Kismet

by snowballs

The death of Paige's parents caused the decline of the relationship between Emily and Paige. Overcome by her loss, Paige leaves Rosewood to search for answers while Emily, guilt-ridden for her indirect role in Paige's loss, struggles to come to terms with her decision. Paige's unexpected return dredges up old wounds and feelings, forcing them to confront the issues between them.

12. The French Connection

DISCLAIMER: Pretty Little Liars and all its characters are still not mine. Characters in this fanfic except for a few belong to PLL. Some events were borrowed from the storyline of the PLL TV series. I never read the books and mostly focus on PAILY stuff when watching PLL so I have no clear idea about 'A' and their motives for torturing the Liars. That said, the motives of the 'A'-team in this fanfic are entirely of my own creation.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: For the lengthy version of what this fanfic is about, please refer to the Author's Note in the first two chapters.

~Thanks for all of your AWESOME, AWESOME reviews about the story! Again, sorry for posting only one chapter each week.~

~AND… once again we have a new record breaker for the longest chapter! LOL! Story's going to be done the day 3b starts hence the chapters are going to be quite lengthy. Thanks for taking the time to read my fanfic and following it.~

Shokoshik: Once again, thanks for your awesome and (this time) really lengthy PM review!~

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Chapter 12: The French Connection

"Three things cannot hide for long: the Moon, the Sun and the Truth." – Hermann Hesse

Tara watched with faux bafflement and concern as Emily bolted out of the bar like she couldn't get out of there fast enough. Counting to a good full minute, she finally broke into a self-satisfied smirk and stood up from her seat in the booth she occupied, taking with her the two bottles of beer she bought earlier as she slowly made her way to another booth.

"Mind if I join you?" She lazily asked the occupant.

"Depends. Is Emily gone?" The person asked, looking up at Tara expectantly.

"Like clockwork." Tara confirmed gleefully as she slid on the empty seat across CeCe Drake, placing the bottles of beer on the table separating them. "Just like you said. I gotta hand it to you. You do know these people." She said, not bothering to hide her admiration.

"Please. I taught Ali how to choose these people. I know them like the back of my hand." CeCe declared. "Emily cheated on Pigskin with you. One remark about how she seems to be enjoying herself around you is enough to send that girl into a downward spiral of guilt and shame. She's the ideal girlfriend of one Paige McCullers and it's still taking a toll on her even after Pigskin left. Even if she tries to put it behind her she still continues to struggle with Rosewood's perception of her." She said, smirking.

Tara leaned back in her seat, bored. "You're here. I'm guessing Paige is lurking in the shadows outside her beloved Emily's house, waiting for her to get home before calling. Again." She stated as she studied the girl across from her.

CeCe rolled her eyes. "Yeah that girl isn't going anywhere. Honestly, I don't even see the point of following her whenever she returns here. There's only one reason why she keeps coming back." She answered, seemingly bored herself.

Tara sneered. "Watch me take her girl from right under her nose?" She asked eagerly.

CeCe smiled at her. "She won't stop you. The immensity of her love for Emily will outweigh her desire to reveal herself. Which might I add, will come in perfectly handy one day when you unintentionally reveal to Emily what Pigskin has been up to all this time. She's too selfless for her own good. Trust me, one of these days she'll let her go and you'd know it when that time comes." She said confidently.

"So what do I do now?" Tara asked, impatient to move things along.

"Keep pushing." CeCe ordered. "Emily's birthday is coming up. You should make a move. I'm sure Pigskin will be watching and from there everything will take care of itself."

"Then we need to celebrate." Tara declared, grabbing one bottle and handing it to CeCe.

"I guess I could stay for a drink or two." CeCe said casually, shrugging as she took the bottle from Tara.

"To causing train wrecks." Tara said, raising her bottle towards CeCe.

"To wreaking havoc." CeCe added, clinking her bottle of beer against Tara's.

---

Tara irately unlocked the front door of CeCe Drake's house, barely restraining herself from slamming it shut behind her once she got inside. She turned around and immediately rolled her eyes when she saw the two people waiting for her.

"What did you do?" CeCe asked, her eyes narrowing into slits as she studied the annoyed girl standing in the middle of her living room.

"Nothing." Tara said dismissively, starting to make her way upstairs.

"You're lying." CeCe said harshly, making Tara stop dead in her tracks. "You know how much I hate liars." She said ominously.

"Fine." Tara said, facing her audience reluctantly. "I tried having a little fun but it didn't work. Satisfied?" She asked, rolling her eyes before turning her back to them, fully intent on heading upstairs.

"Care to enlighten us?" CeCe asked, raising her voice, signaling they weren't done talking.

Tara faced them once again, crossing her arms in front of her chest in defiance. "I tried triggering Paige's memory but that girl is stubborn. Not even a glimmer of recognition from that night, this blows." She said, exhaling loudly.

CeCe narrowed her eyes at Tara menacingly. "Why would you go and do something I specifically asked you not to? Are you out of your mind?" She asked, barely controlling her anger.

"Not yet. But I'm about to." Tara answered warningly. "When you asked me to come here, I didn't think I'd have to live in this wretched town for fucking two years! I want to get out of this place!" She exclaimed impatiently.

"And we will. Once we find that file." CeCe said adamantly.

Tara sneered. "Why do you think I tried triggering her memory?" She asked sarcastically. "I wanted things to move along. Those people are too dim-witted to figure things out. They spent all this time running around looking for answers, thinking we are hot on their trail to stop them from doing so. You two should be thankful I didn't lock them in a room and turn them against each other just to make them talk." Tara said, frustrated.

"Your impatience will get us in trouble." Jason said, eerily calm as he finally voiced out his opinion on the subject matter.

Tara turned her attention to him. "No. On the contrary, it will get us out of here faster." She said stonily. "You two don't have to worry about it though. It didn't work. But we need to stop messing around. Stop sending them those annoying messages. We're done trying to make it seem like a bunch of immature teenagers are behind this. Whatever we have on them, we'll use as leverage when the time is right." Tara instructed sharply. "When we stopped sending them those messages two years ago their guards came down. That's why we have those secrets against them. Because they thought it was over. So let's just focus on finding that pesky file by watching their every move."

"Paige is still intent on looking for answers about that night." CeCe reminded her.

"And she will. But Paige is stupid to think you two followed her to stop her from getting answers. She thinks we're scared. Until now she doesn't seem to realize why we're still after her. When she finally does, she will undoubtedly double her efforts to get to the bottom of things. That's why we need to watch her the most." Tara said snidely. "When the time comes, she will deliver to us that file herself."

With that, Tara turned her back to them, heading upstairs resolutely. The two waited for the sound of the bedroom door slamming shut before speaking again.

"She's a necessary evil." CeCe explained, looking at Jason.

"Remind me again why we needed her help?" Jason asked, annoyed.

"Because the others lost sight of the purpose. That's why we had to get rid of them." CeCe answered him impatiently.

Jason stood up, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Well she's enjoying this a little too much. You need to rein her in." He said with quiet authority before exiting the living room.

"I know. Don't worry. I've got it under control." CeCe promised under her breath, closing her eyes in exhaustion.

---

"Okay, why am I finding out about this just now?!" Emily asked incredulously as she stared at the frozen image on Paige's laptop screen.

After Paige told her that Tara caused the accident, Emily tried to act as normal as possible until Paige was certain that Tara was gone. Their hunger forgotten, Emily was about to bombard her girlfriend with a hundred questions but Paige told her she'll tell her everything once they get home. Now they sat in the dark on the floor of Emily's bedroom, positioning themselves on the other side of her bed, away from the windows which Paige hurriedly closed once they arrived before drawing the curtains.

Emily anxiously played the footage once again and watched as Tara and CeCe arrive at the marina in broad daylight, looking awfully close for two people who introduced themselves to each other in front of Emily several months later. She continued to watch breathlessly as the two made their way towards a boat, its name hidden from view, Jason greeting them when he emerged from below deck. Emily furrowed her brows in concentration as she watched Jason help Tara get on board before he disembarked, him and CeCe leaving as Tara went below deck. She then fast-forwarded the video to several hours later, the footage dark as it was nighttime, and watched as Jason returned, Tara emerging from below deck and gesturing for Jason to get on board before setting sail. Emily fast-forwarded the video once again to when the boat returned to its slip but this time there was no sign of Jason. She watched anxiously as Tara came into view, wearing a black hoodie and talking on the phone before disembarking. Emily paused the footage once again, looking at Paige expectantly.

Paige met her girlfriend's gaze apologetically. "I couldn't tell you yet. Not without enough proof. I mean solid proof. There could be a lot of ways to interpret this footage, Em. For people who have no idea about 'A' and their role in the fire and the accident, this presents no malice. Nothing seems wrong. It's like any other day. But for us, for me, it means something. That's why I asked Dani and Caleb not to say anything unless we have proof. Seeing how these people are a part of your lives, we can't just come up to you and your friends and accuse them. The fewer people who knew about this footage, the better our chances are of not letting on that we suspect them. Based from my experience, you and your friends are about as subtle as a cat chasing a mouse when you think someone is 'A'. Remember when your friends suspected me? Yeah, I noticed. So you can't blame me for trying to keep the lid on this one. If these people found out we have this footage of them, they will come after us more than ever and I don't want anything bad to happen again. So we have to do things the smart way." She explained tensely.

Emily understood Paige's logic but she felt sick to her stomach. She turned her attention back to the image of Tara in the laptop screen. "But I asked Tara to come with us to the Hamptons, Paige. She was with us the whole time." She said, suddenly appalled.

"It actually helped us." Paige admitted. "You inviting Tara to join us for the weekend was something we didn't see coming but it made things a whole lot easier. We didn't have to keep wondering if they were following us because they were actually with us. Although I think it was their intention to make sure they were with us the whole time too. Or at least one of them was. Until Dani's accident that is." She said quietly.

"You think Tara was the one who pushed her down the stairs?" Emily asked, horrified.

Paige nodded her head. "Yeah. I mean, I'm not completely sure but I think she doubled back. You said you accompanied her to the bus stop. Did you watch her get on the bus?" She asked, looking at Emily.

"Yes." Emily answered emphatically.

"Then she must have waited until the bus was out of your sight before she alighted and followed us." Paige reasoned out, still convinced it was Tara who tried to kill Dani that day.

"But how? She didn't have a car." Emily said, trying to make sense of things.

"Maybe she had help. They could have followed us the next day." Paige answered, glancing at the image on her laptop screen. "Not one of us was left in Rosewood so I don't see why they won't follow us if Tara asked them."

"Are you sure they weren't there already the day we arrived?" Emily asked.

"Positive. We didn't have a tail the entire time we were on our way to the house and Tara was asleep most of the ride remember? She was confident that she had everything under control because the people they had their eyes on were all in one place. They didn't know where Caleb and Dani went. I watched Tara the entire time they were out of the house and she never touched her phone. And Caleb and Dani said they weren't followed. So Tara was the only one with us the entire time that day." Paige explained confidently.

"So what's bothering you?" Emily asked, noticing her girlfriend's restlessness.

Paige took a deep breath. "I know she had help. That's why she got there so fast. But how did they know where to go?" she asked, baffled.

Emily thought for a while before answering. "The day before Dani's accident, at any point during that day, did you guys make plans about going there the next day?" She asked anxiously.

"We were talking about it in the kitchen when you walked in on us." Paige admitted reluctantly. She knew it wasn't the right time but she suddenly felt guilty when she remembered the look on Emily's face when she saw her and Dani. She forced herself to push the image away and focused on the topic at hand. "Maybe she was listening in on us."

Emily shook her head. "No. Tara wasn't anywhere near the house at that time. I was the only one who went back to the house to get some water. She was talking to Spencer when I left and when I came back they were still talking. She couldn't have overheard you guys talking at the time. I wasn't gone that long." She said disappointedly.

Paige racked her brain for another instance they talked about it and said the next thing that came to mind. "Well the only other time we talked about it was when I came back from the beach. Dani and I talked about it in our room but there's no way she could have heard us." She said uncertainly.

"Unless she was eavesdropping." Emily added. "Our rooms were right across each other. It would be easy for her to listen in on your conversation."

Paige looked at Emily thoughtfully. "I guess." She began. "But I thought everyone was asleep when I came back. And we didn't talk about it until it was around 2am." Paige said, still unsure.

"Well that's around the time I came back from the beach myself and I thought everyone was asleep too. But Tara said something to me at the bus stop." Emily said, suddenly realizing that Tara was indeed eavesdropping.

"What?" Paige asked.

"I slept on the couch." Emily said.

Paige furrowed her brows in confusion. "What about it?" She asked, baffled.

"No." Emily said, shaking her head. "She said I slept on the couch downstairs." She clarified.

"So?" Paige asked, still not getting what her girlfriend was trying to tell her.

"So how could she know that unless she saw me?" Emily explained. "When I got back from the beach the house was dark. You were all asleep. I mean I thought you were."

Paige shook her head. "No. Dani and I were up until around 3am."

"Then she definitely overheard you two talking." Emily said, suddenly becoming nauseous. "Oh my god Paige this is horrible. I can't believe I let her near me. I thought she was a friend. I opened up to her. And I cheated on you with her." She said hoarsely, feeling like she was about to pass out.

Paige moved closer to Emily. "Hey. Don't be too hard on yourself. They probably planned all of this after the accident." She said softly.

"Yeah but it wouldn't have worked if I weren't so vulnerable." Emily said quietly.

"Em, Alison learned from CeCe. These people are good at manipulation among other things. They would have found another way to ruin our lives." Paige said firmly. She wasn't going to let Emily keep blaming herself.

"And I asked you to be civil around her. And you didn't even flinch. You told me it was fine if I was friends with her." Emily continued, seemingly not registering Paige's words just now.

Paige touched Emily's knee gently. "Well now that you know the truth you can't not be." She explained. "It would tip her off. Whether I told you the truth or not, you can't stop being her friend. At least not right now. You can't change how you interact with these people. That's why I asked you not to react when I told you earlier." Paige said urgently.

"But you said she caused the accident. I don't think I can look her in the eye and not want to hurt her. She put you through so much." Emily said stubbornly.

"She put us through so much." Paige corrected. "I know how you feel, Em. Believe me. When she triggered my memory earlier I wanted to lunge at her but I knew something was off so I reined it in. I felt sick to my stomach too when I found out but I had to pretend I wasn't suspicious of her. We didn't know her part in all of this until I remembered back at the restaurant." Paige admitted.

"How did you remember?" Emily asked worriedly, looking at the girl beside her.

"I think she triggered it." Paige answered uncertainly. "Whether it's intentional or not I can't tell but I couldn't let her know that I remembered something."

"What did you remember?" Emily asked gently.

Paige closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing hard. "Moments before we crashed I yelled for my dad to watch out." She began.

"Yeah. I remember that." Emily said, taking Paige's hand in hers, letting the other girl know she's right there.

Paige finally opened her eyes. "You guys were so worried about me that none of you noticed the hooded figure that stood in the middle of the road until it was too late. It looked like it came out of nowhere. It just stood there like it was waiting for us. Taunting us to come at it. That's when I yelled for my dad to watch out." She said hoarsely.

"So how did you know it was Tara?" Emily asked, confused.

"When the car went past the figure, when it veered off the road and hit the steel barriers, it was a split second but the figure gave me a two-finger salute before the car went over the cliff." Paige said, pained as the memory of what happened moments before the crash finally came rushing back to her.

"Like Tara did earlier tonight." Emily concluded.

Paige nodded. "Yeah." She said hoarsely. She turned to look at her girlfriend. "Has she ever done that the entire time you guys hung out?" She asked quietly.

"No." Emily said, shaking her head.

"Then she may have intentionally triggered my memory." Paige said, distracted.

"But why now?" Emily asked worriedly.

Paige shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. But we can't link her to the accident just by a mere gesture. We need solid proof against them. I do know that because she tried to trigger it, they're going to keep a watchful eye on me and I think on you as well since Tara saw you as her way in." She said anxiously.

"This is the reason why you came back." Emily said, finally realizing why Paige was so angry when she saw her at the bus station.

Paige shook her head. "No. You're my reason for coming back." She said softly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her girlfriend's ear. "But this is the reason why all you saw that day was the rage. I was furious at myself for entrusting you to her." Paige admitted, once again trying to fight the rage she felt the first time she saw the recording. "When I saw Tara in that footage I knew something was wrong. While I was away from Rosewood I still talked to Caleb just to check up on you. The night I saw you and Tara walking home together for the first time I called Caleb to ask about her and he said she was new in town." She explained.

"But this footage was of the entire day you went missing." Emily said, looking at the recording once again.

"Yeah. And a lot of time has passed since then. I don't know how you'd define new in town but I don't think months after the accident still qualified as such." Paige said anxiously. "And then a few weeks ago, when we had that talk in Radnor, when you told me that you first met her at the rental shop and that she said she was new in town that day it solidified the fact that she was lying."

"Because she was already in town the day of the accident." Emily concluded.

"I tried to warn you, Em. Without tipping her off. But in the end I realized I should just let things be for now. I can't risk her knowing about it. I figured just because we're not together doesn't mean I can't do anything to protect you." Paige explained. "Besides, if she meant to harm you she could have done it when she had all those chances but she didn't. It's either she really fell for you..."

"Or she's still just using me to be near us." Emily finished. She swallowed hard when she realized how far Tara went to ingratiate herself into their lives.

"What is it?" Paige suddenly asked when she noticed Emily's uneasiness.

"The night she first walked me home my car won't start again. It was the second time it happened since the day of the accident. I was at the marina and I was in such a hurry to get home because you were going to call. I ran into her and I had no choice but to ask her for a ride. We were almost here when her car started to malfunction." Emily said quietly.

"It was probably a ploy to start getting closer to you. What did Triple A say about your car?" Paige asked curiously.

"The mechanic said the computer system in my car short-circuited. Like a burst of energy was applied to it that's why it wouldn't start." Emily revealed.

"Both times?" Paige asked.

"Yeah." Emily answered. She studied the image once again. "How do they all know each other?" She asked, looking at her girlfriend quizzically.

Paige shrugged. "That's what we're still trying to find out. I mean CeCe and Jason we get, but CeCe and Tara and Jason and Tara... I was actually hoping you could tell me." She admitted. "Did Tara ever talk about CeCe or Jason?"

Emily shook her head. "Never. And CeCe and Tara didn't seem to know each other when we ran into her." She said absentmindedly.

Paige furrowed her brows in confusion. "You ran into CeCe and they pretended not to know each other? When?" She asked urgently.

"I don't remember." Emily admitted. "But after CeCe made a comment about how good Tara and I looked together and how I was enjoying myself while you were gone I was so upset I left and went home." She said, suddenly ashamed.

"They were playing with your guilt, Em." Paige said quietly.

Emily looked at Paige apologetically. "I don't want to keep hurting you by telling you what I was doing with Tara while you were gone."

Paige shook her head. "Em, it's fine. I wanted you to move forward, remember? At the time I thought Tara was the person who could do that for you so don't feel guilty for spending time with her. Really. Right now we're trying to figure out how these things fit. Okay?" She said, cradling Emily's face gently.

"Okay." Emily nodded before biting her lower lip anxiously. "Paige, I think CeCe and Jason were the ones who followed you while you were away and it was because of me." she said hesitantly, trying to figure some things out herself.

"Em, you can't keep blaming yourself." Paige said consolingly.

"No. Listen. The night you said I could come with you, I was in a hurry to get home to start packing but then I bumped into Tara." Emily began. "She asked me where I was going in such a hurry and I said we were leaving the next night. But I didn't tell her where we were headed because at the time we weren't sure. I think she told CeCe and Jason and that's when they decided to follow you."

"Why do you say that?" Paige asked.

"Something Aria reminded me about the day we were supposed to leave. Earlier that day I decided to spend time with my friends because I thought it was going to be quite a while until I see them again." Emily explained. "Spencer was running late and when she arrived she said it was because Jason asked to meet with her to say goodbye because he planned on setting sail with his girlfriend starting that day. Spencer said she was surprised that her brother was seeing someone but Jason told her he and Lucy have been together for quite some time. He just didn't bother introducing her." Emily paused before continuing hesitantly. "Jason owned the slip beside your dad's right?"

"Yeah." Paige answered, nodding. "Why?"

"Well ever since you left I never saw his boat again whenever I came there." Emily revealed tensely.

"He can't have followed me and Dani by water." Paige said dubiously.

"I know. I'm just saying I think he had to move that boat somewhere if he didn't want anyone to find out what he was really doing all this time. It could be his alibi." Emily reasoned out.

"Okay. I'll ask Caleb and Dani to look into it. What about CeCe?" Paige asked. "What made you think she was following me too?"

"Well on my way home that day I stopped by her boutique to return the earrings I borrowed from her. That's when I met her assistant. She admitted it was her first day and said that I missed CeCe. She just went home to pack because apparently she had to take care of some business outside of town and she had to leave that day. Back then I didn't think much of it but now, I think they're the ones who followed you. We never saw Jason but CeCe, we saw her around." Emily explained.

"Because she came back whenever I did." Paige said breathlessly.

"Yeah. Up until a year ago. She said she wanted to attend this school in Milan so she won't be coming around anymore. But I think it was because you stopped visiting me." Emily said.

"The day I decided to talk to Tara and let you go was the last time I came to Rosewood. Since then Dani and I have been on the road." Paige admitted.

"That's why we never saw her for a year. She and Jason were following you the entire time." Emily said anxiously.

"I'm so sorry, Em. I shouldn't have left you." Paige said apologetically.

"We can't keep thinking about what would've happened if you didn't. For all we know we could be in a worse situation right now. I'm just glad you're back." Emily said, taking Paige's hand in hers.

"Me too." Paige said, squeezing Emily's hand.

Emily stared at the image in front of them once again before speaking. "Paige, Aria and Hanna are starting to get suspicious of Jason. I think he made a mistake when we were at the hospital. He was probably keeping tabs on Dani's condition. You guys need to tell them about all of this." Emily said quietly. "Especially Spencer."

"I know." Paige replied. "I'll let Caleb and Dani handle that. We can't risk being seen all in one place at the same time. They would know something's up."

"Well if you think their focus is on you and me, I have an early shift tomorrow at the Brew and Tara's going to be there. She won't miss work because she knows I'll come in for work too. So I guess that's one person less to worry about." Emily said, trying to ease her girlfriend's worry.

Paige nodded reluctantly. "As much as I hate the thought of leaving you alone with her now that I know what she did, we can't change how we act around them. I'll drive you to work tomorrow but I need to borrow your car after. I'll pick you up after your shift." Paige said, a plan taking shape in her mind.

"Yeah sure you can borrow it. But where are you going?" Emily asked, curious.

"You could say I'm following up on a lead but it's more like proving a hunch." Paige explained. "Before we discovered that footage we followed Ali's trail to a motel on the outskirts of town. Dani and I asked if anyone by the name of Alison DiLaurentis rented a room there and the manager said no. But on a hunch Dani showed him a photo of Ali and he said the girl in the photo did rent a room but it was under a different name. We asked if she was with anyone at the time but he said no. However, he said Ali specifically asked for the room next to a couple who just checked in."

"Who?" Emily asked anxiously.

Paige shrugged. "At the time we didn't find out. It was useless to ask for a name since if Ali was clever enough to not use her real name when she checked in, chances are so were the couple she followed. We tried asking for a description but the couple he described didn't fit anyone we know." She explained.

"So why are you going back there?" Emily asked, confused.

Paige exhaled. "I'm just following this hunch I have that they were wearing a disguise when they checked in." She admitted. "If these people have nothing to hide, they wouldn't care if I went back. Once I leave they'll just follow me. But if one of them was in that room, they would want to know what I was doing there. I don't need to ask the manager if he recognizes them without the disguise. I just need to pretend I'm still following that lead to buy the others enough time to meet."

"So you're going back there alone?!" Emily asked incredulously. "I can't let you do that. They're after you."

Paige nodded her head grimly. "Exactly. You've got your shadow I've got mine. Like I said, they tried to trigger my memory so they're probably watching my every move. They're not paying attention to the others." She said, hoping she was right.

"But I don't want you to go there alone." Emily said worriedly.

Paige gave her girlfriend a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. I'll be really careful." She promised. "I'll pick you up after your shift, not a minute too late." Paige said confidently.

Emily sighed. "Okay." She said, knowing it was the only way to give the others a chance to meet. They sat in silence for a while until Emily saw a look of confusion cross her girlfriend's features. "Something else is bothering you." Emily said as she reached out to stroke Paige's cheek softly.

"Yeah." Paige answered distractedly. "I just don't get it. There were four of you and Tara stayed to watch you guys. I left and two of them followed me? Why? What's so important about me?" She asked, baffled.

"Well you said it yourself. Maybe they thought you knew something or found out something and they were scared." Emily said, trying to help Paige figure things out.

"I know but what could I possibly know? I mean, are they waiting for me to realize they caused the accident? Because Tara triggered my memory. What would they accomplish by doing that?" Paige asked, starting to get frustrated.

"Maybe they want you to realize something. These people like playing games. They don't tell you what they want directly. They want you to figure it out." Emily said, brushing a strand of hair away from her girlfriend's eyes. She felt Paige's frustration and she wished she could help her.

"But what?" Paige sighed, upset.

"Hey." Emily said softly. "Don't get frustrated. Something must have gone wrong that day on their end. That's why they needed you to realize it too. They had everything planned out but they didn't expect something. What could have gone wrong?"

Paige furrowed her brows, deep in thought. "Well I guess they didn't expect you to unknowingly join the game so that's something that went wrong on their side. They didn't want any survivors." Paige said uncertainly.

"But if they didn't want any survivors why aren't they actively coming after you? What are they still waiting for?" Emily thought out loud, starting to get confused as well. "I mean yeah they're threatening to kill you but so far it's been an empty threat so what do they still want?"

"Oh no." Paige said suddenly, her eyes gleaming in the dark with panic and realization. "Why didn't I think of that sooner?"

"Thought of what?" Emily asked, aware of the panic in her girlfriend's voice.

Paige swallowed hard. "What do they still want?" She said, repeating Emily's words out loud while saying it over and over in her head. "I got it wrong. We got it wrong." She whispered urgently. "All this time we thought they were following us because they were scared that we might find something and they were willing to do whatever it takes to stop us from doing so. I didn't see the other side of things. I was so focused on trying to find proof against them I didn't even ask why they're back to torturing us. Why they're still tracking our movements. It wasn't because they were scared. These people were never scared. They wanted me to find out what really happened that night. To find out about the game. They wanted me to realize that something went wrong. But that somehow what happened that night turned out to be in their favor."

Paige felt Emily's hand on her knee and she looked at her girlfriend, trying to stay focused. "You're right. They could have killed me but they didn't. Because they needed me for something. Yet for some reason I am indebted to them for keeping me alive all this time. And now they're waiting for me to repay them. They want me to realize why the accident happened in the first place. Why I was missing, why my parents were looking for me. What they wanted that night. I left and they followed me. I came back and they followed me." She said hoarsely, her breathing becoming ragged. "I was playing into their hands all along. They knew I would go to Dani for help and from there I would find out what my parents were keeping from me."

"So why are they still after you?" Emily asked anxiously, knowing Paige found the answer to her question.

"Because they never got what they wanted that night." Paige said, looking at Emily intently.

"The file? But you said the floor safe was empty." Emily said, baffled.

"Yeah. It was. But it doesn't mean that they got the original file. I think my dad kept close to him a copy of the file." Paige said tensely.

"So where's the original?" Emily asked.

"I don't know. But I'm sure that's what they're still after. They think I could lead them to it. I know why they tried to trigger my memory." Paige said confidently.

"Why?" Emily asked, worried.

"Because they wanted me to shift my focus and realize that we're both after the same thing. They want that file because it's evidence against them. I want that file for the same reason. So I have to find it." She said determinedly. "They won't lay a finger on me until I have that file. They'll just keep watching." Paige said, the gears in her head working in overdrive. "And I plan on using that to my advantage."

---

"Oh my god you should've seen Ryan's face when he found out I was only 13. He was so freaked out he couldn't get out of the room fast enough. This is going to be so much fun." Alison exclaimed giddily as she followed CeCe inside the latter's bedroom, having enjoyed a day at the yacht club.

"So you really like older guys huh?" CeCe asked in amusement, an idea taking shape in her mind. This girl is the perfect solution to our problem.

"You could say I'm fascinated with them. They seem so..." Alison said, pursing her lips to think of a good word.

"Worldly?" CeCe offered, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"I was going to say sexy but worldly seem more appropriate." Alison said, giggling.

"Then I have to introduce you to this guy I know. He's worldly enough for you. I promise." CeCe said mysteriously, knowing it was going to pique the girl's interest. It worked.

"I'm game. I could have a little fun before my family heads back to Rosewood." Alison said as she plopped down on the bed and surveyed CeCe's room.

"You're from Rosewood?" CeCe asked, surprised. Huh. What a small world.

"Yeah. Why?" Alison asked, still looking around.

"I know a guy who lives there." CeCe said offhandedly.

"You know a guy or you're with a guy?" Alison asked teasingly.

"Both." CeCe said coyly.

"Spill!" Alison squealed as her eyes fell on CeCe's bedside table.

"Not yet. I'm still trying to see if he's a keep or a fling." CeCe said, checking her reflection on her full-length mirror.

"I need to go." Alison said, getting up and heading towards the door.

"What? But we just got here." CeCe said, confused about the girl's sudden desire to leave.

"I know but I remembered I promised my dad I'd be home early today." Alison said as she placed her hand on the doorknob, gazing at CeCe thoughtfully.

"Suit yourself. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." CeCe said flippantly, not bothering to look the other girl's way.

"Yeah. Sure. If nothing else comes up. I'll see you around Cil." Alison said noncommittally as she hurriedly left CeCe's room.

---

"Can't sleep?" Jason asked worriedly as he entered the living room once again, surprised to see that CeCe was still where he left her hours ago.

CeCe glanced at Jason before returning her attention to the video playing on the TV screen, not bothering to answer his question. He stood behind the sofa CeCe occupied and watched the video as well.

"Why are you watching that again?" He asked after a beat, his eyes never leaving the crudely made video, its audio barely audible. He finally averted his eyes and stared at the back of the head of the girl sitting on the sofa.

CeCe hit the pause button on the remote control and finally looked at Jason, pointing a finger on the screen as she talked to him. "This video was made the day your sister took everything away from me." CeCe said spitefully. "Tonight I needed a reminder of what I lost that day and what I'm willing to do to get it back."

"She's your sister too." Jason reminded her quietly as he moved to sit beside CeCe, trying to calm her down.

CeCe sneered. "No. She's not." She said scornfully. "Sisters are supposed to have each other's backs, not backstab them." She looked at Jason with disdain. "You're supposed to be on my side."

"I am on your side." Jason stated. "I've always been on your side. But lately this doesn't feel like it's a relationship anymore." When CeCe didn't say anything, he decided to drop the matter for now. "What do you plan on doing next?"

"Never take my eyes off the ball." CeCe declared. "She's right. We'll stop with the incessant texts and just follow them instead. Especially Pigskin." She said decisively.

"We can't risk not watching the others." Jason reminded her. "Tara has her eye on Emily; you've got your eye on Paige. I'll have to keep an eye on the others then." He decided.

"How?" CeCe asked, eyebrows raised. "You can't be seen walking around town."

"I think it's time I returned from my sailing trip don't you think?" Jason said before standing up. "You've been back for a sufficiently long enough amount of time. I think it's safe to say I can make my return tomorrow night. Just to make sure no one sees where the Charles has been all this time." He said with finality before leaving CeCe alone once again.

---

Paige stirred from her restful sleep and broke into a soft smile. "You know, it's rude to stare when someone's trying to sleep." She said lightly, not bothering to open her eyes. She broke into an even huge grin when she felt Emily's lips on hers, giving her a soft, lingering kiss.

"I like waking up next to you." Emily confessed as she caressed her girlfriend's face, moving her body closer to Paige as she did so.

Paige wrapped her arm around Emily's waist, pulling the girl closer to her before she slowly opened her eyes, staring right into her girlfriend's mesmerizing brown orbs. They stayed that way for a few moments, just staring into each other's eyes, breaths mingling due to the proximity of their bodies. They finally grinned at the same time.

"You're so beautiful." Emily whispered breathlessly, her eyes taking in every inch of Paige's features before kissing her girlfriend again, slowly shifting her position until she was finally on top of Paige.

"You're topping me." Paige murmured in between kisses, reveling in the feel of Emily's body against hers. Every inch of them seemed to fit perfectly against each other and she sighed in contentment. "I could definitely get used to waking up like this." Paige said when Emily sat up straight, her legs planted firmly on either side of Paige, straddling the girl beneath her.

"Me too." Emily replied, gently brushing a strand of hair away from Paige's eyes.

Paige broke into a grin. "It's our first morning back in Rosewood as a couple." She said blissfully as she took Emily's hands in hers, bringing them to her lips and kissing them. She moved their hands to her chest while she continued to stare at the raven-haired beauty above her.

Emily removed her hands from Paige's and placed it on either side of her girlfriend's waist. Wanting to feel Paige's smooth skin, she slowly lifted the hem of the other girl's top; just enough to place her hands inside and touch Paige's sides. She chuckled when Paige jerked at her touch.

"I forgot how ticklish you are." Emily said, the laughter evident in her voice.

Paige linked her hands underneath her head, trying to seem unaffected. "No you didn't." She said breathlessly.

Emily's eyes twinkled in amusement. "No, I didn't." She whispered as she began caressing Paige's soft skin.

"Stop that." Paige begged, barely able to get the words out as she struggled to stay still, afraid that Emily might fall off her if she suddenly moved.

"Stop what?" Emily asked innocently as she began to draw circles on her girlfriend's skin.

Paige groaned and bit her bottom lip, moving her hands to stop Emily's. "That." She said as she began to chuckle, unable to hold it anymore.

"I missed hearing you laugh." Emily said, her smile making Paige's heartbeat increase its tempo.

"I missed making you laugh." Paige said as she touched Emily's silky hair. She suddenly became serious. "Em, about yesterday, what happened in the van. I want us to talk about that." She said quietly.

Emily slowly removed her hands from underneath Paige's top and moved to sit on the bed next to her girlfriend. Paige sat up and gently forced Emily to face her. "You didn't want to talk about it last night. But we have to talk about it." Paige said softly.

"I know." Emily agreed reluctantly. "I'm so sorry." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"This is why we need to talk about it." Paige said lightly. "Em, you have nothing to apologize for." She said adamantly. "Whatever we discussed in the van yesterday doesn't change things. None of it was your fault and I'm not saying that because you're my girlfriend. I'm saying it because that's the truth." Paige said softly. "Em, you saved my life. That's what matters. Not what happened after. Because we had no control over the events that followed. Spencer said it herself, those people had no intention of letting me and my parents survive the night." She said as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind Emily's ear.

"Look at me." Paige said gently.

Emily finally mustered the courage to look Paige in the eye and saw nothing but overwhelming love. Choking back a sob, Emily hugged Paige tight and felt the other girl's arms wrap around her firmly. "The reason I'm with you right now, why we're together right now, is because you saved my life that night." Paige whispered in Emily's ear.

"So in case I didn't say it before, thank you. For going out into the pouring rain when I missed our date that night because you know I will never be late considering what we were celebrating. For trusting your instinct and knowing where I could be when my parents didn't. Thank you for searching for me that night." Paige said tenderly as she pulled back and wiped the tears that flowed freely from her girlfriend's eyes. "So please forgive yourself. Okay?"

Emily nodded and slowly wiped the few tears that remained in her eyes before smiling at Paige, starting to feel better. The words her girlfriend just uttered convinced her that Paige really never blamed her all these years and she felt she can finally forgive herself.

Paige felt the change in Emily's mood and quickly got out of bed, holding her hand out to her girlfriend. "Let's go make ourselves some breakfast then." She said eagerly.

Emily took Paige's outstretched hand and got up. "You do owe me breakfast since we skipped dinner last night." She said lightly before realizing what the day has in store for them.

Paige twirled Emily once before wrapping her arms around her girlfriend's waist as they headed for the door, planting a soft kiss on Emily's head as they walked.

"Please be careful." Emily begged as Paige opened the door for her.

"I promise I'll come home to you." Paige said sincerely as Emily closed the distance between them and stepped into Paige's arms.

---

"What the hell is the matter with you people?" Hanna said in greeting once Dani opened the door to Caleb's apartment.

"And a good morning to you too." Dani said as she held open the door and waited until Hanna, Spencer and Aria have entered before closing it. She turned to meet their impatient looks.

"What's going on?" Spencer asked, getting straight to the point.

"Well?" Hanna asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "What's so important you had to drag us out of bed so early?"

"And why do we need to come in our candy striper outfits?" Aria added as she looked at the outfits she, Spencer and Hanna were wearing. "Our shifts aren't until this afternoon." She said, confused.

Dani shook her head and moved past them. She wasn't going to let them suck her in another game of 60 questions. "I'll let Caleb explain." She said as she knocked on the door of her brother's room before going in.

Caleb looked up from behind his laptop screen and motioned for them to get inside. "Sorry." He began, looking at Hanna apologetically. "This might take a while and I knew you had your striper duties this afternoon that's why I asked you to come wearing those." He said as he nodded his head towards their outfits.

He gestured for them to take a seat on his bed and turned his laptop towards them, the footage ready to play after he explained things to them.

"I'll go make coffee." Dani offered as she went outside and closed the door behind her.

Once Dani left, Caleb turned his attention back to the three people sitting on his bed. "Emily and Paige are buying us some time that's why they're not here. Paige told Emily everything last night and she called me this morning to ask me to show this to you and fill you in on the rest of the leads we found." When no one said anything, he continued. "Last night one of the 'A's made a move by triggering Paige's memory while she and Emily were out having dinner. She didn't let on that she remembered something so she thinks they still believe she doesn't remember anything before the accident."

Caleb took a deep breath, dreading the moment he had to play the footage. "Well as you all know, I've been helping Paige the entire time she was away. One of the things she asked me to do was to look for any footage the marina might have of the night of the fire because it might yield some leads. But unfortunately their security feeds that night were all down so I decided to look somewhere else." He began. "After hacking into the feeds of the nearby establishments that surrounded the marina and sorting through hundreds of footages, I finally struck gold. Although we're still not entirely sure that this is all of them, we think these people had something to do with what happened." He said, finally letting them see for themselves what he, Dani and Paige have been hiding all this time.

Spencer watched intently as her brother came in and out of view, studying his interaction with CeCe and Tara. When the footage finally came to an end, she stood up abruptly. "Nothing seems out of place there." She said, just like how Paige told Caleb Spencer will probably react.

Caleb looked at Hanna and Aria, silently asking them to tell Spencer about what they found out. Paige told him that Emily said the two girls were starting to get suspicious of Jason themselves and Paige was counting on them to convince Spencer.

"Spence." Aria began. "Jason was lying to us the whole time when we ran into him at the hospital and when we had dinner with him the next night." She said regretfully.

She and Hanna took turns explaining to their friend what they've found out so far, from Aria bumping into the OB who was supposed to have been with Lucy at the time they were talking, to Hanna's suspicion that Lucy doesn't even exist, and finally to Aria admitting that the employee she talked to at the marina where Jason supposedly rented a slip said there was no record of his name and his boat's name ever docking there, explaining she called last night after she looked up the marina's website from her tablet while they were on their way home. But Spencer still refused to believe them.

"There has to be a reasonable explanation other than my own brother being behind this mess the entire time." She said, still in denial.

"Tara was supposed to be new in town the day Emily met her for the first time at the rental shop. That was months after the accident." Caleb explained patiently. "Tara showing up in this footage on the day of the accident is in itself fishy. And Jason and CeCe never seemed to get along. They claimed they had an intense relationship. So why do they seem to get along well here?"

"I don't know but I'm going to find out." Spencer said determinedly as she headed for the door, thinking of a way to reach Jason and confront her brother directly.

Hanna and Aria quickly followed her out of the room to try and stop her. "Spencer wait." Aria said anxiously.

Spencer was almost at the front door when Dani stood in front of it, blocking her path. "Move." Spencer ordered edgily.

"Listen to your friends." Dani said calmly. "You've trusted them for years. Don't start doubting them now." She said quietly. "I can't let you walk out of this room because once you get out of here you are putting 6 other lives in danger and I can't let you do that. Look at me." Dani said, pointing to her sling and the bandage around her head. "I got lucky this time. But there might not be a next time. Right now Emily and Paige are out there risking their lives to make sure we get you three to understand the gravity of the situation. So please listen to your friends." She pleaded.

Spencer was about to protest when her phone suddenly rang. "It's Jason." She said, surprised. She tried to mask the inner turmoil she was feeling at the moment and answered her phone. "Hey." She greeted him lightly. "Oh. Really? For good? When? Tonight. Yeah. That's great. Where's Lucy?" She asked, trying to indirectly get answers. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

Spencer paused for a moment before deciding to ask something. "Hey Jason, I'm really sorry I won't be meeting her anytime soon but I really wanted to know what she looks like. Can you describe her to me?" She listened intently, her pulse beginning to race. "Wow. She really sounds gorgeous. I'm sorry you two decided to take a break for now. I'm sure things will work itself out. Okay. Yeah sure, no problem. Thanks for the heads up." Once the call ended, Spencer turned to face her friends.

"He said he's coming back. Tonight he's coming back. Might be for good. He said him and Lucy decided to take a break after the whole pregnancy problem. That sounds legit right?" Spencer asked hoarsely.

"But?" Aria asked quietly.

"We need to get to the bottom of things. I'll let you guys take the reins. I won't put your lives in danger." Spencer promised.

"Spence what did Jason say?" Hanna asked, concerned.

"Well I asked him what Lucy looked like. And I really don't know what's going on but he just described in perfect detail someone who looks like Tara." Spencer said disbelievingly.

---

"Help me carry the body. Quick, before someone sees." CeCe said to Jason urgently as she struggled to drag Alison's lifeless body.

"You're bleeding." Jason said worriedly as he touched the side of CeCe's forehead gently.

"I'm fine. She caught me off guard. It's just a gash." CeCe said impatiently.

"Careful." Jason said as he took off his jacket and bunched it up, handing it over to his girlfriend. "Here. Try and stop the bleeding before some of it gets on her body. We can't risk leaving any evidence." He said as he lifted Alison's body over his shoulder while watching CeCe wipe the blood from her forehead.

"This is her fault. If she stopped meddling this wouldn't have happened." CeCe said angrily.

"It's over. She won't be able to bother us again." Jason said as they stopped in front of the unfinished gazebo, dropping his sister's body unceremoniously on the ground next to it before dragging it once again.

"We have to make sure it stays that way." CeCe said, fighting the overwhelming urge to vomit as she watched Jason begin to bury Alison's body.

Jason stopped what he was doing to look at CeCe. "It will. Trust me. I'll make sure we get the happy ending we deserve. I love you." He said, hugging his girlfriend tightly.

"I love you too." CeCe said, looking at Alison's half-buried body before closing her eyes.

---

"What is she doing back here?" Jason asked from behind the wheel as he and CeCe observed Paige from a distance.

"Beats me. I guess we'll have to wait until she leaves before we can find out." CeCe said, not taking her eyes off the door Paige disappeared behind seconds ago.

"Do you think she figured it out?" Jason asked worriedly.

"I doubt it." CeCe said dismissively. "She's still probably obsessed with the nonexistent couple Ali followed that day.

"This place brings back bad memories." Jason said as he closed his eyes in frustration.

CeCe finally took her eyes off the motel and looked at Jason. "Your sister is one of a kind. I give her that. She managed to follow us here. But she was too meddlesome for her own good. She had it coming." She said resolutely.

"The only reason our parents kept silent all these years is because you managed to convince them that what happened was an accident. And that we panicked that's why we buried the body." Jason said, turning his head to stare at CeCe. "What happens if they realize the truth?"

CeCe scoffed. "You're wrong. That wasn't the only reason. I managed to keep them silent because I made them realize their indirect role in all of this. So if I were you I wouldn't worry about them too much." CeCe said warningly before turning her attention back to the entrance.

A few minutes later, Paige finally emerged from inside the building and hastily made her way towards Emily's car.

"That's our cue." CeCe said determinedly as she watched Paige drive away before getting out of the car and following Jason as he made his way towards the motel.

---

"What's their motive?" Spencer asked as she continued to pace the entire length of the living room of Caleb's apartment. "I mean this couldn't have been random. They must have a motive. Every crime committed has one. So what's theirs?" She asked helplessly before facing her audience.

The rest of her friends stared back at her in helpless silence as they sat on the long couch in Caleb's living room. They only had a few hours left before she, Hanna and Aria had to leave for the hospital and they decided to use the remaining time to think of possible reasons as to why Tara, Jason and CeCe wanted Ali dead.

"Well what are the usual motives for these kinds of things anyway?" Caleb asked as he stood up to let Spencer sit. He grabbed one of the four chairs from the dining table and deposited it in front of the couch to face them. "I mean, let's think of why people usually kill someone." He said distractedly as he started shuffling the deck of cards on the coffee table between them.

"From all the movies I've watched, there are a lot. But I think we can rule out politics and drugs." Spencer volunteered as she perched her elbow on the armrest.

"Yeah I don't think Ali will be involved in those things. How about jealousy?" Aria offered beside Spencer.

Hanna shifted in her position from the other end of the couch and turned to face them. "Jealousy? I don't know. That is some twisted reason. I mean, why would any of these people be jealous of Ali?" Hanna asked as she held up the printout to show them. "She was barely a teenager when she was killed."

"Revenge?" Dani offered uncertainly as she sat between Aria and Hanna. "Could these people have killed her for revenge?" She clarified.

"It's possible. But what did she do, for them to want revenge against her?" Caleb asked as he continued to shuffle the cards absentmindedly.

"We're going about this the wrong way." Aria said suddenly. "Instead of thinking of reasons why they would kill Ali, let's think of Ali." She said, to the confusion of the others.

"What?" Hanna asked. "We are thinking of Ali."

"I think she means ask yourselves what Ali did to piss these people off." Dani explained, looking at Hanna. "You were her friends. What sort of thing would she do that would earn the ire of those people?" She said as she nodded her head towards the printout Hanna still held in her hand.

"The one thing Ali was really good at was being meddlesome." Spencer admitted reluctantly. "She likes sticking her nose in other people's business."

"So maybe she found out something about these people. Something she wasn't supposed to and they killed her because of it." Caleb said cautiously.

"I don't think it's that simple." Spencer said uncertainly. "She may have found out something she shouldn't have but I don't think she's one to just spill the beans. I think she did something more about it."

"Like what?" Hanna asked as she looked at Caleb, who at that moment managed to spill the cards he was shuffling all over the coffee table.

Dani rolled her eyes at her brother as she helped him clean up the mess, picking up cards as she tried to focus on the conversation around her. She was about to say something when her eyes landed on the card she was holding and a wave of nausea suddenly hit her.

"The notebook." Dani said breathlessly, suddenly remembering what she wanted to tell Paige and Caleb moments before she fell.

"The film?" Caleb asked, confused.

Dani managed to let out a laugh as she fought the urge to spill everything to them. "No doofus. But I think it's adorable that that's the first thing that crossed your mind. How many times did Hanna make you watch it?" She asked teasingly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Caleb said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest defensively.

"Fine." Dani said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway. The notebook. Before I fell. That was what I wanted to show you and Paige." She explained as she looked at her brother.

"You remembered?" Aria asked, surprised. "That was fast."

Dani smiled wryly. "I guess I'm an overachiever. But it had to do something with this." She said as she held up the card she held in her hand. "I remembered why I was so excited when I saw that notebook. I accidentally found it inside a fake electrical outlet when I used the bathroom. It was Ali's."

"What's in it?" Spencer asked anxiously.

"Well for one you were on the right track when you said she did more with what she found out whenever she meddled in other people's business. She blackmailed them." Dani explained, glancing at Spencer briefly. "There were a lot of names in that notebook. Those people have motive for wanting Ali dead. But that wasn't what caught my eye." She said slowly.

"Well were their names in that notebook or not?" Hanna asked impatiently as she pointed to the people in the printout which she placed on top of the coffee table minutes ago.

"I don't know." Dani admitted. "I didn't see any of their names. But there were two names that stood out and that's why I was in a hurry to show it to Caleb and Paige that day."

"Why? What's so important about those names?" Caleb asked urgently.

Dani swallowed hard. "Well for starters, they weren't names." She said as she placed on the middle of the table the card she was holding for them to see. "They were codenames."

---

"How'd the rest of your dinner go last night?" Tara asked as she touched Emily's shoulder lightly.

Emily tried her best not to cringe and turned to face the girl who managed to ruin their lives by simply standing in the middle of the deserted road on a rainy night. She put on her best attempt at a smile she was used to giving Tara and took a deep breath. For Paige. "Really good." She began, smiling genuinely once she thought of Paige. "It was our first night back in Rosewood as a couple so, it was really good."

"I'm really sorry for almost ruining your date last night. Showing up like that and seeing us at the same time must've been hard for her." Tara said, seemingly genuine in her apology.

"It's okay. She told me it doesn't bother her and I believe her so, running into you last night wasn't a big deal." Emily said as she made her way to clean a table.

"So how was the rest of the trip anyway? Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Tara asked as she moved to follow Emily around.

Emily forced herself to keep her cool. I can do this. "No. Nothing interesting. Unless you count Paige's best friend falling down the stairs and going into surgery because of it." She said, trying to hide the anger and accusation in her voice.

Tara furrowed her brows in worry. "That's terrible. But she survived right?" She asked, pointedly ignoring a customer trying to get her attention.

"Yeah. She has a clavicle fracture so her arm's in a sling and she can't seem to remember what happened moments before she fell but other than that she's recovering well." Emily answered, making her way towards another table, hoping Tara would stop talking to her, her grip on the tray she's holding tightening as she fought for control.

"What's there to remember?" Tara asked, helping Emily clean the tables this time. "It was an accident right?" She asked, looking at Emily intently. "You're not saying someone purposely pushed her down the stairs."

"Of course not. It was an accident." Emily said, standing her ground as she met Tara's eyes. "We just want to know how she managed to fall." She explained. "What she was doing before she fell."

"Well maybe she'll remember it sooner or later." Tara said as she held the entrance door open for Emily.

Emily willed herself to give Tara a grateful smile before heading inside.

"But recalling memories can be tricky." Tara said as she followed Emily to the kitchen. "I mean sometimes they never return and it's better that way."

"Other times?" Emily asked as she put down the dirty dishes on the sink before making her way towards the front of the shop once again.

"It would be better if they remembered. It could save their life." Tara said smoothly as she followed Emily.

Emily forced herself to keep walking, willing for her steps not to falter as she headed for the door. Her shift was finally over and just outside she could see Paige waiting for her by the passenger side of her car. Not a minute too late. Just like she promised. She couldn't wait to get outside and run to Paige's side. To safety. Before she could grab the door handle though, Tara stopped her.

"Hey. You almost forgot this." Tara said as she tugged on Emily's apron, reminding the girl that she was still wearing one.

Emily managed to give Tara a grateful smile and took it off. "Right. Thanks." She said lightly.

"You're in such a hurry to meet Paige you're starting to forget seemingly insignificant stuff." Tara said, chuckling. "If you could see your face right now Emily. You look so happy it's like you're on drugs or something." She said, holding open the door for her.

Emily uttered a silent prayer of thanks that her elation to see Paige hid her desire to run away from Tara and she turned to face the girl. "It's that obvious huh?" She said, managing to make a joke when she thought about Paige waiting for her right outside. She wouldn't let anything happen to me.

Tara grinned. "Yeah. I guess I got my wish. Now I'm about to be treated to front row seats of you and Paige during your glory days as Rosewood's 'IT' couple." She said, looking past Emily to study Paige.

"I don't know about that. But be careful what you wish for." Emily said lightly as she stepped outside of the Brew to make her way to Paige, forcing herself to walk the way she always did when she's about to meet Paige in the past.

"Oh trust me, this was one wish I'm glad came true." Tara said before closing the door behind Emily.

Paige forced herself to stay in place and wait for Emily to come to her instead, knowing Tara was watching them. She knew Emily wanted nothing more than to run towards her but she knew her girlfriend was restraining herself from doing so. Paige wasn't going to let Tara's watchful eyes change how they interact though. Lifting herself off the door to the passenger side of the car, she briefly turned her back to Emily to get something from inside her girlfriend's car through the open car window.

Emily broke into a dazzling grin when Paige turned to face her again, holding a bouquet of yellow tulips.

"Hey." Paige said when Emily was close enough, giving her girlfriend a soft smile before handing her the bouquet.

"A bouquet?" Emily said, the delight evident in her voice as she took it. She immediately forgot Tara's menacing words just now. "What happened to a single flower each day?" She asked as she closed the distance between them.

Paige held open the passenger door. "Yeah well a single flower doesn't seem enough to let you know how hopelessly in love I am with you." She said softly before giving her girlfriend a deep kiss. "A bouquet doesn't come close as well but they can't seem to point me to a never ending field of yellow tulips." She said teasingly and was about to say something else when she felt Emily's lips on hers.

When they finally came up for air, Emily kissed Paige on the cheek before getting inside the car. Paige closed the door with a grin and before going to the driver's side, stole a quick glance at Tara knowing she was watching them. She casually raised her hand in greeting as the other girl acknowledged her before getting in and starting Emily's car. They drove in silence before Paige took Emily's hand in hers and squeezed it lightly.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked worriedly, briefly glancing at her girlfriend.

Emily nodded wordlessly, her other hand touching the bouquet of tulips on her lap. "Better when I saw you standing outside." She admitted quietly. "How'd things go on your end?" She asked, looking at Paige.

"Well they definitely followed me." Paige said wryly. "I think they're still there when I left. I'm sure they're going to ask the manager what I wanted to know. But I guess Caleb and the others got a chance to talk."

"So it was really them?" Emily asked anxiously.

Paige nodded before she removed her hand from Emily's to get a photo on the sun visor in front of her and gave it to the girl beside her. Her girlfriend took it wordlessly and bit her bottom lip in amusement at Paige's attempt of drawing the disguise over the two people in the photo.

Paige sighed. "Yeah I know I'm the world's worst sketch artist but it doesn't matter. I just needed them to waste their time on me." She reasoned out when she noticed Emily trying hard to control her laughter. "Hey it's the best I could do." She said defensively.

"And the manager understood that this was supposed to be a goatee?" Emily said teasingly as she pointed to the vertical line Paige drew underneath the now unrecognizable guy's chin.

"Well no." Paige admitted, blushing. "I had to tell him what it was. But the point is..."

Emily's infectious laughter filled the car and Paige shook her head wryly, trying to seem offended.

"The point is." Paige tried again to make Emily stop laughing at her crude drawing. "The point is it's one of them." She finally said as she stopped the car at a red light. "Even with that barely recognizable photo, the fact that they went in after I left only shows that they understood what I was doing there. If they weren't interested in that place they would have followed me once I left."

Emily finally stopped laughing and planted a sound kiss on Paige's lips. "I know babe." She said softly. "But thanks for making me laugh." She said as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well I think you could use one." Paige said, smiling before taking Emily's hand in hers once again. "What happened with Tara?" She asked as she resumed driving when the light turned green.

"It went okay." Emily said, shifting her attention to the road ahead of them. "If she was my friend I would have thanked her today actually." She said, her mind returning to the conversation she had with Tara before she left.

"Why?" Paige asked, confused.

"Because something she said made me realize that we failed to see something that has been staring us right in the face all along. If I'm right we have another lead we can pursue." Emily said nervously. "But we need the others' help to get it."

---

"You and Jason need to get out of this town." The voice on the other end of the line made CeCe roll her eyes in irritation. Jessica DiLaurentis.

"Why?" CeCe asked, adding a tinge of terror and panic in her voice.

"Christopher York just talked to us. He said he's going to reveal the results of the test to the cops. His conscience is keeping him up at night. You two need to get out of town." Jessica said pleadingly.

"I thought he agreed to keep the matter silent? I thought he gave you the file?" CeCe asked helplessly. "I don't want to go to jail mom. I don't want to leave you and dad behind. I just found you guys. I don't want to leave town."

"I know honey. But we can't convince him to keep silent anymore. So please. You have to leave us behind." Jessica said, starting to sob quietly.

Ugh, useless woman. "When?" CeCe asked, seemingly terrified.

"Tonight. So you and Jason have to leave. Please." Jessica begged.

"Okay. I'll leave. But Jason doesn't have to come with me. He can stay. The cops aren't interested in him." CeCe said, a plan starting to form in her mind before quickly ending the call and making another one. "It's me. I have a job for you."

---

"So? What's the verdict? Is Paige getting any closer?" Tara asked once CeCe and Jason entered the house.

CeCe sat down next to Tara and shook her head.

"Figures." Tara said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Where did you two go anyway?"

"The motel." Jason replied as he sat on an adjacent couch. "We thought this time she'd actually ask the manager about us. Turns out she's still hung up on that couple in disguise."

"What? She went there to ask about it again?" Tara asked incredulously. "Wow. That girl is stupider than I thought possible."

"Yeah only this time she brought with her a photo of some couple who wasn't me and Jason. She thought if she drew the disguise over them and the manager recognized it, she's on the right track." CeCe said, irritated. "And now she's on an entirely different path because that dim-witted manager said it was. So Paige thanked him and then hurriedly left, actually saying he was a big help. Stupid. Both of them." She said, barely restraining her anger.

"Pease tell me we are not staying in this town for another year!" Tara said, horrified. "We need to speed things up."

"We will." Jason promised. "I promise things will change around here. But tonight I have to make my return to Rosewood. I'm heading to the marina in a few." He said before making his way upstairs.

---

Dani finally opened the door on the third knock, steeling herself when her eyes landed on Paige and Emily standing outside. Wordlessly, she held the door open for them and closed it once they've entered.

"Where're the others?" Emily asked as she looked around the living room.

"Striper duty." Dani said as she led the way to Caleb's room once again. "They left early. Said it was better if they left without you guys arriving. Less chance of your tails knowing they were just here in case you've been followed."

Dani was about to head straight for her brother's room when she felt Paige's hand on her shoulder and immediately stiffened. She silently cursed herself for her knee-jerk reaction to Paige's touch but she can't help it. Being around them was harder than she thought.

Paige felt the change in Dani's posture and quickly took her hand off the other girl's shoulder. "I brought you cupcakes." She said quietly when Dani finally faced her, timidly handing the box to her best friend. "We bought them on the way over." Great. Say that it's from you and Emily. That would make things less awkward.

Dani swallowed hard and looked at the box Paige held out to her. You're not helping Paige. She reluctantly took the box from her best friend. "Thanks. But you guys shouldn't have." She said quietly before placing it on the dining table.

Not bothering to look at Paige, she proceeded to head over to Caleb's room, determined to put some distance between them. She knocked on the door and opened it, motioning for them to go inside before following.

Caleb looked up from behind his laptop and smiled. "Just in time." He said as he tapped a few more keys before finally turning his full attention to them. "I'm guessing things went well on your end?" He asked, looking at Paige.

"Yeah. It's them." Paige said quickly. "You guys talked to the others?" She asked, her eyes involuntarily traveling to Dani.

Caleb nodded. "Spencer was about to walk out of here but Dani convinced her to listen to Aria and Hanna." He explained.

"Thanks Dani." Paige said sincerely, trying to get the other girl to talk to her, but Dani just nodded, still barely acknowledging Paige's presence. She felt her cheeks grow warm.

"Ready to get to the bottom of things?" Caleb asked, trying to cover for the tension in the room.

"Yeah." Emily answered as she sat on Caleb's bed and motioned for Paige to sit next to her.

Caleb noticed his sister's discomfort when he saw her steal a glance at the empty space beside Paige on his bed. The only other space she could sit on except for the floor. Crap. He quickly stood up and gestured for Dani to sit on his chair instead, opting to stand while he explained things to them. Dani gave him a relieved smile and wordlessly sat down in front of the laptop.

"Okay then. Facts first. The only footage I found of significance that night was the one of that boat and the slip it occupied." Caleb began. "I asked the manager and she said that the slip actually belonged to Kenneth DiLaurentis but he had been subletting it for years to a Mr. Alan Moore." He continued.

"We tried to find out what we can about him a few weeks ago but it turns out there are a lot of Alan Moores out there and we can't exactly do a background check on each of them. We tried to find the connection between Kenneth and Alan and initially came up with nothing." Dani finally chimed in.

"Until we saw an Alan Moore whose last known address was at the East Hamptons. Near the house Ali's family and later Ali herself, rented during the summers." Caleb said. "So we went to his house before going to the local market. We figured it wouldn't hurt to check the place out."

"Did you find anything?" Emily asked anxiously.

"Yeah. This." Caleb said as he handed to Emily the photo he and Dani took from the Moores' house.

"This is Ali." Emily said, baffled.

"That's what Hanna said too when she saw it accidentally at the hospital. She said she saw it in Ali's room." Caleb said as he took the photo back.

"Yeah. We all saw it. It was on her bedside table." Emily said, nodding her head in affirmation.

"But did she tell you it's her?" Caleb asked anxiously.

"No. It's not like we had to ask. We just assumed it was her. I mean who else could it be?" Emily asked as she looked at Caleb and Dani, confused.

"Back then I think she thought it was her too. Before she realized the truth herself." Caleb explained.

"What truth is that?" Emily asked.

"Well I have this theory that this isn't Ali. It's her sister." Caleb said quietly.

"Wait. What?" Paige asked in disbelief. "Why would Ali have a photo of her sister on display?" She asked, confused.

"Because at the time she thought it was her." Caleb explained. He turned his attention to Emily. "You and your friends said it yourself. Ali likes to poke her nose in other people's business. What if one day that caused her to discover this?" He said as he held up the photo. "She was probably rifling through her parents' stuff and accidentally found this. She thought it was her so she took it."

"So what happened in between?" Emily asked, puzzled. "How did she go from finding that photo to ending up dead because of it? She can't have been killed because she found out she has an older sister."

"I really don't know. But I think the answer lies in Alan Moore." Caleb said hesitantly.

"And yet we still have no way of connecting Kenneth DiLaurentis to Alan Moore." Paige stated, starting to get restless.

"No. And it's really hard to find anything on someone who shares a name with so many people. An address isn't enough. We need more to narrow down our search." Caleb said ruefully.

"Well we can find out when he purchased the house." Emily suggested.

"Good idea." Caleb said as he went around his desk to begin doing a search on his laptop. A few keystrokes and he nodded his head. "Okay, it says here he purchased it in 2006."

"That's a year before Ali's family spent a summer there." Emily said.

"So before he arrived there, where did he live?" Paige asked.

"No known address in the US." Caleb said as he glanced at his laptop.

"The boat's name is in French though so somewhere in France probably." Dani suggested hesitantly as she looked up at her brother.

Emily was suddenly hit with an idea. "The exchange student program." She exclaimed. She tried to control the excitement in her voice. "You guys won't find the connection between Kenneth and Alan. It's between Jessica and Alan." She said breathlessly. She turned her attention to Caleb. "In Jessica's file, did it mention where she stayed during the exchange student program?"

"Yeah." Caleb said as he typed a few search strings before finding what he was looking for. "Here. Oh." He said, disappointed.

"What?" Paige asked anxiously.

"She stayed with the Mellencamps." Caleb said.

"Maybe they changed their names when they came here?" Emily asked.

"Doubtful." Dani said as she peered at the file on Caleb's laptop.

"Why?" Paige asked.

"The family has two children, both boys. One is eight and the other is ten around the time Jessica stayed with them." Dani answered matter-of-factly, still not bothering to look at Paige. "Dead end." She declared.

Emily shook her head. "No. It can't be that easy. We have to think like Jessica did at the time." She insisted.

"Okay. How do we go about that?" Caleb asked, curious to hear what Emily had in mind.

"Well for starters, you need to find the file of the list of students who went on that exchange student program and filter the names of the boys. Whichever families they stayed at are of no interest to us. We need the girls' files." Emily said confidently.

---

"This isn't getting us anywhere." CeCe said, the frustration evident in her voice as she and Jason watched absentmindedly from inside her store the people walking past her boutique. "Those girls don't know anything. Ali showed them a different side of her. They don't know what that girl does when she's on her own." She said, irritated.

"Would you stop being so impatient?" Jason said, turning his attention to his girlfriend.

"I refuse to live the rest of our lives in fear." CeCe said, glancing at Jason briefly.

"Then let's just leave Rosewood. Start over somewhere." Jason said insistently.

"We talked about this already." CeCe said impatiently. "Leaving isn't going to solve our problems. What we need is to get to the bottom of things once and for all. We need to find that file."

"Well I'm all for that idea but where do we even start looking for it?" Jason asked helplessly.

CeCe rolled her eyes at Jason's worthlessness and focused her attention to the passersby. She was about to turn her back to the street when she saw Emily and Paige walking hand in hand. They were about to cross the street when Paige moved to Emily's other side, making sure she was on the side of the oncoming traffic as Emily seemed to pay no attention to the road, talking animatedly to Paige. CeCe was hit with a sudden realization.

"Rosewood's 'IT' couple." CeCe said, her voice dripping with disdain as she nodded her head towards the direction of Emily and Paige, watching them as Paige held the door open for Emily as they entered a shop.

"What about them?" Jason asked curiously.

CeCe turned her attention to the guy standing next to her. "Pop quiz. If your family was driven out of Rosewood and you went into hiding, would the desire to be able to live your life again ever go away?" She asked lazily.

"Probably not." Jason answered, running a hand through his hair.

"And knowing your family could still be in danger, would you bring the file with you or leave it to someone you trust, like a family friend? Someone who still lived in Rosewood just in case a new lead is discovered that could support the evidence you were hiding all this time." CeCe asked, a plan beginning to take shape in her mind.

"You think the file is in Nick McCullers' possession?" Jason asked, finally getting what CeCe was thinking.

"The Yorks are closer to the McCullers than they are to your family." CeCe said. "It's not that big of a leap."

"Are you sure?" Jason asked hesitantly.

"Only one way to find out." CeCe said, smirking.

"You are not talking about asking her for help again." Jason said incredulously.

"That girl is a mastermind. She got us that file on Christopher York didn't she?" CeCe said flippantly.

"Yeah but that girl gives me the creeps and I haven't even met her. What makes you think she'll move here just to help us out?" Jason asked, starting to regret asking what his girlfriend had in mind.

"She likes to have fun. That girl is a better manipulator and actress than Ali ever was. She's my masterpiece. I'll give her a new toy to help her pass the time while she's here." CeCe said, chuckling. "Trust me love. She will drive a wedge between those two and when this is all over, Rosewood's 'IT' couple will be no more but a sob story." She promised.

"Suit yourself. What's our first step?" Jason asked.

"I need to make a call." CeCe said as she headed for the backroom.

---

A cautious knock on her bedroom door made Tara look up from what she was reading. She didn't even bother to ask CeCe to come in since the girl immediately poked her head inside the room. "You busy?" CeCe asked, looking at the reading material on Tara's bed.

"Yes. Because there's just so much potential in this town to keep me busy." Tara answered, not bothering to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

CeCe cringed at those words but regardless, decided to enter the room.

"Where's Jason?" Tara asked as CeCe sat beside her.

"On his way to the marina." CeCe answered dismissively. "Listen, I didn't come in here to talk about him. I came here to say I'm sorry for snapping at you last night."

"I'm used to it." Tara said casually before returning to what she was reading.

CeCe closed the magazine Tara was pretending to read, forcing the other girl to listen to her. "I mean it." She said quietly. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this mess. I know how much you want to leave this place and I can't really blame you. I promise we'll move things along."

"I believe you." Tara said, not meeting CeCe's eyes. "And you didn't drag me into this mess. I wanted to help you. It's the least I could do for being the reason you came here in the first place."

"I don't regret doing that." CeCe said reassuringly. "I just want to leave all of this behind and start over. But I can't do that until that file is in my possession. So I won't rest until I get my hands on it."

"Well that makes two of us then." Tara said determinedly.

---

"Okay I've narrowed it down to a handful. What's next?" Caleb asked, looking at Emily as he hurriedly stood up again to let his sister sit on his chair. Dani refused to sit beside Paige the entire time Caleb was doing the search on his laptop and though they all understood why, everyone chose to ignore the elephant in the room instead.

"Is there any way you can hack into a census of the year Ali's mom stayed there? Maybe we can find out which families had an addition to theirs once Jessica left." Emily said, making sure she wasn't forgetting anything.

"Okay." Caleb said, cracking his knuckles comically before burying himself in front of his machine once again.

Paige used the lapse in conversation to try talking to Dani again. She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "So. How are you doing?" She asked quietly as she stared at Dani. "I mean, your shoulder, is it healing well? Do you have any headaches?" Paige rambled on. Why are you so nervous? She's your best friend. She chastised herself.

"Not so much no. I'm going to see the doctor tomorrow for a checkup." Dani answered offhandedly, her attention focused on her brother entirely like he was the most fascinating person in the world.

"I can go with you." Paige volunteered timidly.

Dani shook her head. "Caleb's got it covered. But thanks for the offer." She said, finally glancing at Paige briefly. Don't make things harder Paige. Please. She knew she was being rude but she couldn't think of any other way to let go of Paige. She needed to keep her distance even if it meant hurting her best friend intentionally because of it. I'm so sorry.

"Right. Of course." Paige said hoarsely, feeling herself blush again.

The awkward silence that followed was broken by the sound of Caleb clapping his hands together. "Here it is. A handful of them had a kid that year." He said, excited.

"Any of them named the Moores?" Paige asked, trying to focus her attention on the mystery rather than on her best friend's desire to pretend she doesn't exist.

"No." Caleb said, his celebration cut short.

"Dead end." Dani declared once again.

"We're not giving up that easily. Let's find out what we can about these families." Caleb said determinedly, refusing to let the trail go cold again.

Dani turned Caleb's laptop screen to face her and stared at the list of names. "Uh Caleb, I hate to break this to you but there's twenty five of them. This is going to take us at least half a day." She said, groaning inwardly.

"You mean a day." Caleb corrected. "Dani you're still recovering. You need to let me do all the work for now."

"Yeah Dani. Come on. Don't push yourself too hard." Paige said quietly, still trying to get Dani to talk to her.

When Dani didn't even acknowledge Paige's concern, Caleb decided to step in once again. "This is going to take a while. If there's anything we'll let you know." He said, giving Emily and Paige the chance to get out of there for now.

Emily took the hint and gave Caleb a grateful smile. "Thanks." She said, standing up. She knew Paige was really upset by Dani's aloofness."Come on Paige. We don't want to be late for our dinner reservation." She said, lying through her teeth.

Paige looked up at her girlfriend in confusion. "We have a reservation?" She asked.

"We do." Emily said firmly, taking Paige by the hand and practically dragging her girlfriend out of there.

---

"I didn't know you can reserve this spot." Paige said quietly as she dipped her feet in the cold water, getting used to the temperature.

They were sitting on the slip where the Kismet used to dock, the moonlight illuminating the seemingly endless body of water in front of them. After dinner at one of the restaurants lining the boardwalk, Emily asked Paige to walk around with her, knowing her girlfriend needed someone to talk to about what was happening between her and Dani.

"Yeah I kinda had to lie about that." Emily admitted sheepishly.

"I figured." Paige said, giving her girlfriend a grateful smile before kissing her softly. "But thanks for doing so."

Emily kissed Paige on the cheek before taking her girlfriend's hand in hers. "You okay?" She asked quietly. "You've been quiet since dinner. Do you want to talk about it?"

Paige shook her head. "No." She answered distractedly. She suddenly looked up at the stars above them and sighed. "It's nights like this that I really miss Kismet." She confessed, changing the subject.

Emily decided to let the matter drop for now and stared at the night sky as well. "Yeah. Me too." She said quietly. She suddenly laughed at a memory. "Remember that afternoon we went sailing and then we fell asleep on the boat? We spent the night at sea and our parents were freaking out the next day when we came back." She said, taking her eyes off the sky to look at Paige. Her girlfriend staring at the sky in contentment was a far better view.

Paige smiled. "Yeah. That was hilarious." She said, looking at Emily. "They thought we eloped or something. I will never forget the terror in their eyes. I actually thought your dad was going to drag me all the way to Texas just to make sure it doesn't happen again." She said, chuckling.

"And I thought your mom was going to take me by the hand and talk to me about the joys of marriage against eloping." Emily admitted, the memory making her smile in amusement.

"Yeah that's probably what my mom would have done." Paige said quietly.

Just like that the light atmosphere between them shifted once again. "I'm sorry." Emily said suddenly.

"For what?" Paige asked, looking at her girlfriend in confusion.

"I didn't mean to make you sad." Emily said apologetically.

"What? Hey. No. It's okay. It just feels weird because I haven't talked about them to anyone since they died." Paige explained, not wanting Emily to feel guilty.

Emily leaned her head on Paige's shoulder. "I can't imagine the loneliness you felt all this time. Even if you had Dani in the years you were away."

"I was still lonely." Paige admitted, her voice cracking at the mention of Dani's name.

"There's no replacing that void. Even I can't fill it Paige." Emily said quietly.

"Yeah. And I'm not expecting you to. It's just that right now what makes it unbearable is the fact that they were taken away from me so violently. For a file. A piece of paper." Paige said, starting to get upset.

"To them, their life depended on it. That's why they're willing to do whatever it takes to get it back." Emily said sadly.

"When all of this is over, let's go back to the Hamptons. Just you and me." Paige said quietly, putting her arm around Emily's shoulder.

"I like the sound of that. But you have to promise me something first." Emily said seriously.

"What is it?" Paige asked, kissing her girlfriend's head softly.

"Promise me you'll never go away again." Emily said, her voice catching in her throat. "When things become too hard between us. Promise me you won't leave me." She said anxiously.

"I promise." Paige said sincerely. "I just got you back, Em. I don't want to go through the pain of losing you all over again."

"Good. Because I don't want you to ever let me go." Emily confessed, turning her head towards Paige and capturing the girl's lips with hers.

When Paige moved to deepen their kiss, Emily turned her body and wrapped her arms around Paige's neck, clinging to her girlfriend as she moved her hands and tangled it in Paige's hair. When the intensity of their kisses finally died down, she rested her forehead against Paige's, staring into her girlfriend's eyes before moving her lips to kiss Paige on the cheek. She felt her heart skip a beat when she noticed Paige's cheeks darken, the night unable to hide her girlfriend's blush. She turned to face the open waters in front of them. They sat in comfortable silence before Emily spoke again.

"Paige." Emily began softly.

"Yeah?" Paige answered as she took Emily's hand in hers and intertwined them, studying how they fit perfectly.

