After the Final Bell Tolls
Chapter One
Summary: The final bell has tolled and the Little Liars are more scared then they ever have been of 'A'.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars. I just re-watched the season one finale of Pretty Little Liars and I am re-freaking out about it. AU to most of what happens in season one.
The final bell has tolled and the Little Liars are walking out of the church for the second time that night as a group. They see their families standing in the front of the group that has gathered. They hear the mutterings of the other people who are there. Then they see their boyfriends and they all take off running into safe arms… or at least they think they are all running into safe arms.
Spencer
My mom is nowhere to be seen. Of course, she's probably still at the hospital with Melissa. My dad on the other hand is yelling at some police officer and as I walk by, I see him smile an apologetic smile and tears fill my eyes. Blinking my vision clear, I scan the crowd for someone else that is concerned for me and my eyes land on Toby. He looks as confused as can be to what is happening. As soon as he spots me looking at him, his arms open and I run toward him. I ignore all of the stares and comments that the residents of Rosewood are making about me and my boyfriend as his arms close around me and hold me close.
"Spencer, please tell me that you are okay." Toby muttered and I just cry into his chest.
"Spencer, what happened in there?" my dad asked as he rests a gentle hand on my shoulder.
"Ian tried to kill me. He killed Alison, and then he tried to kill me." I said through tears as I pulled away from Toby enough to look up at my dad.
"Spence, I'm serious about this." My dad said shaking his head a little bit.
"MY FRIENDS HEARD THE ENTIRE THING!" I exclaimed as I turned back into Toby's chest and he just hold me.
"Shh, everything is going to be okay Spencer. I won't let anything happen to you again. I will never leave your side again. I will always be there to protect you from now on." Toby said into my ear and I knew that my dad was still standing there, completely shocked.
Hanna
Why had I let Caleb leave last night without saying something to him? Now, he's probably far away from here on his way to Arizona to try and find his mom. I saw my mom talking to Aria's parents and I looked over at my best friends; Aria and Emily were holding each other and both of their eyes were scanning the crowd.
"Hanna?" a voice from behind me asked.
"Caleb? Lucas? What are you guys doing here?" I asked as I ran to both of them pulled both of them into a simultaneous hug.
"I went to get him for you Hanna." Lucas muttered in my ear.
"Thank you so much Lucas." I said turning my head toward him as I pulled away from them and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "It means so much to me that you still care, even with how badly I treated you." I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"You deserve to be happy Hanna. And if I can't make you happy, then I know that Caleb can." Lucas said as his hands gently rested on the small of my back.
"Do you forgive me?" I asked as tears filled my eyes. I was already going to be losing Emily since she was going to be moving to Texas, I couldn't completely lose Lucas too.
"Of course I do Han. I don't think I can manage staying mad at you anymore." Lucas said as he turned me around to face Caleb.
"Tomorrow, you have to tell me what the letter said." I said before I wrapped my arms around his neck and lightly kissing his lips.
"You didn't get the letter? I gave it to Mona to give to you." Caleb said, confusion written on his face.
"Well, she didn't give it to me." I said slowly. 'Damn Mona is going to be dead.' I thought as I let Caleb hold me while I turned around and grabbed Lucas' hand in mine.
Emily
The first person that I saw after my friends and I walked out of the church was my mom. And of course, she was on the phone. 'Probably trying to get a hold of my dad to inform him of what happened.' I thought. As I continued to scan the crowd, I saw Ben looking completely concerned. I couldn't contain the tears that spilled from my eyes as I hurried into his arms. Since we had split up a while back, it had felt weird to not have Ben's arms around me when I was upset. Looking up into Ben's eyes, I knew that I would always be comforted and that we were back together again.
"Ben, it was really awful." I said with a shaky voice.
"Shh, it's okay Em. I'm here now. You don't have to worry about anything anymore. I'm here for you." Ben said as he kissed my forehead.
It felt so nice to feel his lips on my forehead and his arms around my waist again. It had been too long since I had felt safe with anyone. Of course, the time around homecoming that I had been interested in Toby, but that was up until my friends scared me into thinking that I was alone in the Chem Lab with my best friend's killer.
"What happened in there?" Ben asked looking into my eyes.
