The red Kia pulled up to a bus stop, coming to a rather abrupt halt.
"You're right," Emily said, brushing sweat from her brow. "Driving a stick is an absolute nightmare."
"But you told me that you had driven one before," Hanna remarked.
"Yeah. My dad let me try out an army jeep once," Emily defended herself before adding: "He might have helped a bit with the gearing."
"But you're good now?" Hanna asked.
"Yes, Hanna. I'll be fine," Emily answered.
"I feel so sorry for not being able to come with you, it's just that…"
"Hanna, it's fine. You don't have to explain yourself. You've already done so much."
"It's not that. I don't just want to explain myself because of this. There is something that I have been meaning to tell you for ages, but I just haven't been able to find the words," Hanna said, looking down into her lap. "It might be a while until I can participate in your escapades again."
"What do you mean Han? Are you and Caleb moving again?" Emily asked puzzled.
"No. But our life's are about to change in a different way," Hanna said and looked up at Emily. "It wasn't just Ted's excellent cooking that made me bloated during Christmas. I'm pregnant."
"No friggin way!" Emily exclaimed, her jaw hanging slack. "How long have you known?"
"Well, I started being suspicious when we got back to Rosewood because I was late. So after taking a couple of pregnancy tests I decided to go to the hospital to get an official confirmation."
"That's why you were at the hospital when we ran into each other," Emily said, the puzzles finally coming together in her head. "Of course you were. You haven't gone for regular checkups since they gave us a lollipop at the end of the appointment. And you were so emotional when me and Paige told you about us seeing each other. You're tripping on pregnancy hormones."
"I meant to tell you Em. I really did," Hanna said apologetically. "But the doctor warned me and Caleb not to tell anyone during the first trimester since there is still a fairly high percentage of it not coming to term. But seeing that I'm due for September, me and the little bean have officially spent three months with each other, so the cat is out of the bag so to speak."
"Three months… That means that…" Emily's jaw dropped again and she turned towards her friend. "Hanna Marin. Did this occur after our 'escapade' at the gay club on my birthday?"
"That seems to be very likely," Hanna said. "What? I was feeling very cheerful that night."
Emily couldn't control herself and burst out laughing, gasping out words between heaps of giggles: "You-are-such-an-idiot-sometimes-Han."
"I'm glad that cheered you up," Hanna said, reaching for her seatbelt. "Now if you'll excuse me. I have to get my large, pregnant butt out of this car."
"Are you going to be okay out there?" Emily asked, indicating the street outside.
"I'll be fine Em. Caleb's picking me up in a bit. He thought it was quite silly that you were dropping me at the other end of town. Until I explained the plan to him that is."
"What did he say then?"
"That you had forgotten nothing since our days back in Rosewood."
"I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult. I'll see you around Han. Take care of yourself. And the bean."
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Ten days earlier:
Emily snuck into the bedroom, cradling two steaming cups of coffee, careful not to wake the sleeping figure lying in the bed. She placed the cups on the nightstand before slipping back under the covers, cuddling against a sleepy looking Paige who was slowly stirring from her slumber.
"Morning," Emily said and gave the other woman a kiss.
"Hey there. You were up before me?" Paige asked before sniffing into the air. "And you made coffee for us?"
"Yeah. You have always been so dutiful in waking me up with my daily fix so I thought I might return the favor. Here, take this."
"You are amazing," Paige asked, accepting the cup that the other woman offered to her. "And you remembered what I take in my coffee. What have I done to deserve this?"
"How could I forget that you take a little bit of hazelnut in your coffee?" Emily asked, picking her own cup up. "You used to be the only person that asked for those tiny packets at the Brew. We would have probably stopped ordering them if it hadn't been for you."
"Yeah. I sometimes felt like I was being such a nuisance. And the packets used to be all the way back. It took me forever to find them sometimes. Wait," Paige stopped before taking a sip. "Did you have something to do with that?"
"I might have," Emily admitted. "What? It was after that summer, when we were starting senior year. I wanted to talk to you but I just didn't know how."
"So you decided to put the hazelnut syrup behind the counter?"
