Leave my friends alone. I killed Charlotte. – Emily

The group waited in nervous silence for Sarah/A/whoever to respond. When the sound of a new message alert filled the room, everyone's hearts stopped beating for a split second and the tension in the air was palpable.

"Guys relax, it was my phone. It's just Alison. She just wanted us to know that she's on her way home from their honeymoon. I guess, there was a change of plans. Elliott has to leave for Chicago in the morning." Spencer responded as she read over Alison's long text.

"She shouldn't be alone. None of you should." Ezra responded quickly. It was clear that he still felt protective of the girls even though he and Aria weren't together anymore.

Another message alert chimed in, instantly changing the subject from Alison to the matter at hand.

If you are lying, I shoot you. – Blocked

"Em, it's not too late, we can still back out…" Paige pleaded with Emily.

Before responding, Emily typed a message back to the unknown number.

I'm not lying. I'll call the cops. - Emily

"Look at everything that's happened. It won't be long before one of us ends up in a casket. I need you to trust me on this…" Emily responded to Paige and the others, feeling the need to once again reassure the group of her plan.

"I trust you." Hanna responded almost instantly. Her response was so quick that it took many of the group by surprise, especially Emily. Emily turned from Paige and towards Hanna to give her an appreciative smile as they locked eyes for a brief moment.

"Em, I do too…" Paige responded, a moment too late because Emily wasn't paying attention anymore.

Instead, she continued to look at Hanna as her mind filled with memories of Hanna's unwavering faith in her. Hanna trusted her when it came to just about anything and she found herself so lost in those thoughts that she didn't bother to acknowledge Paige's response.

While she wanted so badly to ignore the past and even present feelings she had for Hanna, it seemed like an impossible feat. She couldn't ignore the wave of affection and longing she felt at that moment.

While Emily was lost in her trance, Spencer and Aria exchanged knowing and worried looks. They had seen this behavior before between Hanna and Emily. As the silence stretched on, it seemed to confirm their suspicions. Thankfully Paige was so pre-occupied with her worry over the plan; she hadn't noticed Emily's strange behavior.

Hanna noticed the attention, but chose to overlook it. She couldn't ignore the warm feeling that spread over her when Emily had locked eyes with her, but she was hurt and frustrated by the mixed signals she was getting from Emily. When Emily had arrived with Paige who she was clearly still involved with, Hanna felt her heart sink. Hanna had hoped that they were finally getting back to a place where they could be them again, but she clearly had misread the situation. Maybe it really was Emily's painkillers talking, Hanna thought to herself as she opened another bottle of wine.

Emily continued to watch Hanna from across the room and her trance was only broken when another text came through. Emily, clearly startled, fumbled for her phone.

No cops. This is between you and me. – Blocked

I need one more day. – Emily

It will be your last. - Blocked

The ominous tone of Sarah/A/whoever's final text left the group feeling even more uneasy than they were before. This was a very dangerous game they were about to play and Emily's safety was at risk.

While everyone's nerves were high, Caleb did his best to distract the group by beginning to talk logistics of how the plan will actually work and what everyone's role needed to be to pull it off.

"OK, so I will definitely need your help, Ezra, setting up the electric fence and the lights around The Lost Woods Resort. We also need a few people to be at The Radley to try to figure out what Sarah is looking for in the old Radley Sanitarium basement." Caleb said as he unrolled the blue prints he and Spencer had "borrowed" from the public records office.

"Hey guys…there is something missing on the new hotel blue prints. It looks like it might be a records room or something in the East Wing of the old Radley." Paige chimed in as she picked up the blueprints from the coffee table to examine them closer.

"You know about this kind of stuff? We've been staring at these for days and couldn't figure it out what Sarah has been searching for." Spencer asked.

"Yeah, I mean my dad is an architect so I've been looking at blue prints since before I could read." Paige responded.

