A/N: double chapters for y'all!
It turned into an uplifted day, for a while anyways. After school Aria hung around to wait for Mike who was getting all of his make up work, when Jason ended up catching her in the halls. He came in sometime after lunch Aria guessed and she felt beyond happy to see him. Everything of Spencer's ordeal was washed away after seeing him. They hugged and kissed in the hallway after school, and while waiting for Mike they talked amongst themselves.
"You guys are dating?" Mike announced wide-eyed as he saw his sister kiss the DiLaurentis when he walked out of one of his classrooms.
"Mike!" Aria said quickly pulling away from their lip lock. "I can explain this." Jason was a bit baffled by the way she pulled away from him. It was one thing to stop kissing him but another to actually back away from him. It was usual for her. Didn't Aria want to tell her family about them? Why did she pull away?
"You really have a thing for faculty members here," Mike stated. Aria went wide-eyed, glaring at her brother like she was ready to hit him.
Jason was surprised again. "He knew about Fitz?"
She shook her head and intensely stared at the kid. "He found out somehow."
"Well, I'm happy for you guys," Mike shrugged going back to the topic in front of them – literally. Aria seemed to soften at that and smiled back at Jason. "Just don't go around sucking each other's face off when I'm around okay?" he asked teasingly.
Shaking her head, Aria gave her brother a shove as they walked in step with each other. Jason grabbed her hand, which made Aria look down. Raising an eyebrow, Jason gave a look back to her. Problem? He thought. Watching her smirk then, his worries were washed away.
"Yea, that right there is enough PDA for me," the teen declared.
"Shut up Mike," Aria chuckled.
The three of them went back to the Montgomery household. Ella was home, but not Byron yet. Walking inside, Mike went first setting his things down on the counter top.
"So how was it?" She asked her son.
"I have a lot to do," he announced.
"Oh, Jason," Ella said surprised when she looked to her daughter.
"Aria…" she stated staring at the two more finely after seeing their hands together.
"Mom, Jason and I are sort of together now."
"Sort of?" she challenged.
"We are." Jason mended.
"I see," Ella announced in shock.
"Mom, you saw this coming," Mike interjected. Aria raised an eyebrow at that and turned to her mother again.
"Thanks Mike," Ella muttered to her son.
"Just being truthful like the therapist suggested," he grinned, taking his things and going upstairs. Shaking her head, Ella laughed before turning to the couple. "So how long has this been going on?"
Both Jason and Aria looked at each other. "Not too long, I guess," Aria stated.
"If its okay with you Mrs. Montgomery, I would like to take Aria on a date tonight," Jason spoke up. Surprising both the women, Aria looked up to her boyfriend while Ella looked to her daughter. "Don't ask me, I didn't have any idea about this," she told her mother.
"That's fine with me," Ella told Jason, "have her back by midnight. And Jason, you can still call me by my first name."
"Thanks…Ella," Jason smiled. Aria shook her head, trying to hide the grin that was spreading across her face.
Jason ended up going home, telling Aria he would see her at 7 for dinner and a movie. Quickly getting her homework done, Aria danced around her room getting ready.
"So you really like him huh?" Ella said in Aria's doorway watching her hold up different shirts to her chest.
"Yea," Aria beamed. "I do."
"Why didn't you tell me about this when I talked to you on the phone?" Ella wondered, coming to sit on her daughter's bed. Aria shrugged, still focused on clothes. "It was still kind of new."
"And it isn't now?"
"It is," Aria claimed, "but it's different. It doesn't feel as new. It feels…"
"Everlasting?" her mother guessed.
"Yea, everlasting," Aria smiled.
"You seem…dare I say it, in love," Ella smiled.
"I don't think either of us are ready to say that," Aria told her mother, setting down a shirt, "but I'd like to think so."
"Well have fun tonight," Mrs. Montgomery smiled to her daughter, "and where the pink shirt."
Holding it up again, Aria glanced at herself in the mirror as her mom left.
Byron was informed of her daughter dating Jason DiLaurentis and going on a date with him all at the same time as she walked down the stairs when the doorbell rang. Greeting Jason, Byron tried to keep up as that original father figure image by giving the older man a speech.
"Just let her go Byron," Ella smiled to the couple. Not only was her father embarrassing both women, but it was more horrifying for Aria.
