Room 425, Friday Evening

[new_it_girl]

One thing Alison said to Hanna was still weighing on her mind. She said Emily was gathering new information. Hanna needed to know more about this, so she gave her a call. She waited until Alison was elsewhere. Who knew what she was getting into.


Emily explained the new possible trail of information she was looking into. Apparently, Nate...er Lyndon James' family sent her a box of her things he'd been holding onto. In it was a notebook with notes written back in forth between two people mostly about a 'beach hottie' in Cape May. The handwriting of one of them belonged to Alison. Emily didn't recognize the other person's handwriting. She was currently sleuthing alone to find out more.

Emily also told her that Spencer was done with Alison and didn't care anymore about what happened to her. Hanna got the feeling there was more Emily wasn't telling her about that, but Hanna wasn't ready to push her on the issue. Spencer wanting to give up on this was alarming enough. That wasn't like her at all.

She hung up after awhile, feeling terrible when the conversation was over. She wanted to tell Emily about Alison so bad. She knew that couldn't happen, though.

"What did Emily want?"

Hanna jumped, her nerves rattled. She turned around to see Alison standing in the door frame holding two cups of coffee from The Perk. "God, Ali, you scared me."

Alison smirked, handing a cup to Hanna. "Sorry. Peace offering?"

Hanna sniffed it. "You didn't spike this, did you?"

"Really?" Alison scoffed. "I'm back from the afterlife, Hanna. I don't have time for those games."

"You could be here from Hell, for all I know," Hanna said pointedly.

Alison smiled. "No, I've already been three. It was called Rosewood."

"Touche," Hanna replied, taking a sip.

"I borrowed money from you. I'd pay you back, but..." She shrugged.

Hanna sighed, ignoring it. "So, who were you passing notes with in your bio notebook? And who was the 'beach hottie'?"

"Ah, Emily got that far," Alison said, impressed. "You'll know soon enough. Emily will figure it out. I'm sure of it."

"How are you sure?"

She shrugged, simply saying, "She loved me. As more than a friend. I know that. She'd do anything for me."

Hanna couldn't help glaring. "You used that to manipulate her. So you could control her."

Alison snorted. "Oh please. She loved every minute of it."

"No, you made her feel worse," Hanna replied, defending her friend. "You made her think you loved her the way she wanted you to. Do you even care?"

Alison shrugged. "You may not believe it, but I only did those things because I cared. I was helping her realize who she really was."

"That's bull," Hanna retorted. "You used it against her to toy with her emotions and you enjoyed it. You played games with all of us."

"I was only trying to help you, too," Alison replied. "You'd still be Hefty Hanna if it wasn't for me."

Hanna felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Just hearing Alison say the cruel nickname brought her right back to the time in her life when her self-esteem was at its lowest. But she wasn't backing down now. "Wow. No wonder Spencer doesn't care about what happened to you anymore."

Alison's face crumbled for just a moment, clearly hurt. But, just as she did in life, she brushed off anything that'd make her vulnerable. "She always was my least favorite."

"Because she stood up to you," Hanna replied. "I wish I did that more."

"She should be grateful. All of you should be. You'd be nothing without me," Alison pointed out.

"And we're stronger without you," Hanna told her. "We're better without you. At least we're alive."

Saying those words to a chair in therapy a few years ago as a way to "speak" to Ali was a lot easier. Saying it to her face just made her feel terrible. "I didn't mean that."

"Yes you did," Alison replied. "You needed to say these things to me. Why do you think I baited you?"

Hanna was so confused. "Huh?"

"I'm not here to tell you who killed me or about who 'A' really is or who the 'beach hottie' is," Alison explained. "Those are things you have to figure out on your own. I'm here to give you a little closure with me. Not with what happened to me."

Alison truly seemed regretful. "If I could take so much back, I would. I wouldn't be dead if I could."

This was a side of Alison she had never seen. "I didn't expect you to say these things."

"I've been dead for awhile now," Alison said. "You get to think about a lot, you know?"

Alison's vulnerability was unnerving, especially after her next words. "When everything comes out, just...remember that not everything was as it seemed. You'll understand when the time comes. That's all I can tell you."

Hanna actually believed her. "I appreciate that."

Alison eyed her. "Be careful, Hanna. All of you should be."

Hanna shrugged. "There are always rough times. We learned to deal with it."

"Whatever you do, stick together," Alison advised. "Don't let those bitches drive you apart. You need each other."

Hanna nodded. "I know."

For the first time since this whole thing began, Hanna felt sad that she'd have to say goodbye to Alison again. It wasn't quite the closure she was looking for, but it was enough for now.

[mixing FH plot with canon catch up; info from 3x17 "Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Inferno" mentioned; warning for sensitive subject matter involving body image]