Earlier that day the girls had gone Hanna's. It was the day she was finally going to talk to her dad. They had gone over to help her pick an outfit and to provide moral support. They all wished they could go with her. It seemed crazy that they could confront a stalker and possible killer together, but parents they had to do alone. They had decided on a nice modest black dress. Hanna had looked at herself in the mirror and thought it appropriate for the occasion. Before she had left they gave her a group hug.

Hanna entered the restaurant where she was to meet her dad. She was glad they were meeting at a public place. Maybe he wouldn't yell at her. She walked over with her shoulders hunched and a look of dread on her face. She felt even more nervous when she reached her dad's table, he looked pissed. She sat down. She looked down at the table.

"What were you thinking?" he started, completely skipping hellos and how are yous. Hanna cringed internally.

He hadn't raised his voice, but his tone was still harsh. Hanna looked up at him. She wasn't sure what to say. She sure couldn't say 'Well dad, a murdering maniac blackmailed me into ruining your wedding in exchange for my kidnapped therapist'. Her dad was digging holes into her face waiting for a response.

"She had a right to know," she finally responded.

He shook his head angrily and threw his napkin on the table. "That was between her and me."

"You hurt mom, I didn't want you to hurt her too."

"Since when do you care about her? The whole time you've know her you have been trying to sabotage our relationship."

"I wasn't the one to sabotage it," Hanna defended herself.

He breathed out angrily. "I think you should apologize to her."

"Me?"

"You ruined her wedding. It's the least you can do."

The girls stayed in Hanna's room a little after she left. Aria had made plans to go to Ezra's and Emily had a date with Maya. They talked a little about their plans, but Spencer was more interested in talking about the lack of A. Aria and Emily almost gave an audible groan. The lack of A distressed Spencer. Maybe she should have been glad, happy even, but she couldn't. It made absolutely no sense. If A hadn't done anything for this long, it was for a reason. She couldn't help but feel a storm brewing. This was the calm before the shit storm. She couldn't just sit in peace knowing something was wrong; something was coming. It bothered her that the girls wouldn't listen, that they'd rather delude themselves with false hope.

Yes, the other girls felt it too. They thought it was suspicious that A had stopped harassing them, that they had received absolutely no messages from A. They were internally uneasy. However, they thought to make the best of it. They found themselves less jumpy whenever their phone indicated a message. For the past week their lives had felt almost normal. They wanted to embrace that normalcy. There wasn't much they could do either way. They might as well enjoy the A-free time they had.

Spencer sighed. She'd had enough of it; enough of trying to reason with them, enough of worrying, enough of missing Toby. Emily's words had been simmering. She had finally decided to throw caution to the wind. Spencer offered Emily a ride back to her house. She had something to do nearby.

After dropping Emily off, she walked over to Toby's house. She knocked on the door. After the second knock the door opened. It was Jenna. Apprehensively, Spencer asked, "Is Toby here?"

"No, he's not. And you shouldn't be looking for him. You already caused him enough pain. He doesn't need you to drag him down with you," Jenna answered coldly.

Spencer stood there with a pained expression and mouth open. She didn't know what to reply. She didn't have a chance to anyway, as Jenna closed the door in her face. Spencer sighed and turned to leave. She jolted to a stop. Toby stood some feet away from the steps.

"Spencer," he breathed out.

Spencer couldn't contain herself and ran toward him. She threw herself in his arms. He caught her, keeping them balanced. He hugged her back tightly.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice sad.

"It's alright," he responded, comforting.

"I do trust you," she said, her voice still sad and urgent. "You're my safe place," she whispered.

He smiled and pulled away enough so they could look at each other. "It's alright, Spencer," he said with a smile.

It was alright. They could talk about things later, for now they could just enjoy each other's presence. She sighed in relief and smiled big, hugging him again.

After Spencer dropped her off, Emily had gotten ready and driven to the movie theater. Now Emily sat in the movie theater seat, shifting uncomfortable. She should have figured going to see a movie so soon was a bad idea. It was a standard in dating but things considered, probably not the best idea. She looked at the armrest to her left. No hand rested there. She was glad for that. It helped a little. Nevertheless, she was still sitting just inches away from Maya. They were still sitting in a dark room. And they were still in a room void of many people. She looked over at Maya. She seemed focused on the movie. She was about to look away when she saw her smile.

"This isn't easy for me either," Maya said. Turning to Emily, she asked, "Maybe it was bad idea, huh?"

