Pretty Little Liars: Paying the Cost

Chapter 6 of my Pretty Little Liars story, enjoy.

Reviews:

Boris Yeltsin: Yes indeed, she's not had much luck :(
Wolfgirl2013: Same here, hopefully soon. Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Hope10: Well, we can only wait and see, all I can say is, I have plans.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars or its characters.

Season 1: Episode 6

Spencer did her best to keep her composure as she tried to simply have breakfast, unfortunately that wasn't going to be easy as her parents were present and as usual they had their mind on only one thing.

"So, I heard that you've got your SATs coming up in a few weeks." Her mother Veronica stated. "I hope you've been studying."

Spencer nodded. "Yes mom, I have."

She had too, she didn't need to be reminded of it.

But her parents weren't done as her father, Peter, then spoke up. "Remember, this is important, you are a Hastings, Spencer, you have a certain standard to live up to."

"Yes dad, I know." Spencer replied, the same neutral tone as before.

She quickly stood up, opting to instead simply grab something on the way to school.

"I better get going." She said. "I don't wanna be late. I'll see you after school. Say morning to Melissa and Wren for me."

She was referring to not just her sister but also her sister's fiancee whom she had met that day she had to meet. She had to admit, he was surprising, not the sort of person she'd expect her sister to date, let alone get engaged to. She didn't need all this pressure from her family, she put enough on herself after all. Nevertheless she didn't miss the look her parents shared at that moment.

XXXXX

At school, Emily was on her way to her locker, awkwardly averting her gaze when she saw Maya, Maya did the same, it was clear both girls were trying to deal with the confusion and come to terms with their realization at the party.

'We kissed, we actually kissed...I, I don't understand, why would we, and why did it feel good…?' She wondered.

She was trying to figure out what was going on, it didn't make sense to her and kinda worried her, if only because she couldn't understand how much this changed everything, if it did. If it wasn't a simply one off event.

"Emily!"

She groaned, jolted out of her confusion and instead becoming angry, for sure enough, it was Ben.

He glared at her. "What the hell do you think you're doing ignoring me? You know we-"

"In case you forgot Ben, we're no longer together. I broke up with you." Emily told him firmly.

"You-" He growled, unable to properly get the words out.

Emily rolled her eyes and simply turned and stalked off, leaving Ben irate at her for doing this to him, worse he could hear the laughter from his 'friends' who had witnessed all this. He had told them the rumours about him and Emily being broken up was false. That they just had an argument over a mistake she had made and he just needed to talk to her and she'd gladly welcome him back. Only for her to ignore him when he first approached her and now this, it left him utterly humiliated.

At the same time, Alison smiled as she turned the school corner and noticed Ryan already walking the other direction, almost bumping into her.

"Oh, hey Ali." Ryan greeted her with a smile.

Alison reached out and took his head. "Hey Ryan, so…"

She didn't need to say anything else, he just smirked and they shared a brief kiss. In their brief interactions about the photography assignment, Alison had actually warmed up to Ryan and they had ended up tentatively starting a relationship with each other. Parting and taking a moment to relax, finally Ryan asked.

"So, um...if you're okay with it, maybe we could meet after school and try to get the photoshoot done?"

Alison smiled lightly. "I'd like that. Trust me, you don't need to rush things, we can try more than once, alright."

"Right, sorry just…" He stammered, but cleared his throat. "Okay, well, we can take a look and get started at least."

"Right, after school then, cool." Alison replied.

Ryan nodded when they were interrupted by the sound of tapping and both turned to see Jenna working her way down the corridor, using her stick for guidance.

"Thought I recognized that voice." She remarked with a harsh tone. "Alison DiLaurentis, I thought it would safe to return to Rosewood, but here you are."

Alison grimaced at that, surprised and uneasy. "Jenna…?"

Jenna had taken note of Ryan's voice earlier too apparently as she then spoke to him. "You know, you should stay away from her, for your own sake."

She then began to walk off, leaving the duo feeling uneasy.

XXXXX

With school over for the day, Toby had already got everything he needed and was making his way to his destination, namely the Hastings house. He knocked on the door and soon it was answered by Veronica.

"Hello Mrs. Hastings." He greeted her.

She peered at him for a moment before recognizing him. "Oh, Tony Bruno, what brings you here?"

He held up his textbook. "Spencer and I were assigned to work on a class project together, we arranged to meet up and work on it today."

"Ah, of course, come in." Veronica said, smiling.

He entered the house and soon saw Spencer who greeted him and already had her books and such spread out in front of her.

"Hi Tony, you ready to begin?" She asked.

Tony nodded and replied. "Yup, you bet."

He sat down and they soon got to work while Veronica left. After a short while, Tony spoke up.

"So um...how are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm good." Spencer replied tonelessly. "Why do you ask?"

Tony sighed. "Spencer, please. I can tell you're stressed."

There was a momentary silence, as Spencer seemed wary.

"Is it...is it your family?" He asked quietly. "Are you being pressured by them again?"

Spencer flinched but swallowed. "It's, it's fine, I just...it's a lot of pressure you know, with the SATs coming up. Anyway, we should focus on this, will make things easier."

Tony bit his lip, but knew he couldn't push things further, still, he wanted Spencer to know he was there for her, supported her and felt her family was being too harsh and unfair on her.

XXXXX

Reflecting on her working on the project with Tony, Spencer had to admit, she was surprised, there was a strange warm feeling within her as she did so, especially how he tried to help her feel better from her family's pressure.

'God, what is wrong with me, stay focused Spencer...there's, there's still stuff you need to talk about, to try and understand.'

With that she composed herself as she met up with Hanna and Aria, as well as Emily too and they immediately got to talking, namely to discuss the concerns and worries they had but some of them were admittedly still hiding things, like Emily who was still working out exactly how she felt, regarding Maya. What none of the girls noticed however, was Amber was there too, hiding and watching them, already smirking at the effect that revealing this to Mona would have.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.