4 Years Later

A/N: So, I have not written a fanfic in a super long time and have never written a Pretty Little Liar's fanfic but I was on a road trip not to long ago and for some reason i do my best thinking in the car. So, I thought it would be a cool idea if in season four the PLL writers skip 4 year, cause honestly what TV show successfully did "the college years," plus it coincides with the season number so that's cool too. Anyway, i skipped over season three and will string in information on what happened in season 3 through the chapters. Some of this will be Spoiler/ Speculation based so don't read if you don't want hints on whats going to happen in season 3. Also, just based on how much i wrote in the first chapter, this will be a very long fanfic over a long period of time. Though, i will try to write a chapter weekly. My writing style is a bit mixed, sometimes i will write mostly in paragraph form and sometimes i will write mostly dialog, it really depends on the character and situation. This is a All Characters fanfic but based mostly on Emily, Hannah, Spencer, and Aria. I will dive into some of the other characters lives as well though. I will try to incorporate minor characters, too but no zobies or dead people, sorry Maya fans. I will also bring in some new characters! Okay, Enjoy!

Spencer

Had it not been for the large metal detectors at the door and being extensively padded down by a female guard Spencer would have thought she were in a hospital. The fluorescent white lights and the pneumonia smell made her feel like she was back at Rosewood Memorial. The female guard who had padded her down noticed the face Spencer made as she breathed in the air.

"Sorry, there's a bug going around the prison, it was either this or vomit." The guard said crudely. Spencer could only hope the man she was here to see got this bug the guard spoke of. Ellansburg Prison had a bad reputation for doing everything short of beating their prisoners to make them feel some sort of discomfort. Spencer had no doubt this "bug" was not at all accidental. However, she could not blame them for their extreme measures; Ellansburg did house the most dangerous criminals in Pennsylvania and this now included the man she once loved.

During her senior year of high school she had lost the one person who she could trust to never lie to her. When she found out that he had been lying to her the whole time she felt completely empty. The guy she loved was the cause of so much pain. Four years ago it hurt her to love him and it hurt her even more not to love him. Now Spencer was stronger and a whole lot smarter, her feelings for him were gone and her memories of him were forever tainted.

Spencer sat down on the same uncomfortable metal chair that she had sat on every time she came to the prison. After all the arrests happened four years ago Spencer wanted answers. She practically lived at the Rosewood Police Department for the first couple months after "The A Team" were seemingly gone for good. Partly because it seemed too good to be true and partly because she did not want to believe it was true. She was happy to not be looking over her shoulder all the time, but knowing that not only one but two people she loved were involved in making her and her friends lives a living hell was almost worse than the living hell itself.

Spencer had gone to every court case, spoken to every lawyer, searched through all the arrest records to try to find information she knew she could only get from five people, all of whom were not talking. They were also all in different prisons which made holding her job as a paralegal in Harrington difficult, but for her, manageable. The other girls did not have as much to do with this type of stuff. They were supportive and they helped when they could but with "A" being gone and the whole "A" team in prison they were able to move on with their lives. However, Spencer wanted more, she wanted to know why, why would these people go through so much trouble to hurt them. A normal psychopath that hates someone just kills them. The "A" team was far worse; Their plan was not to kill them, their plan was to make the girls suffer as much a possible and have to live with that pain for the rest of their lives, and Spencer was living with that pain in so many ways.

Walking into the room on the other side of the glass was her first love, Toby. Since the last time she saw him, which was about four months ago, he had grown a scruffy beard and his hair was a tad bit shaggier. His eyes were cold like they had been the night he was arrested and every day since. It was like he had been wearing a mask their whole relationship and when the police took him away that unforgettable night he was able to take off the mask. As he sat down he avoided her eye contact as much as possible, but she was burning a whole through his forehead with her eyes so contact was inevitable. He stopped picking up the phone connected to the side of the wall several visits ago. In Spencer's first visits she yelled, screamed, cried, and begged for any kind of response from him. Not one visit has gone by where he has said a word or even gestured or nodded. He always remained stone faced and silent. Every visit Spencer would pick up the phone and wait to see if he would do the same. If he refused to pick the phone up she would write on a piece of paper given to her by the guard. This time she didn't need to do either. Spencer pulled her cell phone out of her purse and held it to the glass. The text she showed to Toby read " Long time, No see, Spencer. Well, i've got my eye on you now and Toby won't save you this time" –A.

For the first time Toby was the first to pick up the phone. Spencer followed his actions in pure shock. She hoped this meant he would talk to her but she dared not get her hopes up. When the visits first started Toby would have the phone to his ear and remain completely silent, Spencer worried this time would be no different. Toby's brow was furrowed and Spencer did not know if it was in anger or just because he was deep in thought. She used to be able to read him so well, but now he was a complete mystery to her. As Toby's mouth started to move Spencer's heart skipped a beat. She was so overwhelmed that she did not know if she was going to be able to comprehend what he was saying. Part of her was so excited because she secretly wished the words to come out of his mouth would be "This is all a mistake, Spence. I love you," but the majority of her excitement came from finally possibly getting some answers to this mystery that she had dedicated her life to. The other girls accepted "A" was gone for good but Spencer knew better. Three days ago the text from "A" confirmed her fears and she has not gotten much sleep since. The other girls got texts as well and she told them she would be in Rosewood in two days, the prison was just a quick pit stop. The cheap hotels she had been staying in didn't help her sleep situation much. However, her lack of sleep was not weighing on her now and the waiting for Toby to say something seemed longer than the sleepless nights she's had. Toby look down at the table beneath him, as if he would find the proper words there. When he looked up there was the slightest glimpse of the old Toby, this nearly brought tears to her eyes but she was able to restrain herself. He was look at her making direct eye contact "Be Careful" He said, quickly hanging up the phone and raising his hand for the guard to take him back to his cell.

Before Toby was able to escape, Spencer made sure he saw her words even if he could not hear them. "That's It!?" She said. "What do you think I have been doing for the past four years!" She yelled. "You can burn in hell, Toby!" she said banging on the glass. Spencer's life had been full of security measures and precautions, she had more locks and dead bolts on her apartment door than the super would even allow. She had a three year old German Shepard named Roy that would bark his head off every time someone came to the door and she made friends with some guys who worked for the Harrington Police Department, but Toby was telling her to be careful? However, she knew Toby was right, all the security in the world could not keep "A" out of her life. She walked out of the prison in tears, but not tears of sadness, they were tears of anger and fear. She promised herself years ago she would never again cry sad tears for Toby Cavanaugh.