AN at the end. So, I'm an asshole. :)

Epilogue

EMPOV

One Year Later

It still hurt. Every single day it hurt. Sometimes it felt okay... she could go hours without thinking about it. She could go to class, work a shift at the Starbucks at Hollis, and even laugh with friends. But when it came back to her the waves of despair crashed over her, bringing her back down to that dark place. Dr. Sullivan said that it would get better, but she hadn't found a way to move on yet.

For so long the four of them acted like this was just something to get through, something to endure until it went away. They all always assumed that they would come out the other end, together and strong. God, they were so wrong.

"You doing alright, Em?"

Hanna's hand on her arm should have been comforting, but today it was a reminder of what they had lost. They shouldn't be here right now. They shouldn't have to commemorate another death, especially not these ones. "No," she whispered, shrugging her off and walking through the dewy grass of Rosewood's cemetery.

But more than all of that, they should have all been together. They should have seen that Aria needed help long before that day in the DiLaurentis house. Because even though she tortured them for years, it wasn't out of hate, not really. She was so sick, and she needed their help.

But God, Spencer. Spencer was the one who held them together. She was the kind of leader that Alison never could have been. Alison broke them, but Spencer helped put them back together. Spencer accepted her when she couldn't even accepted herself, she was the only reason that they passed their classes through the -A drama, but more than any of that, she took the brunt for them again and again. She unreservedly took the worst for them, and she did so without hesitation or complaint. She protected them with everything that she had, and she deserved so much better than the ending she got.

They should have been together.

But maybe it was the guilt that was the worst. Because while Spencer and Toby were ending their nightmare and paying the ultimate price for it, she was making lattes for strangers. She was content, happy almost. They hadn't quite ended everything, but they were finally on the right path. She was content while two of her best friends in the world were making Rosewood safe for her again.

Toby. She couldn't even think about Toby without crying. They ruined him. Minus maybe the year and a half he was with Spencer his life was a nightmare, and so much of it was their fault. They never should have let him take the blame for the Jenna thing. She had known Toby for most of her life, and she knew what kind of person he was. She should have stood up for him sooner.

And even despite all of that, Toby spent the last years of his life working to end their nightmare. He consistently put himself at risk, literally risking everything to expose -A. And the way that he died... they found him out of his seat, his lifeless body on top of Spencer's. Even at the end, he did everything he could to keep her safe. And from what she was told, the passenger side of the car crumpled around a large tree. Spencer and Aria probably would have been lost regardless, but Toby might have survived. He might have walked away had he not been so hell bent on saving Spencer.

But really that was who they were. They weren't perfect. Their relationship was flawed, but what they were so good at was protecting each other. Again and again they proved that they were willing to go to the ends of the earth to keep each other safe. And that's what they were doing, even in the end. Protecting each other and protecting the ones that they cared about.

She knelt down between the graves, her trembling fingers brushing over the letters in Spencer's name. She was 18. She was only 18. She had so much life in front of her. She should have gone to college and been a brain surgeon or the first woman president. She should have changed the world, because that's who Spencer was; a world changer.

She shifted and touched Toby's name. Toby would have been the best cop that this shitty town had to offer. Not only would he have done his job, but he would have done it well... with passion. He would have been someone that people could trust, that they could depend on to protect him. Because that's who he was to her. He protected her. He saved them from their nightmare, and she would never forget him. Their would never be a day that went by that she didn't think of Toby Cavanaugh and Spencer Hastings.

They deserved better. They deserved the world, but at least they went together. She remembered learning about soul mates in history class, about how the Greeks believed that human beings used to have four arms and four legs, but that the gods feared the power that they had when they were together. So they split them down the middle and cursed humanity to a lifetime of searching for their other half.

There was no doubt in her mind that Spencer and Toby had found their soul mate in each other, and no one would ever separate them again.

IM SORRY. I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY.

I planned on ending it like this from the beginning, I swear that I did. I thought about making it a happy ending, but that's not realistic. And I wanted to make this something that could fit into the real PLL landscape. I just can't see everyone getting out of this alive.

Although, that being said I will literally raise hell if they really kill Spencer and Toby, so I apologize. :). Not really, sorry not sorry.

But thanks for all the reviews last chapter guys. I loved them. You're amazing. Check out my other stories, Exiles and They Take Their Shots. And I've been promising another specific story for awhile now, so I think I might have to get on it. So look for that one soon.

LOVE YOU ALL.