So I got one review last chapter, but I am really enjoying writing this story, so I will continue to update. (: Enjoy!
Aria lay there on the hard ground, crying and crying, not letting the tears stop from flowing. Spencer stood at her bedroom window, watching as her friend broke down outside in her yard, while she kept a hardened face. Should she turn her in? She had basically just confessed to murdering Ali, but Aria was also her best friend, and she knew she had a good reason to do this, as she never hurt anyone, and if she did, she apologized profusely for it even if it was just by accident.
Spencer finally decided to go outside to where Aria was and she let her facade fall as soon as she saw how fragile Aria looked. She embraced Aria and rubbed her back in a soothing manner, letting her own tears escape. Aria greatly accepted her friend's nurturing manner and began to comfort Spencer as well.
"Spence, I'm sorry about the outburst. I never wanted to tell anyone about this, but with everything that happened today, I couldn't hold it in any longer. It was breaking my heart piece by piece the more someone mentioned her name or said something that she had done. I couldn't handle it anymore, and when you brought it up, I just had to let the truth escape. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I know you probably hate me right now, and I'm sure you will call the cops and have me turned in, but I'm okay with that. I committed a murder, a horrendous one at that and I should pay the punishment. I shouldn't get away with this. It isn't fair to Ali. It isn't fair to you, Hanna or Emily. It isn't fair to Ali's parents or Jason. It isn't fair to anyone, Spence," Aria rambled.
Spencer pulled back from her friend and looked at her with sincerity. "Aria, I know you feel guilty about this, and I know it isn't fair to anyone, but I wouldn't turn you in if I had too. You are my best friend and I couldn't do that to you. Now don't think I didn't stand at my window for fifteen minutes contemplating on whether or not to call the police, but I knew it wouldn't do any good because of who they are and I couldn't stand to watch you break down any longer. I couldn't stand to see you hurting the way you were and I knew that if I called them, it would only make things worse. Now, I'm going to let you explain everything that happened to me, and then I will let you decide if you want to call the girls or if you just want to keep this between us."
Aria smiled at her friend and realized right then and there, in that moment, that if she didn't have Spencer, she didn't know what she would do in times like these. "I don't think I want to tell the others, but I also don't know if I'll be able to tell you right now either, Spencer. I'd like to give you and I both the time to let this sink in, knowing as you just found out. Is that okay?" Aria asked.
"That is fine. That might be for the best anyway right now," Spencer replied.
The two girls got up off the ground and went back to Spencer's room. Aria pulled her iPhone out of her pocket and went to Ezra's name in her contacts and then sent him a text message.
"Spence, I have something to tell you, and I don't know how you are going to feel about it."
Spencer looked at her confused. "Aria, I don't know what could possibly be worse than what you just told me. So with that said, please continue."
"Ez… Mr. Fitz and I, well, um, we are, um, dating," Aria managed to get out while chancing to glance at Spencer who had a shocked expression on her face.
"Aria! What the hell! You and Fitz?! Do you understand how much trouble this could get both of you in?! Oh, wait, you could already be in trouble! Maybe I should have called the police, that way you and him could be sitting up inside the jail together. That actually sounds pretty good right now, doesn't it?" Spencer said with pure anger towards her friend.
Aria sat there, stunned by what her friend had just spit out of her mouth. First she was angry, then she was comforting Aria, and now she was back to being angry with her. What the hell was wrong with her? Aria couldn't figure this one out.
"Spencer, listen. I don't know what has gotten into you. You were angry, then comforting me, and now you are angry again, so would you please care to explain? I can't take this. I need to know if you are with me or against me."
"Aria, I don't know how many more secrets I can take. You can't hide all of this away forever, you know."
"Spencer, I don't think you understand how much pain I go through every day. Every day of my life that passes, its torture. You might think you understand that and know the pain that I go through, but truth be told, you have no idea what the hell it is like. You didn't have to stand there and watch her die, you didn't have to hide the secret for more than a year, you don't have to live with the guilt," Aria said as she broke down. "And right now, I don't think you really want to be my friend, so for now, I don't want to speak with you."
Aria got up off the bed and walked out the door.
"If she only knew I didn't feel like speaking to her either," Spencer whispered to no one as she made her way to her window seat and sat down, pulling out her phone and calling her mother, the one she knew could get Aria put in jail.
*Hours Later
Aria made her way down the hall to Ezra's apartment, stopping in front of door 3B and knocking three times before dropping her hands beside her waist as she waited. She heard footsteps making their way to the door and she rocked on her heels as the door opened.
"Hey!" greeted Ezra with that charming smile she loved so much.
"Hey," she managed to utter.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
She looked at him with those big, hazel eyes and he could tell something was about to be said that wasn't going to be good.
"Ezra, I need to confess something… something bad. Something that you will probably hate me for and be scared of me for. Something that will make your perspective of me change tremendously."
Ezra looked at her confused for a second before nodding his head and pulling her over to the couch and then gesturing for her to continue.
"Ezra, remember Ali? The friend that I told you went missing?" he nodded his head to signify that he remembered and she continued, "well she really isn't missing. She is dead. And I… I was the one who killed her."
Silence filled the room and Ezra looked at her, wondering how this sweet girl could do such a thing.
She looked away from his blazing stare and looked at the floor. "It was a dark night. Owls were screeching. I remember the night vividly. We were out in the town, just left from the small café around the block from her house. She said something about my dad cheating on my mom and it pissed me off and I suggested we go for a walk on this little trail that I knew of in the woods nearby. She agreed and we walked into the woods, onto the trail. I hit her with a boulder, a great blow to the skull, and she fell to the ground. Next thing I know, I was getting up off the ground, burying her and making my way back to the house."
"Aria, I have a question," said Ezra.
"Yeah?"
"What happened after you hit her with the boulder?"
"I got up off the ground and buried her. I just said that."
"No, Aria, I meant do you remember everything after hitting her? You wouldn't be getting up off the ground if you had thrown a boulder at her skull. You would still be standing. It doesn't add up." Replied Ezra.
Aria sat there thinking about it for a minute, only to realize what Ezra said was right. And now that she thought about it, she could have sworn she heard something or someone following them in the woods that night. And as this realization sank in, she realized she might not be guilty after all. Little did she know that the police would be at her house within an hour to arrest her.
