I decided I wanted to try something new in regards to writing, and seeing as my brain has literally nothing but this show in it right now, I figured this was the way to go. It's not the longest thing I've ever written and it kind of trails off towards the end, but I don't hate it, which is always a good sign.

Sad fact – I don't own PLL, or anything associated to it.

"Revealing the truth is like lighting a match , it can bring light , or it can set your world on fire"

She needed to see him, yet she was desperate to avoid him at the same time. She'd spent months not knowing. Not knowing who'd killed Alison, not knowing who was torturing herself and her friends, not knowing if he'd ever forgive her for the lies she had to tell, and now that she could answer at least one of those questions, possibly two going by that kiss, there were more things that she didn't know - how he'd react when he found out the extent of her lies, how she'd get over what had happened that night, how Emily would cope over the following days, weeks, months, how Hanna would come to terms with the fact that her best friend was her worst enemy. As much as she wanted to believe it, it wasn't over, it wasn't the end, just, it seemed, the beginning of the end.

"Spencer?"

She froze, clutching tighter to her friends. She hadn't expected him to want answers so soon. In the chaos she'd momentarily forgotten that he and Emily couldn't live much closer if they tried. In any other scenario she'd have had the night to sleep on it, to work out what she was going to tell him, she and her friends would be in Emily's house right now, her mom cooking for them like they'd briefly mentioned before all hell broke loose. Again. But this was reality, she wasn't in Emily's house, and their second meeting since the unmasking of 'A' had come sooner that she had expected or wanted. Or had she wanted it this soon? Despite her fear of him being unable to forgive her, she'd missed him more than she'd thought possible. She bit her lip. He still loved her. He'd been pretending not to. He told her that. So why was she so scared? If he loved her, he'd forgive her, right? She broke away from her friends, turning away to face him.

"Toby."

"Your heart never lies, but it doesnt always reveal the truth"

She could barely hold it in, the tears she felt building up again, the fear that he'd been snatched away from her again, that she'd lose him. She wasn't sure she'd be able to cope if that happened again. She opened her mouth to speak, but the only sound she made was a sob, a sob that made him wrap her in his arms, desperate to soothe her.

"I didn't believe you."

His whispered words confused her, and she momentarily pulled away to try and decipher his emotions through his expression.

A faint smile played on his lips as their eyes met, his arm still protectively around her. "What you asked Emily to tell me. I didn't believe it."

"How..."

"Emily's a bad liar." He stated, making no attempt to lead her away from the group. He seemed to understand that they needed to be together right now. "I might have believed her though, if you'd made any attempt to make it look like you had any feelings for..." He cut off, and she understood, neither of them needed to say his name, they both knew who he meant. "I kind of like that you couldn't pretend."

"Not like you." She finally spoke. "I wish we could google how people feel about us."

"Spencer Hastings uses google?"

She scowled slightly, resting her head on his shoulder, "Not usually."

"If someone has enough courage to ask you a question seriously, then you should be brave enough to answer truthfully"

"Spencer?"

She gulped. This was it.

"What happened? I know a bit, but, I need to know the rest."

"You know that..."

"You were being threatened, and that it was serious." He tensed as he spoke, and she felt his grip tighten slightly. "Dr. Sullivan didn't tell me much."

"Why did you look for her?"

"I figured if you were lying to me then there was a reason." He hesitated. "I wanted answers, Spence. I figured she could give me some."

She bit her lip, looking down to avoid eye contact. There it was, that feeling of guilt that always came every time her lack of honesty was mentioned.

"It was Mona."

He nodded. "You realise I hate her, right?"

"She's sick." Spencer pointed out. "I don't even know if she knew she was doing it."

"I don't care."

They fell silent, listening to the sounds of the sirens as yet more police arrived on the scene. Listening to Emily's sobs as Hanna, Aria and her mother desperately tried to comfort her. Spencer knew she should be trying to do the same, but she wasn't sure she could be even a short distance from Toby now that she was near him.

"No matter how hard we try to ignore it or deny it, eventually the lies fall away. Whether we like it or not. But here's the truth about the truth. It hurts. So we lie"

"Spencer."

The interruption was unwelcome, and probably an attempt at spite considering it's source, but she knew if she ignored it, she could just cause herself more trouble.

"Melissa."

"I called mom." She gave a sympathetic smile which anyone would be able to see as false. "She said she got a call from the police about you and now you're not answering your phone. Someone tried to kill you?"

