A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! I've had this written and sitting on my laptop for nearly a week, but didn't have the time to update. Enjoy!

Spring break had come and gone, and it was now mid April. It'd been nearly a month since her break up with Ezra. Aria sat on one of Rosewood's park benches, as she discreetly took a drink of her beer. Looking out in front of her, she was thankful no one was at this particular park at the time. It already was on of Rosewood's secluded parks, but still got a few people every now and then. But today, it was just her, her beer bottle, and the peaceful surroundings the park offered.

Suddenly the annoying sound of her cell phone came from her bag. She rolled her eyes as she swiped her finger across the screen.

"Hello?"

"Aria, where the hell are you?" Spencer stern voice came from the other line.

"Somewhere."

"You can't keep doing this, Aria." She says almost in a defeated tone. " You can't just leave school whenever you feel like it. You've been doing that ever since we got back from break. You can't do that."

"Why not?" She snapped.

"Bec-"

"You know what? I don't need you worrying about me, Ok? I'm a big girl, I know what I'm doing."

"Ar-"

"Goodbye Spence."

She threw her phone back into her bag, as she pulled out yet another bottle. Letting a few tears fall, she sipped on her beer as she thought about how she'd spent the last few weeks..

Why hadn't she thought about drinking earlier? It was the only thing that made her feel better. Everytime she drank, it numbed her up entirely. She no longer felt the pain, and she was no longer hurting. It made her not feel. She'd had enough of feeling the way she did. It was pathetic, but nothing could heal her hurt, besides the alcohol. She couldn't stop taking it. She needed it.

The past week, she'd skip school almost entirely. Some days, showing up for a few classes, others, not showing up at all. Today, being one of those days. It was finally Friday, and she didn't want to deal with going to school. She was thankful the school had down her parents house numbers, and every day, she'd delete the calls. She was surprised, Ella hadn't caught on to her constant skipping, after all, she did work at the school.

A part of her, deep deep down, knew that she was doing something wrong. But she didn't care. She couldn't. All she wanted was to rid herself of how'd she'd been feeling for nearly a month.

The calls and texts Ezra sent her way weren't helping at all. They only brought back all the painful memories every time she'd see his name on the screen. That's why she needed to keep doing what she was doing. To forget, to try to ignore.

She was so deep in thought, when a voice behind her startled her.

"Aria?"

She knew that voice. She'd just spoken to the owner of it just a short fifteen minutes back.

"Spencer, what are you doing here?"

"I knew I'd find you here." She replied, taking a seat beside her.

Aria sighed in annoyance as she gathered her things.

"I'm out of here."

As Aria got up, Spencer grabbed her arm gently.

"Please. Can we just talk."

"Spence, there's nothing to talk about. I just needed a day off."

"You've been skipping school since before spring break. Was Spring break last week not enough time, Aria?"

"Spencer, please just stop."

Spencer spotted the empty bottles in her bag. No wonder she was acting like this for the past few days. She'd been drinking, and now was well on her way to being drunk.

"You need to stop drinking." Spencer stated. "Please."

"I have to go."

Aria ignored Spencer's call for her, as she ran across the park. She threw away all her empty beer bottles, emptying the last one in her water bottle.

As she walked down the streets of Rosewood, to everyone she seemed like just a girl, enjoying a walk out with her water bottle. No one knew that she was broken, and that the contents inside the water bottle was the piece of tape keeping her together for just a while.

As she took another long sip from her bottle, she didn't notice her surroundings, bumping straight into somebody.

"God, watch where you're going." She rudely snapped.

When she looked up, her heart immediately stopped, tears filling her eyes instantly.

"Aria." The man whispered, tears brimming his eyes.

She swallowed back her tears, and tried her best to not break down in front of him. Instead, she ignored him, trying to walk past him. He was quick though, and before she could move, blocked her way.

"Move." She ordered through clenched teeth.

Ezra ignored her, taking in her appearance, not believing he was seeing her for the first time in a month. He'd called her endless amount of times, texted her until his thumbs went sore, but he'd never gotten a single reply.

And now, seeing her in front of him, broke his heart. He didn't miss the hint of alcohol coming from her breath. The bags under her eyes were obvious, and even through her baggy clothes, and by looking at her face, he could tell she'd lost a significant amount of weight. She looked so broken, and he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around and make it all better.

"Move. Now." She said, her voice louder.

The raise in her voice, broke him from trance.

"Can we please talk, Aria?" He said in almost a whisper.

"No." She shook her head. "There's nothing to talk about. Was I not clear that night?"

"Please, you need to hear me out. You don't know how much I regret hurting you."

She scoffed.

"I find that hard to believe." She said, desperately trying to hold back her tears.

As he stepped closer to her, she couldn't help her heart from beating faster.

"Don't come near me." She ordered.

Ezra didn't comply, as he desperately tried to have her look him in the eyes.

"I love you, Aria. I've been miserable without you this past month. I hate myself for hurting you."

