Ethan's Pov

It was late at night and me and the girls were at the Brew.

We were all sitting at a table together, we were eating food while talking to each other.

We were mostly talking about Wilden's funeral, the lady that had her face hidden with her veil, A and Hanna's mom.

"When was the last time your mom called you from New York?" Aria asked.

"I don't know, the day before yesterday. I haven't really been keeping track" Hanna said, annoyed.

"Have you checked your phone?" I asked.

"She called me from the hotel room, bubs. She has no cell" Hanna said, once again, annoyed.

I raised my hands in surrender before going back to eating my food.

"Who was that freaky woman at the funeral?" Hanna asked.

"Which freaky woman? There was a couple, Han" Aria asked.

"The one in black with the veil, and she was just diving into that town car" Hanna said.

"Speaking of freaks, where's Melissa?" Emily asked.

The girls all turned to look at Spencer when she said that.

Spencer was busy doing, something, while I was trying to avoid their looks.

"Spencer? Ethan?" Emily asked.

"What?" Spencer asked, looking up.

"Yeah?" I sighed.

"Where's your sister been?" Emily asked.

I shrugged and took a bite out of my burger.

"D.C. she's interviewing for an internship" I told her.

"With who, Satan?" Hanna sarcastically asked.

Spencer shot her a look while I tried not to glare at my blonde friend.

"Wait a second. You think that Melissa was the woman in black?" Aria asked, looking at Emily.

"Do you?" Emily asked.

"I didn't really get a good look at her. I was trying not to wet myself when that new cop made a beeline over for us" Aria said, clearly annoyed.

I'm gonna make sure to keep a close eye on that new cop.

The last thing I want is for a Wilden 2.0 to harass us like the original one.

"Well, he can beeline all he wants. We didn't do anything to Wilden" Hanna scoffed.

"Except for throw his car in a lake and leave fingerprints all over it when A pulled it out" Aria said.

We then looked at Spencer to see her taking some of our food to create something.

"Spencer, what are you doing with my french fries?" Aria asked, confused.

"I'm re-creating the geography around the lodge to see if it's even possible that the person who jumped out of the plane could rescue Mona and Hanna from a burning building" Spencer explained.

Hanna rolled her eyes and picked up her mozzarella stick but before she could eat it, Spencer stopped her.

"Wait. Put down the mozzarella stick" Spencer said.

"It's mine" Hanna said.

"No, it's not. It's a plane" Spencer said before taking her mozzarella stick from her.

Hanna looked at us and I shook my head, going back to eating my food.

"Spencer, you can stack all the food that you want, it wasn't Alison" Aria said.

"Wait, why are you so sure?" Hanna asked.

"Because I went to her funeral twice" Aria said.

"We never saw a body" Hanna said.

This made Emily and Aria groan in annoyance while Spencer just kept on playing with the food.

"We've been through this. Ok? You were oxygen-deprived" Emily said.

"She wasn't, and you saw her, right?" Hanna asked.

Spencer didn't say anything, making Hanna scoff in annoyance.

"Oh. So now I'm the crazy one. Gimme my mozzarella back" Hanna angrily spat, snatching it out from her hand.

"Ok, it looked a lot like Alison, and I'm not ruling it out" Spencer said as she took the mozzarella from her.

I sighed at my sister and took the mozzarella stick from her and handed it back to Hanna.

Spencer shot me a look of disbelief while Hanna smiled at me, taking a bite out of her mozzarella stick.

"I believe you, buttercup. Ok. You're not the only that believes Ali could be alive" I reassured her.

Hanna smiled softly at me and nodded, causing me to nod back at her.

"So you're saying that you think her mom is laying out all of her old pillows and toys because she's expecting her return?" Aria asked.

"It was just one toy. A clown" Emily said.

"God, Emily, please. Not you, too" Aria groaned.

Emily sighed and shrugged while I kept on eating my food since I was nearly done.

We heard footsteps and we turned around to see Mona walking towards us.

