Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The invitation trembled in her hands.

She didn't know why they shook, this had been coming eventually. Spencer had told them years ago, at Emily and Ali's wedding, that they were together. At the time it felt sort of plausible, it wasn't the sort of thing Spencer would lie and joke about. But then neither seemed the type to settle down, get married.

And yet here she was, holding their wedding invitation.

Sure, Mona and her had made that wedding book, she'd left it behind at Hanna's. It was now shoved in a closet somewhere, wrapped in some bubble wrap so it didn't get damaged. Though when they made it, it had felt like they had because Hanna had fantasies about marriage, and because she was a girl, so should Mona.

It didn't seem like she had actually felt that. It seemed like she wanted to be included and also really liked planning and organising stuff. Maybe if Hanna had kept making her do that kind of stuff she wouldn't have put all that planning and scheming into -A.

She couldn't think that. Nothing she could have done would have prevented that. It wasn't her fault, her old therapist had told her.

The invitation was a pretty thing, bold gold letters on creamy paper. Except she couldn't believe it was half real. Spencer and Mona together, made sense logically; they were both smart and driven, two sides of the same coin if you will. And both gay, apparently.

But still it felt strange, and she couldn't quite figure out why.

Although in all honesty, Mona being gay didn't surprise her much, if she thought about it. She had tried to ignore it and play it off as friendship, but she had still seen the looks and how far Mona went to help her. Perhaps Spencer had been able to reciprocate what she hadn't been able to.

While Hanna wouldn't consider herself one hundred percent straight, she still wouldn't go out with a girl. Even with the divorce, it would have to be "the one" for her to go out with her. Her mom would be understanding if she wanted to, but Hanna still wouldn't. Men made sense to her, despite their pigheaded-ness.

Somewhere in her, Mona had probably known that.

In the post there came two invitations, one for her and one for her daughter. She decided to wait to discuss it with Mimi before she signed anything.

That was considerate, right?

Apparently, Mimi was thrilled to go to a real life wedding. Like the one in My Little Pony, she had said and cheered with wide eyes. Kind of, she thought, though with less mind control and singing and no one using magic to disguise themselves as the bride. And no ponies.

In fact it wasn’t really like the My Little Pony wedding episode at all.

Before they signed anything Hanna had reminded her again gently that it wouldn't be like the Royal Wedding or My Little Pony. It was a serious event so she would have to be on her best behaviour, and that there would be two women instead of a man and a woman.

She had a few questions about that. Mimi couldn't remember Ali and Emily's wedding, she'd been too young at the time. Though when it all boiled down it was very easy to explain that Mona and Spencer loved each other the same way Harry and Megan did. Mimi understood it very easily after she had said that.

Boom. Take that homophobes.

After that most of her questions had been about food, a girl after her own heart, and whether there would still be a wedding cake. And yes, Hanna was pretty sure there would be cake. Emily and Ali hadn't had a cake, but that was because they'd gone for a homespun feel instead. They'd had cupcakes though, red velvet.

So she signed the invitation, that they could come. Shamefully, she had to add that she wasn't bringing a plus one, but she had her daughter and more importantly her pride.

Her date would be her dad's old hip flask.

_

After a couple of weeks she kind of forgot about the wedding.

The invitation was sent back and the only reminder of it was in her phone. Honestly, she didn't check her phone calendar a lot. On top of that she was a busy woman, a budding fashion empire didn't run itself after all.

Then Mona called her, one Tuesday randomly out of the blue. And she genuinely had no idea what it was about.

'Mona, hi. How are you?'

She asked, puzzled. The most contact the two of them had was sending each other annual birthday and Christmas cards. Hanna always had her hands full, Mona was otherwise engaged at all times; it worked. A phone call from her was strange.

There was the miniscule chance, and this was a bit macabre admittedly; that someone had died.

'Yeah I'm good. Busy, but good. How about you, how's the business going?'

Mona sounded far too perky for someone to have died, so that obviously wasn't it. This was something else, and it wasn't just a catch up either. Or maybe someone Mona didn’t like had died. She was back to square one.

'It's going well, I like it.'

This preamble was dragging on, she thought chewing on her gum. C'mon Mona, clue her in already.

'Good. Anyway, I wanted to ask you a question about the wedding.'

Of course, god she was thick. How on earth could she have forgotten. The wedding, Mona was calling her about the wedding. It was all making sense now.

'Oh yeah did you want help with planning?'

There was a lot less bawling from Mona's end this time, but that would be the reason why she was calling. Obviously she wanted her to come over, with the book, to help with the planning. It would be a bit of a pain to get over, and she didn't overly want to; but she could do it.

'No, nothing like that. We've got it covered.'

Oh.

Okay, unexpected. But not completely unfounded. This was probably payback for Mona helping so much with the party, then at the last minute she and Caleb had decided it was all too "wedding-y" so they abandoned most of it. She was curious who Mona was doing it with, her mother?

No it couldn't be her, Mona's mom had never been married. Her, then, boyfriend had run off when she told him she was pregnant. That was what Mona had told her at least, and Hanna was pretty sure it was true.

'We?'

She asked, after a pause. A majority of Hanna's friends were married, so it could be that Mona was talking about a small cohort of married friends assisting her. Though that also hinged on Mona having a cohort of friends who were willing to help her, and she wasn't so sure about that one.

'Yeah, me and Spencer. Who else?'

Well Spencer did always enjoy organising things to the point of extreme control, so that made sense. She supposed it was a good sign for marriage if both people get involved with planning; look at her and Caleb. He didn't, and their marriage lasted less than five years.

'Right. What did you want to ask?'

She ran through any and all of the wedding related questions Mona could possibly ask her from here.

The list was short, and she had finally decided on a wedding dress related question before Mona began to speak again. Her job was literally to design clothes, she was sure a wedding dress wouldn't be too far out her league.

'I know it's been rocky between us, but I still consider you my first real friend. So I wanted to ask whether you wanted to come to my bachelorette party.'

Mona sounded nervous, Hanna thought that if phones still had those things she would be fiddling with the telephone cord. Wringing it around her finger, that sort of thing. To her question Hanna didn't answer, she was still in slight shock.

Mona asking her to her bachelorette party? Christmas and birthday cards aside, they hadn't seen each other for at least four years.

Hanna knew she meant a lot to Mona, though she hadn't thought this much. Or perhaps her earlier hunch had been correct and this was her scraping the bottom of the barrel for a member of her cohort.

'If not, I'm sure Spencer would be thrilled if you wanted to go to hers.'

Mona was rambling a little now, Hanna could hear her nerves rising though her crappy phone connection. Apprehension rose in her gut, she wasn't really sure about this thing.
Then again nearly everything involving Mona made her a little antsy, only a little; and yet the gut feeling was still there.

'Sorry, just a sec...'

Mona apologised, and began to speak to someone in the background. Hanna couldn't hear who it was, the phone wasn't on speaker or anything.

'Spencer says coming to both is an option. They're on separate nights.'

So the person she had been speaking to was Spencer, that wasn't totally out of comprehension. She was pretty sure the two of them lived together, so it made sense.

'I totally would, but finding a babysitter for two separate weekends is going to be really hard.'