Aria looked down, knowing she'd break down any second.

"I won't lie and say when I first met you, my intentions were the best. I wanted revenge for something my mom brainwashed me to believe, for something that could or couldn't be true."

"I-i have to go." Aria stated.

Ezra held her back.

"Yes, at first I had all this planned, but what I never planned was to fall in love with you, Aria. But you don't know how glad I am that I did."

"Stop." She ordered her voice trembling, but Ezra once again ignored her.

"I've never been in love before. Ever. You were the first person i've ever loved. And it happened so quick. You made it possible to love you with just a short amount time of knowing you. I will always regret my intentions, regret hurting to you, lying to you. I regret the way that I met you, the way our relationship started, based on my lies." He paused.

"But a part of me doesn't. Because without that, I would've never met you, or fallen in love with you. And falling in love with you, is something I'll never regret, Aria."

He came closer to her, grasping her trembling hand in his. He was thankful she didn't pull back. Looking her in the eyes, he brought their joined hands up to his chest, resting it just over his heart.

"You softened this hardened heart i've been carrying since my Dad died. You brought me back to life. Gave it a whole new meaning. I love you so much. Please believe me." He begged, his eyes brimming with unshed tears.

This was all too much for Aria. Way too much. As she fought back the tears she managed to push past him, but once again Ezra held her back.

"L-let me go." She said through her tears.

"Believe me please." He pleaded, a lonely tear making its way down his cheek.

Aria blinked away her tears as she shook her head. "I-i c-can't"

"I can't." She repeated.

Ezra closed his eyes, sighing in defeat.

"Promise me one thing at least." He stated, opening his eyes and locking them with her hazel ones.

"Promise me you'll stop hurting yourself. Please stop drinking, skipping school. I'm not worth screwing your life over. Please, if you can't find a way to believe me, to forgive me, please just stop doing this."

If she didn't leave now, she'd breakdown. Ignoring his question, she successfully managed to push past him, running all the way home, as the tears streamed down her face. This time, she wasn't sure the alcohol would numb her and take away the pain.

It was a little past seven, when Aria lay on her bed. Much to her luck, as soon as her parents had come home, they'd done nothing but lecture her on the consequences of skipping school, how it could jeopardize her chances on graduating, how it could look bad on her transcript, and all that stuff. Guess like Ella had found out through the school, once they contacted her directly.

She heard a knock on her bedroom door. Not waiting for a response, the person let themselves in.

"Hey." Spencer smiled gently.

"Hey."

"Your Mom let me in."

Aria nodded, as Spencer took a seat on her bed.

"I don't want to upset you, but can we talk? I hate seeing you like this."

"Sure." She whispered.

Spencer sighed. "Aria, you can't keep doing this to yourself."

"I know." She simply replied.

"What can I do to make it stop?"

Aria eyes instantly filled with tears, as she shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't need to drink, skip school, to feel better. The school is already getting on your ass about it. And have you even committed to UW yet?"

"I'm not going. I'm just not feeling it anymore."

"What do you mean you're not going to UW? Where are you going?"

"No where. I just don't want to anymore. It's pointless, and," She paused. "I just don't feel strong enough to do anything anymore. I can't even breathe, Spence. He really hurt me."

"Aria, you're the strongest person I know. You have so much ahead of you. A great University is waiting for you, you'll be able to move on. Don't let some worthless jerk ruin you. Don't hurt yourself by drinking, skipping, because of him. He's not worth it."

Aria's tears had managed to escape, and were falling from her face.

"I-i saw him today." She whispered, holding back her whimpers. "After I left the park, I bumped into him."

She paused as she felt the knot forming in her throat.

"H-he gave me all this bullshit on how he loved me, and would always regret hurting me, and how although his intentions were the worst, without them, he would've never met me. A-and how he'd regret being a jerk, but he'd never regret falling in love with me, because it was the best thing to ever happen to him. H-he's just such a jerk." She said in between her sobs.

She fell into Spencer's embrace as her sobs turned louder.

"He only keeps hurting me. And even though it may be true he loves me, it hurts to know he only wanted revenge to begin with. Only wanted to hurt me."

She continued to cry in her best friends arms, as Spencer ran soothing circles along her back.

"Aria, even if it is true, even if he does love you, you can do better than him. He doesn't deserve your tears, doesn't deserve you ruining your life for him. He doesn't deserve you."

"I just can't. I can't live with all this pain. Drinking is what keeps me going, Spence. You could never understand."

Spencer sighed, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before getting up.

"Aria, going down the path you're taking, skipping school, drinking, not even committing to your dream school, that'll be letting him win," she paused at the door, looking back at Aria. "Think it over, it's up to you. Do you want that to happen?"

And with one last sympathetic smile, Spencer made her way out.

A/N: Sooo what did you all think about their run in? And the whole chapter? I have the next two chapters of this written out, and this story might be one or two chapters longer than originally planned. Thanks for reading and please review!