Hey guys! So this idea has been in my head for a while, but I didn't know how to execute it. Now I found a way! This is going to be a two-shot, so lemme know what you think about it!

Also, warning: this story highlights on some serious topics. Including bulimia. So be careful when reading, or don't read if it might trigger anything. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy the story! Second chapter should be up later tonight. Oh, and don't forget to review/follow/favorite/WHATEVER to lemme know you like it!

Hanna's body shook with sobs as she buried her head in Aria's lap. Aria stroked her back and whispered soothing words to her, guilt encompassing her mind. She couldn't help but feel like this was her fault; after all, SHE was the one who told Hanna she should come clean to Caleb. If it weren't for her, Hanna wouldn't have called Caleb asking to talk to him about it, and A wouldn't have run his mom off the road.

Hanna didn't blame Aria, though. This had slowly been building up for a long, long time, and the big pile of secrets and lies would eventually come tumbling down, Hanna knew it. She just wished she were ready for it.

Caleb was gone. He was gone when she needed him most. She needed him to comfort her, to protect her. She just needed him to look at her with his caring brown eyes one last time and tell her everything was okay, even though she knew it wasn't.

She would do anything for him to be here right now. She would do anything to hear his deep, light-hearted laugh, to hear one of his witty wisecracks, to just hear him say her name, Hanna, in the loving way he always did.

Hanna finally sat up from Aria's lap and wiped her eyes dry. Aria looked at her, concern swimming in her profound hazel eyes. "Is there anything I can do, Han?"

Hanna slowly shook her head. "No," she sniffled. "Thank you for being here, though. It's what I needed."

"Of course," Aria said as she took Hanna's hands in hers. As she looked down at Hanna's hands, which felt warm from working herself up so much, she knew that she needed to do something. Caleb had already broken Hanna's heart once before, and she didn't think it was right for him to do the same thing again.

She needed to talk to him, but not let Hanna know about it.

But whatever she planned on saying to him, it could wait until morning. Right now, Hanna needed her.

Hanna felt her eyes fill to the brim with fresh tears, and she removed her hands from Aria's as she hid her face in them. "I miss him," she choked out, beginning to cry again, and Aria wrapped her arms back around Hanna, doing whatever she could to comfort her broken friend.

The next morning, Hanna sleepily opened her eyes to find that she was lying on her still-made bed; in her same mint green tank top that she had worn all of yesterday. She looked up to see Aria walk into the room, in a pair of sweats that Hanna told her she could borrow the previous night.

"Hey," she said softly as she walked over to the bed. She sat down and surveyed Hanna carefully. "How are you? Did you sleep okay?"

"I guess," Hanna muttered. She had slept okay, but she still felt emotionally exhausted from the events of the night before.

Aria nodded her head at this, but she still wasn't completely convinced. "That's good," she said warily, and then she bowed her head slightly. "I'm really sorry, Hanna, but I told my mom already that I'd have breakfast with her this morning…"

"Oh," Hanna said, surprised. "You're leaving so soon?"

"Yeah," Aria said sadly as she stood up from the bed. "But we'll talk later." She leaned over and kissed Hanna on the crown of her head. "Feel better, okay?"

"Okay," Hanna said quietly, offering Aria a weak smile. "Bye."

Aria ruffled Hanna's hair sweetly before exiting the room. Hanna paid close attention as Aria left. Aria was so beautiful, and she always had been, with her round, soft eyes, her fair skin, and her raven hair and eyebrows. She had the kind of exotic beauty that turned heads whenever she walked into a room. Even without makeup, she was flawless. But most importantly, she was skinny. Hanna looked down at her stomach, and noticed it protruding outward. Had she gained weight?

I guess it's a good thing Caleb broke up with me, Hanna thought grimly. I'm not good enough for him. I'm not PRETTY enough for him.

She would never be as skinny as Aria, or any of her other friends. She would never be as pretty as them, either, or get the hot, incredible boyfriends, or in Emily's case, girlfriends, that they got. She was simply fat and hopeless.

Why are my friends even FRIENDS with me in the first place when I'm so ugly? Hanna thought gloomily. A part of her knew that her friends would never be so judgmental, that it was just her broken heart talking, but the other part wished she could be as pretty as her friends. She hated the fact that she was alone. She wanted to be pretty. She wanted to be skinny.

She wanted Caleb.

Hanna then reached under the bed and felt around for a little bit until she found the one thing that was the escape from her heartbreak, and pulled it up as she examined it.

It was a gallon of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Rocky Road.

Last night, she had thrown it under the bed as soon as she heard Aria coming up the stairs. She didn't want her to know about this. Aria was the only one of her friends who knew about her… problem, but Hanna didn't want Aria to be concerned about her spiraling back into it.

More importantly, she didn't want Aria to feel sorry for her. If anything, Hanna was just embarrassed by it. Aria got to be her cute, tiny self on a daily basis, while Hanna was stuck being the chubby, pathetic loser that she was in middle school.

She had made herself believe that she had changed since then. That she had finally managed to climb to the top of the totem pole as the prettiest girl in school. That she had surpassed Alison and her cruelty.

But she hadn't. She was still that girl. And somewhere above, Alison was just laughing at her.

It's not like there's any point, Hanna thought as she opened the tub of ice cream, which was now half empty. I'm always going to be that girl. Nothing will change.

She reached into the container, grabbed the spoon that she had thrown inside of it last night in panic, and began to shovel the ice cream in her mouth without remorse as salty tears poured out of her eyes and dripped onto the bedspread.