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Time passed differently when you were drinking, that's what Quinn remembered. It felt faster, maybe the spinning in her head was part of it. She didn't know how long she had been upstairs in her room, not until the girls had come looking for her. She heard their voices in the house calling for her, but she made no attempt to move off her bed. She just laid sideways on her bed, her hair hanging off the edge of it; then, her bedroom door opened. From upside down, she started laughing when she saw her.

"Spencer!" Quinn giggled, rolling off her bed. Unsteady, she fell over with a thump, the skirt of her sundress fanned out around her.

"Oh God," Spencer said when she saw the bottle on Quinn's bed.

"Don't be mad," Quinn said seriously, shaking her head as she got up. Spencer went over to steady her. "I just...I'm not awesome right now."

"Hey," Hanna interrupted, followed by Emily into the room. "You found her." She immediately knew that Quinn was drunk, just by her stance.

"Oh no," Emily said softly.

"Guys, really, it's fine," Quinn insisted, slurring a little.

"It's not," Spencer told her as Hanna took Quinn from her, fluffing her hair and then giving her a few mints from her purse. "Your parents were looking for you, and Jason is on his way." Quinn's reaction wasn't what Spencer expected; she started laughing.

"I'm sorry," Quinn giggled. "I just..." She kept laughing. "With everything that's going on...this is like, not important at all." She shook her head as she kept laughing. "Being drunk in front of my parents."

"Quinn," Emily said gently.

"Let's do it!" Quinn said, bouncing over towards the door. The girls looked at each other awkwardly, wondering what they should do.

"At least she's a happy drunk," Hanna pointed out.

"Hanna," Spencer warned, the three of them going to follow Quinn's trail. They heard her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh, it's CeCe," Quinn smiled big, hugging her friend tight. CeCe and Eric had been at an earlier party, coming over to the Montgomery house now.

"It's...me," CeCe said with uncertainty in her voice as she hugged Quinn back, looking to the girls for an answer. Spencer held up the nearly empty bottle.

"Someone started early," Eric commented, earning a smack from his girlfriend before she told him to meet her out back at the party.

"Sweetie," CeCe said to Quinn, taking her face. Quinn was giggling still, holding her hands over CeCe's hands. "Is Jason here?"

"No," Quinn shook her head.

"Where is he?" CeCe asked in confusion, letting her friend go.

"Seeing Aria," Quinn answered, starting to play with a piece of her hair.

"Why?" CeCe snapped.

"Because she's a bitch," Quinn shrugged.

"Oh...kay," CeCe said, none of this making sense to her, not that she expected it to. "Let's get you water or something, ok?"

"The water is outside," Quinn said, remembering the cooler on the patio. CeCe had been hoping to keep her in the kitchen until she managed to sober up a little.

"Go distract her parents," CeCe mumbled to the girls, the girls taking the hint and rushing outside ahead of CeCe and Quinn.

The girls went over to Ella and Byron, talking to them about random things, telling Ella that Ashley had been looking for her. Meanwhile, CeCe ordered Quinn to sit at the table under the umbrella while she got her a bottled water. Quinn rested her elbows against the glass surface of the table, taking her face in her hands. It was that point in her being drunk that she was spinning too much, she had taken it too far; she always did.

"Where the hell have you been?" CeCe snapped, causing Quinn to look up quickly, bringing on a bigger dizzy spell that sank straight to her stomach.

"What's your problem?" Jason asked back.

"Quinn's hammer-" CeCe didn't get the rest of her sentence out before she noticed Quinn was out of her seat, off to the side throwing up in the bushes.

"Shit," Jason mumbled, instinctively going over to Quinn and grabbing her hair for her as she finished getting sick; she had attracted the attention of a few people nearby and he waved them off, telling them it was something she ate. Her mother came over to check on her though as she was standing back up, worried. It didn't take her long to tell that Quinn had been wasted; her daughter wreaked of booze.

"Quinn," Ella said, her voice a mixture of both gentle concern and seriousness.

"I just want to go home," Quinn told her.

"I'll take her," Jason said, slipping his arm around her waist to support her.

That was the last thing Quinn remembered. Waking up, feeling groggy and slightly nauseous still, she looked over at the alarm clock that was on the nightstand next to her bed; it was only seven o'clock. Pulling herself out of bed, still in her dress from the party, she glanced at herself in the mirror. Her hair a mess, her make up smeared with sleep, the sick expression on her face. She looked like hell. Going downstairs, she followed the sounds of Jason making dinner in the kitchen.

"Morning," Jason mumbled sarcastically, still at the stove. He piled some pasta on his own plate before smothering it in sauce. "Dinner's on the stove if you want any," he said as he walked by her, going out to the table.

"Jay," Quinn sighed as he went by, barely looking at her. "Jason."

"What would you do?" Jason asked, looking over at her finally. She stood across the table from him, standing behind a chair with her hands resting on it. "If I was there, completely trashed."