"See you guys later," Aria said grabbing her purse and dragging Jason out her house.
"I am so sorry," was the first thing she said after they escaped the Montgomery household.
"Its fine Aria," Jason laughed. "I can handle a father to boyfriend speech once in a while. He just wants to make sure I don't hurt his little girl."
Rolling her eyes, the two walked to Jason's car and got in.
"So what are the plans for tonight?" Aria asked curiously.
"Sorry, can't tell," he said with a sneaky smirk.
"Oh come on," she whined.
Jason enjoyed watching her try and pull off a puppy face. Although it was cute and tempting, he wasn't going to give in. "You'll just have to see Ms. Montgomery."
The night was planned perfectly. He first drove them to a small restaurant downtown for dinner, took her to a movie, and lastly – soon to be her favorite – they went to some astronomy museum, where they had a room that looked like the midnight sky. The stars shined brightly as they laid back in their seats and watched the time go by.
Aria was in awe when she saw the room. "I didn't even know this place existed."
"Not many people do," Jason commented as they sat back to enjoy the view. His attention was fully on Aria, who was still marveling at how real the projection of the sky was. Touching her face, her head turned to look at him. Staring at each other for a while, the two finally kissed.
"It's getting late," Jason murmured. "I have to take you back."
Disappointed, Aria faced the stars one last time before leaving with him.
"So how was the date?" Ella pried after her daughter came home.
"Amazing," Aria smiled setting down her things.
"What did you two do?" Byron wondered as he came down the stairs.
"Out to eat, to a movie and we went to some astronomy museum. Did you know we had that? They have this place where you can look at all the stars so we did that," she smiled dreamily.
Ella smirked to Byron seeing how in love her daughter was. "Very cool sweetie, you should get up to bed though."
"All right, goodnight," Aria smiled to her parents. For the rest of the night, she was on cloud nine dreaming of a certain boy and his charm. She couldn't wait for tomorrow and what would go on then…
It had been a week now and Jason took her on another date. This one was more last minute than the last, deciding to meet at Lucky Leon's for some dessert where they could sit and eat it out by the park. They bought cupcakes, some pie, and even a few cookies together. Holding each other as they walked, they each talked about their days and what had been going on from the busy week. Aria had still been dealing with 'A', along with Spencer which had kept her busy, while Jason had a plate full of challenging kids and some house work.
Sitting down on miniature merry go round, they pulled out their food and began eating. The night was relaxing for the two. Their company always brought out the best in them. Eating tons and leaving a few crumbs, they laid back for a little while to let their food settle. As impatience set in, Jason finally got Aria up from her place and pushed her on a swing.
Time passed too quickly for the either of them. A few more minutes of walking around the park, they began heading home – Jason walking Aria back.
"This week has been crazy," Aria stated.
"Tell me about it," Jason sighed. "We need to make more time for each other."
Swinging their hands between each other, Aria stayed next to Jason thinking. "So how's Mike?" her boyfriend wondered.
"A lot better," Aria smiled to Jason, "he's like him old self again. I don't know what person they took Mike to in New Jersey but it definitely helped."
"That's good," Jason said. "I'm glad he's back to the good side."
"You and me both," Aria stated. Chatting a while longer, the two landed on the Montgomery doorstep fairly quickly.
"See you tomorrow?" Aria wondered. Kissing her softly, Jason gave a sullen look. "I'll be at the center all day tomorrow." Sighing, Aria felt tomorrow's day already get a bit worse.
"I'll text you though okay?" he suggested. They seemed to be texting quite often when they didn't see each other. It took both their heartaches away but neither would admit it.
"Promise?" Aria asked, dragging out the long goodbye.
Smiling, Jason kissed her again. "Absolutely."
Spencer was still a wreck from her breakup with Toby. Even after about a week and a half now she was moping around and slacking in school. All she wanted was him yet couldn't. 'A' had made it clear that he could no longer be involved with Spencer or he would get hurt again and she didn't want to take that risk.
"You guys, we have to do something," Hanna murmured to Emily and Aria as the three watched Spencer grab things from her locker. "She's like walking death."
"What are we supposed to do?" Aria asked peering at her friend too.