The excuse had strong legs to stand on. It was notoriously expensive to find babysitters in New York, willing to do two full weekends. She didn't really want to shell out half her bank account just to go to Mona's party.

'That's why we're doing them on separate nights. Spencer's on babysitting duty on mine and then on hers vice versa.'

Mona sounded so eager to find a solution and so hopeful, and it tugged at Hanna's heartstrings. Maybe the reason Mona was asking Hanna was really because she didn't have many other friends. The reason was almost certainly Mona's own fault, but Hanna knew a bachelorette party was no fun without friends.

'Oh, awesome. Guess I can come then.'

Her tone felt slightly forced, but over the phone it was harder to tell. Or at least Mona didn't say anything about it. She was sure it would be fun, they'd be alcohol and cute dresses knowing Mona. It would be fine.

'To which one?'

Oh yes, Spencer had also invited her to her party. That one was looking more promising in her eyes right now. Spencer, she was confident of, was better at making friends than Mona was.

'What nights are they?'

Mona then rattled off a few dates and she scrambled to write them down somewhere.

They were during half term, which Hanna assumed was for the benefit of any parents coming. It helped obviously, because it meant that Mimi didn't have to miss any school, though she'd obviously be disappointed about the fact.

'I'll have to get back to you on the dates, but I'm pretty sure I might be able to come.'

Her answer wasn't exactly factual. She was her own boss so that meant she could basically take off whenever she wanted, as long as she met her deadlines for shows and such. The wait gave her time to think the decision over, of whether she actually wanted to go or not.

'Sure. Text me.'

Came Mona's blasé reply, and Hanna couldn't tell anymore whether she was pretending or not. But then again, had she ever really known?

'I will.'

She promised, just before Mona hung up. Guess she had a decision to make.

She waited a few days to text Mona back, but she had known that afternoon she was coming. It was Mona after all. Hanna couldn't resist falling back into her reverse bear trap of misguided love and manipulation.

It was years and years later, and she still couldn't.

Mona sent back a quick reply. It was short and though it did include an exclamation mark or two Hanna felt underwhelmed. She was basically doing Mona a favour, but she wasn't acting like it.

Whatever.

If she didn't think about the party, she wouldn't have to get all these feelings. Sadness for herself and slightly for Mona because she had no friends, and anger, at Mona again. The feelings were very much over the place, which is exactly why she didn't want to think about them.

So she wouldn't, not until the party. Which was in a month. She liked this plan.

_

Then suddenly it was a month later. And she had to pack suitcases, fly over and then drive for three hours following possibly the most frustrating satnav in the world.

Somehow she managed not to tear all her perfectly styled hair out on the way. Now she was there, at her destination and it was actually happening. Hanna arrived at Spencer and Mona's shared apartment with Mimi in tow, with an uneasy feeling and extremely low expectations for the night.

Mona could throw an epic party, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew this. But something inside her felt like this was mostly going to be a sad sort of night, with not a lot of people.

She pushed those mixed feelings away as she knocked on the apartment door. Spencer opened it and welcomed her in. They got up to their usual catch up conversation, mentioning work, how nice the apartment was, and nothing much deeper than that.

Neither of them had the willpower to withstand dragging up old memories. Good or bad.

'So, how many people are coming?'

She asked Spencer as she sipped from the diet coke Spencer had pressed into her hand on arrival. After a near heart attack scare a month ago, this was apparently the only caffeine Spencer was allowed to consume.

Spencer had told her that if she got rid of them all, she was allowed some coffee again. Hanna joked about withdrawal symptoms, Spencer laughed and it all felt so familiar it made her chest hurt.

'I am so not the person you should be asking about this.'

Spencer shook her head with a sheepish grin, and Hanna felt that awful feeling again. The sort of feeling she got when she made a very unwise decision.

Clearly she had underestimated Mona's ability to make friends, though she did only have their high school time to base her idea on. All she knew was that this night was not what she thought it would be.

Spencer then suddenly raised her voice and shouted into the next room;

'Mones, how many people are coming?'

Hanna wasn't sure what to feel about this. She just didn't know how Spencer was so comfortable with Mona. She didn't understand the nickname, she didn't understand how they lived together. She didn't get their stupidly cute personalised apartment, and the annoyingly sweet framed photo of the two of them on the table beside her.

She didn't understand it, but then again perhaps it wasn't her place to. This all could have been hers, but it wasn't. So maybe it wasn't her business to judge.

'12. But Hanna, Melissa and Céline are coming earlier to drop off the kids.'

Mona shouted back, and Hanna wondered whether this was a regular occurrence for them. For a moment this was her outsider perspective seeing a glimpse of their lives, and it felt strange.

No less strange than the fact that she was sitting on their couch. That they were getting married in a few months. And the ever pressing and frankly, disturbing question in her mind of whether they'd had sex on this couch.

Probably.

'Hanna's already here.'

Spencer shouted again, not looking like she was going to move from the couch to talk to her normally. Guess shouting it was.

'What? Why didn't you tell me?'

Mona shrieked, and there was a clattering noise from the next room. She had probably been in, what she tended to call, "Mona world" and hadn't heard Hanna arrive.

'You said you needed absolute peace and quiet so you could make yourself look ten years younger.'

Spencer said and gave her a playful roll of her eyes as if to say "look what I put up with", but not the way she used to say it. Not the way Hanna remembered her rolling her eyes at Mona's dramatics.

This was affectionate.

It reminded her of something. It painfully reminded her of the way Caleb used to roll his eyes at her, back when they were together. When things were simpler and they only had to love each other.

Now everything was strange and wrong. Caleb and her weren't together anymore, she was overworked and stressed and utterly tired of fashion, and Spencer and Mona were getting married. It felt like yesterday that she heard Spencer had throttled Mona in a fit of rage.

'And do I?'

Mona said as the door swung open. Her makeup was freshly done, she was in a tall dressing gown and her hair was pin straight ready to be curled. She had hardly changed, except for some smile wrinkles around her eyes. Spencer gave her a soft grin, and walked over to her.

'You don't look a day over twenty four.'

Spencer flirted lightly and tucked a piece of hair behind Mona's ear. Hanna noticed all her piercings were still there, but the jewelry was less blingy, more subtle. So while Hanna had stretch marks and back pain and an inane amount of knowledge about Peppa Pig, Mona had upped her earing game.

Who said life was fair?

Mona was barefoot and without her heels, Spencer towered over her. They looked used to it; comfortable even.

'I'm not done yet. Also I'm thirty two, you ass.'

Mona slapped Spencer lightly on the shoulder, and Hanna felt on edge. But then Spencer laughed and kissed her on the cheek, and Hanna remembered this was the new normal. Mona touching Spencer wasn't some big scheme, she wasn't planting a bug or trying to trick her.

Mona touched her because they were going to be married, and she looked at Spencer with so much more love than she had at any of her boyfriends. Even Mike.

'Anyway, I might need some help later with my dress.'

Mona whispered into Spencer's ear, slow and sultry that meant she wanted more than help doing up the zipper. While the whisper was quiet, it was unfortunately not quiet enough for Hanna not to hear it. Hanna stared at them, and neither shot a mere glance at her.

They were off in their own little world. Hanna sort of envied them.

'As you wish.'

