Chapter Nine - Best Friends Again

Aria's Point of View

Once I finally got back to the hospital, I went up to Ezra's room to see that he was still awake, which surprised me. I closed the door behind me, and slowly walked over to him, crouching down beside him and grasping his hand.

"Hey, baby, " I greeted him. "How are you doing?" I asked, but sighed when I realized that he was probably too weak to answer. I rubbed circled on his hand with my thumb, trying to comfort him, silently letting him know that I'm there. He looked so vulnerable, almost like a child. He really did look like he was in pain. He stares at our hands for a moment, before raising his other hand, to remove his breathing mask.
"No, don't, Ezra," I say, placing my hand over his. He ignores me and pulls his mask away from his face.

"I'm sorry," he croaks, his voice scratchy from sleep. Sorry?

"What? Don't be sorry, you don't have anything to be sorry for." I tell him. Then, I remember A. "Shauna's dead. She went after Ali, and I.. I pushed her.. Off of the second story of Spencer's barn. She's dead," I say. Ezra widens his eyes, and I see a ghost of a smile on his face. He nods slightly, then leans back in his hospital bed. "Tired?" I ask. He nods, trying to keep his eyes open. "Just go to sleep, then, I'll be here when you wake up," I tell him. Then, he closes his eyes, and quickly falls asleep.

A few minutes later, my phone is bombarded with texts from Spencer, Emily and Hanna. I quickly read through them.

From: Spencer

Shauna is A? And she's dead? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN

From: Emily

A is dead?! How?! Answer me Aria Montgomery!

From: Hanna

The bitch is dead, the bitch is dead. La la, the bitch is dead!

I roll my eyes at Hanna's text, and start a five-way call with Ali, Hanna, Spencer, Emily and I. They all pick up.

"What happened? Since when is Shauna A?" Emily asks immediately.

"Ezra told me," I tell them.

"What do you mean? He told us that it was too dangerous." Spencer tells me.

"Well, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that that unworthy bitch of a person is dead, and I can come back home," Ali says before I can reply.

"How did you know that Shauna would be with Ali?" Hanna asks me.

"Actually, I didn't. I was coming over to tell her that Shauna was A. I just got lucky and came at the right time, I guess," I tell them truthfully.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about that anymore," Emily says.

"Okay, no more A for now. I have news." Hanna says.

"You aren't pregnant too, right?" Emily asks nervously.

"N-"

"Pregnant? Who the hell got knocked up while I was away?!" Ali asks, cutting Hanna off.

"Well, me," Spencer tells her. Ali gasps.

"Spencer, the goody-two-shoes, pregnant? When did this happen? Who with? Toby?" She asks.

"Yeah, Toby. It happened like a week ago," Spencer tells her.

"Why didn't I know this? I feel like I'm being left out, now that I've been away," Ali admits.

"No, that's not it at all, Ali! We're just so used to not being around you, and it being just us, you know? It's just a habit, and I don't think that any of us are used to you being so.. Not a bitch," Emily apologizes.

"Yeah, we're not trying to leave you out," I join in. I hear Ali sigh.

"I know, and I'm sorry that I was such a bitch back then. I'm going to try to be better, I really did miss you guys." She says.

"We missed you too," says Hanna. "Now can I tell you guys my news?! Okay, good. Travis slept with me!" Hanna exclaims.

"What! You had sex with Travis?!" Spencer exclaims.

"Oh, no, of course not! He's playing hard to get. No, he slept over at my house, in my room! We almost kissed!" She squeals.

"Well, I'm glad you're over Caleb-"

"They broke up?!" Ali says.

"Okay, we really need to catch you up on Rosewood gossip, Als," Emily says.

"Yeah, I hate not being caught up, I feel all gross without my gossip," she tells us. I could almost hear her grimace. We all laugh, and it feels just like old times, when we were in 7th grade, and there was no A.

"It's nice that we get to be best friends again, guys. It feels like a huge wait was lifted off of my shoulders," Hanna admits.

"Yeah.. Oh! Guys, did Ali also tell you about Ezra?" I hear a chorus of no's, and continue. "Well, apparently, he had another bullet inside of him, and it went through an artery or something, and now, well, we're in the hospital. He's sleeping," I tell them.

"What?! Was Wren his doctor the first time?" Hanna asks. Ali laughs.

"That's what I said!" She says. Hanna laughs with her, and I smile.

"Yep. Anyways, it's room 213 if you want to visit. Hanna, if my parents ask, I'm staying at your house for a week, okay?" I say.

"Mhm." She replies. I hear Ali gasp.

"Oh my God, guys, we can have sleepovers all together again! I haven't had a good sleepover in like, four years!" She exclaims. We all laugh, and I can't help but feel overjoyed that our best friend was back. It was better, because we had all shared the secrets that Ali knew, and we didn't have as much resentment with her anymore.

"Yeah, us as well, unless you count Mona. Yuck." Hanna says.

"Well, as soon as we sort out the 'Alison DiLaurentis is dead' stuff, we'll be able to do absolutely everything we used to together. Except, I have to take care of Ezra. I don't think he'll be feeling the best over the next few weeks, no matter what he insists," I tell them. They all agree, and we hang up, just as a nurse knocks on the door, and walks in the room.

"Hi, I'm Nurse Allen. I just came in to tell you that visitation time is over," she tells me. I nod, about to get up, but she continues. "BUT, we do allow close relatives to stay, if you'd like," she finishes. I sit back down. I mean, girlfriend is a close relative, right? Worse comes to worse, I'll act like his wife again. Still don't know how that happened.

I smile at the nurse. "Thanks, I'm going to stay, then," I tell her. She nods, then walks out of the room, closing the door. She was nice; I'm glad I can stay and watch over Ezra through the night. I trust the doctors and all, but I, myself, would like to keep an eye on him as well. He gets into too much trouble than I think he's capable of. He must be miserable.

I curl up as best as I can in the closest chair to the hospital bed, and try to get comfortable on the hard plastic. Eventually, I fall asleep.

The Point of View of An Ex Bitch (A.K.A., Ali D.)

Alison was tired. Tired of hiding, and pretending. And, she'd finally get a break from all that. Hopefully forever, now that A, or Shauna, was dead. So now, she was walking home. To wear her mom lived.

It was a good thirty minute walk, but when she got there, she had to smile. She was home, back in Rosewood, even though the town was absolutely insane. Her mom should know by now that she was alive, after the police finding out. Ali walked up to the door, and knocked on it, and when her mother opened the door, both of them broke down into tears. No matter how crazy her mom was, she still missed her. After all, she is her mom.

Mrs DiLaurentis pulled Ali inside, closed the door, and they hugged for what seemed like forever. When they broke apart, her mom held Ali's shoulders at arms length, and just looked at her face, taking her in. "You are alive. I've missed you so, so much!" After that, she made some hot chocolate, and they sat on the couch and talked about anything and everything. Alison was smiling the entire time, even through her tears.

She was finally back where she belonged.

Author's Note:

Yayyy, next chap done! :)

I tried Ali's point of view this time, I hope it turned out okay. Oh, and if you're wondering why I do a focused 3rd person POV, or random 1st person on different points of views, I just have an easier time with that point of view and that character, of that makes sense. Like, it's easier for me to write Aria's point of view in 1st person, than it is for me to do so with Emily, or say, Paige, so I'd do a 3rd person point of view, focusing on that specific character.

Anyways, thanks for watching!

Luv,

Haley 3