Ethan's Pov

I was woken up by someone gently moving my leg around.

I groaned and opened my eyes, only to see Melissa holding a flashlight while moving both me and Spencer around.

"What's going on? What are you doing?" Spencer asked, confused.

"Looking for my ring. Would you both mind getting up?" Melissa asked.

"What ring?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

I got up from the couch and gently grabbed Spencer's arm, pulling her up from the couch.

"My wedding ring" Melissa said.

"Why would you take it off?" Spencer asked.

"It was cutting off my circulation. One of the perks of pregnancy. None of your shoes fit and your fingers turn into sausages" Melissa said, sparing Spencer a small glance.

I sighed and shook my head and just decided to help her look for her ring.

Spencer removed her books from the couch and began to help as well.

Suddenly we heard a phone ring and we turned around to see it was coming from Melissa's phone.

Melissa kept searching the couch, removing the pillows and looking on the ground.

Spencer glanced at me and I nodded. We needed to know if she really was texting Ian and helping him.

"Do you want me to get that?" Spencer asked.

Melissa didn't answer her, she kept searching.

"Your phone is buzzing. Do you want me to get it?" Spencer asked.

She tried reaching out for her phone but Melissa quickly stood up and lightly glared at her.

"Keep looking, would you" Melissa said.

She sighed before getting up and grabbing her phone and answering whoever was calling her.

"Hey, I'm not alone. Let me get upstairs, okay?" Melissa whispered.

She glanced at us before turning around and made her way upstairs.

Me and Spencer quickly ran over to the stairs and tried to listen to what she was saying but it all sounded muffled.

The Next Day

It was the next day and I was at school, waiting outside the girls bathroom.

Now, you might be wondering, why am I waiting outside the girls bathroom?

Well, since me and the girls are forced to not see each other, we've decided to secretly meet up at school and continue to discuss everything that's been going on.

I waited for a bit before the door to the girls bathroom opened and a girl walked out.

When I made sure she was really gone and nobody was watching me, I entered the girls bathroom.

As soon as I got in and closed the door I saw Emily by the sink and the girls came out from the stalls.

"Whoo, we gotta find a better place to do this. Somewhere preferably with a fan" Aria said.

"Or somewhere that's both for girls and boys, not just girls" I sighed.

"Oh come on, it's not your first time in here, and besides we're the only ones here so relax" Hanna said, ruffling my hair.

"Good luck. Why don't we dig a tunnel under the school?" Emily sarcastically said.

"Uh, yeah, not with those hands. You need some serious moisturizer" Hanna said, opening her purse.

I chuckled while Emily rolled her eyes.

"This letter isn't that bad, Emily" Spencer said.

"It's bad" Emily sighed.

"Won't your mom be impressed this guy even took the time to write?" I asked.

"Here, use this. It cost more than my purse" Hanna said, handing Emily a bottle of moisturizer.

"Guys, it's a 'maybe' letter. My mom needs to see something real, something that says 'let her stay in Rosewood. We want her. Don't take her to Texas'" Emily said.

"Em, there are other colleges" Aria softly said.

"Yeah, other scouts will want you" Spencer nodded.

"When? My mom's already packed up the whole kitchen. She keeps telling me I'm gonna like the rodeo" Emily said, clearly annoyed.

We heard chatter from outside and we turned around to make sure that nobody would come in.

I literally didn't want anyone coming in here because if they saw me, a boy, in the girls bathroom, that'd be embarrassing.

"Let's just do this later, ok?" I suggested.

"Um, what about after school?" Hanna asked.

"I can't today. I've got field hockey" Spencer said.

"I have swim practice" Emily said.

"I've got homework, tons of it, and you know I don't leave it till the last minute" I said.

"I'm starting my class at Hollis" Aria said with a small sheepish smile.

This made us look at her in slight shock.

"Is Jackie gonna be teaching it?" Spencer asked.

"No, no, this is not about stalking. If Ezra says it's over between them, I believe him" Aria said.

"So, what, you're just gonna hang around campus with binoculars?" I sarcastically asked.

