Ethan's Pov

The girls, minus Emily, were at mine and Spencer's house as we were watching the news. 

Garrett's trial is on.

"Jury selection is expected to conclude today, and defense attorney Veronica Hastings made a statement to reporters this morning" the news reporter said.

"My client is emotionally exhausted. But he's relieved to know that he's finally going to have the opportunity to clear his name" Mom said.

However, the trail was the least of the girls worries, at least for right now.

"YOU TOLD ALYSSA!" Hanna and Spencer shouted.

I winced in pain and covered my ears with my hands.

"Can you guys not yell? My ears are sensitive" I scowled in annoyance.

"Why did you tell Alyssa about A?" Hanna asked, disbelief shown in her eyes.

"Look, I had to. A texted her three times and she was starting to get suspicious" I said.

"Well why didn't you lie?" Spencer asked.

"Because the first lie I told her, she didn't buy it. When she knew I wasn't going to tell her the truth she said that she would walk out my door and that would be the last time I'd see her" I explained.

"Bubs-" Hanna started but I cut her off.

"I know you guys are pissed at me for telling her the truth, but I don't give a damn because the last thing I wanted was to lose someone as amazing as her! Be pissed at me all you want but I don't regret telling her what she deserved to know!" I angrily snapped.

Spencer and Hanna flinched at my outburst.

Honestly, I'm shocked myself.

I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, my fists clenched at my sides.

When I felt myself calm down, I slowly reopened my eyes. I turned to Hanna and Spencer and saw them looking at me with knowing eyes.

"You really like her, don't you?" Spencer softly asked.

I pressed my lips into a thin line and sat down on the stool.

"Never in my entire life have I felt this way towards someone. But, Alyssa is different, she makes me feel something I haven't felt in a really long time" I sighed.

I haven't felt this way towards someone. 

Not after...him.

Alyssa just brought this light back into my life. And it feels so damn good.

Hanna walked towards me and gently placed her hand on my shoulder, rubbing it gently.

"Bubs, we are angry, but we understand why you told her. You two have gotten really close and we don't want that to end" Hanna softly said.

Spencer nodded and set her hand on top of mine, causing me to look at her.

"We understand. Really, we do. We're scared that Alyssa is going to end up getting hurt because she's not involved in this, but we know that you're gonna do whatever you can to keep her safe" Spencer explained.

My eyes softened and I felt myself calming down.

I smiled at the both of them, feeling relieved that they're not too angry about this.

"Thanks guys" I softly smiled.

They smiled back at me. Hanna sighed before turning to the T.V.

Now that that's out of the way, our mind is back on the damn trial.

"How did this get so big? I mean, it's like all eyes are on Rosewood" Hanna said.

"Can't help but think that Toby took that job in bucks county just to avoid all of this" Spencer sighed.

"I don't blame him" I muttered.

We heard footsteps and turned around to see Aria walking in.

"She's taking the long way because reporters are hounding her for interviews" Aria said.

"Ok, how are we gonna do this?" Spencer asked, shutting the T.V off.

"Well, Emily thinks she's coming over here so we can apologize. But when she realizes what this is, she'll probably be more mad at us than she was before" Hanna explained.

"I am not looking forward to seeing that" Spencer sighed.

"In a successful intervention, the loved one feels safe, not judged" Hanna added.

"Great. Right, so we'll start out all warm and fuzzy, and then we just have to hit her with the truth" Aria said.

The truth isn't accurate given that Paige isn't A and she didn't kill Maya.

But even if I were to say that, they won't listen to me.

"Yeah. And that's your cue" Hanna said, looking at Spencer.

"Ok, so Paige was jealous of Ali, we know that Paige was jealous of Maya, and she was with Emily that night, it was easy for her to set us up" Spencer explained.

"Right. And she has the other earring. So she must have Ali's body, right?" Aria asked.

"Yeah" Spencer nodded.

"No" I deadpanned.

"I don't get it. If Paige was so into Emily, why would she drug her? And then why would she drug herself?" Hanna asked.

"Hanna, I thought we were all on the same A page here" Spencer said.

"I'm not" I muttered.

"We are. This is a practice run" Hanna argued.

"Right, ok. Uh, drugging yourself is the best alibi ever. Classic Sharon stone move. Remember that movie, basic instinct?" Spencer asked.

"No" Hanna and Aria said, causing me to snort slightly.

"She wrote a murder mystery novel to cover up a crime that she was about to commit. It was actually kind of genius" Spencer smiled.

