A/N: Hey all! So I'm somewhat back (keyword 'somewhat'). I'm sorry to those who have messaged me and were told that I was posting a chapter soon. I thought I had earlier in the past few days but I must have closed the site too early or something. Anyways, here is the next chapter. I didn't have time to write the next so I can't post a double chapter (and I have yet to or updated/fixed things in the previous chapters) but hopefully something will happen soon. Thanks for staying with me and enjoy the chapter!

"Told you not to get yourself into drama," Tommy teased as he had a guitar on his lap.

"Whatever," Aria said kicking his leg for him to make room for her on the couch.

"Good to see you girls," Zoë all greeted with a beer in hand.

"You come here?" Hanna asked Aria, partially grossed out by the frat like place.

"It's a house Han," Aria replied with a small smile.

"Here you go," Josh said handing Aria a red cup. Taking it with a smile, she thanked him and took a sip.

"It's a club soda," Aria smiled to Jason when looked protective of her and ready to speak up against the 'drinking'. Peter and their friends would never allow Aria or her friends to drink underage but she liked that Jason was protective of her.

"Can I get you guys anything?" Josh asked to the rest of them.

"Just a water," Emily said.

"No thanks," Spencer said.

"Can I get her drink?" Hanna wondered wanting the same thing as Aria.

"Nothing for me," Jason said sitting next to Aria.

"So? What went down at the Easton residence?" Tommy wondered. Both Aria and Peter gave him a look to not even go there.

"Everything is okay though right?" Tommy asked catching the look.

Rolling her eyes, Aria noticed Peter glancing at her and nodding. Her friends and Jason all knew something was up. It was obvious. They each glanced to Peter, Zoë and Aria, taking their time to figure out what they missed.

"Here you go," Josh said coming back with all the drinks. "So? You know my parties are the best," he joked as he went to sit on the couch with Zoë and Peter.

"Couldn't resist," Aria smiled as she took another sip of her drink. It wasn't necessarily a party; rather it was just the guys of the band, Zoë, Aria and her friends.

"Free play time!" Chris announced coming into the room with his drumsticks.

"Not the table!" Josh protested as he went to start a beat.

Aria's friends all gave her a bewildered look, but Aria brushed it off knowing they would see soon enough. Watching Tommy get up from the couch, Aria scooted forward waiting to play the game.

"Here you go bro," Tommy said bring some Tupperware and plastic cups over for Chris to beat on. Sprawling them all out on the table, everyone chuckled a bit and Chris settled for it.

"Okay here we go," Tommy said sitting next to the radio. Spinning the dial, he turned the device on and they heard the song Vegas Girl by Conor Maynard come on. Only allowed to hear a clip of it, Tommy quickly shut the radio off and pointed to Aria start.

"Peter," she replied. Chris was already waiting with his drumsticks in hand to drum to the beat when he started. Peter nodded, hitting Chris' shoulder and began singing the chorus.

"This is for the girl that can get down low
The whole club wanna see you go
Ey, shake, shake like you're famous, girl
Head back, lay it down like a Vegas girl
Bass coming down so hard
That little dress breaking every heart
Ey, shake, shake like you're famous, girl
Head back, lay it down like a Vegas girl"

"My turn," Peter announced when he was done.

"Wait hold on, what are the rules of this game?" Hanna interrupted confused.

"Its kind of like guessing the tune," Aria replied. "Tommy will play some random song from the radio for a few seconds and whoever is it gets to pick someone to sing the chorus. Chris drums along for the beat after the person starts to sing. The first person to get three strike for not knowing the song or chorus loses and has to pay for breakfast the next morning."

"Okay," Emily agreed, getting into the game now.

"Go head," Aria cued. Peter gave Tommy the nod and he spun the dial going to a different station for another song. Now pointing to Josh, the song went off and he was on his own.

"Look at me now, look at me now
Oh, I'm getting paper
Look at me now
Oh, look at me now
Yeah, fresher than a motherfucker" [Look at Me Now by Chris Brown]

"Its on," Josh smiled evilly as it was his turn. The game went on for a few hours. Aria's friends all participated and even Jason did too. The loser turned out to be Tommy like usual, never knowing any songs that played.

