Disclaimer: I do not own "Pretty Little Liars," it belongs to Sara Shepard, Marlene King, and ABC Family.

LaughLoveLiveXx: Wow! You reviewed VERY fast. I think I want to have your babies. Thank you.

Spinoza-off: I'll always want to have your babies. And thank you! I like your Emily myself and I agree, Spencer definitely is the more tragic character of the girls. And don't worry, there is MUCH angst on the way.

In-due-time: HAHA I was thinking the SAME thing, grateful Spencer never kissed or had naughty thoughts about Jason. I got queasy when Veronica Mars put it together she MIGHT have been Duncan's half-sister and SO relieved that they weren't related because I totally shipped them. Well, after Veronica/Meg anyways.

To anonymous person who said I needed a disclaimer: EVERY chapter of any fanfic I write always has some form of disclaimer. I'm not an avid fanfic writer but I not a newbie. And I didn't borrow anything but the tagline from "Circumstance." ;-) And even then , I don't think a disclaimer is necessary for a tagline.

To everyone else: I LOVE YOU ALL! Lets all have each other's babies! And it might be a few chapters before any real Spemily.

Author's Note: Once again, no actual plan for this other than it's going to follow the series, at least for the noir/A part, anyways, because unfortunately, Spemily isn't cannon. I'll be skipping around the episodes, trying to be all "behind the scenes" with the interactions, but I might mix stuff up just a tad bit. I have a few chapters already written, but don't expect a posting every other day because… Well, I'm unreliable.

Let no love fall victim to circumstance…

Circumstance

Days had passed since the entire student body was forced to attend truth day. The girls had met with the man behind the phone number, Jonah, who had had information regarding A. That was another shock, that Alison was A's first target, long before any of the girls. Maya had left Emily because Emily wouldn't run away with her, and of course because Maya had lied to her about smoking pot. Caleb was almost arrested because A had planted stolen information on his laptop and Garrett happily confiscated it. It would have been a horrible situation if not for Hanna and Spencer.

Spencer.

Emily stared at the clock, chin on hand, waiting for her class to be over so that she could start the weekend. She really wanted this weekend to be A-free and she knew that Spencer needed it the most. She still hadn't talked to her about what was bothering her that one night, and she'd still been very distracted. It couldn't be about Toby, no one heard from him in almost a month. What could it be? Spencer, though usually focused on the current investigation, was too focused. It was almost as if everything except A and everything revolved around A didn't exist. No, that wasn't completely true. Spencer may have been distracted, but she did hint that whatever was bothering her was due in part by her family. And, of course, she would still communicate with her about her swimming and whatever else was going on in Emily-world, but nothing about herself. Spencer was constantly asking how she was after Maya left, probably because she was the first person she told about what happened. So now, she was able to join her and Aria in the heart break department.

The bell rang, and almost instantly all the kids rose from their desks, very few gathered their things, most already had their items packed up, Emily being the former, and bolted for the door. Emily took her time to gather her stuff and slowly made her way out of the classroom. She needed to take care of her part for the swim team program, but first, she needed to meet with the girls for their plan of action on getting the $2000 that Jonah demanded for the information Vivian Darkbloom demanded.

Once she turned the corner, she saw Spencer, Aria and Hanna all gathered by her locker. The corners of her mouth barely turned upward, it was just the delight and relief of seeing Spencer with another look, besides worry, on her face. On her long legs, Emily strode to the group and as she got closer, she had heard Hanna mentioning that Mona was now receiving messages from A. What the…? Emily thought. As soon as she reached them she asked, "Mona's getting messages from A now?"

"Yeah," Hanna replied, "She was telling me earlier."

"So, what does this mean now?"

"It means no one around us is safe," Spencer said, her voice almost flat.

It was a bad situation all around and they all knew it. Aria worried about Mr. Fitz and Holden, Hanna already dealt with Caleb and now she had Mona to worry about, Spencer had to break her own heart to keep Toby safe, which didn't even pan out all that well as he still got hurt, both physically and emotionally, and Emily herself had endured a sabotage of her swimming career plus an ulcer. She was suddenly happy that Maya had left, she couldn't bare if something had happened to her, despite her lying.

"You should keep an eye out for Holden," Spencer added. "So, are we on for today then?" she asked Aria, who nodded.

"Wait, what's happening today?" asked Emily.

"We're meeting Jonah at 4," Aria said with hesitation, "But not all of us are gonna go, it's just me and Spencer so we'll meet up with you afterwards?" she finished quickly, hoping, but knowing better, to end the conversation.

Both Hanna and Emily couldn't believe their ears. Hanna closed her eyes and shook her head, "Why just you two?"

"Because I'm the face that he knows and she's the bank," Aria replied as a matter of factly.