Emily smiled and nodded. Maya smiled and looked back at the screen. She moved in her seat and focused on the movie. Emily looked back at the screen wondering why they didn't just go somewhere else. But despite what Maya had said she seemed into the movie. So Emily just tried to pay attention and enjoy it.

Aria sat on Ezra's couch, a box of Chinese takeout in one hand, chopsticks on the other. Chewing her chow mein she looked over at him and smiled. He smiled back. Then the smile left his face. They had been having a nice small chatter but now a serious look overtook his face. "Aria, we have to talk about something," he said in a serious tone.

She swallowed her food and put the box down on the coffee table, chopsticks inside. He did the same.

Looking at her he said, "Your mother thinks I'm seeing Spencer."

Aria closed her eyes and exhaled. With her eyes still closed she said, "I know."

She opened her eyes and saw him raise his eyebrow. "She mentioned something to me a while ago," she answered his unasked question.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked a little defensive.

"I told her there was nothing going on. She seemed to drop it. She didn't mention it again."

"Well she mentioned it to me," he said.

"What did she say?" Aria asked, worried.

"When I went to see you at the station, she told me to leave and she mentioned Spencer," he said, not having to needing to explain in detail.

She looked at to the side, thinking about that.

"I didn't think it was the appropriate time to correct her or discuss it," he said.

She looked back at him and nodded. They were quiet for a moment. They were both thinking the same thing; maybe it was time to reveal their relationship. They also both shared the same look of fear on their faces. Aria had always been more than willing to be upfront about their relationship, more so than Ezra. But now, knowing what her mother thought, she dreaded it.

Speaking of dreadful things, there's still Jackie Molina, Aria thought. She hadn't spoken to the woman since she had shown up at her house to threaten her. Aria knew the woman had meant every word she had said. She had attributed the lack of blackmail to the fact that she hadn't seen much of Ezra.

"Aria?" Ezra interrupted her thoughts.

"Huh?" she turned to face him.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

She couldn't share this with him. She shook her head and smiled half heartedly. "Nothing, just, maybe it's time to announce our relationship."

Ezra sighed and nodded.

Hanna sat at the kitchen table; she could hear her mom argue with her dad on the phone. She had told her about their talk and what her dad wanted her to do. Ashley had been shocked then angry. She had called Tom and confronted him about the ridiculous thing he wanted Hanna to do. If anything, Ashley thought, Tom and she should be the ones apologizing to Isabel. Hanna sighed as she heard her mom hung up and walk back to the kitchen table. Her mom sat down huffing. "You don't have t o do this," she told Hanna.

"I know mom, but I want to," she replied, weakly.

She still wanted her parents back together and not a new family that already hated her. But the truth was, no matter how much she disliked the idea and dreaded it, she wanted to. She believed Isabel had a right to know. Yet, she was still sorry. She still felt bad. Ashley started at her trying to read her. She nodded seeing that Hanna was being honest.

She informed her mom she would be in her room and left. After some time of listening to music and texting she heard a knock on her door. Her mom came in and informed her Caleb was downstairs. She smiled and headed downstairs. Caleb smiled the moment he saw her. She hugged and kissed him. They kissed for a while until he pulled away to catch his breath. She stared at him. She could see by the look on his face he had something to say. "Do you want to meet my mom?" he blurted out. She was taken aback.

"I know it's soon," he said.

She shook her head and smiled, "I'd love to."

He smiled big and kissed her.

Emily arrived at school earlier than usual that day. She wanted to get some extra laps in before swim practice. She stepped out into the natatorium. She had switched into her bathing suit, wearing her track suit on top. She carried her cap and goggles in her hand. She was walking toward the pool when a figure caught her attention. She turned to look toward the bleachers to see who it was and saw Paige. She was sitting at the bottom bleacher, leaning back on her hands, staring at the pool. Emily's movements must have caught her attention because she turned her head toward Emily. She smiled. For a moment Emily was transfixed. Paige's smile was different. Emily wasn't quite sure what it was. . . peaceful? She figured it was because to Paige this must be like her second home, just like it was for her. Paige looked away and back at the water. Emily walked toward her and sat next to her, with enough space in between for another person to fit. She looked over at Paige and detected the faintest curling of lips on her face.