Spencer whispered back, in a similar flirty manner. Mona frowned at her, for reasons Hanna didn't know. Then her attention snapped back to the rest of the world and her gaze fixed onto Hanna.

'Hanna, I'm so glad you could come!'

Mona exclaimed, making her way over to her. Spencer followed not far behind.

'Is this your daughter?'

Mona asked kindly to Mimi, who was behaving unnaturally shy.

Mimi was not a bashful, quiet kid, it was plain fact. She was the sort that made friends everywhere with anyone. She'd even managed to convince the grumpy old man who ran the convenience shop round the corner, to give her a free lolly whenever they went in.

Honestly, it was impressive.

'Yeah this is Mimi. Don't get used to the quiet Spence, she'll start talking your head off soon enough.'

Mimi didn't say anything, only scowling down at her lap fully in the knowledge that was exactly what was going to happen. Hanna smirked, oh how she loved being right.

'Alright.'

Spencer said with a grin. Spencer probably thought she could handle Mimi because she'd met her parents, boy she was wrong. Her daughter was the best and worst parts of Caleb and her. So delightful and witty, but also stubborn and could talk for England.

'I better go finish getting ready. Spencer?'

Mona called as she turned round to the door, raising her eyebrows seductively at Spencer. Who smirked and Hanna thought if she were a dog she'd be wagging her tail with glee.

She almost shuddered.

Hanna was about to make herself busy with a conversation about anything with Mimi to ensure she wouldn't hear whatever was going to go on; when the doorbell rang. Spencer visibly glared towards the sound and Hanna had to hide a laugh behind her hand.

Spencer turned back to Mona.

'I'll just be a sec.'

Mona shrugged and walked out of the room. Spencer all but bolted to the door, which yeah even if Hanna hadn't those sorts of feelings for Mona she still had eyes; so she didn't blame Spencer for running.

Spencer then ushered Melissa and a girl a few years younger than Mimi, who Hanna assumed was her daughter. They said a little to each other, but Spencer was in too much of a hurry for small talk, so she left quickly after.

Melissa rolled her eyes, clearly used to this behaviour. Melissa tried to say something to her daughter, though she was too distracted by the game she was playing on an iphone.
Silence settled in the room, and Hanna swore she could hear making out so she decided something had to be said.

Like right now.

'Melissa, I didn't know you were friends with Mona.'

She asked conversationally, to Melissa's slightly shocked face as she realised Hanna was talking to her. Even though she had been Spencer's friend for so long, Melissa never really talked much to any of them.

'Colour me surprised as well.'

She smirked at Hanna, who smiled back in response. She understood what Melissa meant, Mona did sort of grow on a person after a while and sometimes you wouldn't notice till too late.

Although in her case she had let Mona grow on her, perhaps Melissa wasn't in that same boat she was.

'I'd have to ask Mona which holiday we were on when we started to get along. I can't remember whether it was the cruise or Bali.'

Melissa replied, eloquently as always. Hanna looked at her, confused mostly. When did Mona go on holiday with Melissa? That seemed strange considering she was marrying Spencer, you know the other Hastings' sister.

'Holiday? I'll be honest, I can't picture the two of you going on a holiday together.'

She asked, partly to see if Melissa was still in the mood for storytime. This was the most Melissa had taken to her, like ever. And well, if she was getting some context, she didn't mind it all that much.

'It's not just the two of us. It's the Hastings' annual family holiday, minus my dad, believe it or not.'

Melissa mused, a finger tracing the bottom of her lip as she spoke. Hanna wished she looked as elegant as Melissa when she thought hard, she generally looked slightly stupid.

Though that was her own opinion. Many people had assured her she wasn't stupid over the years, but the critique still stuck. Being painted as a dumb blonde didn't peel off as easily as other high school labels tend to do.

'In the third year of dating Spencer brought Mona along. Since I tend to bring Wren it only seemed fair.'

Melissa continued and Hanna continued nod politely. These holidays sounded a lot nicer than her and Mimi's annual trips to Disneyland or Peppa Pig world. Maybe nicer wasn't the word, because she loved spending time with her favourite girl; but more adultish.

'Ah yes, we were on the cruise that year. And we've got along since.'

She still couldn't get over the idea of Melissa and Mona getting along, other than tolerating each other when a scheme rose up. They seemed so different, you know?

It all seemed a little strange if you asked Hanna, but then again what wasn't strange when it came to Mona?

The doorbell rang again.

Melissa tilted her head towards the door Spencer had gone back through, watching for any sign of either of them. After it was apparent that neither of them were going to do anything about the door, they were probably busy, Melissa stood up.

'I'll get it, no need to trouble yourselves.'

Melissa called out and dramatically rolled her eyes again at Hanna.

She laughed, Melissa was a lot nicer than she remembered. Then again she always remembered Melissa being Spencer's scary older sister, so it wasn't hard to change that.

There was no reply from the other room.

So Melissa made her way to the door, not before taking her phone back from her daughter. She claimed "that was enough phone time Sophie", and Hanna realised she had never ever said those words to Mimi.

Hanna watched silently from the sofa as Melissa and the woman at the door chatted conversationally on the way back. She felt kind of out of place, in what appeared to be Mona's bubbly social life.

Melissa's daughter immediately made a beeline for the girl that came in with the other woman. Both mother and daughter had the same sort of colouring and height as Mona, so she made the decision that she was Mona's up to now unnamed, however infrequently mentioned, cousin.

The woman sat down on the sofa and Hanna thought she might at least try to be social.

'Hi, I'm Hanna.'

She felt awfully formal reaching out for a handshake, but nothing else really felt appropriate so she did. The other woman, to her relief, took it in stride and shook it warmly.

'Marin?'

She asked with a raised eyebrow that screamed of Vanderwaal patent. Unlike what Hanna expected, there wasn't any coldness or intensity in her eyes, only curiosity.

She didn't respect her for it, she liked her for it.

'The very same.'

She replied with a smile and bravado she didn't one hundred percent feel. The apartment, the people and this whole thing, felt very unlike Rosewood and everything she associated with Mona. She felt quite a bit out of her depth.

'I'm Céline, Mona's favourite and sole cousin. She's told me a lot about you.'

Céline smiled at her, not unkindly, though her words did make Hanna nervous. She was pleased that she got the whole cousin thing right, but not so much about Mona talking about her.

'Good things I hope?'

She asked with a nervous smile. Depending on what Mona had said this evening could take a turn. For good or bad.

'She didn't talk positively about a lot of things in Rosewood. You and Spencer are definitely the exception.'

Céline said after a contemplative pause, (see look, contemplative, that was thirteen letters go her!). Hanna liked that, that Mona hadn't made her some evil demon of her past come back to haunt her. She wasn't so sure about being put into the same camp as Mona's fiancé, but that was one thing or the other.

And speak of the devil, that was when Mona finally came back into the room.

She was out of the stringy pink bathrobe, and in a white dress that perfectly explained why Spencer was so eager to "help". The dress landed shortly before her upper thigh and was the sort of dress that didn't require a bra. The white gave it a bridal feel, but not enough that Hanna felt that Mona would object to Spencer's assistance.

It flattered her curves in a way that gave Hanna that sort of high school jealous feeling; and by the looks of the other woman on the sofa, she wasn't the only one who wanted their pre-baby body again.