"Yeah," Spencer interjected, "If we crowd him he might think something's up."

"Something is up," Emily impatiently said, her voice raising in volume, "We're finally going to find out who's been torturing us since Ali's funeral and, hello, I kinda wanna be there for that."

"Volume," Spencer warned. They locked eyes, almost in an intense battle for dominance. It was few and far between when Emily actually spoke up and bit at anyone, especially her friends. Although Spencer was emotionally drained, she couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in Emily. Ever since their community service and their ploy of being at each other's throats, Emily has definitely gained even more confidence. She wasn't afraid to stand up for herself anymore. How could Spencer not admire that?

"Hey, ladies," Mona interrupted, at good timing too.

"Hey," all but Hanna moaned out. While Mona took Hanna away, Emily and Spencer continued to look at each other. Though Spencer had been wearing the same face, more like a mask, for a while lately, Emily had fire in her eyes. She was upset, and rightfully so, but this was something both Spencer and Aria thoroughly agreed on. It had to be only them two to meet up with Jonah.

"We all deserve to know," Emily said, her back straightening, making her taller, more powerful.

"It's not like we're going to keep this information to ourselves, Emily," Spencer reasoned, with Aria nodding.

Jaw clenching, eyes almost burning, Emily had a lump in her throat. It was something she was having trouble to accept but she knew they were right. If she were to think of it logically. "Fine, whatever," Emily finally said, defeated.

"Don't worry," Aria said reassuringly, "We'll call you as soon as we finish with him. Okay?"

"Yeah."

Aria touched Emily's arm and gave her a gentle squeeze before walking away with Spencer in tow. Emily was pretty upset and she looked down at her feet and kicked at the ground. She looked back up and turned toward the direction her friends were walking and saw their backs. Just as she was about to walk away toward the gym, Spencer turned back around and they locked eyes once again and she gave Emily a small, weak but promising smirk that only Spencer could convey with a message of reassurance. Emily couldn't help but smile back and nod. Spencer turned back around and her and Aria disappeared around a corner then Emily took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. It was unbelievable, all the things they've endured up until now. Shaking her head, trying to clear all the angry thoughts, she began to walk in the direction of the gym.

SSS

Hours passed and the girls had gotten together later that night to share the information Jonah had given Spencer and Aria, though they weren't happy it was just an address and not a name or anything more solid. However, in true Rosewood fashion, another wrench was thrown into the gears. Caleb e-mailed Hanna more of the video he'd been decoding which revealed the mystery person: Melissa Hastings. The girls had been ready to take the video to the police but Spencer begged them not too. It was her sister, after all. She may not have always gotten along with her but they were blood. More to deal with, more to suffer. And so, Aria, Emily and Hanna gave her one night to talk to Melissa, to get any information as to why she barged into Alison's room with Ian, Garrett and Jenna. Spencer agreed, though she was resentful. She couldn't understand why having Melissa there was such a game changer. Why did it require police intervention so suddenly?

It didn't matter, she supposed.

She was more involved in this entire mystery, more than she had thought before, more than she'd like. It was so nauseating the whole situation. It was ridiculously insane and Spencer was more than neck deep, she was drowning and it seemed her legs and arms were tied preventing her from making her way back up above the water. Any light at the end of her tunnel was fading, and fading fast.

Especially that Melissa ditched her for Garrett and lied about it. That hurt more than she thought it would, more than she'd ever lead on. There she had been, trying to get an explanation that would save her from the police and she just made herself even more suspicious by getting into that car of Garrett's. What else could Spencer do but drink those burning shots of tequila while Wren watched. Everything was spiraling down in Spencer's world, yet again, just as it always did. Just as it always would.

One shot.

Two shots.

Three shots.

Four shots.

And Spencer's vision blurred. The liquor was going down her throat a lot easier than it had when she took that first shot. She was pleased with herself, in an odd way. Tequila definitely helped numb her mental pain and having Wren's pretty little charming face was a wonderful and totally cute distraction. It was exactly why she allowed him to take her to his apartment where she drank wine- or was it champagne?- and kissed him, even tried to seduce him all because she wanted to forget A, forget Melissa and forget her stupid friends who were ready to throw her under the bus- oh, Emily- well, not exactly her, but her sister, so indirectly her. But, Wren, charming British Wren just had to be a gentleman and put her to sleep on his couch so she could sleep off that alcohol that helped her forget. To say it was a peaceful sleep would be exaggerating, but still, Spencer actually slept despite tossing and turning until she finally fell off the couch and landed in a painful heap on the floor.

