Author's Notes: Did you guys see the Season 3 promo? ASDFGHJKL WHAT. It actually looks like I was right about a few things! But not a lot. /: I tried to incorporate a few things from the preview into this chapter, but I'm mostly going to keep going with my own story line. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 11

"This has gone on long enough. It's time for it to stop."

Ella shook her head furiously, standing up from her seat at the kitchen table. "We're not going to do anything to their relationship."

Byron huffed, throwing his hands in the air. "Why else would she be sleeping over there, Ella? Don't tell me you believe her story."

"Yes, I actually do believe it. Can you really not see how upset our daughter is?" She yelled at him.

Aria's parents had been arguing ever since she walked out an hour ago. Neither of them knew for sure where she was, but both of them had a pretty good guess. They still hadn't reached a decision on how they should act.

Taking a deep breath, Ella started again. "Something has seriously gone wrong in her life that is affecting her immensely. She needs to open up about it, and if it can't be to us, then he's our only option."

Byron laughed in fake amusement. "So we're just going to let him take advantage of her to accomplish that? Let's just send her back to the therapist. She'll have to talk to them eventually."

"She has made it quite clear that she doesn't want to go; we cannot force her. And Aria is a strong headed girl; she can handle herself. I doubt he has ever taken advantage of her in any way. He wouldn't still be here now if he had!"

He scoffed. "Are you really that blind to all of this?"

Ella shook her head quickly in offense. "I don't think I'm the one who needs to open my eyes to the situation."

Byron stood there for a moment in silence, before shaking his head and walking out of the room, leaving his wife to deal with her unclear thoughts.

xxx

Aria sat on Ezra's couch, wondering how she was going to go home. The last thing she wanted to deal with right now was another fight with her parents, and she thought through her chances of getting up to her room without a confrontation. They were pretty slim.

Ezra joined her on the couch, pulling her legs up onto his lap. He threaded the fingers of his left hand through her hair, tilting her head back to look at him. His other hand rest on her knee, rubbing it gently.

"What's going through that beautiful head of yours?" He asked.

Aria sighed. "I fought with my parents before I came here, and now I'm trying to think of how to get into my house again and avoid them at the same time."

Ezra nodded in understanding. "Something tells me that's not very likely."

"I know." Her eyes down casted. "I should probably get going, though."

He brushed a few stands that had fallen back in into her face away, before speaking quietly. "I'm trying my best to drop the subject until you want to talk about it, but I have to say something." He took a deep breath. "You're still safe, Aria."

She looked up at him, chewing on her thumb nail.

"I know you don't believe it, but you're going to be okay. This person can't continue on forever."

A meek smile crossed her lips, mostly for his entertainment.

"I really am sorry I haven't been telling you things. It's just… I keep thinking that maybe if I don't talk about it, it will all go away." She shook her head. "-A wants to ruin everything I have, including my relationships with the ones that mean to most to me."

She leaned towards him, pressing her forehead to his. "But whatever happens, I don't want to lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere." He whispered, before tilting his head until his lips reached hers.

His tongue brushed over her bottom lip, and she parted them slightly, granting him entrance. They both sighed at the feeling of their tongues dancing over one another's, and Aria reached her hands up around his neck. She sat up, bringing one of her legs to the other side of his lap to straddle him.

Her fingers ran up into his hair, tugging his head back as she pushed her lips down hard onto his. Ezra moaned, sliding his hands under her dress; his fingers pulling playfully on the sides of her underwear.

Aria smirked against his lips, shaking her head. He sighed, pulling away and kissing hungrily down the side of her neck. She giggled, gently scratching the back of his head.

"Ezra." She breathed out, tilting her head back to give him more room. "I really need to go."

"Mm." He sucked softly on the hollow at the base of her neck, causing her to moan breathlessly, before licking his way back up to her ear.

"I love you." He whispered, kissing her cheek.

