chapter twenty four
the goodbye look
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The girls looked around, trying to see what had made the thud noise they heard as Aria whirled back to Spencer. "Did things just get incredibly worse?" she asked. "I can't believe this. Ian's dead." Emily let out. "No, zombie's don't text!" Hanna snapped. "Okay? He is alive somewhere." she finished. "Spence..." Josie trailed off, noticing Spencer's quietness. "I have to get this phone home before Melissa realises that it's gone." she says quietly before going to leave. "Okay, you put it back, and then what do we do?" Emily asked, making Spencer turn back to her. "Do we call the cops?" Aria asked. "Oh, yeah, because that always works out so well for us." Josie said sarcastically.

"Why is Ian texting Melissa?" Aria asked urgently. "And why is Melissa answering him?" Hanna asked from where she stood behind Aria, next to Josie. "Is she? I mean, we don't know how long this has been going on." Emily said, making a point. They had no idea if Melissa knew or not. "Spencer, look, you've gotta find out what Ian told Melissa you're the only one who can find out what he wants." Aria said as she looked at Spencer, who was stressing out. "And where he is." Emily added before they heard more thuds above them, rocks falling onto the glass roof. "Let's get out of here!" Spencer exclaimed before they all walked out of the greenhouse.

Once they were far enough away, they started talking again. "Let's finish this in the morning, okay? I'm cold, damp and scared. We can talk at school." Hanna said, forgetting that they have to take 'space' from each other. "We can't talk at school, remember? The four of us are supposed to be having 'separate time.'" Josie said with a frown. "Doctor's orders." Emily said. "So, what are we supposed to do, not talk to each other? We're in the same classes." Hanna said in disbelief. "We just have to play it cool." Josie said, trying to comfort Hanna, before they heard more noises, making them turn to see Jason DiLaurentis putting things in the trash. "It's Jason." Josie said in shock. "Did he move back in?" Hanna questioned as they all moved a bit, to see more.

"What is all that?" Spencer asked as they watched Jason pick up some things that were on the ground. "That's all that stuff that those people left on my curb when Ali went missing, those tributes." Aria let out. "Maya said her family kept those things when they moved in. They didn't have the heart to throw them out." Emily said softly. "Apparently Jason's moved on." Spencer said almost bitterly. "What's he doing back in that house?" Hanna questioned as they watched him go inside the house before all the girls shared a look of uneasiness.

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"Space from the girls," Richie asked as Josie and him walked to school. "Yep," she said, popping the 'p'. "We almost told her about 'A' and then suddenly we couldn't, it was like 'A' was watching us and knew what we were going to do," Josie said, linking her arm with his as they neared the school. "It'll be okay, things are going to be back to normal soon enough," he said, trying to be positive. "My dad called last night," she said, making him turn to her. "Turns out when your daughter makes headlines, dad's worried," she said bitterly as they walked into school. "Maybe he'll come down here Jo," he said, making her shrug. "I hope so. I miss him." she said with a small smile, making Richie smile.

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"So the videos are gone?" Aria whispered to Emily as the girls were inline in the cafeteria, Richie was waiting for Jo at a table already. "Totally gone." Emily agreed, making Josie sigh. "That was our only evidence." she said. "Well, we don't have it anymore." Emily whispered to them. "Has Ian sent Melissa any more messages?" Hanna asked Spencer quietly. "I don't know, she's not leaving her phone sitting around." Spencer whispered.

"What about Jason? Why is he back? And what is he doing in that house?" Emily asked softly. "Maybe he's just looking for closure or something." Spencer theorised. "Okay, new rule: no one can say the word "closure". Ever." Hanna said as she looked at her friends. "Dr. Sullivan says it all the time." Josie points out. "I rest my case." Hanna replied before the girls walked out of line, Josie going to sit with Richie as Aria sat down at a table, but as she sat down, so did Hanna. "Han." Aria said, getting her attention. "What?" she asked, confused. "I don't think we should sit together." Spencer said quietly. "No, we always sit together." Hanna said, making Josie frown as she looked over at Richie who was watching from his table. "We have to make it look like we're going along with this." Josie said to her softly.

"Looking like we're doing it is the same thing as doing it. It means we're wrong. And we're not wrong; we're right." Hanna said, frustrated. "Are we? We don't even really know what happened." Aria said to her. "How can we be sure if we're even right?" Emily pointed out. "That's even more reason to stick together." Hanna said but the girls shook their heads and went their separate ways, Hanna leaving the cafeteria just before their phones went off. Richie and Josie shared a look before she pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket.

BLOCKED ID
Look at you, all alone
In a crowd, I win!
⎯ A

Josie shoved her phone back into her pocket annoyed as Richie pulled her into a hug. "It'll be okay," he whispered to her before kissing the crown of her head, making her sigh.

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"Sweetheart, I know you hate this, but it's necessary, just for now okay?" Jennifer said as the two of them sat at the dinner table, eating. "I know it just sucks, we were finally getting back into the groove of being together again." Josie said before taking a sip of her water. "Things will blow over and you five will be back to being able to hang out again, okay plus I think it'll be good for you girls, to spend time with other people." Jennifer said as she stood from the table taking her and Josie's empty plates to the sink.

"I just hate this," Josie mumbled. "I know, okay, I know Jo, but please, this will be easier if you just go along with it," Jennifer said, as she turned and leaned on the kitchen island and looked at her daughter. Josie sighed. "I am mom, believe me," she said before she got up and left the kitchen, making Jennifer sigh as she watched her daughter leave and heard her door slam not a moment later.

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A few hours later Aria had called Josie, apparently she was at Ezra's but decided to leave since it was getting late, so she asked Josie to met up, and since it was late, she knew her mother would be in bed so she did, she got picked up by Aria and they decided to swing by Spencer's. It seemed none of them actually catered about how they were meant to be giving each other 'space' while it was outside of school.

