Note: Again, I can't thank you all enough for your positive responses to this story! It's a twisted thing to write, but it sure is fun. And I'm sorry it took me a while to get the next chapter out; I was working on my other story "Forever Tied," which is a story about the old love interests returning to the girls' lives three years after graduating from high school, which you should totally check out right now (shameless plug)! Okay, okay, I'll stop. Here's the next chapter of the story! And as always, your reviews are much appreciated.

3

After breakfast, Aria realized that she was going to have to make a decision. And whichever decision she made, she would end up hurting somebody she cared deeply for. If she picked Spencer, then she had to break Ezra's heart on their wedding day. If she picked Ezra, she would have to break her best friend's heart, and possibly could damage their longtime friendship. She hated hurting Spencer.

Once Alex was done eating, she went back to their room. Reluctantly, she picked up her bridesmaid dress from the bag. The only thing keeping her going was the fact that this wedding wasn't going to happen. She had faith that things would go her way.

"Spence, can I come inside?" Aria asked, knocking on the door. "The others are still downstairs."

"Yeah, sure," Alex said.

Aria twisted the knob and opened the door. She bit her lip as she stepped inside and locked eyes with Alex.

"I've been thinking all morning," Aria told her. "About you... about Ezra... about the wedding... about everything."

Alex tilted her head to the side, analyzing Aria's eyes. She could read her so easily. She knew what Aria was going to say.

"Let me guess: you've decided to go through with marrying Ezra, and because I'm your best friend, you know I'll understand. Right?"

"Well... I don't expect you to understand," Aria shook her head. "I can't even explain myself, but in my heart, it feels like the right decision."

"Really?" Alex scoffed. "Marrying him feels like the right decision?"

"I know you don't really approve of him, but he's not a bad guy. Yes, he's hurt me in the past, but that was the past. I'm all about forgiving people, because I know people can change. Think about all that we've been through, Spence. Alison hurt Emily so many times in the past, but look at them... they're engaged and have two beautiful children together. They're happy. And Toby— he hurt you, too, but you know he's a good guy, and you forgave him. Caleb hurt Hanna a lot, but they're married. Ezra made mistakes, but haven't we all? I've hurt all of you in the past, too," Aria explained.

Alex shook her head. "Forget about the others. This is about us. Maybe you can forgive him, but what about everything we've been through together? Aria— I stood by your side picking up the pieces every time Ezra hurt you. How the hell could you pick him over me? You always choose him over us— your friends— and it stings. When A.D. made you work for her, you did it to protect Ezra, and you hurt all of us—"

"Wait, did you just say she?" Aria questioned. "What makes you think that A.D. was a girl?"

Alex's eyes widened just a bit, but she stopped herself. Crap, she thought. She knew she'd slipped up, but at least it wasn't too bad. She could worm her way out of this one— she hadn't spilled anything.

"I don't know, I just always had a feeling," Alex shrugged her shoulders. "You're missing the point, Aria! That's irrelevant! The point is that you need to stop choosing the people who constantly hurt you and start choosing the ones who have always been there for you!"

Aria stared for too long into Alex's eyes, and she knew that if she didn't stop, she would melt and make more impulsive decisions. The way that Alex was looking at her was already too much for her. Using all the self-control she had left, she peeled her eyes off of Alex and focused them on the floor instead.

"Aria. Don't do this, please," she pleaded. "I know it's late, but I'm telling you now."

She fought her urge to melt into Alex's arms and let her hold her tightly. All parts of her were now telling her to just let herself be with Spencer. But she tried to remain strong and go through with her promise to Ezra.

"I, um... I have to start getting ready for the wedding," Aria excused herself.

x x x

Alex was furious. She was hurt and rejected, and that kind of pain had always been there in her life, and she was so sick of being hurt. All her life, it was just one painful experience after another. And she thought that it would all end when she became Spencer Hastings instead of Alex Drake because people actually cared about Spencer Hastings. But for some reason, she was still getting hurt as Spencer.

