A/N: Hi Guys! This is my first time writing a fanfic, so I would really appreciate if you guys would review this for me and provide some constructive criticism, or whatever comes to your mind, really! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy! I have an interesting idea for this story, and I can't wait to write it. I plan on posting a new chapter every day (hopefully), but at the least, every few days.

(PS: There is no A in this story, as it's my first fanfic and wanted to start off simple)

Disclaimer: I do not own PLL, or any of its associated characters or storylines. I do however, own whatever original stories I write on here.

It was late summer in Rosewood. Green leaves were beginning to become various shades of auburn, and soon would omit a pleasant crinkling sound when trampled upon. It was exactly this day last year when Aria Montgomery had gotten herself into the huge mess, that the last school year turned out to be. She went to the pub a few days after her arrival home from her family's year-long "get away" in Iceland, and to take things off her mind, she had come to get some temporary relief from her messy family in the form of a cheeseburger. That is all that she signed up for when she walked in the doors of the place, that, at the time, she didn't realize would eventually mean so much more to her. Instead, she ended up leaving with smeared lipstick, and the admission ticket to the wild ride that her life would be, following that heated bathroom make-out session. The next day, who was once a cute guy at the bar that she moved too fast, too quickly with, soon became the other half of a forbidden, teacher-student relationship. Upon initial thought, Aria knew deep down that it would be a mistake to ever look at Ezra Fitz in that way again, yet, every time he looked at her with that look, her heart was captured all over again. The proceeding few months consisted of a live performance of a flipflop between what is right and what is wrong, and after a while, it would soon become a very dangerous game that they were playing with one another. Halfway through the school year, Ezra got a job offer he couldn't resist, and within two weeks time, he was packed up and shipped across the country, without a trace. At one of his live poetry readings, there was a man from an agency in New York who happened to be in town, at that bar, and from there, Ezra's fate was made. He was offered the opportunity to work on his book full-time, and finally had the chance to become a published author like he always had wanted. Both of them knew that it was an opportunity he couldn't give up, so he left. They made promises to call each other every day, visit on weekends, and Skype occasionally, but it wasn't long before Aria's phone began to light up less and less. He didn't have to officially send her the memo for her to know what has happened; they were over.

Months passed as Aria started going out less frequently and drank more often, while the hype about Ezra's newly published poetry book soon skyrocketed. Their breakup left Aria miserable for a long time, a very long time, but eventually, she found a new source of happiness. The devil's name was Noel Kahn, her schoolgirl crush all throughout junior high. Except now, his signature boyish charm and infatuation with musical instruments, was replaced with a toned, muscular body, a lacrosse jersey, and a label as one of the most popular guys in school. Soon he started glancing at her as often as she did at him; she quickly filled out in all the right places, and he wasn't shy to notice. Their relationship began quickly, and has been lasting for a while now, though it wasn't on the level of seriousness and commitment as her's with Ezra had been. The worst part was, Noel didn't even try to disguise the hickeys on his neck that Aria knew were not given by her, and his breath slowly began to carry stronger hints of scotch each time he came over late at nights. She thought about breaking up with him, but when he wanted to be, Noel really was a good boyfriend. He would buy her dinner and fancy dresses often, and although she wasn't truly in love with him as she was with Ezra, she was happy in the moment, and no longer played Elliot Smith on a loop as she fell asleep crying. They've been dating for about eight months now, and it's been three weeks now that his drinking got out of hand, in unison with his temper. It was just the one time at first, but soon bruises etched her body like chicken pox. She could break up with him, but then she would go back to her terrifying state of depression, and would lose the good Noel too, the sober side of him that would surprise her with roses just because. The main reason for staying as his submissive, was because he knew about hers and Ezra's relationship.

