Hello! So sorry for the delay on this story. I've been neglecting a lot of my writing lately and I'm hoping to try and get back into things. Enjoy the update.

"Aria, I'm okay."

"Like hell you are."

I give her a look through the mirror of my bathroom as I wrap up the now cleaned up cuts with gauze. Once I had my little meltdown I closed up the store and headed back upstairs to my apartment, where I was greeted by a half asleep Aria laying on the sofa while watching TV.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" she asks while leaning against the doorframe.

I take a breath, wincing a bit from the gauze rubbing on the cuts. "Alison came by and..."

"Jessie, please tell me you didn't hit her." Her eyes are wide when I turn to look at her since she cut me off.

I half smile and shake my head, "Give me some credit, Ria. I'm old enough to control who gets that type of anger." Obviously I came close, but I won't tell her that.

"Okay…" she's quiet for a few seconds and takes a breath as if waiting for the blow, "Then what did she do?"

I press my lips together, taking my own breath as all the boiled up rage starts to surface again. "Apparently she's trying to set up a hearing."

She stares at me in confusion, the same look I had with Alison before she spilled the beans. "Why?"

"So I know that you haven't been around to hear the rumors…"

Just by the look on her face I can tell that she is even afraid to ask, "What kind of rumors?"

I have to bite down on my lip a bit to keep from yelling, "That she's been trying for a while to get CeCe released into her care." All the color in her face completely disappears and is staring at me as if ready to pass out. So I add quickly, "And she wants us to vouch for her."

"What?" she half yells, which is the reaction I expected after her shock wore off.

I half laugh and walk out of the bathroom, "My exact thought when she told me." I head over to the fridge and pull out a beer, "You have no idea how hard it was NOT to physically lose it on her." with the beer in my non-injured hand I hold up the other, "Hence why I smashed a mirror instead."

She's quiet for a while. Then she walks over and sits on one of the chairs at the kitchen island, as if she needed something to keep her standing. "Is she crazy?"

I get my beer open and try not to laugh now, watching her like that's a dumb question. "Pretty sure it runs in their family." I say as I get down a mouthful of my drink.

"Jessie, I'm serious."

"Me too, Aria." I say in a louder tone now, "She's out of her fucking mind. She always has been. You've just blocked it out because she was your friend for all those years. This isn't anything I'd ever put past her."

She doesn't answer, her hands clasped tightly into each other like she is trying not to freak out but her eyes are still on me. "Why would she even think the judge would let CeCe out?"

"Oh that's the kicker." I lean forward onto my elbows on the island across from her and set down my beer, "She wants us to help up the chances by saying that we forgive her and aren't scared of her anymore."

It shouldn't have been possible to happen but her face manages to go paler with a shocked look. "That's a joke."

"I can guarantee you that she was dead serious." I shake my head, "I know she's been trying to get this going since CeCe was committed to that place, but her coming to me now makes it seem like she's closer than before."

For a split second her face has nothing but fear and I can't help but to place my hand on top of hers for comfort. But then she seems to compose herself, or more like trying not to show the fear she pulls her hands from me and places them onto her face instead. Now rubbing her face in frustration she says, "Why…why would she think we'd do that?"

I give her a sad look, "Aria…she knows you guys have always had her back. So to her this is a slam dunk. She doesn't care what happens after, she wants what she wants and doesn't think about how it affects others."

She shakes her head and pulls her hands away from her face, "This isn't happening."

I take a soft breath, watching her carefully. "It won't happen if we don't help."

She watches me for a while, half smiling to the confidence in my voice. "Alison would love us conspiring against her."

I laugh and nod in agreement, "Oh it would make her day."

She smiles at my joke, making me miss our bond from when we were kids. "So she has no idea if it's happening?"

I shake my head gently, still leaning on the island. "She didn't say, but it's only a matter of time if she's reaching out now."

She sighs gently and presses her lips together. "You think the others would help her?"

I press my lips together now, shrugging. "I honestly don't know."

She sighs again, almost like she's struggling with the thought. "If they still are loyal to her after all these years then us not being on Alison's side might not make a difference."

"Because four against two is enough evidence to change the verdict." I bite my lip before grabbing my beer again.

She nods slowly to my words, "Probably."

I give a lopsided smile of annoyance, "Fantastic."

She bites the inside of her cheek, as if thinking now. "Unless…" she watches me carefully, "we get Mona on our side. The odds being closer could falter the choice."

Now I smile, an actual smile while tilting my bottle towards her from that amazing idea. "Now that I can get behind." I chug some of my beer, "There's no way Mona would pass up an opportunity to go against Alison."

"Especially not when it's you asking."

"Not even because of me. It'll be because it's Alison being an idiot as usual."

"But you guys being best friends is a plus on her listening."

I slightly smile at her 'cause I see the sadness behind the words as she said them. "You think she's my best friend?"

She shrugs a bit, now getting up to head to the fridge. "Well, yeah. You guys have had each other's backs since senior year of highschool."

