It was only as they pulled up to his house that it dawned on Aria quite precisely which house he lived in.

Ali's house.

The house which she hadn't returned to since that awful day.

Immediately upon pulling into the driveway, memories flooded into her consciousness. That whole day they spent lying in the garden, sunbathing. The day when Ali had insisted that they came to her house before sneaking out as she needed to 'inspect their outfits'. The day when Jason almost hit his sister with a hockey stick...The very thought made her shudder.

If Jason had caught onto her nervousness he didn't comment on it, just simply mentioned that he'd go get her car in the morning. Walking up the pathway, it was like she could feel Ali all around her, feel her breath on her shoulder. Aria couldn't fathom how Jason could stand it, actually living in this house. 5 minutes here and she already felt like leaving. But, she supposed, grief touched people in different forms. This was, in many ways, the last connection he had to his sister, for they'd never been close when she'd been alive. Perhaps this was one of the ways he kept her memory alive. Spencer interpreted it as creepy, but for Aria it just made her feel sad in a way she couldn't explain. The whole house felt tinged with sadness.

It was only when Jason gave a slight cough she realized she had been lingering awkwardly in the doorway.

"You coming in?"

She nodded and took a step inside that fateful house. Her nerves dissipated fairly quickly when she realized no ghosts were going to lunge out her, nor were the walls tinted with blood or anything reminiscent of an awful horror movie. It was just any other house, she reminded herself. It may hold a lot of memories, but that's all it held. Aria released the breath she wasn't even aware she was holding.

"Thanks for letting me stay. I just didn't want to give my parents anymore grief, you know?" Aria stated, somewhat awkwardly, removing her scuffed boots and placing them on the carpet. The hallway was still roughly the same, but from what she could see it appeared that the whole layout of the house had changed; what was previously the kitchen was now the living room, and the kitchen occupied the space where the dining room had been.

"Aria, you don't have to explain yourself to me. But, are you sure you don't want to stay with someone like Spencer? She's just across the road," Frankly, he was surprised she'd come anywhere near the house. He'd seen the suspecting looks Spencer had given him, like any moment he was going to grow fangs or something like that. It surprised him that Aria trusted him so openly. If he was in her shoes, and after everything that happened with Ali, and at the grave side, he wouldn't half blame her for running a mile.

"Oh trust me, Spencer's the worst with questions. I'd never shut her up, especially if I turned up looking like this," She pointed at the bruises on her arms from where the drunk men had gripped her so tightly. She watched as Jason's eyes darkened for a moment but he quickly turned around, hanging up his jacket. She knew that Spencer and the Spanish Inquisition that would occur if she saw the bruises was a major factor for not going over there but, for some strange, inexplicable reason, she didn't really want to leave either.

"Oh yeah," His voice had gotten quieter all of a sudden, as if he was trying to muffle his feelings. "I'll just go upstairs and get some ointment for those. Just wait down here,"

And with that, he went up the stairs, leaving her standing alone in the hallway. She wanted to say that he was much more bruised and beaten than he was, that she could go get the ointment, but she sensed Jason didn't want her to go snooping round his house. Her eyes wandered up the stair case, when she spotted the door to the room facing the drive; the room Spencer swore she saw someone in. She strained her ears in order to hear any indication that there was someone else apart from the two of them in the house; some floorboards creaking, a cough, but nothing. Damn Spencer and her crazy theories for putting her so on edge.

Aria wandered tentatively into what was now the living room. There was no real indication that anyone lived here; no family pictures on the wall, no quirky knick knacks or anything like that. It could have been a show home, for all she knew. Apart from the couch. It was battered and blue, as the DiLaurentis' had had it for so many years. She could even see the faint stain where Ali had once spilt white wine on the vodka and got them all to try to scrub it off before her parents noticed. She had no idea how Jason acquired the couch, she presumed his parents would have taken it. It seemed out of place in the show model home; something that wasn't brand new and unlived in.