"I'm sorry if I...if I embarrassed you," Quinn said. "Or my parents-"

"You think that's what I'm upset about?" Jason asked her with raised eye brows. "What other people are thinking about us?" He shook his head at her. "Well, if that's what you're worried about, you should know no one thought you were wasted today." She looked at him curiously. "We're getting married in nine months and you randomly got sick in the middle of the day. Everyone thinks you're pregnant."

"Great," Quinn muttered, though she honestly didn't care about what the people of Rosewood thought at the moment.

"Why didn't you talk to me?" Jason asked her. "If you were that upset, why would keep it from me?"

"You weren't around," Quinn mumbled, looking at her hands that she was busy twisting nervously.

"Don't do that," Jason told her. "You could have talked to your mom, CeCe, any one of the girls-"

"I already feel shitty enough as it is Jay," Quinn snapped at him. "I get it, I messed up." She unknowingly started to tear up. "And, I'm sorry." If Jason hated one thing, it was seeing Quinn upset. He got up and went to sit on her side of the table with her.

"I know," he promised as he came over, taking a seat beside her. "And, I'd be lying if I said I didn't slip before." While Jason had gone back to school after Alison disappeared, he had started to try getting clean. Missing Quinn and the issues at home though could sometimes cause him to relapse.

"I'm sorry," Quinn repeated. "I didn't mean..." She shook her head. That wasn't right, obviously she hadn't meant to. "It's just that...everyone was there, and they were talking to me about Aria, and Mike..." She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "God, does Mike know I was drinking?" The last she wanted was to disappoint her brother.

"He wasn't home," Jason shook his head. "He went over to a friend's place for awhile." Quinn nodded. "I never saw her."

"What?" Quinn asked, but then she realized. He had never gotten in to see Aria that afternoon. "Why, what happened?"

"Her doctors said the visits lately have made her more agitated," Jason explained. "So, for now, she's not allowed to have anymore visitors."

"We're not any closer to finding out who this new A is," Quinn sighed, taking her head in her hands; she felt Jason's hand on her back.

"We'll figure it out like we did last time," Jason reasoned.

"Last time I almost got run off the road," Quinn pointed out numbly.

"Well, I won't let it get to that," Jason said with a half reassuring smile, kissing her head.

Days passed. And, with the first few days of school, came the delivery of a few items from Alison's grave to the girls. That included a necklace that was made out of human teeth. The necklace was gone now, not that it mattered. With the new pictures of the girls at Alison's grave, there was no way they could go to the police. The incriminating photos didn't stop there, which Jason realized when he found a brown envelope waiting for him on his desk Friday morning.

"They were pictures of what?" Quinn hissed into the phone at work, sitting in a chair at the nurses' station.

"Me and you," Jason whispered, careful to see who might be out in the hall. "Those times, you used to drive me into Philly..." She knew what he was hinting at; the drug dealing.

"Oh God," Quinn complained, her head falling back against the chair.

"Quinn?" Jason heard one of the other nurses saying in the background, just coming back with her lunch.

"Uh, yeah, so your mom is coming at noon tomorrow?" Quinn asked Jason, covering it up. She was due to go dress shopping the following afternoon with their mothers and CeCe.

"The first thing you thought of complaining about was my mom?" Jason mused.

"Yeah, well I don't think it's very funny," Quinn said, rolling her eyes at the other nurse and mouthing out oh my God, making the other girl snort.

"Mhmm," Jason laughed a bit. "I'll see you at home babe. Love you."

"Love you too," Quinn said before hanging up.

The last thing Quinn wanted to do this afternoon was go dress shopping, that was for sure; they were the only ones in the small, locally owned dress shop. But, she had to keep up a face, acting like everything was fine. Her mom and Jessica pulled out a few dress choices for her to try on, while CeCe looked through the dress rack with Quinn, quietly asking her if she was ok. She seemed to be the only person here today that wasn't walking on eggshells around her, coming right out and asking if she was doing alright.

"I'm fine Ce," Quinn assured her, taking the last few dresses to the back in the changing room alone. She hung up the dresses, the dressing room very spacious. Setting her bag on a nearby chair, she kicked off her shoes and peeled off the red sundress she had been wearing. She reached for the dress that her mother had picked out first, when her phone started to buzz with a text message. Leaving the dress for a moment, she grabbed her phone in case it was an emergency. It was a text from Spencer.

SOS

Quinn sighed as she typed out a response.

Middle of dress shopping, can it wait?

She couldn't just run out on her mom and the others, not without looking majorly suspicious. Spencer finally replied.

Don't be mad. Went to see Garrett today

Quinn's mouth dropped open.

WHY?!

"Quinn!" Jessica called. "Are you coming honey?"

"Just a sec," Quinn mumbled, dropping her phone and sliding into the first wedding dress, a strapless mermaid style dress picked out by her mother. Stepping out of the room, she walked over in front of the three fold mirror. There were plush chairs and couches all around where CeCe, Jessica, and Ella were all sitting.

"Oh, I like it," Ella smiled, coming over closer to observe her daughter; Quinn's face was scrunched up. "What is it?"

