Promenade

Emily took a deep breath, Spencer, Mona, Hanna, and Aria looked at each other, assuring each other that they were finally free, that for the first time in years, they were finally free of A. The girls stood outside their gated prison, the sound of police sirens echoed for miles, helicopters hovered all around them as the police escorted A in handcuffs.

"We've waited years for this, so why do I feel like we lost?" Spencer said looking on as the blonde woman was shoved in the back of a squad car.

"Because Spence, after everything she did to us, we never saw her as human, we saw her as a demon that did terrible things to us for no reason. We were wrong…" Aria replied, linking arms with Spencer.

"I can't believe Cece would do this to us… To Alison…" Hanna held Emily's hand, laying her head on the brown-haired woman's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Mona circled around the girls so she could all see her; they looked confused by the apology.

"Sorry for what, Mona? You had nothing to do with this… Right?" Hanna replied, obviously concerned.

"No, but I feel somewhat responsible for all of this. When Cece came to visit me in Radley I was in a dark place, she offered me freedom and another chance at revenge and I took it. I'm sorry." Mona started to tear up, the guilt she had built up for years had finally eaten away the shield she had around her. The girls looked at each other and teared up as well, gathering around Mona they embraced each other and hugged. There was no more blaming, no more suffering in silence, and no more secrets.

"Girls," Tanner walked up, "I believe I owe you all an apology."

The five girls looked at each other, their body language was all it took for Tanner to get the hint, they accepted the apology however reluctant they were in doing so.

"What's going to happen to Cece?" Hanna asked, she obviously didn't care at this point, as long as wherever she went that it would be out of a hundred mile radius of Rosewood.

"Well, she's going to have a mental evaluation and we'll see where it goes from there," Tanner paused as the worried looks on the girls' faces became more and more apparent, "-from there she will most likely be tried and sentenced. She won't bother you girls ever again."

'Is it really over? Could it really be that easy?' The five girls thought, of course after all they had been through they had their doubts. Tanner continued…

"She won't be allowed any kind of technology and there will be surveillance on her 24/7, you girls won't be hearing from her any time soon."

There was a sigh of relief from the group, it was over, and suddenly they started crying. A weight had been lifted and they all felt it, tears rolled down all of their faces and their tears of sorrow turned to happiness and laughter.

Toby, Ezra, and Caleb ran over to their partners and embraced them. This was the moment they had waited and worked toward for so long that they had to cherish every moment of it. Emily looked over to the couples and tried to be happy for them, she really wanted to be, but deep down she knew Paige was safe- that's all that mattered.

"Paige can come back now, you know that right?" Mona said, she could tell by Emily's expression that she expected Paige to jump out of her blue Toyota any moment.

"I know… I just don't know if she'll want to come back now. I haven't heard from her since she left Rosewood."

Emily crossed her arms, wiping a tear from her eye she tried to hide how much she missed her, Mona wasn't buying it.

"After all the shit you two have been through, the thing that broke you two up was distance? And here I thought it would be the tamales."

"Yeah, well… That makes two of us. And to be honest, those tamales were bland and dry."

Mona laughs, and the two lock arms as the couples regrouped, Caleb turns to Toby and gives him a nod.

"We can go home."

Spencer takes a deep breath in… "Home, I don't think I've ever heard a more beautiful word in my life."

They all laugh as Toby replies, "I have an even better word, 'Shower'" the girls all sigh in relief, if anything they missed the most, it was hot water and a warm bed, "Tanner said that each of you will be assigned an officer for a look out for the next week, just to be safe. She gave us the go-ahead to leave whenever you're ready."

"When I get home I'm going to take a bubble bath and stay in there until my fingers and toes look like grapes." Hanna says, leaning into Caleb.

The girls laugh as Spencer shakes her head and smiles, "I think you mean raisins, Han"

"Whatever! Just get me home already!" Hanna replies, rolling her eyes.

The group starts walking to the police vehicles, as they approach the passenger doors Spencer stops and looks back to the compound. The girls take notice, and look as well. They take it all in, every hole in the gated space, every rock, every patch of missing grass, this would be the last time anyone holds them hostage, the last A lair, the last A. It was over.

Two Months Later

Senior Prom was merely a week away, graduation only a month away, and the girls had neither seen, heard, or received an A message since Cece was arrested. Emily had started coming to terms with the fact that Paige wasn't going to be the one she went to prom with, and if Paige wasn't going to be her prom date, she didn't want one. That's not to say she wasn't going to attend Prom, with or without a date, Emily was going to experience Prom the best way she knew how… With her best friends.

Of course all of the girls had their dates, Toby and Spencer, Mike and Mona, Hanna and Caleb, Aria and Ezra, Alison and Noel; the whole gang would be there. Since the dollhouse, Mona became an addition to the group of girls, even Alison and Mona got along nowadays.

