Work Text:
Come to my holiday party or else -A
When: 6pm-12am
Where: My house
Bring presents so we can do white elephant! Love ya!
“This is fucked up,” Spencer remarked as she held the colorful invitation to show everyone.
“I genuinely don’t know what to say,” Aria said, blinking.
“Why does she still write A even though we know it’s her?” Hanna complained, crossing her arms. “It’s so stupid, like Mona, just write your damn name.”
“Why is she inviting us?” Emily wondered, “doesn’t she hate us?”
“No, she’s been trying to let herself in our group for a while,” Aria replied.
“This is fucking ridiculous,” Spencer snapped, “we are not going to this fucking party if it is the last thing on Earth.” She ripped up the invitation and then marched over to the trash can, throwing the pieces of paper away. She glared down at the trash. This was insanity. How could Mona just invite them to some stupid holiday party? They had plans! She and the girls were going to have a nice dinner, exchange presents, and watch movies!
All Spencer wanted today was just to spend Christmas with her best friends. A drama free Christmas. Was that so hard to ask for?
A drama free, Mona-free Christmas, please.
“What happens if we don’t go?” Emily asked.
“Who knows?” Hanna grumbled, “she wrote ‘love ya’ on the invitation. I don’t know if it’s real or fake. I don’t even know if she’s real!”
Spencer looked at her weirdly. “What are you talking about? Of course, she’s a real person. She breathes just like us.”
“It’s an exaggeration, Spencer.” Hanna rolled her eyes. “Obviously she’s real, it’s just like, she can’t be.”
Spencer furrowed her eyebrows, confused.
“Ugh, you don’t get it.” Hanna waved a hand dismissively.
Spencer frowned. “Your jokes make absolutely no sense.”
“It wasn’t a joke. It was an observation.”
“Okay, you guys,” Aria cut in, “enough arguing. We need to figure this out.”
“Easy,” Hanna said, throwing her hands in the air frustratedly, “let’s just not go. Done. Simple. Now can we watch something? Spencer didn’t invite us here for nothing.”
“Han, we can’t just-” Emily started.
“Why? Nothing will happen.”
“I don’t know, guys,” Emily said unsurely as she rubbed her shoulder.
“What is it Em?” Spencer asked.
“What if Mona is alone right now? No one deserves to be alone on Christmas.”
“Um, reminder, Em, she stalked us for months, blackmailed us, and tried to kill us!” Hanna said, exasperated. “She deserves to be alone on Christmas! I don’t care if we kinda teamed up to take down Cece Drake or whatever, I still haven’t forgotten about all the shit she did to us.”
It was silent. Hanna smiled then, confusing everyone. “Well, on that note!” She put an arm around Spencer, who raised an eyebrow. “Now can we please watch some cheesy Christmas movie?”
“Fine,” everyone agreed.
“I hate Christmas movies,” Spencer said. However, that was Hanna’s favorite thing to do during the holidays, so she would give in and watch with her.
“What kind of weirdo hates Christmas movies?” Hanna replied, sighing as they ventured over to the couch.
“Me.”
“Well, that checks out then. Because you are weird.”
“So are you,” Spencer bickered as they squished next to each other. Aria and Emily exchanged a glance as they joined the other girls. “No one knows what you’re saying half the time.”
“No one knows what you’re saying. You speak nerd,” Hanna replied sassily and leaned on Spencer’s shoulder, whose heart fluttered from the action.
“I don’t really know what’s going on,” Aria admitted.
Spencer frowned. “Get off me if you’re going to insult me.”
“Seriously?” Hanna answered, offended. “You’re like the most comfy person to cuddle with during a movie. Your shoulders are so…” she squeezed Spencer’s shoulder, who raised an amused eyebrow while Aria and Emily looked at each other, smiling. “Comfy. I don’t know what the right word is,” Hanna finished, “so deal with it.”
Spencer would deal with it. However, she groaned dramatically to act nonchalant and threw her head back to lean on a pillow. “Whatever.”