One night, when he was heavily drenched in the stench of alcohol, he went through her phone, and found an old conversation between her and Ezra that she forgot to delete. In a jealous rage, he threw her phone across the room, and hit her repeatedly until he told her everything. He threatened to report them to the police if she broke up with him, and even though she hadn't spoken to Ezra in months, she could never destroy his career like that. He broke her heart, but they were in love once. Maybe she still loved him now. Either way, it didn't matter, he was gone, and much better off without him.

She mistakenly looked him up one night over the summer, and saw just how successful he was. Maybe not in the money category, because after a couple weeks of being on the bestsellers list, sales quickly plummeted and he was back at rock bottom again, it appeared. However, in one of the articles during his time in the spotlight that she found, there was a picture of him and a woman in Italy; Jackie someone. The Jackie woman wore an engagement ring and was grinning widely. After that, Aria didn't dare to find anything else out about him again; he was gone. As much as it hurt, there was nothing that she could do, except live her present life. So that is what she did.

Today is the first day back at school, and after spending the summer with him at his family cabin in the valley, she had nothing on her mind that morning, other than how to cover up all the dark purple blemishes that coated her right cheek, left leg, and all over her forearm. Those were from when he found out about Ezra.

As they pulled into the school parking lot, Noel rolled his eyes and scowled as he caught a glimpse of Aria trying to cover up the marks with concealer, sporting a slight frown. "Don't do that," he grunted.

"What? Noel, people are going to have questions if they see my face like this," Aria replied.

"No, not that, you bitch. Don't act like some victim here, because we both know that you deserve everything you got. You messed around with your high school teacher like the slut you pretend not to be, and now you have to face the repercussions," Noel shot back, with no hint of sympathy in his black, lifeless eyes.

Choking back tears, and forcing a small smile on her face, Aria gave in, as always. "You're right, Noel, I'm sorry. I—I just, I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I'm just nervous to be back, it's our senior year. I have a feeling that big things will happen for the both of us this year. Good things."

In a haze, Noel quickly began unbuckling his seatbelt, grabbed his books, and slammed the car door shut after him. "Yeah, whatever," he angrily mumbled to her. He forcefully threw the car keys at her, as he ran to catch up with the guys ahead. His stern voice echoed in Aria's mind as she grabbed her own belongings, and locked up. "Meet me back here at 3:30, and don't be late. I have something very special planned for you tonight." And from the ruthless look in his eyes, it wasn't going to be the good kind of special.

Wiping off tears, and fixing her smudged mascara, Aria began the dreaded walk inside the school. She immediately headed to her spot, a place that was solely hers, where no one could disturb her. She bribed the janitor late last school year, and had convinced him to give her an all-access pass to the boiler room in the basement. It was nothing, just a tiny, dirty, noisy room, but it was a safe place for her to be. On her lunch hours, this is where she came to escape Noel and let it all out. She even set up an easel there once, and now, it was a regular habit to practice her passion for painting down here. It wasn't much, but it was all hers.

She was just making her way down the weary, abandoned stairs, and into her locked sanctuary, when she heard a creak coming from the stairs she just came down a few seconds ago. It wasn't the janitor, he only comes down here in the evenings to stock up supplies for the next day. Her palms becoming sweaty, she slowly started hyperventilating as fearful thoughts plagued her mind. Has Noel found my spot? Is he going to take this away from me, too? Where can I hide? She decided the best plan was to hide in the shadows beneath the staircase, and confront the intruder.

The unknown shadow was now on the last step, and as he rounded the corner to walk the hallway towards the boiler room, Aria jumped out, and in fear that it was Noel coming to hurt her again, unleashed a round of pepper spray.

At the same time as a sharp scream echoed the basement, the identity of her pepper spray victim was revealed. "Oh my god, Ezra?" Aria cried out.

Squinting to see her from his burning eyelids, Ezra gasped as he couldn't believe the very sight in front of him. It was Aria. A very bruised, a very shaky, a very skinny and pale-looking, Aria Montgomery. His next words were all too familiar to her.

"Holy crap."