The day had so far been subtly better since the coffee incident and meeting the shining girl who happened to be looking for Jason of all people. Aria had gotten some work done, gone for a run, put all thoughts of Ezra and any one who was of the male species out of her mind and had even indulged in some heavy retail therapy (Hanna would be oh so proud). She'd gotten a concerned call from Emily at around lunchtime, worried about how she was holding up, but honestly, Aria had never felt better. Oh, she'd gotten so much done. She'd even managed to tidy her room, well, partially, but that would keep her occupied later. Her mind was refreshed, her body no longer worn and run down, and best of all? Not a single message from A, for the third day in a row. She'd even stopped jumping every time her phone buzzed.

If this was the after effects of a sort of break up, Aria thought, it should happen much more often.

It was like her batteries had been replaced, or something.

She even contemplated going for another run, and was half way out the door when she spotted shining red-headed girl out of the corner of her eye. Twice in one day? That was odd. Oh God, if this was going to be another complete mood crasher then she was going to run in the opposite direction. Too late, the girl had spotted her and came bounding over. Wait, was she going to come talk to Aria? What, did one spilt coffee a friendship make?

"Oh, hey, I was hoping to bump into you again!" Well, I can't say the same, thought Aria. "Well, not literally of course!"

"Yeah," Replied Aria, shifting awkwardly on one foot. How long was this conversation going to take? She had things to do. "Um, did you need something?"

"I just wanted to say thanks for you know, helping me out this morning," The girl smiled, flashing those pearly whites again. Seriously, if Aria was going to have another conversation with this girl then she was going to need to invest in some high duty sunglasses. It was like being next to a shining, red-headed angel: every pore of her body seemed to be glowing. Lucky cow. "Not many people would be that willing after I'd just spilt a whole cup of coffee over them,"

"Oh, it was an accident, don't worry," Aria gave her a smile. "And its no problem, I mean, helping you out. Did you, uh, manage to find Jason?"

Aria knew she shouldn't be prying, it was none of her business how Jason knew Pearly Whites over here, but the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Yeah. It was really good to see him, you know? I haven't seen him in ages," Seeing Aria's bemused expression, she quickly added. "Oh, we went to college together,"

Damn, why was it always the college girls?

"Oh, great," Aria mused, before adding, in a somewhat defensive manner, as if she had to stake her own claim on Jason. "I was, um, best friends with his sister,"

"Yes, its so sad, isn't it, what happened? I mean, what an awful way to die, so young as well. I feel so sorry for him, he must be going through so much," Aria winced slightly at the first statement. Whoever the girl was, tact was not her strong suit. The girl obviously noticed Aria's discomfort and she hastened to apologise. "Sorry, sorry! Foot in mouth disease. I'll just stop talking now,"

Oh, I really wish you would, then I could get on with my run.

"Um, yeah, it was really terrible," Aria stated, softly. "I don't think its been easy for Jason. But he seems slightly happier now,"

"Mmm," The girl replied, as if silently doubting Aria's statement. "I just think he really needs someone to help him through it,"

"Someone like you, maybe?" The words came out of Aria's mouth before she could stop them, and she mentally slapped herself. Her voice was so bitter, it almost sounded like an accusation. Fortunately, the girl appeared not to notice Aria's scorn, or at least didn't comment on it anyhow, and nodded.

"Yes, I suppose so," She replied, her bright eyes wide open, a startling blue that contrasted completely with her flame red hair. Like a human version of Ariel, the little mermaid. She seemed to be so happy and smily that Aria was almost amazed that rainbows didn't start coming up from behind her, and that the birds didn't immediately start singing in her presence. "Why...is he seeing someone else?"

"Not that I know of," Aria muttered. Silence hung in the air for a moment, both girls not quite sure what to make of the other; whether they were a potential friend, or perhaps, a potential rival. For a moment the girl's eyes darkened and Aria swore she could see something quite unsettling in them, but in flash it was gone, and the girl appeared to shine even brighter than usual, as if someone had just turned up the lights.

"Well, anyway, I'll let you go!" The girl stated enthusiastically, so enthusiastically it made Aria cringe. "It was nice to see you, again!"

