04. Birds Of A Feather

The five best friends sat together at the Grille.

"Are we seriously just taking Jenna's word that she was on a joyride the night A took Ali's body?" a skeptic Daniella asked her friends, grabbing a spoonful of chocolate cake that was placed in the middle of the table for the five girls to share.

"Or was her plan to take Emily to Ali's grave all along?" Spencer suggested.

"Seemed to me like she was scared of someone" Emily said.

"And it seemed like she was blind for five months when she wasn't" Aria retorted.

"For purposes of my head not exploding, could we just say that she is telling the truth?" Hanna asked.

"Well, that would mean that we would cross her off the new A list" Spencer replied.

"Whose still on that list?" a curious Daniella asked.

"Lucas?" Emily asked.

"No way" Hanna protested, "He might be a little unhinged lately, but he's not capable of digging up a grave".

"Guys, all roads lead back to the black swan" Spencer pointed out, "We know that she was working with Mona, the sketches were in her lair".

"Spencer, mom wants to know if you want anything else" Melissa called out.

"Uh, no, thank you, mom" Spencer said.

"Melissa looks great" Emily commented, looking at Spencer's older sister.

"Yeah, she's back to being size too skinny" Hanna added, making the girls look at her, "Black swan skinny? I mean, think about it, we know that she lied about when she lost her baby".

"Woah, back up" Spencer said.

"You think that she was pretending to be pregnant for that long?" Aria asked, "That's like months".

"There's no way" Spencer stated, "She wouldn't do that to my parents".

"Who else could it be?" Emily asked.

"Mona and Noel started talking again, so maybe they can give me and Dani some answers" Hanna suggested.

"Lovely, just how I want to tomorrow to go, talking to my lunatic stalker" Daniella mumbled into her tea.

Before any of the girls could say anything, the Grille door slamming open gained their attention.

"Dani, isn't that Jason?" a confused Hanna asked.

Daniella looked towards the door and saw her angry boyfriend storming in, "Oh no" she whispered, realising Jason was heading towards Veronica Hastings, "Spence, I think Jason found out about your mom defending Garrett".

"What?!" a shocked Spencer asked, "Did you tell him?!".

"Are you insane?!" Daniella asked, "I promised I wouldn't, didn't I?", before Spencer could say anything, Daniella quickly stood up and rushed over to her boyfriend, "Jason--".

"Did you really think you could ignore me forever?" Jason asked Veronica, completely ignoring his girlfriend, "How could you defend Garrett?".

"Jason, this is not the place for this conversation" Daniella said, grabbing Jason's arm.

"Stay out of this, Daniella" Jason stated, his eyes on Veronica.

"Listen to Daniella, let's not have this conversation here" Veronica told Jason.

"Oh, it doesn't bother you that he murdered my sister?" Jason snapped.

"Look, I understand that you're upset, but this isn't the place" Veronica said.

"Just tell me why you're doing it" Jason said.

"Everyone deserves a competent legal defense" Veronica stated.

"You sure that's the only reason?" Jason challenged.

"Let the process play out, Jason" Veronica said, "Focus on taking care of your family and yourself, and your girlfriend".

"Don't worry, I am" Jason said, before walking out the grill.

After exchanging a look with her friends, Daniella quickly rushed after her boyfriend.

"Jason?!" Daniella called out, "Jason, wait up!".

"Not now, Dani" Jason said, sticking up a poster on to a pole.

Daniella looked at the poster and her eyes went wide in shock, "You're offering 50 grand to the the person who finds Ali's remains?".

"Yeap" Jason said, as the rest of Daniella's friends also came out of the Grille.

"Jason--".

Jason turned and faced his girlfriend, "Did you know?".

Daniella looked at Jason in confusion, "Know what?".

"Don't pretend Daniella!" Jason yelled, making Daniella flinch back in surprise, Hanna immediately took a step towards her best friend but Spencer held her wrist and shook her head, subtly telling her not to interfere in this, "You knew about Veronica defending Garrett, didn't you?".

"Please Jason, just listen--".

"Yes or no, Daniella!" Jason yelled.

Daniella looked down, "Yes" she whispered, "I knew".

