2.23

•

"Eye Of The Beholder"

The red fabric covered Aria from the day's breeze, even when they were back in Rosewood and sat down outside of Lucky Leon's Cupcake Shop. Each with their own drinks and sweet treats, listened while Aria re-told her encounter with the guy in Brookhaven. "Well, he recognised the coat," Aria began, as she took to one of the white, fold-out chairs. "That's when he saw it first, he thought it was Alison... Vivian," she self-corrected.

Clutching her ice-coffee, Emily said, "When we noticed you didn't come back, he was gone."

"He was cute from the back," Hanna commented.

A coy smirk tugged at Aria's lips. "So was his front." Then, after she realised the uneasiness of the situation, Aria briskly added, "Under different circumstances."

"So, what did he say?" Halle asked. She used her pinkie-finger to wipe at her cupcake's frosting. "Why didn't he look for her, Vivian?" she elaborated before sucking the icing from her finger.

"He's been in Florida for, like, a year," Aria explained.

"What did you tell him — exactly?" questioned Spencer pointedly.

"Uh, I told him that I was a friend of Vivian's and that I hadn't seen her since she gave me the coat," Aria revealed, shrugging off the lies she easily told him.

"Can I see that number again?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah." Aria was quick to pass over the small strap of paper she was given by the guy she bumped into, the one who called her Vivian, with his name and number scrawled on it.

"Thanks," said Spencer, accepting the card. She inspected it and read aloud, "'Duncan Albert'?"

"Sounds like a rich boy," remarked Halle, shrugging her right shoulder before she reached for her coffee. "Two first names — and they're Duncan and Albert."

"He said he met her Brookhaven?" Emily asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, in a bookstore," Aria answered. "A couple places down from that creepy doll hospital."

"Well, whoever Duncan is, he's connected to Alison and what she wanted in Brookhaven," Spencer implored.

Emily gave her a questioning look, not quite buying it. She asked them, "How do we know he wasn't just some guy she flirted with in a bookstore?"

"I don't think Alison wasted Vivian on flirting," Spencer reasoned with her. "When she put that wig on, she wanted something."

"Someone," Halle corrected, just as Spencer handed the paper back over to Aria.

Hanna nodded, agreeing. "She was looking for A."

"Duncan was part of that trail," Emily mentioned.

"Or," Halle drew out the word and then retorted bitterly, "Alison used him for something nobody else could give her." She glanced over to Spencer, pressing her lips together briefly. "If she wasn't wasting Vivian on flirting, she had to be getting something from him."

Busy staring down at Duncan Albert's name, Aria decided, "I'll call him."

"Aria, you don't have to," replied Spencer.

"Any one of us could've been wearing that coat," Emily argued, reassuringly.

"But it was me," Aria pointed out.

The discussion was cut short when a car pulled up nearby. Spencer's eyes immediately went to it, curious of the blacked out car. Both doors on the driver's side open and while the driver got out the first, a cane came out the second.

Jenna.

Spencer's distraction alerted the others. They all turned, glancing back towards the black car and watched Jenna Marshall climb out. It was only when they saw Toby exit the other side, their attention peaked. Spencer stood from out of her seat, feet moving subconsciously to bring herself closer to him, like she was magnetised towards him. As if Toby felt the same pull, his eyes quickly flickered over to her before he turned away, his arm now interlinked under Jenna's; he was back to be being her guide.

With the obvious white bandages under Jenna's signature sunglasses, Hanna was led to state, "She had the operation."

Toby glanced over not one but three more times. Each time, his eyes went to Spencer. A slight, hopeful smile tugged at Spencer's lips, longing to be near him again, but she was left disappointed when he walked into the store with Jenna still clinging to him to support.

•

The next time Halle saw Toby was a couple days later. After school, the five girls were walking home, heading towards to Emily's as it was the nearest, and the conversation felt familiar. They were consumed with the topic of Duncan Albert once more, and Aria's second encounter with the boy.

"Duncan saw Ali that weekend?" Spencer questioned, on hearing such from the story Aria told them. With Aria walking slight ahead of them, Spencer was hot on her trail, following far too closelyy as she grew more intense.

"Are we sure we believe him?" asked Hanna, glancing between her friends, dubious of the sudden appearance of someone who knew Alison.

"Exactly." Halle agreed strongly, her hand out in gesture. "The guy just shows up on the one day we're in town, on the same block Ali was getting A-texts from, which is also the same block he met her on? Alarm bells are ringing," Halle commented.

Aria shook her head, a frown on her face. "He was all torn up when I told him she was dead. He couldn't have been faking that."

Halle's mind turned over that suggestion and discarded it quickly. She had been faking a lot — too much. Most of Halle's life had been fake, a creation of her own. She found it easy to lie, which she wasn't proud or but never strayed from when she was in trouble. She had been lying to her friends about That Night, too.

Her brain churned over its memory of that rock. She kept seeing the same image. The bloody rock, Jason passed out in the deckchair, her putting on the sprinklers. Halle couldn't escape it, especially since That Night was gradually catching up on her. She either had to pick up the pace or be trampled by the truth.

Without thinking, Halle slipped out a mutter, "You'd be surprised at what people can fake."

Hanna narrowed her eyes at Halle and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing, just a comment." Halle forced a smile to convince them before she turned her head over her shoulder. She checked on Emily, the swimmer falling slightly back from the rest of the group. "You okay, Em?"