She placed her hands on either side of his face, leaning in and kissing him slowly one last time before getting off his lap. "I love you, too."

Aria grabbing her backpack and headed for the door.

"I'll text you later and let you know how it goes." She called over her shoulder.

"I'll be waiting."

xxx

Aria sat in her last period class, waiting for the bell to ring. She felt like time was literally crawling by.

Last night had gone better than planned. She actually had been able to get up to her room without confrontation with her parents, and when her mother came to check on her later, she had pretended to be sleeping.

She knew it was a bit childish, but she didn't want to fight with them anymore.

The sound of the bell finally filled the classroom, and everyone jumped out of their seats, glad that the day was over.

Aria saw Emily in the hallway on the way to her locker and stopped by. "Hey."

Emily smiled. "Hey, what's up?"

"Avoiding going home." Aria mumbled.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Emily put her binders into her locker and turned to look at her. "Why?"

"I got into an argument with my parents last night. Turns out I'm not doing a very good job hiding how much –A can affect us."

"I know what you mean." Emily replied, nodding. "Hiding secrets from your parents is one of the hardest things to do. Believe me, I know."

Aria smiled softly at her friend.

"We just have to find a way to handle it. We can't risk our parents finding about it; they could get hurt."

Aria nodded, feeling worry fill her again. She was really starting to regret going to Ezra's that night after the mascaraed.

"Well, I was thinking about retracing our steps today anyways. I think we should go back to that motel where –A's lair was. Maybe we can find something there." She told her friend.

Emily nodded. "That's actually a really good idea."

The hallway was almost completely empty; only a few people were still unloading at their lockers, but they were scattering to go outside as quickly as possible to enjoy the rest of the day.

"I'll be right back." Aria told Emily. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom really quickly."

Emily nodded in acknowledgement, stuffing a few of her books into her backpack. "I'll call Spencer and let her know your plan."

"Okay."

Aria turned away from her, walking down the hall and turning into the other. The bathroom was directly on the right, and she pushed the door open, stepping inside.

Walking over the mirror, she smoothed out her hair before scrunching it up a bit to give it some volume. Her makeup seemed to be lasting pretty well after the long day, so she didn't bother fixing it at all.

Letting out a deep breath, she finally turned and stepped into one of the stalls.

As she locked the door, the sound of the bathroom door opening hit her ears. Her brows furrowed, as she thought most of the kids would already be gone. She looked through the crack in the stall, figuring it was Emily, and was about to call her name when she paused.

Through the small break in the door, she could see someone standing, faced away from her, dressed in jeans and a black hoodie. They were fixing the hood up over their head.

Aria's breath caught in her throat, and she took a step backwards, trying not to make a sound. Her hand shot out next to her on the wall to brace herself, and she let out a shaky breath as she began to panic.

She could hear quiet footsteps fill the room and saw black flash across the opening in the door, before it was silent.

Holding her breath, her ears were alert, waiting for the even the slightest noise to come to her. There continued to be no sound in the room, and confusion began to slip over her.

Suddenly a black pair of shoes became visible under the stall door, and a sharp gasp came out of Aria's mouth.

No.

"Somebody help me!" She shrieked.

The hooded figure kicked the frame of the door, making it rattle furiously on its hinges. Aria cried out in fear, backing up farther into the stall. The mystery person grabbed the top of the door and began to shake it, trying to loosen the lock from its confinement.

Aria panicked, looking around her for a way out. She saw none, and whimpered loudly. She knew there was no other way out but through the door, so she gathered as much courage as she could before unlocking it quickly and ramming herself into it, causing the door to swing back into the person on the other side.

The door and the attacker both moved back, and Aria sprinted as fast as she could to the door, ripping it open and throwing herself out.

Her heels slid on the ground as she rounded the corner, stumbling into the wall, and shoved herself off of it before continuing to run as quickly as she could down the hall.