"Spence?" Josie called out as they walked to one of the back doors, only to find one of the windows on one of her backdoors was broken, it meant someone had broken in. Josie slowly opened the door, going in first as Aria followed her. "Spence!" Aria called out urgently. "Spencer, are you here?" Josie called out in the dark house, keeping Aria behind her. "Spencer!" Aria called out again as someone came running down the stairs, towards them, Josie pushing Aria to the side so she didn't get hurt.  "Aaaah!" Josie screamed in pain as she was pushed into a table in the corner of the room, making Aria scream as well, running to help Josie as she fell to the floor in pain.

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Aria was helping Josie check her wrist as Spencer walked down the stairs. "I've called the police. Everything looks all right upstairs." she said as Josie put a hand on the side of her back, where she hit the table. "Are you sure you're okay?" Spencer asked her as Josie nodded. "Yeah. My dignity broke the fall." she joked before she turned to look at where she had hit and fallen. "Jo..." Aria trailed off in worry as Josie turned back to look at her and Spencer. "Hey, are you sure that you're okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I...I'm fine." Josie said quietly as she reached for a bag of ice Spencer had gotten out for her. "The fact that "A" can just...break into our houses..." Spencer trailed off as she got a couple of mugs from a cabinet in her kitchen. "Sometimes I think that's the worst part of this." she finished as she put the mug down. "Emily said that somebody broke into their garage, and stole some camping gear, and her mom said that there's been a whole bunch of break-ins around town." Aria whispered to them, making Josie frown in confusion.

"What would "A" want with camping gear?" Spencer asked as she looked at Aria and Josie.  "You tell me." Aria said as Josie put the ice back on the kitchen island. "What if it's not "A"?" Spencer asked, making the two look at her. "Who else would it be?" Aria asked. "Somebody who knew what was on Emily's computer. Somebody who needs camping gear and survival stuff, somebody who's on the run." Spencer listed.

"Ian?" Josie asked with a raised brow.  "We thought that "A" wiped Emily's hard drive because that's the kind of thing that "A" would do, but Ian is the only other person who would want those videos destroyed." Spencer said, continuing explaining her theory. "Do you think that that was Ian upstairs?" Aria asked. "I don't know. Melissa's out in the barn. What would he want in the house?" Spencer asked, making Josie sigh. "You?" she guessed, making Spencer frown just before her kettle went off.

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In english class, Mr. Fitz was opening goodbye presents some of his students had given him. He was leaving rosewood high and if Josie could guess, it was so it would make his relationship with Aria easier.  "Aw...Thank you." he said with a small laugh as he showed the class the book he was giving. "Wasn't expecting this." he said with a sigh. "To be honest, most of what's happened to me here I didn't...expect." he paused. "I didn't expect to....connect with you the way that I have." he sighed.

"I never expected to feel this kind of loss over leaving you. Um..." he trailed off. "Stop me when this gets too maudlin, but I'm not going to forget you. I will remember your–your voices, your questions, your...faces." he said, pointing somewhere, but the girls knew it was Aria as they turned discreetly to her. "I cherish the time that I've spent here, and I'm more grateful than I even know how to say." he said as he looked at his students

There's a quote by Joseph Campbell, and it goes..."You must give up the life you had planned, in order to have the life that is waiting for you". I thought I knew what that meant. I didn't. Till I met you." he said, trying not to make eye contact with Aria just before the bell went. "Well, there it is," he said, pointing to the roof.

"Oh! Oh. Always read. Have a good life." he said. Josie and Richie passed Mr. Fitz on their way out. "Good Luck and Goodbye Mr. Fitz." they said in sync, making him send them a smile. "Thank you Richard, Josette," he said, before the two walked out, cringing at the sounds of their full names.

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Later that night Spencer had sent the girls a message to meet her at the greenhouse. "It was in the pocket of her raincoat, and her raincoat was wet, so were her boots." Spencer said as the girls looked at an ultrasound. "She lied to you about being out?" Aria asked as she looked up at Spencer. "Well, she didn't go far. I checked the driveway and it was dry under her car, so it hadn't been moved all day." Spencer said, voice cracking lightly. "Who would she want to show this to?" Aria asked. "I can only think of one person who would care." Josie and Hanna said in sync.n"Ian." Aria said, shocked.

"If she didn't take the car, that means he must be close." Emily said, making Josie's heart drop. "You guys, Hanna's right. This is the worst time for us to be splitting up. We have got to stay together." Spencer said as Josie nodded. "Yeah, no matter how much lying it takes." Hanna said, linking her arms with Josie as she looked around at her friends.

A moment later the girls were walking back to Spencers to be able to get their cars when they saw a plastic bag, shaped like there was a body in it on the DiLaurentis lawn. "What is that?" Emily asked as all the girls stopped to have a look at it when Spencer noticed Jason walking towards them with a flashlight. "Jason?" Spencer said in confusion. "Oh. It's you." he said, sort of relaxed seeing it was only the girls. "Yeah, it's... only us." Aria said in a nervous type of tone. "Um, what are you doing?" Josie asked as she looked at Allison's older brother. "I've been replanting all day, and I'm putting up a fence." he said, shocking the girls.

"A fence? Why? For what?" Hanna asked as she squeezed Josie's arm in comfort, knowing she was nervous. "Privacy. Security." he listed. "There's a lot of curious creeps in the world, and one way or another, people are gonna mind their own business," he said bitterly. "You girls better go home." he said, making the girls turn around and continue walking towards Spencer's as he walked back into the house. "Who's he trying to keep out with that fence?" Josie asked as she looked at the house then back at her friends. "Keep out or...keep in?" Aria asked.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
new chapter && jason being sus lol