“So are we ever going to watch the movie or are you two going to argue the whole time?” Aria asked.
Hanna smiled as she snuggled into Spencer, who held back a smile. “Play it.”
The doorbell rang repeatedly for about an hour in the movie. The girls all looked at each other and Spencer rolled her eyes. “Who the hell is this?” She got up and answered the door, and to her dismay, it was Mona.
“Oh. It’s you.” She slammed the door in her face.
“Um, rude!” Mona yelled from outside.
“Mona’s here?” Aria asked, eyes wide as the others joined Spencer at the door.
“Yeah.” She crossed her arms. “She’s not welcome.”
“I’m not leaving until you let me in!” Mona shouted, irritated.
Spencer looked at her friends and rolled her eyes again. “Fine.” She opened the door. “Come inside.”
“Thank you for the warm invitation,” Mona said dryly as she bumped shoulders with Spencer, sauntering inside. “Why didn’t you guys come to my party?”
“Because why would we?” Spencer replied coldly.
“Newsflash, Mona, we’re not friends!” Hanna spat, crossing her arms.
“Seriously?” Mona crossed her arms right back, glaring at her. “That’s not nice!”
“What’s not nice is running me over with your car!”
“You’re still on that? It’s been years!”
“That makes it so much better,” Aria said sarcastically.
Mona fixed her glare on the other girls. “Well, I’ll have you know that no one came to the party because you guys were the only people I invited!”
“Why didn’t you invite anyone else?” Emily asked, confused.
“Because, Emily,” she replied pointedly, “I wanted to have a Christmas with just you four! We’ve been through so much together since high school.”
The girls were silent.
“So?” Mona pleaded, “come on, I know I was A for a while, but then Cece Drake kinda took over, remember? I’m not completely the bad guy.”
“You gave me a stomach ulcer,” Emily said, “and ruined any chance of me swimming again.”
“You ran me over,” Hanna said bitterly.
“You tried to kill me by almost crashing your car,” Spencer added.
“You sent me threatening messages and threatened my family and my friends,” Aria snapped, “and you faked your own death which destroyed my brother.”
“Ha, I never tried to kill you,” Mona bragged.
“Was that a brag?” Hanna raised her voice, “that’s insane! You can’t brag about not killing someone!”
“Get over it!” Mona yelled. Her abrupt loudness shushed the girls. “Now.” She grinned as if she wasn’t mad a second ago. “I brought a hot chocolate maker in my car. Who wants to get this party started?”
There was a pause and then Mona stuck a finger in the air. “Oh! And I brought alcohol!”
That was sold on Spencer. She was out of alcohol in the house and considering what was happening, she definitely needed some. “I’m in.”
“What?!” Her three friends stared at her, bewildered.
“You’re crazy!” Hanna sputtered.
“What?” Spencer defended herself, “I want alcohol!”
Mona clapped her hands excitedly. “Yay! I’ll be right back!” She disappeared outside.
Hanna put her hands on her hip. “Spencer, what the fuck?”
“What?” She shot back, getting annoyed. “I can do what I want.”
“Whatever. It’s your funeral.” Hanna picked up her purse from the counter. “I’m out.”
Spencer’s heart dropped. “What? You can’t just leave.”
“What? Yes, I can,” she argued, “I made the decision just now. Goodbye Spencer.”
Spencer frowned. “Why’d you have to say it like that?” It was so formal. Like it was official.
Aria and Emily watched the interaction carefully, wondering if they should step in.
“I’ll see you in the New Year,” Hanna decided and turned around, storming out of the house.
“Hanna!” Spencer called, “don’t leave!” Oh great. She fucked things up. Now this party was going to be even less fun. She debated running out of the house after Hanna but that seemed too dramatic.
“Damn,” Mona remarked as she stepped into the house, “that looked painful. Get in a fight with your girlfriend, Spence?”
She glared at her. “She’s not my girlfriend.” Why was everyone saying that? It was annoying.
“Yet.”
