's Emily? Is she ok?" Mom asked, setting the plate of cookies down on my bedside table.

"She's alright. She just needs some rest" I said, smiling slightly at my mom.

She smiled softly at me and nodded, gently placing her hand on top of my head.

"I made you some cookies. Figured you deserve a treat after getting that summer internship at Harvard" Mom smiled.

"Awww, thanks mom" I smiled.

She smiled and nodded before I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Did you make them or did you buy them?" I asked.

Mom smirked and shrugged, making the both of us laugh.

Mom stopped laughing and let out a small sigh, gently running her hand through my hair.

"Where's your sister? I didn't see her in her room" Mom asked.

"She's probably over at Aria's or Hanna's" I shrugged.

Mom hummed and nodded. She let out another sigh before getting up from the bed.

"Well I have to go. I have errands to run, but enjoy the cookies" Mom softly said.

"I will, thanks mom. I love you" I smiled.

"I love you too" Mom smiled, kissing my head before leaving my room.

I sighed and shook my head with a small smile before grabbing a cookie from the plate and taking a bite out of it.

I heard my phone ring and grabbed my phone and saw that it was from Spencer.

I looked at it and my eyes widened slightly when it was Spencer saying that Hanna was going to get rid of the file.

Groaning in annoyance, I finished the cookie before getting off my bed, grabbing my jacket before leaving the room.

At The Woods

Somehow Hanna gathered me, Spencer and Aria in her car and was driving to the woods to get rid of the files.

Hanna was riving really fast while my sister and Aria were trying to stop her.

I just remained silent, not wanting to get caught in any of this. I was seriously just tired of their bullshit.

We all got out of the car and looked at Hanna, who had a serious look on her face while holding the file.

"Hanna, Spencer's right. You can't burn the file out here" Aria said.

"Look, this is a terrible idea" Spencer said.

Hanna ignored them and continued walking, making me sigh.

"Spence, just stay here" I said and Aria nodded.

"Fine" Spencer groaned, making me and Aria walk to catch up with Hanna.

"Hanna, Hanna! Hanna, wait!" I yelled, trying to get her attention but she ignored me and continued walking.

Spencer caught up with us and all three of us were walking to catch up with Hanna.

"Can we at least talk about this?" Aria asked but Hanna shook her head.

"No! I don't want this in my house. I don't want it in my locker" Hanna argued, clearly annoyed and frustrated.

"I will mail it to the police" Spencer said but Hanna shook her head.

"No, it's not gonna happen. I'm not having this traced back to me" Hanna said.

"How are they gonna trace it back to you? I'm the one licking the envelope!" Spencer yelled, getting frustrated too.

"Guys!" me and Aria yelled.

We were trying to get their attention but they were ignoring us and arguing with each other.

"I'm the one who works in that building. I'm also the one who always gets caught" Hanna said.

"Hanna, Spencer's right. Burning the folder out here is a bad idea if the police could use it to build a case against Toby" Aria explained.

"He had a motive to kill Alison!" Spencer yelled.

I'm seriously so done with them accusing Toby of something he didn't do.

But I'm not going to say anything because I already know that they're not going to listen to me.

Hanna finally stopped walking and turned to look at us, making us stop walking.

"And they can also prove that I broke into his shrink's office. Look, I really can't afford to take any more field trips to the precinct. I'm pretty sure after three strikes, you're assigned to the prison laundry room" Hanna explained.

"Buttercup, what strikes? You were just trying to save your friend" I said and Aria nodded.

"Look, I have already gotten busted for stealing sunglasses and my boyfriend's car" Hanna sighed.

This made Spencer and Aria's eyes widen as they looked at her in shock.

"Wait, you stole sunglasses? From who?" Spencer asked.

"Not from a person, from a store. God, I have some class" Hanna scoffed, making me release a small chuckle.

"Wait, are you talking about those...the Gucci ones with the gold-" Aria started but I cut her off.

"Aria, focus!" I yelled.

She let out a small chuckle and shrugged, crossing her arms.

"Okay, Hanna, this is not about petty theft. Toby could be the killer. We can't keep making these same mistakes over and over again" Spencer explained.

"We?" Hanna asked.

"Yes, we!" Spencer yelled, snatching the files from Hanna.

I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, already feeling a migraine coming.

"Ok. We are all in this together. We are all being stalked by A, and if he's run off-" Spencer started but Aria cut her off.

"Ok, we don't know that he's A" Aria said.

"Finally! Thank you!" I yelled, throwing my hands up in the air.

Spencer looked at both of us in disbelief and scoffed.

"Please! Have you gotten one single text since last night? Ok, the devil has a name, and it's Toby" Spencer said, holding the files up in her hands.

"Don't call him that! Toby isn't the devil and he's most certainly not A! He's just someone that's trying to get his life back on track after he took the fall for something that you guys and Alison did! But he's unable to do that because you guys are constantly accusing him of something he didn't do!" I angrily snapped at her.

Spencer and Aria flinched at my tone, while Hanna sighed and shook her head.

Spencer opened her mouth to say something but Hanna snatched the files from her and walked away.

"Why are you being so pig-headed?!" Spencer asked, basically yelling.

She started walking to catch up with Hanna. Me and Aria looked at each other and sighed in annoyance as we walked up to catch up with them.

"Why? Because I don't have a big, fat safety net to catch me" Hanna said.

