So, it's been almost a year since I posted something... But the finale last night just inspired me too much to keep my fingers from typing. The long hiatus knocked me out of the PLL fandom a bit, and the crazy busy school year I had didn't help with that either.
I am now publishing this new story, and to be honest, a lot of ideas just rushed to my head this morning, so I definitely do not have this fully fleshed out. (I don't even know when it's going to end.) So, I would absolutely love your guys' feedback! Is there something you want to see the Liars deal with in their future? Let me know in a review and I'll consider your ideas (and give you a shout out, of course)!
I hope you guys enjoy!
Till Death Do Them Part
Prologue
When the A drama had ended, the drama of adulthood had begun. The best friends had trouble connecting to their adult selves even at age twenty-three because of the return of A, which made them feel trapped in their teenage years again. Now, soon approaching twenty-five, all of the A drama was over – for good this time – and the girls had a chance to grow and take on a life they had only dreamed of:
Aria was on a honeymoon with her new husband and soulmate. Hanna was pregnant and also with her soulmate. Spencer was re-connecting with who she believed was her soulmate while also looking into extending her education. And Emily... Well, Emily was happy. She had two beautiful, happy daughters, and she was married to someone she loved. She wasn't sure if Alison was her soulmate, but Alison, having never felt truly loved before, believed Emily was hers. They were happy. That was all that mattered, right?
But soon, things started to unravel a bit. Despite Ezra's constant and loving support, Aria still had no idea how to deal with the confirmation that she couldn't have kids, that she had fallen into what the doctors called "premature ovarian failure." She was so certain about adoption before leaving for her honeymoon, but her thoughts began to turn selfish... The fact is, she wanted kids of her own. She'd still love to adopt children and raise them like her own, but she wanted to experience pregnancy, she wanted to look into the eyes of something she and Ezra created together. These thoughts of hers made her feel ashamed and unworthy of kids, but she ignored these feelings as much as possible through her honeymoon. Rather, she focused on spending hours in bed with Ezra eating chocolate-filled croissants, sight-seeing Paris (their first stop before moving further south), climbing to the top of the Eiffel tower, and holding Ezra's hand while they peacefully walked through the Louvre without a care in the world. But once she was on the plane back to Rosewood, her mind turned dark. Ezra noticed right away but Aria chalked it up to tiredness and already missing the honeymoon. Ezra didn't believe her, of course, but he left her alone, respecting that she didn't want to talk at the moment. They watched a couple movies on the flight instead, relishing quietly in their return home before falling asleep for the rest of the flight.
Contrary to what she had told her friends, Spencer was prepared to attend law school (if she could only figure out which ones to apply to); and she felt content helping take care of horses and working with Toby on his project in Philly to aid the homeless. She had started up her lobbying work again, and was also working in her mom's law office as a paralegal. It wasn't the best job, but it was a job, and Spencer had veered off her career path too much already.
But she was haunted by the family she never knew she had: Mary and Alex. Where did they go? She saw the policeman haul them both away, but she never asked where they went. As much as Mary and Alex had done to her, she meant it when she said she understood why Alex became AD – just like how she understood Mona and Charlotte. She didn't agree with how they handled their problems (by torturing her and her friends), but she could understood how strong and powerful the feeling like you don't have a family or a place to belong is. It took her most of her life to grow close to Melissa, and her parents weren't always the most cognizant of her (i.e. when she ran away when she was little and no one noticed). She at least had her friends, but she also went through that year after Ali went missing where she felt like she didn't have anyone. She wanted to see her family again...as much as she didn't want to see them.
Meanwhile, Hanna started to watch her stomach grow in intrigue, and soon, dread. She always knew she wanted kids, but she never knew how she would truly feel about pregnancy. She thought she would like it – but then she saw the first set of stretch marks, and her mind began to sour. She kept designing for her second clothing line, happily working with her benefactor, Lucas, and Caleb kept working on his software. They were both working on things that made them happy and fulfilled; they even started to learn to cook together. But the pregnancy was starting to put a damper on things, at least for Hanna. She didn't want to seem superficial with the baby she so badly wanted, but her body was changing...and she hated it.
Life in the DiLaurentis-Fields house played out like an impeccable dream. Every day Emily and Alison would wake up together, change and feed the babies together, and leave for work together after dropping off Grace and Lily with Emily's mom. At Rosewood High they would eat lunch together and leave work together. Then they would play with the babies together, eat dinner together, and watch a movie or TV show together after putting the babies to sleep. To a high school Emily, this was all she had ever dreamed of. Yet, something just did not feel right.
Emily thought she was spending too much time with Alison. Marrying one of the best friends of your best friends made it nearly impossible for them to be separated. Emily began to feel like she needed space... But Alison felt the complete opposite. She spent two years on the run feeling like a member of Earth's scum, unloved and uncared for despite Charlotte's help, because all she wanted was to return to Rosewood and apologize to her friends who she took for granted. She had hurt them, bullied them, and yet she saw how much they grieved for her in death despite how she treated them in life. She held onto that guilt for two years. Since she returned to Rosewood, she felt like she had to give them more years of kindness than she had given years of hurt. At the moment, she had no intention of stopping that trend. Therefore, she clung to her friends, but especially Emily because of their marriage and family. She felt like she had hurt Emily the most, bullying her about her sexuality, and she had to make amends.
Tensions were high again in Rosewood. And it wasn't because of A – no, the girls' fears and insecurities were enough to feed the chaos.
So it's true what they say about monsters: You get so used to them lurking under your bed, as soon as they disappear, you create one to fill the void.