It would have been easier to just love Toby Cavanaugh, but she had to fall for somebody else. The problem with loving Aria wasn't that she didn't love Spencer back, it was that she truly did have a great amount of love for Ezra, even if he hurt her so many times in the past. Toby, however, would always choose Spencer. There was nobody he came close to loving as much as he loved her. It would have been simple to get him.

There was just a little while before the wedding. Aria was putting her white dress on, making all the last-minute adjustments before what she believed was going to be her wedding. Alex kept reminding herself that it was all going to be okay since there was no chance that Ezra would show up, but for some reason, that wasn't enough. It still was stinging her that Aria chose to marry him.

"Guys?"

The voice came from Aria. She stepped into the room wearing her long-sleeved wedding gown. Alex didn't particularly like that dress all that much, but she was still at a loss for words because Aria was the one who was wearing it. And she even made a normally horrendous dress look fantastic.

The other girls gasped and cheered, amazed and excited by the whole wedding. To them, it was just Aria getting married to the so-called "love of her life."

"You look beautiful," Emily commented, almost in tears.

She was so emotional that Alison was afraid that she was going to drop their baby Grace. Alex decided to step in. She took Grace from Emily's arms, rocking her gently. She went to the mirror in the room, looking at her reflection. She was proud of herself: she made a pretty damn convincing Spencer Hastings. Maybe she really could pull this stunt off. She kissed the top of Grace's head.

"I always knew that Wren would make the prettiest little babies," she whispered so quietly that nobody else could hear her.

It was true that Wren was the father of the twins. Alex did love Wren, at least for a little while. Her love for him surely wasn't as great as her love for Aria, but she did love him. She especially loved his loyalty to her. He was wrapped around her finger, maybe because he had always been pining after Spencer and found a carbon copy who was actually willing to be with him.

As much as she wanted to be the girls' friend, she still hated them for killing Archer Dunhill. Sure, he was horrible to them, but he loved Charlotte, and Charlotte loved him. Charlotte was dead, and now so was Archer. It pissed her off, and she somehow felt that Alison was responsible for his death. And Emily certainly was, too.

If it wasn't for Emily's persistence and need to protect Alison from all harm, maybe Archer wouldn't have been killed. After all, Archer possibly would've gotten away with everything he did if Emily hadn't kept visiting Alison at Welby and trying to help her escape. So, Alex didn't feel too bad about what she had done to Alison while she was at Welby.

Back when she found out that Emily had donated her eggs to make money to pay for her college but the couple backed out once they got pregnant themselves, Alex was ecstatic. Emily's eggs were just sitting there frozen in the hospital, and Alex couldn't wait to get her hands on them. This was before she had decided to punish Emily and Alison for Archer's death.

She knew she was going to kill Wren back then. She was already falling in love with Aria just a little while after coming to Rosewood, and eventually, she was going to kill him. She didn't really need him anymore, and he was starting to become skeptical of her plans, trying to talk her out of them. But he was quite the beautiful face, so she shamelessly wanted to make sure that his beautiful kid came into the world. And as much as she despised Emily at the time, she couldn't deny how gorgeous the former swimmer was. Who would make more beautiful children than Wren and Emily together?

The sick idea came to Alex's head while she saw Alison powerlessly laying there in Welby. She came up with the procedure to fertilize Emily's eggs using Wren's sperm and impregnating Alison. Wren obviously ended up complying, because he couldn't turn down a request when Alex begged him. It sure was sick, but Alex thought it was incredible how she could do it. And to be fair, at that time, Alex was convinced that Alison was Charlotte's killer. The girls had given her the red jacket and made her believe that it was Alison in exchange for Hanna's freedom. She swore that she would make the person who hurt Charlotte pay, and this was her way of getting back at her. Not only did it violate Alison, but it also violated Emily, the only person who Alison truly loved.

