A/N: This is my first fanfiction I've ever written. But, like most others, I was extremely unsatisfied with the way things ended up between Jason and Aria. I feel like the Ezria relationship is just a no-go, if you know what I mean? No offence to anyone who ships them. So, this is just like an AU story; what I wish had happened after the kiss. Feel free to drop your opinion by? And sorry for all the mistakes, I'm working towards editing them.

Oh, and to anyone who actually makes the effort to read this. Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.

Chapter 1

"Aria," Hanna complained, impatiently. "It's getting late, do you want to tell us why you called us here?"

I really wanted to avoid this. But these girls were my best friends, we had sworn to no secrets anymore. I had to tell them about the kiss. Why was I so nervous anyways, it wasn't like I had kissed Jason. He had kissed me.

But you enjoyed it.

My subconscious self taunted me. I was already confused, why had I enjoyed that kiss so much? I mean, I was unavailable. I had a boyfriend, whom I loved more than anything.

"ARIA, you keep phasing out. What's wrong?" Spencer's concerned voice snapped me back to reality.

"Hmm, yes, sorry. So, um, today I saw Jason. And we, er, kissed…?"

That was smooth, Aria, reeeal smooth.

Oh god, that sounded wrong. It had come out more of a question rather than a confession. I had planned how I was going to tell them. And this was certainly not what I was going to say. Looking around at the girls, neither of them had said anything yet.

"I mean, he kissed me, not the other way around" I stated, taking advantage of the silence.

Hanna was first to speak; "Wait, what?! The guy's such a creep! Do you want me to go punch him? Or tell him to back the hell off? Or, we could-"

"Hanna, Hanna, chill out a bit." Emily interrupted Hanna's rant. "Aria, go on. What happened anyways? Why were you even talking to Jason?"

Giving Emily a grateful smile. I focused on explaining what had happened.

"The story goes back pretty far" I said, sighing. Here goes nothing.

"So, you know how my parents haven't really been on good terms lately? Ever since, um you know. Well, Mike, my brother, hasn't been taking their separation very well. He's gotten into a few, uh, unhealthy obsessions. It's been really stressful lately. Breaking and entering into random stranger's houses is his new hobby."

As I continued speaking, I felt as if some weight had been taken off my shoulders. It felt better to talk to someone rather than keep everything all bottled up inside me. It was embarrassing. Finding out that Mike had been in charge of all those break ins around town. I sort of felt as if it was my fault as much as my parents, I mean; I should have handled the situation before it became a problem. But it was too late for that now.

Looking around, I felt a little lifted, seeing expressions of concern and worry rather then judgmental stares.

"Look, Aria, its okay. We're all here for you. You can tell us anything, we won't judge. I mean, we all have our secrets." Spencer comforted me, with the ghost of a smile on her face. As if she was remembering a bittersweet memory.

Finding the courage to continue speaking; I wiped away the tears. Sitting up straight, I closed my eyes.

"Then, just the other day Jason caught Mike trying to break into his house. I don't know why, but he didn't report it to the police."

"The guy probably has some ulterior motive or something. I mean, come on! This is Jason we're talking about here!" Hanna pressed.

Before, I would have agreed. I mean, I'm not kidding when I say Jason was intimidating. But I felt as if I had seen another side of him. A vulnerable side; one he never showed to anyone else. And what had I done? Slammed the door in his face. Made excuses to avoid him. Told him I was unavailable.

"Aria, you keep getting lost in your own world. Are you sure everything's okay? I mean, if this is about Jason, just ignore him. He'll take a hint eventually; the guy isn't stupid." Spencer's strong voice aided.

"So, I'm going to head off now. My mom's expecting me back early tonight, she wants to go out for dinner as a family." Hanna said, rolling her eyes.

I watched as all the girls got up, gathering their belongings they started walking towards the door.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. I've just got a lot to deal with these days. I'm just tired; I think I'll go to bed early." I said, rubbing my eyes. "I'll see you all in school tomorrow. Goodnight. Oh, and thank you for understanding"

Turning towards me, I see them all smile back at me one by one before exiting through the door.

Well, that wasn't a complete lie.

They were many problems on my plate. My parent's separation and Mike 'habits' had been one thing. But, now there was this. It was confusing, what had Jason meant.

The truth is I care about you. And I wanted to tell you in the off-chance that you might feel the same way.

I mean, why me? We had hardly ever spoken. Back in those days, when Alison was still alive, I may have had a little crush on him. I'm pretty sure all of us had. He was the tall, handsome older brother. But that's all he had ever been: Ali's older brother who she had, had a crush on.

"Aria! Aria, wait up!" I heard Spencer's breathless voice fill my ears.

"Spencer…? Are you okay? You're gasping like you just rand a five kilometer marathon." I said, looking up at Spencer's tall figure standing before me gasping for air.

"It sure feels like it…" I heard Spencer mumble, more to herself, then to me. "Okay, look Aria, I know you think Jason isn't that bad of a guy but you need to stay away from him. Hanna was right, he's a creep"

"Wait, what are you talking about? Spencer?" I asked, confused. She had been completely okay with being friends with Jason just yesterday.

"Look, we knew he was hiding something in that shed of his. So, just yesterday we went to check it out and you won't believe what we found; they were tens, hundreds of pictures of you!"

What was she talking about? Pictures of… me? Why would Jason have pictures of me in his shed? Voicing my thoughts, I waited, bemusedly, for an answer.

"They guy has some weird pedophilic obsession with you! He takes pictures of you while you SLEEP. Oh god, I'm going to be sick. The thought of him being in your bedroom, while you're sleeping." She broke off, looking disgusted. "You know what, I have to get to class, I'll talk to you later. STAY. AWAY. FROM. JASON." Spencer said before strolling of towards the school building.

I think I'm just about in shock now. Jason. The Jason that I used to have a crush on. A stalker? No, no, no, I couldn't be so quick to believe in what I hear. I wasn't going to be so naïve. I'm going to ask the man in question - myself.