Spencer’s heart skipped a beat. “The fuck does that mean? We’re not- Hanna’s not-” she cut herself off, realizing she was digging herself into a hole. “Whatever.” She sighed. “Give me the alcohol. I don’t care what you have.” She and Hanna had a weird relationship now… all they did was cuddle and bicker. It seemed like a normal thing straight best friends did, but at the same time, Spencer was not straight. She came out as bisexual some time ago. So now it was confusing! She didn’t do this with Aria and Emily, so it had to be different! But was it?
Ugh. Spencer was crushing on her straight best friend. Yikes.
Mona smiled proudly and poured each of the girls some champagne. “Bottoms up,” Aria said as they clinked glasses and drank.
The doorbell rang.
“Who is here now?” Spencer complained as she trudged over and opened the door. To her surprise, Alison stood there with a bag full of gifts.
“Hey guys!”
Emily furrowed her eyebrows. “Ali? What are you doing here? I thought you were celebrating with Jason.”
“I was, and then I decided to stop by,” she replied, inviting herself in with the huge trash bag of presents. “I come bearing gifts.”
“What are you, Santa Claus?” Spencer grumbled, downing her glass. Everyone looked at her and then back at Alison.
“That’s really sweet, Ali,” Emily gushed, “thank you.” She gave her a peck on the lips and Spencer nearly gaged. Ew. Love was disgusting. Especially since it was now over because Hanna left.
“What climbed up her ass?” Alison asked, making a face.
“Hanna left,” Mona explained.
“Ah.”
“Love is over,” Spencer whined, pouring herself another glass. She didn’t care if she was now making her feelings obvious.
“You’re so dramatic.” Alison rolled her eyes.
“Maybe slow it down?” Aria advised.
A small silence filled the room but was abruptly cut off by Mona ripping open the box with the hot chocolate maker. The girls all raised their eyebrows at her. “What?” She asked, “am I not allowed to make myself some hot chocolate?”
“If you’re having some, then I’m having some,” Alison replied.
“You got it.”
The girls switched between drinking hot chocolate to drinking champagne. Spencer wallowed in self-pity on the couch. She was two champagne glasses in as her friends took the bottle away from her. Being only a little tipsy, her mind raced with thoughts. It was Christmas, how could she let Hanna leave like that? Why did they have to fight? Why did she have to invite Mona in and make Hanna mad? She had to fix this. It was only right.
“I got it.” She stood up randomly, causing the girls to turn to her. “I will go to Hanna’s and apologize. I will make things right.”
“That’s a good idea,” Emily approved.
“Agreed,” said Aria, “and bring her back here.”
“It took you this long to figure that out?” Alison asked with a raised eyebrow.
“She’s not home,” Mona countered, looking at her phone.
“How would you know that?” Aria narrowed her eyes.
“I have her location, obvi,” She replied, unbothered as she didn’t even look up from her screen. “And yours too. And Emily’s and Spencer’s.”
Alison made a face. “Yikes, that’s fucked up.”
Spencer barely processed that. Her mind was full of thoughts about what to say to Hanna. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
“That’s really creepy, Mona,” Aria told her, eyes widening.
“Yeah.” Emily rubbed her shoulders timidly. “I feel violated.”
“Oh please,” Mona said with an annoyed sigh, “As if you weren’t violated when Big A did that shit with your eggs. It’s just for your safety. It’s not even compared to the shit I pulled when I was A.”
“That’s true,” everyone agreed.
“So where is Hanna then?” Spencer asked, hugging herself.
Mona finally looked up from her phone. “She’s in Philadelphia.”
“What the hell is she doing over there?”
“We should go find out,” Alison decided.
“You’re coming too?” Spencer asked, surprised.
“So am I,” Aria chimed in, “Spence, you shouldn’t go looking for her alone.”
“Agreed,” Emily added, “we can take my car.”
Spencer frowned. “What’s wrong with mine?”
“I’m the most sober out of all of you.”
“That’s not true.”
