I'm in the middle of watching the kids play their games, rotating through each sport section to check things out. This fair allows the kids to have a good time and then shows them that their parents and guardians can do the same in return. Maybe it could even give them a love for sports in a way they'd never done before and do it for a good cause. While I'm doing this Mona and her boss are walking around the park to talk to parents and advertise their campaign and causes that go with becoming the Senator of Pennsylvania. It still feels weird to help a complete stranger instead of Veronica Hastings for this position, but Mona beat her to the punch.

I have my elbows resting on my lap, leaning over a bit while sitting on the bleachers as I watch the baseball kids from ages 8-10 play their game. My intense stare I've always had growing up is still a thing when I'm invested, my head going back and forth between plays and cheering along with the crowd. The excitement on the parents' faces as their kids do well makes me feel good because I know I was a part of this situation and I couldn't be more proud of what we've done for them.

After a while I get to my feet and shift over to another field where soccer is being played and sit beside some of the parents there too. I do this a few times until I land in the football section, watching the kids run back and forth like little crazy people. I don't sit considering I was going to move around again and football isn't my favorite sport. Other than watching it for Noel's sake you won't catch me enjoying it much. But I realized quickly that this must have been how mom and dad felt when we were growing up as we played different sports and were proud of what we did.

"I never understood this sport." A soft voice of a girl says, making me freeze up a bit.

I blink slowly to the voice, knowing it very well. It would be hard not to recognize her voice considering we've been friends since kids. But to hear it here is what confuses me because she hasn't stepped foot into this town in a good year in a half. So I have to compose myself for a second before turning my head and seeing my best friend since the age of 3, Aria Montgomery.

A memory from our last day together before she left for college pops into my head. We're both sitting in her car, ready to head off to Alison's to say our goodbyes to the others before they all had to leave for school. I'm looking at my best friend, telling her that everything is going to be okay.

"You're gonna do great, Ria. You've been waiting forever to be rid of this town."

She smiles sadly, turning on her car. "Doesn't make it any easier leaving you behind in this messed up place though. They still look at us like we are contagious or something."

I laugh, nudging her arm. "It's Rosewood. What are you expecting?"

She smiles at me, seeming to think. I know she's probably worried but she needs to go off on her own and do new things. Then she waves at her parents and brother out the window, watching her house for the last time till she comes back for Thanksgiving before turning back to look at me. "I am going to miss it here though. It may have been a long five years since Ali went missing but this town has always been home because of you."

I smile sadly, hugging her. "Don't get all sappy on me yet. We have more time to spend before our last goodbyes."

She wipes her eyes and laughs as I pull away. "Best friends forever, right?"

I smile as she has me a bit emotional now, "Always. You're stuck with me."

That unfortunately did not pan out as we hoped considering our friendship went out the window once she was gone. Besides slowly drifting apart she ended up graduating a year before I did. I was having a lot more issues than I planned with my grades and it led to me needing to repeat an extra year. I was never the best at school, and when I was struggling I hoped she'd be there to reassure me that I'd still get through it. But she never came back to Rosewood, not till this second.

"You didn't really understand any sport." I finally say in a joking tone, my eyes on her but not shifting my body to her because I'm still not sure if she's real.

"Well you're not wrong." She smiles gently at me now.

The shorter girl in front of me has her short brown hair in a bob above her shoulders with the same hazel eyes that glow in the light. Even glowing in the sense of twinkling, which always makes me know she's happy to see me. But I haven't seen this look in so long that it's hard not to just stare at her like a creep.

She gives me a soft smile, almost sad looking. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

I half smile at her. This reminds me of when she came back to Rosewood from Iceland after living there with her family for 3 years during high school. It was a shock then to see her and it's a shock now, even the same emotions added on top of more emotions than last time. When she moved then it was because her dad just decided to pick up and leave to help the family move on from the mystery of Alison's disappearance. This time it's been to stay away from town for obvious reasons, because being here has too many bad memories. So the fact she came back at all isn't something I expected and it has me on overload to know she came back willingly.

