"I didn't just get into his car last night. Who do you think I am?" -Aria Montgomery
The girls watched in shock as paramedics loaded Hanna into the ambulance.
"We have to get to the hospital. Are you guys okay to drive?" Spencer asked as they drove off.
"Yeah, I guess so," Emily muttered.
"Okay, come on," Spencer replied. Isabel had a beat-up car that her foster parents had given her, so she got into that. Her hands shook all the way to the hospital.
-
In the waiting room, the girls called their mothers. Isabel watched wistfully as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt.
"Is she okay, Ms. Marin?" Aria frowned as Ms. Marin approached them.
"She is going to be all right," Ms. Marin assured them. "She, um...She has a broken leg and a broken ankle, bruised ribs...and, uh, they might have to remove her spleen." She paused for a moment, warily eying the girls. "What happened?"
"Hanna was coming across the parking lot..." Spencer explained.
"...and this car just came out of nowhere," Isabel finished, her eyes shining with tears.
"Well, the police found the car. They said it was stolen," Ms. Marin continued.
"Did they catch the driver?" Isabel frowned.
"No, not yet," Ms. Marin sighed.
"Cops should be looking for Toby Cavanaugh," Spencer huffed. Isabel just rolled her eyes at that, and remembered that Toby had wanted to meet up with her and Emily. She was about to open her mouth, but Ms. Marin beat her to it.
"It wasn't Toby Cavanaugh. The police picked him up," Ms. Marin replied.
"What?!" Isabel gasped, turning to Emily. She had let him down. They both had.
"One of the officers told me..." Ms. Marin explained nervously, "they found him hiding in town and they were bringing him in...when they got the call about Hanna." She paused, seeing the tired, desperate look on Isabel's and Emily's faces. "You girls should go home. I will call you when Hanna can have visitors."
"Just let Hanna know that we were here," Spencer sighed.
"I will, when she wakes up," Ms. Marin nodded before she walked away.
"Toby isn't 'A'," Emily scoffed as soon as Ms. Marin was out of sight.
"We told you so," Isabel added angrily, crossing her arms.
"Well, Hanna knows who is," Spencer argued. "That's why 'A' tried to kill her."
"Think they're just trying to scare us?" Emily gulped.
"Well, it worked," Aria shrugged.
"This was never about scaring us, that was just a bonus," Spencer explained. "And this started with murder...we were crazy to think it wouldn't end up like this."
"So should we tell the cops?" Emily asked worriedly.
"Tell them what?" Isabel snapped. "That we have a crazy stalker tailing us twenty-four-seven? Or that they're posing as our dead best friend who knows all of our secrets?"
"Uh... I meant everything," Emily muttered.
"We don't know everything," Spencer scoffed.
"So, what do we do?" Aria frowned.
"Well, we talk to Hanna before we do anything," Isabel pointed out.
"Is Hanna safe here?" Aria gulped.
"Yeah," Spencer assured her. "Nothing will happen to her while her mom is with her."
-
Isabel was on the phone with Mike back at her hotel room.
"No, Hanna's okay," Isabel told him.
"That's good to hear," Mike nodded. Isabel paused for a second, gathering up the courage to argue with him.
"Hey, look, maybe you'd want to go see a movie sometime, or possibly get some coffee," Isabel suggested.
"I can't. Busy," Mike said.
"Mike, you're always busy. What's up with you?" Isabel scoffed.
"Nothing. I'm just busy," Mike said in a clipped sort of way.
"Mike, Aria's my friend. I know what's going on with your parents. I understand how you must feel, but what I don't understand is why you won't open up to me," Isabel sighed. She sat down on her bed, fiddling with the sheets.
"Look, just forget about it, okay? I just called to see if Hanna and you were okay, and you are," Mike huffed. "Bye." Then he hung up.
Isabel sighed again and threw her phone onto her bed. Suddenly, it beeped.
'Poor Isabel never really gets the guy. He always tosses her away like she doesn't matter. But don't worry, hon. You'll always have me! -A'
-
The next day, the girls visited Hanna in the hospital.
"Does it hurt?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, kind of," Hanna replied.
"Do you remember what happened?" Spencer pressed.
"Uh, yeah, I remember," Hanna nodded. The she cleared her throat, looking at her mother. "Um, Mom, you've been here the whole time. Do you wanna take a break?"
"Are you sure?" Ms. Marin frowned.
"Yeah."
"I'll be back in a couple of hours," Ms. Marin said, leaving.
Once she was gone, Hanna sighed. "Noel Kahn is 'A'."
"What? Are you serious?" Emily gasped.
"Yeah, I saw him in the woods, and he left an 'A' message," Hanna explained.
"You saw him leave a message?" Spencer frowned.
"He wrote something...on the back of a car," Hanna admitted.
"What car?" Emily asked.
"What did he write?" Isabel added.
"'I see you,'" Aria said quietly. All of the girls turned to her.
"How do you know?" Spencer asked. Aria hesitated, but saw the imploring looks on the others' faces.
"I was in the car," Aria finally sighed.
"Whose car was it?" Emily pressed.
"Ezra Fitz," Aria confessed after a pause.
"Mr. Fitz?" Isabel frowned. Aria was silent. "Aria?"
"Hanna?" Spencer demanded, rounding on her.
"It was Mr. Fitz," Hanna confirmed. The others were stunned.
"You and Mr. Fitz," Emily stated plainly.
"You met him there?" Spencer asked.
"The call you got at the party...that was from him?" Emily said slowly.
"I couldn't tell. I couldn't tell anyone," Aria swore. "I promised Ezra."
"Ezra?" Isabel scoffed.
"Hold it. This is something that's been going on?" Spencer huffed. "You and a teacher?"
"I didn't just get into his car last night," Aria said defensively. "Who do you think I am?"
"How long have you been seeing him?" Emily pressed.
"Since right before school started," Aria sighed.
"Oh, my God, since Labor Day?" Spencer gaped. Isabel was also having a hard time grasping the idea of Aria dating someone seven years older than her.
"Okay, so you don't have a boyfriend in Iceland?" Hanna frowned.
"No, I did," Aria promised. "Yeah, but it's not like that."
"You were seeing a teacher when I fixed you up with Noel?!" Hanna exclaimed. "Oh, my God, I fixed you up with Noel."
"And why did you get in his car last night?" Isabel sighed. Her head was now spinning.
"Well, he, um, called me and-" Aria began, but saw the looks on the others' faces. "Oh, don't look at me like that."
"Ah, my head hurts just as much as my leg now," Hanna complained.
"What exactly did you see?" Spencer said, getting straight to the point.
"Well, I saw Aria go into a parked car...and then I saw someone in a black hoodie...write something on the back of the car window," Hanna explained. "And when he turned around...it was Noel."
"No, it can't be Noel," Aria argued.
"Aria, I saw what I saw," Hanna huffed.
"And 'A' tried to kill her for it," Isabel nodded.
"Okay, but none of us saw who was driving the car," Aria pointed out. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"If that's someone with painkillers, just let them in," Hanna grumbled. Aria got up and answered it.
"Noel," she gasped.
Isabel snuck out of Hanna's hospital room. No way was she gonna have another run-in with Noel Kahn like the one at his party. As she snuck by, she heard snippets of their conversation.
"Hanging with Sean-"
"Wondering..."
-
Isabel and Spencer were back in the woods again (great) to show Aria the 'Alison + Ian' tree.
"A bar?" Spencer scoffed.
"You met him in a bar?" Isabel repeated.
"It's not a bar, it's a pub," Aria huffed, stepping over a tree root.
"And he hit on you?" Spencer frowned.
"Yeah, we were talking about writing," Aria shrugged.
"Yeah, read any good books lately?" Isabel joked.
"Hey, seriously," Aria said, giving her the 'are you serious?' Look.
"Boy...part of me thinks this is really self-destructive behavior...but most of me just thinks it's really hot," Spencer admitted.
"Oh, like you'd wanna have a relationship with someone older," Isabel said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, I'm sure you like older guys," Spencer shot back.
"No, I like Mike," Isabel frowned.
"Yeah, and, Spence, don't tease, okay?" Aria sighed. "It's not funny. It's the opposite of funny."
"I'm sorry," Spencer said. "It's just..."
"We don't know how we're supposed to react," Isabel finished for her.
"Yeah, neither do I," Aria grumbled. "Show me the stupid tree, okay?"