"Look, remember, I'm Emily here. We still think that A is working with Mona. So what is your connection?" Hanna asked.

"Two people who hated Ali. Maybe one of them killed her and the other one covered their tracks" Spencer said.

"Or are still covering their tracks by stealing the body and then pinning it on us" Aria added.

"Yeah. And the ultimate prize is Paige gets Emily all to herself" Spencer said.

I blinked a few times before running a hand through my hair.

"I'm sorry, but do you not realize how dumb that sounds?" I asked.

Spencer shot me a glare while I raised my hands in surrender.

I mean what I say and I'm not going against it.

We heard a knock at the door and we know that it's Emily.

The girls looked at each other before nodding. Hanna and Aria went to sit on the couch, I stayed on the stool while Spencer went to open the door.

She opened the door and greeted Emily before letting her come inside.

Emily walked inside with her arms crossed, an unreadable expression on her face.

I could practically feel the tension and it was a bit awkward.

"Hey. You want some coffee?" I asked.

"No, I'm good. Thanks" Emily said, politely shaking her head.

While Emily was mad at Spencer and Hanna, she doesn't seem to be mad at Aria and I.

But I feel like that's gonna change when she realizes why she's here.

"Em, you know how much we love you, right? We love you enough to tell you the truth, even when it hurts" Hanna said.

"This doesn't sound like an apology" Emily said, turning to Aria.

"I had to get you here, Emily. I'm sorry for lying" Aria said.

"What is this?" Emily asked, annoyance showed in her tone.

"It's the four people who love you the most in the world trying to get you to see who Paige really is" Spencer said.

"I can't believe it. The trial's started, and this how you guys show up for me" Emily scoffed.

"We support you, Emily. We do. But we're pretty sure that Garrett did not kill Maya" Spencer said.

"And you think Paige did? Are you out of your freaking minds?" Emily asked in disbelief.

"Em-" I started but Emily cut me off.

"When did it become so easy for you to lie to your friends?" Emily asked, her eyes locked on Aria.

Emily scoffed and rolled her eyes as she turned around to walk away.

"Emily, wait" Hanna said, getting up from the couch.

Emily turned around, just in time to see Hanna setting the other earring down on the kitchen counter.

"We found that at the trunk show. In Paige's pack" Spencer said.

"It's the other earring Aria put in Ali's casket" Hanna added.

"We found a lot of other things exactly where A has put them. Four against one. A wins" Emily said.

She glared at us before turning around as she left the house.

"Em, wait!" I yelled.

I ran after her, shutting the door behind me, as I ran towards her.

"Em, please wait" I said, setting my hand on her shoulder.

Emily sighed and turned around to face me, causing me to pull my hand away from her shoulder.

"What? Are you gonna show me some other 'proof' of Paige being A?" Emily sarcastically asked.

"No, I'm here to tell you that I don't believe Paige is A" I said.

"What?" Emily asked, furrowing her eyebrows together.

"I don't believe that Paige is A. I know that the others do but I don't. Yes, she hated Alison for what she did but she would never murder her. And I know that she would never murder Maya either. She would never do that to you" I explained.

Emily's eyes softened as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Do you really believe she's not A?" Emily asked.

"Of course. Look, I still need some time to forgive her after she tried to drown you, but she's not a murderer. She's not A" I softly said.

Emily smiled at me before uncrossing her arms as she wrapped them around my neck, embracing me in a hug.

I sighed and hugged her back.

"Thank you, Ethan" Emily whispered.

"Of course" I whispered back.

At School

When we arrived at school I went to meet up with Alyssa.

I found her by her locker. When she saw me she didn't say anything, she just gestured for me to follow her to an empty classroom.

We made sure that nobody would come in. What we're gonna talk about is private.

"I'm seriously just trying to process everything that you told me yesterday. It seems so unreal" Alyssa said.

I sighed and sat down on a nearby desk, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Trust me, the girls and I didn't want to believe it either, but here we are" I sighed.

"I can't believe that this happened to you guys in Junior year. Now you're saying it's happening again, but this time it's a new A" Alyssa said in disbelief.

"We're not sure who it is. I mean, part of me believes that it's still Mona, but another part of me believes it's someone else" I said.

"What? You think she has a partner?" Alyssa asked.

"It's possible" I shrugged.

Alyssa sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Ethan, why haven't you and the girls gone to the cops?" Alyssa asked.