“Actually, I am,” Alison said, “I haven’t been drinking at all.”
And so the girls piled in Ali’s car.
“Yay! Girls trip to Philly!” Mona cheered. Nobody cheered with her.
Alison turned her key and the engine sputtered to life. A second later, it stopped. Spencer’s heart sank. Oh no.
“What?” Alison said in disbelief as she tried again. Same result. “Okay, Mona, was that you?” She snapped.
Mona raised her hands up in surrender. “For once, this wasn’t me! I think your car just sucks.”
Ali shrugged. “You’re not wrong, but what are we going to do now?”
“Fuck!” Spencer hit the seat. “Now I’m never going to get to apologize to Hanna!”
“Yeah, it’s not like you live in the same neighborhood or anything,” Ali said sarcastically.
“Whatever.”
“So what are we going to do?” Emily questioned.
“I have to get to Philadelphia,” Spencer said determinedly, “if it is the last thing I do.”
The girls all looked at each other, concerned.
“Okay, dramatic,” Mona drawled.
Spencer unlocked the car door and ran out of the backseat and onto the sidewalk. The wind whipped at her face as she struggled to run in the cold, huffing and puffing air on the way.
The car caught up to her. The window rolled down. “What the fuck are you doing?” Alison called, irritated.
“Spencer, get inside the car!” Emily ordered, “now!”
“I’m running to Philadelphia!” Spencer replied, “what does it look like I’m doing?!”
“Spencer, car, now!” Aria yelled while Mona laughed.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine!” She stormed over to the car but accidentally tripped on the curb, falling face-first on the asphalt.
Spencer laid somewhere, staring up at the ceiling as Emily brought her another ice pack. “Here,” she said and gently handed it to her. Spencer’s head ached.
“Where am I?” Spencer mumbled, placing the ice pack on her neck. Emily moved it to her forehead.
“For the millionth time, we’re at your house,” Alison said, annoyed. She sounded like she was somewhere in the room, a few feet away from them.
“Did I fall?”
“Obviously.”
“You don’t remember?” Aria asked as her eyes widened, “how drunk are you?”
“She had two glasses of champagne,” Emily explained.
“Where’s Hanna?” Spencer asked, closing her eyes.
“Why are you acting like you’re dying right now and Hanna is your long-lost lover?” Alison said bitterly, “I can’t deal with gay people.”
“You are gay,” Aria reminded her.
“I’m bi.”
“So is Spencer.”
“That’s still gay,” Emily said matter-of-factly.
“Okay, Emily, no one asked,” Mona chimed in, “you’re being the woke police right now.”
“You don’t actually know what you’re talking about, do you?” Aria said.
Emily sighed, ignoring Mona. “Spencer, how are you feeling?”
“Where’s Hanna?” She replied, voice leaking with exhaustion.
“On the way,” Mona informed her, “I’m tracking her location live.”
Alison scoffed. “Let me see.”
The girls all gathered around Mona and looked at her phone with her.
“Hanna is back at her house,” Mona announced. Spencer sat up immediately on the couch, dropping her ice pack to the floor.
Emily was sleeping on Alison’s shoulder but jolted awake. “Oh wow, that was quick.”
“I’m going over there,” Spencer said, walking towards the door.
“Wait, you’re in socks!” Aria started but Spencer already opened the door and left, not caring that she was only in socks. She had to find Hanna and apologize.
She ran to Hanna’s house, her feet stomping on the freezing asphalt and wind whipping through her hair. She stopped at Hanna’s front door and bent over, breathing hard from the running.
“Jesus,” she panted.
After a second, she put on a confident face and rang the doorbell.
“Give me a second!” Hanna called from inside.
“Hanna, it’s me!” Spencer exclaimed.
“Spence?” The confusion was heavy in her voice. Footsteps walked over the door and Hanna threw it open, wearing nothing but a bathrobe.
“Um.” She furrowed her eyebrows, “what are you doing here?” Her eyes widened. “And what the fuck happened to your face?!”