She finally stopped near the river and turned to look at Spencer.

"Not all of us have a daddy who can write a check to make the boogeyman go away" Hanna scoffed.

This made Spencer's eyes widen as she snatched the file from Hanna's hands.

"Spencer, you get caught stealing an essay, and your parents let you take a picture for the newspaper. I get caught stealing an accessory, and I have to lug around medical waste" Hanna explained.

Me and Aria glanced at each other before glancing back at Spencer and Hanna.

Those two were already frustrated and this fight was going to continue. So we did what we had to do.

Aria nodded and snatched the files from Spencer. Finally, she threw them into the river, making me sigh in relief.

"There. It's done, ok. We never saw it, and we don't even know it exists" I said, crossing my arms.

"Can we leave now, please?" Aria asked, already tired like I am.

Spencer and Hanna glance at each other before nodding as Hanna started walking away.

I sighed in relief and started walking behind her, Spencer and Aria following behind us.

Me and Spencer stopped when we heard a phone ringing. We turned to see Aria holding her phone in her hands, looking shocked at the text.

Me and Spencer glanced at each other before looking back at Aria, confused and curious.

The Next Day
At School

It was the next day and me and the girls are at school. 

Me and Spencer were by our lockers, Emily with us. She told us that Jenna came by yesterday and brought her cookies.

I closed my lockers and turned to Emily, seeing her rub the side of her head, clearly in pain.

"Hey, are you taking something from the pain?" I softly asked, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, but nothing that dulls my mother. She's got a zillion questions, and they're getting harder to dodge" Emily sighed.

"I can't believe Jenna was in your house. You didn't eat that cookie, did you?" Spencer asked.

"No" Emily said.

I nodded and sighed, running my hand through my hair.

We heard a phone ringing and saw that it was Spencer's as she took her phone out of her pocket.

"It's okay. It's not from A. I think we can finally stop flinching every time our phones ring" Spencer said in relief.

Me and Emily chuckled at that and nodded. I took a peek at her message and let a small smile appear on my face when I saw she got a text from Alex.

"Hey, it's from Alex" I said, making Spencer nod.

While she was looking at the text, I looked at Emily, only to see her looking at Maya, who was walking down the hall talking to some girl.

Maya glanced at Emily for a second before looking back at the girl she was talking to.

Emily opened her mouth to say something, but Maya walked past her, not saying anything or even looking at her.

Emily sighed in sadness and I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder for support.

Spencer sighed and closed her locker, turning to look at us.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked.

"Alex just blew off our do-over date. Says he has to work" Spencer said.

I immediately realized why she was upset and felt the sudden urge to find Alex and punch him in the face.

"Well, that sounds legit" Emily said.

"It's not. Club is closed on Mondays" I said.

Her eyes widened in realization as Spencer nodded and walked away, not wanting to be here anymore.

I sighed and shook my head, looking at Emily and gesturing her to follow me so we could head to class.

Late At Night
At Emily's House

It was late at night and me, Spencer and Hanna were at Emily's house.

Emily told us about what she saw Toby's bike wrecked and that Jenna was sitting on her stairs, crying and the police were there too.

I don't want to believe that Toby is dead. There's no way. I want to believe that he's probably just missing.

I wouldn't blame him from leaving this town, wanting to get away, especially from my sister and friends constantly judging and accusing him.

I had a few tears streaming down my cheeks, Emily was the same as me.

Hanna was shocked and trying to process the news.

And Spencer, no surprise that she's not sad or shocked, she's relieved.

"So, is Toby dead?" I asked, looking at Emily.

"I couldn't bring myself to ask. Jenna was so upset. But his bike...it looked like it was...like it was wrecked" Emily said.

Spencer scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm not gonna cry over this, and neither should you" Spencer said.

I glared at her in complete anger and disbelief, Hanna doing the same.

"Spencer, if she liked him she can cry about it" Hanna defended.

"Well, I'm sorry for speaking" Spencer defended.

"Then stop speaking" I snapped at her.

She looked at me in shock while I just rolled my eyes and ran my hands through my hair.

Spencer sighed before looking at Emily.

"Look, she's right. I...I can't tell you what to feel" Spencer softly said.

Emily just nodded at her, while I rolled my eyes and sighed, too tired and upset at the moment.

It was silent for a few seconds before Hanna spoke, looking at Spencer.

"I'm sorry for what I said about your family yesterday. I didn't mean it" Hanna softly said, but Spencer shook her head at her.

"It's true. You're not the first person to think it" Spencer said and I nodded.

We heard a phone ringing and turned to see it was coming from Emily's phone.

"It's probably Aria. Something weird's going down at her house" I said and Hanna nodded.

Emily sighed and took her phone out to look at the text. But then her eyes widened in shock at what she was looking at.

"What is it?" Spencer asked, taking her phone from her.

She looked at the text and her eyes widened in shock.

"Spence, what is it?" I asked.

She looked at me and Hanna before clearing her throat and looking at the message.

"Thanks for getting Toby out of my way. A" Spencer said, looking up at us.

Emily groaned and ran her hands through her hair while Hanna looked shocked.

Me, well yeah I'm in shock as well, but I was also relieved and had a small smile on my face.

Now this proves to the others that Toby isn't A. 

I already knew he wasn't A, now here's the proof for the others.