Hey guys.

So, I know sorry just does not cut it. It's been over a month since I updated this story, and that's not okay because I left you hanging. The thing is, I've been going through some very difficult, stressful times lately, and it's hard for me to sit down and write. But as of yesterday, those stressful times have taken a halt. So today, I made myself sit down and write this chapter. It's super long, and it a big deal, because you finally will find out who A is. My thing about writing stories is that I always know the ending before I know the beginning. I have seen this chapter in my mind for months, before I even wrote the first words of this story. But here it is. Here is the chapter that you have been waiting for.

The last time I updated, I wrote that I wanted to see more reviews. And it's really crappy that I said that, got a ton of encouraging reviews, and then just dropped off the face of the Earth for a month. But thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to ShadowsOnTheMoon kaileencolexoxo, mickeymack16, spoby-fanatic, Rosewood girl 317, spencie, valee13, ungluckliebhaber, Bluebird10023, FabsirellaPrincessOfPopcorrnia, Troian-Bells, Ava B, , and many, many others for your support and kindness. Special thanks to RunawayBaby555, for your special kind of support (Seriously, one of the kindest AND most talented people on this site. If you haven't read Enemies of the Heir Beware -A, you are seriously missing out.)

So yeah. In short, I'm sorry for just disappearing on you. But, I'm really proud of where this is going. I have no idea when I will update again, but this story is starting to rap up. Maybe . . . 5 more chapters? After this, I will try to revisit Making Choices, but I have lost my spark for that. I have already began work on two new stories: a darker Ezria/Sparia friendship that is somewhat depressing yet yet beautiful, and a peppier Hunger Games/PLL crossover that incorporates all of the characters/love stories in the series. The Ezria/Sparia one is kind of dying before it begins, so that will be tackled at a later date. I will definitely publish the Hunger Games story next.

So, without any further nonsense,

Here it is, taking place at the moment we left off on the last chapter.

"You're A!"

The words were bitter, like coffee; cold, like freezer burn on your ice cream; sour, like a lemon. Aria's lips immediately felt dry after she said it. Her teeth began to chatter with fear as she waited for Toby to respond.

Toby, on the other hand, was completely baffled. "What? No, I'm not! Aria, are you insane?"

Aria glared at him. "Nice try, Toby, but you can drop the innocent act. Why the hell would I be A? Why would I be sending texts to myself?"

"Stop it, Aria," Toby growled. "Stop trying to confuse me. I know what you've been doing. You're trying to convince Spencer and everyone else that I'm A. You're making me the scapegoat so you can get away with all of this."

"What-"

"DON'T try and contradict me, Montgomery. I know who you are. I know what you did to me. I know it. You're A."

Aria glanced up at him, wide-eyed. "You're- you're not serious. You can't be serious."

Toby was getting angry now. He knew this game. She was playing with him, trying to look good in front of Harper. But it wouldn't work. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because YOU'RE A, Toby. Stop messing with me like this-"

"Messing with you? HOW?"

"Oh Toby, don't pretend to be some white knight. I know you've been sending me those texts. Threatening me, Ezra-"

"EZRA? Aria, what the hell does Ezra have to do with anything?"

"Oh, just shut up, Toby. I know you were the one who sent him that text after he saved me. You're the one who moved the body last night."

"What? What body?"

Aria stamped her foot angrily. "The body of that boy who attacked me! You know that Ezra killed him-"

"EZRA KILLED SOMEONE?" Toby cried. "WHAT? WHY?"

"TOBY, stop it! He was trying to hurt me last night, before I came back to the dorm and found you and Spencer together! And Ezra stopped him from hurting me, and beat him to death and then you moved the body and sent Ezra that text! You're A!"

Toby cocked his head to the side. "Aria, before you came back and found me and Spencer together, I had been at the dorm the whole night, waiting for you to leave. I was in Spencer's room just after you left. How could I have moved a body?"

Aria pondered it for a minute before glaring at him, defeated. "You didn't move the body?"

"Aria, I have no idea what you're even talking about."

Aria groaned. "Dammit, this is just so messed up-

"Messed up? Well, first of all, Aria, I haven't sent you any texts, and I'm not A. And if we are going to talk about messed up, let's talk about last night when you attacked me with a knife-"

"WHAT?" Aria screeched. "Some one attacked you with a knife? Toby, what the hell?"

"Oh, don't pretend like you don't know. I know it was you who did it. So you can stop pretending right now. I know you've been threatening me-"

"Me threatening you? Toby, I thought you were threatening me! And I NEVER went after you with a knife!"

"SHUT UP!" Harper screamed, making both Aria and Toby jump. They had both forgotten she was there. "Now, let me get this straight," she said, walking towards both of them. "Aria, you think Toby has been after you." Aria nodded meekly. "And Toby, you think Aria is after you-"

"And that she was the one who stabbed me after I left Spencer's room last night!"

