A/N: Enjoy!

The doorbell rang which broke them apart. With heavy breaths, the two moved apart from each other and Jason got up to get the door. Flying back onto the couch, Aria looked up to the ceiling in pure heaven. Her and Jason were now a couple, the secret of Ezra was out and she was happier than she had ever been in a long time.

Listening as she heard mumbling from Jason and the pizza guy, she licked her lips and smiled at the taste of him.

"Aria?" he asked, looking to her with a silly grin as she was sprawled across his couch in a daze of happiness.

"Come on, pizza's here," he laughed slightly. Following him back along into the kitchen, Jason brought out some paper plates and napkins. He got the two some drinks and stood across from each other.

"When do you think the power will come back on?" she wondered.

"Hopefully by sometime later tonight," he told her as she watched the dancing flame of the candle. She was beautiful. The light covered her face, highlighting her natural beauty and gave her more of a complexity than what he usually saw.

They talked more over the pizza they munched on, learning things about each other that they never really thought about or knew. It was interesting to see that different side of each of them.

"Hey Aria?" Jason asked as she waited for him after throwing everything away and cleaning up. He slipped his hand in hers and walked them back to the couch again. "What happened in your house? Why did you think someone was inside?"

Aria stiffened again, thinking back to 'A' as Jason sat them down. Hands still together and him wrapped around her, her anxiety simmered down and she let out a breath in peace. "I thought I heard a noise." The mask of bravery was put up again and it was visible to Jason she didn't like (or want) to talk about this.

"Did you see something? Did something happen?" he prodded again.

"Nope," she said laying them both down, "I just thought I heard something. It must have been the storm. And when the lights went out, I just freaked out."

Jason studied her as his back was against the couch cushions with his elbow propping him up over Aria. She was laying on her back trying to find some ball of fuzz on her shirt. There was something more going on than what Aria was telling him. Her avoidance techniques needed to be brushed upon, but he could see she didn't want to talk about this. Jason didn't push any further. Instead, he put an am around her waist and brought her side closer to him.

"Jason?" she asked as he played with her hair. Glancing up at him, she decided to be truly honest. "I know who it was that broke into your shed. It was Spencer and Emily."

His eyes went wide, and a hint of betrayal and hurt shown through.

"I didn't know until today after I saw you," she added quickly. "Hanna told me."

Jason stayed silent, thinking about everything now. Obviously trust was low on the totem pole for all of them.

"They said they saw you had pictures of me…sleeping," Aria mumbled. She fiddled with her hands again, hoping that Jason wasn't too mad and had an explanation. "Did you take them?"

"I developed them," he said, getting over the stun he felt. Looking back down to Aria, he tilted her head up so they were face-to-face, meeting eyes, "I found a roll of film in a box in Ali's room. I used the shed as a dark room to develop them."

Aria's eyes softened. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to put them in frames and give them to you when they were ready."

"But why were they gone when Spencer and Emily went back there? They said that everything was picked up and gone."

His eyebrows furrowed and he felt a twinge of anger. "Aria, I thought someone broke in. There were pictures of you in there and I didn't think anyone needed to see them to get some twisted idea. Once I saw that the shed had been broken into I moved everything back into the house so I could find a better lock. It's all still upstairs."

Her body mellowed out some more and she felt beyond relieved that Jason was not who the girls thought he was. The explanation made sense and until it could be disproven, that's what she was going to believe.

"Why does this feel like an interrogation again?" he questioned again with hurt. "And why did Spencer and Emily feel like they had to break in?"

The quick questions had startled Aria and her answers "No! It's not like that Jason!"

He looked at her skeptically and began to pull away. Panicking again, Aria held onto him and went to explain. "Its not what you think it is. Spencer and Emily they were just-…it-…I…" Aria wasn't sure what to say to justify her friends actions It all had to be carefully thought out before giving an answer in order not to give away 'A'.

"It's not about you," she settled on, "there are just some things us girls are trying to get in order and they thought you were being really suspicious with that shed. I guess they were too curious and afraid to ask."

"I was defensive over it because they were pictures of you," he said to her like he didn't believe a word she was saying.

"I know," Aria said feeling guilty. "I get that now, and I'm sorry. But I thought, it was better that you knew who broke in to your place. It wont happen again with them – I'm sorry."

Nodding, he kissed her forehead and rested back beside her.

Relieved that he wasn't too mad, Aria snuggled closer to Jason. "Why do you think Ali took those pictures?" she was beyond curious to find out why. It didn't seem to make sense or seem like the Ali she knew.

He shrugged, "I don't know. I wondered that too. She never showed them to you?"

Aria shook her head and turned onto her side to curl into Jason's chest. "I didn't even know she was into photography like that. The least she could have done was given me a heads up."