This made the other girls laugh while Aria rolled her eyes and walked over to the sink to look at herself in the mirror.

"I'm following our therapist's orders on having separate time, ok. It's an extension course" Aria said.

Me and the girls glanced at each other before looking back at her.

"If I happen to bump into Ezra, that's just a bonus" Aria said with a small smirk.

"Oh, nice bonus" Spencer smiled, making me chuckle.

"Yeah, great. Everyone's got a life except for me" Hanna sighed in annoyance.

"I thought you were gonna go to the mall with Mona" I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Stealing moisturizer is not a life. It's a hobby. It's getting really boring" Hanna scoffed.

This made the girls look at her in shock while I rolled my eyes, already used to Hanna being like this.

Spencer took the bottle of moisturizer from her and looked at her in disapproval.

"You stole this?" Spencer asked.

"No. It's a sample" Hanna defended, taking the bottle from her.

The door to the girls bathroom opened and I quickly hid behind Spencer, not wanting anyone to see me.

The girls quickly went their separate ways as Spencer quickly left the bathroom, me following behind her, making sure I was well hidden.

When we were out of the bathroom I came out from hiding and sighed in relief.

"That was close" I said.

"Tell me about it" Spencer snorted, making me glare at her.

Back At Home

It was late at night and I was currently finishing up my last homework assignment before heading to bed.

However, I was in Spencer's room because apparently she walked by Jason's house and saw a figure in the bedroom.

And she said that it couldn't have been Jason because he was outside and met up with her when that happened.

Now she's freaking out and currently on the phone with Emily. On speaker so that I could hear what she was saying.

"There's no way Jason could close those curtains" Spencer said.

"Maybe it was the wind" Emily suggested.

"Emily, the window was closed! There was somebody in that upstairs room!" Spencer yelled.

"Sometimes when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" Emily said.

"Why are you talking to us like Ben Franklin?" I asked, slightly amused.

"Yeah. There's a murderer living next door, my parents are in New York, and all I have to defend myself is a hockey stick!" Spencer yelled.

"Hey, what am I? A roach?" I sarcastically asked.

"No, bro, you're not. But the last thing I want is for you to get injured again trying to protect me" Spencer softly but sternly said.

"I agree with Spencer. And Spence, ask Toby. If he's working there, maybe he could-" Emily started but Spencer cut her off.

"No, I don't want Toby to get hurt. If I tell him, he's gonna barge in there and try to act like a hero" Spencer said.

"You're right. Don't tell Toby" Emily said.

"Emily!" I heard Mrs. Fields yell.

"I gotta go" Emily said.

"Is there any way that you can sleep over here tonight?" Spencer asked.

"Again, am I just a roach?" I asked.

Spencer waved me off and waited for Emily to reply, making me scoff.

"Yeah, that's never gonna happen. Lock your door" Emily said before hanging up.

Spencer sighed and threw her phone on the bed.

It hit me square in the face and I let out a slight groan, turning to glare at Spencer.

"Sorry" Spencer said, sending me a small sheepish smile.

I just sighed and shook my head as I got up from the bed and walked over to her window.

She followed right behind me and stood next to me. Our eyes widened at what we saw.

Jason was putting newspaper on the windows, preventing us or anyone at all from looking inside.

He made eye contact with us and out of fear me and Spencer hid behind her curtain, panting slightly.

Flashback
Nobody's Pov

Spencer, Ethan and Emily were currently in the living room. They were wearing their pajamas while the Hasting twins were preparing some popcorn.

Emily was sleeping over and they were gonna watch a movie together, but they could hear loud noises coming from Alison's house.

"Do you think your neighbors will call the cops?" Emily asked.

"Everyone's used to it" Spencer chuckled and Ethan nodded.

"Yeah. That place turns into party central whenever Ali's parents go out of town" Ethan said, shaking his head.

Spencer nodded and handed Emily the bowl of popcorn.

"Do you want anything else?" Spencer asked.

"I'm good" Emily nodded.

Ethan was about to sit down and put the movie on when there was a knock at the door.

The three of them glanced at each other before Spencer went to open the door. Alison was behind the door, wearing a pink tank top, shorts and a white and blue jacket.