"Obviously a girl's night doesn't work," Emily noted. They had spent two nights with Spencer already, trying to cheer her up with no luck.
"We have to do something," Hanna repeated looking at her pathetic friend.
"Hey guys," Spencer grumbled walking up to them.
"Hey Spence," Aria smiled.
"How's your day been?" Hanna spoke up.
"Long," Spencer muttered. It was just after 3rd period and the girl was ready to go home.
"You know, maybe we need to get out," Emily suggested.
"Where?" the three wondered.
"I don't know," Emily said now alert that they were staring at her.
"I have an idea," Aria suggested. "There is a small club downtown, it has karaoke night and drinks. It's a nice little club scene. Totally casual and chill." Jason had brought her there once, not that Aria was about to admit it. It was one of their dates he took her on, trying to show her one day if she got over her freight of singing in front of people she could be up there herself.
"Sounds perfect!" Hanna said in cheeriness.
"I'm up for it," Emily shrugged.
"I guess," Spencer sighed.
"Yea, we are definitely going," Hanna said with a pointed look.
So that night, after school was over, they had the night to themselves. Declaring a sleepover again, still at Spencer's, they all got ready to go out.
"So where is this place exactly?" Emily asked, as they all piled into her car.
"Downtown, just drive there and I'll point it out," Aria said popping her head forward as she sat in the backseat. As the night passed and they listened to some jams in the car, Spencer began to loosen up and let Toby slip from her mind.
By the time the four got to the club and seated at a table, Spencer was back to her old self. "Wow, this place looks awesome," she noted.
"Yea, it's a cool little place," Aria smiled. Glancing to the stage, she found that they came on open mic night.
"You guys, we should go up and sing," Spencer suggested.
"Oh no," Aria quickly protested on her and her friends behalf.
"Please?" Spencer said giving them lip, "it will make me feel better."
Narrowing their eyes at her, she shrugged, "oh please, you guys make it too easy when you talk amongst yourselves. It was a nice thought though, and it is helping me."
Her demeanor changed near the end and the girls felt a little better. "Now will you all please go up there with me?" she begged.
"Fine," Emily spoke with an eye roll.
"Emily!" both Hanna and Aria protested.
"Come on you guys," she told them standing up.
"Ugh fine!" Hanna gave.
"What? No Han!" Aria said panicked.
"Lets go Aria," Hanna said dragging her up from her seat and to the stage where Spencer was already waiting. Animal by Neon Trees was picked for them and Aria was completely terrified.
"Aria, what's wrong with you? Its just karaoke," Hanna said nudging her lightly. Inhaling deeply, Aria plastered on a smile trying not to show fear. Spencer passed them each a mic, waiting for the song to come on. As the beat went through the speakers, they each began to sing in sync and Aria felt a little better. By the middle of the song, Aria had been belting out the words with her friends while the crowd cheered and at the end, she felt completely relieved.
"That was totally awesome you guys!" Spencer announced as they walked off stage.
"That was the most fun I've had in a while," Emily agreed.
"Are we about ready to leave?" Hanna asked checking the time.
"Sure, let's just grab our stuff," Aria smiled. The four headed back to their tables, grabbing their purses and bags when a waitress came up to them. "Miss?"
"Yea?" Aria said as the girl stood in front of her.
"This is for you," she told her, handing Aria a napkin. Puzzled she thanked the woman and read what the napkin said.
Stage freight no more? Would you look at that? I'm sure your boy will be proud. – A
Aria froze, rereading the note over and over. The only way that 'A' would be able to know she had stage freight was if she had been watching her and Jason. And not only that, but 'A' had to be in the club to see them singing tonight.
Immediately glancing all around, Aria and her friends couldn't seem to find anyone out of place.
"Miss!" Aria said running to track down the waitress that handed her this. "Who gave this to you?"
"Some person over there," the girl said pointing to the now empty booth in the back.
"Was it a he? Or a she maybe?" Spencer asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't really remember. A she maybe? It could have been a he though, the person was sitting in the corner where it was dark."
Sighing again, they thanked the woman and groaned. 'A' had been so close to them and they didn't even notice. Packing the rest of their stuff, Emily drove them back to Spencer's where all went quiet.
"I'm going to go call Jason," Aria murmured quietly as it got later and later into the night.