"You all suck," he grumbled when the game ended and they went back to drinking and talking.

Aria clapped a hand on his back and gave a proud smirk.

"Evil little bunny," he grumbled.

Everyone laughed and Aria dug her elbow into his side.

"Alright I give, I give," he claimed scooting away from her.

"So do you guys do this a lot?" Emily wondered as she sipped her drink. Things were becoming more casual and her friends loosened up quite a bit.

"Yeah, we like to play the game from time to time. It usually its gets us into the singing and song writing mode," Peter answered with his arm strung around Zoë.

"Can we hear?" Hanna wondered.

"Han..." Aria trailed off.

"Sure," Peter answered getting up to get his own guitar. Aria groaned. Unless she was on stage or playing the game, she wasn't a fan of singing around people. Like she thought before, it was personal.

"Oh come on," Tommy said nudging her. "You're great."

"We should work on Zoë tonight," Aria stated trying to deflect the uncomfortable attention.

"Ha, girl I got enough songs to sing," Zoë replied finishing off her beer.

"So do I," Aria justified.

"Come on, I thought we were moving past the stage freight?" Josh asked.

"Not really stage freight bro," Tommy pointed out.

"Just more like freight," Peter said coming back and resuming his spot.

"Please Aria?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, please?" her friends all begged.

Aria groaned and laid her head on Jason's shoulder.

"I'll get the paper," Chris noted after seeing her face knowing she was about to give in.

"I actually had some ideas," Peter said strumming the guitar. When Chris came back with the notebook and pencil Peter was grabbing for it, already writing down some words. "Now if we could get a melody to this baby," he said putting the pencil in his mouth and strumming some chords again.

"This is Aria's?" Emily wondered.

"Yes," Peter answered with the pencil still in his mouth.

"Let me see," Aria commented, reaching for the paper. Reading some of the lyrics, she reached out for the pencil, and fixed some of his words. Sitting there, Aria listened to some of the notes Peter would play and jotted down some words that popped into her head.

"Wait, play that again, I like it," Aria said popping her head up from the paper. Peter retraced his actions and she had him stop a certain sound.

"Oh, I like that too," he agreed, playing it over and trying to add to it.

"Okay, what about this?" Aria wondered, passing the notebook back to him. Both Peter and Zoë looked it over while Aria's friends sat there in amazement. It was like watching an artist at work, and they never really saw this side of Aria. For Jason especially, it was interesting to view. He liked how free Aria could be and how great she worked with her brother. He pushed her along with a gentle nudge and talked sense into her. The way Aria worked was amazing. He loved how he could sit there against the couch and watch her fix the words on her brother's paper and come up with a song of her own. She was beautiful in every way – inside and out.

"Switch this around," Chris said taking the paper now and moving words.

"Oh and add this," Josh said putting his two sense in when it went around the gang for more approval.

"No way man," Tommy said reading some of the words and crossing it out, only to fix it again.

Aria read over the final piece and corrected a few more things. Again, it was passed around.

"Lets do something with this beat," Chris said showing them what he came up with.

"Match it with this," Peter added strumming his guitar.

"Mm…you're going to have to slow it down to do that," Josh noted after they played the combination together.

"I like that," Aria noted when she heard it.

"Sing it out loud," Spencer said taking the paper and giving it to her friend.

"You can do it," Zoë added with an encouraging smile. Taking in a nervous breath, Aria listened to the beat for a few second before starting. [Wheel of the World by Carrie Underwood]

"Love goes out, out like a light
Out like a flame, and you can't find it anymore
Just when you think it's lost in the rain
It comes back knocking at your door

It's the wheel of the world turning around"

Aria smiled when Zoë stepped in and helped her with the back up for the piece. She liked how her voice sounded with her own. They flowed perfectly.
"It's the wheel of the world turning around
And around

God put us here on this carnival ride
We close our eyes
Never knowing where it will take us next
Babies are born and at the same time, someone's taking their last breath

It's the wheel of the world
It's the wheel of the world turning around

In the blink of an eye
It can change your life
And it never even slows down

It's the wheel of the world"

This was where the song was supposed to end, but Aria felt more. It flowed with her when she sang and she continued.

