1.30 - Finale Pt.1 - If You Leave

"So how many school dances have you been to exactly?" Aria said with a small laugh. As she and Stefan began to sway to a familiar 80's slow song that was now playing over the loudspeakers, Aria couldn't even focus on the -A drama with her seemingly perfect boyfriend standing in front of her.

I touch you once, I touch you twice

I won't let go at any price

I need you now like I need you then

You always said we'd still be friends someday

"Hm," Stefan replied, squinting one of his eyes in a joking manner as if he were trying to calculate the decades worth of dances that he had gone to, "Too many to probably count," he continued, letting out a similar laugh that matched Aria's. "This is definitely the best one I've ever been to."

Aria looked down shyly and then back at up at Stefan, "Why thank you, Mr. Fitzgerald," Aria said, referring to her and Stefan's 1920's costumes, a tribute to their mutual Gatsby obsession.

"Now they were wild party-goers...er... or maybe just Zelda." Stefan smiled, lifting his head up as he recollected that specific memory, "though, you're not as crazy as Zelda ever was."

Aria's eyes widened, "Are you serious? You actually met them?"

Stefan nodded his head in a modest fashion and laughed again. As the music began to pick up slightly, he spun Aria around, her beaded, short flapper dress twirled continuously, the light reflecting upon every single golden jewel on her dress.

I'll touch you once, I'll touch you twice

I won't let go at any price

I need you now like I need you then

You always said we'd meet again

As Aria leaned her cheek on Stefan's shoulder, lost in his embrace, her eyes suddenly widened as she watched Spencer and Hanna exchange secretive glances across the room. Suddenly, she remembered that all of this had to come to a halt.

Lifting her head up, Stefan felt Aria's sudden anxious behavior and looked down towards her with a serious, concerned expression, "You're okay with all of this?"

Although Aria tried to put on a brave expression, she could only worry about the possibility of losing Hanna, all of her friends, Damon and Stefan if their -A plan wouldn't work out, "No. I just don't want to lose you, Stefan. I can't lose you."

As the music continued to play, Stefan and Aria stood still. Removing his mask and then Aria's, he stared directly at her, "Aria. I promise you. I'm not going anywhere. I can't lose you either. Since the first day of school, you've become a constant within my life and I don't know what I would do without you."

Even though Aria felt a slight doubt within his words, he couldn't actually promise or predict what Klaus, Katherine or -A would do to him, she could only go by Stefan's word, and she knew she could always trust Stefan's word.

"Just hold me, please." Aria whispered as she placed her head on Stefan's shoulder. Fighting back tears as she tried to stop herself from imagining the worst possible scenarios that could happen within the next few minutes.

As Stefan looked down at Aria, he kissed the top of her head lightly and rested his chin and cheek tenderly on Aria's head. He had to stay alive at all cost. He would protect Aria with everything that he had within him and neither Katherine nor Klaus would continue to wreck and disrupt their lives.


"So you think you could sneak away for one dance?" Elena whispered mischievously, as she stood to Ezra's side and gently touched his hand.

Ezra looked down and then crossed his arms, "I think that as a chaperone, it would look sort of suspicious and probably not a good idea," he replied, nervously.

Elena laughed, thinking that he was just teasing her, "Oh come on, it's not like anyone can see us. It's a masquerade after all."

Ezra looked over each shoulder and took Elena by the hand as he lead her through one of the exit doors towards a completely deserted corridor. Taking Elena by the hand, they both began to sway back and forth to the distant music, "Can we call this a compromise, then?" he whispered as he moved his hand to the lower part of Elena's back.

"Well it's not quite what I had in mind," Elena replied as she moved her head to look directly into Ezra's eyes, "but as long as I'm with you, I'm fine," she laughed.

"Elena, we need to talk about something." Ezra muttered through a serious expression.

"Um, that doesn't sound good," she said as she moved her head to the side in a puzzled manner.

"I can't do this anymore, Elena. This isn't fair to you anymore." Ezra replied, as he dropped Elena's hands in complete defeat.

"What're you talking about?" Elena said through a forceful whisper, "I thought things were fine with us? Why're you doing this?"

"I've been thinking about this for some time actually." Ezra muttered, "and what future could we possibly have? I'm your teacher, Elena. How long do we have to keep deluding ourselves into thinking that this relationship could have a happy ending?"