'Where are my favourite nieces?'

Mona exclaimed, and knelt down to hug the two girls that came rushing towards her with cheerful cries of "Auntie Mona!". While crushed in the hug, she smiled up at the women on the couch.

'My mommy says you're not my aunt yet.'

Melissa's daughter Sophie said as she squirmed out of Mona's grip, grinning as she did so.

'I will be soon though.'

Mona poked her in the stomach, making her giggle.

It was then that Spencer quietly crept back into the room. Her hair was ruffled and now that Hanna was looking so was Mona's, and she was wiping her face with a makeup wipe. It was covered in smears of red lipstick, the same lipstick Mona was currently wearing.

She perched on the side of an armchair, smiling at the sight of the room.

'Are you babysitting us tonight?'

'Yeah, yeah!'

The two little girls asked. Mimi snagged Hanna's phone out her clutch and started playing a game, knowing this would last a while.

Hanna, on the other hand, waved a hand in Spencer's direction and gestured to the side of her neck. Spencer got the hint and rubbed away a particularly prominent lipstick mark with the wipe. Hanna thought this might just be another one of those outsider things she wouldn't understand.

'Sorry not tonight guys, I'm going out with your moms. Spencer's looking after you.'

Mona bobbed her head towards Spencer, who waved at the kids. There was a nervous smile on her face, like she really wanted to impress them. It was sweet.

'Aww, but Spencer's not as fun.'

The girls whined, drowning out Spencer's feeble protest that she was fun and her disappointed frown. While it was blunt, Hanna could attest slightly to that. If Spencer was still like she was in high school she deserved some of the complaint. Not all of it though.

'Spencer's tons of fun.'

Mona replied to the girls, and next to her Hanna could hear Spencer thanking her under her breath. She did not think Mona would have defended her like that in high school.

'Really, Mona. What kind of fun do you and Spencer have?'

Céline piped up, giving Mona a familiar smirk. Mona glared at her lightly over the heads of the girls. Additionally, Mona and Spencer would not have had fun of any kind together in high school, so there was that.

'Tons.'

Mona bit back with a raise of her eyebrows that indicated to the adults in the room what kind of "fun" she was referring to. Luckily, Mimi was still playing her game, and she was only seven so the reference slid over her head as well.

She might not have been wrong about the whole couch thing. And Spencer was trying her best not to grin at Mona's words, avoiding any looks from her sister, so yeah she was probably right.

Ew.

'But when will you hang out with us?' '

The girls chorused, overrun with more "yeah!"s and wriggling bodies. Hanna remembered when Mimi was that age, and despite the divorce, it had been nice then. Stuff still made sense.

'We will hang out tons at the wedding. I mean you two are basically the most important people there.'

Mona told them, very matter of factly. The other women in the room had started chatting amongst themselves, also aware of the fact that this might take a while. They look relaxed and smile while Mona entertained the girls, and Hanna thought that was progress.

A brief glance at the clock told her that they don't need to leave for a little while, and it soothed her a bit. It gave her time to acclimatise herself.

'What about you and Auntie Spencer?'

One of the girls asked, and Hanna was thoroughly amused by the fact that Mona was indulging them.

'Yeah sure we're the brides. But I don't know, I think the flower girls are the most important.'

Mona told them with a smirk and the girls giggled again. It was so strange, because Mona was so good with the kids.

Mona never really seemed like the type to be honest, she was more likely to steal candy from a baby than give it to them. Anyway, if she wanted kids she'd probably already have them. And a nice trophy husband who would stare adoringly at her while she plotted the downfall of a major company and/or country to go with it.

Then again, she looked over at Spencer and she seemed to have the whole adoring look down.

'She's really good with them.'

She leaned over and whispered to Spencer, moving from the couch to the armchair. Where they could talk more privately.

'Yeah, she is.'

Spencer smiled softly towards where Mona was, smiling in a way Hanna had only seen directed towards Toby. Or maybe Caleb, but all of them seem to be collectively ignoring their brief time together; so she wasn't sure where that stood.

But she knew Spencer's "I'm head over heels in love" eyes, and there was no doubt in hers that this was legit. Turns out whether it was a boy or a girl, Spencer liked them bad.

'Too bad they're the only kids she can bear to put up with for more than an hour.'

Spencer laughed fondly, though not loudly enough to alert the others.

Hanna was confused. She thought that them taking in the kids for the night was their odd way of accepting the idea that they might want children. Not that Hanna can really picture either of them pregnant and swollen like she had been, and the thought of either of them with children that looked like them and talked like them was weird.

Maybe not Spencer. She could have seen her having children, with Toby perhaps. But definitely Mona. That would be weird.

'What? I thought this whole babysitter thing was for, you know, practice.'

She asked, with a shoulder shimmy that helped her feel both less and more awkward about asking. Spencer looked at her funny, like they were back to figuring out -A's plans and she had said something stupid.

It stung less this time around, though the sting was still there.

'No, we did this to be nice. And so that everyone we wanted to come could.'

Spencer replied warily, as if she were the one confused.

'So why the bigger apartment?'

She asked. Usually moving into a bigger apartment meant more space for another person. So it was either having a baby or swinging, and the two of them seemed too devoted to each other for that second one.

'It came with the vice presidency. My mom doesn't need it and Melissa is barely here long enough to use it, so she gave it to us.'

Spencer said with a shrug. For a larger apartment it still managed to feel home-y and lived in, but not trashy either. Hanna suspected it was the culmination of their quite efficient organising and decorating skills.

She took another sip of her drink, Spencer had more to say she could tell.

'Neither of us really want kids.'

Hm, sounds like something they both took seriously.

The idea that they talked about kids and the future and all the stuff she had talked about with Caleb, made her blink in surprise. Obviously, of course they had. It was the sort of thing any couple would talk about eventually, but it still surprised her.

She really needed to stop getting surprised by Spencer and Mona, it was probably rude.

'I thought you did.'

Spencer paused, considering her answer. Hanna thought about it herself.

Around the time she had gotten pregnant, Spencer had confided in her that she wanted kids but now she wasn't with Toby, she didn't know what to do. Hanna had told her to wait, and said the right person would come along eventually.

After a moment, Spencer said slowly;

'I did for a while, I think. But after that scare in college, I realised I didn't actually. I didn't want kids with Toby, I just wanted him.'

She supposed that made sense. At the end of the day some part of her had known that having a kid with Caleb wouldn't solve their problems, it would simply extend them. Neither of them had wanted that, and yet it happened anyway.

Sometimes that happened, and you had to roll with the punches. That had been her daily mantra during high school, and to an extent it still was.

'But he was in the police and had changed so much. So had I, and it just wasn't working anymore.'

She hadn't ever really got an explanation to why Spencer and Toby had broken up completely, bits and pieces she got. Aria was more Spencer's confidant at that point and things between them were still awkward, so she hadn't asked.

“Hey, I'm having a kid with my ex, why aren't you?” Wasn't the sort of thing you asked, anyone really. She thought it certainly, but by the end she hadn't got the chance. And she also didn't actually want to.

'Anyway like you said, the right person came along eventually.'

That soft smile was back again and she was gazing at the floor where Mona had successfully gotten Mimi off Hanna's phone and was talking enthusiastically with them. That was more like her Mimi.

