A/N: I'm starting to think the days of PLL fanfic are numbered. It's been awhile since the show ended, and there doesn't seem to be as much enthusiasm in this fandom than there was a year ago. I'm personally struggling to keep up with my own writing. When I do write, it seems forced because I've made the scope of the story too wide. I'm hoping to pare down the accessory characters and just write fluff and smut. If you're still along for the ride, please read & review/follow/fav or PM me. I'd love to hear your feedback!
After a late brunch, Aria found herself back in the passenger seat of Jason's car. Luckily her hangover was not as bad as it should've been. There must be something about her steamy night with Jason that prevented it.
"Are you feeling OK this morning?" Jason startled Aria as she was staring blankly out the window, not seeing the beautiful color of the leaves. The situation still felt very surreal.
"Huh?" she turned to see Jason looking concerned. "Oh yeah," she smiled, "I'm great. Still processing everything that's happened in the past 24 hours I guess." Great was an understatement. Giddy was more like it.
"Sorry about my sister last night. She hasn't taken the Emily & Hanna situation very well," Jason felt awkward bringing up the topic.
"You don't have to apologize for her," Aria responded off-handedly. "She's always been kind of a bitch. We all just sort of looked the other way when she was like that in high school. But we're all adults now and know better than to just let someone walk all over us." Honestly, Aria was still a bit scared of Ali. What if she could control her brother the way she'd controlled the others back in high school?
"You deserve an apology," Jason replied, grabbing her hand. "You are an amazing woman and deserve to be treated with respect." Jason couldn't believe what she'd been through with Ezra, what she still had to go through in her day-to-day job. He looked over and the way her midnight sky hair captured the sun was breath-taking. It was as if Aria had a special gravity, one that very subtly but firmly begged both attention and admiration.
Aria and Jason pulled up to their apartment just in time to see Liam emerge with his suitcase and overnight bag. "I'll come by tomorrow after work to get the rest of my things," he said awkwardly when he noticed the couple. "I don't want to get in the way."
"No rush Liam," Jason said with a friendly tone. "Why don't you stay for the Patriot's game?"
Liam looked at his watch. 4:30 pm. "Nah, the game doesn't start for over an hour. I appreciate it Jason, but I still need to recover from this weekend," Liam teemed outwardly with nonchalance despite the tumult building under the surface. On the one hand, Aria was not and had never been his. But on the other hand, they shared a deeper connection than just coworkers & roommates. Liam kicked himself for not seeing this coming. Though, how could he have predicted it? He knew nothing about Jason until he showed up in Boston with his annoying "girlfriend" Nicole.
Liam then turned to Aria, addressing the elephant in the room, the one that spurred Jason's confession that shattered Liam's dreams of a happily-ever-after with the girl. "We need to have a serious talk with Jillian about Ezra tomorrow."
Aria closed her eyes, as if trying to will herself out of the uncomfortable situation she was in. "I still need some time to process everything," she whispered. Talking to Jason and her friends about what Ezra did to her brought up some painful memories, memories she'd suppressed for years. Aria had quite the knack for daydreaming herself out of painful situations, and didn't particularly like to confront her anxiety head-on.
"Ok, I'm not trying to overwhelm you" Liam spoke quietly, not quite knowing how to effectively broach the topic. "But before he gets too out-of-hand, we need to put an end to this project. After what I witnessed last night, I don't think I can look at the bastard again."
"Honestly Aria," Jason put his arm around her and pulled her in closer to his side and agreeing with Liam. "I'm not comfortable with you working with Ezra. I never have trusted the sonofabitch, but after what you told me and what I saw last night, I don't even think he should be walking the streets as a free man. I have a hunch he's involved in something deeper."
"Ok," she whispered as she buried her face in Jason's shoulder. It felt so good to finally be able to give in to someone's protection. There was no way Aria could have held herself together without Spencer and then Liam around, but she'd never felt entirely safe. Aria was never able to fully trust anyone after Ezra's abuse. Even though Jason had left her once before, it had torn him up as much as it did her. Now that they were back together Aria vowed nothing would pull them apart.