“Huh?” Spencer furrowed her eyebrows in return. “What’s wrong with my face?”
“It’s all bruised!” Hanna said, concerned, “get inside!” She practically pulled her in and shut the door. “Are you drunk?”
“No,” Spencer replied.
“Spencer.”
“Maybe?”
“What the hell happened?”
“I tried to run to Philadelphia to you to apologize but then tripped and fell on my face.”
Hanna stared at her. “You’re ridiculous. Sit down. Let me get you a glass of water.”
“Han, I’m sorry!”
She gave her a weird look. “For what?”
“For inviting Mona in and making you leave!”
“It’s fine.” Hanna walked to the fridge and took out the water pitcher, pouring a cup of water. “I’m over it. I don’t care anymore. It’s Christmas, why would I hold a grudge?”
“But I’m sorry,” Spencer whined, burying her face in her hands.
Hanna chuckled. “I see that. It’s all good, Spence. I was just pissed at the moment but when I got home I took a shower and did my skincare routine and felt better.” She handed her the cup of water. “Drink.”
Spencer downed it in seconds. “So you forgive me?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, yay!”
Hanna smiled, playfully shaking her head. “You didn’t need to be so dramatic, silly.”
Spencer smiled shyly, shrugging. “Whatever. Couldn’t let my cuddle buddy be upset.”
Hanna scoffed. “Your cuddle buddy? What are we, in third grade?”
Spencer giggled and interlocked their hands. “How was the shower?”
“Okay, enough.” Hanna rolled her eyes playfully and dropped their hands. “Sober up and then we can have a conversation.”
“Why’d you let go of our hands?” Spencer pouted.
Hanna laughed. “Fine. My bad.” She threaded their hands together. “Now can you drink more water?”
Spencer crossed her arms sassily. “Only if you answer my questions.”
“Your questions?” Hanna replied, amused.
“Yes. Question number one, do I look ugly with the bruise on my forehead?”
Hanna laughed and smiled fondly. “No, you're actually kind of cute with it.” She brushed her finger on Spencer’s forehead, making her heart race.
“Question number two,” Spencer started, trying to focus but couldn’t with Hanna looking at her like that. “Um… um…”
“I’m waiting.”
Spencer smirked deviously, finally thinking of a question. “You know how most of us are queer in our friend group except for Aria?”
Hanna nodded. “Yes, and?”
“Are you…” Spencer shut her eyes and braced herself for the answer. “Queer?” It was silent for a moment and she opened her eyes to find Hanna smiling.
“Yes, I am. I don’t label myself but I like all genders.” She touched her shoulder. “You didn’t need to act so nervous asking that.”
“Oh. Phew.”
Hanna raised an eyebrow. “Phew?”
Oh shit. Spencer’s eyes widened. “Not phew. I don’t care.”
“Nice save.”
“Whatever. Question number three…”
“Yes?”
Spencer giggled. “Would you kiss me?”
Something flashed in Hanna’s eyes. She coughed. “What?”
“Would you?”
“Spence, you’re drunk.” She looked away. “What kind of a question is that?”
“I don’t know!” Spencer said, “friends kiss each other all the time.”
“So that’s what this is to you?” Hanna’s face dropped and she frowned. “That’s not nice.”
Spencer’s heart sank. Oh no. She fucked up again. “Hanna-”
“No, it’s okay,” she cut her off, “you’re drunk. Just sober up and then I’ll walk you home.”
Spencer did end up sobering up. She drank about four cups of water and now suddenly things didn’t feel wobbly anymore. Her mind, however, was racing because what the fuck did she say earlier?!
Hanna was upstairs, changing. She walked back downstairs. “Hey. Are you sober now?”
“Yes,” Spencer replied, “but I don’t want to go home.”
She crossed her arms. “Then what do you want to do?”
Spencer stood up. “I owe you an apology.” She swallowed nervously. “I’m sorry I asked those weird questions.”
