Chapter 1

"What do you think?" Spencer held a shirt in front of her torso as she looked to Aria. "Too formal? Not formal enough? Maybe I should go for a suit."

"No." Aria shook her head seriously. "You're going for a part time job interview Spence, a suit will make you seem way too…Spencer Hastings."

"Spencer Hastings?" Spencer raised a questioning eyebrow, not entirely sure whether she should be offended by the statement, "What does that even mean?"

"Too intense." Aria answered thoughtfully. "Go for smart casual, it makes you seem more approachable."

"I didn't know I seemed unaproachable." Spencer frowned, throwing the shirt she was holding onto the bed. "Do you find me unapproachable?"

Aria rolled her eyes at the question. "Of course I don't, but that's because I know you're a big teddy bear while to some other people…you're a grizzly bear."

"Nice metaphor." Spencer said with a shake of her head.

"Thanks." Aria grinned and shifted slightly on the bed, waiting for Spencer to finish what she was doing.

Spencer huffed as she stared at the clothes on the bed. "I'm going business chic."

"Spence it's a coffee shop, you practically have the job in the bag anyway because of Emily's recommendation. Here…" Aria reluctantly moved from her comfortable position on the bed and grabbed a black shirt along with blue jeans. She proceeded to shove them into Spencer's hands. "Wear these."

"But…"

"Go." Aria lightly pushed against Spencer's shoulders, urging her backwards.

Spencer huffed out a sigh but obediently walked towards her closet. Putting the clothes down for a moment she called over her shoulder. "You know I only listen to you because you're the fasionista out of the four of us."

"So you've said." Aria responded as she watched Spencer tug the shirt she was wearing over her head. It dropped to the ground and Aria tilted her head to the side slightly, distracted by the expanse of milky skin displayed to her.

"I guess this means no tie then?" Spencer joked, grabbing the shirt Aria had picked out for her.

Aria flushed crimson and had to bite her lip to hold back the 'definitely wear a tie' that threatened to spill out. "I guess not."

A silence settled between the two and Aria let out a huff of air. "What is wrong with you?"

The question was whispered and directed towards herself but Spencer managed to pick up on it.

"Nothing's wrong with me, why do you ask?" Spencer turned around just as she tugged the shirt down, giving Aria a quick flash of her abdomen.

"Uh…no reason." Aria faked a smile. "I'm just checking…it's been a while since we had any contact from A and I wanted to make sure that nothing was wrong."

Spencer looked skeptical but she accepted Aria's answer and turned back around.

Aria breathed a silent sigh of relief and fell back into her previous position, leaning against the headboard. Barely a minute passed before her phone dinged, informing her that she had a message.

Spencer looked over her shoulder. "Speak of the devil?"

Aria picked up her phone, her expression dropping at the sight of the withold number. She cautiously opened the message only for her brow to furrow in confusion – 'been spending too much time with Emily?'

"Aria?" Spencer's voice suddenly sounded much closer than before and Aria looked up to see her standing at the bottom of the bed with a concerned look on her face. "Is that A?"

"No." Aria lied, shaking her head. "It's just Jake. He wants to know if I want to hang out later."

"Oh, are you going to say yes?"

"Maybe, I don't know." Aria answered uncomfortably. Keeping a lie going was never one of her favourite things to do. "I kind of feel like having a quie…" Aria looked down at the sound of another message being received – 'Do what I want or Spencer will find out what you want – her.

Aria inhaled sharply, dumbfounded as to how A even knew about that.

"Jake?" Spencer asked skeptically as she watched the color drain from Aria's face.

"Yeah." Aria nodded distractedly and stood up from the bed. "I-I have to Spence, Jake says it's an emergency."

"An emergency?" Spencer echoed.

"Yeah, something about…Mike. I mentioned that Jake is teaching him, right?" Aria looked around for her shoes. Finally spotting them by the door she hurried over and started to pull them on.

"I can drive you." Spencer offered, taking a small step forward.

"I can drive myself." Aria countered with a shake of her head. She winced at how that sounded and quickly backtracked. "I mean you have an interview."

"In two hours." Spencer argued. She took a step forward and grasped Aria's arms to keep her from rushing right out of the door. "Let me drive you wherever it is you need to go."

"I'm fine." Aria offered Spencer a shaky smile. "You should go to your interview, I know you like to be punctual."

"Aria…"

"I'll call you later." Aria stated before she pulled away from Spencer and opened the bedroom door.

Spencer could merely stare after Aria as she left without so much as a backwards glance. Sighing to herself she looked to the mess of clothes on her bed.

XXX

"You seem distracted." Jake noted as he watched Aria thoughtfully. "Is something bothering you?"

"What?" Aria tore her gaze away from the television and glanced up at Jake. "No, everything is fine. I was just thinking about school."

"Are you sure?" Jake checked, his hand moving to rest neatly on Aria's knee. "You know you can tell me if you want. I might be able to help."

"You can't." Aria shook her head and offered Jake a small smile. "Thank you though, I might take you up on that offer someday."

"Someday." Jake mused, returning the smile.

Aria turned her attention back to the television, trying to force herself to look like she was at least somewhat interested in whatever action movie Jake had decided they should watch. Aria shifted restlessly, a soft sigh passing her lips. Her thoughts kept drifting back to Spencer and A, making it impossible for her to focus on anything else.

Her phone vibrated on the table caught her attention and she reached forward to grab it. Noticing the caller ID she wavered for a moment before rejecting the call. Leaning back she caught sight of Jake's confused expression.

"It was just Spencer." She explained simply. A moment later her phone rang again and Aria glanced down at it to see Spencer's name on the screen.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Jake asked expectantly.

Aria's thumb lingered over the answer button for a moment before she rejected the call. "No, I'll talk to her later."

"Did you guys get into a fight?" Jake asked, looking sincerely concerned. "I was under the impression that you were really close to Spencer."

"I am…we are." Aria answered quickly. "We didn't get into a fight, it's nothing. I just want some alone time with you…no phone calls from friends."

"Okay, if you say so." Jake said, not looking entirely convinced.

Aria leaned up and kissed him lightly to distract him. "I do say so."

Jake turned his attention back to the TV while Aria settled down next to him.

Aria wasn't focused on the movie at all, instead she picked her phone up again, deciding to turn it off in case Spencer called again. She wasn't exactly avoiding her, she told herself, she just needed some space to process and figure out what she was going to do about the situation. Ignore it probably, that was all she could do.

Just as Aria was about to turn off the phone a message flashed on the screen from a withheld number. Aria's breath caught in her throat but she quickly opened the message.

'Who are you trying to fool? Yourself? – A. '

TBC.