Hey! So I've decided to come back to some Fanfiction after a long time away - I'm hoping to start on a novel in the near future, and re-watching Pretty Little Liars has gotten the imagination going enough for me to start getting a story out. This is a smaller introduction chapter to get things going, I have another couple completed at the moment. This will mainly be an OC/Jason story, but I'll be bringing in all the other characters too.

Note that I've changed the dates so it's currently present day, and the time is 3 years after Ali has gone missing. I've therefore had to change that to 2014, but the characters are still the same age, just for the purpose of this story they'd have a later birthdate.

The title inspiration is from the song Hurts - Somebody to Die For

Hope you all enjoy!

May, 2017

Caro pulled the last of her bags out of the trunk of the cab and set it down by her feet, her suitcase next to it balancing unsteadily on the uneven road surface. She noticed the driver watch her impatiently from where he had remained sitting in his seat and closed the trunk before picking up her handbag and making her way around to the driver's window.

"That'll be twenty three dollars," he said flatly, turning off the meter which had been running while she retrieved her belongings. She could have gotten a bus from the airport to save herself the money, but it wasn't worth the hassle with all the baggage she had brought.

Caro fumbled in her handbag for a twenty dollar bill and a five dollar bill and handed them to the driver through his window, without bothering to unfold them first. "Keep the change," she mumbled as she slung her handbag over her shoulder and went to collect her things. The driver pulled away at that moment, narrowly missing her foot. "Asshole," Caro scowled in the direction the cab had taken. She picked up the two other bags of her belongings and extended the handle of the suitcase so it was ready to pull along.

Rosewood. Home sweet home.

A light breeze from behind blew her hair into her face as she looked around and took in her surroundings. Nothing had changed here at all.

Nothing apart from her reason for leaving.

The houses looked the same and she could see the church in the distance. It was like looking at a picture she had seen many times before.

She started to walk along the sidewalk, passing by familiar houses as she did. Memories suddenly came flooding back to her. Parties, sleepovers, hanging out with friends after school on summer afternoons. The good times she had here in Rosewood. That was before it had all been taken from her.

She reached the end of the street and looked up at the large, imposing Victorian house in front of her. And smiled. It was the house that belonged to her Aunt Victoria, the woman who has raised her since she was three years old.

Caro's mother and father had both passed away when she was a young age, their lives ended prematurely by a criminal who had broken into their house one November night. She had read in newspapers as she grew older that he claimed he had no intention of hurting them, but when Caro's father had woken up, the intruder had panicked and shot at both of them. He had been sentenced to life – a punishment she now felt wasn't enough.

But Victoria had stepped up and took Caro in, never having had any of her own children or ever marrying. She lived alone in the house before, the house being owned by the family for generations. And she had given Caro a great childhood, and while she would have loved to have known her parents better, Caro adored her Aunt. She would be forever grateful to her.

She looked at the watch on her wrist which read one thirty. She was still too early and her Aunt wouldn't be home for over an hour yet. Caro hadn't taken any spare key when she had left Rosewood, so she sat down on the doorstep and set down her luggage.

She opened one of the bags closest to her and pulled out a book by Peter James, something to pass the time with. She also took out a chocolate bar she had packed with her, her growling stomach thankful since she had grown increasingly hungry on the journey, and settled down to wait for her Aunt to come home.

June, 2014

Caro sat by the edge of the water and smiled as the waves rolled over her feet. "Damn, that's a lot colder than I'd expect in this weather." It had been a long day of walking, and she could already feel her muscles stiffening up. She and Jason had walked out to Cape May Point, stopping to have a seafood lunch on the way.

Jason smiled as he stretched his legs out, his hands sinking into the still warm sand. They had found a quiet spot out on the beach that was hidden from the beach houses by a line of trees. The sun was three quarters of the way down in the sky, enough only for it to be leaving a dim light. "Yeah, no matter how hot the day is, it takes a lot to heat the ocean."

Caro loved coming here in the summer. This was the third year in a row she had been, and the best by far. The man that had made sure of that was sitting next to her.

Since the first night when she had taken a stroll down by the lake and found Jason DiLaurentis quietly sitting on his own. He hated having to spend time with his family and got away at every opportunity. The girl had sat down on the jetty a short distance away and started reading one of his favourite novels, one of the few he had ever finished. The Alchemist. He watched her, dark hair swaying in the breeze, too wary to say anything to her, but luckily she had decided to strike up a conversation.

Caro had seen him around Rosewood, but had never interacted with him previously. She knew his little sister – at Rosewood High, it was impossible not to. Alison had never acknowledged her, she wasn't popular enough or unpopular enough for her to care about.

Caro and Jason had a lot more in common than she would have thought. They talked for hours that night with the lake glinting behind them.

After that first night, she and Jason had spent increasing amounts of time together. Jason enjoyed getting away from his family and their pretentious friends. Caro gave him that escape, because he knew without her, if he was alone, what would happen.

He would drink.

They had taken walks into the town, out to the lighthouse, trying out some restaurants. Caro had told her Aunt she was going to be spending most of the days with an old friend from school and her Aunt was happy to let her do so. She was an adult now anyway, thanks to the 18th birthday that had just passed.

