On Saturday I went to Philly with Melissa. We spent most the morning shopping for baby stuff and stopped at a restaurant for late lunch.
"Thanks for coming with me today, Spence." Melissa said.
"No problem, I've had a good time. It's fun to do stuff that normal sisters do together."
"It is." She agreed. "Don't get me wrong, this is really nice. But I always thought Ian would be here instead. He was the one that convinced me to have a baby."
"Well, I'm glad you're having a baby. It'll be nice to have a niece to spoil."
"I'm glad too. But I never thought things would end up like this. Pregnant with no father around, and even if he was still alive he wouldn't be around. I can't stay in Rosewood for more than a few days before the gossip about Ian being Alison's killer gets to me."
"Melissa, there's something you should know." I started hesitantly. "There's a possibility that Ian might not have done it."
"Spencer, I know you're trying to make me feel better. But you don't have to; I've come to terms with it."
"No, Melissa, I'm serious. I don't think he did it. I think someone set him up just like they set Toby, Mona, Hanna, and Aria up." I stated firmly.
"But why?" Melissa asked completely dumbfounded.
"I think he knew who hurt Ali, and that someone did him in to keep him quiet. I know you and Ian weren't together anymore that Labor Day, but do you know who he might have been with that night?"
"Alison…she found out something about me. I was angry and wanted payback. Ian told me he and some of his friends were going to get her back once and for all. So I went with him to Jason's after you and the girls went to the barn. All of us, me, Ian, Jason, Cece, Garrett, and Jenna, were together that night."
"What did Ali found out?" I asked her.
"This isn't the place or the time to talk about that, Spencer." She told me and I knew better than to keep prying.
"All six of you were together the entire night?" I clarified.
"No, at some point that night we decided to take a break. We all split up and went our different ways for about an hour and a half. Garrett, Jenna, and Cece didn't come back. And Ian was acting different when he did."
"Do you know where Garrett and Jenna went?"
"Just that Garrett took Jenna out back to calm down." She told me. "Spencer, I know why Jenna hated Alison so much. I know the truth about the fire."
"You…you what? How do you know and how long?" Now I was dumbfounded.
"Everyone there that night had a bone to pick with Alison, but Jenna just kept going on and on. So I asked her what she had against Alison. She told us the truth about the fire and Jason confirmed that she was right." She answered.
"You've known this whole time?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry I never said anything. I just didn't know how to." She apologized and she sounded genuine.
"It's okay, we're Hastings, we overlook and cover up imperfections rather than face them." I shrugged.
"That's not an imperfection, Spencer. It's a shame that that happened to you. But it happened because you saved two other people's lives. That's not something to be looked down upon."
"Thanks, Mel." I laughed.
"What's so funny?" She asked and sounded really confused.
"You sound like Toby. He always thanks me for what I did and makes me sound like some great heroine like Joan of Arc." I explained to her.
"So, are things still good between you two?"
"Yeah, things are great. As far as Jenna knows, we're trying to be just friends though."
"Why is that?"
"One of the causes for our fight was lack of communication. And the second factor was Jenna. She knew how close Toby and I were and that we would do anything to protect each other. She made a deal with Toby to keep me safe. And Jenna and I threatened each other to keep Toby safe."
"So let me guess, Toby's attempt to keep you safe interfered with your attempts to keep him safe and vice versa. And because both of you are stubborn plus the lack of communication you mentioned, it lead to a huge fight that lead to Toby being in the doghouse for a week."
"You pretty much hit the nail on the head." I told her and I couldn't help but laugh at the way she put it.
"Melissa Hastings?" I heard a female voice ask curiously and excitedly.
"Cece? Hey, what a coincidence we were just talking about you." Melissa greeted her with equal excitement.
"What are you doing here in Philly today?" Cece asked her.
"I live here now. And Spencer and I were just doing some shopping." Melissa told her. "You remember my sister Spencer don't you?"
"Yeah, of course. Spencer, how are you? You were one of Alison's friends, right?" She asked as she shook my hand.
"Yep, I was." I nodded. "I didn't know you knew Alison."
"Oh we hung out a lot. She talked about you and the others all the time." Cece told me.
"So, what are you up to, Cece? I haven't seen you in ages." Melissa asked her.
"I've been doing a lot of traveling. I'm working in fashion and I do a lot of shows. But I heard from a friend that you were expecting and I had to come see for myself."
"Well, you heard right, I am most definitely expecting. Maternity clothes and flats are my new best friends."
"Are you far enough along to know what you're having? And who's the daddy?"
"I'm having a little girl and I'm about twenty, twenty-one weeks along." Melissa told her and I noticed that she didn't answer the question about who the father was.
"Aww, baby girls are the cutest and they're so much fun to spoil." Cece cooed.
"You've got that right; I'm looking forward to spoil my little niece." I agreed with her.
"Holy cow, is that Jason DiLaurentis that just walked in?" Cece asked.
"Yeah, Spencer and I bought a lot of stuff and he's going to help bring it into my apartment. And some of the stuff is going back to the barn at my parents' house." Melissa told her.