A pressed smile came onto Emily's face. She grimaced, arms hugging herself, and said, "Sure."

Before Halle could call her on it, a loud revving caught her attention. Ahead, tyres screeched as Garrett Reynolds' car sprang to life and sped off around the corner. The girls stopped at the street's edge and speculated.

"Why is Garrett in such a hurry?" asked Spencer.

Then, unexpectedly, a series of bells, chimes and dings went off in a chorus. Their throats went dry, mouths clamping shut in apprehension for the next text. They knew it was A before they even looked. The flinching gave it away. They checked their devices, and their bodies tenses immediately.

"'Where there's smoke, there's payback. A'," Emily ready aloud for them.

Shortly after, Aria's hand shot out and grabbed at Spencer's arm. With wide eyes zeroed in across the street, they were all alerted to both Toby and Jenna exiting the Cavanaugh house, with a couple fire marshals beside them.

"Wait, what's going on?" Hanna questioned, following her friends as they moved to get a better look.

"I don't know," answered Spencer, while she eyed the unusually friendly scene.

Panicked, almost shaking, Aria asked, "What are they talking to the fire department about?"

Following them as Jenna and Toby led the fire marshals towards where the old garage was, Emily realised in rising worry, "They're talking about that night."

"The Jenna Thing," Halle swallowed nervously.

Timidly, Hanna asked, "Are you serious?"

"What could Toby be telling them?" asked Aria.

"Nothing," Halle said strongly. She shut down that idea fast. "He wouldn't."

Scornfully, with it all aimed at herself, Spencer spat, "I did such a good job of screwing him up, he might say anything Jenna wants him to say."

"That we're the ones who blinded Jenna?" questioned Hanna curiously.

"Alison and us," Emily reminded gravely, anxiously watching from far.

•

Side by side, Emily and Spencer exits the courtyard and entered the double doors into the far corridor. They had only just taken a left, heading towards their next class, when Jason caught up with them.

"Spencer — Emily."

"Hey—" Spencer, while still walking, apologised sincerely, "I'm so sorry that I haven't called you back. My reserves have been really depleted, and—"

Jason pulled her to stop, causing both of the girls to. He told her, "This isn't about..." Jason trailed off, eyes glancing briefly to Emily, as he chose not to bring up the money at that moment. Neither he or Spencer wanted it outed yet. "Um, I've got some of Alison's things. I've been through them, but I'm not really sure what to do with them."

Intrigued, Emily wondered, "What kind of things?"

"They're in a bag that was left in the house when we moved out," explained Jason. He gestured out to Emily and added, "Your friend Maya said her family found them."

"She said that they packed up some of Ali's things by accident," said Emily, smiling small.

"Maya dropped them off at the house," he said.

Emily's face fell. "Maya did? Did you talk to her?" she questioned, her interest peaked and focused solely on the answer.

"The bag was on the porch," answered Jason. His concern flashed over his feature as he mentioned, "And then I saw in the paper Maya was missing. Is that true?"

Spencer turned to Emily, them exchanging an quick look before agreeing to tell Jason the truth. Emily was the one to do it. "Yeah," said Emily, awkward. This was Alison's brother, and the last person that went missing in his life was Alison and she ended up dead. Another person Emily loved.

"So the bag has Ali's stuff in it?" asked Spencer swiftly, changing the subject away from Maya.

"Yeah, some of the things from her room." Kindly, Jason told them, "I just thought you guys might want to have a look."

The three were interrupted by Halle. Rounding the corner, on her way to class, Halle practically skidded to a stop. All involved suddenly felt awkward, aware of the hazardous tension between the two ex — and almost — lovers. "Uh, hey," Halle acknowledged, nervous eyes fleeting over her friends and Jason. Brows arched in surprise, Halle didn't know to act after stumbling upon them.

"Hey," Jason greeted.

After a few seconds of silence, Halle asked quietly, "How are you?" While Halle and Jason awkwardly side-stepping around what they really wanted to ask, Emily and Spencer stood off to the side like spare parts.

Jason cleared his throat. "Yeah, good — you?"

However, Halle didn't get an answer in before Spencer jumped in. "We—" Spencer motioned between herself and Emily, "should really get to class."

"Yeah," Emily agreed fast. She put on a smile, reassuring both Halle and Jason, but secretly thanking Spencer to her quick getaway.

"I'll text you later about Ali's things," Spencer said to Jason, which peaked Halle's interest.

"Sure, let me know," Jason replied. "I have to be in Scranton for a counselling seminar later, but I can swing by before I leave."

"That'd be great," Spencer said, smiling. She shot another smile at Halle, as did Emily, then the two outsiders left the lovers to dance around each other.

Halle spoke first. "We didn't get a chance to talk after last week..." Halle cast her eyes to her feet, pressing her lips together in discomfort. "When Hackett had me in for—"

"For weed, yeah," Jason finished. Irritation coated the tip of his tongue and leaked into his clipped tone. He was trying not to be short with her despite his annoyance. "You promised me you were being careful," Jason said, reminding her of the conversation in his car only a week ago.

Halle suckled her teeth and threw out bitterly, "Believe me, I thought I was."