"This is great! Okay Paige, I need you to go with Spencer tomorrow. With Spencer's mom's election party at The Radley, it'll be a scene over here. It'll be the perfect cover for you guys to sneak down to the basement and check it out."

"Umm, OK. I can do that." Paige responded tentatively. She had really hoped to be with Emily and to be the one keeping her safe. But she knew her skills were far more valuable with Spencer than hiding out in the woods watching Emily through a pair of binoculars.

"Perfect. That leaves the rest of us to get the fence and room at The Lost Woods ready for tomorrow…" Caleb started in, giving the rest of the assignments to the group.

Emily was listening so intently, she hadn't noticed Paige stand up and join Hanna in the kitchen.

"Hey, Hanna? Can I talk to you for a second?" Paige asked, trying to get Hanna's attention as she poured another large glass of wine from a freshly opened bottle.

"Hmm?" Hanna asked, barely bothering to acknowledge Paige's presence.

"Look, this might be a strange request, especially coming from me… And I know you and Emily have a long history, but seeing how you were with Emily after the fireplace incident, I know you still care for her…" Paige began, finally catching Hanna's attention enough for her to set her glass of wine down and focus on what Paige was saying.

"I guess what I'm asking is if you can be there tomorrow for her. Not the plan, for her. Caleb is so focused on catching this monster, that I'm worried that it will take priority over Emily's safety." Paige continued.

"I won't let anything happen to her." Hanna softly interrupted her, silently agreeing to Paige's request. She would never let anything happen to Emily, she couldn't.

It was probably the single most since statement she had ever uttered. Hanna would do anything to protect Emily, even if Emily decided in the end that she wants Paige, instead of her. If Emily really wanted a future with Paige, Hanna would make sure she had one. As long as she was safe and happy, that would have to be enough for Hanna.

[The next morning]

Emily had woken up early when she got a text from Aria. She hadn't wanted to disturb Paige, so she was quietly packing her bag of supplies and getting ready for the big day ahead of them.

As Emily exited the bathroom from her shower, Paige began to wake up but found herself too engrossed in watching Emily drop her towel and slowly begin getting dressed to say anything.

Finally as she watched Emily slide on a tight pair of black jeans over a lacy thong, Paige couldn't help herself.

"Can you even wear underwear with jeans that tight?" Paige joked, alerting Emily to her.

Emily couldn't help at smile at Paige's comment. She turned to walk towards the bed and sat down on the edge, next to Paige.

"Do you disapprove?" Emily asked flirtatiously.

"No, I definitely do not." Paige responded quickly, "But it makes me wish I was spending the night with you at this election party rather than pretending to hang out with Spencer just to sneak into an old nut house basement."

"It'll all be over soon, I promise." Emily said as she moved her hand to Paige's arm to silently reassure her. "But I need to go soon, I'm sorry. Aria asked me if I could help her watch Ali for a bit. I guess she's been having weird dreams or something from this new medication she's on. Plus, I need to stop by my mom's to make it look like I'm saying my final goodbye, so it's on the way anyway."

"Ok, well…be safe, OK? And stay in touch with me?" Paige asked as she pulled Emily down for a kiss.

Emily kissed her back and nodded in agreement, before standing up and grabbing her bag to leave the hotel room.

"Em..." Paige said as Emily began opening the door, "…I love you…"

Emily couldn't help but smile at Paige's words of adoration, but as much as she wanted to, she couldn't find the words to say it back. Thankfully, before it became obvious that Emily was unsure of how to respond, Paige interrupted.

"Go…I'll call you later." Paige said, knowing that if the plan worked that way Emily and Caleb planned, they'd have plenty of time for 'I love you's' and maybe even talks of moving to Chicago.

Emily was thankful for Paige's understanding. She cared deeply for Paige, and she did want to love her, but she wasn't sure if she was there yet, especially with everything with Hanna. There was always this nagging feeling in the back of her mind. And even more so, she wasn't sure what other kinds of commitment came with saying it back.

