Chapter Nine

The Watering Hole

Hanna Rivers sat at a table in the middle of the Rosewood Grille with a bored expression and an Arnold Palmer. She was wearing a loose teal dress with a synched waist and was carrying a nude clutch. She nervously took a sip of her drink and glanced around, it was 1:35 and no had arrived yet. What if they didn't come? No, they had to come. They couldn't just not come. It was just then that a tall, willowy Emily Fields entered the restaurant. She was wearing a light brown transparent-esque tee shirt and a pair of cut off jean shorts that showed off quite a bit of leg. She also had aviators pushing back her long dark hair and a subtle pair of wrap around sandals.

Hanna stood up with a broad smile and the two exchanged a hug before sitting down across from each other. "Wow Em, you look great!" Hanna said, glancing at her taller friend's attire. Emily shrugged off the compliment and glanced around.

"Are the other two on their way?" She asked timidly, her eyes scanning the clusters of people who had settled around the fairly popular restaurant.

"I guess," Hanna said simply, taking another sip of her drink. "So how's California?" She asked curiously, her eyes lighting up at the memories of flying out to the beautiful and always sunny state.

"Oh you know, beautiful, sunny, warm," Emily said with a grin, "Much nicer than New Jersey." Her voice was playful and teasing, and Hanna smiled tightly. The blonde had sworn up and down that she would never move to the suburbs, but look where she ended up. Before she had the chance to counter with an earthquake remark, a tiny and visibly worn out Aria Fitz entered.

The pint sized beauty was wearing a navy short sleeved tee shirt and a pair of light wash army greenish shorts. Her shoulder length hair was stick straight and was surrounding a gold statement necklace. She clacked over to the girls, courteousy of her brown flip flops, and was enveloped in a hug from Hanna. She laughed airily and turned to hug their taller friend, she took a seat next to Hanna and smiled broadly at the two.

There was an uneasy silence before Aria piped up, "This is crazy," She breathed out, looking at her two used to be best friends.

Emily murmured an agreement and looked up as a waiter approached them. "I'll have a water, thanks." She said quietly.

"I'll take an iced tea, please." Aria piped up, trying to get back into the rhythm with the two girls. The young waiter nodded and walked away, headed to get their drinks.

"So," Hanna said, causing the attention to be drawn back to her. "How's Mr. Fitz?" She asked with a crooked grin.

"Hanna," Emily groaned jokingly, a smile perched on her lips.

Aria laughed again, "He's great." She looked around the room, wondering where the missing piece was. Spencer Hastings—or Cavanuagh, was not known for being late.

"Thanks," Emily said again, as the waiter handed her a water and Aria an iced tea.

"Will there be anyone else joining you ladies? Or would you like to place an order now?" He asked politely.

Hanna glanced around, "I think we'll wait a little bit longer." She said, biting her lower lip.

"Sure thing, I'll check in with you guys in a few." He said with a smile before turning away.

Hanna's fingers tapped on the table absentmindedly as her eyes searched the windows. "So how's swimming?" Aria asked, causing Emily to make a sour face.

"Oh," She said caught off guard, "I don't really do that anymore."

"What? Really?" Hanna asked confused, last she had heard her and Paige both swam professionally.

"Yeah," Emily said with a sad tone, "I quit to take care of the girls."

"Well, it was definitely worth it then." Aria said with a genuine smile, understanding how important her kids are to her.

"Spencer!" Hanna said, causing her counter partners to whip their heads around.

In walked the tallest and arguably thinnest of the four. She was wearing a tight white shirt with thin navy stripes and a pair of light pink shorts. The brunette had hair that fell past her shoulders and visible bags under her eyes, despite an obvious attempt to hide that. She was wearing nude flats and a tired expression. "Hey." She breathed out, hugging each of her old friends, before taking a seat next to Emily.

"Dang Spence, did you sleep last night?" Hanna asked loudly, causing the tall brunette to shoot her a look.

"Hanna!" Emily and Aria exclaimed, just like old times.

"What?" She asked, taking a sip from her Arnold Palmer, "I mean you look great and everything, just tired."

Spencer rolled her eyes, "Nice seeing you too Hanna." Her voice was hoarse and when the waiter asked her for a drink she ordered a black coffee.