“It’s fine-”
“And I’m sorry for asking you to kiss me. That was wrong and out of line.” She looked down at the floor and fidgeted with her fingers.
“I don’t care about that,” Hanna answered.
“Huh?” She shot her head up and they locked eyes, “then why did you get upset?”
“Because it didn’t matter to you. The question, that is.”
Spencer was quiet. Oh. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” She sighed. “Just… I think I need to be alone.”
“Oh. So you want me to go?”
“Yes.”
Spencer paused, going through different ideas in her head. Wait. Hanna thought it didn’t matter to her? She put a finger in the air. “Wait.”
“What?”
“You said it didn’t matter to me.”
“Well, yeah, it clearly didn’t-”
Spencer grinned.
Hanna glared at her. “Seriously? You think this is funny? What the fuck? I’ve had feelings for you forever and you’re making this a joke?!”
Spencer’s heart melted at the confession and that final boost was all she needed to take the leap of faith. She marched up to Hanna, cupped her face, and kissed her.
Hanna pulled away instantly, “ whoa , Spence-”
“I mean it,” she said boldly, “I wanted you to kiss me, that’s why I asked, because I like you too.”
“Oh shit,” Hanna said, flabbergasted, clearly not expecting that. They stared at each other and then burst out in a fit of giggles. “This is like, the best Christmas ever,” Hanna said, beaming. There was so much fondness in the one single look on her face.
“I can make it even better,” Spencer said, pulling her closer.
Hanna blushed. “Hm, how?”
They locked eyes again and Spencer let out a light exhale, taking in Hanna. Just Hanna herself. She was… beautiful. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears. “You’re so beautiful, Han.”
Hanna looked down shyly. “I… thank you, Spence.” She glanced up through her eyelashes. “So are you. Very. Uh-” She laughed, nervous. “Words are hard right now when you’re looking at me like that.”
Spencer smiled. “Glad I make you speechless.”
“You're way too cocky.”
“You like it.”
Hanna shook her head playfully and pulled Spencer by her collar to kiss her. Both girls gasped at the overwhelming feeling of their proper first kiss. It was almost too much that Spencer’s knees wobbled and they both tripped into each other, laughing. Spencer held Hanna steady.
“I got you.”
They kissed again and this kiss was just as perfect as the others. Hanna’s fingers threaded through Spencer’s hair, scratching lightly at her scalp as they kissed each other feverishly. Spencer slightly pressed her nails into Hanna’s waist, running her hands under her shirt to feel her bare skin.
Needing to take a break to breathe, the girls let go and giggled again.
“Can we go watch another Christmas movie while it is still Christmas?” Hanna asked.
“Of course,” Spencer replied, “you pick the movie and we’ll cuddle.”
“Yay!”
“Wait, also, random, but why did you go to Philadelphia?”
“Oh, I don’t know, to be honest.”
“Huh?” Spencer furrowed her eyebrows.
Hanna shrugged. “I was pretty angry, I just ended up going somewhere.”
“Gotcha.”
And so the girls cuddled on Hanna’s couch and put on another Christmas movie. Meanwhile, back at Spencer’s house, the other two Liars, Alison, and Mona were still partying.
“Wait.” Emily paused the music. “Spencer’s been gone for like hours.”
“So?” Alison replied, “she’s with Hanna.”
“Are neither of them coming back to the party?”
She laughed. “Doubtful.”
“Guys, we are partying in Spencer’s house without Spencer,” Aria pointed out, blinking.
Mona groaned. “So? Who cares? I’ve literally broken into every one of your houses before.”
“How is that in any comparison to this?” Emily furrowed her eyebrows.
She shrugged.
“Was that your weird way of saying that Spencer won’t care?” Alison asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Mona said.
Aria and Emily exchanged glances but then shrugged. “It’s getting too late in the night to care,” Aria decided.
“Yeah,” Emily agreed, “Ali, can you pass the champagne?”
“Yay! Girls night at Spence’s!” Mona cheered, turning the music back on.