"Ali, what's going on?" Spencer asked.

"Can I crash here tonight?" Alison asked.

Spencer and Ethan nodded as Alison walked inside, Spencer closing the door behind her.

"There's no freaking way I'm sleeping there. There's not enough locks on my bedroom door" Alison scoffed.

Ethan frowned, clearly worried.

"Are Jason's friends hassling you?" Spencer asked.

"I wouldn't call those assholes friends" Ethan muttered under his breath.

"Jason doesn't have friends. He has idiots who use him to get wasted and act like animal planet. The only good and real friend he has is Ethan" Alison said.

Ethan smiled at that.

"Are you the only girl?" Emily asked, worried.

"Of course" Alison sighed.

Ethan walked over to his best friend and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, giving her some comfort.

Alison sighed and leaned into her best friend, his warmth calming her down a little.

"What I should do is call my grandma" Alison said.

"What are you talking about?" Spencer asked.

"He's been counting on the money. All I have to do is say one word about him and his loser friends, and she'll write him out of her will so fast...God, he makes me sick" Alison scoffed.

Ethan sighed before pulling away from Alison to grab his jacket that was on the couch.

"Here, take that off and wear this" Ethan said, giving her a small smile.

Alison smiled at him before taking off the jacket she was currently wearing to put on Ethan's jacket.

She hugged him before making her way into the kitchen.

"Can I get a soda?" Alison asked.

"Sure" Spencer nodded.

Alison opened the fridge and began looking for a soda.

"Ali, you know you're welcome to stay here, anytime" Ethan softly said.

"Thanks" Alison softly said, glancing at her best friend to send him a small smile.

She grabbed an apple and closed the fridge before making her way to the sink to wash it.

Ethan walked over to her and stood behind her. He frowned when she saw her looking at her reflection in the window.

Ethan grew more worried when he saw tears silent streaming down her cheeks.

"Ali, what happened?" Ethan softly asked.

Alison looked at him and opened her mouth to say something but stopped when Spencer and Emily joined.

She quickly wiped her tears away and turned off the sink.

"Are you ok?" Spencer asked in concern.

"Yeah, I was just...thinking about my grandma" Alison shrugged.

Ethan knew that she wasn't crying about that, but he wouldn't bother her about it, not yet at least.

Alison took a bite into the apple before her face morphed into one of disgust.

"Your family has the worst apples" Alison groaned.

She threw the apple away before walking into the living room to sit on the couch.

Flashback Ends
Ethan's Pov

I knew that something happened at her house while those boys were there, I just knew it.

I never did get the chance to confront Ali about it. But I had a feeling as to what might've happened.

I just hoped that it wasn't true, that I was just paranoid and nothing like what I'm thinking happened that day.

But I doubt it's true.

I sighed and just decided to go back to doing homework, hoping it would take my mind off things.

I hadn't realized that Spencer had left the room, looks like I was too deep in thought.

I decided to leave and head downstairs, since that's most likely where Spencer was and maybe Melissa too.

When I got down there I saw that both my sisters were in the kitchen, talking, I decided to listen to what they were saying.

"Do remember Kendra Santoni, that bully that made me her punching bag in elementary school? Remember the day that I came home with that red mark on my neck and I was afraid to tell Ethan because I didn't want him to get in trouble for beating her up. And I was afraid to tell mom that Kendra smacked me with a jump-rope" Spencer said.

My eyes widened at that.

I was always curious why Spencer had that red mark on her neck, she just told me it was from hitting a fly that was on her neck.

Man, I was stupid to believe that.

"Then the next day on the playground, you cornered her and you said that if she ever touched me again, you'd make her eat that jump-rope. I knew that you had my back" Spencer softly said.

This made me smile slightly.

Despite the fact that Melissa and Spencer both have their issues, they still love each other deep down. In their own special way.

I looked at Spencer and saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

I looked at Melissa and saw that she was trying to hold back her tears.

"Remember? You don't remember pushing her up against a wall?" Spencer asked.