Jason scoffed in disbelief, "So much for no more secrets" he taunted, turning to walk away from Daniella.

"No Jason, just wait, please" Daniella pleaded, "Let me explain".

"Just--just stay away from me tonight, I'm too angry to hear anything from you right now" Jason said, before walking away from his girlfriend.

"Dani" Hanna whispered, walking over to the upset Montgomery girl.

Daniella looked at Hanna with teary eyes, "I screwed up, Han".

"Come here" Hanna said, pulling her best friend into a hug, "You didn't screw up, he's angry right now, but once you guys talk, he'll understand, trust me, he will".

Before Daniella could say anything, the beeping of all five of their phones caused Daniella and Hanna to break their hug.

"Imagine what I could do with 50 grand - A" Spencer read out loud, causing the five girls to once again look towards the poster Jason had stuck up, all knowing this wasn't going to end up well.

***

"I hate it, I hate it with everything I have!" a furious Daniella told Hanna, as the two best friends walked down the hallway of their high school, "My dad didn't just get a new haircut, he even got a new freaking aftershave".

"Sound like he's got a date to me" Hanna concluded.

"I don't care about him dating anyone, hell I want him to move on, what I do have a problem with is him going on a date with Meredith" Daniella said.

"Does your mom know?" Hanna asked.

"Absolutely not" Daniella replied, "How the hell am I supposed to tell her that her ex-husband is pursing the woman who broke her family?".

"Dani, it's better she hears it from you than someone else" Hanna said.

Daniella sighed, "You're right" she whispered, "I have to be the one to tell her".

***

"Hey" Daniella greeted, entering her mom's classroom.

"Hey" Ella greeted, "Are you on your way home?".

"Actually, I was wondering if I could come over yours" Daniella said, "Maybe we could do dinner?".

"Oh well, you're looking at it" Ella said, showing Daniella her cup of noodles, "I have a pile of essays to get through".

Daniella sighed, "Well, when you come home, don't be surprised seeing me there, I think I might stay at yours for a while".

Ella frowned hearing Daniella, "I don't mind you staying at mine Dani, but is everything okay?".

"Well--" Daniella opened her mouth to tell her mom the truth, but nothing came out, "I miss you" she finally blurted out, "And I just want to spend some time with you, only if that's okay with you".

"Of course it's okay with me" Ella said, smiling at her daughter, "I miss you too, Dani".

"Great" Daniella smiled, "I'll see you when you get home, and don't worry, I made a spare key the moment you moved into that apartment".

Ella chuckled, "Somehow, that does not surprise me one bit".

Daniella laughed, "See you at home, mom".

"See you, Dani" Ella said, with a small smile on her face watching her daughter walk away.

***

"Han, I really can't give you advice on relationships right now, my own one is currently in the bins" Daniella said, sitting on the kitchen counter at the Marin's.

"You and Jason still haven't talked?" Hanna asked.

Daniella shook her head, "I've tried calling him, but he won't pick up, and honestly I'm kind of glad, I think both our heads are too hot to be dealing with each other right now, we both need some time to cool off, maybe that's what you and Caleb need as well".

"Caleb's not gonna be cooling off any time soon" Hanna stated, "He doesn't understand why I need to see Mona, and it's killing me not to tell him".

"That's why I stopped going to Noel, for now at least" Daniella said, "Not telling Jason, lying to him about Noel, about that night, about this new A, it physically hurts me, makes me wonder if I should just tell him the truth about everything".

"Wait, are you serious?" a shocked Hanna asked.

"I think right now, both of our relationships are hanging on a thread because of these new secrets and if we want to save them, we might have to come out and tell our boyfriends the truth" Daniella said.

"What if telling them the truth puts them in danger?" Hanna asked.

"What if not telling them the truth destroys everything?" Daniella retorted.

Hanna sighed, "We are so screwed, aren't we?".

"Yeap" Daniella confirmed, "If we stay quiet, we risk our relationships, if we speak the truth, we risk our boyfriends becoming A's new targets, either way, no outcome is going to have a good result for us, but eventually we're going to have to choose what's more important to us, our relationships--".

"Or the safety of our boyfriends" Hanna finished.