"Oh, yeah, you too!" Aria replied, quite unenthusiastically. The girl walked away (Well, it was more of a skip) and for a moment Aria lingered in her doorway, watching the flame red hair disappear around the corner.

Immediately her mood dampened, like someone had just poured a bucket of water all over her. The eagerness drained out of her, and she became quite colourless once more. Screw the run. All she wanted to do now was curl up in a ball, choke down ice cream, and repeatedly call Ezra until he picked up.

That was twice this girl had killed her good mood.

/X/

"Aria, Aria! Wake up!"

"Hmmrph," Aria's voice was muffled by her heavy duvet, which was quickly ripped off her by an unknown person. "Ugh, get off!"

"I knew I should never have believed you when you were fine!"

"Emily?" Aria croaked, straining her eyes against the light that was suddenly infiltrating her room.

"No, its the cookie monster. Who the hell do you think it is?"

"Well, thats definitely Hanna,"

"Aria, your mom's worried about you. She says you went to bed at 6 yesterday and haven't gotten up since," Emily replied, her face twisting in concern.

"So, can't I have a lie in now and then?" Aria mumbled sourly, trying to turn over onto her side and go back to sleep.

"Yes, because a typical lie in involves eating 3 tubs of chocolate chip ice cream and rewatching "Bridget Jones' Diary" over and over again" Hanna snapped, pointing at the empty tubs of ice cream next to her bed. "Now come on, you need to get up,"

"No, sleep,"

"There'll be plenty of time for that later, right now, we're getting you out of here," Hanna's words were met with a large moan from Aria, who desperately tried to claw back her duvet. Emily spied Aria's phone lying next to the bed, and raised her eyebrows.

"Aria...have you been calling Ezra?"

"Oh, you know, only once or twice..." Aria responded, trying to muffle her words with the duvet. "Or, you know, fifteen..."

"Ok, thats it," Hanna demanded, her heels clacking against the hardwood floor as she grabbed Aria's arm, not aware of all the bruises that still littered Aria's arms. Luckily Hanna wasn't that strong and the act wasn't forceful enough to cause any real pain but it still made Aria wince. Her head span from standing up too quickly after hours of lying down. Her legs felt like they were about to collapse. "You are coming outside and seeing the sun again,"

"Come on Aria, you know it'll be good for you," Emily smiled, trying to sound reassuring. "You can't stay cooped up in here all day, again. You need some air,"

"There's air inside," Aria whined, her voice starting to sound like that of a resentful 4 year old.

"Fresh air," Emily repeated.

"Plus a day out will help you forget, you know, about Ezra and the break up and everthing..." Hanna trailed off awkwardly. Honestly, Aria wasn't sure if it was the break up with Ezra that had left her in such a foul, depressed mood. All she knew was it hung over her like a black cloud and she couldn't seem to shift it, no matter what. Dear lord, what was the matter with her?

"What Hanna means to say is some shopping will take your mind off things," Emily stated pointedly, looking at Hanna for back up.

"Yeah! Plus we can go get some of those amazing smoothies they've just started selling at the mall," Hanna added. "Look, Aria we won't take no for an answer,"

"And you know how stubborn Hanna can be, she'll drag you out if she has to,"

"Exactly," Hanna laughed. "So you may as well come willingly, or do I have to attack with you a bottle of dry shampoo?"

"Fine, fine," Grumbled Aria. "Lets go,"

"Don't you want to get changed first?" Aria looked down; she was still wearing her jogging clothes from yesterday which were crumpled all over from having been slept in and Aria spied a few stains that she suspected were from lazy midnight ice cream eating. Her hair felt lank and greasy and hung limply, though she hadn't the energy to wash it.

"Don't want to, don't care,"

Hanna quickly opened her mouth to argue but Emily cut her off before she could say something mildly rude.

"Sure, you look fine Aria," She ignored the look Hanna gave her. "Lets go then!"

"Though you are not taking your phone," Hanna stated firmly. "This is girls only, or you know, friends who are girls only, not girlfriends, not...oh, you know what I mean!"