"I don't like it," Quinn admitted. She motioned down towards the bottom of the dress, where the skirt fanned out. All she could really think about though was getting an answer from Spencer. She pointed back at the dressing room with her thumb. "I'm gonna change in the next one." As she hurried out of the main room, she heard Jessica saying something about how she hoped they got to see her in the dresses for more than a minute; Quinn rolled her eyes as she got out of the dress, grabbing her phone from her bag again; there was a new message.

I know. But I thought he might know who took Ali's body. He said he did!

Quinn rolled her eyes again at the naive teenager.

Well did he tell you who it was?

She set the phone down, grabbing the dress that Jessica picked next, a big ball gown that she imagined a princess wearing. She already disliked it on the hanger, but she was going to amuse Jessica anyway. As she finished putting the dress on, her phone finally buzzed again.

That's the thing. Garrett wants my mom to represent him

Quinn sighed.

Yeah right

Once she hit send, she left the dressing room once more, having to hold the skirt as she walked out in front of the mirror again.

"You look gorgeous honey," Jessica told her, happy with her choice.

"You do," Ella agreed, helping her with the skirt, smoothing it out in necessary places; Quinn made that face again. "What is it this time?"

"I feel like Cinderella," Quinn admitted.

"Ugh, and Cinderella was the worst," CeCe agreed with a wink. "Go try on mine!"

"The one you picked out was short CeCe," Ella reminded her, already disapproving.

"Quinn has great legs," CeCe reasoned with a laugh, though she could tell the way Quinn was smiling at her she already didn't like the short dress idea either. "Fine! Go try on your other one before we start over." She noticed Quinn looking at something outside. "Quinn?" CeCe asked in confusion. "What are you..." She trailed off when she turned her head and saw what she was looking at. Melissa Hastings was walking down the sidewalk, pushing a baby stroller.

"Oh God," CeCe muttered. Spotting them inside, Melissa smiled at them, coming inside to say hello.

"Hi Quinn, CeCe," she smiled warmly at them. Melissa smiling freaked Quinn out, since she rarely saw a genuine one coming from her. "Hi," she smiled at Ella and Jessica.

"Hi Melissa," Ella smiled back at her.

"Oh, is this your little one?" Jessica asked her.

"Yes!" Melissa beamed, showing off the three month old baby dressed up all in pink as she laid wide eyed in her stroller. "This is Taylor."

"She's really sweet," CeCe said, feeling like either she or Quinn should say something. Judging by the shocked look on Quinn's face, it wasn't going to be her.

"Thank you," Melissa said politely. "Quinn, that dress is beautiful." She smiled at her. "I tried on one like that, when me and Wren were engaged. Doesn't it make you feel like a princess?"

"Uh huh," Quinn nodded, not sure what was going on. Since when was Melissa so happy to see her? "When did you get back to Rosewood?"

"Last weekend," Melissa answered. "It's just been hard, with Taylor and everything. Thought I'd move home for awhile, back to the barn." She was still smiling. "Anyway, I should get going. But it was nice seeing all of you!"

"You too," Quinn answered, though still clearly suspicious.

Quinn was amazed that she found a wedding dress that day, though she was glad that she did. It was a strapless dress, with a high, empire waistline; the skirt was long, with a bit of a train, the fabric soft. The ordeal was enough for her, but she figured that bridesmaid dresses would be an even bigger adventure, with Hanna and CeCe being at the center of her picky troubles. Coming home after she placed the order for her dress, she found Jason sitting on the couch, his phone sitting on the coffee table.

"What's up?" Quinn asked, climbing over the back of the couch to sit next to him.

"I didn't mean to look," Jason told her.

"What?" Quinn asked in confusion and he nodded at his phone. Not sure what he was talking about, she grabbed his phone and read the last message he got.

Isn't it bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress?

Attached was a picture of Quinn in the Cinderella dress his mom had picked out, right before Melissa came in.

"I knew it!" Quinn exclaimed as she looked at the message still.

"What?" Jason asked with raised eye brows.

"Melissa is A," she tried to explain.

"Melissa Hastings?" Jason asked, still completely confused.

"She's been back since Labor Day," Quinn reasoned. "And she was outside the shop when I was trying that dress on." She handed the phone to him. "And, that's not my dress by the way." Jason nodded, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Why would Melissa be A?" Jason asked her seriously and Quinn looked at him like it was obvious.

"Um, because I killed her husband?" Quinn reminded him. "Because she's raising a baby on her own now and she's pissed."

"Right, she has a baby," Jason pointed out. "A doesn't exactly strike me as being motherly." He shrugged. "Toby thinks it's Jenna and I agree with him."

"Ok, so a blind girl can be A but a new mom can't?" Quinn asked sarcastically and Jason shook his head at her.

"He found her eye drops in the bathroom," Jason explained. "Her surgery this summer worked, she can see."

"And the list just keeps on growing," Quinn mumbled. Just when she thought she had things figured out.

thanks for reading! :) hope you liked the update, i'd love to hear what you thought! :) more soon!