"I don't want to lose him" Daniella whispered, "But--".

"But what if losing them is the only way to keep them safe?" Hanna finished, giving Daniella a knowing look.

"Look either way, you need to talk to Caleb and I need to talk to Jason" Daniella said, "We can't just give up on them without a fight".

"Trust me, I don't plan on it" Hanna assured, making Daniella give her a small smile, the two girls then sat there in silence, both wondering what was going to become of their relationships.

***

Next day, Daniella leaned against her locker, patiently waiting for Jason's substance abuse class to finish.

"Hey" Daniella greeted, rushing over to her boyfriend after seeing him come out of the classroom, "Can we talk?".

"Nothing to talk about" Jason stated.

"Come on, Jason" Daniella said, grabbing Jason's wrist and stopping from walking away from her, "Please don't be like this".

"Like what, Daniella?" Jason asked.

"Don't close yourself off from me" Daniella pleaded, "Please".

"I'm not the one hiding things, you are, so whose closing who off here?" Jason asked, removing his wrist from Daniella's grip.

Daniella quickly followed after Jason, "I get it, you're upset, you have every reason to be but I just want to make sure you're okay".

"I will be, eventually" Jason said.

"I just--I don't think this 50 grand thing is a good idea, Jason" Daniella said, "The police can handle this much better then you can".

"Because they handled Ali's murder case so well" Jason taunted.

"Jason, are you seriously going to answer calls from every crack pot in Rosewood whose looking for some money?" an annoyed Daniella asked.

Jason stopped walking and faced his girlfriend, "Look, all I need is one to tell me the truth".

"And how exactly are you going to know if that person is speaking the truth or just lying for money?" Daniella challenged.

"I can tell when someone's lying" Jason said, "Just like I know you've been lying to me about your visits to Noel, and you know something about the night Ali's body disappeared, I tried being patient with you Dani, but honestly I'm running very low on my patience now".

Daniella looked at Jason wide eyed, "Jason--".

Before Daniella could defend herself, Jason's phone started vibrating, "I gotta take this" he informed Daniella, "We'll talk when you finally decide to be honest".

***

"I can't believe you're making me do this" Daniella whisper yelled to Hanna, as the two girls hid behind a wall in Radley, waiting for the receptionist to walk away so they could sneak in to talk to Mona and Noel who Hanna had informed Daniella were no longer allowed visitators.

"I wasn't going to do this alone" Hanna retorted, slowly peeking her head, "Come on, she isn't looking".

Both Daniella and Hanna quickly used the opportunity to sneak towards the rooms Mona and Noel were, they quickly hid behind another wall when they saw a patient being wheeled through, once the patient was gone, Hanna and Daniella took a step away from the wall, but then quickly hid again once they heard the door buzz and the familiar voice of Wren.

"Hey, I understand you're a cop, but you still can't go in there" Wren said, stopping Detective Darren Wilden from going any further.

Wilden pulled out a court order from his jacket pocket and showed it to Wren, "Well, this court order says I can".

Wren read the court order, then looked at Wilden, "How long will you be?".

Wilden snatched the court order back from Wren, "As long as it takes".

Once Wilden had walked into Mona's room, both Daniella and Wren came out and revealed themselves to Wren, who looked at them in shock but stayed quiet, not letting Wilden know that they were here.

"Hello Mona, remember me?" the trio heard Wilden ask Mona, as they exchanged worried looks among them, wondering what was Wilden up to this time.

***

Wren walked into the waiting room where he saw Hanna and Daniella waiting for Wilden to leave.

"He's still downstairs talking to them" Wren informed.

"What exactly is Wilden asking Noel and Mona?" a confused Daniella, "It's been an hour".

"Something to do with Alison's missing remains" Wren replied.

"No, Mona doesn't know anything about that" Hanna defended, "She's been in here the last five months".

"I don't even know what Noel knows and doesn't" Daniella mumbled.

"Well, a judge doesn't issues an order like that unless there's a pretty good reason" Wren said.

"Look, can't you just sneak me and Dani in there?" Hanna asked, "We just have to see them, we have one question, we'll be really quick".