On the third night here, Jason had kissed her. Caro had hesitated at first and Jason prepared himself for rejection. But when she had returned the kiss the two became almost inseparable for the rest of the holiday.

Two nights ago, Jason's parents had taken Alison out for dinner with her friend, CeCe. Jason had brought her back to the empty beach house and they shared take out over a game of Scrabble that Jason found in one of the drawers.

She was intelligent, something he liked. She was different from the other girls in Rosewood, the ones his sister always had over at the house. She seemed honest and genuinely caring for him, without having an ulterior motive.

They had watched the sunset from the sofa beside the window with a record playing in the background, before Jason took her hand and led her to his room. Caro had smiled as she looked at his belongings with Jason watching her from the edge of the bed. She picked up photographs and examined them, feeling honoured she was getting some insight into his life.

Caro noticed the time was getting on and seen the moon rising higher in the sky. "I should get going soon," she said with a wistful look. "Thank you for tonight."

Jason nodded and extended his hand. "C'mere," he said softly, as he pulled her into him and kissed her gently. They met each other's eyes and kissed again, this time deeper, longer. Before long they were both laying back on the bed, limbs tangled in each other, Jason's hands pulling her close to him.

And they made love that night. They lay holding each other for what felt like hours after, Caro feeling warm and safe. Reluctantly she had gotten up and let Jason walk her back to her own house before his family got back.

Now they sat in a peaceful silence for some minutes, watching the waves crash along the shore. "You know," he said quietly, "when we get back to Rosewood, people are gonna talk. If they see us together.. it's a small town and people like to gossip. I don't want you to have to be teased about dating the resident alcoholic. "

Caro smiled sadly at him, he had opened up to her about his alcohol addiction.

"Jason," she said softly stopping him, turning her head to look at him. "I don't care what people think. This summer, I've.. I've had the most amazing time with you." Caro smiled at memories of their last couple of weeks. The holiday was almost over, but she was in no way ready for what she and Jason had to finish. She was completely smitten with him. "Besides, when we do get back, if we're careful then no one apart from us has to know anyway. Not for now. And that has nothing to do with me not wanting to be seen with you. I just.. like having you as my secret. Something I don't have to share with anyone else."

Jason grinned back at her then, and she felt her heart beat faster just looking at his smile. He moved over closer to her, not caring anymore how much sand he would be cleaning out of his clothes for the coming weeks and gently laid her back on the beach towel they had brought, before kissing her softly on the lips as the tide continued to close in behind them.

Alison concentrated hard as she looked through the binoculars she had taken from her father's luggage several hours before. They were great for watching people. She knew if she watched long enough, somewhere she would see something she wasn't supposed to see. A secret. And then she could add that to her extensive catalogue of secrets she already had stored away. Ammo, for when she needed it.

Nothing exciting had happened this evening, apart from their beach house neighbour, Mrs O'Reilly having a little too much vodka and passing out on the sun lounger on her patio.

"Can we go home soon?" CeCe Drake asked from next to her, where she was sat reading a fashion magazine, one of a small pile she had brought with her. "Aren't you bored of doing that?"

Alison sighed as she turned to look at her. "Yeah, you're right. Nothing exciting has happened in hours, it's like watching the world's worst television show. I just like to be in the know of what's going on around me, y'know?"

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Ali," CeCe smiled as they packed up their things. "Besides, the whole time you've been focused on that drunk idiot, you've been missing out on the real entertainment," she said, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at where two silhouettes sat on the beach.

"Damn it!" Alison exclaimed, immediately placing the binoculars back to her eyes. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

CeCe shrugged. "Because I'm not overly concerned about what goes on in the lives of others?"

Alison watched carefully for a moment as she tried to adjust the dials on the binoculars so she could focus better. The two figures had their backs turned. After a few moments, they leaned their heads sideways to go in for a kiss. A smile broke out on Alison's face as she managed to match one of the figures to her brother. "Well well, looks like we've found out what's Jason's been up to these past few days. And here I thought he had been sneaking away to drink again."

CeCe suddenly stopped what she was doing and bit her lip. "That's.. Jason?"

Alison nodded in confirmation. "Yeah and.." she focused on the other figure for a moment before she could recognise her. "That's the Grayson girl.. Callie.. Candy.. Caro! Yeah, Caro. I've seen her around. I think she's on the school athletics team. Her family have a beach house here too." Alison lowered the binoculars and looked at CeCe. "Guess they didn't want us to see the budding romance, huh." Alison noticed CeCe's expression had changed, sadness showing in her eyes. "CeCe? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, her lips twitching into a small smile. "It's just... I hoped that maybe this summer Jason and I, well..."

Alison placed a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't know you still felt that way about him. I thought after last summer it was over." Alison remained quiet for some moments, before a sly smile broke out on her face.

"Hey, look, don't worry. I'll get her out of the way so you don't need to worry about her anymore. Then there won't be any obstacles for you getting my brother back."

If there was one thing Alison DiLaurentis was good at, it was making someone's life hell.

And that's it for now! Short and sweet to get things going. I'll go more into depth about Caro and Jason meeting each other in future chapters, just wanted to form a background for the two.

Hope to see you all next chapter!