In this quiet moment Emily took the time to take Paige in. She looked back and forth between Paige and the pool while she did it, not wanting to straight up stare at her. Her auburn hair was longer. Before it had hovered over her shoulders, grazing them. Now it rested on them, slightly reaching her upper back. Her bangs were longer too. Before they were flat and the straight fringe had rested on her forehead, barely reaching her eyes. Now they were layered and swooped to her right side. Emily had always thought Paige was pretty, but this seemed to suit her more. In the back of her mind she also noticed that her wardrobe had also changed, just the slightest. It was a little bit more casual, relaxed even, than before. She was wearing a solid grey loose shirt that hung off her shoulder with a black tank top underneath and black skinny jeans. Emily smiled. She had noticed Paige liked to wear those type of shirts.

"Why did you quit the swim team?" Emily asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

She saw Paige's tiny smile widen. She looked amused. Emily's eyebrows creased, confused. Never taking her eyes off of the water she answered, "Because I wasn't doing it for the right reasons."

Emily didn't have to ask for further explanation. She saw Paige's gaze move to the floor in front of her feet. She could tell Paige was searching for a more elaborate explanation, so she waited. Paige's gaze moved back to the pool. Emily accompanied her and stared at the pool as well, as she listened.

"I love it. I love swimming and being in the water. Sometimes I feel like I was made for it," Paige began.

Emily smiled, she felt the same way. And she had seen her swim enough to agree that Paige was made for the water.

Paige continued, "But I let it turn into nothing but a competition." She glanced over at Emily. She was staring at the pool but seemed to be listening intently to Paige. She turned back at the pool. "I quit everything," Paige stated.

Emily looked at her, eyebrow raised. Paige chuckled. She didn't turn to look at Emily, she could see her face from the corner of her eye.

"I wanted to take time . . . to breathe. I wanted to be able to stop and breathe so I could clear my head. . So then I could think." She turned to look at Emily. Her gaze strong as ever, Emily noted. "To think and finally figure out who I am," she said.

Emily was shocked. This was the last thing she was expecting Paige to say. She felt her eyes widen and mouth open a bit. Paige looked back at the water. "I've been doing everything for the wrong reasons. I got lost in them," she finished.

Emily looked at her for a moment. That's why she looks different, Emily thought. There had been something different about her. Emily looked back at the pool, a smile on her face. She wondered where Paige had disappeared off to but then a better question occurred to her. Her smile got bigger. Looking at her, she asked, "Do you want to swim with me?"

Paige scoffed playfully, "I'm hardly dressed for that."

Emily laughed. She thought of how Paige could discard her clothes to have more suiting wear, but dismissed the thought before it even finished processing.

"I'll just watch you," Paige said.

"Trying to scope out the competition?" Emily teased.

Paige smirked, looking at Emily, she said, "Please, you need all the practice you can get before I come back and kick your ass."

Emily laughed again. Paige smile widely.

Emily remembered what she had come here for and got up. She walked to the pool. Getting ready to get in, she took off her suit, put on her cap and let her goggles rest on her forehead. She looked up at Paige. Paige was looking back at her. They smiled at each other. She moved the goggles to cover her eyes and dived into the pool. Here and there she would see Paige, watching her, when she came up for air. She didn't feel self conscious that Paige was watching her. Instead she felt comfortable and at ease. She finished another lap and stopped at the edge of the pool. She looked up at the bleachers only to find them empty. She looked around. Paige was gone. A minute later she figured why; the rest of the swim team entered the natatorium.

Aria and Spencer were walking in the school hall when Mrs. Montgomery came out of her classroom and walked over to them. She looked at Spencer and said, "Spencer, do you have a moment? I'd like to talk to you about something." Her voice was firm but soft.

Aria felt dread fill her, she could imagine what her mother would want to talk to Spencer about. Spencer looked taken aback. She glanced at Aria and was confused by the look on her face. She looked like she was silently pleading her to say no. Maybe Spencer was reading her wrong. Having no idea, except that maybe Mrs. Montgomery wanted to know about their legal situation or how Aria was, she nodded; a look of apprehension on her face. Mrs. Montgomery walked to her classroom, entered and stood by the door. Spencer followed her inside. Mrs. Montgomery grabbed the knob of the door and gave Aria a stern look that told her to wait there. She closed the door and walked over to her desk, leaning on it. She asked Spencer to take a seat. Spencer sat on the desk in front of Mrs. Montgomery. She looked up expectantly. Mrs. Montgomery breathed out slowly.

Aria stood right outside, looking through the window on the door. Her mother had a serious look on her face as she began speaking. She could only see Spencer's face partially. As her mom began speaking, the look of apprehension changed into shock and confusion. Aria felt the panic wash over her, as she waited impatiently.