It's been a while since I posted here so quite nervous at posting a new story! Sorry about my absence, life just took over for a while and I was unable to post. Unfortunately my Beta was unavailable to look at this so any mistakes are my own. I hope you enjoy and if people like it, I will carry on and try make a series out of this. :)

Locking eyes with him across the graveyard, Aria's breath was ripped away from her…the one person that she shouldn't want. He was sat on a stone bench, his eyes expressionless as he watched his former friend being lowered into the ground, the one that had killed his sister. Jason DiLaurentis sat as though carved from the stone he was sitting on. She could only imagine how he must feel, one person he trusted, only to find out how much he had abused that friendship. Her attention was ripped suddenly as Emily nudged her in the ribs subtly nodding at the open grave in front of them. Reluctantly she took a step forward, taking some of the dirt offered to her and threw it on top of Ian's coffin suppressing a shudder as she watched it hit the top of the wood. Moving back in line, she wrapped her arms around herself in a protective manner, her eyes drifting over the crowd, her mother, father, Mrs Hastings all the faces melting into one as she felt her breath catch when she saw Ezra standing behind her parents, his eyes fixed on her face. She looked at him briefly, a neutral expression on his face as he stared at her, all she wanted was some sort of comfort even just through body language but even today, he couldn't do it, he had pretty much told her that in the church when she thought he had come to support her.

Her gaze was drawn once more to Jason, his hands gripping his trouser's legs as though anchoring him to stop him from doing something drastic. She saw his gaze fleeting over the crowd before settling on Melissa Hastings and Garrett Reynolds, a look crossing his face that she couldn't quite decipher before he looked directly at her. She felt as though he was looking right into her soul, she couldn't take her eyes from him, green meeting brown, gazes locked across the graveyard, both forgetting everyone else around them. She had always had a thing for Jason, ever since she was young and if she wasn't mistaken, he felt something for her but she couldn't do anything about it, not with Ezra on the scene. She waited for the rush of guilt to flow through her at the thought of another man but to her surprise, nothing happened. It felt as though she and Ezra were coming to end, he refused to tell people about them even though she was ready, today only proved that. She couldn't be with someone who seemed ashamed of her, obviously, she understood the situation but there was ways of facing it. Unlike Jason who had spent time with her, going over Ali's things, talking to her, wanting to know her properly, the few times he seemed as he had wanted to kiss her. The night she told him, she was unavailable, her heart sank as she remembered the look of hurt on his face, something that she never wanted to see again and then the dreams she had been having of him ever since. As much as she tried to deny it, Jason DiLaurnetis was in her head and not leaving anytime soon, he was plaguing her every waking thought. Her face coloured slightly as she watched Jason's gaze roam her body, she barley caught the end of the service, her attention fixed solely on the man in front of her.

Her friends slowly started to move away ending her staring match as she moved with them. Against her better judgement, she started to move across the cemetery towards Jason when a hand grabbed her elbow, "Aria, where are you going?" Ezra asked.

"Going to speak to Jason, he looks as he needs to talk" she replied quickly, looking at her boyfriend, her eyes lowered to the hand on her elbow before she said sarcastically "You sure you should have your hand on my elbow…since you're too afraid to tell people about us, this doesn't look very good does it? A teacher manhandling his student." she spat out the last part, her eyes flashing with anger.

She felt the grip on her elbow tighten slightly before it was released, Ezra sighed in frustration his hand running through his hair "How many times do we need to go over this Aria, we can't come clean about this, think about what it would do to my career…you're so naïve sometimes"

"Your career? You don't think it wouldn't affect me as well Ezra, my reputation tarnished for having a relationship with a teacher but I thought it would be worth it so that we could be together. I'm not so sure now, I think you like having this secret and no matter what you're always going to be ashamed because I'm your student." Aria replied, her voice cracking slightly, swallowing deeply she said softly "I think we both need to think about what we want Ezra, I can't go on like this and I don't think you can either. Now if you excuse I'm going to speak to Jason."

"Aria. I…" he paused slightly, a look of anger briefly crossing his face before saying, "I think you might be right. We should take some time to think…see if this is really what we want."

She nodded before turning on heel and walking away from him unaware of his hardened glare at her back. Instead, she focused on the sad figure on the bench in front of her. Jason's gaze following her across the grass, a concerned look on his face. Stopping before him on the bench, she asked, "Can I sit?"

Moving slightly, he nodded to the space beside himself. "Everything ok?" he asked, his eyes watching Ezra leaving the cemetery "looked like a heavy conversation"

Sighing, Aria leaned back on her hands "Heavy is not the word for it, just made a decision that I'm not sure was the right one to make. Just need to see how things work out."