As he began to turn away, Elena grabbed Ezra by the hand, "Because I love you, Ezra. That's our future. I don't care that you're my teacher, you're still that same guy that I met in the bookshop at the beginning of the year. That's all that matters to me," Elena yelled back, frustratingly fighting back tears.

All of a sudden, as she looked back into Ezra's eyes, she stopped and pulled Ezra close to her. As she studied his vacant expression, she could tell that he had been compelled. Taking him by the arm, Elena ran Ezra down the school hallway, she had to find the person who was responsible for this and put an end to her once and for all, "Katherine..." Elena sneered maliciously under her breath.


"Hello, Caroline," Klaus whispered, "You look absolutely ravishing."

Donned in a long, blue,Cinderella-esque dress, Caroline turned around abruptly and then smiled cheekily back at Klaus, "You don't look so bad yourself. So are you supposed to be my Prince Charming?"

Klaus took Caroline's hand and gently kissed it, "Would you like me to be?"

"Hm, I'd say you're a little to dark to be the conventional Prince Charming, but I guess you'll have to do." Caroline replied, as she tried to contain her giddiness in front of Klaus.

"Well, I'll gladly fulfill any role that you desire me to." Klaus muttered back in his usual snarky, deep, yet romantic tone.

"I'm glad to hear that." Caroline spoke back, her face was now almost pressed against Klaus', "So how are you going to stay hidden away from everyone again?"

"Don't fret, love." Klaus whispered, "I have everything taken care of, right now though, I just want to be with you."

Placing her satin-gloved hand on Klaus' scruffy face, she kissed him. After years of their push-pull, contentious relationship, she couldn't imagine being with anyone else except for Klaus.

Reluctantly pulling her head away from Klaus, she held her head against his as they both stared intensely within each other's eyes, "I have to go say hi to a few friends, I'll see you soon, okay?"

Klaus smiled, "Anything for you, Caroline," he replied, as he pulled himself away and began to walk down the long, dark, school corridor.


Emily stumbled through one of the exit doors and tried to find her way through the darkened school hallway: she knew that she had been drinking a little too much from Jeremy's secret flask. Placing the palm of her hand on her forehead, Emily leaned against one of the lockers and tried to wait until her head stopped spinning.

All of a sudden, she felt a gust of wind rush by her. As Emily looked down both ends of the hallway, she squinted to try to see any sort of figure that could've caused that quick, brisk motion.

Looking down at her shoes, Emily felt someone's face standing close to hers.

"Hello, Emily." Katherine whispered in a menacing tone.

Suddenly, before Emily could try to either yell or run away, Katherine grabbed Emily and pinned her against the wall, "We've been expecting you."

As Emily squirmed underneath Katherine's vice grip, Klaus appeared from the dark shadows of the school hallway, "I'll take it from here, Katherine." Klaus spoke, as he moved closer and closer to Emily, Emily's body froze and her mind went completely blank, she could feel her mind trying to scream for help but the words weren't coming out of her mouth.

Gallantly carrying an unconscious Emily to a nearby classroom, he and Katherine both awaited for the other Liars to appear so that they could lock them in the classroom and force the Fields Witch to perform a type of locator spell so that they could become one step closer to finding the cure and destroying Rosewood Falls.


"Alright ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us for our first dance, are you having fun tonight?" The DJ yelled out at the crowd over the loudspeaker, and was greeted with a giant cheer from the auditorium filled with kids.

Alison stared at Matt, dancing in front of her as the perfect Romeo to her Juliet, their costumes complete with carved Italian masks, mostly to hide her and Hanna's face's once the plan was put into action. She had made up her mind, and knew what she had to do, but couldn't quite bring herself to do it. She had to let him go, it wasn't safe for Matt to be around her anymore. Not after what Katherine had done to him, she needed to protect him, she just felt too much for him, and Alison could never live with herself if something happened to him that she knew she was responsible for.

She locked eyes with Matt, tears slowly starting to fall down her cheek as she spoke softly, "You never met me before tonight, this is our first, and last dance. We never knew one another. I need you to forget everything about me up until this very moment." She stopped her compulsion with a choked sob before she broke out of his arms for the last time, disappearing into the crowd. Matt stood there, pleasantly enjoying the music, unable to remember who was in his arms just moments before.