"We can't do that. 1, we lied to them about what happened that night Alison's body was stolen. 2, A threatened us not to say anything. 3, they won't believe us without any proof" I explained.

The cops know about A because of what happened with Mona. I mean, she confessed.

But this time they'll just make it seem like someone is pranking us, trying to mess with us.

And honestly, we just can't tell anyone else about this.

"Why can't you and the girls just show them the text? That's more than enough proof" Alyssa asked.

"We just can't. A will just try and find a way to make it seem like we're the guilty ones" I sighed.

Alyssa frowned and walked towards me.

She unfolded my arms in order to hold onto my hands. I smiled softly at the gesture as I looked up at her.

"I can't believe this is happening to you. You shouldn't be going through this. You and the girls shouldn't be going through this" Alyssa softly said.

"I know, but there's nothing much we can do" I said.

"God, I'm so sorry. This entire situation must suck" Alyssa sighed.

"It does. But, we're hoping we can end it, and soon" I slightly smiled.

All of a sudden my phone rang, causing the both of us to look at each other, worry shown in our eyes.

Alyssa swallowed thickly before signalling me to take my phone out and look at the message.

I sighed before taking my phone out of my pocket.

Stand down, bitches. Play it my way and Emily stays safe

- A

My eyes widened in shock. What does that mean?

I showed Alyssa the text and her eyes widened slightly, looking confused and shocked.

Does A plan on hurting Emily if we don't back off?

The Next Day

The girls and I were at Hanna's house. Her mom wasn't home and we needed a place to be alone and talk about everything.

Aria and I were sitting on the bed, Spencer was sitting on the ground while Hanna sat on her desk chair.

"If we don't hear from Em in the next hours I think we should revisit the idea of telling her parents" Spencer said.

"I agree. This is probably Paige just killing time so she can just find a way to weasel herself out of this" Aria said.

I rolled my eyes before turning to Hanna when I saw her zoning out.

"Buttercup. Hey" I softly said, setting my hand on her arm.

"I'm just thinking about Emily. She finally gets over Maya, and now she's stuck with some twisted psycho bitch" Hanna said.

"Buttercup" I warned.

"It's just another monster that Alison created" Spencer said.

"She's been gone two years, and we're still caught in her web" Aria sighed.

We heard a ring and turned around to see Spencer grabbing her tablet.

"It's from A" Spencer said.

We all scooted closer to her in order to see the message.

"Let's settle this. Alison's grave. Ten P.M. bring Maya's bag" Spencer read of what the message said.

"There's an attachment" I said.

"It's another picture from that night" Aria said.

Spencer clicked on the attachment and our eyes widened when we saw pictures of us at the graveyard from that night

All of us, with the exception of Emily, were in the photos.

"Paige can bring us down and leave Emily completely in the clear" Hanna said in realization.

"This must have been her plan all along. Get rid of us, and then she can have Emily all to herself" Spencer said.

"But she hasn't sent these to the cops for a reason, and it's probably because there's something in Maya's bag that she needs. Something that proves that she killed her" Aria explained.

"No, we searched every inch of that bag" Hanna said and I nodded.

"You guys, another picture" Spencer said.

Aria and I sat down on the ground as Spencer handed me her tablet.

"Tell Emily and I'll leave you holding the bag" Aria read what the text said.

Our eyes widened at the picture of the body bag.

"Is that Ali?" I asked.

"Oh, my God" Hanna gasped, looking away.

We all jumped when we heard the front door open and shut.

"What was that? What was that?" Aria asked, worried.

"Do you think your mom's home early?" Spencer asked.

Hanna quickly got up, the rest of us following her, as we walked towards her door.

Hanna opened her door and poked her head out. The three of us did the same.

"Mom?" Hanna called out.

We didn't get an answer, but we all released quiet gasps when we saw a shadow.

"There's somebody downstairs" Aria muttered, clearly scared.

I immediately pushed the girls back inside the bedroom and shut the door.

"Was it Paige?" Spencer asked, scared.

I looked around Hanna's room, trying to find something to use as a weapon to protect the girls.

My eyes landed on her lamp and I quickly grabbed it.

I doubt it would do much, but it's better than nothing.

The girls huddled around each other, staying behind me, as I stood protectively in front of them.

Our breaths hitched when we saw the doorknob moving.

The door opened and I raised my arm in the air, ready to swing at the person.

We all gasped and breathed out in relief when we realized that it was Caleb.

Caleb jumped back, looking at us in shock and confusion, as he took his headphones out.