As she arrived at the next corner, she looked back over her shoulder to see how close they were to her, but she didn't see anything. That didn't stop her from running though. She turned back around to continue, but she ran straight into someone and they wrapped their arms around her tightly.

She screamed, struggling against them, before a familiar voice finally reached her ears.

"Aria?" Emily asked, panicked. "What's going on? What happened?"

Aria breathed in heavily through the tears that had slowly started to flow down her cheeks, and she looked behind her again, seeing no one there.

"-A." She responded breathlessly. "They were in the bathroom with me!"

"What?" Emily yelled. She started down the hall, ignoring Aria's protests for her not to go.

"Stop!" Aria told her, trying to drag her back.

Emily pulled through her grip, walking over the bathroom door. She approached it slowly, moving her hand onto it and pushing softly.

She took a deep breath, before peeking through a small crack she made. She pushed it open further when she saw nothing, until the door was wide open.

Taking a hesitant step inside, she looked around and under the stalls, seeing that the bathroom was empty.

"There's no one in here, Aria." She called back.

Aria shook her head. "No, they were in there, I swear! They were banging on the door and everything!"

Emily was about to turn back out of the restroom, when a piece of paper taped on a stall caught her eye.

She slowly walked towards it, and took it from the door, reading it to herself.

Turning back around, she looked at Aria with wide eyes.

"What is it?" Aria asked carefully.

Emily stretched her arm out, offering the note to her. She cautiously reached out and took it slowly, as if the paper was going to burn her on contact.

Aria turned the note over in her hands, her eyes glancing over the words.

You don't know how to follow

rules, do you?

If you can't keep your mouth shut,

I'll get your lover to stop asking.

-A

She shook her head in disbelief, falling backwards until her back hit the wall. She slid down it, sitting on the ground and bringing her knees up to her chest. More tears fell down her cheeks and she put her head in her hand, shaking it back and forth.

Emily came over and sat down next to Aria, pulling her into her arms.

"Are they talking about Ezra?" She asked.

Aria nodded.

"What does he have to do with anything?"

She sniffled. "I kind of told him about –A."

Emily sighed, resting her head back on the wall. "Aria, I'm not trying to judge you or make this worse, but you just put him in lot of danger by doing that."

"I know." Aria croaked. "I did it the night after we found out Mona was –A. I don't know what I was thinking."

Emily rubbed her arm comfortingly. "What are you going to do?"

Aria shook her head, her eyes squeezing shut and more tears dripping down her face.

"I don't know."

xxx

Beeping filled the room of Spencer's kitchen.

Her parents were gone with Melissa to pick up some new things for the baby and go out for dinner, so the girls had the house to themselves for a few hours.

Spencer walked over to the oven, opening up the door. After pulling on an oven mitt, she reached in and grabbed the pan that held a medium sized pizza, and she placed it on the counter before shutting the door and turning the oven off.

She sat back down, and looked around at the girls while waiting for the meal to cool down.

Aria sat with her arms crossed over the counter, her head resting on them. She hadn't said much since they arrived at Spencer's place, and Emily had explained to Hanna and her what had happened at the school.

Hanna sat to the side of Aria, rubbing her hand up and down her back slowly. Emily sat on the side of the table with her head resting in her hands, and she looked up at Spencer, giving her a sad smile.

It was quiet for a few minutes, until Spencer stood up again. She grabbed four plates and put a piece of pizza on each, settling them in front of each of the girls. They all began to nibble on the food except for Aria, who kept her head down.

"Aria, sweetie." Spencer said gently to her. "Please eat something."

She lifted her head up slowly, before resting it on one of her hands. "I'm not hungry." She said dully.

Spencer sighed. "Can you at least tell us what you're thinking?"

Aria shook her head, her face remaining in the same blank expression. "I don't know what I'm thinking."

All the girls stopped eating, but didn't say anything else. None of them knew what to say; they all knew –A didn't fool around, even when it came to messing with others besides the four of them.