Then Spencer glanced down at her watch and called out;

'Mona, you gotta go. Fashionably or otherwise, you can't be late to your own bachelorette party.'

Hanna found herself laughing at the comment, and wondered whether that was still a habit Mona had. The room was soon a rush of goodbye kisses and all four women grabbed their clutches to walk out the door.

_

'Where to first?'

She asked as they clambered into a taxi. Melissa sat in the front seat, and the three of them squished themselves into the back, it wasn't a large taxi mind.

'Mona?'

Céline asked, only having to turn her head a fraction to see her. Mona shrugged, and both women beside her felt her shoulders go up and down.

'I have had no hand in planning this, so go ahead.'

She said, offering the honours of revealing the activity to Céline. Whom Hanna assumed did the planning, which made sense she was the maid of honour after all.

'We are going to an escape room.'

Céline exclaimed, waving her hands a little, Hanna guessed to make the reveal a bit grander.

'Ooh, what's the theme?'

She asked, actually excited about this.
Honestly she had been expecting a dinner and drinks and stuff, where she would inevitably make little more conversation than small talk with the other girls because she didn't really know them.

Although an escape room sounded really fun, like a bonding activity sort of. And she liked puzzles, when they weren't put to hurt her, and reading all those detective books made her a better one she thought. She hadn't technically ever done an escape room, but she liked the idea of it.

'You'll find out when we get there.'

Céline said cryptically, and Hanna had gotten used to surprises over the years so she was alright with that. She'd also gotten better at patience, which always helped.

Maybe it could be in a submarine or in a science lab, or um... again she hadn't done one of those things before so she wasn't really sure of the themes. She looked out the tinted windows, suddenly feeling better about the night.

'An escape room.'

Mona said warily after a pause on her part. Hanna peered past Céline, and saw a look of uncertainty on her face.

'It'll be fun.'

Céline told her, though her nonchalant smile and throwaway words didn't seem to do much to ease the expression on Mona's face.

She looked worried. Although maybe not to most people, she'd perfected her poker face years ago and Hanna's wasn't sure whether she was able to slip it off again. Still, even if Hanna's wasn't most people, she can see there's a tug in her eyebrows and her lip wobbles like it always does when she gets worked up.

'I haven't done an escape room since I was seventeen, and for good reason.'

Mona rebuked as she stared into the back of Melissa's headrest and started playing with her bracelet. Another thing she did when she was nervous.

But what was she nervous about? Mona said she had reasons for not doing escape rooms. Maybe they were the reasons Hanna thought they were.

'Yeah I know Mona, they're "not smart enough” for you. But c'mon we spent the whole summer doing these things. I thought it'd be fun.'

Céline replied, a sorry look on her face. Now, those were definitely not the reasons Hanna thought they would be, and she was presented with two clashing thoughts;

One, that they were not clever enough for Mona was her real gripe with them. She supposed it could make sense, Mona was scarily smart after all. Escape rooms had to be accessible by all, and maybe she got bored.

Or two, it could be that it was a lie and wasn't the real reason she wasn't one hundred percent sure about doing one. It was possible Mona was still as secretive as she used to be.

'And it will be, I promise. Give it a try.'

Céline said with an easy smile, not deterred at all by Mona's chilly response. Hanna supposed as her cousin she was likely used to that sort of behaviour.

'Okay, it better be difficult.'

Just like that her unsure expression was gone, the mask back on again. She gave her cousin a smile that didn't reach her eyes fully. She didn't notice it, but Hanna did.

She wasn't going to mention it. She didn't think Mona would want that, and anyway they weren't close enough to mention it anymore.

'Only two out of ten teams complete this room.'

Céline said with a satisfied grin, which Mona did finally reply with one of her own. Okay, maybe Mona was on board with a really difficult room, but what if everyone else wasn't? Like, you know, her. This could be hard, and she was promised fun, not thinking.

Thinking really hard wasn't fun.

They got dropped off at the end of the street, and clambered over each other to get out the car. She shivered in the cold air, she should have brought something to wear over the top. Not a coat, something a bit more glamorous. Like the silk shawl she had made the other week, that would have worked well.

Oh well. The building was apparently a few doors down so she wouldn't have to bear with the cold much longer.

Ahead of her Céline had thrown her arm over Mona's shoulder, very buddy-buddy of her. Mona probably didn't appreciate that, it would flatten her hair. If she was bothered, she didn't do anything about it.

'You know Mones, they had one about a mental institution but I thought nah that's probably a bit insensitive.'

Hanna blinked a few times, and resisted the urge to look incredulously at Melissa for her reaction. There was making light of a situation and there was being rude about it. Hanna was known for the latter, so she knew exactly what this was.

Rude.

'No that's hilarious. Did they have one where you escape juvie?'

Mona snapped back, her tone as cold as the air around them. She shrugged off the arm draped over her shoulder and sped up. Hanna raised her eyebrows, she'd believed Mona had been the black sheep of her family. Juvie, good to know.

'Jeez, you're out for the kill tonight. It was a joke.'

Hanna quickened her pace slightly to keep up, and next to her Melissa was as well. Two people speeding up looked a lot less suspicious than only one, she had to thank Melissa's nosiness for that one.

'Do I look like I'm laughing?'

Mona had her lips pursed, Hanna could tell. In the last light of the day she saw Céline nudge her with her elbow.

'No. But that was a good comeback. Juvie huh? That's a blast from the past.'

Then they both started laughing, and Hanna was thoroughly baffled. She glanced over at Melissa, feeling that it was now alright to gauge her feelings on the matter, and she was as perplexed as Hanna was.

The Vanderwaals were weird.

_

Inside the building Mona was immediately ambushed by the rest of the party. Hanna stood by the side as she complimented dresses, said hellos and laughed. The room filled with buzz as Mona flitted from a few circles to talk to everyone.

To her at least, it seemed to be quite a mixed bag of people. Lots of groups, and not all these girls knew each other. Well, at least she wasn't completely alone in that regard. Twelve was quite a lot of people, it was the reason she liked to stick with smaller groups.

Thankfully it wasn't just her sat on the sidelines; Melissa kind of hovered near her. Not near enough that it felt like she wanted to chat with her, but in a manner that looked like she didn't know what to do with herself either.

From somewhere, Céline had found a short step stool and was now shouting over everyone to gather their attention. Once the hallway was quiet, she started;

'Before we all go in we will be playing Thunderstruck.'

She had done some preamble before introducing herself as the maid of honour, but then Hanna already knew that.

She was curious what thunderstruck was. She really hoped it wouldn't be some awful ice breaker where they all went round the circle and introduced themselves. She fucking hated ice breakers. They were awkward every time and she hated when it got to her turn, it was just ugh, bad.

'Thunderstruck? After last time?'

Mona repeated in disbelief, and then scoffed when Céline nodded her head. The guy in the pink shirt stepped up next to her;

'Mones, last time it was only the three of us, and we played it twice. This time's more of an ice breaker.'

The guy said jovially, placing an assured hand on her shoulder. As Hanna paid more attention to him she noticed he had an ear piercing and in his hand was a blazer jacket that matched his trousers.