"I'm fine." Lie

"I'm just saying, Spence, maybe you should call her." She looked over at Toby. "Maybe you should leave him here."

"Maybe that's none of your business."

"Mom doesn't like him, Spence." She sighed. "And frankly, neither do I, he basically abandoned you, I thought he was gone for good. He's bad news."

"Your opinion of me doesn't define who I am."Toby's statement was blunt, but the power was in the words. "And it doesn't change the fact that I'm not going anywhere."

"How can you say that?" Spencer tried to overlook his words until her sister left them alone. "Toby's never done anything without the best intentions."

"Spence." Unlike the previous interruption, Hanna's was welcome. "My mom just called, she wanted to know what was going on, she said we can stay at mine tonight."

Spencer nodded, noting that Melissa had taken the opportunity to back off, probably to go and tell their parents that she was being unreasonable. Even if she wasn't A, she was still spiteful and vindictive.

"Are you okay?"

She sunk back into Toby's arms, nodding against his chest. "I'm through caring about what Melissa thinks, or what my parents think, it hurts too much to care."

She listened as he sighed. "If it still hurts, you still care."

"I'd rather be beaten with truth, than soothed with lies"

They walked towards Hanna's house in near silence. Emily's mom had offered to drive her with the others, but Spencer wanted the extra time with Toby before resigning herself to a sleepless night of tears with those who had been through what she had, questions from a mother that had suspected something was wrong for a while now, and another who, although out of the loop for some time, was just as much the worried and defensive parent that she had ever been.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"A..." She cut off, correcting herself. "Your accident wasn't an accident."

"Spence," He sighed. "These things happen."

"The day I broke up with you, Mona sent me a doll." She reached up to wipe her tears away, only for him to beat her to it. "It came with a message." She paused. "It told me to protect you." She hesitated. "I did what I had to do to do that, but I couldn't stay away..."

"Spencer..."

"She saw us, and she made it happen." She sobbed. "It was my fault."

"No it wasn't."

"If I'd have stayed away it wouldn't have happened."

"Then it's my fault too." He decided. "Because I would never have stayed away from you."

She let out another sob, knowing that if she was speaking to anyone else she'd be embarrassed about this display of emotion. "I had to make you go. I couldn't let her hurt you again. I had to lie to..."

"I would have gotten hurt if I knew the truth." He stated, sighing once again. "If you'd have told me, I could have done something to help. You know it would have been worth the risk for me."

"That's why I couldn't tell you."

"The hardest thing about searching for the truth...Is that sometimes you find it"

"Are you going to be okay?"

She glanced over at the cars parked outside Hanna's house. She'd been ready for the inevitable questioning from Ashley and Pam, but she hadn't expected her own parents, or even Aria's parents, to be there. "I think so."

"You know it's over now?"

She nodded. "She was her friend." She paused. "She and I, I thought we were working towards some sort of friendship. How could she do this? What did we do? She says we took Hanna away from her but... she was sending the texts before we started hanging out again, that doesn't make sense..."

"Maybe..."

"What if Hanna blames herself for not realising?" She took a breathe. "And Emily, I don't know how to help her."

"Hey," He interrupted. "Take a second, calm down. We'll work it all out, okay? Together."

She blinked back tears, clutching onto him. "Promise me you'll never leave me again."

"I love you." He repeated what he'd believed he'd already told her earlier that night. "Why would I leave you?"

"I lied and you got hurt." She continued. "And..."

"Shhhhh," He quietened her. "I'm not leaving."

They both looked towards the house as the door opened, meeting Aria's gaze.

"You need to go in there and talk to your parents." Toby reasoned. "I know you'll probably want to stay with the girls, but if you need to get away, call me, we can talk more when you're ready."

She nodded, taking a step back and turning towards the house. He caught her wrist, turning her back to him and pulling her into a kiss, maintaining the contact until they were both in need of air.

Neither spoke as she walked backwards towards the house, unable to take her eyes off of him as he began to head back towards his own home. There was a lot that they needed to discuss. She still needed to properly apologise. At least now she knew she'd have the chance.

"Spencer," Aria started as she reached them. "They're not doing so good, with Maya and, well, Mona." She paused. "Do you think it's over? That all of the A stuff was Mona. How could she have done it all on her own?"

"The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple"