Mona POV
I placed my French book on the counter and turned so I was facing Spencer. There was a big test in our French class so we were studying together at her place. Not that either of us needed to study, but Spencer would study up until the last second regardless. I enjoyed study sessions with her; she was the only person in school that I considered a worthy rival. And the fact that it was at her house was an added bonus. It made it so easy to spy on Ian Thomas.
"I need some caffeine. Is your coffee really as bad as everyone says it is?" I asked her.
"It depends on who you ask." Spencer shrugged. "But it's certainly not for the weak. Are you brave enough to give it try?"
"Of course I'm brave enough. Give me a cup." I told her confidently.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." She said as she got up and made her way over to the coffee maker.
"Spencer? Spencer, where are you?" Melissa shouted from another room in the large house.
"In the kitchen!" Spencer yelled back and seconds later Melissa came running in.
"Spencer, Mona, have either of you seen or heard from Ian?" She asked in panic like she had seen a ghost. "He never came home from the football game last night."
"Melissa, I'm sure he's fine. It was an away game; maybe they had car problems and stopped at a hotel." Spencer tried to comfort her but it looked like her heart wasn't in it.
"No, that's what I thought too. But I called the school and they got back last night and Ian was with them. Something happened to him, Spencer, I know it!" Melissa argued started to get a little hysterical.
"Have you checked the news for something that could have happened last night?" Spencer asked her.
"Or called the hospital and police station?" I added.
"Yes, yes, and no. Nothing's in the news and he hasn't been checked into any of the hospitals in this county. And I have to wait twenty-four hours before the police can do anything." She replied.
"He'll show up, Melissa." Spencer told her and then she turned to me. "Here's your coffee, Mona. I hope you can handle it, it'd be nice to have a friend that isn't afraid of it."
"Hmm, it's not as bad as I expected. I wouldn't drink it on a regular basis like you do, but it serves its purpose when you need a caffeine boost." I told her after taking a sip. "I'll be right back; I need to use your bathroom."
I didn't really, but I did need an excuse to get out of the room. Melissa had every right to be worried because something told me that Ian was more than missing. I had a feeling as to who was behind it, and this confirmed some of our theories.
Ian is missing Keep an eye on her and her boyfriend –M
The text was short and to the point, and a reply came within seconds.
If they're behind it I'll know Keep me posted –T
I flushed the toilet and rain the faucet for a minute before returning to the kitchen. When I got there Melissa and Spencer weren't the only ones there. Darren Wilden and another officer where standing in the kitchen talking to Melissa.
"What's going on?" I whispered to Spencer who was standing on the other side of the room.
"They found Ian." She whispered back and then took a shaky deep breath. "He's dead, someone killed him."
Usually I loved it when I was right, but that wasn't the case this time. Ian Thomas was a creep and mostly died because of the part he played in the night Alison died. I still didn't know exactly what happened but it was clear someone was tying up loose ends. Either they were afraid of Ian talking or he messed something up. But that means someone was scared, and when people are scared they make mistakes. Mistakes that could get them caught.
Spencer POV
"Melissa?" I asked quietly as I opened the barn door later that night.
"What do you want, Spencer?" She snapped, or at least attempted to.
"Look, I'm sorry. I wasn't happy to have Ian as a brother-in-law. But believe it or not, I am happy to have you as a sister. I should have been happier for you when you got back together." I confessed as I sat down on one of the couches.
"No, you had every right not to like him. I knew he flirted with a lot of other girls when we were dating. I just didn't want to admit it so I took my anger out on you. Just like I tore into Wilden because I didn't want to believe that Ian was…that he was…Why him?"
"I don't know, I really don't know." I shook my head. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, because I know nobody wants to hear this, but things will get better. They'll find out who did this and one day we can move on."
"You're right; I don't want to hear that." She said with a cross between a laugh and a sob. "And anything people say, you don't know what a person means to you until they're gone."
"Yeah, I learned that one first hand." I sighed, thinking of Toby.
"I'd say it's because sisters know everything about each other, but we've never really been sisters. But something tells me that you're not talking about losing Alison."
"No, I'll always think of Ali as a friend, but we didn't have a real friendship. We only tolerated each other, and I mostly stayed around for the other girls."
"You didn't happen to be thinking of a boy would you?" Melissa asked slyly.
"What makes you think that?" I asked nervously.
"I saw you and Toby together at the festival. And something like that doesn't happen overnight. You really like him don't you?"
"I love him." I nodded, still afraid of her reaction.
"I don't know what Mom and Dad will think, but I'm happy for you. I know I said I didn't want you with him but things have changed. In the past I would have worried what it would look like, you hanging out with someone like him whether he was innocent or not. But after losing…life's too short for that."