Oh dear lord...

"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late" Mona said.

She looked at me and smiled faintly. I simply nodded at her and looked away.

"So I've been thinking alot about the Alison question" Mona said.

"Really? I've been thinking a lot about how you put my mom's phone in Wilden's casket" Hanna angrily said.

"Buttercup" I sighed.

While I might not be Mona's friend, I don't believe she was the one that put Ms. Marin's phone in the casket.

Mona knows how much Hanna loves her mom and would never do anything to hurt her.

"Nice" Mona sarcastically said.

Hanna stood up from her seat and backed away from her while the girls began to gather their things.

"What else do I have to do to prove to you that we're in this together?" Mona asked.

The girls all stood up and backed away from her while I remained sitting.

"I gave you that chip from his dash cam, you were all there when my computer was hacked. I have cashed in all of my 'get out of hell free' cards, so if you don't believe me and you still think I'm keeping secrets, go out there and search that RV for yourselves" Mona angrily spat.

I sighed and stood up and gathered my things as Spencer sent a look to Mona.

"What?" Mona asked.

"Lead the way. We'll follow" Spencer said.

Mona scoffed before turning around and leaving, the rest of us following behind her.

I honestly don't know why we're doing this but this is probably the only way the girls, and I, can trust Mona.

We waited for Mona outside since she wanted to get a flashlight from her car.

"Why are we doing this now?" Emily asked.

"Because if we wait until later she can get back here before us and purge" Spencer said.

Emily sighed before she stopped and began looking around.

What was that?" Emily asked.

"It was a bird. A beaver. Do you need to wait in the car?" Spencer asked.

Mona walked towards us as she glared at us for a few seconds before walking past us.

We glanced at each other and began walking behind her.

"I'm just saying I don't even know what we're supposed to be looking for" Emily whispered.

Mona lead us to a nearby fence and we stopped walking and watched her open the fence.

However, when she opened the fence, we saw nothing inside.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God, it's gone" Mona gasped, looking around.

"What do you mean it's gone?" Aria asked.

"This is where I left it. I mean, you saw me, Hanna" Mona said.

Hanna shook her head at her and looked away.

"I haven't been back here since. I swear. Somebody stole it" Mona said.

"Somebody?" Spencer sarcastically asked.

I frowned and looked at Mona, only to see her giving the girls looks of disbelief.

Not once did she look at me, I think it was because she can see it in my eyes that I don't know what to believe.

After everything she has done, I really don't know when she's lying or not.

"Let's get out of here" Hanna said, glaring at Mona.

The girls all turned around and began walking away.

I glanced at Mona one last time before turning around and following behind them.

"That somebody wasn't me!" Mona yelled.

The girls and I ignored her and continued walking towards our car.

Spencer and I would drive Hanna home while Emily would drive Aria home.

Spencer and I got into the front while Hanna got into the back. I started the car before driving off.

I just wanted to get home and sleep. I need sleep after everything that has happened so far.

The Next Day

When the morning came around I woke up early, took a shower, ate a quick breakfast and left the house.

Since I had a few more hours till school I decided to head to the park and read a book.

It's a mystery book that Alyssa got for me. She said it's one of her favorites and she wanted me to read it and tell me what I think of it.

I have to admit that while it's a big book, has tons of pages, it is really interesting.

Alyssa is going to be pleased when I tell her what I've read so far and what I think of this book.

Just as I was about to turn the page, I felt someone sit down next to me.

"Good book?" a familiar voice asked.

I picked my head up and turned around, the smile on my face faded when I saw that it was Toby.

Toby. My best friend who now turned into another one of my ex-best friends.

"Hi and bye" I quickly said.

I shut the book, making sure the page I was on was folded, and stuffed it into my bag before getting up from the bench.

"Ethan, come on" Toby stood up.

"Goodbye, stranger" I said, not bothering to look at him.

"Ethan, please, I just want to talk!" Toby yelled out to me.