Jason cracked a smile.

Sarcasm filled Aria's voice then. "Maybe like a 'hey Aria, while you're sleeping tonight, I'm going to take some pictures of you. Okay? Great thanks.'"

"I can show them to you if you would like," he spoke softly. "They are pretty good."

Aria glanced up to him with playful narrow eyes. "Your judgment is bias."

"Nah," he responded kissing her lips quickly.

"Show me them when you think are complete," Aria decided. "I'm in no rush and I want to see them as a finished product."

The words were given as a silent trust towards Jason. They both knew Aria could have jumped on the chance to see them to make sure what he was saying was true, but she believed in him. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

They laid on the couch a while longer, putting on some random movie that happened to be one of Aria's favorites. Jason gently ran his hands through her hair while she snuggled with him and started to drift off to sleep. The peaceful dreaming girl beside him was all he could ever need in life. Jason knew Aria was beyond perfect, even more so now. Their history before they really knew each other was even evidence to that.

Out of all Ali's friends that had tagged along beside her, Aria was the one that always kept Jason on his toes. It wasn't just the pink hair that had put points in his book, but the way she would voice her opinion to his sister and stick up for what she believed in. Unlike the other girls Aria also called friends, Jason felt like, she out of all of them, made sure her personality was known and didn't care if they liked it or not – although what wasn't to like since she was always so caring and sweet.

Aria was the girl he always dreamed of and he was lucky enough to have her beside him. It was all he thought about after coming back to Rosewood and all he wanted since he cleaned himself up from that drug-induced teenager he once was.

"Aria," Jason whispered softly to the sleeping girl. "Come on, I'll take you up to the guest bedroom."

When she gave some kind of murmur about something that he couldn't interpret he let out a chuckle. She hugged him tighter to her too, balling his shirt in her fists so they couldn't move.

"Ari," he called again, this time a bit louder. The nickname slipped from his mouth subconsciously of course, but it fit her perfectly. It's also what got her to wake up…

"Come on, you can sleep in a bed upstairs."

Tiredly she agreed, letting go of Jason and moving upward so he could get up. As he climbed over Aria and off the couch, he held his hand for the semi asleep girl. They walked up the stairs slower than usual, which Jason laughed at to himself too. The poor girl was exhausted.

"I'll get you something to sleep in," he said as they walked into the guest room. As Jason left, Aria woke her self a bit rubbing her face with her hands. Sitting on the silky sheets of the bed, she glanced around at the guest room. It was actually really nice, a room that Aria couldn't seem to remember in the house before. The room was fairly large, with unpainted white walls, thick crown molding, a huge window covered with newspaper, and its own bathroom off to the side.

"Here," Jason said handing Aria one of his white short sleeve tees and a pair of grey sweatpants. "They're going to be a bit big but I figured you probably wouldn't have wanted anything of Ali's."

Aria flinched at that, agreeing with her boyfriend wholeheartedly. "Thanks."

Nodding, he watched the sudden quiet girl, feeling slightly awkward for not knowing what to say.

"I've never seen this room before," Aria stated puzzled as she looked at him.

"It was mine," Jason spoke up. "I just repainted the walls white, got rid of most things and called it a guest room. There are some things that need to be done, like painting again, but I thought this space deserved a fresh start too."

"I like it," Aria noted, looking around again. "A fresh start is always good."

Moving forward, Jason came to sit next to Aria on the edge of the bed. Leaning over, Aria set her head on Jason's shoulder, still tired from the day. "Thank you for letting me stay."

"Anytime," Jason said, moving his arm to wrap around her so she could lay her head on his chest to make her more comfy.

A faded chirping had both of them looking all around. Pondering what would make that sound, Aria started searching for her phone. "It's probably my cell, I'll be right back," she told Jason. Leaving go from him of him for a quick minute, she rushed downstairs only to see a missed call from her mom and a new text message from unknown.

Shakily she let out a breath and decided to call her mom back first. That way, if Aria got creeped out she could run to Jason.

It rang a few times before Ella finally picked up. "Hey sweetie," her voice rang.

"Hey mom, what's up?" Aria asked from her stance in the foyer where she put her things down earlier.

"Just calling to check in. Everything all right back at home?"

Aria bit her lip at that, thinking hopefully since I'm at Jason's… "Yea mom, everything is fine. I was actually just going to get ready for bed since there's school tomorrow."

"Oh okay good," Ella said proud of her daughter.

"How's Mike?" Aria asked clearing her throat.

"Well no sign of anything yet. He just met the guy, all routine stuff until tomorrow when he actually has a session. So no news yet."

"Alright, well keep me posted?" she asked, still worried for her baby brother.

"Of course honey," Ella said. Saying their goodnights and I love you's, they ended their connection and Aria was left with a text from unknown.