"Just go over there," Hanna said as Spencer was already sleeping. "I know you think of him as safety and after today we all need it. Just go, if Spencer wakes I'll text you."
Instead of fighting on it like Aria usually would, she nodded and stood up. "Thanks Han."
Walking over to Jason's was easy considering he lived right next door. The lights to the front porch on signaling he was home which made Aria happy. She really needed to see him right now, especially after feeling so scared and insecure.
Knocking on the door in her tiny shorts and tank top, she waited for him to answer.
"Aria?" he questioned half awake.
"Hey, sorry, I know it's late," she murmured quietly.
"Are you alright?" he asked stepping back to let her in.
"Yea," she nodded, stepping forth to hug him, "just missed you."
Aria had seemed to be doing this a lot lately – claiming that she just missed him or needed to see him. Many times the visit would consist of her staying quiet while he held her. Sometimes he would get her to talk while others they just held each other in silence. And not that he didn't enjoy that; he just also wondered what was really going on underneath it.
"Did you walk here?" he questioned, kissing her head as he held her.
"No, we're all sleeping over Spencer's again," she murmured into his chest.
"Still not over Toby?" he wondered. Aria had finally told him that Spencer broke up with Toby, but only because she thought that it was her fault he fell. She explained that Spencer blamed herself for all of this because she was the one who wanted Toby to work on her house in the first place and he ended up getting hurt. It made sense and was all true; Aria just left out the part where the scaffold was loosened on purpose and this 'A' person was involved.
He felt Aria sigh. "Nope."
Honestly, a girl's logic never made sense to Jason; Even more so now that Aria shared this whole Spencer Toby ordeal with him. Both of the teens were broken hearted over each other yet still chose not to be together. Spencer adamantly pushed that she wouldn't be with Toby anymore because he got hurt and Jason thought that was ridiculous. Besides the fact that it wasn't Spencer's fault, he thought that if two people loved each other, they needed to fight at whatever the costs to keep it.
"I'm sorry I woke you up," Arai said pulling back.
"Nah, I like running on a few hours of sleep anyways," Jason teased, pulling her closer to him again.
"You have to be freezing in that," he stated after taking full look at her when she stepped back. "It was a cold walk over here," she admitted snuggling into his warm body as he ran his arms up and down her arms.
"Are you staying the night?" he asked hopeful.
"I have to leave before Spencer gets up, and I have to go back if Hanna texts me that she's up," Aria noted.
Jason again, could not understand the need girls have to do sleepovers and talk deep feelings like that. "I'm going to take that as you're staying," he decided. Pulling her up the steps, he took her into a different room, this one not being the guest room.
"Where are we going?" she wondered.
"My bed," he told her. Walking down the hall and to the last room, Jason walked them both inside. It's a new room, Aria thought. Or maybe his parent's old room yet she doubted that since that would be extremely creepy.
"I took part of the wall separating Ali's room and my parents, along with some other excess space and made this my room. It's all redone," he stated, knowing exactly what she was thinking as he watched her closely.
"It looks…like you," she smiled. He had black walls with white crown molding all around his large space. There were some pictures of him and his college friends on the walls, along with many of him and Aria. Unsurprisingly, there were very few pictures of his sister and family. There was a dresser, mirror, and closet – all against the walls – and a bathroom was off to the side of the room too, most likely being all new and furnished.
Beside his alarm clock on the nightstand was a small lamp and a candid shot of him and Aria. Remembering that day, she thought back to the picnic where he had joined her and her family. It was actually a really fun day, where her family all got to bond and get to know him. He had been a real trooper about the day too; never once thinking her family was crazy.
Anyways, this picture was of Aria and Jason cuddling in each other's arms smiling. Aria's mom had taken it, printing it out for both of them to have. Aria noted that it must have been his favorite picture too because it was set in a nice frame and was right beside his bed.
"Come on," he said dragging her to the large mattress. Forgetting to note that it was there, in the middle of his room, a king size mattress with silk sheets and a black comforter, Aria stepped towards it. The bed looked heavenly, she had to admit, and sleeping in it with Jason would be even better.
"Night Ar," he sighed, wrapping an arm around her as they got comfy.
"Night Jase," she smiled, snuggling into him as she too fell asleep.
A/N: Comments? Concerns? Questions?