Wren sighed, he walked over and sat next to Dani, "Hanna, Daniella, I'd love to help, but my hands are tied, I already got reprimanded by their primary last week for extending your guys visiting hours".

"You never told me that you did that" Daniella said.

"I didn't think that I had to" Wren said.

"So why did you do it?" a confused Hanna asked.

"Well, I saw you two with them and thought you were connecting" Wren replied.

"I don't know if me and Noel will ever connect again, but I still appreciate the gesture" Daniella said, giving Wren a small smile.

***

After their visit to Radley, Hanna and Daniella met up with the rest of the girls at Spencer's.

"He was there with a court order to talk to them" Hanna informed.

"So what do you think Mona and Noel said to Wilden?" a curious and slightly afraid Emily asked.

"What if they know about us being at Ali's grave that night?" Daniella asked, "What if they told Wilden?".

"We would be in jail right now" Spencer stated.

"You guys, we need to find out who the black sawn is" Hanna said, "Like, now".

"I think we need to find out when Melissa lost her baby" Aria retorted.

"Yeah, she's right, Spence" Emily said, "I mean, Melissa lied for a reason, we need to find out what it is".

A frustrated Spencer stood up from the couch, "Yeah, but we know why Mona and Noel hated us", Spencer faced her friends, "Why would my sister wanna torture us?".

"Because you made out with her fiance and broke up their engagement" Hanna snapped.

"Okay, yeah, but that was me" Spencer argued.

"She knows the we have a video of her in Ali's room the night she was murdered" Daniella reminded.

"And she fits the costume" Hanna added.

Spencer grabbed the keys from the side table near her and showed it to the rest of the girls, "Going to Philly".

***

Aria, Daniella, Hanna and Emily hid behind a wall, watching Melissa leave her apartment, once it was clear, Hanna pulled out her phone and called Spencer.

"Hello?" Spencer answered.

"Hey, Melissa just left, should we go in?" Hanna asked.

"No, just wait, I'll text you when she gets here" Spencer said.

"All right, roger that" Hanna said, hanging up on Spencer.

"Roger that?" an amused Daniella asked.

"What?" Hanna asked, "We're on a mission".

***

Hanna, Aria, Daniella sat on the stairs infront of Melissa's apartment, while Emily leaned against the railing.

Hanna checked the time on her phone, "Alright you guys, it's been twenty minutes, we should just go in".

"Spencer hasn't texted yet" Emily reminded.

"She probably will any minute now" Daniella said, "Let's just go and find out when Melissa lost Ian's spawn".

"Ian's spawn?" Aria asked her sister.

"Ian, Garrett, who cares" Daniella said, standing up, "I just want to know when she lost it".

And with that the four girls proceeded to enter Melissa's apartment building.

***

Daniella used the keys Spencer gave her to open the door to Melissa's apartment, and one by one the four girls entered the apartment.

"What exactly are we looking for?" a confused Emily asked, after shutting the door behind them.

"Medical records, anything with a date on it" Hanna replied.

"Me and Aria will check the bedroom" Daniella said.

While Daniella and Aria checked the bedroom, Hanna checked Melissa's desk and Emily proceeded to check her shelves.

***

"There's absolutely nothing in her bedroom" Daniella informed, as her and Aria walked back to their friends after searching Melissa's bedroom but finding nothing.

"Is this anything?" Hanna asked, handing Aria a paper.

"Yeah, her car insurance" Aria informed, putting the paper back.

"Melissa bought a pair of Chloe boots from Saks last week for nine hundred bucks" Emily informed, finding a receipt.

"Where were those when I was searching her room?" Daniella complained, "I would die to even lay my eyes on Chole boots that cost nine hundred bucks".

"I wanna find her fake baby bump" Hanna said, making the other three girls look at her, "What? Aren't you curious? It has to be here somewhere".

"Gross" Aria commented, as Hanna walked over to Melissa's wardrobe.

"Oh, my god, she's even more anal than Spencer" Hanna commented, opening Melissa's closet and seeing her clothes.

"I didn't even think that was possible" Emily said, as her and the twins looked at Melissa's colour coordinated closet.

Hanna slid the clothes to the side, revealing Melissa's shoes, with all the black ones at the bottom and the dark brown ones in the middle and the light brown ones at the top.

