Aria finished washing the strawberry shampoo out of her hair as the sobs forming in the back of her throat died down. Her entire body was shaking so she leaned down and turned the hot water on as high as it would go. The scalding water and steam seemed to relax her stiff muscles. She closed her eyes and tried to think about anything other than the look of fear in Hannah's eyes when she had to pull away from a hug from her best friend, practically her sister. The image of pure pity in Emily's eyes had been forever burned into her memory.
A few tears continued to trickle out of her eyes. She let out sigh. Aria was sick of crying, sick of being pitied, and sick of Spencer looking at her like something that she needed to fix. She knew that Spencer had her best interest in mind but that didn't make things any easier. Aria turned off the water, the steam had blurred the mirrors. She stepped out of the water and wrapped a large, fluffy towel around her petit body. The bruises were still there, very visible and purple but they seemed to be just a little bit lighter today.
Aria's head snapped towards the door when she heard knocking.
"Aria?" Spencer called out between knocks.
"Are you okay in there?" Spencer asked.
Spencer was getting worried; Hannah and Emily had left close to half an hour ago. Aria had been in the shower for close to an hour now.
"I'm fine Spencer." Aria called back. Her voice was distant and all she truly wanted in that moment was to be left alone. However, with a girlfriend as amazing but overly-protective as Spencer; she knew that wasn't going to happen.
Aria unlocked the bathroom door and left the room. She walked into Spencer's room where the older girl was patiently waiting on the bed. The shorter girl walked over to the dresser, getting a pair of loose sweats and a comfy t-shirt from Spencer's closet. She walked back into the bathroom to change, not making eye contact with her girlfriend.
Spencer sat on the bed, just watching the girl she loved retreat back into herself even more. The older girl tried not to stare at the bruises that clearly littered the smaller girl's body. She let out a sad sigh before getting up and following Aria back into her bathroom.
"Do you need any help?" Spencer asked quietly, as she leaned on the door frame.
Aria jumped and spun around, clutching her towel tightly to her body.
"N-nope, I'm good." Aria stuttered, obviously shaken.
Spencer nodded, accepting the answer but stayed in her spot leaned against the door frame. The two girls stood in silence. Aria was waiting for Spencer to leave, but she soon realized that it wasn't going to happen.
"Spence…aren't you going to like…leave so I can change?" Aria asked awkwardly.
"I don't want this." Spencer said "This awkward tension between us. I understand that you're scared; you have every reason to be. But not of me, I don't ever want you to be scared of me."
"Spence, I'm not-"Aria protested but was quickly cut off.
"Yes, you are. Maybe not specifically me, but of anyone getting close too you. That's understandable, Ezra was your boyfriend at one point and he wasn't supposed to hurt you. I need you to know that I will never hurt you like that." Spencer finished, tears streaming gently down her face.
Aria took a few cautious steps forward before wrapping her shaking arms around her girlfriend.
"I'm sorry Spencer. I'm sorry that this whole thing happened but you need to know that deep down, I know you'll never hurt me. This whole thing…it just doesn't even seem real. But I love you. I love you the same way I did before this happened. I love you for being patient with me and helping me heal. I'm absolutely crazy about you Spence, don't ever doubt that." Aria mumbled into the taller girl's chest.
Spencer smiled and pulled out of Aria's embrace.
"Okay beautiful, get dressed and then I'll help you downstairs." Spencer said, kissing Aria's forehead and exiting the room.
"Holy Shit" Hannah mumbled, leaning her head on Emily's shoulders.
The ride back from Spencer's house had been completely silent. The two girls were shocked at the state of their friend. Hannah felt her heart break as she kept replaying the look on Aria's face when she hugged her in her mind. Emily had yet so say anything; she just stared out the window with a distant look in her eyes.
"What the hell are we doing just sitting here? Aria needs us, we have to go back." Hannah said angrily, getting up only to be pulled back down by Emily.