"No, I don't, and honestly, I'm kind of dealing with major stuff right now. My husband has been missing for nearly a week. I'm not looking to stroll down memory lane" Melissa said.

She began walking away before stopping as she turned around to look at Spencer.

"Don't make me choose between you and my husband, Spencer" Melissa said.

She shook her head before walking away to head upstairs.

When she was gone I quietly walked over to Spencer and stood next to her.

"Spence" I softly said.

Spencer turned around to look at me and I frowned when I saw more tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"A little" Spencer shrugged.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a side hug, one that she returned by wrapping her arm around my waist.

We remained like that for a few minutes before I kissed her head and pulled away.

Spencer decided to make us both sandwiches, we were both hungry after all.

She offered to make it and I wanted to protest and say I'd make it but she insisted, saying that I shouldn't do it because of my broken arm.

She put two pieces of bread on her plate before walking over to the toaster.

She put the two pieces of bread in the toaster and pulled the handle down to get it started, but it went back up.

I raised an eyebrow at that as Spencer tried a few more times but nothing.

She sighed when she realized it was unplugged and lifted the toaster to plug it in.

But then all of a sudden she froze, her body tensing up slightly.

"Spence, what's wrong?" I asked, worried.

She didn't say anything, she just turned around to look at me and gestured for me to walk over to her.

Confused, I walked over to her and she gestured for me to look down.

I looked down and my eyes widened at what I was seeing.

Melissa's wedding ring was behind the toaster. It must've fallen off one time she was making breakfast or something.

"Spencer, Ethan, don't touch that coconut water! It's mine!" Melissa yelled from upstairs.

Me and Spencer glanced at each other before looking down at the ring, unsure of what to do.

The Next Day

It was the next day and me, Aria, Hanna and Emily were in Emily's car.

Since we're not allowed to see each other we have to meet up in secret, which is why we made sure to park in a private place where nobody would see us.

Hanna was currently telling us that something was happening with her dad and his new girlfriend.

"You gotta stay out of it" Aria said.

"No, but if he ends up hurting her-" Hanna started but I cut her off.

"If he ends up hurting her I'll shove my fist into his face and tell him to never show up again" I scoffed.

It's not a lie, I would do that.

I nearly did when I found out he cheated on Ms. Marin, but Hanna held me back and dragged me away.

Aria lightly glared at me and hit my shoulder, making me wince and glare at her.

"Hanna, I tried protecting my mom and it completely blew up in my face. You just gotta let them work it out for themselves" Aria sternly but softly said.

I saw Emily taking something out and it was an envelope.

"What is that?" I asked, curious.

"Read it" Emily said.

I raised an eyebrow at her as Aria took the envelope from her and opened it and took out the letter.

Me and Hanna scooted closer to Aria to see the letter for ourselves.

We scanned the letter before a sentence caught our attention.

"If you continue as Rosewood's M.V.P. and anchor until the end of swim season, we can offer you a full schol-" I started but stopped as I let out a huge gasp.

Aria and Hanna's eyes widened in shock and happiness.

Smiles made their way onto our faces as we looked at Emily.

"No way! Em, the scout changed his mind? This is amazing!" Aria grinned.

"That means you don't have to move" I grinned.

"Wait, let me see this" Hanna said, taking the letter from Aria so she could look at it.

"So, what'd your mom say?" I asked, excited that one of my best friends won't be moving away.

However, when I saw the look on Emily's face, my smile slowly disappeared.

"She hasn't seen it" Emily said.

"Why?" Aria asked, confused.

"Cause I haven't mailed it yet" Emily said.

All our eyes widened in shock and our jaws dropped.

"What?" I asked.

"Wait, Em, did you write this letter?" Hanna asked, still in shock.

Emily didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes said everything we needed to know.

"Oh, my God! You are a total rock star, Emily Fields! You are totally getting me into Harvard!" Hanna grinned, bouncing in her seat as she hit Emily's arm in excitement.

"Emily, I would not mail this" Aria sternly said.

"Oh, I love it. Here, let me see if I have an extra stamp" Hanna said.

She leaned back in her seat and grabbed her purse and began rummaging inside for a stamp.

