"Are you feeling any better then you were last night?" Aria asked her friend the next day at lunch.

"Yeah." Bell said biting her lip, she kept looking around to make sure no one would overhear the conversation, "I'm sorry about that, it was nothing."

"You don't need to be sorry, it was fine" Aria said.

"Did you end up getting caught being outside so late?" Bell asked still worried she got Aria into trouble.

"Yeah, but I didn't get into any trouble" Aria replied.

"Wow, lucky I guess." Bell laughed, "How'd you manage that, I imagined Stef would have been really pissed."

"I think they were more pissed with the fact that I didn't have a coat on" Aria smiled.

"Yeah I can see that." Bell smiled, "At least it sounds like they weren't too upset though."

"Yeah, I mean that is always a good thing" Aria said. "Come on, lets head to gym" She added as the bell rang.

"Do we have to." Bell whined standing up. "I mean, when is gym going to get me somewhere in life."

"You wanna head to the beach?" Aria asked knowing that if she got caught Stef was going to literally kill her and then her dead body would be grounded.

A few minutes later found Aria and Bell sitting on the beach, Aria laying down with her eyes closed, Bell just sitting there watching her. Bell couldn't help but smile at the situation, her and Aria just sitting in a comfortable silence next to each other, no one around to ruin the beautiful ocean view.

"It's quiet." Aria whispered without opening her eyes.

"Music?" Bell asked already knowing the answer, "I got it, don't stand up."

Bell rummaged through her bag looking for her ipod and hit shuffle to see what would come on. Instantly one of her favorite songs began to play and Bell turned up the volume as she started humming along quietly. She sat back down looking at Aria, a gust of wind blew a strand of hair into her face. Bell slowly moved it out of Aria's face, letting her hand linger on her friend's cheek. She knew that she couldn't keep doing this to herself, not when Aria didn't know the truth about everything. Even though logic told her otherwise, Bell continued singing quietly as she laid next to Aria and placed her head on her friend's chest.

So honey now

Take me into your loving arms

Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars

Place your head on my beating heart

I'm thinking out loud

That maybe we found love right where we are

When my hair's all but gone and my memory fades

And the crowds don't remember my name

When my hands don't play the strings the same way

I know you will still love me the same

'Cause honey your soul could never grow old, it's evergreen

And, baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory

I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways

Maybe it's all part of a plan

Well, I'll just keep on making the same mistakes

Hoping that you'll understand

But, baby, now

Take me into your loving arms

Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars

Place your head on my beating heart

Thinking out loud

That maybe we found love right where we are

"Thats a beautiful song" Aria said once her friend was done.

"Oh." Bell mumbled, just now realizing that Aria had been listening, "I guess I forgot you weren't asleep and you were still listening."

"How could I sleep through something as wonderful as that?" Aria asked.

"Glad you liked it." Bell whispered, secretly wishing she had said what had said what had really been on her mind, how beautiful she thought Aria was.

"If there was one girl who would be your dream date, who would it be?" Aria asked secretly hoping that her friend felt the same way towards her as she did to her.

Bell closed her eyes and took a breath, wrapping her arms around her friend, "Well. Um." Bell kept stuttering, "Who's yours?"

"You" Aria quietly whispered afraid of her friends response.

Bell instantly sat up, "Really?" She asked, her voice going high but she was trying not to show to much emotion.

"Yeah, sorry" Aria blushed.

"What? Sorry, no no no." Bell kept stuttering, wanting so badly to just have Aria hold her and never let go. "Don't be sorry. Please don't be sorry."

"Okay?" Aria whispered. "Its just that I don't want to ruin our great friendship that we have if you don't feel the same way. It was stupid of me to say"

"Shut up." Bell laughed almost in tears, practically knocking Aria over when she went to hug her. "Of course I feel the same way you idiot." She teased.

"Seriously?!" Aria responded surprised by the hug attack.

"Well duh." Bell laughed, "I came to your house in the middle of the night because my home life was falling apart and I knew you were the one person that could keep me from falling apart."

"so what does this mean for us?" Aria asked nervously.

"I don't know." Bell realized slowly, "I mean, are you sure? Because there's so much you don't know about me, I'm way more messed up than just what my dad did. I don't want you to think you can't back out now."

"Im sure, I really really like you Bell, more than a friend" Aria responded bring the girl into a hug.

"What are your moms going to say?" Bell asked still skeptical.

"What do you mean?" Aria asked.