Alex felt bad after she found out that Mona was Charlotte's killer and not Alison, but the damage was already done at that point. And, in the goodness of it all, it brought Emily and Alison closer together. She looked at them now: they were engaged, happy, and raising two beautiful twins together. She was honestly proud of herself. She was like Cupid. If it wasn't for her, Alison could've went on forever without telling Emily how she felt! Alex convinced herself that what she did was for the greater good. She also convinced herself that they deserved it, anyways, for being responsible for Archer's death.

All in all, Grace and Lily really were beautiful children. She would always tell herself that she did everyone a favor through her actions.

Just then, Pam Fields walked inside of the room smiling brightly. She went over to Alison and took Lily from her arms, then approached Alex and took Grace.

"You girls deserve the night to yourselves. I'll take care of the girls," Pam told them. She turned to Aria, tilting her head to the side. "Oh, Aria... you look so lovely. I'm so happy for you, and I wish you all the happiness in the world in your new life with Ezra."

Aria smiled back. "Thank you, Mrs. Fields. I really appreciate it."

Alex had the fight the urge to roll her eyes. There Aria was, accepting everybody's congratulations and praises about her "new life" with Ezra. It still bothered her that she was ready to move on to that new life with him, even though Alex knew that it wasn't really going to happen. She had Ezra locked up, so even if Aria wanted to go through with that new life, there was no way it would happen. And he'd soon be dead, too.

Pam took the twins and left the room. While she was leaving, the next visitor came inside. It was Toby.

"Hey," he huffed out reluctantly to greet everybody. He did not seem happy at all, even though it was the big wedding day. "Um, I've been checking everywhere... Ezra still isn't here, and he hasn't been answering any of my text messages."

Aria pressed her lips together. She seemed to be in disbelief.

"What? There's no way that he wouldn't show up," she told him, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Toby, but there's just no way. He just must be running late or something. He can't text back while he's driving."

Alison nodded her head, putting her hand on Aria's shoulder sympathetically.

"Yeah, Aria's right," she agreed. "There's no way that he wouldn't show up to his own wedding. There's no reason for him not to show up."

"Maybe he's just stuck in traffic or something," Emily chimed in.

"Yeah, maybe... I don't know," Toby shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'll just have to wait on it. I'll head back outside and wait."

Alex shook her head. She stepped over to Toby, putting her hand on his arm and running it down slowly and flirtatiously. Through her peripheral vision, she saw that Aria was watching the gesture. She smirked to herself proudly. She knew she was getting under Aria's skin even though she was waiting for her fiancé to show up to their wedding.

"You should stay here and wait with us," she told him in a low and raspy voice. "Text Caleb and tell him to stay on the lookout for Ezra."

"Okay, I'll do that," Toby nodded his head, tensing up when Alex touched his arm.

To his surprise, before he could get his phone out to send the text, Alex put her hand on the back of his neck, went on to her tiptoes, and pulled him in for a long kiss. She moved her hand upwards, scraping through his hair and massaging his scalp, kissing him harder and harder, knowing that Aria was probably watching them devour each other's mouths right then and there. When she pulled back, she smirked... hard. Toby looked a bit confused.

"Trust me, there's a lot more where that came from," she flirted. "You'll see that tonight."

Aria fidgeted with a strand of her hair, twirling it around. She was frustrated that Spencer was being so openly flirtatious with Toby, but she felt like she deserved it. She was the one who chose to marry Ezra, after all. She kept feeling like she was making a mistake now. She didn't understand why she was making out with Toby after what happened earlier that day. Maybe she was trying to move on with a more suitable and reciprocating option, or she was just trying to cause some jealousy before the ceremony could begin.

Toby certainly was stunned. He knew that Spencer could get quite sultry and flirtatious when it was just the two of them alone, but she was never one to throw it in everyone's faces. He decided that it was just a change in confidence. After all, they hadn't really dated in a long time, so maybe she just changed and became more forward. Plus, they had just slept together recently, so it wasn't totally weird. They just hadn't had any talks about getting back together yet. He brushed it off; it was probably nothing.