"Here's that cream for your bruises," Jason's voice called out, causing her to jump nervously, as if she had been looking at something she shouldn't.

"Um, thanks," She said, taking the tube of cream for him. To be honest, she wasn't quite sure how this worked; she hadn't been in that many fights before. In fact, none at all. She'd never seen a bruise like the one on her arm before, all gnarled and green. She squirted a large amount into her palm and started patting it awkwardly on the bruise.

"Aria, that's not how you do it," Jason laughed, grabbing her hand. "Here I'll show you. You don't just pat it in,"

"How was I supposed to know that," She muttered, her cheeks turning red, causing Jason to laugh even more. He grabbed a pea size amount from the blob in her hand and placed it gingerly on her arm, trying not to squeeze the bruise. The sensation was enough to cause her to wince, anyhow.

"Sorry," He murmured, slowly and gently rubbing the cream into her arm, massaging it in. Little shivery thrills crawled along her hairline at sensation as his fingers worked the cream into her skin. Suddenly, she became slightly scared. This was not a normal thing to be doing with an 'acquaintance'. She knew it. She was sure he knew it too. This was far too intimate.

"I think that's enough," She said in a small voice. Immediately, he jumped back, as if he'd been bitten.

"Sure," He muttered, and in a moment the mood altered totally, so much so that she began to wonder if she'd imagined the unspoken something hanging around them. Not to mention that dream this morning...this was all adding up to something strange, thought Aria.

"Can I phone my mom?" She blurted out quickly. "Just I need to tell her I won't be home this evening, and since my phone is out of battery..."

"No, no, go ahead, its in the hall,"

She smiled, and wandered out into the hall, ignoring his burning eyes on her back.

/X/

The phone call with her mother had been short and sweet. Ella Montgomery was too tired to argue with her daughter, after a long night of waiting for Mike to return home, that when she said she was staying over at a friend's, her mom didn't even ask which one, just said she'd see her tomorrow and she hoped she slept well.

So much for motherly concern.

Her fingers lingered over the dials, aching to call someone else. Jason was in the kitchen, doing something, so she had the time...

She patiently listened to the dial tone as she awaited the voice she knew so well.

"Ezra?"

"Aria?" Immediately she knew something was up. The background was swarming with noise and his voice was higher than usual. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," She murmured. "Where are you?"

"What?" He yelled back, over the noise.

"Where are you?"

"Oh," He yelled. "Just out for some drinks with some friends from collage,"

For some inexplicable reason those words pierced her deeply. Maybe because it was something she and Ezra would never be able to do together; go out for drinks with his friends. Or maybe it was because he hadn't even considered asking her if she wanted to join them. She may be young, but...she was sure she'd be able to keep up: hell, their conversations were hardly of deep, intellectual matter.

Suddenly there was a loud female voice in the background, a female voice she only knew too well.

"Wait, is Jackie with you?" There was silence on the other end for a moment.

"Aria, you know we share the same group of friends..."

"Well, don't let me keep you then," She said, not able to hide the bitterness in her voice.

"Shit, you're mad, aren't you?" He slurred slightly. "Wait, let me take this outside, then we can talk..."

"No need. I don't really want to now,"

She slammed the phone down in a huff, letting out an angry groan.

"Is something wrong?"

She turned round to see Jason staring at her from the doorway to the kitchen, polishing a glass in his hand. Boy, that guy had a talent for appearing out of nowhere.

"No," She sighed, though her voice clearly said otherwise. "Its just...some people can be real jerks when they want to,"

He raised an eyebrow at her comment but didn't say anything of it.

"There's some food in the kitchen, if you want some,"

"Food would be great right now thanks,"

And she swiftly followed him into the kitchen.

A/N: Right, another short/quick update! The next chapter will be much longer, I promise. Thanks once again for all the reviews and alerts you guys! It really does mean a lot! And I have a quick question, for all those reading: do you ship Aria/Jason, Aria/Ezra, or both? :)