"What are you doing here?! I almost killed you!" I yelled.

"With a pink, furry lamp, Ethan?" Caleb asked in disbelief.

I rolled my eyes before setting the lamp back down.

"No, Caleb seriously. What are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching Emily's house" Aria asked.

"But there are, like, a dozen reporters camped out on her lawn, her mom is home, she's safe" Caleb said.

"We heard from Paige and Mona" Spencer said.

"From A and Mona" I corrected.

Spencer glared at me before handing Caleb her tablet.

"You guys aren't showing up there alone" Caleb sternly said.

He's right. We need as many people as we can get for tonight.

Late At Night

We all met up at the graveyard late at night.

And by all of us, I mean Spencer, Aria, Hanna, Caleb, Alyssa and I.

Yes, Alyssa is here too.

I told her that the girls and I were going out in order to catch A. Alyssa insisted on going too because she wanted to help.

I said no but she refused to just sit around and do nothing.

I begged her to not get involved, I begged her to not come. I didn't want her getting hurt in any of this. This is our mess, not hers.

But she's stubborn and said that she would be coming and that I couldn't change her mind.

I, quite hesitantly, agreed to let her come.

The girls were hesitant at first when Alyssa showed up, but since they know she's already involved in this, they let it go.

I was standing next to Alyssa as we listened to what Caleb was explaining.

"Alright. The app is voice activated, so it'll record any sound that it hears. And I can pick up the feed, so we'll be with you every step of the way" Caleb explained.

And by we, he means him and Alyssa.

Hanna didn't want Caleb to be alone, afraid that something would happen to him, so Alyssa volunteered to go with him.

I tried to talk her out of it, but she refused and said she'd be going.

God, that girl is stubborn.

"Caleb, Alyssa, I think that you guys should take Maya's bag with you. It's our only form of leverage, and if she doesn't admit to digging up the body, she doesn't get the bag" Spencer explained.

The girls and I looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

Alyssa and Caleb nodded before Alyssa grabbed Maya's bag.

"Alright. We should just get out of sight" Caleb said.

Caleb began running off, gesturing for Alyssa to follow him.

Alyssa was about to follow him when I grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Please be safe. Stay with Caleb at all times. If anything goes wrong I'll do my very best to find you and drag you home" I sternly said.

Alyssa fondly rolled her eyes but the soft smile remained on her face.

"I promise I'll be safe. Don't worry too much" Alyssa smiled.

She cupped my cheek and leaned in to give my forehead a kiss, causing me to blush.

I swear I heard the girls giggle, but I chose to ignore it.

Alyssa winked at me before running off to catch up with Caleb.

I sighed and shook my head. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see Hanna smiling softly at me.

"Don't worry, bubs. She's going to be find" Hanna reassured me.

"I hope so" I nodded.

"What do we do now?" Aria asked.

"We wait for A" Spencer said.

A Few Minutes Later

We've been waiting in the graveyard for quite a while and we were getting concerned.

"It's ten-forty. I get Mona being fashionably late, but Paige" Hanna said.

"Something's not right" Spencer said.

"We're meeting A in front of Ali's empty grave. There's nothing right about this" Aria said.

"Who are you calling, buttercup?" I asked.

"Nate" Hanna said.

She typed Nate's number before putting the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Nate, it's Hanna. Can you give me a call back? I just want to make sure that you guys are ok" Hanna said.

She hung up before pressing another button.

"Caleb, Alyssa, do you guys see anything?" Hanna asked.

"Nothing. Not a car in sight" Caleb said.

I groaned in frustration and lightly tugged on my hair.

We waited for a few more minutes but still nothing. We were getting worried.

"Ok, there's a lighthouse rock inn near Bayhead" Spencer said.

"There's one in Belmar, too" Aria said, looking at her phone.

"Nate's still not answering" Hanna sighed as she walked back over to us.

"Maybe Paige sent us here to keep us away from Emily" Spencer said.

"So she could get to her" Aria added.

All of a sudden we hear a car starting. We turned around to see Caleb driving away in his car.

My phone rang and I took it out and saw Alyssa calling.

"It's Alyssa" I said.

I answered the call, I put her on speaker so we could all hear.

"Hey, where are you going?" I asked, confused.

"We just heard you. I don't think Paige ever planned on meeting you guys" Alyssa said.

I furrowed my eyebrows together and looked at the girls and saw that they were in the same state as me.