He seemed...flamboyant; and as the only guy at a bachelorette party Hanna had to assume he was gay. Sure that was probably homophobic or whatever, but come on. He was totally gay.

'Alright.'

Mona sighed and a smile stretched along her face. She looked slightly less stressed out than she had in the car, which was definitely a good thing.

They were all instructed to stand in a circle, which ended up looking like a squashed oblong before Céline hustled them into a better shape. She then announced that Thunderstruck was a drinking game her mother, Mona's aunt, had taught her.

It was based off the AC/DC song of the same name. Everytime the word "thunder" comes up someone drinks until the word is said next and then the person to their left begins. Hanna was excited, alcohol, awesome. No awful ice breakers, even awsome-r.

From a bag Hanna hadn't realised she'd brought with her, she pulled out a miniature speaker and synced it with her phone. Each member of the circle was then handed a premixed can of raspberry gin and tonic. Double strength too.

Nice.

The game began and the room was filled with music. The song was longer than she remembered, though the time was plenty filled by the roars of "thunder" and each person trying to drink as much as they could in the time between the words.

At the end of the game a name tag was stuck on her dress, and a "team bride" sash was flung over her shoulder as they were bustled into the game room. She appreciated the name tags, it was a good touch.

They were led inside the room by a man in a knockoff star trek uniform, so it could only be sci-fi. Inside there was a main control console and three sub rooms. The man quickly counted them into three groups of four, by pointing at the four closest people and telling them to "go in there". Then twice more.

She was pushed into the first of the three rooms with Mona and two other girls. One was Céline, and the other a tall blonde with a name tag that said "Lori" on it. Not the worst group she could be put in with, at least she knew two of the people.

She took a look around the small room, it was covered in chunky star wars prop rejects and looked like the setting for a generic film set in the far future.

Just as she was getting adjusted to the room, and looking out for potential places for clues the light snapped off. Outside their room and in the others she could hear some shrieking, though no one in theirs did, until the door slammed.

A scream sounded in their room as the lock clicked shut, that rang loudly in her ears.

When dull red emergency lights came on a video on a monitor she hadn't noticed started playing. Something about the ship hitting an asteroid, and they needed to prevent it because their ship was on an important humanity mission, whatever.

What she was more focused on was the fact that when the lights came on Mona had been holding, no clinging, onto Lori's hand and looked like she was quietly having a panic attack. There was this haunted expression on her face, it made her look older and Hanna suddenly very sure of why she had been so worried.

Then the expression was gone.

Mona straightened up and withdrew her hand from Lori's. She wasn't fine, Hanna could tell. But it was like a switch clicked on in her head that told her not to show any emotions. It happened a lot.

Luckily, Lori wasn't fazed. Hanna watched from the corner of her eye, while Céline poked around the room oblivious, as she placed a hand on Mona's shoulder and muttered something to her that she couldn't hear. She almost missed the miniscule nods Mona made, but she heard the low thanks loud and clear.

Then she turned back to the monitor where some stars and coordinates were displayed, because these grounds weren't familiar to her anymore. She'd pushed away all thoughts of, that, the moment she left Rosewood High for the last time.

Mona snapped back to the room, and studied the screen Hanna was staring with weak understanding at. She spoke one of the coordinates under her breath, sixteen, nineteen, and then a few others. She must have done some fancy math in her head because she then punched another number into a keypad.

It beeped.

A pocket opened with a click, and inside was a computer mouse. Céline picked it out, and turned it over in her hands. Welp, she was stumped.

Hanna turned to Lori, who was also looking a bit lost.

'Hey, I'm Hanna.'

Lori smiled at her, and this time Hanna didn't reach out to shake her hand. Well done her. She looked down at her name tag, then back up at Hanna.

'Lori.'

'How do you know Mona?'

She asked, aiming to keep the conversation up. She wanted to at least try and convince one of the other girls here that she was fun and sociable. And also because she had decided escape rooms weren't exactly her forte, too much thinking.

'We were in the same sorority at college.'

Lori replied with a smile that wasn't the kind smile that it was before. It wasn't cruel or anything, only more playful.

'Really?'

She asked, surprised. A sorority sounded like the sort of thing Ali would join, or in some other world, her if she'd actually gone to college. Though, college girls were probably still as bitchy as they were in high school so she might have dodged a bullet there.

'Yeah. It was called Kappa Beta Hotties, and we were required at all times in the house to wear bikinis. Mona wore red, I was in pink, Whitney-'

Lori explained with a stupid grin on her face and Hanna could tell she was messing with her. Lori had an awful poker face, and this was coming from her. Mona turned round and gave the girl a glare.

'Oh as I would be caught dead in a sorority house. Meeting at the men's basketball club was at least believable.'

Mona said, trying to look reproachful but really had a lazy amused smile on her face.
Ultimately it was because she hadn't seen her in so long, but Hanna thought that this was the most she'd ever seen Mona smile.

It suited her. Though Hanna wasn't ready to feel happy for her yet. She forgave somewhat and forgot even less.

_

They solved the room fast, faster than any group of friends she could have put together. Though that might have been due to Mona's slight manic state as she tried to figure out the puzzles as fast as humanly possible.

Céline had told her to chill out, and she pretended to. Hanna got the impression that Céline didn't really understand, but then she figured not many people did. Lori and the other girl Mona knew from college; a girl with tight dark braids, Whitney seemed to understand a little.

They had shot Mona concerned glances, quietly reminded her to breathe in the room. Then politely ignored and as they got progressively drunker, glared daggers at Céline the rest of the night.

Hanna wanted to thank them, but she couldn't find the words. Or the will.

Inside the room, when she hadn't been people watching; she had mostly looked around the room, and figured out the puzzles five minutes after the smarter ones in the group had.

That was okay, she had never been the brains of the operation anyway.

The rest of the evening had been good. It had been a lot more bearable than she thought it would have, which was definitely a good thing. Mona seemed a lot calmer after they managed to escape. Fifteen minutes before their cut off time as well.

Dinner was again good, alright, nice, fine and any other words that meant pleasantly satisfactory. She'd talked to some of the other girls, found out where they knew Mona from and then dug up some of the few stories about Mona that she genuinely didn't mind thinking about occasionally.

Later, Mona managed to dodge away from her strong-armed cousin, her college friends, close work girls and friends from some sort of club she did; and found her way to Hanna.

'I saved you Matt Damon.'

She said in lieu of a greeting and handed over a cupcake with a picture of Matt Damon's character in Good Will Hunting.

Céline and Scott, the childhood friend of Mona, had brought out this tray of twelve cupcakes, all with rice paper pictures of Mona's past fictional crushes topping them. Apparently they'd been grilling her for weeks on them.

'Thanks.'

She replied, taking the cake in her hand and peeling away the case. Matt Damon had been her crush, so this had definitely been on purpose. She appreciated it.

'You don't really know anyone here. I should have taken that more into consideration.'

While it didn't sound like one, it was an apology. Well, words to the same effect. Mona didn't apologise much, which was fine. Hanna didn't need words that couldn't make up for her torment of her. Not then, not now.

'I'm sorry.'

It took her by surprise. The sincerity, the awkward way she tugged at her bracelet and looked at her in brief intervals, and the genuinely grievous expression on her face that Hanna liked to think was real. Maybe she was the sort who apologised now, people could change after all.