Jason dropped off Aria Monday morning before heading to the mostly empty new Carisimi headquarters. "Have a good day honey," Jason leaned over to plant a kiss on Aria's soft lips. "I'll see you around 6."
"Thanks Jase, you too," Aria stole another kiss before stepping out of the car. Having just arrived, Liam held open the door for Aria and waved at Jason. Neither one of them was prepared for Jillian.
"Conference room, NOW!" she barked before Aria and Liam had a chance to set their things in their respective work stations. The junior editors stared at each other as deer staring into headlights.
"Uhm," Aria piped timidly. "Ok." Jillian was halfway down the hall, heels clomping in anger.
When Aria and Liam walked into the room, Jillian was holding up a Boston Globe dramatically. Neither had a chance to register what exactly they were looking at.
"Ezra Fitz, renowned author, pinned in child pornography ring."
"Oh my fucking god," Aria spoke in a barely-audible tone. "He's more of a monster than I thought."
"You knew about this?" Jillian incredulously asked.
"Not that. I know first-hand what a sexual predator he is, but I had no idea his sickness went this far," Aria replied timidly. Her hands shook uncontrollably and Liam pulled out a chair just in time to break her fall.
"The book deal is off," Jillian said unnecessarily. "Now I just need to figure out how to get my money back."
"He signed a contract, right?" Liam ask, breaking his eyes away from Aria to look at Jillian.
"Well, yeah, of course he did," Jillian responded half sarcastically. "Everyone signs a contract when Umbrella puts out money. I just don't think he's going to give back the money without a fight. And who the hell knows what other sort of dirty business he's into."
Aria's phone buzzed as she walked back to her desk from the conference room. She looked down to see Jason DiLaurentis light up the screen.
"Hey Jase, what's up?" Aria answered cheerfully, despite the bomb Jillian just dropped and her near-fainting.
"Uhm, have you seen the papers?" Jason asked, too stunned by what he saw to realize how ridiculous the question was. Of course she'd seen the papers.
"Yeah," she replied. "Jillian is not happy." That was an understatement. "But at least I won't have to work with him anymore. Jillian is dropping the book."
The rest of the day passed quickly. Aria and Liam were tasked with pouring over their notes on interactions with Ezra. Jillian needed as much ammo as she could find before confronting Ezra. As if the child porn thing wasn't enough.
"I don't think any of my notes are going to hold any sort of water," Liam commented during lunch. "I sound like a jaded editor, jealous of Ezra's power and fame."
"They can't be any worse than my notes," Aria replied. "All I have is a bunch of vague abstractions."
"You have your experience in Savannah," Liam suggested delicately.
Aria sighed deeply. "I know, but it's all he-said she-said stuff."
"You had a PFA down there, right? That will speak volumes. Especially when they put pieces together about how being around you probably dredged up some predatory muscle memory."
"I suppose you're right. I'll talk to Jillian later this afternoon. Can you come with me?"
"Of course," Liam replied, happy the fiasco was going to be soon behind them.
As promised, Jason was waiting outside Umbrella for Aria when she finished work. He stood outside, leaning against his car, as if basking in the dusk of a beautiful fall day. Aria smiled widely as she trotted over to embrace Jason and kiss him tenderly on the lips. Jason felt torn. A big part of him wanted to life Aria and press her back up against the car and have his way with her. The other part was embarrassed of PDA's, especially after Nicole. Jason settled for moaning as he gently slipped his tongue into her mouth and discretely grabbed her ass.
"I missed you today," Jason spoke as he admired Aria's pants tighten across her ass as she slid into the passenger seat.
"I missed you too," Aria leaned over and planted another kiss onto his scruffy cheek. Aria was so glad he'd decided to keep the rugged look. Just looking at his face, all that facial hair, reminded her of all the time she'd enjoyed the feel of it between her legs.
Here we are at my 'ship scape of PLL: Jaria ~ Spaleb ~ Hannily. I'm not sure how I feel about Hannily (actually I prefer Paily), but I certainly don't like Emison and I'd prefer Caleb & Spencer were endgame on the show.
I think my perspective of the whole PLL scene is jaded. I'm almost done reading the books, and I believe that has been the major cause of my growing disinterest in my own stories based off the series.