"Ian tried to kill Spencer…" I said as I looked over at my friend. Spencer was crying into Toby's chest. 'Thank God that Spencer has someone besides me and the girls that is there for her.' I thought as I just stood there, Ben's arms holding me close, watching my best friend being comforted by my next door neighbor.
"Em… where is Ian?" Ben asked.
"I don't know. He was hanging from the ropes that are used to ring the bell, but after we all walked out of the church, one of the police officers told us that there wasn't anybody in there. His body completely disappeared." I said as a fresh wave of tears started to run down my cheeks.
"Shh, I didn't mean to upset you babe." Ben muttered in my ear, but what was with the subtle hint of joy behind his wards? Was Ben happy that Ian's body was missing?
Aria
As Spencer, Hanna, Emily and I walked out of the church for the second time, I immediately saw Noel push through to the front of the crowd. He looked confused, and when he saw me, he looked concerned. Ducking under the caution tape, Noel started to walk toward me while I ran to him.
"Oh God Aria, are you okay?" Noel asked as he held me close.
"I don't know yet." I said as my whole body shook with fear.
"Are you cold?" Noel asked noticing my shaking.
"No, I'm scared. Ian's body was just hanging there, one of the ropes around his neck, and then… gone." I said looking up at him.
"That's not possible Aria." Noel said slowly.
"Are you saying that what me and my friends saw was a lie?" I asked in disbelief as I pulled back.
"I would never say that Aria. I'm just saying that a body can't just disappear that quickly. There has to be a logical solution to this whole thing." Noel said pulling me back towards him.
"It would be great if someone could think of one." I muttered into his chest.
"The police will find one." Noel said as an empty promise.
"Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery. Can you all come with me please?" an officer asked as all four girls turned toward him.
"Absolutely not; my daughter and her friends have been through enough tonight; any questions you have for them can wait until tomorrow." Peter said putting his hand on Spencer's shoulder.
"Mr. Hastings, it's not questioning about Ian Thomas, it's about a flash drive that we found lying on the floor of the bell tower." The officer said and Peter let his daughter's shoulder go.
"Have any of you girls seen this flash drive before?" the officer asked.
"Yes sir. We found it in a storage locker that had rented by Alison; it has videos of us, Alison and Jenna Marshall all changing at young ages." Spencer spoke up. She decided to leave off the part where Jenna was actually seducing Toby in the video.
"Do you ever see who is filming?" the officer asked.
"No sir." Spencer said dejectedly; just another piece of evidence that doesn't get the police anywhere but back to Spencer or Toby.
"Ms Hastings, is there anyone else in these videos?" the officer asked.
"Toby Cavanaugh." Spencer muttered as she turned to look at her boyfriend who was being held back by Spencer's dad.
"Excuse me? Ms Hastings, will you please repeat that louder?" the officer asked.
"She said Toby Cavanaugh is also in one of the videos." Emily replied.
"Thank you Ms Fields, but I was asking Ms Hastings." The officer retorted.
"Can't you see that she's upset? She was almost just killed!" Aria exclaimed.
"Ms Montgomery, need I remind you that we have no evidence that Mr. Thomas was even here tonight? All we have is the words of 4 teenage girls who have been known to lie to the police before." The officer said as he grabbed Aria's arms firmly.
"Get your hands off of my daughter." Byron said as he walked over with Ella.
"I'm sorry Mr. Montgomery. It won't happen again." The officer said as he released Aria and she rubbed her arms.
"That's enough for one night. Girls, you all need to go home and…" Bryon started to say, but stopped when all four girls ran back to their boyfriends.
"Spencer." Toby muttered as he held her close to his body and did what he could to comfort her.
"Hanna." Caleb said as she slid into his arms before Hanna grasped Lucas' hand in hers again.
"Emily." Ben said distantly… with a small smile playing at the corners of his lips.
"Aria." Noel mumbled into Aria's hair as he kept his eyes on the edges of the church, looking for a movement.
End Chapter One
(A/N: Well, what did you think? Who do you all think that isn't being sincere about their reactions to what the Little Liars just went through? I gave you clues as to who it could be. So, out of the five guys, Ben and Noel are the two that are being played off as being insincere. But which one is sincere, and which one isn't? – Emma)