They had hurt Toby, causing Spencer to break up with him, and had killed Maya.

And they all knew -A wasn't one to break their promises.

"Aria –"

"So when are we going to go back to the motel?" Aria asked, changing the subject. She didn't want to talk about it with them anymore; she needed time to gather her own thoughts and think about what she was going to do.

The girls exchanged a look, before Spencer sighed.

"I guess we could go tomorrow?"

"I'm free." Hanna said.

"Me too." Emily agreed.

Aria nodded. "Okay, after school then."

Once again, the room filled with silence. Aria took a deep breath, pressing her hands to the table before standing up.

"I'm gonna go home."

Spencer set her pizza back down onto the plate. "You don't have to go. You can stay over if you want."

Aria shook her head. "Thanks, but I need some alone time to think."

"Well, call us if you need anything." Hanna told her.

Aria smiled slightly at them, nodding her head before stepping out the door.

xxx

Sitting at her desk, a rare moment occurred for Aria.

She couldn't find the words to write.

Her pen hovered above the page of her diary, as it had been for the last ten minutes, with nothing but the date written down at the top.

Sighing, Aria dropped it only the table before leaning back in the chair. She looked up at the ceiling, shaking her head to herself.

Dealing with –A was never something she had gotten used to.

In the beginning when the messages had first started, she had felt more scared than she ever had in her life. She couldn't understand how someone could know so much about her and know every little thing that happened. After a few months, it had become a bit more predictable. When something big happened, she could almost always expect a message from –A.

There had been a lot of times when she would just think, screw it, she should just tell someone about what was going on; her parents or maybe the police. But a secret always got in the way, and she knew it was better to keep her mouth shut.

A few months ago though, she decided that it wasn't –A that was screwing everything up, it was the secrets that she was keeping.

Little by little, she started to become frustrated until she no longer wanted to keep them hidden.

She no longer kept the secrets about her brother when she saw that he was getting hurt and in trouble.

She had come clean with Ezra to her parents about their relationship. But when that didn't work out, she went back to the secrets and to the sneaking around.

Mona getting caught had been a huge weight relieved off of her shoulders. While she had still had the doubts that the blackmailing was really over, when a few months had passed, she started to relax. No more big secrets.

But –A was back now, and they wanted to make sure secrets where kept. They wanted to hold them over her head for as long as possible.

Aria didn't like the fact that she couldn't control her own life. She hated the fact that her future and happiness didn't rest in her hands, but in someone else's. And she didn't even know whose hands they were.

It was hard to accept, and that was one of the main reasons she didn't want to keep the secrets from Ezra. That and it hurt to lie to him. She loved him so much, and she didn't want to be the cause of any pain that was brought to him.

But that's exactly what she had done. She didn't follow –A's rules and continue to play her part in their little game. And now he was in danger.

She didn't know when or how, but –A was going to get to him.

Aria rubbed her hands down her face, closing her eyes. She had no idea what she was supposed to do.

A knock her door interrupted her from her thoughts.

She looked up, seeing her mother standing in the doorway. "Hey."

"Hey."

Ella hesitated for a moment. "Can I come in?"

Aria nodded. "Sure."

Her mother moved into the room and went to sit on her bed. As she sat down, Aria's phone buzzed on the desk. She picked it up, seeing that it was a new text message from Ezra.

Her finger hovered over the read message button, before she locked her phone and set it back onto the table.

"Who was that?" Ella asked curiously.

"No one."

Ella gave her a pointed look, before Aria sighed. "It was Ezra."

She nodded. "I'm not here to ban you from talking to him. You can reply if you want to."

Aria didn't make a move to pick up her phone, and Ella looked at her confused.

"Is everything alright between you two?" She asked slowly.

Nodding, Aria pushed her hair back behind her ears. "Yup."

"Did something happen?"