"I don't know what it is
I'm flying high
Then I'm wondering why I'm sinking on this ship, going down
Life keeps on moving anyway" She loved how her brother and band mates could pick up on this. It was like they knew she had more coming and Zoë was right there to help her pick it back up after she added it all.

It's the wheel of the world
It's the wheel of the world turning around
It's the wheel of the world
It's the wheel of the world turning around
It's the wheel of the world turning around
And around
And around
It's the wheel of the world turning around

It can open your heart
It can break you apart
And it never even slows down

It's the wheel of the world turning around
It's the wheel of the world turning around
It's the wheel of the world turning around
It's the wheel of the world turning around
And around"

Aria was breathless when she finished and everyone else was smiling. "I liked that part – good job adding to it," Peter commented.

"Thanks," she smiled with a blush. She snuggled closer into Jason, who was welcome to the action.

"Can you guys do that again?" Hanna wondered with a big smile.

"I really liked that one – which is saying something for me since I'm not the biggest fan of country," Spencer added.

"You guys should try and get recognized for this," Emily stated.

"That's extremely hard to do," Josh commented. "There is so much to it all, there is just no way we could ever get a record deal."

"You never know," Zoë shrugged in positivity. The group of them talked a while longer, hanging around and doing things together. It was around two in the morning when they all decided to call it a night.

"I'll drive," Zoë said taking the keys out of Peter's hands after he'd been drinking (she stopped drinking by the time he started). Chris and Tommy were both staying at Josh's house so they didn't need to be worried about. Squishing into the front and back seat of the inside cab of the truck, Zoë drove them all seven of them back home.

"You stayin' the night?" Peter asked his girlfriend as they piled out of the car.

"No, I should get home," she sighed, leaning into him for a kiss. Turning the other way to give her brother and his girlfriend some time alone, Aria led her friends back to Jason's car.

"Will you guys be alright to go back to the B&B?" she wondered. Her friends all looked extremely tired.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Jason said standing in front of her as her friends all waved to Aria and went into Jason's car.

"Meet up tomorrow?" she wondered.

"Of course," he answered kissing her lips briefly. Sad to watch him go, Aria waved as he pulled away and drove off into the dust.

"Bye Aria," Zoë smiled, hugging her as she went to get into her own car too.

"Bye Zoë, drive safe."

"Text me when you get home," Peter added as he shut her car door for her when she got in.

"Will do," she smiled before driving off.

"We're hopeless," Peter noted for the two of them as they stared at the places their boyfriend and girlfriend each drove off from.

"Totally," she stated back.

The next morning was like before. After waking up and getting ready for the day, Peter and Aria walked into the kitchen to find their dad had set out food and pastries, drinking coffee at the kitchen table with the newspaper.

"How was your guys' night?" he wondered as they went to grab the food.

"Good," Aria answered as Peter stayed quiet.

"What'd you do?" he wondered turning his attention to his kids.

"Just hung around," Aria answered with a forced kind smile. She still didn't like how overly friendly he was being. Last night set her on edge and made be more cautious now; he asked such personal and pushy questions, she didn't like it.

"What are your plans for today?" Richard asked as he watched Aria sit down at the table.

"Not sure," she replied, digging into her yogurt from the fridge.

"You working today?" their father asked Peter.

"Yeah till 8," Peter replied grabbing his toast out from the toaster.

"Did you want to do something with your old man today then?" Richard asked his daughter. "We could go to town, or maybe the farmers market around here. We both know there needs to be more groceries around here."

"Aria's friends are still in town. I'm sure they want to do something with her," Peter spoke up as he came and sat down next to his sister. Aria plastered on a calming and fake smile for both of them. Peter was just creating more tension, causing all the friction to put her on edge.

"Well I'm sure she can take a break from the considering she will see them when she gets home too."

"Maybe she doesn't want to," Peter answered defiantly to his father. Now, both men turned to her staring for the right answer. Aria was glancing at both of them unsure what to say. Hearing her phone ring, Aria thanked the world for it saving her ass and quickly rushed to go get it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, you okay?" Jason's voice asked when she answered.

"Fine. Please say you guys are coming over today," Aria pleaded, trying not to make her voice sound too desperate.

