LITTLE WHITE LIES - PLL

BLIND DATES

Haley walked around the dirty alleyway as she and the girls waited for Spencer to come out of the pawnshop.

"This place is skeevy," Aria commented.

"She pawned her sister's wedding ring. You're not gonna go to Tiffany's," Hanna told the girl.

"So, Wren and Melissa?" Emily questioned, having not been there when the girls made the discovery.

"Weird, right?"

"Could you tell what he gave her?" Emily asked.

"No. But she didn't seem happy," Aria said.

"I wonder if Ian will be," Hanna added.

"Spence said that she's gonna try to talk to Wren, though. Hopefully, get us some insight," Haley told the girls.

"How you holdin' up?" Aria asked, referring to the fact that A had sent Emily's mom the letter from the Scout that Emily had written.

"Great," Emily told her sarcastically. "Ever since I got that fake scholarship letter my mom thinks I can do no wrong. I'm living a lie I didn't even tell."

"Leave it to A to make you feel bad about your mom feeling good," Hanna said as Spencer walked out of the building.

"Did you get the ring?" Haley asked.

"Oh, well, turns out I never brought in a ring. Just a horseshoe," Spencer said as she lifted the thing up for them to see.

"What?"

"God, I can't believe that it's gone," Spencer huffed.

"At least you got your money back," Hanna told her.

"Am I supposed to give her this?" Spencer asked, holding up the horseshoe. "I stole it, I actually stole my sister's wedding ring."

Haley shut her eyes as her phone started to vibrate in her phone, perfectly timed with the beeping of the rest of the girls' phones.

"Just my luck, diamonds are a girl's best friend. A," Aria read. Haley glanced around the area, her eyes finding the giant billboard.

DR LARS THORWALD, O.D.
SOMEONE'S WATCHING YOU SO LOOK YOUR BEST...

Haley stared up at the giant pair of glasses above the words with two eyes inside of them and she couldn't help but feel as if they were staring back at her.

———————

"You're not seriously gonna drink that, right?" Haley asked as walked with Alec after stopping at a coffee shop.

"Why wouldn't I?" Alec asked confused.

"Cause it's gross. God, you're like Spencer," Haley grimaced.

"What's wrong with being like Spencer? Isn't she your best friend?"

"Yes, but just because we're friends doesn't mean we have the same taste in coffee. The only people who drink straight black coffee are borderline sociopathic."

"Oh, my god," Alec scoffed. "I don't think I've ever met someone so dramatic."

"I'm not being dramatic. Being as smart as Spencer has its downfall, she like one loose thread from all going all Britney Spears on us," Haley explained.

Alec smiled as he looked away from the girl and back up into the street in front of them. Haley did the same, her happy expression dropping slightly as she saw Jason approaching them on his run. Shirtless.

"Hey, Haley," Jason greeted as he came to a stop in front of them.

"Hey," Haley smiled awkwardly.

"I'm Jason," the man said as he held his hand up.

"Alec."

"The boyfriend," Jason realized as he pulled his hand away.

"Yeah," Alec nodded as he looked down at Haley, noticing her awkwardness. "And you are?"

"Just a friend," Jason smiled as he looked at Haley.

"We should get going," Haley spoke up as she grabbed Alec's hand.

"Yeah, it was good seeing you Haley. And nice meeting you Alex," Jason said before starting up his run again.

Alec decided to ignore Jason's mistake as he and Haley started to walk down the street. "So who was that?"

"Jason," Haley said but continued when Alec gave her a look that was asking for more details. "He's Alison's older brother."

"It seemed like you knew him better than that," Alec commented, noticing the way she shifted around the man.

Haley hesitated before saying her next words but she didn't want to keep anything else from the boy. She had kept enough secrets from him because of A. "We dated the summer before Ali went missing."

"So he's your ex-boyfriend?" Alec asked. "That's a lot more than just your friend's older brother."

"I'm sorry, it's just- not that many people know. I mean, Hanna and the rest of the girls just found out about it," Haley explained.

"So, are you guys over?" Alec asked. "No left over feelings?"

"Of course not," Haley shook her head.

————————

"Did you just-"

"Yeah," Hanna interjected as she read the SOS text from Spencer. "Let's go."

Haley nodded as she reached for her jacket and purse and followed Hanna over to their front door.

———————

"Do we have a plan?" Hanna asked as she sat in the back seat of Spencer's car as the Hasting girl followed Melissa and Wren.

"Working on it," Spencer told her.

"Should we call Garrett, tell him about Ian?" Emily asked.

"No," Aria shook her head. "The last thing we need is to get him involved in another mystery we can't explain."

"Well, that's what happens when we're the girls who cried wolf," Hanna told them. "I mean, don't you get it? We're screwed."

"They're stopping," Haley said when she saw the headlights of the car turn off.

Spencer slowed down her car as she clicked off her headlights to keep their presence unknown. The girls waited a few seconds before slowly stepping out of the car.

"There's no turning back now, right?" Spencer questioned as they watched Melissa and Wren walk into the abandoned building. The girls nervously nodded as they started to walk through the bushes, towards the building.

"I've got 911 on speed dial," Aria announced to the girls.

"I've only got one bar," Hanna said as she checked her phone. "Oh, crap. No bars."

"We should take a photo of Ian, prove we haven't been making this all up," Emily suggested to the girls.

"Yeah, well, you go ahead and do that while I try not to get killed," Hanna told her as the girls turned to look at her incredulously. "Sorry."

"I'm just worried about Melissa," Spencer admitted. "Who knows what Ian's thinking?"

"Or if he has a gun," Aria added as Spencer turned to look at her with widened eyes. "Well, he's the bad guy, right?"

"He did fall from a bell tower," Haley reminded the girls. "If he really is hurt, he's not gonna be firing weapons."

The girls continued walking as they came up to the fence right in front of where Melissa's car was parked. They watched as Melissa said a few words to Wren before walking inside the building alone. The girls started to slowly crouch underneath the fence but picked up their speed when they heard Melissa's ear-piercing scream.

Haley's heartrake quickened as she ran into the building, following the sounds of Melissa's sobs until she found the woman crying in Wren's arms. Haley covered her mouth when she looked past Melissa and saw Ian's body slouched against the wall. There was a gun in his hand, pointing to the suicide note sitting beside him, with a bullet hole in the side of his skull.