They all waited in there for a while longer, but it was starting to feel hopeless. Aria had so much on her mind— Ezra was extremely late to their own wedding, and Spencer was practically throwing herself at Toby in front of her.

Caleb entered the room with a nervous expression on his face.

"Hey... Guys, Ezra still isn't here, and the guests are starting to get impatient that the wedding isn't happening," he announced, scratching his head. "I'm not sure what to do at this point."

Alex scoffed. "Isn't it obvious now? He stood you up, Aria."

"He wouldn't do that," she denied, shaking her head.

"But he did do that. He already did that!" Alex cried, standing up and stepping away from where she and Toby were sitting. She approached Aria. "Look around you: it's your wedding day and he didn't show up. I always had a feeling that he was an unreliable guy. Maybe it's better you know now, rather than committing to spend the rest of your life with somebody like him."

Aria felt the weight of her accusatory words. She didn't want them to be true because then her friendship with Spencer would be even more damaged. Then, she chose Ezra over Spencer even after Spencer told her that he was a bad guy before. She didn't want him to be the type of guy that Spencer described.

"He just... wouldn't," she shook her head. "I just don't believe that he wouldn't show up without as much as a text message!"

Alison sighed, rushing to Aria's side to comfort her.

"Hey, maybe there's another reason that he's not here," she tried.

"Traffic does not take that long," Alex rolled her eyes.

"Spencer, try to be a little sympathetic here!" Alison said sternly. "Aria's dealing with something right now, so she doesn't need you to have an unsupportive attitude."

Alex's face softened when she saw Aria crying there. It did hurt her to see the person she loved bawling her eyes out, even though she was bawling because Ezra didn't show up. That hurt Alex.

"I'm sorry, Aria," Alex breathed. She sat down next to the bawling bride and put her hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry that he would do this to you. He doesn't deserve somebody as amazing as you are, anyway. You know that now."

Alison furrowed her eyebrows, shaking her head. "I just— I don't understand why he would do this. Why would he wait until the wedding day to disappear? It just doesn't make sense. If he didn't want to marry her, he could've broken it off earlier."

"It is weird," Caleb agreed, nodding his head. "While I was outside, I talked to his parents. They have no idea where he is, either. Would he really just ditch his whole family and everyone, just like that?"

"Did something happen between you guys?" Hanna asked, kneeling down beside Aria. "When was the last time you saw him?"

Aria swallowed hard. "Yesterday..."

"And?" Hanna raised her eyebrows. "Was it just a normal discussion?"

Aria bit her lip.

"No," she confessed. "We actually, uh... we actually got into a fight last night. I, um... I told him about that thing... you know— I can't have children. I told him that yesterday, and he was really supportive of it. But later, he asked me how long I've known about it, and I told him that I've actually known for a while, and we got into a bit of an argument because... he thought that I don't trust him and I think of him lowly, and it... I just, I didn't think that he would leave me because of it."

Alex squeezed her shoulders. "Maybe he couldn't handle it. Some people are like that— they can't handle the truth and they get mad when you give it to them."

"Do we really think that he didn't show up today because of that fight?" Emily asked. "I'm not sure if I believe that." She pressed her lips together, looking around the room nervously.

Alison furrowed her eyebrows, noticing her fianceé's worried expression. She put her hand on Emily's shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Em, what is it?" she asked.

Emily sighed. "Look, I hate to be the one to bring this up because I never wanted to talk about this again, but... is there any chance that this has something to do with A.D.? I know they've been gone for a really long time, but what if they came back just in time to ruin this big day?"

Alex felt her heart beating faster. Crap.

"What would they get out of ruining Aria and Ezra's wedding?" Hanna asked, shaking her head. "I really don't want to go back to the whole A.D. thing. I thought my life was free of that."