"Yeah," Isabel nodded, walking up to the area where they had found it. "It's right over here."
In the spot where a whole tree used to be was a stump.
"You are not gonna tell me..." Aria scoffed.
"No, this was it," Spencer insisted. She stared at the stump, confused.
"It was right here," Isabel frowned. "I swear it!"
"You sure that you have the right spot?" Aria asked skeptically.
"I'm sure," Spencer said.
"It's gone!"
-
"We should call Em and Hanna," Aria suggested as they walked into Spencer's kitchen.
"We'll talk to them at the hospital," Spencer sighed, putting her bag down
"A tree, Spence, an entire tree," Isabel scoffed. She got up to get something to drink from the fridge, and pulled out two champagne bottles.
"I would have been fine with just cranberry juice," Aria frowned. Spencer walked over to Isabel.
"Where'd you get that?" Spencer asked.
"Oh, you found my stash!"
Isabel turned around to see Ian smiling at her.
"Should be cold enough, right?" Ian grinned, taking the two bottles out of her hands. "You have great timing. Grab some glasses, Melissa's out in the barn."
"I'd like to know what I'm celebrating," Isabel muttered.
"You don't have to be celebrating...to drink champagne," Ian shrugged. "That's very old-fashioned thinking."
"You canceled practice today," Spencer mentioned.
"Yes, I did," Ian agreed.
"To be with Melissa?" Spencer asked skeptically.
"Yes," Ian repeated.
"Why?" Spencer pressed.
"Uh, you know, why don't you come out and talk to your sister?" Ian gulped, dodging the question.
No. I think I'd like to hear this from you," Spencer scoffed, crossing her arms and walking over.
Suddenly, Melissa appeared in the doorway, wearing a...wedding dress?
"We're married," Melissa giggled.
"You're what?" Spencer blinked in disbelief.
"We eloped," Melissa added.
"Yeah, it's incredible," Ian nodded. "It's like last year never happened."
"Congratulations," Isabel smiled politely.
"Thank you," Melissa grinned.
"Do Mom and Dad know?" Spencer frowned.
"Not yet," Melissa shrugged.
"Yeah, we expect they'll be a little, um, surprised, but..." Ian nodded.
"Surprised? Ha," Spencer scoffed.
"This is what I want. They'll understand," Melissa assured her. "You'll help me with them. I know I can count on you."
"All right, uh, bring some glasses. We'll have a toast," Ian smiled. He and Melissa both left to the barn.
"Spence, what just happened?" Aria gulped.
-
Back at the hospital, the girls exchanged news stories.
"You told them?" Aria asked Emily.
"Yeah," Emily nodded.
"How was that?" Spencer said.
"Rough," Emily admitted.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay, Em," Isabel assured her, putting an arm around her.
"I don't know what it's gonna be...but it's gonna be different," Emily gulped.
"I guess so," Spencer muttered.
"So the whole tree?" Hanna asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah, lock, stock, and bird's nest," Spencer huffed.
"Why?" Hanna frowned. "Why show something like that and then just take it away?"
"Like A had a split personality," Isabel added.
"That's great," Hanna said sarcastically. "'A' is homicidal and nuts."
"We've been thinking..." Spencer replied, glancing at Isabel and Aria. "...Maybe we're dealing with more than one person."
"'A' and Ali's killer are two separate people?" Hanna scoffed. "You are freaking out the invalid."
"No, think about it," Spencer nodded.
"No, you think about it," Hanna snapped. "Aren't we in enough trouble? I know I am. Just look at me." She stared at the cast on her leg. Isabel noticed the writing on it.
"Han." Isabel's eyes widened. "Han, who wrote this?"
"I don't know," Hanna said impatiently. "People have been in and out all day, and so have I."
"Oh, no," Emily agreed, seeing it as well.
"What?" Hanna frowned. "What? What's on there?" Isabel gulped, and pointed to the message on her cast.
'Sorry about losing my temper. My bad. Love, -A.'
"Who put that on my leg?" Hanna shrieked. "Who wrote that?"
"Did somebody come in here while you were asleep?" Emily gulped.
"I don't know! Just get it off. Just wipe it off!" Hanna yelled "Get it off me!"