Today was Saturday, the day the six girls agreed to go to pick out prom dresses together and since the prom theme was Masquerade, they decided to pick out masks as well. After a few hours of Hanna trying on dress after dress she finally decided on a silver and white Chanel dress with matching Jimmy Choo's. Emily tried on two dresses before she finally came across a nice black prom dress, it very elegant and showed just enough cleavage but not so much that she could dance when she wanted.

Alison said she just tagged along for critique and support, and also to make sure Spencer didn't recycle that Mary Queen of Scotts gown, she of course was having a prom dress specially made for her from a Paris designer, yellow of course.

Mona found her dress almost immediately, a red silk evening gown with a bow tied in the back, it was just the right length and intensity for her. Aria, never to be outdone in the fashion department, chose a flapper-esque gold dress, almost matching the one she wore as Daisy on the Halloween train only slightly longer. And finally Spencer, she and Toby had a theme worked out that they would both have classic prom dresses from the 60's, she picked a very simple blue and black knee high dress with black heels.

Their masks were simple, Hanna had a half face silver mask, Emily had a beautiful black mask that covered her eyes, Ali got an antique gold and black masquerade mask, Mona found a beautiful red and black lace half-moon mask while Spencer and Aria decided to make their own.

The girls decided after a long day of shopping that they would relax at The Brew and have some coffee, after all, Spencer needed her hourly fix of caffeine. Setting their bags down they gave the barista their order and sat down to talk about the upcoming events.

"I can't believe we have less than a month of senior year left…" Aria said, sipping her chai latte as the girls nod in agreement.

"I can't believe we even made it to senior year," Hanna said, "I never thought we would make it."

Hanna's statement took the girls by surprise; they never thought they would make it. In the dollhouse they thought they were going to die, ever day they woke up with the exact same thought, 'This could be the last day of my life.' And when that day was over, they went to sleep and it started all over again.

"We did make it Han, we all made it." Mona replied, taking Hanna's hand.

"So, are we taking a stretch limo together or…?" The girls look over to Alison who was trying to change the subject. She felt somewhat responsible for all that happened to them, she started it, she brought Cece into her life and theirs, and she felt like she needed to apologize ever y moment in every day for it.

"My parents already rented a limo for the six of us, my mom insists we all stay together at all times in case anything happens to one of us. I think once we graduate she may hire you guys to stay with me so she knows I'm safe." Spencer laughs, she knows her mom is just trying to keep everyone safe, but it's been two months and she feels it's getting excessive.

"How much do you think she'll pay us? I mean if she covers my tuition, sign me up!" Hanna replies laughing.

"I'm in!" Emily, Alison, Aria and Mona agree and laugh with them.

Days like this were numbered for the six of them; they were all going their separate ways once graduation rolled around.

Emily gripped her coffee with both hands and her mind wandered, 'What would my life be like if A had never been there? Would I still be friends with the girls? Would Paige and I have dated? Would she have moved away?'

"Em… Hey, Em? Earth to Emily?" Spencer waves her hand in front of Emily's face to get her attention, she snaps out of it.

"Hm? Sorry, I was just spacing out, what happened?"

"We were just getting up to leave, you okay?" Hanna said concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking about prom tomorrow." Emily replied, forcing a smile. The girls knew very well what a forced smile from her looked like; she wasn't getting away with it that easily.

"You sure you're all right, Em?" Spencer asked

"You know you can talk to us about anything Emily," Aria said, putting her hand over Emily's, comforting her.

"I'm fine guys, really. I think I'm just tired from all of the shopping, are we ready to go?" Emily said as she stood up and grabbed her bags.

The other five girls followed suit and walked out of The Brew, saying their goodbyes they left. Emily got to her car, hardly saying a word to the girls as she drove to her house.

She pulled into the driveway and stopped, Mrs. Field's car wasn't there so she may have gone out to the grocery store. Emily put the car in park; it had started raining on her way back so she just sat there for a moment watching the raindrops rolling down the windshield. Then, she started to cry. She cried as if she hadn't cried in years, draping her body over the steering wheel she let every pent up emotion she had from the past couple months and let everything out. She cried for her lost teen years, she cried for the loved ones she lost, but mostly she cried for Paige.

Emily ran every word, every sentence, every question, everything she had ever said to Paige and played it over and over in her mind and cried. Every tear was a conversation she wished she had with her, the salty tears fell from her chin to her shirt until it was soaked. She wondered why Paige never contacted her after she left for California, why she didn't call her, or even message her , even once saying she never wanted to talk to her again would've been better than shut out like this.

