As much as I hate this situation and everything that Alex is doing to me and my friends she also makes me feel safe and loved, I haven't felt that in a long time. Not since the beginning of my relationship with Ezra, I can honestly say that I love him, but the thing is, I'm not in love with him and I am 99% sure that he feels the same way- even if he isn't willing to admit it. What we used to have was spectacular, a beautiful thing that we aren't willing to stop fighting for even if we have lost sight of what the true beauty was. The beauty was that safety. We can only provide each other with danger now, sharp blades that pierce our skin and burn us from the inside out. Toxic.

With Alex, It's like I'm walking through a field of beautiful flowers, no buildings or roads in sight but there are land mines. I can't see them but I know they're there so I have to choose each step with confident precision or else I'll lose my legs.

I take a glance over the table at her eating pancakes for breakfast. She's already staring at me, it doesn't feel creepy though- her eyes are soft and admiring. "Penny for your thoughts?" She whispers when our eyes meet and I blush.

The words feel stuck in my throat and tears prickle my eyes, the admission is bitter sweet. "My relationship with Ezra really is over. Isn't it?"

I watch the sympathy rattle through her before it's taken over with guilt. "That's not my decision."

"Why not? You seem to be making every other choice for me." I can't help but project my anger onto her, my failed relationship isn't her fault however this is the only outlet I have.

"Aria, I'm done making choices for you, as long as our contract goes unbroken then you can do whatever you want." She stays calm, trying to reason with me but I can't stand her poised righteousness right now.

"Right, the contract. The one you blackmailed me into. I can't even work on my relationship with him because of you. I can't wait until this year is up so I can be rid of you. I'm trying so hard to hate you Alex...why can't I hate you?"

The tears are flowing freely at this point and she has begun to curl into herself, hugging her knees as she brings them up onto the chair before burying her face into them.

I continue to stare at her, unmoving, even as I watch her shoulder shake violently with her bone-rattling sobs.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She begins to whimper out over and over again, refusing to look me in the eyes as her face emerges from her knees. Her previous words pained me like a knife had been plunged into my heart but I can barely breathe from the agony of watching her in her current state. I force my body forwards and take her tiny body into my arms, cradling her as I pick her up and walk us over to the bed.

"It's okay, everything's going to be okay." I murmur to her gently as I lay back with her tucked into my side, her head tucked under my chin. I begin to rub my hands up and down her back in what I hope is a soothing motion and close my eyes, trying to etch the feeling of having Aria in my arms into my brain forever because if things keep going this badly then I'm afraid that I won't be able to stick out a whole year of having the love of my life break down every day because of something I've practically forced her into.

"How about I run you a bath and then after we can go and see the Eiffel Tower before finding a nice comfy place to have lunch? Sound like a plan?" I murmur into her hair. I'm grateful when I feel her nod against me gently and I shift gently so her head is on the pillow and pull the duvet from the opposite side of the bed over her so she is wrapped up like a sausage roll before making my way into the bathroom and starting her bath for her. Once the water is flowing at a steady pace I add some bubbles and adorn the place with rose petals as well as a few tea lights. I set her a towel on the radiator to warm for when she gets out before going back to Aria, finding her snuggled up in the duvet like a little caterpillar. She's no longer crying, which I'm grateful for, and there's a small, almost-there smile across her face now as she is awake but clearly unwilling to move.

"I started your bath so it will be ready in a minute, are you alright on your own or do you want me to help you with anything?" She meets my eyes and gives me a thankful look as she lazily unravels herself from the sheets.

"I'll be okay." Just as we are walking past each other she grips my wrist lightly. "Thank you Alex." Those simple words are causing a flush of blood to rise to my cheeks, causing me to duck my head towards the ground as I continue to walk back to the table where there are still some pancakes left.

I chew very slowly, listening out for any signs of Aria needing help, she appears to be in an incredibly fragile state so I don't want anything else adding to the pressure.

I must look like a freak, sitting there just staring at the bathroom door as I non-committedly chew on whatever food my hand lands on. It takes at least fifteen minutes of this before I finally give up waiting and knock lightly on the bathroom door. "Hey, are you okay in there?" I wait for a reply of some sort but when I don't hear one I begin to panic so immediately throw the door open and bold inside, scanning the room frantically. The door slams back against the wall loudly causing Aria to jolt awake from where she appeared to have fallen asleep in the tub.