"We're heading to Belmar. You guys go to Bayhead" Caleb said.

"We'll call you later" I said before hanging up.

"Looks like we're going to Bayhead" Hanna said.

A Few Minutes Later

We all got into Spencer's car. Aria was in the passenger seat while Hanna and I were in the back.

"You're gonna make a right at the intersection" Aria said.

Hanna was on the phone with Caleb. She put him speaker because she knows that I'm worried about Alyssa.

"How far away are you guys from Belmar?" Hanna asked.

"We're not sure" Caleb said.

"A couple of miles, maybe" Alyssa sighed.

"Can you just promise us that you'll be careful?" I begged.

"We promise" Alyssa softly said.

"There it is on the hill" Aria said.

"Hanna, I love you" Caleb softly said.

"I love you too, Caleb" Hanna softly said, slightly smiling.

I smiled softly at her and gently rubbed her shoulder, hopefully that gives her some comfort.

After a few more minutes we finally arrived. Spencer parked the car and we all got out.

We all began walking, it's a bit dark and we couldn't see that well.

"Looks like this place is closed" Aria said.

"Wait. No. There's a light on in that cabin" Spencer said.

We looked forward and saw that she was right.

Are Emily and Nate there?

We all began walking towards the cabin, we couldn't really hear anything. 

Could they be sleeping? Are they even here?

We walked up the stairs before making our way towards the door. I opened the door and we all walked inside.

We expected to see Nate and Emily, but nobody was here.

"Em!" Spencer yelled.

We all began walking around, trying to find them, but they weren't here.

The place was empty.

"There's no one here. I'm calling Caleb" Hanna said, taking her phone out.

"I'm calling Alyssa" I said.

I took my phone out as the four of us walked out of the cabin to head back to the car.

A Few Hours Later

As soon as we got to Belmar police and bystanders flooded the place, making the girls and I very confused and worried.

We all got out of the car and walked towards the scene, but we couldn't go any further because of the yellow tapes.

The girls and I watched as the paramedics came out.

My eyes widened in shock and disbelief when I saw who they were wheeling out.

It was Alyssa. 

And the side of her stomach was bleeding. She had been shot.

When the girls saw Alyssa their eyes widened in shock, they looked at me and were quick to huddle around me.

"Alyssa! No!" I yelled.

I tried running towards the scene but the girls acted fast and held me back.

Tears started streaming down my face as I tried breaking free, but the girls held a strong grip on me.

"ALYSSA!" I shouted, more tears streaming down my face.

Spencer wrapped her arms around me, holding me close, as I wrapped my arms around her and cried more.

I buried my face into her chest as I watched the paramedics wheel Alyssa into the ambulance before driving off.

Wait, if Alyssa's heading to the hospital then where the hell is Caleb?

"HANNA!" we heard Caleb shout from nearby.

We all turned around and saw Caleb running towards us. He looked fine, a few cuts and bruises, but he was fine nonetheless.

Hanna sighed in relief and embraced him in a tight hug once he was close.

"Thank god you're ok" Hanna softly said.

Caleb sighed and gave her temple a kiss before they both pulled away.

"What the hell happened?" Aria asked.

"Alyssa and I found Emily in the lighthouse. She had just stabbed Nate and she was crying hysterically. We hugged her and comforted her but Nate still had some energy left. I caught him grabbing my gun after I set it down. He aimed it at me and pulled the trigger, but..." Caleb explained, but stopped.

He turned to me and his lips formed into a frown, sadness washed through his eyes.

"Alyssa pushed me out of the way and took the shot instead. Emily, despite the state she was in, stabbed Nate one last time, killing him" Caleb explained.

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

Alyssa saved Caleb. Alyssa took a bullet for him.

I sobbed more into Spencer's chest as she did her best to calm me down.

The others tried getting me to calm down but nothing worked.

Soon Emily began running towards us. I wriggled out of Spencer's grasp as Emily and I engulfed each other in a tight hug.

"Oh, Ethan, I'm so sorry" Emily softly said.

I hugged her tightly and sobbed into her shoulder. I couldn't say anything when too many emotions were running through my body.

Spencer and Hanna hugged me from behind while Caleb and Aria rubbed my shoulders.

Please, Alyssa. Please pull through.

At The Hospital

After I calmed down we all went to the hospital to see if there were any news on Alyssa.

We were all in the waiting room, sitting on the chairs.

Caleb was sitting next to Hanna, his arm around her waist, with her head lying on his shoulder.