Aria gave a grunt and followed them out the door, sending them silent hateful looks. Why were friends such a nuisance? Couldn't they see all she wanted to do was curl up and watch repeats of friends on tv? It was Sunday for christ sake. Wasn't that a day when you could lounge around like a homeless person and shun all responsibilities? She didn't even enjoy the Mall that much anyway.

She remained silent for the car journey there as Emily and Hanna discussed the latest episode of 'Gossip Girl' or whatever teen show they were watching, occasionally asking Aria her opinion or trying to include her in the conversation. Aria tried to smile and join in, but honestly, she didn't have much to say. So she just let them talk and when prompted, would give an answer, but she made no real effort to partake in the conversation.

The mall was filled with other preening teenage girls, some of whom would give Aria strange looks because of her dishevelled appearance, but Aria didn't really care. She was quite immune to everyone else's opinions. Many of them looked ridiculous anyway, dressed up to the nines just to do a bit of a shopping, it seemed a bit over the top. But everything seemed ridiculous in her current state of mind.

Immediately Hanna ushered them into one of the shops, squealing in glee over some dresses, while Aria tried to muster some enthusiasm but just couldn't. She nodded at a few of the dresses Hanna seemed to pull out, as Emily suggested a few items, but generally she kept to herself. The girls recognized that she was just in a certain mood, that she wasn't being antagonistic towards them per say and was going to eventually snap out of it. She just needed some coaxing.

"How about this one?" Hanna held up yet another nude coloured peep toe shoe up for inspection. Both Aria and Emily shrugged: Aria out of indifference and Emily out of general cluelessness when it came to shoes. After all, most of the shoes she owned were old trainers.

"Ugh, you guys are no help!" Hanna cried, flinging the shoes back down.

"If I'm going to see any more shoes, then I need sustinence," Emily groaned, just desperate to get out of the shoe store.

"Food break, good idea!" Hanna almost shouted in agreement. "Aria, do you want to come?"

"Uh, why don't you get something and I'll wait here?" Aria suggested, not really wanting to walk all the way to the food court.

"Suit yourself," Shrugged Hanna.

"We'll only be 5 minutes. Burger sound good?" Emily asked, looking Aria direct in the eye.

"Sure," Aria put on a smile. "I'll just wait here,"

"Oh and if anyone tries to buy the last pair of those gold sandals, kill them,"

/X/

It had been 5 minutes since Hanna and Emily had disappeared to try and get some food and Aria was seriously considering making a break for it. She was bored out of her mind and she was beginning to get awkward looks from some of the other customers as she loitered by the shoe rack. She had wandered around a bit but none of the shops looked that appealing. She had spotted a book shop but that had simply brought up painful memories of Ezra, and a desperate longing to go back and check to see if he had phoned. Though in a way, it wasn't the absence of Ezra that made her sad, though she did miss him in a way, but the absence of a stable relationship. Aria was a relationship kind of girl; she needed someone to provide a constant source of affection and support, someone other than her parents. Someone who made her feel wanted. Single life didn't really suit Aria all that much.

Tapping her foot against the floor in agitation, her stream of thought was interrupted by someone bounding towards her; someone with bright shiny hair, and deep blue eyes and, dear lord.

It was her.

Twice in one day? Aria thought bitterly. Just my luck. Seriously, was she following Aria, or something like that?

"Hello again!" The girl cried, just as chipper as usual. It was so high Aria felt her ear-drums wince.

"Hello," Aria replied, her voice at a significantly lower pitch. She was going to try and keep this third conversation as short as possible.

'How are you?" What did this girl think they were now, buddies? Aria didn't even know her name.

"Um, fine..." The girl stared expectedly back at her. "Uh, how are you?"

"Great! Actually..." The girl bit her lip. "There was something I really wanted to ask you. Do you mind if we sit?"

The girl indicated the bright pink couch behind them. Aria sighed inwardly. God, here we go.

"Sure," Aria replied, sitting gently on the couch. She was now greatly regretting not washing her hair and changing clothes before she went out; next to this girl, everything about Aria screamed dull and tired. Her skin looked pale and haggard next to the glowing arms and legs of the girl next to her. She could even spot a few people giving her pitying looks.