"Your mom, Lena, just knows some stuff, is she going to like I don't know, veto us?" Bell didn't know what she was trying to ask.

"She cant, I wouldn't let her." Aria responded.

"But, she's smart, she would know if you were going to get hurt." Bell whispered.

"I won't get hurt" Aria said wondering where her friend was going.

Bell nodded, "I just want you to fall in love with the right me." She whispered, "Can we go back to laying down and I'll explain?" When Bell put her head back onto Aria's chest she tried to keep from freaking out, hoping that Aria would understand. "I told your mom the other day, when she asked me to stay home..."

"What did you tell her?" Aria asked.

"We didn't actually talk much, she mostly just," Bell kept mumbling, trying to figure out what she wanted to say, "Well, she kinda just stared, and then hugged me and sent me upstairs to cry until you came home and woke me up." Bell kept scratching at her arm trying to find something to focus on, "It's dumb nevermind."

"Please tell me, if it has something to do with you then it is not dumb" Aria said praying that her friend would open up.

"Um," Bell choked, she slowly rubbed her fingers over a scar, "This." Was all Bell could manage pulling her sleeve up just a little, just like she had with Lena.

"Oh my god Bell, I'm so sorry I didn't realize, do you want to talk about it?" Aria asked not really sure what to say to her friend.

"No, see this is what I didn't want." Bell whispered starting to freak out, "I didn't want people to ask about it and worry. I don't know what to say and your mom is probably already going to question it later. I just." Bell started stuttering and couldn't keep herself from shaking, "I...I just."

"Bell, I can be there with you when you talk to my mom. Is that the reason you didn't want me to date you? where you afriad that I was going to look at you differently?" Aria asked sitting up am pulling her friend into a comforting hug.

"How can you not?" Bell asked pulling away, "I'm disgusting."

"You are not. Don't say that!" Aria said not letting her friend out of the hug. She knew that she was going to be in trouble because she heard the bell signaling that the last class of the day just started, so that meant that she missed more than half of her classes but she felt it was more important to talk to her friend.

"Shit." Bell mumbled pulling at her sleeve, "I have to go. It's study hall, I'm supposed to go see your mom. She's going to kill us." Bell was still shaking as she tried to stand up quickly to run into the school, "Im sorry, I just, need to get there so she doesn't ask questions."

"Would you like me to go with you?" Aria asked. She was just planning on going to the local pool a few blocks away because she hadn't swam in weeks and she wanted to get back to it but she knew her friend needed her as well.

"No," Bell forced a smile, "I made your mom promise not to tell you, I actually trust her, besides it'll just be boring details about everything."

"Alright" Aria said as she headed toward the bus station. "If my moms are wondering where I am tell them they can track my phone" Aria said.

"Where are you going?" Bell asked, "You've already missed a ton of class because of me, I don't want you getting kicked out because of me."

"You know how I loved to swim and was on a team when I stayed with you?" Aria asked.

"Yeah of course," Bell smiled, "You were practically half dolphin."

"Im gonna go back to that pool and swim for a bit" Aria responded.

"Good, I never saw you as happy as you were when you used to swim," Bell said, "Now I really have to go or your mom may kill me." She quickly gave Aria a hug and made a break towards the school.

"Alright, bye" Aria said making her way to the pool.

"You skipped class?" Lena asked quietly as Bell rushed into the classroom, "Was Aria with you?"

"No?" Bell tried lying but her voice was still shaking, when she saw Lena raise her eyebrows at her she sighed, "Please don't get mad it was my fault, I just needed to get out of here."

"Where is she now?" Lena asked, pulling out her phone to text Stef.

"At a pool, she said to just track her phone." Bell didn't know why she trusted Lena so much but she couldn't help but tell her everything. "I told her. She saw my arms."

"What did she say?" Lena asked worried, not sure how her daughter would handle the news about her friend.

"I don't know. I think I freaked her out, she was trying to play it cool for me. But I mean, how could someone handle this well?" Bell whispered, "Even you tensed a little when you had your hand on my arm I could tell, and you're trained to deal with screwed up teenagers."

"Love, you aren't screwed up." Lena said putting her hand on Bell's arm, careful not to tense up, "And I'm so sorry that you thought I freaked out when you showed me."

"It's fine," Bell lied, "I know you were disgusted, I would be too."

Lena was shocked, and looking into Bell's dull eyes she was also really worried, "I was not disgusted. Do you understand love, I was more horrified that someone else could hurt you, and that I didn't see how bad you were hurting. I was disgusted more with the adults in your life than I could ever be with you."