"I want you to be able to talk to me about anything that's bothering you. We promised things will be different this time right?" Emily said gently, trying to get Paige to talk to her.

"Right." Paige said hoarsely before taking a deep breath. She bit her lower lip before speaking. "I'm sorry. I just don't want you to feel like I'm starting to regret ending things with Dani. Because I don't. But..." She struggled to finish what she was trying to say but she felt the tears coming.

"It really hurts right now doesn't it?" Emily finished for Paige, gently brushing a tear that rolled down her girlfriend's eye.

"I don't want to be selfish. I said that. And I meant it. And I know she needs her space and she wants to get over me. And I'm probably making things harder just by being around her. By being nice. By treating her the way I always have. Because nothing's the same and I don't want to hurt her but now I'm hurting too." Paige admitted brokenly, her voice cracking.

Emily hugged the devastated girl beside her. "I'm so sorry you lost your best friend." She whispered, her voice breaking when Paige finally held her tight and started sobbing. "Things will get better." Emily said consolingly. "I promise it will. You guys have been friends for years. She just needs time."

"I wish she never fell for me." Paige said desperately. "I don't want to keep hurting her."

"Hey." Emily said, kissing Paige's head softly. "You can't blame yourself for this okay? You can't. Don't take that feeling away from her because even if Dani may be hurting right now she doesn't regret falling in love with you. I'm sure of that." She said, stroking Paige's hair gently.

"I made such a mess out of everything and now I don't know if we'll even be friends again." Paige whispered miserably.

"Of course you will. Didn't she say you two will find a way to be friends again eventually? She just needs time." Emily said, rocking Paige gently.

"She said this isn't like the last time we stopped being friends because we're not fighting this time. But I think that's what made things worse. When I told her back then that we should stop being friends if it was hard for her to see us together, I was forced to choose. I felt so horrible but I didn't want to keep hurting her." Paige confessed.

"And now you felt you had to choose again." Emily said sadly.

"I'm not blaming you, Em." Paige said, trying to control her sobs.

"I know. I'm not saying you are. I just want to understand you." Emily said reassuringly.

"I felt I had to choose again." Paige admitted miserably. "And she didn't even struggle to fight it this time because she knew it was the right thing to do. But I really miss her, Em." Paige said sadly.

"I know." Emily said, kissing Paige's forehead gently. "I know babe. And I'm sure she misses you too."

Paige let herself be comforted by her girlfriend as she let out her tears of pain and regret. She had never felt this helpless when it came to Dani and she was glad she had Emily beside her. She was about to speak when she noticed the boat that was about to dock beside the slip they sat on.

"Jason's out of hiding." Emily whispered anxiously. She felt Paige's grip on her hand, reminding her to keep calm and she willed herself to avert her eyes and focus on her girlfriend instead. They are, after all, on a date.

"Evening ladies." Jason greeted them once he disembarked from his boat to dock it.

"Spencer said you were coming back tonight." Emily said in greeting, surprised she was able to keep the suspicion out of her voice.

"Yeah. I am. Decided to take a break from sailing since my girlfriend said she needed one. From us." Jason said as he continued to dock his boat.

"I heard about that. I'm so sorry. I wish I could have joined you guys for dinner back at the Hamptons but I had other plans that night." Emily said as she began rubbing Paige's back gently.

Jason finally focused his attention to them. "I guess I missed a lot huh. Last I heard you two were on the outs but from the looks of it you two are on a date of some sort." He stated as he continued to study them. "This spot is kinda depressing for a date though don't you think? I mean, this was your dad's slip if memory serves." He said, staring at Paige.

Paige shrugged. "I find it romantic actually." She said, refusing to avert her eyes from Jason.

Jason shrugged nonchalantly. "Well then I guess I'll leave you two alone for the night. Let you enjoy the moment. You never know what tomorrow might bring." He said before slinging a bag over his shoulder and walking away from them.

Paige forced herself not to follow Jason's retreating back and instead shifted her attention to Jason's boat. "We need to find out where he hid this thing for two years." She said quietly.

Emily leaned her head on her girlfriend's shoulder once again, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I know." She agreed softly. She didn't know how Paige could have gone on for so long looking at these people straight in the eye, all the while fighting the urge to attack them for what they've done. She was starting to realize just how strong Paige is and it made her really proud. "I love you." She whispered fervently, knowing how much everything was taking its toll on Paige. With those three words, she wanted to remind the girl beside her that she isn't alone.

"I love you too." Paige said emotionally as she wrapped her arm around Emily's shoulder and gave her a soft kiss on the head. "Thank you." She whispered softly, understanding what Emily was trying to tell her.

They sat in comfortable silence until Paige felt her phone vibrate. She carefully took it out of her back pocket, not wanting to change the position of their bodies and quickly read the message. Paige kissed Emily on the head one last time before speaking.

"It's Caleb. He said they have something." Paige said anxiously.

---

The moment Paige and Emily entered Caleb's apartment, she was startled to see three other people inside the room. "What's going on?" She asked urgently. "We just saw Jason at the marina. He could have followed us here."

"It doesn't matter right now." Caleb said tersely as he made his way towards the living room, the laptop in his hand. "What we found is really big and this can't wait until tomorrow. No one followed them on the way here." He explained as he nodded towards Spencer, Hanna and Aria, who sat on the couch. "Hanna assured me. They didn't have a tail. But if you think Jason followed you two here then after this you and Emily can leave first." Caleb said, looking at Paige.

"Yeah. We can leave at a later time. We have no problem with that." Aria said reassuringly.

Paige took a deep breath to calm herself, finally making her way further into the room, holding Emily's hand in hers. She tried to look at Dani but as usual, her best friend didn't acknowledge her presence. She let Emily sit on the sofa with her friends and stood behind her. Once Caleb saw that everyone's settled down, he placed his laptop on the coffee table and opened it, turning the screen towards him to check on something as he took a seat on the dining chair he placed opposite them.

"So get this. Alan Moore is one smart dude. He made sure no one would find out about his life in France." Caleb began excitedly. "We didn't have to do background checks on all those families."

"I didn't. You were on your fifth name when I was struck with something odd." Dani interjected, correcting her brother.

"What was it?" Emily asked as she turned her attention to the girl seated on the other dining chair beside Caleb's.

"All these names. They're French names and surnames." Dani revealed as she held up a printout of the list of the twenty five families they were supposed to do background checks on.

"Yeah. So?" Emily asked, confused.

"Alan Moore isn't. It's an American name." Dani explained. "Specifically, it's an Americanized French name for one Alain Morin." She said as she looked at Caleb.

"Once Dani figured that out, we found the file of the Morin family and guess what?" Caleb asked, enjoying the suspense he was causing.

"What?" Paige asked impatiently.

"They had two kids that year." Caleb said as he checked his laptop once again before turning his attention back to them.

"Twins?" Spencer asked, confused.

"No. There's no record of birth for the other one. But there's this. A voluntary surrender was filed for the other kid." Caleb said as he showed them a printout of the form he found earlier.

"Ali's sister." Emily said breathlessly.

"Except not. Jessica didn't stay with them remember? She stayed with the Mellencamps." Paige said, suddenly disappointed.

"Yeah but Jessica Pryce is smart. She will go out of her way to cover her tracks if it meant that baby will never be found." Aria said, remembering Jessica's file.

"What, you're saying she gave it to them without knowing who they are?" Hanna asked, looking at the girl seated next to her.

"What's the name of the girl who stayed with the Morins?" Emily asked anxiously as she perched her elbow on the armrest.

Dani rummaged the printouts scattered across the coffee table before finding the file. "Uh, Erin Vasquez." She read.

Caleb did a quick search on his laptop before shaking his head in disbelief. "Well guess who's best friends with her?" He said, showing them the result of his search.

"Jessica Pryce." Spencer said breathlessly from the other end of the couch as she stared at a photo of Ali's mom and a girl who could pass as her twin, both grinning for the camera, arms around each other's shoulder.

"She probably asked for Erin's help in convincing the Morins to adopt her baby." Emily said, looking at the voluntary surrender form.

"Or maybe they switched places. Jessica pretended to be Erin and Erin pretended to be Jessica the whole time they were there." Dani said as she started rummaging through more printouts, looking for something she saw earlier.

"What makes you say that?" Aria asked from beside Emily.

Dani finally found what she was looking for. "This is a photo from the school newspaper of the school they attended in France. Look at the names below. Notice something odd?" She asked as she handed the paper to Aria. Paige moved closer to look at the printout as well.

"Their names." Paige said, noticing the mistake immediately.

"Yeah." Dani said, still not looking at Paige. "Theirs were the only ones that were interchanged. It's not hard to pull it off. They do look alike. Same build, height, hair color."

"The Morins had money, that meant they have the means as well. They own a hospital among other businesses. It would be easy for them to adopt a baby without all the hassle." Caleb said as he checked his laptop once again.

"The Morins. What happened to them?" Emily asked, intrigued.

"Well like I said they moved here in 2006 and Alain Americanized their names. But after that, nothing. They still owned the house but they're leasing it. No one has seen them since then." Caleb answered.

"Please tell me you guys found out the names of their kids." Paige said, looking from Caleb to Dani in breathless anticipation.

"It took a few navigations but I found them. When Alain and his family arrived here, there was only one daughter who came with them. The other one was left in France." Caleb explained.

"Why did they leave France?" Hanna asked, curious.

"Only they can answer that." Caleb said, shrugging.

"So who was the daughter who came with them?" Aria asked.

Caleb checked a flight manifest before answering. "Lucille Morin. She's Ali's sister I presume."

"Do you have an image of her?" Paige asked anxiously.

"It's still generating." Caleb said, pointing to his laptop.

"The other daughter, what's her name? The one who stayed in France?" Emily asked uneasily.

"Nathalie Morin." Caleb replied.

"And we don't have a picture of her either?" Spencer asked urgently.

"Will you people be patient? It's generating." Caleb said, rolling his eyes.

"Caleb, what's the name of the boat?" Emily asked hoarsely when her eyes fell on the printout of Tara, CeCe and Jason at the marina the day Paige went missing.

"La Tentatrice. Why?" Caleb asked, noticing what Emily was staring at.

"And you said it's French, right? What does it mean?" Emily asked nervously, a feeling of dread washing over her.

"It's French for the temptress." Caleb said as he turned his attention to his laptop once he heard it ping.

Paige looked at her girlfriend worriedly. "Babe, what's wrong?" She asked, touching Emily's shoulder lightly.

"I think I know who one of their daughters is. It's Tara." Emily said breathlessly.

"You mean Nathalie." Caleb corrected as he waited for the other photo to generate.

"Who?" Emily asked, confused.

"I give you Nathalie Morin a.k.a Tara." Caleb said as he turned his laptop to face them, showing them a photo of a young Tara and another little girl. "And her adoptive sister Lucille Morin a.k.a…"

"CeCe Drake." Emily whispered hoarsely.

"We got them." Paige said in disbelief.