A/N: Loved the reviews! I know you are all worrying and wondering about Jason, but he'll be back... hopefully with an explanation too! ;)

Aria's friends were beyond confused and curious when Holden came into the picture. They set up plans at school for Friday and even walked down the hall together talking.

Right before 5th period, the girls finally pulled her aside, into the bathroom, and asked her what was going on with Jason.

"Nothing," she shrugged.

"He hasn't been around…like at all," Spencer commented.

"I thought you hated him? Did you think he was 'A'?" she challenged. Spencer went quiet and immediately backed off. Narrowing her eyes, Aria knew something was going on beneath that. "What?" she wondered. There was something Spencer was hiding from her.

"Nothing," Spencer shrugged.

"Tell me," Aria demanded.

"Yea wait. Tell us what exactly?" Hanna wondered glancing at Spencer now too.

"Its nothing you guys. It doesn't even matter. We are here for Aria and possibly Jason. What is going on with you two?"

"Nothing. And if this is about Holden, I already told you; he's just a good friend of mine. We've known each other since preschool you guys," Aria told her friends nonchalantly.

"He asked you out. Doesn't that kind of mean you guys are more than friends?" Emily wondered while holding her books to her chest

Aria rolled her eyes, "its not a date."

"Besides," Aria shrugged, "it gets me out of the house and away from my dad."

"Why don't I believe your whole story?" Spencer wondered, with her own eyes narrowed.

"Spencer, seriously. I'm not going out on a date. I'm just going out to catch up with Holden. Its not a big deal and now we are going to be late for class," Aria groaned as the bell rang. Saying a goodbye to her friends, Aria left the bathroom and went to class.

The 'date' with Holden made Aria feel like she was just a normal girl hanging with a friend – it felt good. After the movies, they went to a coffee shop and caught up on their lives. Holden was a world traveler – always going across the world with his mom and dad while Aria was stuck in Rosewood until senior year was over.

"Are you free next weekend? Saturday maybe?"

"uh, maybe why?" she wondered. Hopefully Holden wasn't thinking they were going to be something. This wasn't a date right? Aria questioned to herself.

"Its okay if you're not. But I was hoping you could be my cover. Maybe get out of the house at night or something and pretend like we went out again?"

"Why?" she wondered with narrowed eyes.

Sitting back in his chair, Holden crossed his arms and put a teasing smile on his face. "It's a secret."

"No fair," she ruled out. "I can't just be your cover if your not going to tell me where you're going – or what your doing."

"If I share my secret, you have to share one."

Aria went quiet thinking about it. Was it worth the risk?

"So any secrets worth spilling Aria?" Holden smugly teased.

"Fine. I'll tell if you tell. But you have to go first," she challenged with a laugh.

"No telling parents?" he asked her in seriousness.

"God no," she said shaking her head. Each of them laughed a bit before shaking on it.

"I'm competing in the Tang Soo Do tournament, or working up to it anyways."

"What's that?" she wondered.

"Martial arts," he quipped.

"But don't you have a heart condition?" she wondered, thinking back to the times when they were kids and he went to a bunch of doctor appointments.

Holden sighed.

"Holden, you need to stop," Aria said worriedly. "You could die."

"Aria, my heart could rupture whether I'm doing what I love or I'm at home playing apples to apples with my parents. I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life sitting in front of a TV. Especially when there's a decent chance its gonna be shorter than everyone else's."

Surprised about his words, it was Aria's turn to sit back and think about it.

"So what's yours?" he wondered.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Your secret," he said.

"Oh. Umm…okay. You promised not to tell anyone," she reminded him. He nodded, "You know Mr. Fitz? Our English teacher?" Holden nodded. "I dated him my junior year."

"What?" Holden asked shocked.

Aria bit her lip and made him quiet down. "We actually met before he was my teacher…" Telling him the whole story, she quickly and quietly finished, hoping she wouldn't be any different to him.

"I can't decide who's secret was bigger," Holden stated. Feeling a grin come across her face, (along with relief as there was no difference about him when he looked at her) Aria shook her head and laughed again.

"So wow, this must be awkward for you then right?" Holden murmured to her as they walked into English the next day together.

"I thought we were going to keep our secrets secret at the coffee shop?" she muttered back to him.

"Hey, just observing," he pointed out as they were the only two arriving in English class.

"So did your mom bust your butt for the late night?" Aria asked Holden as he came to sit on the desk in front of her so they could talk.

"No, she was passed out on the couch asleep. I don't even think she realized what time it was."

Smiling, the two continued to talk and laugh.

It bothered Ezra that Aria was smiling at the new kid Holden Strauss. He knew from the gossip around the school that him and Aria knew each other as kids, but it didn't bother him any less. He already knew Jason was his competition, now Holden too? Ezra had to win back Aria somehow, but how? Thinking about it more deeply, Ezra wondered if Aria and Jason were still a couple. The DiLaurentis had been out for a while now and he wondered if he quit or it was something else.

"This Saturday right?" Ezra heard Holden ask Aria.

"Yup. I get to come and watch right?" she asked him.

He scoffed, "yea right."

Glancing up at his ex, Ezra saw Aria smile at Holden. Just friends my ass, he grumbled.

Holden's competition was amazing. She was so worried about him as he fought with his opponent yet at the same time, after it was all done she was proud of him. He was an amazing fighter, with such skill; Aria couldn't help but be impressed.

"So what are your plans for the weekend?" Holden asked her as they walked to the car after the tournament.

"Nothing much," Aria shrugged. "I'll probably hang out with my friends. I haven't been spending as much time with them lately as I usually do."