Sighing, Jason attempted to cool his frustration. "Listen, I was kind of hoping we could talk." She met his gaze, and Jason filled with dread. Halle was fiery and unpredictable. She'd fight before she caved, and Jason knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of that. But he had something over her now. He had a letter. "That night in the school," Jason began cautiously, "when I told you I love you, you said—"

"Jason—"

He cut her off first before she could even argue. "You said, Spencer and your friends knew I was back in town because of A." With eyes fixed on her, Jason watched as fear drowned her soft features and her shoulders tensed. He heard the switch in her breaths, them growing shorter as worry seeped in deeply. "Now you cut yourself off before you could finish that night, but you said A, Halle." He raised his eyebrows at her, questioning as he pieced together what little he could. "And then the school gets an anonymous letter from A, too? It's starting to add up, I just don't have the full picture yet because you keep shutting me out." Plainly, Jason asked her, "Is there something else going on that I don't know about? Are you in trouble?"

Terror took hold of her dry throat. She found it hard to swallow; the lump in her throat was painful. "Why — why are you asking me that?" Her fear made Halle do terrible things, like she was about to do. Halle shook her head and dryly retorted, "Jason, just 'cos I didn't return your feelings doesn't mean that something is going on with me—"

"I don't believe you." Jason was far too confident in his reply, and his hard glare gave away his resilience. There was a greater resistance than before, and Jason wasn't giving in until he got the answer he wanted. He knew she was lying and was calling her out on it with a determination Halle had yet seen so strongly in him.

With an heightened awareness of A, Halle checked over her shoulders. Her eyes scanned the hallway from anybody listening in, chewing her bottom lip in anxiousness, and fretted over if Jason had already revealed too much. Then, in a spur of poor judgment, Halle's care outweighed her fear of A. Halle grasped at Jason's hand and dragged him down the hallway, into the nearest empty classroom.

"Is this why things are complicated?" He stared her down. "Halle, who is A—?"

"Shut up, shut up!" Halle snapped sharply. Her finger shot up to his lips and cut him off. Her eyes were large and frightened, warning him that it was serious. "Shut up, okay?" When Halle realised how close they were, them both staring at each other intensely, with her finger touching his lips, she dropped her hand and hid it behind her back. She turned around and pulled the door to a close. Halle's eyes shut and quietly sighed, "You can't know about A." She faced him again, the wild look in her eyes replaced with deep concern. "Not yet, I'm not ready."

"Not ready for what?" Jason asked.

"Not ready to tell you," Halle answered. "This person — this A," she said, "they're dangerous, Jason, and I can't lose you to them. So, please just stay out of this. Forget you ever heard of A. It'll be a lot easier on you, trust me."

"Are you kidding me?" Jason lit up with anger, eyes hard and nostrils flared. He saw her nod and go to walk, so he called her back with something he knew she couldn't ignore. "I gave Spencer that money."

Halle halted. When she turned back, her eyebrows were contorted with the vertical crease appearing between them. "Why?"

"Because she asked me for it," Jason answered, "to help find out who wanted to hurt Alison."

"No." Halle shook her head. "Why did Spencer go to you for the money? And better yet, why would you just give it to her?" she asked.

"I just told you," Jason replied.

"That's not enough," Halle fired back. "You gave her two-thousand dollars, Jason, I need a little more than she asked you for it," she mocked.

"Meet me halfway," he challenged. The same steely harshness never left his eyes — him trained to get the answer he desired. "Tell me who A is."

Halle was torn. She wanted to scream but instead all she felt was her eyes welling up with hot, frustrated tears. Hands shaking and a tight knot in the centre of her forehead, Halle tried her best to fight back but ended up exasperated and without an reason.

In defeat, Halle sighed. "I don't know — I don't know who A is! And If I knew, we'd be together already and—" Halle stopped herself and took a moment to recollect her own thoughts before they stumbled out of her mouth before filtering. "A knows things — things about me, and my friends, and you. And they use those things against us. I don't know who A is, but they know about us." Madly, she continued divulging in a rushed panic, "About us sneaking around That Summer, and neither of us can afford for that to come out because we lied to the cops — and they had that video, the un-cut version, and we both had motive."

"Neither of us killed Ali," Jason defended incredulously.

"But I did something," Halle raved hotly. "I did something That Night, I just can't remember what. I have this memory of a rock and blood and you passed out on that deckchair, and then I put the sprinklers on." She sighed and met his startled gaze. "That's how I found you the next day. I saw you on the deckchair that night, the night she died."

"You really think you did something to hurt Ali?" Jason asked cautiously, dropping his voice down low. Halle refused to meet his stare. He approached her and placed a comforting hand on her upper arm, which made her finally look up. "Halle, you're not capable of murder."

"But I remember—"

"Halle," Jason cut her off firmly. "You were drunk, you had been drinking and smoking That Night." He looked deeply into her dark eyes and said, "Let me ask you this, when you found me the next day, were the sprinklers on?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Then it's probably a false memory, brought on by guilt," explained Jason.

The girl looked genuinely terrified. "You don't know that."

"I do, I do know that — because I know you," said Jason confidently, and her eyes darted up and connect with his green ones. Enchanted by them and his words, Jason drew Halle in closer with more of them. Jason told her, "I know everything about you. I know that you feel safer when you're closer to the ground, I know that you chew the inside of your cheek when your nervous and that you press your lips together when you're uncomfortable. I know you get that cute, little crease between your eyebrows—" he pointed towards it, a slight smile tugging at his lips as he did so, "when you get confused."