Emily and Spencer were sitting at both my sides. Spencer was running her hand through my hair while Emily was rubbing my back up and down.

Aria walked over to us, a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Ethan" Aria softly said, trying to hand it to me.

I didn't look at her nor at the coffee. I can't eat or drink anything until I know something on Alyssa.

Spencer took the coffee from Aria, thanking her, as Aria nodded and sat down next to Caleb.

I called Alyssa's parents. They'll be here but there's traffic.

Mrs. Fields walked towards us, her eyes locked on mine.

"Alyssa's still in surgery" Mrs. Fields softly said.

I gave her a nod and stared down at my hands.

Mrs. Fields sighed before sitting down, looking at her daughter.

"How ya holding up?" Mrs. Fields asked.

"I'm fine" Emily shrugged.

"Pam Fields, please pick up the nearest courtesy phone"

"Must be dad" Emily sighed. 

"No, I never reached him. He doesn't even know we're here" Mrs. Fields said, clearly confused.

She got up and walked over to answer the phone, leaving the rest of us alone.

As soon as she was gone all of our phones rang. I swear I was tempted to throw it across the room.

We all glanced at each other and sighed before taking our phones out and picking up the call.

"Emily, I owe you one"

We all quietly gasped before the line disconnected. We all glanced at each other, unsure of what to say.

I shook my head and stuffed my phone into my pocket, laying my head back on Spencer's shoulder.

We turned around and saw Mrs. Fields walking back towards us.

"That was odd. There was no one there" Mrs. Fields said as she sat back down.

We heard the elevator doors open and I thought it was Alyssa's parents, but it wasn't.

It was mom and Garrett.

What the hell is Garrett doing here?

Mom nodded at him before walking towards us.

"Mom, he's out of jail?" Spencer asked in disbelief.

Mom sent her a small smile and nodded before sitting down. She sighed before turning to Emily.

"Emily, I'm so sorry you had to go through that tonight. But I want you to know that you helped an innocent victim. Because of you, Garrett Reynolds is a free man" Mom softly said.

We all glanced at her before turning to Garrett.

When he noticed us staring at him he sent us a smirk.

I flipped him off, causing his smirk to falter, and rolled my eyes.

Mom sighed and gently placed her hand on my knee.

"How are you holding up, honey?" Mom softly asked.

"Not well. But I'll be fine when the doctors tell me that Alyssa is going to be fine" I sighed.

Mom nodded in understanding and placed a gentle kiss to my head.

The elevator opened and two people walked out. As soon as I saw them I knew that it was Alyssa's parents.

I've seen pictures from Alyssa's house to know who they are and what they look like.

I shot up from my seat and walked towards them, mom followed right behind me.

"Mr and Mrs. Taylor. I'm Ethan Hastings, Alyssa's friend from school" I politely introduced myself to them.

"Oh, yes. It's very nice to meet you, Ethan. Alyssa talks about you all the time" Mrs. Taylor softly smiled.

Mr. Taylor smiled at me and extended his hand. I smiled back at him and shook his hand before pulling away.

"I wish we got to meet you on different circumstances" Mr. Taylor said.

"Me too. Oh, this is my mother, Veronica Hastings" I said.

"Pleasure to meet you two" Mom politely smiled.

"The pleasure is ours" Mrs. Taylor smiled.

"Mr and Mrs. Taylor, I'm so sorry about what happened to Alyssa. I should've protected her mo-" I started but Mr. Taylor cut me off.

"There's no need to apologize, Ethan. None of this is your fault. The only one to blame is the bastard that shot our daughter" Mr. Taylor sternly said.

"Nobody deserves death, but after finding out that he killed an innocent girl and tried doing the same to her girlfriend, he deserved it" Mrs. Taylor said.

"Agreed" Mom nodded, shocking me a little.

I sighed and shook my head.

"I just feel guilty for not being there. If I had, maybe she wouldn't have been shot" I said.

"Ethan, our daughter is known for helping people out. Trust me, if someone she cares about is in any type of danger, she'll help them no matter what. Especially if it means putting her own life at risk" Mr. Taylor explained.

"She's a stupid protective hero" Mrs. Taylor fondly smiled.

"Huh? Sounds like somebody I know" Mom teasingly said, narrowing her eyes at me.

I blushed bright red at that and rolled my eyes.

Huh. I guess Alyssa and I are similar in many ways.

But still, I hope she pulls through. We need her to pull through.

I need her to pull through.