Finally, she was all cried out, she exited the car and retrieved the bags from the passenger seat, rain soaking her to the bone every second she spent outside. She ran in the door and climbed the stairs to get to her room, hanging up her new dress in her closet she notices a silver garment popping out from the corner. She moves a few shirts around to reveal her Barbarella costume from the Halloween train, she takes it off the hanger and looks at it for a second, tracing around the hemlines. Lifting the costume up she gets a whiff of perfume, a mix of chlorine and Armani Noir. Emily hadn't worn the costume since the Halloween train and she knew exactly who that perfume belonged to, Paige.

She takes a deep breath in of the costume; it was like Paige was there with her, giving her an embrace she desperately wanted for months. Emily took one last look at the costume and put it back on the hanger, closing the closet door behind her and getting into bed.

Emily didn't sleep well for the next 6 days, she didn't let the girls know how much she truly missed Paige but she had a feeling they knew. Finally, it was prom night. The girls agreed that they would all meet at Spencer's house and head to the venue from there, since Pam had an office party she decided to drop Em off on her way.

"You look so beautiful tonight Emmy," Pam said, admiring how much her daughter has grown, "It seems like just yesterday I was dropping you off for kindergarten. You were so upset."

Emily smiled, "Um, mom, weren't you the one who cried when you dropped me off?"

Pam laughed, nodding her head, "Okay, so what if I cried! It was like the beginning of the end!" she took her daughters hand, "Only a month left, I can't believe it."

"Neither can I… After all that's happened, I sometimes doubted I would get to this point. I didn't think I would make it to prom." Emily's words painted a sobering reminder.

"The point is, you made it sweetheart." Pam said as she pulled into the Hastings driveway.

"I know," Emily said smiling, she leaned in to kiss her mom on the cheek and proceeded to get out of the car, "Mom?"

"Yes Em?"

"Thanks." Emily said, smiling as she popped her head through the car window.

"For what?" Pam said, looking confused.

"For everything, just… Thank you for everything." Emily said smiling, Pam smiled back.

"I love you, Emmy. And have fun tonight honey." Pam smiled, nothing more needed to be said between the two, they both knew what that thank you was for. Sometimes, you just need to say thank you to your parents just for giving you the life you have, nothing more.

"Em! You ready?" Hanna trots out of the house in her 3-inch heels, Caleb tailing closely behind as the other couples slowly usher out of the house.

"Yep! Let's get going so we don't hit traffic." Emily replied, the couples entered the limousine one by one and they were on their way.

The venue was beautiful, the decorations were shark colors, balloons, streamers lined every corner of the ballroom, and every table had the students names on them along with a candle in the middle. The group circled around the room until they found the table with all of their names on it, luckily, the table was situated almost directly in the middle, close enough to the dance floor and buffet table so everything was accessible.

At approximately 8:30 pm the dance would start, they arrived about 20 minutes early so there were only a couple dozen people there already. The DJ started playing music and like clockwork teenagers started to flood into the venue, dancing around and having the time of their lives.

"Hey, I'm going to grab some food and drinks, does anyone want anything while I'm up there?" Toby said, getting up from his chair.

"Ooooh can you get me a plate with some of those cookies and a sandwich? Oh and some punch and chips?" Hanna says, the group all look at her in disbelief as she continues, "Oh… And a carrot stick, okay that's it!"

Toby shakes his head and laughs, "Hey Caleb, do you mind helping me with the order? Em, Mona, Ali, Aria, do you want anything?"

"Um, I may have some punch if it's not too much trouble, I can get it myself if you need an extra hand…" Emily says, obviously hinting that they probably need more than two people.

"Yeah Em, that would be great, I don't think I signed up for waiter duty tonight but I'm up for it!" Caleb laughs and shakes his head as he turns to Hanna and kisses her forehead, "Only for you."

The three head over to the buffet table and start making their plates, Caleb notices Emily hasn't exactly been lively this evening.

"Em, are you all right?" Caleb asks.

"Yeah I'm fine Caleb, why? Don't I look all right?" Emily says defensively, she's getting tired of people asking if she's all right all the time.

"No, I mean, you look beautiful, I just mean you look kind of depressed." Caleb says, picking up practically every food item on the table.

"I'm fine Caleb, really. I'm just tired of everyone thinking that they need to make me happy constantly, I'm fine, I just want to have a good time tonight."

Suddenly Toby puts his arm over Emily's shoulder, "You know we're just looking out for you because we love you."

"I know that, thank you guys." Emily smiles, she knows they're just trying to help make her have the best night ever, she just wishes they would stop acting as if she's a fragile little girl who may break any minute.

They end up back at their table with the food and begin to eat, just as the last few classmates arrive the group finishes their meal. The group chats about graduation and things, and as it is a masquerade they try to play a game, Guess Who, seeing if they can tell who it is behind the mask before they take it off.

"Okay, those two over there in the blue and pink dresses." Hanna says, motioning to a pair of girls hiding in the back only talking to themselves.