He continued, "I know that you suck your teeth when your angry or hear something you don't like. You scream when you're sad, and when you're angry, you'd set everything on fire if you could." As he got more enraptured in his declaration, his words became fuelled with obvious passion. This was the voice of a man fighting for love. He was committed to proving it to her — in evoking the same longing within Halle. "You cry when people leave, which you won't ever admit to — because you don't wanna seem needy. You hate compliments, because you think they're lies. And... and..." Jason watched as she trained her eyes to the ground. "You look away when you're too scared to face the truth, just like you're doing now."

Jason finished his argument with all seriousness and so sincerely that it made Halle's breath catch in her throat. Her eyes had gone up to his face for a second and then she cast them down to his chest, further proving his final point. She swallowed thickly, desperately trying to push all the bubbling feelings down into her chest again, but this time Halle couldn't shelf or bury it anymore. All it took was Jason's head dipping down just a a fraction of an inch, and Halle crashed her lips onto his. She dropped her bag and kissed him without an reservation.

Over the last year, the agonising push and pull of desire and longing amassed to that moment — that kiss. It seemed clear to Halle that staying away from Jason wasn't ever going to be an option. She was magnetised to him, drawn in towards him. The passion behind her kiss made every guy before Jason vanish, never comparing to the most patient man she had ever met. She kissed him with everything she had and wound her arms around his neck as his hands moved to grab her waist, pulling her in. While their lips melted into each other, moving perfectly in-sync for several long moments, she acutely appreciated Jason more than ever. It was painfully obvious — that Halle was in love with him.

When they broke apart, the corner of her lips twitched up. Both breathless, neither of them could believe the drive behind their kiss. Still, lips only millimetres from brushing against lips, Halle whispered out, "I have to go." She kept her eyes closed, scared to open them and end the moment. "I have to get to class."

Jason cleared his throat, nervous at the small distance. "Yeah, of course."

Finally opening her eyes, Halle locked onto his face. Her knees went weak, trembling under his gaze and while in his arms. She said gently, "I'll call you." She took a deep breath, watching his eyes shut as she blew it out onto his face, and stepped back from out of his hold.

Halle picked up her discarded bag from off the floor and made for the closed door. She cracked it open, her hand on the doorknob, when he called her back.

"Halle." Jason waited for her to face him. He dropped his head and met her softening gaze, her looking back at him over her shoulder. He never said anything more, just her name. But that was all that needed to be said.

Smiling small, Halle appreciated his kindness and — more importantly — put high value on his patience. Then, she walked out.

•

Dishes clattered as Halle was busy loading the dishwasher. Since getting hauled into the principal's office and accused of using weed, Halle's home-life had been tense to say the least. Only in true Brewster-fashion, it was done passive-aggressively with daily chores being stacked on Halle to do alone when usually it was shared among the three siblings. The worst part — it was all done under the watchful gaze of her mother, who just so happened to sat at the newly cleaned dining table helping Riley with her homework.

"You need to soak that," came Luisa's voice, just as Halle picked up the large deep pan.

Halle fought the urge to roll her eyes. She flared her nostrils and huffed forcibly, hating the pettiness. "I know," called back Halle. She brought the pan over to the sink and hit the hot-faucet on. Under her breath, she muttered, "It ain't like I never washed up before."

Once the water was hot, Halle placed the dish at the bottom of the sink and let it fill up. On the counter, Halle's cellphone started to ring. She switched off the water and glanced over to the screen. Halle looked over to see her mother was already watching closely. Glowering a little, Halle shot, "It's Spencer."

Luisa nodded and then turned back to Riley. Halle wiped her hands of a cloth and after, she picked up her phone. Answering, Halle flipped the phone up and held it up to her ear. "Hey, Spence."

"SOS, it's an SOS," Spencer instantly sprang on her.

The nonchalant attitude was stripped from Halle straight away. Her face fell and she dropped her voice low, turning her back on the dining room. "What? I'm..." She side-glanced at her mother and little sister before she whispered, "I'm a little caught up right now."

"Where are you?" Spencer asked.

"At home, I'm stuck doing dishes," Halle remarked.

"Can you meet me at mine?" Spencer said with great urgency, "It's about the bag Jason had of Ali's, we might have something."

Imminence flashed over Halle's eyes. She bolted up and shot around to the dining room. "Uh— Mom, I can go to Spencer's right?" Halle asked. She forced a convincing smile and lied, "We have a History exam tomorrow, she wants to share notes."

"Yeah, sure, I'll finish up," Luisa said. "Just—" Luisa caught Halle as she went to flee and put in, "don't be too late, I know how you girls are."

"Okay, thanks." Swiftly, Halle exited the kitchen and headed towards the front door, putting her phone back up to her ear. "Hey, I'm coming."

"Meet me in my yard," Spencer stated. "Also, I never trust anybody's notes but my own," she shot back indignantly.

"Spencer—" Halle left her house and started down the porch-steps, "it was a lie, it got me out of the house, alright? I'll see you in a minute."