"We have absolutely nothing to talk about" I kept on walking, not bothering to stop to look at him.

I was only concentrating on leaving so I can be far away from him. I need to be away from him.

Unfortunately, Toby caught up to me and stood in front of me.

"Ethan, please. Just give me time to explain" Toby begged.

"There's nothing for you to explain, nothing at all" I sternly said.

I tried walking past him but he blocked my view.

"Toby, I swear to god I will..." I trailed off.

"Ethan, please, give me five minutes. That's all I ask" Toby softly said.

I stared at him with an emotionless expression, having an inner debate in my head.

Part of me wants to ignore him and walk away. But, another part of me wants to stay and let him speak.

Because, even after what he has done, he was still my best friend. The same way Mona was.

Finally, I made my decision and let out a loud groan.

"Five minutes and that's it. So, speak" I scowled at him.

He let out a sigh and nodded at me, clearly grateful.

I crossed my arms over my chest, raising an eyebrow at him as I waited for him to say something.

He awkwardly cleared his throat before sighing as he rubbed his arm.

"I know I hurt you when you found out I was on the A team, I hurt you, Spencer and the girls and for that I'm sorry"

"You're sorry? Wow, that's original" I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"Ethan, please, you have to understand-" Toby started but I cut him off.

I walked closer to him and pointed a finger at him, a glare plastered on my face.

"Don't give me any of that crap. If you were really sorry you would've told us the truth from the beginning. But you didn't. You decided to keep secrets from us. From me and from Spencer" I angrily said.

"I couldn't tell you the truth. I didn't want to risk you or the girls getting hurt" Toby defended.

I let out a disbelieving laugh and threw my arms up in the air.

"Do you even hear yourself right now? You say you didn't want us to get hurt but you joined Mona and helped her hurt us. For god sakes, you locked my sister in the steam room!" I angrily yelled at him.

Does he seriously not understand that he's done way too much to us?

Does he not understand that his actions hurt Spencer to the point where she lost herself?

"I regret that, believe me I do!" Toby yelled back.

"I really don't believe that. After everything you've done, you're untrustworthy" I angrily spat at him.

"Ethan, come on. I'm your best friend" Toby frowned.

"If you were my best friend you would've told me what was going on. If I were your best friend, you would've trusted me to tell me everything. If you were my best friend, you wouldn't have done what you did" I gritted my teeth.

Best friends don't do what he did.

Best friends don't do what Mona did.

Best friends don't hurt each other and, yet, here we are.

Tears gathered in his eyes but he didn't let them fall. At least not yet.

He let out a sigh as he ran his hand through his  hair before his eyes met mine.

"I never meant to hurt you or the girls. You don't know how badly I wanted to tell you the truth, but I couldn't. I'll always hate myself for joining Mona and being apart of the A team. Please forgive me" Toby softly said.

His eyes were begging me to forgive him. He was begging me to forgive him.

He wanted my forgiveness because he wasn't ready to admit that he potentially lost his best friend.

I frowned at him. I glanced down at the ground before looking back up at Toby.

"I gotta go" I sighed, shaking my head.

Not waiting for him to say anything, I turned around and began walking away.

I had to get out of there.

The last thing I wanted was to give in. Especially when I'm nowhere near ready to forgive Toby for what he did.

At School

I was currently in English class with the girls and just doing the regular thing, writing down notes.

I seriously can't get over the talk I had with Toby before coming to school.

He was my best friend, the person I viewed as another brother, and he betrayed me.

I seriously don't know if I'll ever forgive him. All I know is that I need time.

"So. Tackle the last four chapters. We'll go over the historical context on Monday, and for those of you who are ahead, and can't enough of doomed romance, um, pick up 'East of Eden' for extra credit" Ezra, or well, Mr. Fitz said.

I'm not sure how to feel about Ezra. I mean, I don't really consider him a friend given that he is our english teacher.

And Aria's ex-boyfriend...

The bell rang and we all started gathering our things to leave.

I stood up from my seat and grabbed my bag and looked down at my sister, who was still sitting.

I frowned at her. Especially when she looked so upset, like she discovered something bad.

"Spence, you coming?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah. I'll catch up to you guys at lunch" Spencer quickly nodded.

"Ok, we'll meet you in the courtyard" Mona nodded before turning around to leave.

The girls looked at her weirdly while I shook my head and left the room with the girls following behind me.

The girls went to their lockers to get a few things and I went over to mine.

Just as I was about to open my locker, two pairs of arms were wrapped around me from behind.

A soft smile was plastered on my face and I turned around, coming face to face with my girlfriend.

"Hey, beautiful" I smiled softly at her.

"Hey, babe" Alyssa smiled softly at me.

I leaned down to peck her on the lips, causing her to smile and giggle.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"Do I need a reason to hug my boyfriend?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Of course not. I love when you hug and kiss me after all" I grinned at her.

She blushed at that but grinned back at me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Well, I was thinking that we should go on a date. At the beach" Alyssa smiled at me.

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea" I smiled, placing my hands on her hips.

"Awesome. I was thinking tomorrow night. I'll set everything up and you meet me there" she smiled at me.

"Sounds good to me" I smiled at her.

Alyssa giggled before leaning up to kiss me, causing me to hum as I kissed her back.

God, this girl makes me feel things I haven't felt in a while and I'm living for it.

The Next Day

It was the next day and Aria was currently at mine and Spencer's house.

Toby had been here but he left for whatever reason. He looked upset.

Anyways, moving on...

Emily got hurt while swimming so she was being taken to the hospital while Hanna was currently at Mrs. Dilaurentis's house.

"How are we supposed to trust anything that she ever says? I mean, who knows what she told those cops? This is Mona. She started lying when she was a fetus" Aria angrily said.

Spencer began to poor juice for the three of us.

"Hey, why was Toby so upset when he left? Were you guys fighting?" Aria asked.

"No. No. Go back to the fetus" Spencer quickly said.

I raised an eyebrow at her before shaking my head.

"Did I tell you I'm done with martial arts? Yeah. I can't even walk down that street. I kissed him" Aria sighed.

"Who?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"My instructor" Aria said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't know. I guess because I miss Ezra and I almost got killed last Thursday and he smells like cinnamon" Aria sighed.

"Who does?" Spence asked.

"Jake" Aria sighed.

"Who's Jake?" I asked.

"My instructor. Both of you pay attention" Aria snapped in annoyance.

The three of us turned around when we heard the door open and saw Hanna walking in.

And the difference is she was holding a bird cage. And an actual bird was inside of it.

"Thanks for returning my calls" Hanna sarcastically said.

The three of us glanced at each other before turning back to Hanna, getting up from our stools.

"Where did you get that?" I asked.

"Mrs. Dilaurentis's porch" Hanna said.

"You stole her bird?" Aria asked, clearly confused.

"She gave it to me. And it's not just a bird, ok. It talks. Alison and Tippi were roommates in Georgia. This bird probably knows more about what happened to Ali than any of us" Hanna explained.

The bird, Tippi, started making some sounds and said a few things that I couldn't understand.

"It talks alot" Hanna sighed in annoyance.

"You think it's gonna tell us if Ali's still alive?" Spencer asked, raising an eyebrow at her unamused.

"Wow. I thought that I was losing it" Aria scoffed.

"Ok, you know what, if you guys would shut up for a minute, maybe it would say something" Hanna angrily snapped.

Hanna walked over to the kitchen and set the cage on the kitchen counter.

We all stood next to each other and waited for Tippi to say something. But nothing.

"Does it take requests?" I sarcastically asked.

Spencer and Aria laughed while Hanna glared at me.

I raised my hands in surrender while Hanna groaned and walked into the living room as we turned around.

"Ok, you know what. Ali was hooking up with someone in Cape May that summer, and she was telling her mom that it was us" Hanna said.

"Yeah. We know. Wilden" Aria nodded.

