Post 3x10. Au from there. Compliant with bits from 3x11. TOBY IS NOT PART OF THE 'A TEAM' IN THIS STORY.
In this farewell
There is no blood
There is no alibi
'Cause I've drawn regret
From the truth
Of a thousand lies
So let mercy come
And wash away
What I've done
I'll face myself
To cross out
What I've become
Erase myself
And let go of
What I've done
Put to rest
What you thought of me
While I clean this slate
With the hands
Of uncertainty
So let mercy come
And wash away
What I've done
I'll face myself
To cross out
What I've become
Erase myself
And let go of
What I've done
For what I've done
I'll start again
And whatever payment come
Today this ends
I'm forgiving
What I've done
I'll face myself
To cross out
What I've become
Erase myself
And let go of
What I've done
What I've done
Forgiving what I've done.
What I've Done – Marie Digby
Do it. The text said. Do it or I tell. You've got until midnight on Wednesday.-A.
A shiver ran through him and he gulped, his breath already shaky. It's been like this for a few days now. He would be alone, or around more people that he was bothered to count and he would receive a text, each one more malicious than the one before.
Noel Kahn of all people was getting blackmailed by some blocked number pussy who wasn't brave enough to reveal him or herself. At this point, he really questioned what exactly the world has come to. Aria Montgomery comes back from Finland -or was it Norway?- and reunites with her old clique only weeks before someone frames him with exam papers and he gets suspended.
Last year, he would laugh and ignore the taunt, but this was different. He was not going to get framed again.
When Emily had gone home, Spencer, Hanna and Aria were searching through Maya's website again, looking for any clues that might help them. As always, they were unlucky.
"Maybe we should re-watch the later videos first." Hanna suggested, but she herself sounded tired and bored out of her mind. They've been watching these for hours on end and yet, Maya's video's seemed completely innocent.
Aria shook her head and ghosted her finger's over her phone. She had been texting Ezra for over an hour now, and he hadn't replied. "No. We've seen those like a gazillion times. No use looking for something that's not there."
Yesterday, she had teamed up with Wesley to make Ezra's 26th birthday the best he ever had, and yet her curiosity was a bitch. She went to see Ezra's old girlfriend who had also the most adorable seven year old son. Who looked exactly like a mini-Ezra. Ugh.
Spencer groaned and rubbed her face. "I wish we could just get a sign! It's not fair that A set's all the rules."
Ironically, Aria's phone beeped and the three girls exchanged glances, expecting it to be 'A'.
Aria's shaky fingers touched her screen and she released a breath. "Oh, it's from Noel."
Hanna's eyebrows became almost non-existent when Aria answered. "What? Why would Noel Kahn be texting you?"
Aria bit her lip, briefly remembering Noel's hauntingly fearsome look in AP English. "I don't know."
When she read the text, she almost dropped her phone.
Hookies for info. I'll tell you all you want. -N.K
The next day, Aria slowly walked down the hall on Thursday, dodging her best-friends whenever they would see her around a corner. It wasn't right to be keeping this from them, but what exactly was she supposed to do? If she told them, they would pressure her into doing it. They were desperate to get any kind of information, and so was she, but she wasn't desperate enough to cheat on Ezra.
A strong grip yanked her backwards and outside. Even though the hand was tightly wound around her wrist, she could feel the delicate skin and the manicured nails digging into her own skin.
"Tell me why you've been avoiding us all day."
Aria released a breath. It was only Spencer. But two other curious and worried glances informed her that her other friends were here too.
"You ran out like a banshee after you got that text yesterday and we couldn't get in touch with you since." Spencer continued and carefully studied Aria. "What did the text say? Oh god, was he threatening you?"
Aria's eyes widened. Even though Noel was a creep and he wasn't necessarily innocent, Aria would never think he would hurt someone for his own gain. Not after he basically shoved her accusations down her throat a few days ago.
"No. He was...bribing me."
"Bribing? How? What does he want?" Emily asked, leading Aria to the closest lunch table. People around them spoke in hushed tones, so the girls lowered their voices. "What does he have that we want?"
Aria sighed and put her phone on the table, scanning through her texts. "Information."
She showed the text to them and Spencer's eyes widened. "What? C'mon, is he even serious? He wants to sleep with you in exchange for information? That's just sick."
Emily quickly agreed and Hanna's diverted her gaze guiltily.
"Han? Hanna!" Spencer yelled in an accusatory voice Hanna's arms rose in defence.
"We need this info. You guys don't get it! A isn't keeping you guys away from or Paige or Toby. A tried to kill Caleb's mom!"
"Just because he has information doesn't mean he's got information on A. I mean, how would he even know about it?" Emily reasoned.
"Hanna, you do realize that in order to get the information I would need to sacrifice myself to the devil, right? How would you feel in my position?" Aria barked at her friend and instantly felt bad.
Caleb breaking up with her was probably the worst thing that had happened to her in months, and here she was, yelling at her just because she wanted him back. What a great friend she is.
Hanna sighed and dropped her arms, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, whatever Aria. I'm sorry."
The tension between the girls rose and Spencer's hands covered her face. "Look, guys. We'll let things play out for now. But if things get more complicated and we get more desperate, well-you know."
The girls nodded their heads.
Sick of being ignored, Aria stormed into the building where Ezra's apartment was after school on Friday. She grabbed the key from underneath the mat and was about to put in through the keyhole when she heard his deep voice through the wooden door.
"Monday? Yeah, Starbucks would be great. Great, see you, Maggie."
Maggie?
Anger rose through Aria's veins and she groaned, clenching her teeth together to refrain from screaming. She didn't necessarily want to keep Ezra away from his son -which he, by the way, didn't even know about yet- but why does Maggie need to be included in the picture? Lately, all their problems had been about Ezra searching for her and even though she seemed nice enough, she didn't feel like seeing Ezra re-unite with the girl he impregnated in high school.
Albeit her anger, she entered the apartment and pretended like she hadn't heard anything. When she looked up, a flash of guilt marred Ezra's eyes before it disappeared and he smiled. "There you are. I've missed you."
With that, her anger melted away and she sighed happily, her feet already carrying her closer and into Ezra's arms. He pressed his lips to her forehead and slowly, all her worries flew out the window. There was no cryptic 'A', cheating father or creepy Noel. Just them.
When the weekend rolled around and passed faster than the girls liked, Monday came with a bang, for Aria at least. Again, Ezra was ignoring her calls and texts. Curiosity ate away at her, and after avoiding Noel all day, she decided to ditch last period and go see if Ezra was actually meeting Maggie at Starbucks.
At that thought, she frowned. Even though Ezra was a coffee maniac, he actually disliked Starbucks. Why the hell were they meeting there?
She should have been angry, furious even. But as she stared through the window at the two people who were intimately staring into each others eyes, all she felt was betrayal. Slowly, so slowly she thought she was imagining it, Ezra's left hand rose from the table and touched Maggie's cheek softly, as if he was making sure she was really there.
Well shit, now that hurt more than anything.
Before she even realised what she was doing, her finger typed away on her phone. And even though she stood there for a couple more minutes, just watching how Ezra was with Maggie, she almost felt relieved that she wouldn't be the first one to show disloyalty in this relationship.
Aria's eyes found the screen of her phone again, and she re-read the text she just sent with mild disappointment.
You're on. Meet me in the boys locker room in 10.. -A.M
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