Hitting open, Aria read the message that made her blood run cold.

Think you can hide out at my brother's all week long? Just wait till you have to go home – A.

Aria's heart wanted to lurch from her chest as she read 'A's words. Everything 'A' was saying was frightening and she knew that Aria would have to go home soon. Not only was her backpack there, with all of her books and papers, but her clothes and other necessities. The question that Aria had though was what was she supposed to expect when she got home? What had 'A' done?

Snapping her phone closed, Aria took a look around Jason's dark home and ran upstairs. The candles they had lit had now gone out and Aria was scared as heck. She composed herself before entering Jason's old room again though. She put up that smooth calm mask she had gotten good at. Aria thought that no one could ever really tell what she was feeling behind that. Little did she know Jason was trying, and getting pretty good at it.

"Sorry, it was just my mom," Aria said walking back in.

"Everything okay?" he asked, looking at her invisibly masked face. Something must have happened downstairs because she was now looking guarded.

Aria waved off the question, trying not to let on any fear even though she knew that question he had asked carried a double meaning. Jason wasn't just referring to the call to her mother, but her tranquil poise that seemed to always try to put up in the presence of him. "Yea, she was just saying goodnight and doing that whole mom thing."

He observed her carefully again, liked he did a lot. Sometimes Jason thought if he stared and analyzed her body language long enough he would be able to read her – and sometimes he could.

"I'm going to go change into these real quick," Aria said picking up the clothes from the bed and going to the bathroom off from his room. Shutting the door, Aria exhaled out a long breath and shut her eyes. Composure was key and she was losing it.

She shed own clothes only to slip into Jason's while in the process of thinking about 'A'. How did 'A' even know she went to Jason's? Was someone watching her leave the house? Were they stalking Jason's now? It sure sounded like Ali sent the text since it said my brother. Could it really have been her? Was she alive? Or was it someone else trying to act like Ali?

"Ar? You okay in there?" Jason asked her knocking on the door.

"Oh yea, one second," she claimed, trying to tighten the sweatpants before opening the door.

"So are you going to be at school tomorrow?" Aria wondered.

"Not till the afternoon, but I can drive you to your place to pick up some of your things in the morning if you want," he offered. Aria suddenly paled at that, thinking back to 'A's text.

"Ar?" Jason asked again, now walking over to her as she went stiff.

"Um, yea," Aria said coming back to life when he touched her. She's been doing this a lot lately, Jason noted to himself.

"That sounds great. Thank you."

Nodding, he touched Aria's forehead lightly, moving some hair to go behind her hair. "I'll let you get some sleep," he offered. Kissing her forehead softly, he backed away, ready to leave the room.

"Jason?" Aria called quickly. "Will you actually…stay? I mean, you don't have to I just…I don't want to be alone," she confessed. He watched her then, she didn't have her regular mask up that time, but she was holding something back.

"Sure," he said shrugging from the doorway. "Let me go change and I'll be back."

Forcing a smile to her face, Aria nodded and sat back on the bed.

"Hey Aria," Jason called, turning back around, "Are you in some kind of danger? Is something happening I don't know about?" he bluntly wondered. Astonished, Aria sat still and let her eyes bug out of her head. "I feel like you're hiding something from me," he stated softly. "Am I wrong?"

Swallowing hard, Aria broke their stare and wondered what she was supposed to do now. She had two paths, one would be not telling Jason but that would require lying and the other was telling him, but that could lead to dangers for him. He would then be in 'A's crosshairs and she didn't want that. But she couldn't keep evading the truth like she's been doing. Obviously it hasn't been working and he isn't going to take it much longer.

"I just wanted some company that's all," Aria said shrugging. "You don't have to…"

"No," he protested quickly. He wanted to sleep with her – not in that way, well yes, in that way but not tonight. Jason just wanted to hold her, to possibly comfort her and cuddle together. Even though they were just starting to do this couple thing, he liked it. "Aria, I'm just making sure you are okay. Something is freaking you out, I can tell."

"Just the crazy storm," Aria said forcing another smile to her face. Not answering, he stared at her again. God, he knows something is up. He can tell that I'm lying, Aria thought in her head.

What isn't she telling me? Jason wondered. Why isn't she giving me the complete truth?

"Alright, I'll be right back," he spoke. Wandering off, Aria let out another breath and opened her beeping phone.

Nice choice. Wouldn't want my brother to be collateral damage now would we? – A

Aria held back her tears, feeling her heart wrench at that. If 'A' was to ever hurt him, Aria could never…and would never forgive herself for that. Closing her phone more softly this time, she put her head in her hands and tried to push herself together. Jason was to be here any minute so to wipe any trace of her sadness; Aria set her phone down on the nightstand and stood up from the bed pulling back the sheets.