I Want You To Have This-Vandermarin
When Hanna was awoken in the middle of the night by someone shaking her shoulder, the last person she expected to see was Mona Vanderwaal. She was transported back to the night Mona had been released from Radley and had appeared in her room. This time, at least, she wasn’t afraid.
“Mona? What the hell are you doing here?” Hanna whispered. Mona sat down on the edge of the bed, silent.
“Mona, what’s wrong?” Hanna asked worriedly. She knew the other girl well enough to know when she was upset, even if she looked perfectly fine.
“You and your friends asked me for help. I’m going to help you. I just… I wanted to let you know that I l--. I care about you, Han. That’s why I’m going to help you. It’s not for Spencer, or Emily, or Aria. It’s not even because I want to take down Alison. It’s because of you,” Mona said. Hanna’s face grew more worried.
“Mona, what are you planning?” she asked. Mona shook her head.
“Nothing. I’m not planning anything. I just wanted to tell you this while you were alone,” Mona lied. She knew if she told Hanna about her plan to fake her death, Hanna would never let her. And maybe the blonde would be mad at her later, but she could handle that.
“You had to tell me now, in the middle of the night?” Hanna asked, raising her eyebrows. Mona nodded.
“Yes. Oh, and here. I want you to have this,” Mona said, handing Hanna a book. The blonde squinted in the darkness, trying to make out the title.
“The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe? Mona, this is your kind of thing, not mine,” Hanna said. Mona rolled her eyes.
“Just take the damn book, Han,” she said. Hanna narrowed her eyes.
“Why? Why are you giving me your book? It was your grandfather’s, wasn’t it? Why are you giving it away? Are you going to hurt yourself? That thing they made us watch in health class said giving away possessions is a sign of--”
“Jesus, Hanna, no. I’m not going to hurt myself,” she said. Hanna frowned.
“Then what’s going on?” she asked. Mona sighed.
“Do you always have to have so many questions? Look, Hanna. Trying to take down Alison is dangerous, for all of us. And… If she would decide to take this out on me, I just want you to have something to remember me by. Is that such a terrible thing?” Mona asked.
“Alison’s not going to hurt you,” Hanna said. Mona raised an eyebrow.
“Are you so sure about that? You saw that video of what she did,” Mona reminded her. Hanna rolled her eyes.
“You and I both know that video was edited. It doesn’t excuse what Alison did, but there was another side no one else saw,” Hanna pointed out. Mona shrugged.
“There’s always another side,” she said simply. There were always two sides, and one side always won and the other side always lost. All she wanted to do was make sure Hanna was on the winning side.
“Mona… I know things have been rough between us, but I really appreciate you helping us. And I don’t want anything to happen to you. So… Maybe just try not to provoke Alison,” she suggested. Mona raised her eyebrow.
“You mean, besides trying to prove she’s a killer?” she asked. Hanna snorted, then put her hand over her mouth. The last thing she needed to do was wake up her mom.
“Yeah, besides that. Just look after yourself, okay?”
Mona nodded, and started to move toward Hanna’s window, where she’d climbed in.
“Wait!” Hanna exclaimed. Mona paused.
“You could… You could stay. It’s the middle of the night. You shouldn’t be walking home by yourself,” Hanna said, suddenly terrified of Mona leaving. She didn’t know why, but she had a bad feeling that if Mona walked away now, something bad was going to happen. Mona smiled sadly and rejoined Hanna on the bed. She brushed a strand of hair off of Hanna’s face.
“You really are the best friend a girl could ask for,” she said. She leaned in as if she was going to kiss Hanna, then stopped. She stood up and walked back over to the window.
“Oh, and Hanna? You be careful too. It’s a dangerous world out there,” Mona warned. Hanna nodded, and watched her friend leave.
It was the last time she saw her alive.