"Look, I know this is a strange question to ask as we don't really know each other..." The girl began, before her eyes widened slightly. "In fact, you don't even know my name! I'm Lucy Grant,"

"Aria Montgomery,"

"Great!" Aria wasn't quite sure what was so 'great' about it but she didn't interrupt it. "Well, Aria, how long have you known Jason?"

"Um," She was a bit taken aback by the question. "A couple of years, why?"

"Its just, you're the first person I met in Rosewood who he seemed to be friends with, you know, good friends with, not acquaintances," Since when, thought Aria. "And talking to you the other day I kind of got the impression you cared about him,"

She did?

"Anyway," Lucy continued. "I wanted to ask your advice. I haven't seen Jason in a while, so you know his current state of mind much better than I do, so, as his friend, if I were to go on a date with him, what would you say?"

Aria was sure if she'd been drinking a drink while that question was being asked it would have been sputtered all over the couch. A date, with Jason? Jason and this Lucy girl, with her Little Mermaid hair? For some reason the idea made Aria's throat dry and caused a strange feeling in her chest.

"Um, it depends," Aria replied hesitantly. "Have you asked him out?"

Please say no.

"Yes,"

Bugger.

"And...what did he say?"

"Oh, he said yes, but a bit hesitantly between you and me," Lucy sighed, running her fingers through her glorious hair (Someone needed to sign this girl up for commercials, stat).

"I'm sorry but, I'm not really sure what you're asking then?" Aria asked.

"I mean..." Lucy began, slight trepidation in her voice. "I know we're not close, but how do you think I should play it? Cool, warm? What do you think Jason wants?"

Wow, that drink would definitely be all over the couch right now. She barely knew this girl yet here she was before her, asking Aria for relationship advice of all things. The best thing here would just be to say she had no idea.

"Well..." Aria responded. "...I'd play it cool, like really cool,"

Lie, such a lie.

Lucy nodded, indicating for her to continue.

"Really cool, almost distant if you know what I'm saying?"

Lie, lie, lie, lie.

"Ok..."

"I mean, he's been through so much the last thing he wants is someone really clingy, you know? So cool, ice cool, and distant. Don't initiate conversation. Don't scare him off,"

Lucy nodded once again in agreement, clucking her tongue, but honestly, if Aria were to tell the truth for once in her life, she'd actually say Jason needed someone warm, and caring. And someone interesting, someone who didn't say 'great!' in response to everything. Aria had no idea why she was lying to the girl and sabotaging her relationship with Jason, but she was.

"Ok, I get it," Lucy scratched her head. "Yeah, I really wouldn't want to scare him off, phew! Thanks Aria, you've been a great help,"

"You're welcome," Deep down, Aria felt sick with guilt. This girl seemed nice enough, she had no idea why she would ruin her date with Jason. God, she was an awful person, sending this poor girl down some wild goose chase. The idea of Jason finding out what she'd done also made her feel ill. Some part of her would hate to make Jason to feel bad, she just couldn't cope with that.

"Well, I'll see you then. Bye!" Lucy waved, as she wandered into another store.

"What were you doing talking to Ariel from the Little Mermaid?"

Aria quickly spun round to look into the confused eyes of Emily and Jason.

"She, uh, just wanted to know where the toilets are," Aria lied.

"And you had to have a long discussion about it?" Hanna raised her eyebrow.

"...They're a long, difficult route away,"

Emily rolled her eyes though she didn't comment. She suspected Aria wasn't telling her the whole truth but she'd ask later, when they were away from Hanna. Hanna sat next to Aria on the couch and pulled out a hot bag of fries and tossed them to her.

"Hope you're hungry,"

"Starving," Aria smiled, and with that she began to eat.

/X/

The first thing she noticed upon arriving home was she had 4 new messages: one was from her dad, asking where she was, another was Ezra, saying they needed to talk, the third was Jason, asking if they could meet and the fourth made her heart stop.

One new message, blocked number, file attached.

And immediately without looking, she could tell who it was.

A was back.

A/N: Dun, dun, dun! Non dramatic ending time. Once again, thanks for your reviews and such, you guys are amazing. 100+ reviews, wow! Question of the day; from the promos, what do you think is going to happen in Tuesday's ep?