She groaned from the pain of not only falling flat on her face, but of the headache the tequila and wine or champagne running through her brain was causing. The entire room felt like it was tilting to one side, then the other and it made Spencer want to vomit like never before. She was entirely too dizzy to even get up to get back on the couch- was this a hangover yet? So Spencer stayed on the floor, raised her heavy, oh so heavy hand up and grabbed a pillow bringing it back down and she turned and got into a fetal position before falling asleep once more.

SSS

Meanwhile, Emily, Aria and Hanna had gotten directions to the address that Jonah had provided and had found what seemed like a dead end. A broke down and abandoned law firm. Things didn't quite go as plan since an alarm was still in tacked and went off sending Aria flying off the porch. The girls took off before the police could come, because they all knew that was the last thing they needed, and regrouped back at Hanna's. Aria had ended up with a pretty bad gash on her leg that she was tending to.

"Have either of you heard from Spencer yet?" Emily asked from her spot on the living room couch, bringing up her phone, checking for any text messages from Spencer. She had felt awful for the way she had talked to her friend. It was almost accusingly, as if Spencer was at fault, or so she felt she came off that way.

"No," both Aria and Hanna answered in unison.

"Do you think she's talking to Melissa?"

"Who knows," Hanna said as she furiously sat on a chair.

"She should be," Aria said, not really convincingly. Truth was, she wasn't sure if she would have been able to get a hold of her older sister, let alone get the truth from her considering the situation that had happened with Ian.

"She would have called or texted by now." Emily sat up and leaned forward, dialing Spencer's number once again and bringing the phone to her ear. After several rings it went to voice mail again. Emily didn't bother leaving a voice message, she had already left about four. "I'm getting worried." There was a dreadful feeling that was boiling in the pit of her stomach and it was getting harder and harder to ignore.

"She's a big girl," Hanna said, a little too sharply for Emily's taste, "She can take care of herself."

Both Emily and Aria looked at Hanna disbelieving, Emily especially. It was hard for to grasp why Hanna was so upset with Spencer, surely she understood it? It took a while for Emily, but she eventually got it, she got why Spencer didn't want to take damaging evidence to the police involving her sister. Aria got it before either of them. "Han," Aria said, "Don't be so hard on Spencer."

"We finally got something to show the police, something to do with Ali's murder, something that could move the arrow away from us, but she doesn't want to show them."

"It's her sister."

"Yeah, a really shady sister that was always so horrible to her."

"If it were Mike, I'd do what I could to clear him. I tried to protect him when he was breaking into other people's houses."

"Yeah, but you're close to Mike," Hanna said sitting up and staring directly into Aria's eyes, "Melissa hates Spencer and Spencer hates Melissa for as long as I could remember."

"But they're still siblings."

Hanna shook her head, "I just don't understand."

"It's because you don't have a sister." Aria looked back down at her leg, upset with Hanna. She knew Hanna wasn't even trying to understand the situation from Spencer's perspective.

"So I couldn't possibly understand?" Hanna was getting very upset now.

"Okay, guys," Emily finally said, "Cool it." She rose from the couch and grabbed her bag and car keys, "I'm going to go look for her. Why don't you two just chill."

Without any further discussion, Emily walked out the door and got into her car. She drove to The Grille and got out to get a coffee, she hadn't realized how exhausted she was. As she waited for her coffee, she saw a reflection in the mirror, a tall-ish, skinny girl with long, wavy brown hair. "Spence," she whispered and turned around only to see a group of girls, none being Spencer. She slightly pouted before the barista let her know her coffee was ready. She thanked the girl and walked out. Emily was definitely regretting the way she talked to Spencer, how condescending she was. It wasn't that she meant to be so forceful, it's just that she got excited, in a bad way, and was ready to act without really thinking. She knew they were all being irrational, except Spencer. No, Spencer was never the irrational one, she was the one raised by lawyers and even though she always jumped at the conclusions, such as Ian or Jason being Ali's killer, it was all lawyer instinct. Point the finger, show what evidence they hand, make the suspect crack. Or was that police instinct?

She was in such a hurry she didn't see another girl walking and dumped hard, almost spilling her coffee.

"Oh," the other girl grunted, "Emily?" it was Paige, "Hi."

"Hey," Emily said lowly, not really wanting to stay and chat.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked when she noticed the sullen look on Emily's face, noticing she was ready to burst into tears at any second.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Emily replied unconvincingly. Spencer's safety was burning in her mind and it seeped to her troubled expression.

"No you're not. What's wrong?" Paige asked, genuinely concerned, "Em, talk to me."

