𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐊, 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐄! | 𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐆𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐘

four.

"we can sit at the back," iris nudged olivia forward encouragingly. she was stood in the doorway of rosewood church, partially blocking the door which passer-by's didn't seem impressed by until they realised who she was and then they'd pat her shoulder sympathetically and offer their condolences.

they knew her as alison's friend, they didn't see the built up hatred she'd had against her, how she'd blamed her for everything that happened between her and aria after she'd found out about them. now she just felt guilty, she'd been holding a grudge against the girl while alison had been killed. and now people were offering their condolences to her like she was some great friend. she didn't deserve it, she shouldn't have been there.

olivia had wanted to stay at home, which she knew sounded awful. everyone had tried to act understanding about it but her mother had told her she would regret it if she didn't go. which was how she wound up wedged between kalani and iris, both girls eyeing her as if she was about to flee at any second. they knew her too well. kalani gently moved the girl from the door. "come on," she said. "you can leave if it gets too much." olivia wanted to tell her that it was already too much, that she could feel her heart pounding in her ears and she felt frozen to the ground. but she was at a total loss for words.

she felt a hand slide through hers, she'd assumed it was iris but when she spun around to face her, it wasn't iris. it was spencer who looked like she'd hadn't slept in days. maybe she hadn't, olivia knew what it was like to toss and turn all night thinking about alison. "the others are up there," spencer gestured to the front row. "you should sit with us." olivia glanced towards her friends, iris' nose had scrunched in mild disgust at spencer's presence. "i-" she trailed off, her words getting caught in her throat. she couldn't say that she didn't want to be anywhere near her former friends, that the thought of being around aria made her nauseous.

but aria wasn't even there, it was just emily and hanna. "we should be together," spencer continued. "it's what ali would want." olivia had to resist the urge to laugh at that, mainly because it would've been in bad taste considering the situation. she didn't think alison would've wanted them together at all, she would've wanted them at each others throats, which is probably how they would've ended up if they hadn't rested on civil greetings. "ok," olivia breathed out slowly. "just give me a second."

she turned from spencer towards her friends who were waiting for her to join them. iris already knew that olivia was going with spencer, it was written across her face. "it's just because we were her friends," olivia explained, kalani glancing between them in confusion. "yeah," iris nodded, tearing her eyes away from the girl. "we'll be here whenever you want us." kalani's brows furrowed. "i'm just going to sit with-" olivia trailed off, unsure on what to refer to them as, she landed on gesturing in their general direction.

"ok," kalani shrugged. "they're your friends, after all." kalani was always calm about olivia's ex-friendships, she'd never really cared about it. but kalani and iris had never been on the receiving end of alison apart from the girl mocking them behind their backs, they weren't important enough for her. "ex-friends," olivia corrected her before she turned back to spencer, hoping she hadn't overheard any of their conversation.

emily and hanna instantly moved to make room for spencer and olivia when they approached, hanna shot olivia a sympathetic smile as she sat in between her and spencer. "did we ever think this was how it was all going to end?" emily asked, her focus on the framed photo of alison that stood before them. olivia had done a pretty good job of avoiding it so far but now she was sitting extremely close to it, the girl staring back at her through the picture. olivia's stomach lurched as she tried to keep her breath steady. "no," she replied, shaking her head. "i mean, it was alison, a part of me always thought this was some cruel joke."