"No, we don't know. If Wilden had his own boat, why would he be staying at Ali's parents' beach house?" Hanna asked.

"You know what, buttercup. That's a really great question, but we can't ask him because he's dead" I reminded her.

Aria nodded as she took a step forward.

"Yeah. And that lake is now a crime scene. The shoreline that we threw the car-" Aria started but my sister cut her off.

"Aria, you have to stop, ok? That was weeks ago, and you guys weren't wearing pumps. The footprints that the police are looking for are high heels" Spencer explained.

I nodded as Aria sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

"Wait. Whose high heels?" Hanna asked, curiosity taking over her.

"Well, the cops don't know, but Mona's trying to tell us that they're Alison's" Aria said, rolling her eyes.

I shook my head and looked at Hanna and saw her looking at Spencer.

"Was it...muddy that night?" Hanna hesitantly asked.

Me and Spencer raised our eyebrows at her in confusion. Why does she wanna know that?

"Hey, board shorts. Miss me?" Tippi suddenly asked.

Me and the girls turned to look at him in slight shock and confusion.

"Did you guys just hear that?" I asked.

"Yeah. We're standing right next to you" Spencer said and Aria nodded.

The three of us started walking over to the bird but Hanna grabbed mine and Spencer's arms.

We raised our eyebrows at her and gestured for her to talk if she needed to.

"Look, I came here for a reason" Hanna told us. 

"What's wrong?" Spencer softly asked.

Tippi then started singing a song, causing Aria to look over at us.

"Hey, what's this song? What's she singing?" Aria asked.

I shrugged at her before turning back over to Hanna as Spencer did the same.

"If A tries to pin this whole Wilden thing on my mom..." Hanna trailed off, concern evident in her tone.

"Hanna, you don't have to worry. Your mom wasn't even in Rosewood the night that Wilden was killed" Spencer reassured her.

I nodded and smiled at her, rubbing her shoulder gently.

Hanna glanced at the two of us before sighing as she nodded.

I gave her head a sisterly kiss before walking into the kitchen.

Late At Night

A smile was plastered on my face as I got out of the car and closed the door.

I stopped in front of the supermarket. I decided I would get some snacks for Alyssa and I for our date.

I know she told me she would take care of everything else but I feel like a bad boyfriend if I didn't bring her favorite snacks.

As I walked into the supermarket I walked into the candy section and began looking for the candy she liked.

When I found those candies I would go into the chip section and find the bag of chips she likes.

"Ah, there they are" I muttered happily.

I grabbed the two bags of candies I was looking for.

I turned around and started walking, trying to make my way to the chip section.

I yelped in surprise when I accidentally bumped into someone, causing me to drop the candies I was holding.

I let out an annoyed sigh, not bothering to look at the person I accidentally ran into, as my shoulders slumped.

"Shit. My bad, man. I didn't see where I was going" I nervously chuckled.

I crouched down and grabbed the candies I had dropped, hoping that nothing was broken or whatever.

Because if that's the case I will...

"Ethan?"

My heart dropped all the way to my stomach.

I felt a terrible feeling grow inside of me because that voice sounded so damn familiar.

That voice belonged to the person I never wanted to see after what happened in the past.

That voice belonged to the person I finally moved on from because of what he did to me in the past.

Swallowing a huge lump in my throat, gripping onto the candy bags I was holding, I slowly stood up from the ground.

I picked my head up and my breath hitched when my eyes made contact with the person in front of me.

The eyes of the person that showed nothing but relief and happiness now that they're face to face with me again.

This person...

This person had left a long time ago...

This person was someone I resented more than anything in my entire life.

This person was someone I thought would never step foot in this town after everything they did to me.

"Seth..."

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Dun, dun, dun, dun!

That's right ladies and gents, Seth James is back!

And that can only mean one thing and one thing only. More drama.

What are your theories as to what happened between Ethan and Seth in the past? I'm interested in knowing.

See you guys in the next chapter. Bye!