We lock eyes for a second before I look away, embarrassed "Oh God, I'm sorry. You didn't reply when I shouted and panicked. I'm sorry... I'm j-just going to go now, bye." I covered my eyes as I bean talking and tried to find the exit as I announced my departure but only succeeded in walking into the door frame. I was surprised to hear a symphony of giggles erupt from behind me.

"You can open your eyes Alex. You put that many petals in here that this bath is 85% flower, 10% water and 5% Aria. You'd need a magnifying glass if you wanted to try and locate my body in this mass of crap." I blush as I uncover my eyes. "Would you mind passing me a towel though please?"

"Of course." I practically leap into action, stumbling as I reach for it, making Aria giggle once more. I hand her the towel and turn to leave once again.

"Hey Alex?" I stop but don't turn around. "I'm sorry I was a bitch." A small smile graces my lips.

"Don't worry about it."

It's another twenty minutes before she emerges from the bathroom, she's dressed in a beautiful white summer dress, her hair is in lose waves and she has a small amount of make-up on. She looks like the definition of perfection.

"How'd I look?"

"Amazing." I breathe out.

"So do you have planed for what you want to do today?" She asks almost timidly as she plants herself on the edge of the bed facing me.

"I thought maybe we could take a walk around and just go with the flow. Was there something that you wanted to do in particular?" She shrugs at my question, it's clear to see that there is something she wants to do. "We have plenty of time so if you have something that you want to do we can." She meets my eyes nervously.

"Well...I thought maybe, if you wanted to...we could go and do one of those weird french cooking classes but if you don't want to that's fine. Just forget I said anyth-" I cut her cute ramble off fairly quickly.

"That sounds like fun. I'll have a google and see if there are any nearby." I watch as she ducks her head down and smiles softly, triggering my own smile as I pull out my phone. "Alright, it looks like there's one in a couple hours so I'll see if there's any spaces left."

She sits anxiously as I speak to the guy that runs the classes. I give her a thumbs up and confirm our places before hanging up and taking a few steps towards her and hold out my hand to pull her up. She takes it without hesitation and lingers for a second before pulling it away.

"We've got some time left so shall we just walk around for a bit, love?" She nods before dashing tot he door excitedly causing me to chuckle.

The next hour is filled with smiles, giggles and excitement as I let Aria guide us through busy streets to peek into shops and at monuments. This is exactly what I've been craving ever since I first layed my eyes on her. The light is reflecting off of her hair perfectly as she flicks it back over her shoulder, exposing her neck and the cute little freckle that is the perfect shade to accentuate her ivory skin.

"We should probably head to that class now, you ready?" She nods excitedly and takes my hand, pulling me along. The tingling in my hand transfers into a rush of heat that blazes through my body, burning me from the inside out but it feels like pure bliss.

I blink heavily as I wipe away a bunch of flour from around my eyes just as another handful slams into the side of my head. "That's it Montgomery." I grab a handful myself and launch it at her, checking to see if the instructor is looking or not first. She reels back for a second before grabbing the one thing I had feared would end in disaster. She jumps up and slams the egg down on the top of my head with a small shriek of joy.

"Take that Drake, Montgomerys never lose." Her laughter is infectious and soon enough I'm laughing along with her even after the instruction clues in on what happened and gives us death stares.

It takes a lot longer than it's supposed to but eventually we get the cakes in the oven to bake and take turns trying to clean each other off, although it's a lot more work for her since I'm literally covered from head to toe, I look like a bloody mess.

It's clear by the end of the class that the instructor hates us but I can't find it in me to care as we carry out the two cakes we made; one fruit and one triple chocolate. There's no doubt about how much she affects me, one look from her and I'm putty in her hands. What's that Aria you want to sit in a random field and eat chunks of cake with your hands? Let's go. You want me to carry your things? No problem. Carry you? Hop on. I'm a mess.

We end up stumbling into the hotel room with half eaten cakes, a dozen bags and three bottles of wine. She doesn't waste a second before dropping the bags she was holding and opening one of the bottles and taking a swig.

We fall back onto the bed gracelessly with a bottle each open and the TV switched on some random show that neither of us are really watching. "Aria?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you have fun today?" I tilt my head towards where she is lying half asleep.

"mm-hmm" She confirms sleepily, nuzzling into the pillow as I gently take the half-empty bottle out of her hands.

"Me too."

Sorry this is so short, I have a lot of writer's block with this story so let me know what you want me to do next. -MM