𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 | Jason Dilaurentis

𝟐.𝟏𝟔 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝘼𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣

season 2, episode 16

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"Here's some aspirin" Aria said, holding out two small tablets for Hanna, "You want me to make you some soup?"

The girls had retreated to Spencer's house after the party, none of the girls wanted to be alone after the events that had unfolded. They were all pretty shaken up, none more than Hanna.

The blonde was sat on the couch in front of the fire, wrapped up in a number of thick blankets as Sophie rubbed her back. Aria had been on the hunt for some aspirin, Emily was fetching the rest of the things from the car and Spencer was in charge of making the fire.

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry" Hanna mumbled.

"Here's your bag" Emily said, walking into the living room, "I think Caleb called, your phone was ringing"

Hanna didn't respond, she just stared blankly at the fire in front of her.

Spencer sighed, taking a seat next to the blonde on the couch, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Han, I know you may not be ready to talk about this, but the sheriff said their gonna drag the lake first thing in the morning"

"Lucas isn't in the lake" Hanna denied, shaking her head.

"Lucas didn't come back to shore Han" Sophie said carefully, "we waited"

"He knows how to swim, alright?" Hanna snapped, "he's out there somewhere, I can feel it"

"I-I still can't believe that Lucas would help A" Aria muttered.

"He had every reason to hate us" Sophie answered her. Although Sophie would admit it was weird to think about Lucas helping A, considering how close he had become with Hanna. However, there was no denying that he didn't have the motive to. Alison had ruthlessly tormented him when she had been alive, and although she hated to admit it, Sophie did too.

"Why not?" Spencer questioned, "Jenna did the same thing with Caleb"

"A knows Lucas is close to Hanna"

"No, I-I get it, I just-" Aria muttered, "I just didn't think Lucas could be that violent"

"He can be" Hanna finally said, her voice quiet, "Lucas was the one who destroyed Ali's memorial, I found out the night I got out of hospital"

The group fell silent at the revelation. Sophie's lips parted as she let out a gasp.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Spencer asked, her voice raising ever so slightly.

"Told me to keep a secret"

"Why?" Emily asked.

"To protect him" Hanna snapped back, "He's been through a lot, Alison really tortured him. And so did you Sophie"

Sophie didn't know how to respond, and it seemed like none of the other girls did either. The blonde felt a pang in her heart, she deeply regretted the ways in which she had treated people back when Alison was around and it was only now that she was a victim of merciless bullying that she realised the severity of her actions.

"Maybe it's time to start protecting you" Spencer said.

"I have a headache" Hanna said sharply, it was clear that she was done talking about the matter.

The blonde reached around in her bag, pulling out her pink bottle, unscrewing the cap in order to take the aspirin Aria had gave her earlier. The action went pretty much unnoticed by the girls, it was a seemingly normal thing to do. That was until Sophie caught eye of the murky brown water in the bottle.