"Last night?" Aria gasped. "Toby, last night I was driving to Rosewood. Minutes after I saw you and Spencer together, I stole Ezra's car and drove straight there. I never stabbed you. What are you talking about?"

Toby blushed furiously. "It wasn't you?"

Aria shook her head. "I just got back from Rosewood, like, half an hour ago. I've been driving for hours. There's no way I would have had time."

"So you're not threatening him," summarized Harper.

"Of course not! Harper, why would I-

"So you're not A," Toby finished, his hands shaking.

"Nope," Aria said with a frown. "And. . . you're not A either."

"Nope."

"So. . . who the fuck is A?"

The words sunk in as Aria and Toby looked at each other. They both thought the other was A, but neither of them had gotten it right. They were both wrong; they might of thought that they knew who A was, but they were wrong.

They had absolutely no idea who A was.

And just to remind them of that fact, Aria felt a subtle vibration on her thigh as her phone began to quiver with a new text from inside her pocket. Not a second later, Toby's phone beeped. He gulped as he fished it out the back pocket of his jeans. Aria had already began to read the message by the time her grabbed it, and her face was white as a sheet. Toby gulped before he read the message:

Tick tock, tick tock. While you waste time fighting with each other and wondering who I am, Spencer is getting further and further away. But if you make the wrong move, it's all over. Ponder quickly, or you'll lose her. -A

Aria screamed out in frustration, while Toby scratched his head. Further and further away? What did that mean? She was right down the hall in her hospital room.

Or. . . was she?

As if to answer him, a doctor approached Aria. "Excuse me, miss? Where did Miss Hastings go?"

"I- I'm sorry?"

"Spencer Hastings, in room 208. She's gone."

Many minutes later, Aria, Toby, and Harper were still sitting on the waiting room chairs, motionless as they decided what to do next. The TV blared in the background, reporting on local news and weather while breaking the horrid silence that rested between the trio. Spencer was gone, going God knows where, with A. While they had wasted time bickering, A had taken her. And now she was gone.

"Guys," whispered Harper finally, breaking the silence. "We have to do something. If this A person is going to hurt Spencer, we have to stop him. . .her . . . whoever it is. We can't just SIT here."

Aria shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "We have to. There is nothing we can do. Nothing."

"Aria-"

"No, Harper, you don't understand," Aria insisted, tears streaming down her face. "There is NOTHING we can do. A is, A is. . . to powerful."

"But Aria-"

"You don't understand, Harper! If we do something, A will kill Spencer. And if we don't do something, A will kill Spencer. WE ARE STUCK."

Harper shook her head. "Aria, don't talk like that. Stay positive. You have got to have some idea of who this is. You need to get your head in the game."

"Harper," Aria interjected quickly. "It's not that simple. This person is dangerous, and sneaky. And HATES me, and Toby, and Spencer-"

"Okay," Harper said. "That's a place to start. We know that whoever this A person is, they hate you guys."

"Well THAT narrows it down," grumbled Aria sarcastically. "I don't think that-" Aria suddenly cut herself off, staring at the TV screen.

"Aria?" Harper asked. "What are you glued to?" But Aria didn't hear. All she could see was the news reporter and the words flashing across the screen:

"BODY FOUND ON COLLEGE CAMPUS."

"Minutes ago," the reporter began, "The body of local college senior Ryan Fransico was found dumped behind the campus library. Forensic scientists have declared that the body had to have been placed there under 48 hours ago and are currently working hard to determine cause of death."

Aria whimpered slightly as his picture appeared on the screen. There he was, the body that had shoved her against the wall last night; the boy who groped her breast and promised to kill her; the boy that Ezra had murdered to protect her.

"I'm just getting word," the reporter continued, "That the cause of death has been determined as a gunshot to the head. Evidence shows that this is not a suicide, and foul play is suspected."

A gunshot wound to the head.

"He didn't have a gun," Aria whispered out loud. "Ezra didn't have a gun."

"What-?"

"HE DIED FROM A GUNSHOT WOUND!" Aria was screaming and crying from relief at the same time. She fell to her knees, shaking with joyful tears. "Do you know what that means?"

"No. . ."

"Harper! Ezra is innocent! Ezra only beat the boy up before we ran away, and A shot that boy to make Ezra think he was guilty! But he's not guilty! Ezra is innocent!" Aria held her head in her hands, to overwhelmed to keep speaking. She couldn't believe it; Ezra was innocent. He was free.

And A couldn't keep them apart anymore.

"ARIA!" Two voices cried out suddenly. Aria turned around to find Mike and Ezra running towards her. Mike had a cast around one of his arms, and Ezra had his arms outstretched towards them. Towards Aria. Towards the one he loved.