Shortly after ending the call, Halle found Spencer waiting in her garden. Spencer's foot bounced up and down, anxiously waiting. The Hastings girl picked up the moment her eyes laid on Halle's figure. "Good, you're here — come on," Spencer said. She took off towards the pathway between her house and the DiLaurentis', filling Halle in on the way. "Emily and I were looking at the things inside the bag, not the bag all together."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Halle asked. She ducked under a low-hanging branch, careful not to injury herself like the last time she went running through trees with Spencer. Her father still didn't buy that lie.

"It means— Alison was better at hiding things than we thought," Spencer stressed. "She's the one who packed that bag up, not Maya."

"'When I hide things, they stay hidden'," Halle shot out bitterly.

"Yeah, until Ali wants them found," Spencer threw back over her shoulder. A few moments passed, the two made towards the DiLaurentis house in the dark. Sniffing, her nose turned up, Spencer shot a look towards Halle. "Did you light up before you came here?"

"No — I told you, my mom had me doing dishes," Halle argued stubbornly, huffing afterwards.

"Then why do I smell smoke?" Spencer asked her.

"Spencer." Halle's face had fallen. Her eyes connected to the clouds of smoke billowing out of an open window. Low down, a warm amber glow was beginning to rise.

"Oh, god!" exclaimed Spencer, extreme anxiety pumping her body. "Hanna!"

"Hanna!" Halle screamed. Snapping into action, they sprinted towards the back of the house. The pair rushed to the back porch, hearts pumping fast with heartbeats in their ears.

Rounding the corner of the house, approaching, an alarmed Spencer spied the open back door. She yelled, "Hanna!" The entire back of the building was yellow and on fire, golden with growing flames. Struggling, Hanna emerged from the door with a limp Jenna Marshall strung over her shoulder. Jenna coughed violently, her body apathetic and wobbling. "Hanna!" Spencer ran forward and helped, ducking under Jenna's other arm. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, just get her down," Hanna panicked, as she and Spencer helped get the blind girl to safety.

"I got it," Spencer claimed.

With Spencer's help, Hanna managed to get Jenna safely away. They lowered Jenna down onto the grass, both breathless and full of dread. Stuck, Halle stared at the house. She watched at the flames grew higher, climbing up the walls and spreading fast. Overwhelmed by the shock of the fire, Halle was froze in her spot. Fear paralysed her. Trepidation consumed her. Her only thought went to Jason.

"Is anybody else in there?" Halle asked. No answer made Halle's terror soar. She raised her voice louder, eyes still trained on the back door. "Hanna, is anybody else in there?"

"I don't know," Hanna gave helplessly. She was too busy checking on Jenna, who still choked on the smoke, to look over.

Halle inhaled sharply, "Jason."

Spencer screamed as she caught sight of Halle move towards the steps. She dropped Jenna, leaving all of the girl's weight onto Hanna, and ran to grab her. "Halle—!"

BANG.

The back blew up thunderously. Glass smashed as flames exploded out to them, with wooden frames splintering off as a fiery ball burst it wide open. Halle and Spencer were sent backwards, ducking from the blistering heat. The house was engulfed in flames, and a searing blast gushed over Halle's skin.

Halle looked back at the black clouds spilling out, aghast. A blood-curdling scream tore from her throat and through the air. "JASON!!!"

•

Hospitals made Halle nervous. She hated them. She had done since she was a child, always in and out with her grandmother's appointments. The clinical stench of sanitizer made her nose curl up and tied her stomach in knots. The waiting never helped either. With each passing second, never knowing if Jenna was okay, stirred up Halle's anxiety further.

Needing some comfort, Halle took herself away from the group and went to grab herself a coffee. At the machine, halfway through her paper cup being filled, footsteps approached her. She turned her head and relief washed over her first before the nerves came flooding back in.

"Toby!" Halle threw her arms around him. Nobody was around; they could be friendly with each other. She held him close. It had been too long since she last saw him and could hug him. The last time, it was Toby that Halle was visiting in hospital. Halle pulled away and stepped back. "How's Jenna? Is she okay?" asked Halle, chewing the inside of her cheek.

"She's awake now," Toby informed. A dark, concerned look glazed over his blue eyes, and Toby digressed lowly, "Somebody text Jenna to get her to that house."

"Jason was out, he wasn't there," Halle said, a worry-stricken look falling over her face.

The sickness she felt of not knowing if Jason was inside the burning house was all-consuming. Spencer had to keep a iron-grip on her, with Halle clawing to break free while she broke down into uncontrollable waterworks. It was selfish — the amount of relief that came over her when she heard the fire marshals call out it was empty. Halle had never been more at ease than she was in the moment she learnt Jason was safe.

Awkward, shifting on her heels, Halle asked, "Can you get her phone? See who text her?"

"I can't," Toby said. "My parents have it." He swallowed nervously, eyes closely briefly before he met Halle's uneven stare. "Halle, this is about the thing you told me, isn't it?"

Halle went to reach for her bag, it being left under the bleachers by the school pool, when an arm caught hers. In shock, Halle gasped; her head whipped around.

Toby stood in front of her, his hand keeping a hold on her. He looked at her seriously and said, "You're gonna tell me what's going on, Halle."

"Toby, it's lot a more complicated than you think," Halle tried.

"Then tell me so I can understand," Toby pleaded. "We don't lie to each other."

Halle paused. The game almost rumbled for her. If she told him, he'd be in danger. But if she didn't, their friendship would be. Halle met Toby's gaze and suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. She didn't know which was the biggest risk. They both came down to the same thing.

