EMPTY GOLD.
015. | ❛ we stick together. ❜

"Mona basically told you she was ready to kill Charlotte." Aria pointed out with a bandage on her left wrist from the burning.

"Yeah, but she didn't, because Charlotte never showed up." Emily sounded as if she was defending Mona.

"Not guilty because the victim didn't show? That's setting the bar pretty low, Em." Elena crossed her arms

"Innocent, guilty, whatever she admits to being the brunette on the phone. Let-let's tell Tanner this, so I can get off the suspect list." Aria said

"So do you think she's lying?" Emily asked Spencer and Elena

"Pick a topic." Spencer replied

"About Charlotte not meeting her that night."

"That's probably true. It's too easy to check."

"While you two are discussing this, let's remember that I was the one that was in a line-up. Alright? It's really unflattering lighting there."

"I can vouch for that. It makes you look a lot older than you appear." Elena added on to Aria.

"So what, do we wait?"

"For what? Whoever this is wants us to hand over Charlotte's killer before election night. And they're getting impatient."

"Yeah? Well, does anyone wanna put some ointment on that impatience?" Aria showed them her bandaged wrist.

"Look, a free-range Mona is more likely to lead us someplace. Especially if she thinks we believe her."

"So, we believe her?" Elena asked, not processing this enough.

"We believe her enough."
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"She says it was an accident." Spencer said showing them her phone, with a selfie of Ali in the hospital.

"Do we believe that?"

"As much as I believe Aria being seared was an accident."

"What do you think, Spence?" Elena asked

"Uh, two out of six in the ER. That's 40%. It's 60 if you count what happened to Emily's eggs."

"Well, the odds aren't gonna get any better the closer we get to election night."

"Three days." Emily reminded them.

"Hey, so Ali's hospital is an hour away. I think I'm gonna go check up on her." Elena said, seeing if others wanted to go with her.

"She says she'll be back tomorrow." Aria informed her

"Maybe she should think about going in the opposite direction."

"Yeah, check on her, but don't freak her out. And it might be best if she stays away until after the election."

"What do we do about Mona?"

"Keep a close eye on her."

"You guys, Mona did not kill Charlotte. She couldn't." Hanna rushed to her defense

"She's got as much motive as anybody. Probably more."

"She admits to getting Charlotte out of her house. I mean, she's telling the truth, just not all of it."

"Mona's changed so many times I doubt she even knows herself when she looks in the mirror."

"Okay, who around here hasn't tried to reinvent themselves a couple of times?" Hanna lashed at them, all of them remaining quiet.

"I'll call you after I go see Ali." Elena said getting up and heading to the hospital.
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"So did you feel dizzy or anything?" Elena stood by Ali's bed.

"No, I felt fine. All of a sudden, my feet were there but the stairs weren't."

"I'm so sorry, Ali."

"It was just a stupid accident. Do you like my honeymoon lingerie?" Ali referred to her hospital gown, which made Elena chuckle.

"You look great. Hey, what are the doctors saying?"

"They want me to stay because of the concussion but they'll spring me tomorrow."

"Back to the bridal suite?"

"Back to Rosewood. Elliott got a call for a conference in Chicago. They want him on the panel."

"You're gonna be in Rosewood by yourself?"

"I don't mind. For the first time... That house really feels like mine." Elena smiled at it before looking around her.

"God, all these flowers. Did you fall down some stairs or enter the Rose Parade?"

"Elliott sent them."

"All of them?"

"He's working on his husband creds."

"Oh! Hi, newlywed." Elena said to Elliot who was entering the room.

"Elena. Thank you so much for coming."

"We stick together, you should know that by now. These flowers are getting a little much." Ali spoke to Elliot as Elena skimmed over the flowers that were recently brought in. She took one of the cards out of the flowers and opened it up. Inside, there was drawings of each liar. Emily, Aria, and Ali were the ones with x's draw across while Hanna, Spencer, and Elena had none.

Elena folded the card and placed it in her purse before returning to the conversation.
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"I really wanna thank you for coming. We weren't expecting it." Elliot thanked Elena as they were walking of Ali's room, shutting the door.

"I made a promise that I would look after her. Well, no one likes to be in a hospital especially away from home."

"Um, this place is okay, is it?"

"You mean the hospital? Yeah. I checked out the staff. Ali's getting the best. I'm probably overreacting a bit but I figure that's part of my job now."

"And her concussion, they're gonna check on her. Right? They're not gonna leave her alone?" Elena wanted to make sure.

"They check on her and I'm with her most of the time."

"Good."

"I'm just starting to understand how loyal you are to Alison. The way you look out for each other, it's remarkable. "

"Yeah, well, we're all connected like a big bowl of Linguini. Um, if she needs anything, call me."

"I will."
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"Tell me I'm wrong about this." Elena handed the card to Caleb, as Hanna overlooked it.

"Did Alison or Elliott see this?"

"I'm pretty sure they didn't. Look, whoever this is is not gonna wait until election night. They're gonna keep chipping away at us until there's nothing left."

"Did you tell the others about Ali's accident?"

"Nothing... yet. I wanted to talk to you guys first."

"Why us?"

"Because you guys are the only one who can help me with this."

"What are we talking about?" Hanna asked

"Look, I thought about this a lot on the drive home. The only way to prevent any more accidents is to call this creep's bluff."

"Elena's right. We have to tell them we're ready to give them what they want." Hanna stood by her side, while Caleb was still skeptical.

"Hanna, what they want is Charlotte's killer."

"Right. And that's who we give them."