"So," Aria said, looking at Hanna, "You invited us here, tell me what's going on. How's Caleb? The kids? The store? Fill us in."

Hanna looked down at her drink, "Well," She started, "Caleb's fine. He works in the city, programming, and the kids are great. Graham is going into first grade already, and Haven is just being an angle." She glanced at the girls, who were mostly paying attention, and continued. "The business is fine, nothing new. I think I'm going to Milan for fall fashion week, but I don't know about leaving my babies with Caleb for a whole week." She laughed and then looked at Aria, "How about you?"

Aria smiled and ignored the little knot in her tummy. "That's amazing Hanna! I'm so happy for you," Emily nodded in agreement, "As for me," she started, "Elisa is starting dance, which is pretty hilarious because she has the grace of her mother, none. And Harper is almost nine months old. Which is crazy. Ezra is still teaching, and I've been editing in Pittsburgh, but that's about it." She said her voice falling towards the end. Oh, she though bitterly, and you know, falling more and more into debt, the usual. She stopped herself from rolling her eyes and looked at Hanna again.

"That's cool, they really grow up fast." Hanna said quietly, thinking about her own kids. "What about you Em, you're not swimming anymore?"

Emily nodded and took a sip of her water. "I quit after Paige and I adopted Sisi and Esi. Paige is still swimming, and we still live on the beach.. But I just take care of the girls now." Emily said hesitantly.

"I wish I could do that," Aria said exhausted, "I hate not seeing my babies during the day." Emily smiled at her and swirled her straw around her drink. Spencer was typing furiously on her phone, completely ignoring the girls at the table. Hanna looked at her with a raised eyebrow but chose not to say anything.

A few hours later, the girls were falling into a familiar rhythm. As much as they might choose to deny it, they had missed each other. Well except Spencer. The tall brunette spent the lunch on her phone, only looking up when someone asked her a question.

When it came time to say goodbye, Aria and Emily exchanged phone numbers. The reunion was tomorrow afternoon, and they made plans to go get coffee beforehand. Hanna and Emily decided to hang out at the pool this evening, and invited Aria who politely turned them down, she thought it would be silly to drive to their hotel at night anyways.

As Hanna hugged each girl and headed to her car, Emily following in suit, Aria hung back. She looked at Spencer timidly. "Hey." She said, causing Spencer to look at her tiredly. "What's going on?" She asked, looking up at Spencer with familiar doe eyes.

Spencer sighed, "Nothing I need to concern you with Aria." She said sharply, turning to walk to her car.

"Hey!" Aria said, reaching out and grabbing Spencer's wrist, "You can talk to me Spence."

Spencer wiggled out her grasp and rolled her eyes. "We're not fifteen anymore Aria." Her voice had a sharp edge, "I don't even know you." Spencer could see the hurt wash across her face, but it was true. How did they expect her to just forget the fact they hadn't spoken in ten years? Spencer turned away and grabbed the door, stepping into the hot summer air. Aria sighed and followed her out.

"Spence please," Aria said, shutting the door behind her. "You know me. I'm still the same person I was all those years ago. I don't know why you can't just tell me what's wrong."

"Because maybe I don't want to!" Spencer shouted, turning to face her. "God, Aria, I don't know why you can't just leave me the hell alone."

Aria just looked up at her blankly, "Fine." The tiny brunette turned on her heal and stormed to her car, leaving Spencer standing on the sidewalk a knot of guilt in her stomach. It was stupid to yell at her like that, but she just had so much going on right now. As Aria started the car and shifted into drive, she saw Spencer slowly make her way to her car. She rolled her eyes and sped away.

When the four little liars finally arrived at their house/hotels, they all felt their phone buzz.

Ten years later four little liars sit at the watering hole. Somethings never change.

-A

A/N: Thanks for reading, I don't think I did Emily's character justice in this one so please forgive me. I was hesitant to bring A back in, but I eventually decided that I wanted to throw some more conflict in so there it is. Sorry if it's terrible, but I don't know. I thought it might spice things up. Next chapter is some Sparia friendship, so get ready for that haha. Leave a review and let me know what you thought :)