"Hannah, I want to help Aria just as much as you do but you heard what Spencer said, we can go back later. Aria is dealing with a lot right now and we can be there for her when she's ready. We just have to trust Spencer." Emily told her, gently pushing Hannah back down onto the coach and pulling her into a tight hug.
"Why did this have to h-happen to her?" Hannah whispered as tears began to leak out of her eyes. Emily soothingly rubbed Hannah's back, whispering that everything was going to be okay and they'd get her through this.
"She's going to be alright Han, Aria's strong." Emily mumbled to the crying girl.
Emily couldn't help but notice how beautiful Hannah looked right now, with her mascara smeared and the tears glistening in her sparkling blue eyes. In that moment, Emily wanted nothing more than to lean down and kiss the distressed blonde girl. The brown eyed girl quickly shook her head, Hannah would never look at her like that and being best friends was better than nothing at all. She just pulled the blonde girl closer and wiped away every tear.
"Everything is going to be okay." Emily whispered.
Once Aria was dressed comfortably she walked out of the bathroom, still quite sore. She walked over to the stairs and was about to call to Spencer for help but looking down she saw her girlfriend cooking.
Spencer looked absolutely adorable. The older girl had pizza sauce on her cheek, a little bit of cheese in her hair and was quietly cursing the oven. Aria slowly and painfully descended the stairs, not wanting to disturb her girlfriend. After taking several calming breaths to even out her rapid breathing, she walked over to Spencer and wrapped her arms around the taller girls' waist.
"You look adorable." Aria giggled, kissing Spencer on the cheek.
"Hey! No laughing at me! It isn't my fault I can't cook." Spencer playfully whined, leaning back into the shorter girl's relaxing embrace.
"I can't help it, you're just so cute." Aria whispered.
Leaning up on her toes, Aria gently kissed Spencer on the lips, wrapping one arm around her neck. Spencer cautiously returned the kiss; listing carefully to Aria's labored breathing. Aria depend the kiss, pulling her still fragile body up against Spencer's. The older girl gently broke the kiss, taking a small step back but regretting upon seeing the look of devastation in the smaller girl's eyes.
"Aria, we talked abou-"Spencer began only to be cut off by a hurt-looking Aria.
"Don't Spence. Just don't." Aria snapped at her.
She walked over to the front door, taking her coat and roughly pulling it around her shaking body.
Spencer followed her, cutting off her path to the front door. She tried to take Aria's hand but the younger girl flinched away.
"Aria, where are you going? You shouldn't go outside..not like this." Spencer asked softly.
"God Spencer, I'm just taking a walk. I just want to be alone." Aria said, unshed tears filling up in her eyes.
"Aria, I don't want you alone out there, if you want to take a walk I'll go with you." Spencer tried to reason, knowing that Aria walking around alone and hurt was a recipe for disaster.
"I don't want you to come with me!" Aria yelled, brushing by Spencer and walking out the door.
"Aria!" Spencer called after her, but decided against following her.
Spencer walked back into the house and picked up her phone.
"Hello?" A voice answered.
"Hey Emily, it's Spencer. Aria just stormed out, she said she wanted to be alone." Spencer explained, sounding exhausted.
"And you want me to get out and talk to her." Emily finished for her.
"Yes please. She's really upset and I think it's my fault and I'm pretty sure you're the only one Aria will talk to when she's like this." Spencer rambled.
"Hey, it's cool. I'll go get your girl and bring her back safe and sound okay? Get some sleep; you can't help her if you're exhausted." Emily reassured her friend.
"Thanks Em, you're a lifesaver." Spencer replied, letting out a sigh of relief.
"No problem, I'll see you later." Emily said.
The two girls hung up the phone and Spencer climbed the stairs and sat down on her bed.
"Please, find her soon Em." Spencer thought to herself before falling into a dreamless, uneasy sleep.
Well there is the next chapter. I hope you liked it. Please review what you liked, and would like to see in the future or whatever else. Thanks for reading