"That was the one you were unavailable for, wasn't it?"

Her face snapped to the side, surprise written across her features. "How did you know that?"

An unhappy smile crossed Jason's face "I saw the way you looked at him during the funeral and the way you were speaking to him was not just a teacher-student conversation. I could see it in the body language."

"You going to judge me?"

Jason shrugged, "Who am I to judge Aria? Look at the things I have done in my life, I would be a hypocrite to judge anyone. I was an alcoholic druggie that let a murderer into my home…yeah who am I to pass any kind of judgement." his shoulders sank, hands clasping in his lap as he stared at the grass.

Unable to watch him withdraw into himself, she reached across and took one of his hands in her own. "Don't blame yourself for Ian, you couldn't have known about that. No one could have, as for the rest of it, look how well you have done to get clean and sober. I'm really proud of you Jason, more than you realise." She felt his grip tighten around her own in response as she went on "You done a brave thing coming here, I don't think I could have in your position. That's testament right there to your strength."

"I don't feel strong, Aria, Far from it, some days I feel that burning urge to get a drink…"

"But you don't Jason and that's what's important. You are strong enough to do whatever you want." she replied fiercely

"If I was that strong, I would have told you how I felt about you ages ago, long before the teacher was on the scene" He blurted out, his cheeks colouring as he realised what he said.

"Ezra is gone, I think the whole relationship was mistake…I'm sick of being treated like a dirty secret. We have to hide constantly and on days like this when I need some sort of comfort, he keeps me at arms length because we can't cross a certain boundary. No matter what he said, it was never going to change and I needed to do something about it." Sighing heavily, she stares at her and Jason's entwined hands and thinks about what could have been, if only she could have given them a chance. "All I can think about is what I have given up just to be with him. Things that could have happened between…" she stopped unable to say us to him, leaving the implication lying between them.

She didn't see Jason's free hand lifting until his fingers grazed her cheek in a soft caress, "You don't deserve to be treated like that Aria. You should have someone who wants to take you out, to be proud of being with you. Damn him for making you feel like this, it's not right. You're amazing…I know loads of people that would love to have been in his place"

Aria slowly lifted her gaze to him, swallowing deeply before softly asking "including you?"

"Including me…I've always had feelings for you, from the second I laid eyes on you, I knew I wanted to know more about you. And I certainly would have never hidden any relationship with you, Fitz crossed a line when getting involved with you but I understand the need to be with you. If it was me though I would have moved mountains just to be able to call you my girlfriend and no matter what I would have never hidden you."

Leaning into his hand, her eyes fluttered shut, enjoying the silky soft feel of his fingers underneath her cheek, "You have been on my thoughts for the last few weeks now. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes you're there." she blurted out, eyes flying open to meet Jason's stunned gaze. "I'm sorry…I should go." she pulled away from, jumping to her feet and moving away from the bench.

Tripping over her heels, she fell to her knees, hands scrambling at the dirt when Jason dropped to his knees in front of her. Grasping her wrists in his strong grasp, he forced her to look at him. "Don't run away Aria, not from me…never from me, I care about you too much for that. I'm the one who should be sorry; I kept coming to you, trying to insert myself in your life to make you see that you had other options other than Fitz. I didn't want you torturing yourself over me."

"Jason, it's not torture, just the opposite actually. I can't begin to tell you what has been on my mind. I'm happy that you have been around, it has opened my eyes. I've been trying to figure out for ages how to tell Ezra that I wanted to break up with him…ever since I helped you with Ali's stuff. The thing is Jason, it's you, I always think its been you, I just needed a helping hand to see that." Aria's voice broke, as tears began to slowly streak down her cheeks.

"Don't cry Aria. It's all going to be ok," Jason whispered as his face slowly lowered towards her, his lips slotting over hers. Without any hesitation, her lips parted, his tongue quickly slipping between hers, sparks flying between them. She felt as though she had come home, she slipped her wrists from his hands and raised them to his neck pulling him closer to her. Strong arms wrapped around her waist, her body pushing against his hard lines as their kiss deepened. This felt right, more so than it ever had with Ezra.

Pulling away from her, Jason breathed heavily trying to catch his breath. Staring at her with a look of determination, he said, "I'm not letting you go Aria, not this time. All I ask for is a chance, a chance to show that we can be good together"

Nodding, Aria smiled "Yes, I want to give this chance, see where it can go."

Jason grinned in response pulling her in for another kiss.

Right there on the grass in a cemetery a new beginning was forged, an interesting future ahead of them but that's story for another time…