"And yet somehow it is" Daniella commented, "Hey, see if you can find the Chloe boots".

"On it" Hanna said, searching Melissa's closet.

"Oh, my god" a panicked Emily suddenly said, her eyes landing outside the window where she saw Melissa walking towards the building.

"What?" a confused Hanna asked.

"It's Melissa!" Emily informed.

"Where?" a confused Aria asked.

"Outside" Emily replied, proceeding to put everything back to where she found it.

"What the hell do we do?" Daniella asked, officially in panic mode.

"Put everything back where you found it" Emily ordered.

While Daniella, Emily and Aria fixed Melissa desk, Hanna quickly grabbed her bag and proceeded to fix Melissa's magazine stack, when she accidentally ended up throwing her tin of safety clips on to the floor.

"Damn it!" Hanna said.

"Hanna" Aria scolded, quickly rushing over to help the Marin girl, Emily and Daniella also helping.

The four girls kneeled on the ground, quickly putting the clips back in the tin, they panicked hearing Melissa put the keys in the door, but luckily they quickly managed to gather all the safety clips and hide in Melissa's closet.

The group of four girls watched from inside the closet as Melissa's eyes landed on a book on her coffee table, a book Emily placed there and forgot to put it back, thinking she might have forgotten to put it back, a confused Melissa picked the book up and placed it back on her shelf, she then opened her closet and slid half her clothes to one side, as she started sliding more and more clothes to the side, the girls held their breath, realising they were about to be caught, but luckily, just before they could, Melissa stop sliding the clothes, she grabbed her wallet from her green jacket and then closed the closet and finally walked out the door.

"That was so close" Daniella said, as the girls came out of the closet, all breathing sighs of relief.

"Yeah, way too close" Emily said.

"Okay, let's just get out of here" Aria suggested.

"We need to hang these up" Emily said, gesturing towards the clothes they threw on the floor.

"Wait, you guys, look" Hanna pointed towards a hanger that said center city costume.

Emily quickly took it out of the closet and Daniella proceeded to open it, the four girls were disappointed seeing no costume in there.

"Wait" Daniella said, her eyes landing on something, she took it out and showed it to her friends, it was the feather of the black swan costume.

***

Daniella placed the feather they found at Melissa on her bed and Hanna proceeded to do the same with the feather she found at the masquerade ball.

"The feather we found at Melissa's matches the one Hanna found at the masquerade ball" Daniella informed Spencer, "The feather the black swan dropped".

"You know what they say, if the feather fits" Hanna said.

"Hanna, it's the shoe, if the shoe fits" Aria corrected.

"Whatever, Melissa's A" Hanna stated, as Spencer picked the feathers up and looked at them.

"Guys, I know that she looks suspicious" Spencer said, refusing to believe her sister wanted to hurt her and her friends, "Okay, but we're still just guessing".

"Well, it's a guess I'm willing to take" Hanna retorted.

"Me too" Aria whispered.

"Same" Daniella informed.

"Fine, I'll go back to Philly" Spencer suggested.

"Mm-mm, you're not going alone" Aria protested.

"If Melissa is who we think she is, then she's dangerous" Hanna told Spencer.

"For all we know, she could have had something to do with Ali's murder" Daniella added.

"She's not just trying to hurt you, Spence" Hanna said, "She's after all of us".

"Well, Em gets off at eight, so pick her up, and then we'll all go together" Spencer said, the other three girls nodding in agreement.

***

"I'm doing it tonight" Daniella informed Hanna through the phone, "I'm at my mom and she's not here so I called Jason to come over so I can tell him everything, I'm not letting A break us up".

"Same"  Hanna said from the other side, "I'm telling Caleb tonight as well, I refuse to let this new A play divide and conquer".

"Good luck" Daniella said.

"You too" Hanna said.

As soon as Daniella hanged up on Hanna, her phone beeped, thinking it was a message from Jason, Daniella opened it only to realise it was a message from A.

You sure telling Jason is worth Emily going to jail?
- A

Daniella looked at the photo A sent along with the text and realised it was a photo of Emily holding a shovel at Alison's empty grave.