Aria huffed, throwing her head back. "Mom, I just told you everything was fine. Drop it."

Ella stared at her, shaking her head. "Aria, please talk to me. I'm really trying here, to be accepting and understanding. But how can I do that if you won't talk to me?"

Aria closed her eyes. She needed to gain control of herself. It was time to become the liar that she had been for the last year once again. No more messing up.

She stood up from the chair and went to sit next to her mother on the bed, turning to look at her.

"I'm sorry, mom." She told her. "I just get worried talking about him with you. I don't know if I'm going to say or do something that will make you go back to completely hating our relationship."

Ella smiled and reached up to brush Aria's hair back. "Sweetie, I can see how happy he makes you. I don't want you to be afraid to talk to me. I want to understand as much as possible, and support you as best as I can."

Aria smiled back at her and laughed slightly. "You don't know how relieved I am to hear you say that."

"Is that what you've been worried about? That I'm going to be angry with you for being with him?"

She shrugged. "You were before. I just don't want to go back to all the arguing."

Ella pulled her daughter in for a hug. "No more arguing, I promise." She pulled back to look at her. "But I can only keep that promise if you're honest with me. I told you that there weren't to be any more sleepovers at his place. I don't want you lying to me, saying you're going to be somewhere that you aren't."

Aria nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I just hate being away from him." She paused for a moment. "Is that weird? That I'm always thinking about him… always wanting to be with him?"

Ella grinned, chuckling softly at her daughter. "No, it's not weird, it's perfectly normal. You're in love."

Aria smiled, biting her lip and looking down. She felt her heart break a little bit on the inside. She was in love with him, yet she was causing him so much pain.

She didn't let her emotions show on her face.

"I love you, mom." She whispered.

Ella smiled. "I know. I love you, too."

She stood up, leaning down to kiss Aria on her forehead. "Now get some sleep, it's getting late."

Aria laughed. "I will."

Ella walked to the door, stepping outside and looking back in. "Night, sweetie."

"Night, mom."

Ella closed the door softly behind her, and the smile slipped from Aria's face immediately. She sighed, getting up from the bed and walking into the bathroom.

She removed the makeup from her face, took off all the jewelry she was wearing and brushed her teeth quickly. When she finished, she walked back into her room, stripping off her clothes. She put them into the hamper in her closet before opening her dresser and pulling out a pair of night shorts, slipping them on.

Walking over to her closet, she flipped through the clothes hanging in it until she found one of the shirts she had stolen from Ezra a few months ago. She took it off its hanger and slipped it over her head.

Back at her desk, she grabbed her journal and her cell phone before settling back on her bed. She stuffed her journal back in its hiding place – behind a picture frame that hung on her wall. There was enough space between the frame and the wall for the journal to slide into, and the under part of the frame prevented it from falling out.

Aria pulled the covers up over her as she settled down onto the mattress and reached over to shut of the light. As darkness filled the room, her hand fumbled around on her nightstand until she found her cellphone charger. She plugged it into her phone, causing it to light up and the message from Ezra to reappear on the screen.

She took a deep breath, before opening it up.

"Hey baby. Just texting you to

say goodnight. I feel like a part of

me is missing without you here,

falling asleep in my arms.

I miss you. Come over tomorrow?

Night, baby. I love you.

-Ezra"

Aria breathed out shakily, and a tear slipped down her face. A part of her was relieved that nothing bad had happened to him yet, but the message mostly made her feel worse.

He loved her, and because of that, he was going to get hurt in some shape or form.

She wiped away the tear from her cheek, locking her phone and putting it on the nightstand without responding.

She didn't know what she was supposed to say. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She didn't know what she was supposed to think.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered softly to the empty room, closing her eyes and trying to fall asleep.

She had a big day tomorrow, and she had a big decision to make.

Author's Notes: Please review your thoughts!

Also, I want to say THANK YOU to all of your wonderful support. I promise I'll make you guys happy. : )