The next week passed without incident. Meredith seemed to be keeping her father grounded and Aria would never admit, for obvious reasons, but she was thankful for Meredith. They seemed to be in their own little world, they were attached at the hip and their favourite pass time was pretending Aria didn't exist, which suited Aria just fine. Aria felt at times that Byron was only rushing things with Meredith to make his ex-wife jealous. Byron would often tell Aria that she should call Ella and update her on Rosewood. Aria had smiled and nodded at the time, but she had never follow through with his suggestion.

Aria still avoided her father as much as possible in an attempt to keep the peace, which meant skipping a lot of meals. She could feel her clothes starting to hang loosely around her body and in the back of her mind she knew she was heading down a dangerous path, one which she could not come back from if she went to far. She felt that the hunger kept her grounded, that every time she felt the urge to break down and cry and spill her biggest secret, her rumbling stomach would bring her back and remind her of what she was fighting for. Her friends had not noticed the change in her body, which she was thankful for, and after her last meeting with Ezra, she had avoided him at all costs.

Ezra, it always came back to Ezra. No matter how far in the back of her mind she tried to put him, he would always come creeping back. The last she had heard from Spencer, Ezra had hired her mother to help him get visitation rights with Malcolm, but since he was not the biological father, Mrs Hastings said he was fighting a loosing battle. Aria felt responsible for Ezra's current predicament. If she had just listened to Spencer and left Maggie alone, then she would have never found out about Malcolm. All the pain that Ezra was put through was because of Aria. She didn't have enough fingers left on her hands to count the times she had caused Ezra grief. She was convinced she had ruined his life.

Aria could feel herself falling deeper into the pit of darkness and her thoughts would soon become her downfall. Each time she was around her friends she kept telling herself 'Now, tell them now! Before it's too late' but she always swallowed her words. She couldn't bare to think about Ezra's reaction if he ever found out. She found it almost impossible to breathe when ever she did; her chest would tighten and her stomach would turn uncomfortably.

From her fathers room she could hear Byron and Meredith laugh, their cheerful voices filling her room.

Getting up from her seat at her desk, Aria didn't hesitate before hurrying over to the door and quickly letting herself out of her bedroom, down the stairs and out the front door, eager to find somewhere quiet so she could get a hold of her emotions. She ignored the dry lump in her throat as she quickly made her way to her car.

The little vegetarian restaurant nestled in a secluded part of Rosewood proved to be Arias biggest saviour. On the days when she couldn't cope with being in the same house as her father, she retreated to the quiet restaurant. She would buy a coffee, still in the back booth and pull out her book. Hours would pass in undisturbed peace as she lost herself in the pages of her book.

"Aria, hey." She heard the warm, familiar voice from behind her as she made her way into the restaurant. Jake smiled widely at her.

Aria had not seen Jake since she broke it off with him. She had been surprised at just how gracious he was about the whole thing. He would send her a text every now and then wishing her well, but she had never acknowledged his attempts at communication.

"Hey Jake, how have you been?" She asked him, although she didn't really care about his answer.

"Yeah good, just got back from my karate competition in Philly actually." He folded his arms over his chest and then looked Aria up and down, taking in her appearance. She had been rubbing the bandaid through her sleeve trying to relieve the stinging of the new cut, when she saw his eyes flick over her body.

"You look like you've lost a bit of weight?" He asked in a concerned voice.

Aria sighed inwardly; she was sick of having to explain herself. "Yeah I've started running with Spencer every morning. It's supposed to help with mental clarity, you know, with finals coming up and everything."

He looked back at her and blinked.

"319" The cashier called through their silence.

"That's mine." He said, holding up his ticket and taking his order from the employee.

"You hate vegetarian food." Aria accused, once he came back.

Jake smirked as he turned over the takeaway container in his hand. "I know, but I thought if I came here enough that I'd eventually run into you." Aria starred at him , taken aback by his confession.

"Sorry, that sounds so stalker-ish." He said as his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Aria couldn't help the smile that crept on her face.

"No it's fine." She assured him. "Anyway, it was nice running into. I should really get going."

"I'll walk you to your car."

"Oh no you don't have to do that." She said dismissively.

"I insist, I needed to have a chat with you anyway." They fell instep with each other as they walked slowly down the street. She could tell he was plucking up to courage to say something, and after opening and closing his mouth several times, he finally spoke.

"How long have you been cutting?" He was keeping his voice indifferent, not wanting to alarm her.

"W-what." Aria stuttered, panic rising in her voice. "I don't know what your talking about."

Jake sighed, grabbing Arias hand to pull her back to face him. He continued to hold it for a moment, starring at her, his eyes full of concern.

"You keep rubbing the same spot on your arm softly, as if trying to soothe it; I can see the outline of the bandaid through your sleeve."

Arias brows pulled together in anger. "So rubbing my arm means I'm cutting." She hissed."Are you insane?" Aria wasn't sure what she was more mad about; that he had noticed her rubbing her arm- a habit she had tried to stop to avoid situations like this, or the fact that he had the nerve to ask her about it.

"I've done it again." He said cryptically as he shook his head. "Will you sit down with me for a moment."

"Jake-" she started, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

"Please. You need to hear this."

Aria followed him reluctantly to the bench and sat down with him, glancing around quickly to make sure no one she knew was watching.

"When I was thirteen, my father lost his job. My mother didn't work so she could look after my little brother. After months of trying to find a new job, my father started to drink."

Arias breath hitched in her throat and her heart began to pound loudly in her chest. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hear Jakes story. "Why are you telling me this?" She hadn't meant to sound so harsh, and she regretted it immediately.

"I'm getting to that," He assure her. "It started out as digging comments about my behaviour and within a few weeks it had escalated into trips to the hospital. In school I was known as the clumsy kid who fell off his bike a lot. Eventually the lying and abuse because to much and I found an outlet that helped me cope."

Aria watched in shock as he held his arm out to her and pushed his sleeve up to reveal a series of scars, ranging in sizes. Her hand automatically raised to cover her mouth as she gasped. Aria couldn't believe she had not noticed them before.

"Oh Jake! I'm so sorry!"

He waved his hand dismissively and smiled to put her at ease.

"What happened with your father?"

He pulled his sleeve back down and looked back up to Aria. "One night after my father had passed out, my mother took me and my brother and we escaped. That was six years ago and we have never looked back."

They stared at each other in silence for a moment before Jake reached forward and grabbed Arias hand.

"My point is, I can see the same sorrow in your eyes that I saw I myself. I may be totally wrong about the cutting, but I just wanted you to know, that no matter what is going on in your life, there are other ways to deal."

Aria felt a single tear slide down her cheek as she let his words sink in. She wasn't oblivious to the parallels in their situations, and she felt ashamed that a young boy of thirteen could have the strength to get out, while she was still hoping her father would change.

"Please don't cry." Jake whispered, as he pulled Aria into his arms. " I didn't mean to upset you. I just want you to understand that your actions do have consequences. Scars are forever."

Aria pulled away suddenly at his words, whipping her tears away with anger. "You don't think I know that?"

"Aria-" he started.

She brushed him off. "I need to go." Aria didn't give him a chance to say anything. She stood and swept around the corner before he could call her back.

Sorry, this isn't the big chapter I was talking about, that ones still coming. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. I'm getting really excited about the Noir episode!

As always, please review! Cheers!