"This just feels really wrong" I said.

"Oh, really? And Aria taking an art class with Jenna isn't? I hope her first assignment is how to make a weapon" Hanna sarcastically said.

"Okay, I never said that I was actually staying in the class. Whatever. I'm still working that out" Aria sighed.

I shook my head and turned to look at Emily.

"Em, this is wrong. You're gonna be filled with guilt and it's gonna come back to bite you in the ass and I know that you don't want that" I explained.

Aria nodded and turned to look at Emily.

"Okay, once your parents read this it-" Aria started but Hanna cut her off.

"Oh, big deal. She changed a few words. It's like Alison used to say, 'you're not lying. You're just pre-telling the truth'" Hanna shrugged.

I sighed and shook my head, rubbing my temple.

"Hey, does it matter if it looks a little used?" Hanna asked.

"Buttercup, not now" I said.

"There's got to be another way" Aria said but Emily shook her head.

"There isn't" Emily said.

Hanna nodded at that and handed her back the letter and leaned back in her seat.

I sighed and shook my head, leaning back in my seat, I already know that this is going to turn out badly.

Late At Night

It was late at night and me and the girls, minus Emily, were in Spencer's room.

Aria told us that she accidentally said something that made Jenna realize that it was her in that class and not 'Anita', the fake name she used.

"So wait, who's Anita?" Hanna asked.

"No one. Me. I was, okay. I only said that because I didn't want Jenna to know I was there" Aria said.

"Well, yeah, but she did know" Hanna said.

"Only after I said something" Aria said.

Me and the girls gave her a look and she sighed in annoyance.

"I had to. I thought it was safe" Aria said.

"No, Anita was safe. Aria is not" Spencer said and I nodded.

"I feel like I just made things worse. If Jenna is A, I totally rattled her cage" Aria said, clearly frustrated with herself.

I shook my head when I heard Spencer gasp.

"She's on the move" Spencer said.

I looked out the window and saw Melissa leaving the barn to go somewhere.

"I'm ready" Hanna said.

"Lets do it" Aria said.

I nodded and with that the four of us quickly left the house to follow Melissa and find out where she's going and who she's meeting up with.

We quickly followed her before hiding behind some bushes.

We waited for only a few seconds before a car pulled up and we saw Melissa walking towards it. We saw her leaning down to talk to the person inside.

"Is it him? Is it Ian?" Hanna asked.

"I can't tell" Spencer said.

"Of course it's him, but whose car is that?" Aria asked, confused.

Why does that car look familiar?

We saw the door open and we turned around to see a male figure exiting the car.

However, it wasn't Ian.

"Wait, that's not Ian" Hanna said.

"Is that Wren?" Aria asked, shocked.

Mine and Spencer's eyes widened and our jaw dropped.

"Wren" Spencer whispered.

"Wren's helping Melissa and Ian" I whispered, unable to believe it.

"He's in on this, too?" Hanna asked.

We didn't answer her and just continued watching to see what would happen.

We saw Wren walking to the trunk of his car as he opened it and began taking things out, handing them to Melissa.

"What's he giving her?" Aria asked.

"Probably painkillers" I shrugged.

"Wait, Melissa does drugs?" Hanna asked.

"No, not for her. For Ian. You fall from a bell tower, you're gonna need more than an ice-pack" Spencer said and I nodded.

"Wow. Only Melissa would ask the guy she dumped to help the murderer she married" Hanna scoffed.

Our eyes widened when she raised her voice a bit too much when saying that.

"Shh" all three of us said.

We quickly ducked down more, not wanting to get caught, just in case Melissa and Wren heard us.

When we felt it was safe we quickly but quietly stood up from where we were.

We saw Wren closing his trunk before getting in his car and driving away, leaving Melissa alone with the stuff.

We saw Melissa looking through the stuff, probably making sure she had everything.

My eyes wandered over to the Diluarentis house and I saw a figure standing behind the window, of course the curtains were closed so we couldn't tell who it was.

The girls noticed the figure too and looked at it before the figure walked away.

Me and the girls looked at each other, unsure of what to say about what just happened and what we saw.