Daniella slumped down on her bed in defeat, wondering how was A always one step ahead, how the hell did A know what Daniella was planning, and how the hell did A know exactly what spots to hit to get Daniella to listen to them, because Daniella knew now she couldn't tell Jason anything know, she couldn't do that to her best friend, but she also knew hiding the truth from her boyfriend might just cause Daniella to lose him forever.

***

"Hey" Daniella greeted, opening the front door to her mother's apartment and seeing Jason standing there, "Come in".

Jason entered Ella's apartment, "Ella has gotten herself a really nice place".

"Yeah" Daniella whispered, looking around her mother's apartment.

"Why are you here though?" a confused Jason asked.

"I'm staying here for a while" Daniella replied, "Just wanted to stay with my mom, I miss her".

Jason nodded his head in understanding, "Um so, you said you were finally ready to tell me everything".

Daniella sighed, "I did say that, but look, something changed Jason, I thought I'd be able to tell you but turns out, I can't".

"Why not?" Jason asked.

"Because I just can't" Daniella said.

"That's not enough, Dani" Jason snapped.

"Don't you think I know that?!" Daniella snapped back, "But can't you just trust me on this?".

"How am I suppose to trust you when I know that you're hiding things from me?" Jason argued, "I get lying last year Dani, but why now? I know you know something about the night Ali's body disappeared, why won't you tell me?".

"Jason, please just drop it" Daniella pleaded.

"I can't drop it Daniella, this is my sister!" Jason yelled, "You know what? I can't do this anymore".

"Jason, please" Daniella cried, she knew what was coming, she knew if she didn't speak this would be the consequence but it didn't mean she was ready for it.

"I have been nothing but patient with you Dani, I knew something is wrong but I kept waiting for you to open up but you just won't" Jason said, "You keep pushing me away when all I want is to know what's going on with you, give me something, please Dani, or I won't be able to stay".

"I can't" Daniella cried.

"Then this is over" Jason whispered, tears welling in his eyes, "I'm done Daniella, I can't keep doing this".

"Jason" Daniella whispered, watching Jason walk over to the front door.

"The day you decide to be honest with me, you know where to find me" Jason said, before opening the door and walking out, slamming the door on his way.

Daniella flinched hearing the door shut, she then fell to her knees, sobbing.

***

After not hearing from Daniella for an hour, Hanna decided to go over to her mom's apartment to check up on her friend, she was worried for her best friend who wasn't even answering any of her calls or texts.

As soon as Daniella opened the door, Hanna knew the talk between her and Jason had gone wrong, Daniella, who had attempted to fix herself up after hearing the knock on the door, thinking it was her mother, immediately broke down seeing her best friend, who without wasting a second, stepped forward and engulfed her best friend in a comforting hug.

"I lost him" Daniella cried, "I lost him Hanna".

"Shh" Hanna whispered, tears welling in her eyes seeing Daniella's condition, "I promise it'll be okay Dani, I promise soon you and Jason will be together again".

Daniella didn't say anything, she just cried harder, she wanted to believe Hanna, she really did, but she knew as long as A was in the picture, her and Jason's relationship will never be safe, and Daniella had no idea when A will be out of her life, hell she didn't even know if A will be out of their lives.

***

Jason sat on the couch at the Brew, tears in his eyes, staring at the cup of coffee in his hand.

Caleb walked over to the devastated Dilaurentis boy and sat next to him, "Jason--".

"Don't" Jason interrupted, "Don't ask me if what I did was the right thing or not, because I have no idea, all I know is that secrets have always pulled me and Dani apart, and until she starts speaking the truth, we can't be together".

Caleb sighed, he gave Jason a small encouraging pat on his shoulder, knowing no words will help his heartbroken friend.

***

Presenting 3x04 of We Belong Together!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Jason's anger towards Daniella for hiding the fact that Veronica is defending Garrett?

Thoughts on Hanna and Daniella's talk about Caleb and Jason?

Thoughts on Wren informing Daniella and Hanna about Wilden asking Mona and Noel about Alison's remains?

Thoughts on Jason breaking up with Daniella?

Thoughts on Hanna and Caleb comforting Daniella and Jason after their break up?