"Do you know if he's single by any chance?"
"Yes, he is. But don't even think about it."
"Why not? He's a good kisser and I haven't been with a guy in a while."
"Ew, Cece, that's our brother. I do not want to be hearing this." I laughed and tried not to think about Jason with a girl.
"What did you just say?" Cece asked me and she sounded completely shocked.
She probably would have been less shocked if I said Alison was still alive.
"Jason is our brother. Our dad had an affair with Jason's mom." I told her.
"Melissa Hastings, you kissed your brother?" Cece asked her and her shock was growing by the second.
"I didn't know he was my brother at the time. My dad just yelled at me and told me to never do that with Jason again." Melissa whisper shouted defensively. I could just picture her cringing and the mortified look on her face.
"We didn't find out until after Ali went missing." I told Cece and then turned my attention to Melissa. "You kissed him?"
"We were high school and I didn't know. And it was only once. Now, both of you shut up. He's coming towards us." Melissa warned.
"Hey, Mel, Spence. You two ready to go?" Jason greeted us.
"Hello, Jason," Cece made her presence known.
"Cece? What are you doing here?" Jason asked wearily.
"What am I doing here in Philly? Or what am I doing here with your sisters?" Cece asked to clarify.
"Um both I guess." Jason replied.
"I'm thinking about relocating to Philly. Then I heard that Melissa was going to be a mommy and had to see for myself. And coincidentally I saw your sisters here and we've been catching up."
"Well, it's good to see you." Jason told her. "And are my sisters ready to go?"
"Yep, we're ready." Melissa told him and I grabbed my purse and sweater from the chair next to me. "Hopefully we'll bump into each other again, Cece."
"Yeah, I look forward to it and it'll probably happen soon with both of us living here." Cece agreed. "And maybe you and I can catch up sometime, Jason."
"Maybe, I'm not sure. I live in Rosewood and working with the high school kids takes up a lot of my time." Jason tried to politely blow her off.
"You work at Rosewood High? I thought you'd never want to step foot in that place again after you graduated. I'd love to hear about that sometime."
"We'll see about that." Jason told her and it didn't seem likely. "Come on, I only paid for fifteen minutes on the meter. And I don't want to deal with a ticket."
Melissa and I quickly said our goodbyes to Cece and then followed Jason out to our cars.
Later that night I was sitting in my room getting ready for bed. Jason and I spent a little time with Melissa and then Jason drove me home. I wasn't asleep yet, but I was started to dose off, when I heard my cell ring.
"Hello?" I answered trying to wake my mind up.
'Hey, Spence,'
"Toby? Hey, I'm glad you called." I told him as I sat up with excitement.
'Sorry, I didn't wake you up did I?'
"No, you didn't. I'm wide awake." I tried to deny.
'Liar, I could hear you yawn when you answered the phone.' I heard him laugh on the other end.
"Well, I'm wide awake now. How are you? Will you be home soon?" I asked quickly.
'I still don't know when I'll be home. Jenna isn't even going to have her surgery until Tuesday.'
"Tuesday as in this coming Tuesday? Toby, you left a week ago, why so early?"
'That's because I haven't told you the best part yet. We got here several days early so we could spend some family time in Boston. And things have been just wonderful.'
Jason always said that I was the most sarcastic person he knew. But right now Toby had me beat in the sarcasm department. And I didn't blame him.
"You're kidding me? Is it bad?"
'It's tolerable for now. At least I convinced my dad to let me pay for my own room. I got a cheaper one on a different floor from them.'
"That makes things a little better for you I guess." I said sympathetically.
'Yeah, but all this makes me want to get my own place even more.'
"Oh, that reminds me. I found out who's buying the coffee shop. It's Ezra Fitz."
'Your English teacher that's also Aria's boyfriend?' I could hear the skepticism in his voice as he asked.
"Yeah, he wants to keep it a coffee shop but also add a bookstore or something. I told Aria that you were looking for work and she said she'd talk to him. I know you were hoping it would work out before and now it seems like it was meant to be."
'That's awesome and it definitively gives me something to look forward to when I get back.'
"Is that the only thing you're looking forward to?"
'No, of course not. I'm looking forward to seeing you way more than anything else.'
"Me too, Toby, I really miss you."
'I miss you too.' He said and right after I heard a distant knocking sound. 'Hey, I'm sorry but I've got to go.'
"Okay," I said even though it was the last thing I wanted. "Call me again soon, please."
'I will. I love you, Spence.'
"I love you too, Tobes." I told him and then decided to tease him a bit. "Don't forget my souvenir."
'I won't, I promise.' I heard him laugh.
"Bye, Tobes" I sighed.
'Bye, Spence'
Hey! So Spencer got some info from Melissa. Next chapter Mike, Mona, and Spencer will talk about it and come up with theories. And what do you think of Cece showing up? Is she really there to catch up with old friends? Or is she Garrett's replacement and helping Jenna? Keep reading and find out. And a sneak peek when I get 175 reviews. BTW who's excited for season 6 tonight!?