"We all did," Emily said. "But that doesn't mean it's not a possibility. And A.D. has done a lot of things that we didn't understand the reasoning behind. Hell, she made Ali have my baby! I just wouldn't put A.D. being behind this out of the question yet."

"No offense, but I'd rather have it be that Ezra stood you up than A.D. returning..." Hanna bluntly spoke.

Aria sniffled, wiping the tears from her face.

"Look, I don't know if this is happening just because Ezra doesn't want to marry me or because A.D. has something to do with it, but I can't let anything happen to him," she spoke up. "Even if there's only a small chance that this is A.D.'s doing, we have to do something... because I can't stand back knowing that we could've done something to save him all along."

Caleb sighed, kneeling down near her as well.

"I hear you, Aria, and I understand that you're really worried about him, but we have no leads at all... we have nothing that can lead us to whatever A.D. is doing, if A.D. has anything to do with this, that is," he said.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. Everyone was glancing at one another, all hoping the same thing... except Alex.

"Please tell me that's Ezra," Hanna breathed, standing up.

She got up, walking to the door to open it. When she did, Officer Barry Maple stepped in with a perturbing expression on his face.

"I'm sure you all already know this, but I'm here representing the Rosewood Police Department," he started. "I hate to ruin the big day, but I had to inform you all that we have an APB out for Mary Drake. She recently escaped from prison and we are putting all our efforts into locating her, but it's proving to be a difficult task. We're labeling her as a dangerous person right now, so you all need to be cautious. And if you find out anything relating to her whereabouts, please let the police department know as soon as possible."

"She escaped?" Alison asked, clearly shocked and furious. "What do you mean she escaped? How could you let this happen?"

Emily stood behind her, squeezing her shoulders to calm her down.

"We think she had help in escaping. There's no way she could have planned this by herself," Barry added. "I'm sorry. We really are doing all we can to put her behind bars. Once we get her back, we're planning on having her moved to the state prison to ensure that she will no longer be a threat to you or anyone else ever again."

"Um, thank you for letting us know, Officer Maple," Caleb stepped in, not wanting anyone else to yell at him.

"Of course. We'll definitely keep you all updated as we gather any new information," Barry assured them before stepping out the door.

Hanna shook her head as she shut the door after Barry Maple left.

"Am I crazy to think that maybe Mary Drake was A.D. all along?" Hanna bit her lip.

Alison didn't want to believe it. She had really started to grow fond of Mary, especially after her sacrifice— she took the blame for Archer Dunhill's murder and she gave Alison and Spencer the Lost Woods Resort. Alison wanted to believe that Mary was genuine with them.

"Why would she want to hurt us?" Alison denied. "She willingly went down for everything that happened to protect us. She loves us. I know she loves Spencer, at least!"

Everyone turned to look at Alex.

"Spence, you've been awfully mute this whole time," Alison furrowed her eyebrows.

Alex sighed, putting on her best sad face.

"I'm sorry... I just... I thought that we were finally free of all of this— that we could finally be happy, and I was just starting to feel like my life was becoming normal again. Now, it feels like the old times that I wanted to forget. And the worst part is that Mary might be involved in all of this? God, I really did trust her..."

Everyone's face softened and turned sympathetic. Their hearts broke for Spencer. Toby stood up from where he was sitting and came over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders and squeezing them gently to show her that he was there for her.

"Hey," he said gently, "we don't know if she's a part of this. We just have to be hopeful."

She huffed. "I would, but you know what they say about hope... it breeds eternal misery."

Note: So, there's that chapter! I really loved writing this one. I know the paragraphs got a little long, but hopefully you didn't skip over the whole deal where Emily and Alison's pregnancy was discussed. The show didn't touch on why Alex would want to do that to them, so I came up with a possible motive. And to anyone who wanted more about Wren, I got my chance to include more information about him, his relationship to Alex, and his involvement in the baby story.

Also, I think I'm having too much fun with Alex taking over Spencer's life... I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review!