Emily was hesitant, unsure if she should bring up her worries with Paige, knowing her and Spencer never really got along. However, Paige had changed since the last time she spent real time with her. Even earlier, when they both walked around town asking for donations, Emily saw something different in Paige, something a lot happier and more open. Then of course she found out, Paige told her she came out to her parents, and she had done it because she was inspired by Emily. It warmed Emily's heart, even made it ache a little knowing she was a good influence on something, that she helped someone bring happiness into their life by showing them it was okay to accept themselves. Maybe, this was the kind of friend Emily could confide in? "Aria, Hanna and I, we got into a huge fight with Spencer," she finally said. She stole a glance up at Paige and saw that she was listening to her intently, so she continued, "She's been gone for, like, three hours and she won't pick up her phone. She won't even return our texts."

Paige nodded as she took in the information, "Well, it is Spencer. Maybe she just wants to be left alone? Just trying to sort things out?"

The thought did cross her mind, but Spencer always texted something back, at least to her she did, "I'm just worried. She's been dealing with a lot. All she's told me is that it's family drama, but she usually tells me everything. She hasn't been herself for days and with all that's happened…" Truth was, Emily was afraid Spencer would end up like Alison. She was afraid any of them would end up like Alison but Spencer seemed to be A's prime target.

"Well, what did you guys fight about?"

The question Emily was hoping wouldn't be asked, but things were never so easy, "It's," she paused, "I can't really talk about it."

Again, Paige nodded in understanding, "Okay, um, do you want help looking for her?"

It was a nice thought, but Emily knew that she shouldn't involve Paige, especially since Caleb and Mona were now being targeted and who knows what danger Spencer was heading toward. "No, thank you though." She was just so worried, all that came to her mind was the memory of Spencer confront Ian, alone, and nearly getting killed. The images were enough to bring stinging tears to Emily's eyes and she struggled to keep her composure.

"Hey," Paige said gently and hugged Emily, who returned it, "She'll be okay. She's a strong girl, just like you." She pulled away and looked Emily in the eyes, "With all the drama she's dealing with, you've dealt with some yourself, too, right?. You're strong. She's strong. Just give her time."

Emily smiled, in spite of herself, "Thanks."

A warm sensation washed over Paige, and she couldn't help it any longer and she leaned in and kissed Emily. She knew it was a stupid idea, Maya had left only a week or so prior, but she just couldn't help herself. Emily was her "one that got away" and she wouldn't let that happen again.

It took Emily a few seconds to realize what was happening, that Paige was kissing her. Although she hadn't expected the kiss, nor exactly wanted it, she didn't pull away right away. When she finally did, she slightly pushed Paige back and closed her eyes, "I can't," she said hoarsely, "I need time."

"Right," Paige said dejectedly, "You're still heart broken." Emily nodded, though she still hadn't opened her eyes. "It's okay, I get it." Still, Paige closed her eyes and couldn't help but feel a little rejected. When she reopened them, she saw that Emily still hadn't gotten completely out of her loose embrace, and that she still hadn't looked up. "Hey," she whispered to Emily, "Hey, don't worry."

"I'm sorry," Emily breathed and finally pushed away from Paige, "I'm not ready."

"I know. I'm sorry I kissed you."

Emily didn't know what to say, she was speechless. She really didn't know what she wanted, but she did know she was not ready to move on. She may have liked Paige since their first, remote date, but she was still hung on Maya and it wasn't fair to Paige to use her as a rebound.

"Listen," Paige said, "Let's just forget that this happened? Friends?" she asked, hopeful that perhaps in time, could be more. With a wordless nod, Emily agreed. "Good," Paige said with a smile, "If you need any help looking for Spencer, you've got my number."

"Thanks."

"Take care, Em."

"You too."

They parted ways, Paige taking her usual strong strides whereas Emily was weak in the knees. But she couldn't think about this, not now, not until she found Spencer. The dreadful feeling returned and poked at her like a hot fire poker. She was trying to remember where Spencer said she was going to meet Melissa and it was irritating her that it didn't come to mind, or rather it wouldn't. When she got into her car she spent a few minutes thinking. Still, her mind was drawing a blank and she wanted to scream.

The image of Spencer in the bell tower, clutching onto the broken railing like a life line was burned into her eye lids. Spencer's almost catatonic stare and she was looking toward the side and barely noticed her friends had arrived. Emily was the first to reach her and put her arms protectively around her and she swore, once she found Spencer, she would do it again.

TBC…

Author's Note: Well, guess I went the love triangle route after all. And rereading this, I gotta say, FUCK my writing has gone to shit. Well, in my opinion it has. I've been writing a 1st person POV story for so long that this 3rd person view is a little hard and I'm having trouble getting back in the swing of things. That, and I STILL don't have any real map out for this fic. I just really wanted to write a Spemily. And for the record, I like Paige, even with Emily, because Lindsey Shaw brings out the good acting from Shay Mitchell (as does Troian Bellisario) and they have such amazing, and steamy, chemistry.