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Here is the last chapter of this story.

Chapter twenty-six

A few months later

Aria's POV

"Byron Montgomery, the supreme court of Pennsylvania condemns you to life imprisonment for the murder of Alison Dilaurentis!"

Ezra squeezed my hand in an attempt of comfort as the judge finally announced his verdict.

It was the fourth day of the trial and the tribunal had finally returned his sentence. My father hadn't even defended himself; he had just confessed everything, his affair with Alison, their fight and her murder, causing a lot of agitation among the audience. During all the trial, I had kept silence, painfully listening how my father had hit my best friend with a hockey stick before burying her alive. As my father had already confessed his murder, the police had told me that I wasn't obligated to attend the trial but I wanted to be there. I wanted to be here to see the promise I had made to Ali to be kept. The girls were here too as well as my mother and Ezra. My brother hadn't wanted to come and I perfectly understood his decision.

I watched as two policemen took my father to bring him back to the cell where he would probably end up his life. I knew it was probably the last time I was seeing him. I met his gaze as he passed in front of me. There was no anger on his face anymore, the madness I had seen in his eyes at Holden's cabin was gone, he just looked like the man who had raised me, he just looked like my father.

At this moment, tears welled up in my eyes and before I knew what I was doing I took a step closer to him and wrapped my arms around him. I knew some people probably wondered why I was hugging him, how I could give a hug to the man who had killed my best friend, but it wasn't this man I was giving a hug to; it was the man who had wiped my tears away when I was little and when I was sad, it was the man who had taught me how to swim, it was the man who had taken me to the park every Sunday morning, it was the man who had reassured me when I woke up from a nightmare. For a second, I wasn't hugging Alison's killer but my father and I knew I needed it, it was the only way possible to move on; I needed to say goodbye to my father.

The policemen took him away and I felt Ezra hand on my shoulder, I turned over and broke into tears into his embrace.

A few days later

"I'm going to miss you so much!" My mother said, hugging me tighter against her chest.

"Mom, we will be apart only for two months and after that you and Mike will join me." I told her

"I know, I know, but I can't believe that my little girl is going to college," she said, her eyes filled with tears.

Two months ago, the girls and I had graduated from high school. It should have been an amazing day but of course I hadn't been able to ignore the empty chair next to my mother and why the person who should have been sitting in it wasn't here. It was also this day that Ezra had told me that he had gotten a job as a high school teacher in California next to the college I would be studying at for the four next years, at hundreds of kilometers away from the town I had grown up in.

Leaving Rosewood wasn't a choice, it was a necessity. I couldn't stay in this town where so many things had happened. I wanted a place where I could have a fresh start, where I could be just Aria and not the girl whose best friend had been murdered, not the girl who had had an affair with her English teacher, and above all of this not the killer's daughter. My mother had decided to leave Rosewood too with my brother and they had planned to join Ezra and me in California as soon as the house is sold.

After what had happened my mother had wanted me to see Doctor Sullivan again. She said that she would help me to get over it, but I knew that even if she didn't want to admit it to herself, she knew that no matter how hard I would try, I would never get over it. There are some things we just can't get over; we just have to learn how to live with. My own father had killed my best friend and had tried to kill me; how does can a person move on from something like that? I knew that I would probably always wake up from a nightmare where my father would kill Alison over and over again, but the only thing which comforted me was the certitude that every time it would happen, Ezra would be here for me.

"Take care of my baby girl!" My mother advised Ezra who was standing next to me.

Ezra wrapped a protective arm around my shoulder and softly kissed my temples. "Always."

"Yeah, take care of my sister, Fitz!" Mike said, entering the living room. My brother had been really affected by all the recent events and he had apologized for not telling me about what he had seen the night our father had killed Alison. But it wasn't his fault, how could he have known?

"Don't worry Mike; I know what you're capable of!" Ezra said pointing to the lip that Mike had punched months ago, as we all laughed.

"Are you leaving right away?" My mother asked us.

I shook my head in negation. "No, our flight isn't before a few hours and there is still something I need to do before leaving."

I hugged my mother and my brother a last time and Ezra and I made our way toward his car which was parked along the sidewalk.

I stopped before getting into the car and turned over to look a last time at the place where I had so many memories, happy memories, mostly, with my family, with my mother, my brother and with my father.

