Melissa Hastings

Melissa Hastings is Spencer Hastings' seemingly perfect older sister. Melissa has everything her sister ever wanted. She just got accepted to the Wharton School of Business, with nothing but praises from their parents and was engaged to Wren Kim. What she doesn't already have, she's not afraid to take, such as the barn. The thing is, what she has seems to be attractive to her sister --namely her love interests.

Season 1
Wren and Spencer flirt with each other from the moment they meet; at one point, Wren massages Spencer in the kitchen, and as soon as Melissa enters, the two separate. Wren eventually kisses Spencer one night when Wren stops by Spencer's room. However, Melissa sees them from a mirror's reflection, resulting in Melissa breaking up with Wren, changing her parents' opinion of Spencer and making her hate her sister.

Spencer steals Melissa's Russian History paper from when she was in school, and the essay is so good, her teacher submits it to an essay contest. Melissa eventually reads the essay and mocks Spencer for her stupidity at the homecoming dance in "There's No Place Like Homecoming." Melissa has been asked to chaperone Spencer's homecoming dance, and Melissa uses the opportunity to drive a wedge between Spencer and her date, Alex, maliciously telling him that the only reason Spencer dated him is to anger their father. Melissa also mocks his economic background and the fact that he works at the club and attends a lesser school than Rosewood High. Alex leaves, and Spencer suspects her sister's hand, though she does not know precisely what her sister said. Melissa is the one chosen to announce the homecoming king and queen, and she unctuously uses the platform to mention that she was crowned queen when she was a student some six years back.

It is revealed in flashbacks that when Melissa dated Ian Thomas a year ago, Spencer kissed him once, though Melissa hadn't found out. Later when Ian Thomas returns to Rosewood, Spencer tries to mend her relationship with Melissa by hooking them up together for coffee. Melissa reunites with Ian again after this, and the two continue dating. This leads Melissa to make peace with her sister, making them closer and behave kindly towards one another. This bond is evident when Melissa comforts Spencer when Hanna goes to the hospital after getting hit by a car.

In the winter premiere episode, Melissa and Ian elope.

One day, Melissa returns from shopping, and drops a bag. Spencer picks it up, discovering an ovulation test. Melissa confesses she and Ian are trying to get pregnant and want a big family. Ian overhears and says they had "planned to keep it a secret." Melissa then tells Ian that Spencer can keep a secret. He replies with; "I know she can," as Melissa still does not know about the kiss between her husband and her sister. In a later episode, Melissa announces she is pregnant.

Melissa's relationship with Spencer takes a turn for the worst when Spencer comes out with her belief's about Ian's guilt, although Ian outwardly doesn't show such anger while in front of the Hastings family. Melissa does and accuses Spencer of being selfish, while Spencer argues that not everything she does is meant for her sister.

Spencer brings up as proof of Ian's guilt the fact that Ian stayed at the Hilton Resort, the very same place Ali stayed just before she disappeared. Melissa secretly clarifies to Spencer that she stayed at the resort with Ian when she was getting a secret abortion. Melissa explains that the abortion never happened, as she miscarried, but it makes her new pregnancy so much more important to her. Spencer is stunned at first. However, later in Monsters in the End, when Melissa, Ian, and Spencer are chatting with Mrs. Ackard at the Rosewood Founder's Festival, the Hilton Resort is brought up by Mrs. Ackard, and based on Melissa's initial responses, it seems that Melissa and Ian stayed in different rooms while they were there! Spencer finds this very suspicious; Spencer had been the one to bring up the fact that Ian stayed there in the resort, after being annoyed by the attention paid to her as a person of interest.

In For Whom the Bell Tolls, Spencer is driving Melissa home from the church, where she has been making plans for the christening of her unborn child. On the way, their car is hit, and the sisters are taken to the hospital. Melissa is kept longer, as her fetus needs to be monitored carefully, though it turns out to be fine. Veronica and Spencer try to get in touch with Ian to let him know what has happened to his wife, but he is preoccupied with hiding his involvement with Alison before she died, so he opts to ignore the messages instead. Spencer goes to the church to find Melissa's phone that she accidentally left there, but finds Ian instead, before the battle between the two ensues.

Season 2
Melissa is completely distraught when Ian disappears. At first, she, like most people in Rosewood, including her parents, believe Ian to be a missing person and distrust Spencer's story. However, after a while, she reveals to Spencer that she doubts this, because he has left now that she is pregnant and especially after they had planned to name their child Taylor. She softens a bit towards Spencer, but later is seen doing mysterious things and not including Spencer on her whereabouts.

Spencer discovers someone claiming to be Ian texting Melissa, and she suspects that her sister is secretly keeping him alive. Spencer asks her sister to protect her over Ian, but Melissa snaps back angrily. The Liars later find out she has been meeting with Wren after they spy on her taking something from Wren in Hastings' parking lot. Spencer correctly guesses the merchandise to be pain killers for Ian.

In the meantime, Melissa removes her ring by the toaster one day when her fingers feel swollen from pregnancy. Spencer finds it, pockets it, and pawns it with the intention of redeeming it later and returning it to her sister. "A" buys it back before Spencer returns to the pawn shop, however. After, Melissa is seen looking around the house for Ian's passport; she claims it is for the insurance company and needs it to make a claim. However, Spencer scopes out the barn when Melissa is in the shower and finds a suitcase packed with things for Ian, including clothes, pain killers, and his passport. Spencer enlists Wrens help in stopping her sister from helping Ian flee the country.

When Melissa goes to visit Ian in his barn hideout with Wren (with the liars secretly following behind), she finds her husband sitting dead with a bullet wound, beside a gun and a suicide letter. Melissa is in total agony, and Spencer comes out from her hiding place to comfort her.

Melissa is silent and withdrawn after this, so Spencer convinces her parents to stage a funeral for Ian in order to give Melissa closure. Spencer tries to reason with her sister, but Melissa will not speak to her. After the funeral, Melissa finally softens and apologizes for picking Ian over her sister. Just as she is about to reveal something to her sister, Spencer pulls out Ian's phone, which has been planted by "A" in her purse. Melissa is beyond livid and accuses Spencer of tricking her, pretending to be Ian. She is more furious than she has ever been with her sister and exclaims that she will never forgive her for what she has done.

In "Never Letting Go", Melissa goes on a much needed vacation. Her father mentions to Spencer that she could of gone as well, which probably means that Melissa didn't tell her parents about what happened between the two of them.