"Well, that way you had to stay longer, and when I was working you actually had to come up to the counter and ask me for it. And you were so thankful every time that I would hand them to you."
"You are quite sly, did you know that?"
"You have no idea," Emily said and snuggled her closer.
They sipped their coffees for a while before Paige broke the silence:
"What are you thinking about?"
"What Mona said."
"Obsessing about some chess move like that, it's just like her."
"Except Paige, it isn't just a chess move. When she was playing games with us under the disguise of A we did something to her. I don't think I've told you before."
"I'm listening," Paige said and looked intensely at the raven haired woman.
"During junior year we got into some trouble. Mona got us into it of course. We had a clash in with the police and were ordered to do community service."
"I think I recall that. There were photos of you guys online wearing those dumb orange suit," Paige stopped herself from smirking. "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking for them. But people were sending them all around school."
"It's okay. I get it," Emily said.
"But what did you guys do?"
"Well, we fought -a lot. There was a rift between me and the other girls because I kept pressing Spencer to make a deal with A, which was of course not something that she was okay with. We got into a public fight and had to do two extra weeks of community service. But I was convinced that we had to make a deal and if they weren't going to help me then I was going solo."
"That doesn't really sound like you…"
"Because it's not something that I would do. We were putting a show on. As long as Mona thought we were divided, she would consider us as less of a threat. So while we were conducting our little play publicly, she let her guard down."
"So, did you catch her? I thought that you didn't manage to catch her until later, during the masquerade ball. I remember because…"
"We met that night," Emily muttered. Out of all the things that had happened that night, turning around to find Paige and the conversation that had followed was one of the things that she recalled the most vividly. "And you're right. We didn't catch Mona that night. But we did manage to trap her and we almost caught her. We did manage to get her phone and it was the biggest breakthrough that we had gotten ever since that whole mess had started."
"You are a truly brilliant woman Emily Fields," Paige said. "I'm impressed. But why are you telling me this?"
"Because Paige, I think this is something that we need to do. The stalker isn't just pressing me against the wall along with you to get to you. They're doing it to push us apart. They know that we are stronger together."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that if we're suppose to stand a chance, we need to convince them that there is no 'we' anymore."
"Is this why you woke up early to make coffee for me? Is this your way of letting me down easy?" Paige asked, her eyes becoming glassy, that old shadow of insecurity sneaking across her face.
"Of course I'm not. But for this to work, they need to believe that I am letting you down. And it won't be easy. It needs to be brutal. And public."
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Paige tried desperately to steady her breathing. She was sitting in the passenger seat of the car, yet she had not been able to get a good look at the driver.
"What are we waiting for? I've already told you, I'm in. You won. I've lost Emily, I've lost everything because of this."
"It's a familiar feeling," the hooded figure said. "It won't be long now."
"Look. I'll do anything you ask me to. I just want this to end."
"So do I. Believe you me."
Paige became silent again, the danger of the situation finally becoming clear to her. On the verge of panicking she thought back, finding solace in a familiar memory:
"I love you Paige. And I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."
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Emily parked the car brusquely a couple of streets away from the place that the coordinates were coming from. She pulled on a dark cap, and pulled her hoodie up, zipping the sweater up to her chin. She adjusted the rearview mirror with her gloved hands and took one last look at herself. In the dark clothing her face was almost induistingable from the background in the low light of the evening. She got out of the car and walked closely to the high buildings, making sure that she kept away from the badly functioning lamp posts. Once she rounded the corner from where her phone was directing her towards, she saw a compact, white car parked in the middle of a junkyard. She couldn't see the face of the driver but she would have known the face of his passenger anywhere. Paige was sitting there, stiff like a board, trying desperately to put on a brave face but Emily felt a pang in her chest, knowing the turmoil that she must be feeling. She hunkered down, mapping down a hidden route that she could take to get to her target. Her hand tightened around the sharp object that she had double checked was in there before she got out of the car. The enticement had been put out and white had played its move. Now it was black's turn.
"Game on," she muttered to herself before vanishing into the darkness.