"Thanks, Mel. It means a lot to hear you say that." I said as I gave her a hug. It was nice to a real sister-to-sister conversation.
"I should have said it before. There are a lot of things I should have said before. I don't know when we stopped being sisters and became over-competitive rivals, but I want fix that. I've done a lot of thinking today and it's just not worth it. The trophies, the awards, the grades, who's better than who, I don't want to be like that anymore."
"Me neither," I agreed. "So let's start with a clean slate? And forget about kisses and stolen essays? Leave the past in the past?"
"That sounds about right." She said and this time there was a little bit of a real laugh. "You know, sisters are supposed to tell each other everything. And there's something I want to tell you. I'm pregnant, Spencer."
"You are!?" I asked, both shocked and a little excited.
"Yeah, I took a home pregnancy test Friday morning and have an appointment scheduled for Monday."
"Congratulations, Melissa, I'm happy for you." I smiled. "I know I wasn't thrilled when you announced at the club that you wanted to start a family, but I'm thrilled for you now."
"Thanks, Spence, I'm glad you are. I want my baby to have a lot family since he or she won't have a daddy."
"Did he know?" I asked quietly, not wanted to set her crying.
"He did. I told him right before he left for the game. I wanted to wait until today to tell him so I could plan something big and fancy. But I just couldn't wait and now I'm really glad I told him. Don't wait, Spencer. Don't wait to tell someone something. The big plans and fancy gestures are nice, but that's not as important as the thing you need to say."
"I'll remember that, Mel." I promised and I heard the clock beep ten times. "It's getting late, you're probably tired."
"I am tired, but I don't think I'll be getting much sleep." She sighed and I could hear the exhaustion.
"I can stay up with you. Isn't that what sisters are supposed to do? Camp out on the living room floor and sleep in front of the fireplace?" I offered.
"That's sounds nice. Thanks, Spence."
"You don't have to thank me, Mel. But you could do me a favor and help me get some blankets."
"I think I can manage that." She agreed with another short laugh.
Mona POV
"It was a nice service." Aria commented.
Today was Ian's funeral. And Aria was right, the service was nice. I only came because the girls and I wanted to support Spencer and also because I was hoping for answers.
"How is Melissa doing?" Emily asked.
"She's not good." Spencer shook her head. "She's going back to her apartment in Philly tomorrow to get away. And she had Ian's things boxed up and taken out of the barn the day after Wilden came and broke the news."
"Speaking of Wilden, look who's late to party." Hanna said and nodded her head in his direction.
Wilden hadn't come to the funeral, but he suddenly showed up now. Something wasn't right. I thought he would be heading straight for us or the Hastings, but he went over to Garrett and Jenna. Now something was definitely going on, and I don't think they were here to pay respects to an old friend.
"Hey, Toby!" Emily and Hanna said rather cheerfully as he approached our group, specifically Spencer.
"Hi, everyone." He nodded and then wrapped his arms around Spencer. "Are you okay?"
I turned around to give them some privacy but I could still here them.
"As good as I can be I guess." She told him.
"Well, hopefully things will start getting back to normal soon. But for now, I think your parents are going to be stuck socializing for a while. Do you want me to give you a ride?"
"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks, Tobes. Let me just say goodbye to Melissa."
When I knew she was gone I turned back around and spoke to Toby.
"Hey, Toby, isn't that your step-sister over there?" I asked him.
"Yeah, it is. I wonder what she's doing here." He confirmed.
"I was wondering the same thing." I stated and made sure the others weren't paying attention to us. "Showing up to their victim's funeral, classy."
"Ian didn't deserve to be killed, nobody does, but I feel weird calling him a victim."
"Well, we still don't know for sure what his part was in all this. And we need to find that out soon, which is why I need you to do something while you're at Spencer's. There are boxes of Ian's things in the house, so look through them and let me know if you find anything." I instructed.
"Doing stuff behind Spencer's back isn't as easy as some people might think." He told me and I knew he wasn't happy with me making him do this.
"You don't have to do it behind her back. You can just volunteer to help move it or something. I know you might not like it, but you're the only one that can look through that stuff and find answers that could help us."
"It was nice talking to you, Mona." Toby said and I realized Spencer was coming back. "Are you ready, Spence?"
"Yeah, let's go." She nodded. "Bye, girls!"
We all said goodbye and a minute or two after they left Wilden came over to us.
"Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, I have some questions I need to ask you." He stated and I knew all too well where this was headed.
Sorry about any mistakes, I was really tired when I wrote this. So what did you think of Mona's POV? As well as the sister bonding between Spencer and Melissa? Melissa being on Spencer's side will come in handy next chapter. Which has Spoby since their wasn't any in this chapter and it has a little bit of Jason and Toby. See you on Friday!