Bell just nodded, not moving, her eyes glazed over.

"No, love" Lena said softly kneeling down in front of Bell, "Look at me. I'm so sorry I tensed up. But, that doesn't mean I think anything less of you, if anything I think more."

Bell nodded again, "Aren't you afraid about me being around Aria?"

Lena didn't even understand how to reply so she just hugged her daughter's friend, until the girl stopped shaking, "Why don't you come over for dinner tonight okay? So you don't have to go straight home?"

Bell nodded gratefully and sat down to work on some homework for Lena's class so she could start bringing her grade up. After a few minutes Bell looked up, "Did you text Stef to check on Aria? Is that why you keep checking your phone?"

Lena smiled sadly, "I'll let you know how she's doing when I find out, don't worry love."

Stef walked into the pool, and with it being a school day it wasn't hard to see her daughter. She sat at the edge of one of the benches as she watched her daughter fly through the water, she read Lena's text on the way in, but she wasn't sure how to talk to her daughter about Bell.

After about the 15th time stef saw Aria go back and forth across the pool she decided to try and stop her daughter know that all the exercise and the little food that she ate was not a good mix.

"Hey love, skipping class again?" Stef smiled, she didn't want to start a fight so she kept it friendly.

"Im sorry" Aria said stopping as soon as she finished swimming 1000 yards.

"For what?" Stef asked, forgetting that she should scold her daughter for skipping school.

"Skipping class again" Aria said as she took a sip from her water bottle and started re-adjusting her goggles.

"Oh right, that's okay. Love, why don't you come out of the pool so you and I can talk?" Stef asked trying to still stall since she didn't know what to say about the situation.

"Can I just do a 200 cool down first?" Aria asked.

"Uh sure, just make it quick, I'll be out in the car." Stef mumbled trying to smile and make everything seem fine.

"...okay..." Aria said secretly hoping that she would watch her swim.

"What's wrong love?" Stef asked sensing the hesitation in her daughter's voice.

"Ummm, I know you are probably like super mad at me and everything, but I was maybe wondering if you kinda, maybe, sorta wanted to watch me swim? I mean it is something that I really enjoy and I know I really haven't talked to you guys much about things that I liked." Aria said nervously. " I was just thinking before I get grounded for like ever maybe I could share something with you that was a huge part of my life once" She added.

"Of course." Stef said excited, "I'd love to."

"Okay" Aria said as she began her 200. When she was done she got out of the pool and headed towards the benches that Stef sat at.

"Hey Love, I hope you don't mind but I took a video and sent it to momma" Stef said as she and Aria started heading to the locker room.

"Okay" Aria replied as she took a quick shower, got changed and meet stef back in the middle of the locker room.

"Why aren't you at school?" Stef tried.

"Please don't get mad, its not her fault. I suggested it" Aria began. "I could tell that Bell was having a rough day so I suggested we ditch so I could talk to her" Aria finished looking anywhere but her mom.

"I'm not mad at her," Stef reassured her daughter, "But she went back to class, and you came here? What's wrong?"

"I was still feeling really stressed out and this was the only non harmful coping mechanism I could think of" Aria replied still looking down at her lap.

"Why are you stressed?" Stef asked, glad that Aria chose to swim to calm down.

"Well you guys have seen my grades, and I don't know. Everything" Aria replied.

"Momma told me about what you and Bell talked about before you came here, is that part of it?" Stef asked, not sure which issue she should talk about first.

"A bit, I mean I was always telling her when I felt bad, and yet I never noticed she was in a bad place as well. I probably didn't help it either" Aria said quickly looking at Stef and then putting her gaze back down on her lap.

"Love," Stef whispered, "Bell would never let you know, you can't blame yourself for that."

"How do you know?" Aria asked.

"You're there for her now." Stef tried reassuring her daughter.

"Okay" Aria said not sure quite what to say.

"Is there something else?" Stef asked, she could tell something was still bothering Aria based on the way she was acting.

"No" Aria said hoping that Stef won't bring up the little she ate and how much she swam.

"I can tell when you lie." Stef sighed, wanting nothing more than to get her daughter to talk.

"I really don't want to talk about it yet" Aria said knowing that one day she will have to tell them why she doesn't eat a lot.

"Okay," Stef decided not to push it, "Do you wanna go home, school's pretty much over anyways."

"Yeah" Aria muttered.