Aria found herself running at Ezra at full force, slamming into his body. "Ezra," she whimpered, shaking into his strong chest. "Thank God you're here. You innocent. A shot that boy and killed him. You didn't do it. We're ok."

Ezra nodded his head like he already knew, but he was crying so hard that Aria couldn't tell. "Aria, baby, I'm so, so sorry," Ezra wailed as he wrapped his arms around Aria's tiny, quivering body. "I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have left Spencer like that. I'm sorry-"

"PROFESSOR FITZ!" Harper growled. "How could you?"

Ezra released Aria and walked towards Harper, repentant. "Harper, I'm sorry, but you don't understand-"

"Understand what? That you left Spencer there to die?" Harper spat at him cruelly.

Ezra flinched. "I knew she would live," Ezra insisted. "A promised me that she would."

"A?"

Ezra bit his lip. "I got a text from A saying that I had to leave her, but that A would make sure that she would be okay. And if I didn't. . . I would get into trouble. But you saw the news! I'm innocent!"

"Yeah," Mike interjected. "Ezra didn't do anything wrong!"

Harper glared at him. "He left me there with Spencer when we thought she was about to die. Thank God that someone showed up. If it weren't for-"

"Toby?" Aria gasped suddenly. "Are you okay?"

Harper, Aria, Ezra, and Mike all turned towards Toby, who was sitting with his head in his hands like he was in pain. "It just doesn't make sense," he half mumbled, half moaned.

Harper walked over and sat down next to him. "What doesn't?"

"If Aria didn't attack me last night, than who did?"

"A. Toby, it was A."

"Well yeah, I know. But. . . it was so. . . brutal. And when she said that she wanted to protect her sister, I knew it had to be Aria."

"What exactly did she say?"

Toby gulped before he repeated the words. '"If you ever touch my sister again, I will come back, and I will kill you. That's a promise.' Those were her exact words." The words felt slippery when he said them; slimy too, like eating a slug.

Aria's eyes widened. "Spencer has more than one sister. Could it have been Melissa?"

Toby shook his head. "No, because I ran into her afterwards. When she tried to kiss me. A still had to have been following me, because of video of Mellisa and I kissing. But that doesn't make any sense, either."

"Why not?" Harper asked. "Toby, A obviously attacked you, followed you for a few hours, and when she. . . he. .-"

"She. It was a girl's voice, I'm positive."

"Okay, well when she saw Melissa talking to you, she pulled out a video camera. And then when Melissa kissed you, it became the perfect opportunity to drive a wedge between you and Spencer."

"But. . ." Toby started, "That doesn't seem right. It's too. . . perfect. What are the odds that A would be filming me, and that Melissa would be there at just the right moment, and that it all happened just right? It's just. . . to much of a coincidence."

"Toby, what are you saying?"

"I. . ." Toby stood up when he realized the truth. It was all spinning in his mind as the pieces began to connect. "I- I'm saying that A knew that Melissa would be there, and that she would try to kiss me. I'm saying that Melissa hates Spencer-"

"No she doesn't," interjected Harper. "She saved Spencer's life."

"What?"

"When Professor Fitz ran away today, Melissa just appeared out of nowhere. She drove Spencer to the hospital just in time. We were so lucky she was there. It was like she knew Spencer would get sick."

"HARPER," Toby cried. Yes, he understood Now. It was all very, very clear. "That's because she DID know! She's the one who made it happen!"

Aria gasped, and Mike and Ezra began to clenched their teeth and fists. Harper stared at them, confused. "What. . . what are you saying, Toby?"

Aria took a step forward. "Harper, he's saying that Melissa knew where Toby would be last night because she was the one who attacked him. He's saying that Melissa had someone ready to film them with that camera so there would be proof of them kissing. He's saying that Melissa got Spencer sick by giving her penicillin when Melissa KNEW she was allergic, and she made Ezra leave with that text so she could be the knight in shining armor to save Spencer. Melissa orchestrated all of this. Melissa. . . "

Melissa.

Yes, Melissa.

Melissa, who has been on campus, in close proximity to Spencer and Aria since the start of the school year.

Melissa, who hated Spencer with a passion after she caught her younger sister making out with Wren the night of the accident.

Melissa, who was the one who told Spencer that Toby was A in the first place.

Melissa, who would have been in the perfect position to cut the break's on Spencer's car and blame it on Toby.

Melissa, who showed up just in time to take Spencer to the hospital. What a coincidence.

Melissa, who Aria had been suspicious of since the beginning.

Melissa, who had motive, opportunity, means. . .

Melissa.

Aria took a deep breath, the truth becoming clear to her. She looked at Toby mournfully, not ready to say it. "Go on," Toby encouraged bitterly. "Say it. Tell the truth."

The truth.

Aria nodded, swallowed, and said it:

"Melissa is A."