Emily was distracted when she finally arrived at Alison's house. She had been to the house a million times, so she didn't bother ringing the doorbell and just let herself in. Once inside the house, she found Aria sitting in the living room with a cup of coffee and a very large stack of papers.

"Hey…where is Ali?" Emily asked quietly, as the house seemed strangely calm and quiet.

"I finally got her to go back to sleep. She was having these crazy dreams last night of her mother.. as a zombie. She called me panicking, knowing I was the closest. I've been here all night…" Aria responded, filling Emily in on the situation.

"Wow, are those dreams from those pain meds? Maybe she should stop taking them." Emily asked.

"Yeah, she tossed them last night. Hopefully, once they are out of her system, she'll be back to normal. I haven't told her anything about the plan. I don't think she needs to know…" Aria explained quietly.

"I agree. She has enough to deal with and Sarah/A/whoever clearly doesn't think she's involved because she hasn't been targeted the way the rest of us have. It's better just to keep her in the dark. Hopefully it'll all be over soon." Emily answered quietly in agreement.

Unknown to both Aria and Emily, Alison had woken up when she heard the door open and Emily arrive. She quietly snuck out of her room and into the hallway, trying to eavesdrop on the girls' conversation. She knew that they were hiding something from her. She had been suspicious of them since Charlotte was killed. She had even hosted that dinner party, hoping to get one of them to slip up, but no one gave her anything to go on. Something wasn't right though, she knew it, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

"Hey Em, thank you for doing this… You're a lot braver than I am." Aria said quietly.

Alison grew frustrated because the girls were speaking so quietly that she couldn't hear anything, so she decided to go back to her bedroom. She didn't like feeling like she was on the outside looking in, like she was no longer an active participant in her own life.

"Don't thank me yet. Let's save that for tomorrow when this finally over." Emily responded as she reached for the manuscript in front of Aria, trying to keep the conversation light.

"Aria…wow, this book seems incredible. Why are you so nervous about it?" Emily asked. She had only read the first few pages and could already tell it was amazing.

"I'm not nervous about the book being good. I'm nervous about what Liam will think of it." Aria confessed.

"Oh, because you just wrote a love story about a guy you used to be in love with, and who you clearly still have feelings for, by the way, about his dead ex-girlfriend? You couldn't have picked a more complicated situation to get into." Emily teased looking over the pages at Aria.

"Shut up…you're one to talk about complicated. What's going on in your Triangle? You may be with Paige, but I saw the way you looked at Hanna last night. And how she was with you at her bridal shower and at the hospital…" Aria teased back with an edge of seriousness to her voice. She had been trying to find a way to bring up the topic of the obvious tension between the two former lovers.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Emily lied, unconvincingly. "Besides, Paige told me she loved me this morning." Emily added avoiding Aria's eyes. There was a moment of silence between them before Aria finally spoke up.

"Look, Em. I am not trying to meddle or get in the middle of anything, okay? I mean, I think Paige seems great. And if you love her, I will be nothing but supportive and happy for you… But, I think you should know that Hanna broke up with Jordan…right after you were in the hospital." Aria said quietly, slightly worried about betraying Hanna's trust.

Both, Aria and Spencer had noticed Hanna's strange behavior and excessive drinking the night before, so they decided that before leaving, they were going to confront her about it. Before they had a chance to say anything, they noticed she wasn't wearing her engagement ring. Hanna saw them looking at her empty ring ringer and silently confirmed that they had broken up. She had refused to go into more detail, but both Spencer and Aria suspected it had something to do with Emily, given the timing.

Emily found herself speechless at Aria's words. She had no idea that they had broken up. Why wouldn't Hanna have told me? Did she do this because of me? What does this mean? Does she still love me? Do I still love her? What about Paige? Do I love her? Emily had a million thoughts running through her head.

Before she was able to formulate enough of a response to say something, the two girls were interrupted by Alison's blood curdling scream coming from the back bedroom.