"Oh, that one is so easy, Cindy and Mindy." Hanna replies smugly, they wait only a few seconds and the masks come off, she was right.

"Hmm, it looks like they kept up with my makeover regimen, good for them." Alison says, sitting back admiring her handy work. Mona kind of half smiles at Alison's comment, even if they only kind-of get along, she admires Alison's abilities when it comes to makeovers and things she knows she's good at.

"Hmm, okay, I've got a good one," Mona says smirking, "Over there, the tall one in the way back with the tux and silver/black mask"

The group scans the back of the room to find the person Mona was pointing to, as they looked at the stranger, they became puzzled.

"I can't tell if they're male or female from here, broad shoulders but smaller legs?" Spencer says, still analyzing the person.

"Oh my god Spencer, it's a girl, I know you know boobs when you see a pair sweetie." Alison said smirking, the group laughed.

"Hmm I can't get a good look from here, they're just content with hanging back so they're probably quiet. Jackie, maybe?" Emily observed, still trying to figure out the stranger.

"I'm getting bored, who's up for a dance?" Caleb said as he stood up, offering his hand to Hanna.

"I'm in!" Spencer replied, Toby followed.

"Not me, Noel and I are just going to sit here for a while." Ali said, getting closer to Noel.

Emily shuddered at the thought of Ali and Noel making out in front of her so she decided to join the dance floor. A couple songs had played, Em danced her heart out and finally, as all dances do, a slow song started playing, "Make You Feel My Love" by Adele. The couples partnered up, everyone started swaying back and forth to the song and just as Emily was going to head back to her seat, she felt someone grab her hand.

"Please don't go." The stranger said, her soft hands pulling Emily in close so the two were touching bodies.

"I don't have to." Emily replied, a lump in her throat formed and tears started to cloud her vision, as the first tear traveled down her cheek the stranger took her hand and wiped it gently away.

Emily started to cry as the stranger took her hands and put them on her mask, prompting Emily to unmask the stranger. She knew who it was the moment she heard those three words, she knew the moment she touched her, and somehow she knew she would be here. That Paige, would be there.

"Paige," Emily said, her voice shaking and tears rolling down her face, "-what are you doing here? How did you get here?" Paige continued to wipe the tears from Emily's face as they started to dance to the music.

"After I hadn't heard from you the past few months, I decided to try and call your mom and ask when Prom was," Paige said, surprising Emily, "She said you were trying to contact me for months, it turns out A bugged my phone and email to deflect anything I tried to contact you with. When your mom said you cried over me for weeks, I knew I had to get out here, even against my parents. I'm never leaving you again, Emily Fields."

"I tried, I tried everything, I thought you hated me. I thought you never wanted to see me again." Emily said, still crying. Paige stopped swaying.

"I never want to hear those words come out of your mouth ever again." Paige said, taking Emily's cheek in her hand, wiping away the tears.

"I have never loved someone- WILL never love someone as much as I love you. NOTHING will get between us again, I won't let it."

Emily laughs and smiles as a tear streamed down her face, she was waiting to hear those words since the beginning of their relationship, this was their endgame.

"I love you, Emily Fields." Paige said, bringing Emily's face to hers as they kiss. They kissed as though it was the last time they would ever do so, but it wasn't the ending for them, it was merely the beginning of their happy ending. Their lips stayed touching, taking in every moment, each could feel the other smiling, and each shed a tear of happiness. They were together, at last, they were happy.

They pulled away and Emily rested her head on Paige's shoulder as they began to sway back and forth to the song, Emily took a small breath in and there it was, Armani Noir with a hint of chlorine. If this were their last moments on earth, neither would change a thing, because in that moment the world was perfect for them.

Emily looked up at Paige and the two looked deep into each other's eyes, then to their noses, and finally to their lips. Every word they had spoken, every kiss they had given, every secret they kept is written in the coding of their lips, and they knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives discovering each other.

As the next song begins, the girls look around and realized they're being watched, there stood every one of their friends, almost in tears themselves over the reunion.

"How long have you guys been standing there?" Emily said, wiping her eyes and smiling.

"Long enough, Em. Long enough." Hanna said, wiping her own eyes as she embraced the two girls.

The evening continued, Paige and Emily couldn't stand to be away from each other, if they weren't holding hands they were just looking at each other, still in disbelief that it was all real.

It was about 11:00 before people started to leave and head home, Spencer had the idea to have an after party at her house because her parents were out of town on a job in Boston.

"So, are we headed to my house for the after party?" Spencer said as she stood up, getting her clutch and shoes.

"Actually," Paige looked at Emily, "If you guys don't mind, I'd like to steal Emily away from you tonight, if that's alright with all of you that is."

Everyone nodded in agreement, Emily smiled at Paige, "And just where are we going?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out." Paige smirked and winked at Emily, little did she know, the night was just about to begin.

To Be Continued….