Lose Toby, or lose Toby.

"Somebody's after us," Halle revealed, not being able to hold it back anymore. Her chest ached at the weight.

"Who?" Toby's voice dropped, serious and protective.

"I don't know — we don't know," she added swiftly. Halle was aware of time ticking by, and of the knowledge of A. If she stayed too long, A would know she told, and Halle would ruin everything for her friends. "We don't think Ian killed Alison, Jenna's trying to frame us for Alison's murder and Garrett's helping her — It's like Alison's back, it's all the games she loved playing with us."

Toby tried to take in as much information as he could without short-wiring out. His gaze seemed to train in on Halle more. "Is this what Spencer's been keeping from me?"

"Please, Toby — nobody can know I've told you," Halle begged. "Give us the night, please. One night to sort thing and then I'll tell you everything."

Halle broke her promise. Only a day later, when their plan to catch A backfired at the greenhouse, Halle couldn't keep her promise to Toby. He ended up getting hurt because of Spencer's Chucky doll, and Halle kept the secret of A heavily guarded. She carried the guilt around — guilt over Toby not being able to protect himself because Halle was too much of a coward to tell him.

Shifting her eyes around, Halle was hyper-aware of her environment. She didn't trust anybody. Anyone could be working for A. Halle was never meant to feel safe anymore. But Halle had to take the risk this time. She got on her tip-toes and hugged Toby again. He was a little taken aback by a second hug yet his arms fell around her once more.

With her right arm around his back, Halle took the chance. Discretely, she used her index finger to scrawl out a word onto Toby's back. She did it carefully — precise. She waited a few seconds after finishing and repeated the word again. Halle stayed in Toby's arms for a while, lingering as she finished spelling out the name the second time. When she pulled back, Halle gave the tiniest nod and hoped Toby was clued-in.

Her coffee was forgotten.

Meanwhile, as Halle tried to let Toby in, Jason DiLaurentis had arrived at the hospital. Sat beside Aria Montgomery in the waiting area, Jason was patiently watching all around him. He arrived shortly after he went and saw the house, seeing the remnants of the house. His misplaced guilt fell onto Jenna, her having been hurt in the fire while in his home.

"What was Jenna doing in my house?" Jason asked the girl next to him. He hadn't gotten many answers from the police, nor the staff at the hospital. He was just another person loitering around, waiting for any news.

"Don't you know?" asked Aria, her eyebrows screwed up in confusion.

"No," Jason said, shaking his head. "I was halfway to Scranton when I got a call from the police saying there had been a fire." He watched Aria closely, taking in any slight giveaways to what happen. Jason knew now. He knew about A. He was wondering if this was another sign.

Genuinely concerned, Aria asked, "How bad was it?"

Jason sighed. "First floor's pretty much damaged in the back." He shook his head again and added, "But I won't really know much else til morning." His eyes flitted about the place, searching.

"I'm so sorry," met Aria softly.

"Uh—" Jason cleared his throat and tried to act indifferently. "Is Halle... Is she okay? I heard she was there," he mentioned. Jason knew he failed when Aria turned to him with arched eyebrows.

"Yeah, she was there," answered Aria. She divulged more, "She was really scared. She thought..." Aria paused and looked down at her lap, picking at her chipped blue polish. "I wasn't there when the fire happened, but Hanna said she had never seen Halle that way before... Broken," Aria stated. "Halle really thought you were in there, that you were hurt."

"Is she here?"

Aria picked up head up at the level of sincerity in his voice. He had never heard concern quite so clearly before, like it moulded to him. "You really do care about her, don't you?" she asked, and Jason dipped his head low. "Look, Jason." Aria settled in closer and hinted purposefully, knowing she probably shouldn't because Halle hated whenever somebody messed in her life, "If I did know something — which I don't—" she put in briskly, to cover her own back, "I would tell you that you really mean a lot to Halle."

Sighing, Aria sat back in her chair and began to churn over all the horrible things she had said to Halle about Jason. Aria was the first to use their connection to help herself but threw it back in Halle's face when it shifted slightly. Sucking in a sharp breath, Aria took the plunge. "You should tell her," she suggested, causing Jason to raise his brows at her. "I don't know what happened with you two, but I know if I didn't work out before, then it was because of us." She mustered up a sorrowful smile and revealed, "None of us wanted her with you, because we didn't trust you."

"And now?" asked Jason pointedly.

"We all want Halle to be happy," Aria replied easily. "If that's you, we don't wanna be in the way of that." She mustered up a reassuring smile for him and then looked away. Her eyes went to Veronica Hastings, who recently stepped off the elevator looking ashen. "I should probably go talk to Spencer's mom," she said, getting up.

Jason watched Aria greet Mrs Hasting warmly. The woman's face was slewed with worry, even as Hanna and her own mother joined them. He hadn't realised he was beginning to stare until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Jason looked up and found Halle.

"Hey," she greeted softly.

"Hey." Jason was up fast. Instantly, he was on his feet and moved towards her. Fists tucked deeply into his pockets, a nervous habit of his — one Halle had taken notice of, like he did with every one of hers. "Have you seen Jenna?"

"No, not yet," said Halle. "I spoke to Toby, though. She's awake."

"Are you okay? You're not hurt?" Jason asked, searching her face for any injuries.

Halle shook her head, no. A wave of relief muddled up with guilt bubbled out of her suddenly as she breathed out, "God, Jason, I'm so sorry."

"Hey — hey, it's not your fault. Come here," Jason said tenderly. Her was gentle, bringing her into a hug and enclosing his strong arms around her. Halle was lulled into his safety. While in his arms, Halle never felt more secure — protected.

Her own arms had a tendency to tighten, holding him closely. Halle rested her head on his chest, inhaling the smell of his jacket. A mix of cedarwood and Vetiver-root from his aftershave filled her content, flooding her sense, relaxing every tense muscle in her body. It was calming to smell something that wasn't smoke.

His steady hands came up and cupped her face, making her scared eyes meet his gaze. He was smiling down at Halle, his thumb caressing her cheek, when his green eyes turned dark. Something inside switched, and Jason asked seriously, "Is this A?"

"Jason," Halle warned. She stepped back out of his hold and tried to walk away, but Jason had a grip on her wrist and pulled her back. "Don't," she said, "you don't wanna do this."

"This is crazy," Jason insisted, driven by his compulsion to protect her. "We have to tell the police."

A grimace left her the second Halle heard 'we'. It was 'we' already and Jason had only known a day. "I told you earlier, we can't go to the cops," argued Halle. "And besides, who have the cops ever helped in this town?" She closed her eyes, just to recollect herself. After taking a deep breath, she levelled with him. "Please—" She reached for his hand and held it firmly, "Jason, you can't say anything, it'll only make things worse."

"How? This A started a fire in my house, Halle," Jason defended.

"And A also ran me and Hanna over with a car," Halle fought back without thinking. An unwilling, tiny gasp escaped her when she saw the deathly glaze glass over Jason's eyes, and Halle realised she had just dropped herself in it more with him.

"They're the one who hit you with that car?" Jason shook his head, his eyes now enraged. "This is serious, you have to go to the cops."

"We can't, okay?!" Halle whispered-yelled. She was sure to keep her voice down, but certain to get across the level of urgency. Desperately, Halle said, "Please, please let us fix it, we're close."

Reluctantly, Jason caved. "Fine — but I wanna know everything."

"I can't tell you everything," Halle said pathetically.

"Do you love me?" Jason asked her. His question sliced through all the apprehension in Halle's eyes. Jason moved closer until there was only an inch between them, his head tilted to the side as he regarded her while her startled eyes tracked every movement he made, terrified of his call-out. He swallowed thickly and asked again. "Do you love me?" Jason braced himself for another guarded answer, which Halle weakly gave.

"You know I do."

"Then let me help you," he begged.

In the way Halle and Jason looked at each other, anybody would say there was nothing wrong or complicated about that. Both pining and with long overdue connection, they felt the world around them shift. Something had changed, and in a moment, time finally felt like it was on their side.

"Halle," Spencer interrupted the two. Both turned to her, and Spencer said, "Sorry — Jenna wants to speak with us."

"Uh, yeah, coming." Pressing her lips together, Halle glanced back to Jason. "I should..."

"Yeah, I get it," Jason assured. "Let me know how she is."

Nodding, Halle said, "Yeah, I will."

Slowly, as she started to walk away, Halle's hand stayed in Jason's for a while longer. Fingers danced over each other, lingering. When she finally slipped from him, Halle already felt the absence of his touch and wanted it back.

•

Jenna Marshall's frail arms hugged her body. Even in the hospital bed, strapped to several machines monitoring her, she still wore her signature shades. Toby stood protectively beside the bed, an odd sight to witness after all she had put him through. But it was Toby, and he had a gentle heart.

"Jason was miles away when the police called him," Aria stated. Immediately, she corrected any accusation Jenna was prepared to throw, which Halle was grateful for. "He didn't send you that text."

Scared and shaking, Jenna said, "Somebody did."

"Meaning one of us," returned Spencer, unimpressed.

"You can't blame this on us," Emily argued.

Jenna's face caved in. Her lip quivered as meekly whimpered. "I don't," she gave out helplessly, and then broke into tears. The pinkness of her skin grew more prominent as she cried, deepening as she tried to gasp in her breaths.

Discomfort rose in Halle's chest. A sudden queasiness itched up into her throat. This wasn't the Jenna that Halle wanted to see. Watching her in pain, so defenceless, Jenna almost appeared childlike in Halle's mind. She saw Jenna's innocence and how they all stole it away when they blinded her.

"I, uh—" Halle went to speak but couldn't. Nothing intelligible came out.

Toby faced the five. "You should go," he advised and moved to open the door.

At the click of the door opening, Jenna spoke up in haste. "Wait." They froze at her command. "Hanna, are you there?"

"I'm here," Hanna said in a quiet voice.

"Toby said that you were the one that dragged me out, is that right?" she asked, whimpering.

"Yeah, that was me," replied Hanna.

Sucking in a tearful breath, Jenna asked her, "Why?"

Not knowing how to respond, Hanna got a simple yet painful, "You're welcome," and was the first to leave.

•

After they left — both Jenna and the hospital — the five found themselves enthralled with the contents of Alison's bag. On the floor of Spencer's bedroom, the group emptied it out carefully. They made sure everything was laid out where they could easily see everything. "There's gotta be some key," the host mentioned.

"We're the key," Hanna shot back. "I mean, Ali said we know more about what happened than we think we do."

No longer wanting to give the guilt the satisfaction of eating away at her, Halle finally came forward. "I think I know something," Halle inserted, and they all looked to her. Singled out, Halle tried to explain. "At least, I thought I did." She grimaced, eyes stinging a little, and said, "I thought I left the barn That Night."

"Wait, you thought you left?" Hanna asked, baffled.

"I had this memory of me and this rock, covered in blood," Halle explained poorly. Jason already put to rest any doubts she had about that night, but Halle wanted to tell her friends. This wasn't a secret she wanted to keep. "I put the sprinklers on."

"Alison was killed with shovel, Halle," Spencer defended. "It made an indentation in her skull, remember? It's a false memory."

"I know that now, but..." Halle pulled the side of her cheek between her teeth and bit down anxiously. "I really thought I hurt her."

Aria leant forward and reassured her hastily, "You didn't hurt anybody."

"Yeah, we would've heard you leave," agreed Emily.

"You were asleep next to me all night," Aria put in strongly. "Halle, you never left the barn."

Halle sighed and said, "Yeah, I know that now, but I don't wanna keep this from you, especially after tonight. And there's always a risk A would tell you guys first."

"Who tricked Jenna into that house?" Emily asked.

"Well, if it was anybody butJenna, I think it'd be A," Hanna put in, with a small shrug.

Aria acknowledged, "Garrett can't be happy that Toby's back in that house with Jenna."

"I don't think Toby's happy about that either," shot Halle.

Weakly, Emily said, "She was supposed to die in there, wasn't she?"

"And then Jason would be left with that on his conscience too," Halle sighed, hating how misery was thrust upon because of them and A — and Alison.

"I saw you and him, together, at the hospital, " Spencer probed.

"Yeah," Halle replied, looking down at the scraps of newspaper in front of them. "We talked."

"What happened? Did you tell him about...?" asked Aria curiously.

"About A?" Halle asked, and the silence was enough of an answer. She cast her eyes down, focusing on the junk belonging to Alison. "No, course not." Deciding she needed to tell them some truth to her conversation with Jason, Halle took a deep breath and told them, "He did ask me if I loved him, though."

"Oh, my god!" Hanna sat up further in exclamation.

"Wait, what did you say?" Emily asked, bolting up also.

"Well, I didn't give the answer he wanted," Halle grumbled miserably. "He told me he loved me the night of Truth Up," she revealed, and four sets of eyes grew large at the new revelation. "But you guys weren't into the the whole me-and-Jason thing, so I didn't say it back. Actually, I told him to take it back, but that was on me — because I was scared."

"Wait, Jason said he loved you?!" asked Hanna, shrill, and Halle nodded.

Emily reached out and placed her hand on Halle's knee. Her eyes met with Halle's next, and Emily said firmly, "If you love Jason — if Jason's who you want, we'll support it."

Halle looked up, glancing around the bedroom at each of her friends. "You all mean that? Not just now?"

"We mean it," Aria said confidently. "We all really sorry about the way we treated you, and Jason."

"Of course," Hanna offered sincerely.

Spencer attempted to smile convincingly, something hiding behind it. "Yeah, sure," she said. "If it makes you happy."

Inhaling, Halle said, "Let's just... move on." She looked down at the items in front of them. "Let's deal with this mess before we dive into another."

Halle reached out and uncovered Alison's pink music box from under a white cloth. Smiling small, Halle opened it and melted at the soft chime that played. She admired the delicate ballerina as she spun on her spot, and Halle was transported back to a child — in her best friend's bedroom as the same sweet sound rang out. Feeling her eyes water, Halle cleared her throat awkwardly and turned away.

"That's everything," Spencer said.

"No, it's not." Emily's hand dove back into the bag. She slipped it under the bottom and pulled out half a postcard and a few more straps of paper.

Spencer snatched the postcard up. "Does anybody recognise this?"

"Is there anything on the back?" asked Hanna, peering closer.

"Yeah," Spencer said. She glanced down at it before showing it to the other. "Number one."

Aria leant over and took it, inspecting it over herself. "It's just half a postcard," she said.

"How do we find out where it's from?" Emily asked.

"Or what it's of?" Halle questioned, looking at it with Aria.

"Yeah, and where's the other half?" added in Spencer, eyes already on something else.

Hanna's brows screwed up a little. "Wait—" she paused as the turned over the newspaper, it crinkled from being wrapped around the miscellaneous objects. "This isn't from July, it's from the end of August — look," she said, thrusting the paper out into the centre.

Aria passed over the postcard to Halle while she accepted the paper instead. She read it over and voiced the growing mystery, "It's Labor Day events from Philadelphia, Brookhaven and..." Briskly, she flew to the back page. She cut herself off, face falling as she did so.

Halle peaked over and filled instantly with dread. She met the red ink circling the concert event and grimaced. "Rosewood."

Picking up on it, Emily asked Aria, "When did Duncan say he left Ali at the airfield?"

"Before noon on Sunday," Aria answered swiftly, eyes on the time printed on the advertisement.

"Well, is this where she was when we thought she was on that bus?" implored Spencer curiously.

"Who did she plan on meeting?" Aria asked them.

Abruptly, much to their shock, the music box started to chime again. Their eyes darted up, nervous and shaking as the ballerina danced once more. A tremor passed through Halle, and she knew the game had changed.

•