"I just... didn't expect you to be here."

Her smile gets slightly more sad at that and walks closer, now standing beside me by the fence I'm leaning on but she doesn't make any specific moves. No hugs, not a touch on the shoulder, nothing. Her caution seems to be on high and I can see why considering we haven't felt close in awhile. Things seem worse than last time when it comes to our friendship altering. "I know." She takes a breath now and shakes her head, "I'm sorry that I keep leaving. It's not fair."

"Ria, come on. Why would you apologize for leaving this town? It's hell."

She gives a lopsided smile, "Because I'm leaving you alone in it."

I wave her off a bit, my eyes still on hers with some worry. "I stayed here for my reasons. You left for yours. It's no one's fault, and being fair has nothing to do with it."

"You went through too much to be left behind though." She says with a bit of sadness in her voice, "Especially not with Ali around."

"I can handle Alison." I rub my eye a bit under my glasses, shifting my gaze back to the field to keep from showing too much emotion. I've learned to prioritize myself over the years but it can still be hard depending on who I'm talking to. "And you went through a lot here too, Ria. No one blames you guys for taking off after high school."

It's quiet for a while, making me a little uncomfortable. When we were kids we were inseparable, attached at the hip. She came back from the 3 year vacation and we managed to get that friendship back despite everything that happened with the A situation. But now? I can't even get myself to have a decent reaction to her being home.

Her hand lands on my forearm now, making me tense up for a second before shifting my head to look at her. "You're my best friend, Jessie. I abandoned you again, but this time in your time of need and I haven't checked up on you the way I should have. None of us adapted well with the aftermath of CeCe being A and we just...pretended that it never happened, came for visits like nothing changed while you had all the burden of living in this hellhole alone."

I lick my lips a bit, staring at her hand still on my arm. It's true that once they went to college they never brought any of this up again. Any phone call or visits to the schools they went to, their visits home, they'd act like it wasn't part of our history, like none of us needed that talk to cope and be able to move on. Living here has all the memories built in and I can never truly escape from the past, but I understood why they did what they did and that's why I never brought things up. Do I wish they'd checked up more? Of course, but there's no need to be upset that they left. Just upset that they never thought I'd need them again.

Now I take a breath and slowly set my hand on top of hers, shifting my eyes forward again. "I figured it out. I always do."

"Jessie…" her tone is soft but urgent, "Can you actually talk to me? I know you and you want nothing more than to explode on me."

I press my lips together now and then grind my teeth a bit, "You think I actually want to do that?" I stare at her with a hint of anger in my eyes, "That I want our first conversation in over a year to be me being upset with you about something that happened so long ago?"

"I want you to be honest with me. We could never do that in high school because of everything that happened and because we were kids. I need you to know that we are old enough to have these types of conversations with a calm aspect. I'm ready for all of your emotions and I won't argue, or push away, or act like it doesn't matter."

I take a big breath, shaking my head. "I'm in the middle of a job here, Aria. I don't have time for this."

"You need to make time, okay?" She doesn't raise her voice at me, keeping her hand where she placed it. "I'm staying the week and we're having this conversation."

I grind my teeth a bit, trying to figure out why she's here. There's more to it than just for me. No one sent her an invite to this fair...unless. "Your parents reached out about today, didn't they?"

She gives a soft laugh, "Dad called. Insisted I come."

I take a breath, my eyes glued to the kids playing because I can't do this right now. "I have to go."

She's quiet for a second and then lets me go, "I'll be at home. Come see me when you're done."

I slowly nod, knowing that home means her parents house. Her parents are still divorced but got back together some time ago and are dating again. So home here for her is still their house. "Yeah...I will."

She sighs softly, "I'll..see you later then."

I see her walk away from the corner of my eye. Then I rub my hands over my face for a second, muffling behind my hands before she can get far. "Ria?" I pull them away from my face, but don't look at her.

"Yeah?" She asks cautiously.

"You should go see Ezra. He's kind of a mess."