"I mean, true, but she could never replace you, Ria. You have to know that."

She pulls out her own beer now and stands beside me, "I haven't been someone to look up to lately."

I give her a slight smile, "Well technically I'm looking down at you." I press my lips together, holding back a laugh.

Her smile slips through her serious face when I make my joke of her being shorter, shaking her head gently. "You are so annoying."

"But you love me."

She smiles more and nods, "That I do."

I give her another smile, knowing that her brain is still scattered by the Mona situation. So I sigh a bit and shift myself to face her more, "She's one of my best friends, yes. But that doesn't mean she tops my childhood best friend."

"It also doesn't mean I deserve the nice vibes I've been getting from you." She sips on her beer now.

I press my lips together and take a small breath, "Look, I get where you're coming from but I'm not going to argue on this, because I know where you stand in my life." I see she's about to reply but I stop her, "So let's worry about Alison, because who's my best friend will be the least of our worries if CeCe gets out."

She smiles gently, holding out her beer towards me and I hit my bottle against hers. "Deal."

...

A couple weeks went by with no other word from Alison, not even bothering me again when she'd see me in town. However, the hearing did actually manage to get a date set so the other day I received a letter in the mail to show up to court and this morning I got a pleading text from Alison. Turns out that Mona and the others also got those letters as well, and for obvious reasons I'm not happy that a judge even considered this possibility.

Then minutes ago I got a text from the group chat Spencer made asking if anyone else received a letter from Alison about wanting them to meet with her the morning before the hearing. I didn't get the letter they are asking about but now that the date is set I know that my talk with her didn't stick since her text from earlier was based on the same exact question. Her upbeat way of asking and trying to guilt trip me into feeling bad doesn't sit right with me. I'm not sure why she specifically came to see me and never bothered to talk to Aria when she was still around, but it now led to Alison needing to reach out through a random letter weeks after Aria went back to her new home.

I stare at my phone in disbelief at their text, not wanting to even answer it because slowly they start to reply and debate with each other on whether it is a good idea to see her. The only person who hasn't responded other than myself is Aria, and in all honesty it would be a miracle if she decided to put herself into it.

I set the phone down onto the desk to my office, not bothering to reply to it. I may not even answer at all. But eventually the phone keeps buzzing on my desk more often and I know it's because they are still talking about this, so I finally check the messages again after 10 minutes of ignoring it. To what shouldn't have been a surprise I see that Spencer, Hanna and Emily all agreed to meet with Alison to hear what she has to say, which still makes me feel uneasy that they'd even consider it.

I roll my eyes to them all being sympathetic with her, scanning down quickly to my knuckles and thinking back to her setting me off that night. It's been two weeks since I punched the mirror, so the cuts are no longer there but they turned into scars. Perfect, more scarring to my body as if I needed the battle wounds to remind me of how I almost lost my cool with her. Then I shift my eyes away after taking a deep breath to relax, once again putting my phone down onto the desk. I have a couple people working the floor so it gives me time to check inventory and make sure everything is set for the next couple of weeks.

After a few hours working in the office my phone starts to buzz once again on my desk. I hadn't focused on it since the text from the girls had died out, but this time the buzz continues and I see that it's a phone call when I look down at my cell.

Mona's name pops up, finally getting back to me when I text her earlier about Alison texting me. So I take a deep breath before answering. "Hello?"

"How are you holding up?" Mona's scared voice seeps through, and it kind of hurts to hear her like this instead of her upbeat self.

"Trying not to think about it honestly."

"I know." she says gently, "But what are you going to do?"

"My first thought was to ignore the whole situation."

"You think that would work?"

I press my lips together, leaning back into my desk chair. "Most likely will fuel her anger since this will be the second time I'm saying no."

"Angry Alison is the last thing we need, but I feel like I have to go into that courtroom and tell them what happened to us the night of the dollhouse."

My heart sinks at the word dollhouse, because even though I physically wasn't there from the days they were taken I remember the aftermath to their mental health when we got them back after being kidnapped from CeCe. That bunker had replicated versions of their homes, just like a dollhouse and it messed them up for a long time. "I agree, but do you think it would make a difference? The others are probably going to be on her side and we don't know if the judge would even take the bad stuff into consideration." I obviously know that me and Aria said we'd go to the courthouse and say what we need to, but the more I think about it the more I feel it would be a waste of giving Alison the satisfaction to even be there.

"The judge hearing our side of why CeCe shouldn't be released could make all the difference in the world, Jessie. We have to try."

I take another soft breath, nodding to her words. "You're right."

"Of course I am." she says in her usual sing-song voice, making me smile and half laugh now.

"You're always optimistic."

"Only when I need to be."

I smile to myself and stare at my computer for a second, "So you're coming to Rosewood then?"

"Can't leave you to fend off the beast by yourself can I?"

I laugh and nod to myself, "Well then I guess we are slaying said beast together."