"Actually, yeah. It's going to be a you and me day today. Is that okay? I'll come pick you up in 5?"

"Sure," Aria replied confused a bit, "where are Hanna, Spencer and Emily going?"

"Hanna wants her haircut," Jason answered. Aria could picture his face when he said that and it put a smile on her face. "A haircut?"

"She's taking the spontaneous route like you. I'm dropping the girls off in two so I'll be there soon."

"Okay," Aria replied.

"Love you," Jason stated.

"Love you too," she blushed before hanging up. Going over and sitting on Peter's bed in peace, Aria hoped that when she stepped back into the kitchen there would be a bit more easiness.

"What are your plans?" Peter wondered when he saw her walk back with her phone in hand.

"Jason's taking me out. Looks like I can't do anything," Aria answered turning to her father at the end. His face fell, but he took it well, brushing off the rejection with a smile. "Have fun then."

"Maybe you and I could make breakfast tomorrow before I go," Aria suggested, feeling horrible for bailing out on her father. Weird feelings aside, he was still her dad.

"Sounds great," he answered with a bright smile. When she turned back to sit down and finish her food, she saw Peter giving her a knowing look. What did you just do? His eyes asked. Feeling uncomfortable again, Aria finished her yogurt and went to gather her things.

"Looks like Jensen is here," her father said taking a glance out the window.

"Its Jason," Peter corrected on Aria's behalf.

"I didn't know you were dating him," Richard snapped to his son.

"Peter's right," Aria answered awkwardly, backing up her brother from the harsh comment. She didn't want to speak up but she felt like it was right after their dad egged her brother on (who was now looking pissed).

"Come on, I'll walk you out," Peter said guiding her to the door. He had to leave for work anyways.

"Don't stay out to late!" Richard called more nicely this time.

"Ignore him," Peter muttered to Aria as he held out the door for her. Rushing out of the house, Aria broke out into a smile when they approached Jason.

"Call me remember?" Peter asked Aria quietly before kissing her head. "Jason? Try to keep her out late."

Jason didn't question Peter's request to his face, but he did give Aria a curious to look as of why. Nodding, he shook Peter's hand and him and Aria watched her brother get into his car.

"What was that all about?" Jason wondered.

"Come on," Aria said guiding them to the car. She knew Peter was probably waiting for her and Jason to leave first and she didn't want him to be late for work.

"So?" Jason wondered as he drove away.

"He's just being a big brother."

"He wants you out late Aria. The only reason I could think of why is because of your dad. Something happened yesterday too. What's going on? Did he hurt you?"

"No he's not like that. He wouldn't do-…" Aria let the sentence die down. That wasn't true. He would do that because he has. Jason immediately took his eyes off of the road and gazed at her. At this point, he looked to be demanding answers.

"It's complicated."

"Try," Jason pushed now frequently trying to stare at her while he drove.

"I don't know," Aria sighed looking at her lap. "The first time I met my dad and Peter, things were rough. He drank a lot and smelled. Peter looked out for me and made sure I didn't have to see our dad like that." Aria tried skipping the part where her and her dad had an incident when he was drunk as best she could. "But then when he realized I had tracked them down and found them, he quickly sobered and cleaned up. He's like a new man."

Aria glanced at Jason. "Peter thinks it's a cover for whatever he's trying to plan – maybe ask me to stay here in Oklahoma or something. Peter is just looking out for me and being cautious."

Everything Aria said was the truth, but she also knew the reason why Peter was being so persistent with her being out and such was because of what happened with her and her dad – not to mention her poor head.

"But why would he want you out late for that?" Jason wondered as he found a spot downtown again.

"So he can't corner me. Peter thinks in extremes," Aria answered.

"That's it?" Jason challenged as he sat in the driver's seat and stared at her. Aria couldn't seem to meet his eyes half the time and it made him think there was something else she wasn't telling him.

Biting her lip, Aria had two routes. She could say no and tell him about the incident during mid winter break, or she could say yes and explain it all to him (hoping that he would still listen). The first choice would obviously lead him into getting upset and crazy protective like her brother was being, but then again, if she didn't tell him, would it be considered lying?

Unsure what to do, Aria glanced up to Jason and opened her mouth.