A wave of nostalgia hit me as some happy moments came back to my mind. I knew that this part of my life was over, I would never get back what I had lost and I knew that I would never go back to Rosewood either. There was nothing which attached me to this town anymore.

As I was still standing in front of my house, lost in my memories, Ezra wrapped his arms around my waist before kissing the top of my head. We stayed like this for a few minutes without saying a word, Ezra understanding that I needed this moment. Then we got into Ezra's car and left the house where I had grown up, leaving a part of my life behind us.

"I'm going to wait for you in the café", Ezra told me as he parked his car along the sidewalk.

"Okay, but it might takes a little while," I warned him.

"Take all the time you need, sweetheart!" He told me. I smiled, gave him a quick kiss and leave the car as he made his way toward Rosewood grill.

A few minutes later, I finally reached the place where I had planned to go and pushed the little gate of Rosewood cemetery.

I walked straight to the grave I had visited so many times over the past two years. They were already here, the three of them, waiting for me.

"Sorry, I'm late!" I apologized.

Emily, Spencer and Hanna turned over and smiled to me.

"I can't believe we are all leaving this town!" Hanna said. Like me, the girls were leaving for college in the next few days.

"Not all of us, one of us will never do!" I sadly said as we all looked at the grave in front of us where our best friend's name was etched on the marble. It was the last time that we were all reunited, not the four of us of course, but the five of us.

"I'm sorry, Ali." I said, shattering the silence that we had all created over the past few minutes.

Emily turned to me and looked at me. "Aria, you know that this isn't your fault. We're not responsible for what our parents do!"

"Yes, I know. But I can't help myself from thinking that if Alison hadn't met me, she would never have met my father either and none of this would have happened," I said.

It was the thought which had been haunting me for the past six months. What if I had never met Alison? I also thought that I should have seen something. She was my best friend after all ,and he was my father, I should have realized that something was going on between them.

"But we would never have met you either," Spencer told me, taking my hand in hers.

I smiled to her. She was right. Alison had been the reason we had become friends in the first place. I suddenly realized something I had forgotten: Rosewood wasn't only the place where my father had killed my best friend but also the place where I had gotten the chance to meet her as well as Emily, Spencer and Hanna. I knew I would never find friends like them; we had shared so many things together, had been through so much together.

"I'm going to miss you so much, guys, I don't want to leave you," I told them as my eyes filled with tears.

"No tears, girls, we will meet every holidays" Hanna told us. " And I want to know everything about our lives, especially if it concerns boys, or girls!" She added causing us to laugh despite our nostalgia.

We then all got closer and shared a big hug together, promising to call every day.

"Come on, you should go, Aria, if you don't want to miss your flight!" Emily told me as we separated a few seconds later.

I nodded in agreement and turned a last time to Alison's grave. The time had come. Justice had been done, her murderer was behind bars, now it was time, time to say goodbye to her.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, remembering her smiling face, her deep blue eyes and even the smell of her perfume.

"Adieu, Alison!" I whispered to the grave in front of me as a tear rolled down my cheek.

We all looked at each other to make sure that everyone was ready to go, that we had all said goodbye to our best friend. The girls nodded and we all began to make our way toward the exit.

As we were slowly walking along the graves, all nostalgic but also relieved, our phones suddenly rang at the same time. We nervously glanced at each other, recognizing this so familiar event; but my face relaxed when I realized that there was nothing to worry about now; A was in jail as well as Alison's killer. The nightmare was over.

Giving each other a reassuring smile we all took our phone from our bags or pockets and read the text.

When I looked up at the girls, they all had the same expression etched on their faces. It was the expression we had had during the past two years every time our phones rang, and I would have identified this expression everywhere: the fear.

Then, all together we read the text out loud like we had done the day of Alison's funerals when eveything had begun.

Do not rejoice too quickly. The game is not over, because I can't stay away from you, bitches!

A

THE END

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I couldn't resist for the end even if some people will probably hate me for that. ^^

I want to say a big thank you to everybody who read and reviewed this story, I really enjoyed writing it and hearing from you was always a pleasure, so thank you so much. Also thank you for enduring my mistakes.^^

Please review this last chapter to tell me what you think even those who have never reviewed, I would love to hear from you too.

I also started to write another story but I don't know how long it will take me to post it.

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