Hanna had changed. Spencer had changed, a lot actually. So maybe, just maybe, Mona had changed too.

'You'll have more fun at Spencer's I think. Ali, Emily and Aria will all be there. It'll be more tame as well.'

Mona continued on, oblivious to Hanna's internal thoughts. She was looking around at everything but Hanna and running her hands along the hem of her dress; she was feeling guilty.

'I'm having fun.'

It was partially true, but Mona didn't really need to know the partially bit. She gave Mona her signature winning smile, one that acquired her a contract with numerous fashion companies; so she knew it was convincing.

Mona gave her a smile, a sad one in reply. One that Hanna knew meant she realised she was lying. She nudged Mona's shoulder with her own, and hoped somehow that it would thank her for inviting her. Mona smiled at her.

Apparently it worked.

_

In her utterly genius plan to not think at all about the party until it arrived, she hadn't actually booked a place to sleep.

It was only at the end of the night, when people were catching taxis together back to hotels, that she realised she didn't have anywhere to go. Technically, she could have booked a place on her phone or gone with one of the other girls and prayed the place would have room for her.

But honestly, she was far too drunk for that.

'Mona, can I sleep on your couch?'

She mumbled into Mona's ear as they stood outside in the biting cold waiting for another taxi to arrive.

They were the only two left because Mona had insisted on seeing all the girls, and Scott, safely off. Both of them were having trouble standing up without toppling over in their heels and so were leaning against a signpost on the edge of the curb to compensate.

'As long as you don't mind that me and Spencer have had sex on it.'

Mona laughed and stumbled in place slightly, her words slurring. Hanna knew her words were sliding over her tongue and jutting away just as much, so she didn't pay much notice.

Her suspicions had been confirmed. Double ew. But that wasn't really her priority right now, she needed somewhere to collapse for the night. And that sex-riddled couch would do just fine. By this point of the night, and around this point of drunkenness she got a lot less picky about where she slept.

This was so payback for the whole sex on Spencer's Nana's couch thing...wait a minute.

'Nah. Hang on, did I ever tell you about the time me and Caleb had sex in Spencer's lake house?'

She could see the taxi coming around the bend as she gestured vaguely towards Mona and laughed.

'Yeah, on her Nana's couch. Spencer still talks about it.'

Mona said as they clambered into the taxi. She then rattled off her address to the driver, which was good because she wouldn't have been able to recall it herself, and they set off.

'Does she?'

She asked, wide eyed. Mona laughed at her again, she joined in. She missed this.

_

Once the two of them managed to get the key into the apartment door, while also trying to keep their giggles at bay because it was far too late for noise; they burst into the apartment hallway. Their laughing, and the muted sounds of the tv from the next room was the only thing heard.

Their heels clacked against the tiled floor and they kicked them off, admittedly with some difficulty, to avoid the possibility of waking any of the kids.

'Hey Mones.'

Spencer called sleepily to them as they entered the room. She was sat against the side of the armchair, with the table lamp on and the credits rolling from some movie. It was obvious she'd stayed up to wait for Mona.

'Spencer!'

Mona cheered, not quietly enough for Spencer's taste from the slight wince on her face from the volume. But the expression settled into a smile as Mona plopped herself down onto the armchair, which was also small enough that she was practically in Spencer's lap.

'Bad luck babe, you just missed the end of your favourite film.'

Spencer said, gesturing to the tv. As she did so she hooked an arm round Mona's waist, tugging her closer. Domestic, was the only word she could think to describe it and it was another one of those things that felt like something an old friend like her shouldn't be privy to.

Hanna sat down on the couch, feeling like a third wheel. Mona dropped her head on Spencer's shoulder. And scratch that, she was the biggest third wheel ever.

'My favourite film?'

Mona asked, in confusion. Spencer gave her an expectant look and she smiled.

'Oh, that favourite film. Spencer, how could you.'

She said, in a defensive tone that Hanna could tell was fake. Her words slurred around her tongue, sloppy and rough; but Spencer still smiled and stared at her with eyes that held so much love in that it didn't seem to matter.

'We could watch it again.'

The credits had finished and the title screen flashed along the screen. Spencer had been watching The Princess Bride, which was an excellent choice if Hanna said something herself. It was an oldie but a goodie.

'No. Turn that shit off.'

Mona whined, and pulled a face at Spencer. Who looked over at Hanna and they shared a silent laugh at the ridiculousness of her fiancé. Hanna didn't think she'd see the day Mona would whine. She was argumentative and demanding, however she didn't whine.

But then again today had been full of surprises.

'Alright.'

Spencer replied, deeply amused. She clicked off the tv and laid the remote to rest on the couch next to her.

'What? You don't like The Princess Bride?'

She exclaimed, shocked at how someone could hate such a brilliant movie. It had everything, romance, witty dialogue and the professor guy from young Sheldon. It was the perfect movie.

'I don't have to explain myself to you.'

Mona said sulkily and then buried her head back into Spencer's shoulder. Spencer brought her hand to Mona's hair and played with a few on the long strands.

While Mona continued to stay buried, she had probably fallen asleep or something; Hanna and Spencer chatted quietly. Halfway through conversing about the wedding, Hanna had decided to ask Spencer the questions they had been asked during dinner, the classic bachelorette party game; how well do you know the bride.

Hanna had managed to get a respectable score of eight and she had been pretty pleased with that until now, when Spencer was getting every question right without hesitation.

It was to be expected naturally, but it still made her eight look very puny.

'You know her so well.'

She mused as Spencer preened about her perfect score. Sure all this was unexpected, however it was deeply unlikely that Spencer would ever not be pleased about a good grade, that she was sure of.

'It's taken a while. But she's honest with me.'

Spencer said with a far away expression. Then suddenly she was gently spreading Mona's dress a bit further down her thigh and the expression wasn't that far away at all anymore.

'I thought that too.'

She wasn't saying Spencer shouldn't trust Mona, or god forbid break up with her mere months before the wedding. However, it was a warning all the same.

'Han, I know you called yourselves best friends. But how much did you actually know about her?'

Spencer said, like she had been thinking about it a long time. Hanna didn't like what she was asking and frankly she didn't think it was true, she had known Mona. Well, she'd thought she'd known her. It still kind of stung even now, that her best friend could possibly do that to her.

But regardless of if she'd known her middle name or whatever family drama had been going on that she hadn't confided in her during freshmen year; they had been friends. She was sure of that, in a weird way that made her brain hurt a little and her consciousness sting.

'Enough. She didn't really talk about herself a lot.'

They had for the most part talked about other things; shopping, boys and which teacher desperately needed a nose job. Superficial stuff really. Occasionally they talked about her, then even more rarely they talked about Mona.

Stuff like that just didn't come up.

'You didn't ask.'

Spencer told her, with a stern expression on her face that made her feel like she was being told off. And she really shouldn't feel like that because she was a grown woman and in hindsight maybe she could have got to know Mona a little bit better, but it hadn't been her fault.

Seems like Spencer needed to get her priorities straight. She wasn't the bad guy here. Love was clearly clouding her memories of their traumatic, to say the least, teenage years.