"I…"

I take a soft breath, "Please?" I look at her now, "I know you guys are on weird terms, but he needs someone else to talk to besides me. I'm not enough anymore." When Aria left for college they agreed to allow growth away from each other and date other people. He was with a girl he met through Emily that she knew during her time in Africa building houses while Aria has dated on and off during her college days. Ezra has been with this girl for a while but she went missing on a trip overseas months ago. He hasn't been himself since.

She gives me a soft smile and nods gently, "I'll drop by his place."

I give her a small smile back, returning the nod. "Thank you."

Without another word she turns around and heads off towards the parking lot and I watch as she gets to her car. I hate being heartless and mean to people, especially to her. But what did she expect for me to do or say after so much time apart and lack of connection from all of our trauma? Happy good girl Jessie? Vulnerable Jessie? That's not me. I can't be either of those versions of myself anymore. Especially not with her.

...

After talking to Aria it's taking a lot of energy to refocus on what I was hired to do by Mona's employer. My brain is now on overload as it gets closer for the alumni to join in on the fun. I was all for this of course, but now I can't figure out my thoughts. So instead I end up hiding in a bathroom stall at the local park we're hosting it at, the way I used to when I was a kid whenever I needed time alone.

Alone time is short lived though as I've had to have been sitting in here for a good half hour in my thoughts when I hear the door open and footsteps follow. I'm standing in the stall against the wall with my arms crossed over my chest, listening to the footsteps but not paying attention to see who it could be. Not until I hear the voice.

"You've been in here for a while"

I take a breath from hearing Mona, not moving from my spot. "I needed time to myself."

"You only do that when something's bothering you."

I half laugh, "Yeah well, it's Rosewood. Everything bothers me."

Silence as she doesn't answer right away, then she says. "Is it because of what happened with Ali earlier?"

I snort a bit at her question. More to the comment of thinking I still care about what she says rather than the fact that she still calls our long time enemy by her nickname as if they are friends. "I don't give a shit what Alison has to say, Mona. We're not kids anymore."

"I'd agree, except that she almost triggered the part of you that starts fist fights when mad."

"She has it coming."

"I won't argue there but hitting her would not be setting the best example on you moving on."

It gets quiet again and I press my lips together before unlocking the stall door and opening it up to see her. She's leaning against the sink with her concerned look on her face as I walk out and stand in front of her. "Aria's back."

Her face drops a bit, "I swear I didn't send anything to her."

I half laugh and shake my head, "My uncle called her. I think he's trying to patch things up between us."

"Typical of him to do."

I shrug a bit and now lean against the stall beside her, "He's her dad and has alway been like mine. So looking out for us is his job."

"You're both old enough to make your own choices though."

"It'll never stop any parent from protecting their kids, Mona." I cross my arms a bit and smile at her, "Especially with our messed up childhoods, it's expected."

She half smiles at me, nodding a bit. "Got me there. Being part of that messed up childhood and all."

I tilt my head a bit at her, seeing a bit of sadness in her eyes. "Don't let Alison get to you, Mona. She may have been aiming for me to explode but she was trying to get a rise out of you too."

She watches me for a few seconds, then puts on a soft smile. "Letting Alison get the best of me is how you ended up at that motel."

I press my lips together, trying to shake the flashes out of my brain. "And now I'm fine."

She sets a hand to my shoulder, "You like to make people think that, Jessie, but I know how badly it affected you."

"Mona...please don't." This is what Alison wanted, she wanted me off my game. She acts like she isn't still in charge but it's obvious she still wants to be. "Not today of all days."

She gives a sympathetic look and smiles gently before squeezing my shoulder in comfort. "We are going to get drinks after this sports fair. It's on me."

"Well…you are the rich one." I say playfully.

She laughs and rolls her eyes back with a soft shake of her head, "Yes, of course. Which is why I offered." she says because she knows I was joking around.

It's still weird to know that Mona has become my closest friend from the group I used to hang with, considering how she was the Queen Bee after Alison who liked to remind me that being cool meant not befriending or dating certain people. And of course you know, being a lunatic for all of junior year. But she made up for it and I'm so glad she's been here for me.