"Hey love," Stef called out entering the house, "Aria and I are home."

"Kitchen." Lena called back. "Hey loves." She giving Stef a quick kiss and then going to give Aria a hug.

"Hey mama, What did you think about the video that mom sent you?" Aria asked.

"You were amazing." Lena was so proud of her daughter, "We need to get you on the swim team for our school, we would never lose a meet again."

"Anchor beach has a swim team?" Aria asked.

"We have one, for now at least." Lena sighed, "It won't be there much longer if we don't start winning."

"Ill join" Aria said.

"Good, it'll be good for you." Stef smiled, "Now we'll just have to make sure you're eating enough."

"What do you mean?" Aria asked. "I eat enough"

"Okay. Okay, go upstairs, start your homework." Lena said not wanting to start a fight. "Bell's up there too, she's staying for dinner tonight."

"Alright" Aria said.

Bell had her headphones in, listening to the same song that was playing when Aria admitted she liked her, but she had the music low enough she could tell when Aria had entered the room before she even opened her eyes. "Sorry for crashing, your mom invited me and she was pretty persistent."

"Dude, dont worry about it. I love having ya over" Aria said as she went and sat down on her best next to Bell.

"Okay." Bell whispered while looking away, not sure what she should say next. "Did your mom freak about the skipping school? Again."

"Not really, but I have a feeling she probably wanted to talk to Lena about it first though" Aria responded truthfully.

"You should get away with it then." Bell half smiled, "Lena seems to understand that there's a lot going on."

"Yeah" Aria said as she to put her earbuds in and started blaring the song "you're gonna go far kid" and ignoring the world.

"Girls?" Stef tried quietly but when neither of the girls answered she tried again louder, "Girls!"

"Oh." Bell quickly smiled, "Hi." She said quickly before turning to Aria, and tapping her shoulder, "Your mom."

"Oh, sorry, Hi" Aria said a bit startled.

"Hey girls," Stef smiled, "What's going on?"

"Nothing much" Aria said as she paused her music so she could hear her mom better. "You?"

"Mama just sent me up to check in and also to tell you dinner is almost ready." Stef paused, "So you both alright?"

"Yeah, why?" Aria asked only half listening to her mom and half texting one of her other friends. She did have other friends, her moms just didn't know about them.

"Just wanted to check." Stef smiled, her eyes lingering on Bell. "Dinner will be done soon."

"K" Aria responded. A few hours later Bell went home and all the other kids were upstairs doing homework or playing video games or doing whatever they did, but Aria was just about to put on the show Orange Is The New Black when Stef and Lena interrupted her.

"Hey love," Stef started, "We were hoping you were done with your homework so we could talk?"

"I was just about to watch Orange Is The New Black, but sure" Aria responded as she turned off the T.V.

"Mom, Mamma, can I talk to you guys. I really need t tell you something but I don't know how you will react" Aria half-whispered not 100% sure that she wanted to tell them but knew that she had to soon.

"Of course Love," Lena said softly sitting next to her daughter while giving her wife a warning look. "What is it?"

"Can we maybe talk in your guy's room, Its something that Callie doesn't know and I really don't want any of my siblings over hearing what I have to say, Would that be okay? Aria asked quietly.

"Of course." Stef replied quickly, worried about her daughter.

"Thanks" Aria said as the trio made their way up stairs. "I want to tell you why I really don't eat a lot..." Aria started worried about her moms reaction. "But I really don't know how to tell you guys without making it sound stupid" She quietly added moving to the end of the bed away from Stef and Lena.

Both of her moms noticed Aria moving away from them and it broke their heart but they decided not to push the issue right now, "It's not going to be stupid love." Stef reassured her daughter.

"The foster home I got moved to when Callie went to Juvie was really nice at first, and then the dad and I got into to some violent fights, meaning he was violent with me, and then the mom would make comment like 'you're gonna get fat' or she would tell me that I am fat and the dad and the other teenage girl would tell me the same thing and it happened for the entire time that I was at their house, so I started believing them, and then they would get mad at me for not eating even though most of the time that I did they would comment on my weight" Aria said as she backed up as far as she could and still be on the bed.

"Love," Stef started as she moved closer to her daughter but Lena stopped her, sensing Aria's discomfort.

"I just thought it was about time for you guy's to know" Aria said feeling a bit more comfortable and moving closer to Lena, so that they were almost touching.

"Come here love," Lena whispered, opening her arms to hug her daughter. "We love you. You are perfect." She promised whispering.