Additionally, Hanna thought that Mona probably wouldn't have appreciated her trying to butt into her life, considering most of it had been spent conniving against her. She shrugged, not sure what to say.

The clock ticked loudly for a few seconds as the room went silent.

'We could ask her?'

She finally said, a bit pathetically. She didn't really need to know who knows her best, it would obviously be Spencer because it had never been her. It was merely something to say.

Yet Spencer nodded her head all the same, like she'd said something she wanted to hear.

Then to Hanna's surprise pecked Mona's neck with a kiss in an attempt to wake her up, which against all odds pitted against her in her head, worked. Mona blinked open her eyes as her head jolted away, apparently ticklish.

'Mones, Hanna wants to know who knows you the best.'

Spencer asked her, completely throwing Hanna under the bus. Hanna averted her eyes, embarrassed about something that she wasn't sure needed it. But Mona wasn't looking at her, she had her head turned to Spencer and hadn't looked at her once.

'You, obviously. You know everything about me. Even Drew.'

Mona said with heavy emphasis, as if her words were something that contained a lot of weight. Spencer gave her a sad smile and rubbed cycles on Mona's hand with her thumb. She wasn't sure who this Drew guy was, but he sounded like a real piece of work.

'Drew?'

She asked, half expecting the conversation to change topic. But still, she was curious. Sue her.

'You don't have to say if you don't want to.'

Spencer immediately told Mona, concerned written across her face. This was clearly something serious then.

'It's okay. He was my mom's boyfriend for a bit.'

Mona said, suddenly looking quite sober. Once she finished she looked down at her lap and Spencer intertwined their hands again. Hanna knew that was all she was going to get out of either of them.

What Hanna could ascertain from this was there was definitely more to that story, something bad. She hadn't been aware that Mrs Vanderwaal had tried to date, maybe after that Drew guy, she hadn't anymore. Whatever, it wasn't her place to speculate. Not anymore.

Mona yawned.

'Right, either you get me another drink or come with me to bed.'

She said to Spencer, who initially frowned at the first option. But by the end, her face had settled into an easy smile. Hanna resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Spencer's blatant affection for Mona, it was actually disgusting how in love she was.

'Let's do that second one. Although I do have to grab Hanna some sheets at some point.'

'Boo.'

Mona said as Spencer tugged her up from the armchair and wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her walking steady.

They walked out the room, looking a lot like they were trying out for a three legged race. Spencer mumbled something about Mona throwing up as they left. Hanna pulled out her phone and checked for any messages.

She'd answered a few work emails and was halfway through sending a text to Caleb about when he'd get time with Mimi, when she heard the crack of a door being slammed open.

The sounds of vomiting came shortly after.

Immediately, she sprang to her feet, crossing the room quickly. She knew how to deal with Mona throwing up, it had happened a lot at the parties they used to go to. She then stopped in the doorway when she heard Spencer's voice.

'Hey, you're okay. You're okay.'

Spencer said quietly over and over, until the sounds of vomiting came to an end.

'You drank a lot tonight huh?'

She heard Spencer asked her, her tone not accusatory in any way. Only concerned. Hanna had noticed Mona had drunk an inordinate amount tonight, though she had chalked it up to bridal fuzzies.

Hanna hovered in the doorway, listening. Technically it wasn't polite, she was a guest and it would have been better if she had made herself scarce. But she didn't. She didn't have a reason why.

'We did an escape room.'

Mona replied hoarsely. Knowing her, Mona was probably hugged up against the toilet, her face deathly pale.

Definitely not bridal fuzzies then.

'An escape room? Geez, do I need to have a word with your cousin?'

Somehow, even though she hadn't been there, hadn't heard the ear splitting shriek Mona had let out when the door shut; it sounded like Spencer understood her pilght completely. In fairness, just because they hadn't been there as long as Mona had been didn't mean they didn't understand the horror of it.

'It's fine.'

Mona replied, though Hanna and she hoped Spencer wasn't convinced by her words. It wasn't fine. Hanna knew for certain now why she'd screamed; she'd had a flashback.

'Part of me knows we'll be let out after an hour but it still...'

Mona trailed off, and Hanna stared in awe at how all the pieces of the puzzle slotted together in her head. She got it.

'Gets to you. Don't worry, I get it.'

Spencer finished, her voice full of care and reassurance.

It was then that Hanna finally got why they worked together; because there was nothing that they had to keep secret from each other. They didn't have to keep quiet about the Dollhouse or all those other things like they did to everyone else, because they had both lived through it.

'When I was in college Toby and a couple of my friends dragged me to one, and when the door closed, I just couldn't.'

Spencer told her, her words soothing and sympathetic. She understood because she'd had the exact same experience Mona had tonight, and all she'd done was stood back and noticed the blinking light and clues.

'But that was when you were in college. It's been fourteen years and I still...'

Mona trailed off again, and Hanna remembered why Mona hadn't talked much about herself when they had been friends. It was because she wasn't that great about talking about herself and her feelings. She kept it all inside these glass bottles inside her head till they smashed and it all went wrong.

And because she'd never said anything, no one knew what the reason was.

'You were in there much longer than the rest of us were. Just because it happened a long time ago doesn't mean you should feel guilty that it affects you now.'

She didn't think she could ever have said it better, Spencer had always been the smart one after all. Just because she didn't get the nightmares anymore, it doesn't mean she didn't occasionally flinch when a text came through.

'It's okay.'

Spencer said again, and if she listened hard she could hear Mona sniffling.

The room went quiet again, and it had been long enough that she considered going back to the couch because otherwise one of them might catch her listening in. Then Spencer spoke again;

'Was the room smart enough for you?'

She asked in an amused tone. Hanna could almost hear Mona rolling her eyes.

'You know that's not my issue with them Spencer.'

Moan said slowly and quietly, and she was probably fixing Spencer her infamous annoyed face. The one where her jaw tightened and her eyes looked dark and threatening. But probably not, because that was reserved for actual annoying people, ones who told her it was better to be pretty than smart.

'But was it?'

No, it hadn't been. Frankly everyone else had been holding her back. Mona could have gotten out in about twenty minutes on her own, Hanna thought.

'No.'

Mona replied very seriously, then her laughter curled all the way out the bathroom to Hanna's ears. Spencer joined in, and it was beautifully, jarring music to her ears.

'Did you have fun after?'

Spencer asked, after they'd finished laughing. The sort of casual tone, with concern sewn into that Hanna hadn't heard since Caleb.

'Yeah, I did.'

Hanna decided that this was a good time to walk away and get out her phone, she had listened in long enough.

'That's good.'

Spencer said, as if that was the end. Hanna's phone chimed, a text from her mother.

'There was just this bit where the lights turned off and the door slammed, and then suddenly I was back there.'

She gripped the phone in her hand tightly, because she shouldn't have overheard that. That should have been left between the two people in the bathroom, not her listening in.

She didn't know how Mona had listened in to all their conversations for so long. Hearing something like that, something so truthful and honest, she felt guilty and like she hadn't deserved to hear it.

'It's okay, you're not. You're here with me.'

She walked away and sat back on the couch.

She wouldn't understand either of them truly, and she didn't need to. The next time she picked up their wedding invitation, her hands didn't tremble anymore.

They were happy, and that was enough for her.

_