"My fault huh?" he guessed.

"What? No," she shook her head. "Just been busy and stuff. A sleepover will do the trick, trust me."

Laughing, Holden unlocked his car and helped Aria get in. "You have to get home right away?"

"Yea, I should," she sighed. Ella, Mike and Byron were out doing some family thing, and Ella wanted her daughter back home to at least say goodbye to her father before he went on his business trip.

"Alright," Holden told her, driving back into Rosewood to be at her house. The Montgomery home was actually quite dark for the time. It was near midnight and no one seemed to be home.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Holden asked her.

"Yea, don't worry about me. Just get home safe. I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Yea sounds good. Bye." Shutting Holden's car door, Aria went inside and turned on the kitchen light. Setting her things down like usual, Aria took off her heels and traveled towards the kitchen.

There was a bang from upstairs and Aria wondered what it was. Going to investigate, Aria crept her way up the stairs. "Hello?" she called. The sound seemed to disappear. Walking up a few more stairs so she was near the top, Aria listened again but didn't hear anything. Shrugging it off, she went to turn around and walk back down the stairs. Just as she did so, a black hooded figure appeared from behind her and shoved her hard so she went flying.

Aria let out a scream and tumbled headfirst back down to the first floor. She felt her body hit the large middle step of the stairs, crashing into the small table that was set there. A vase must have fallen on her too because she felt something sharp pierce her skin. Thinking it was over, Aria groaned, trying to get up, but was pushed again, now crashing down to the hardwood floor.

Blood pooled out from her head and stomach then, as the glass stabbed her deeper when she rolled down the rest of the steps. Lifting her head to glance at the stairs, Aria saw the black hooded figure just standing on the step watching her bleed out.

"Oh my god!" Aria heard someone yelled. Suddenly her name was being called and a stabbing pain was cursing through her body. Her head hurt like a truck had run her over while her ankle and wrist were throbbing.

"Aria!" her mother called to her in a panicked tone.

"Mike call 911!" Ella commanded to her son.

"Mom?" Aria groaned with her vision blurry.

"Oh god Aria, don't move okay sweetheart? We are getting you some help."

"Stay with us Aria!" Bryon called to her.

Confused on why she was hearing her dad's voice, Aria began feeling too dizzy and tired to care. Soon, she was shutting her eyes again giving into the darkness that creeped over her. No longer could she listen to her mother and father's faint calls for her.

When Aria woke up again, she was in the hospital. There was that beeping from the heart monitor and pulse reader thing on her pointer finger. Alongside that, Ella was sitting on a chair by her side while her brother was waiting against the wall across from the foot of her bed.

"Mom?" Aria croaked out.

"Oh Aria!" Ella called standing up and rubbing her hair.

"Ow," she groaned out when she opened her eyes to the bright lights.

"Mike, go get a doctor," Ella commanded. Doing as he was told, Mike rushed out of the room. Aria could hear sniffles from her mom, but she felt to drowsy and achy to do much about it.

"What happened?" she wondered, somewhat confused.

"Ms. Montgomery," Wren said coming into the room.

"I'm here, how is she?" Byron asked, coming in with some munchies and drinks, which she was guessing for her mother and brother.

"How are you feeling?" Wren asked Aria.

"Like hell," she groaned. Removing her arm, which she set over her eyes for the light, Aria let out a hiss. It was too bright.

"Here, lets do this," Wren said, shutting off the overhead light above her and turning on a lamp.

"Can you tell me how you're feeling? Any pain anywhere?"

"My head," Aria murmured. Bringing her hand up to her forehead, Aria winced again as she touched the open cut.

"You split your head open from the fall," Wren told her.

"What about my wrist?" Aria groaned as she saw it was in a split.

"You must have used it to stop yourself from hitting the floor. Unfortunately, you ended up spraining it," he said in his humble accent.

"What else?" she groaned. Trying to move, Aria put a hand over her stomach.

"Ah yes, you found the stitches."

"From what?" she asked, partly unsure if she really wanted to know.

"From what I could tell, you must have broken some glass on your way down the stairs and it ended up piercing the skin. It was a fairly large piece of glass so there should be no problems with it. But," he said sighing, "there will be a scar."

"Aria, do you remember anything?" Wren asked her as her family stood around her.

"Just coming home and putting my things down."

"Anything else?" Byron wondered. Wren glanced at him and talked to Aria again. "Can you remember anything else? Anything about your fall?"

"I-I don't know. Its sort of blurry," Aria groaned, feeling her head pound. Feeling her pain in her head consume her, the heart rate machine spiked and Wren quickly went to her. "Aria? Aria? What is it, can you hear me? Tell me your pain?"

"My head," she gritted out. Arching her back, she let out another painful cry as the stitches near the edge of her stomach were stretched. An alarm was pressed and Wren pushed her back down on the bed carefully. He gave a shout for some drug and Aria quickly passed out from the pain.

"She survived Spencer. She's very lucky," Wren's voice said. "if it were anyone else…or if it had been another few minutes, Aria would have lost too much blood to be brought back."

"But it was just from her head," Spencer's voice said.

"No, it was also fro her stomach and other wrist. The glass must have also caught it and she almost bled out."

"She's going to be okay though right? I mean besides the long remission…" Emily's voice sounded.

"She'll be fine," Wren told her. As Aria fought against the fog, shifting a bit and turning her head from side to side, she heard a click and someone come by her side.

"Aria?" Wren called to her.

Slowly opening her eyes, Aria was met with her three best friends and Wren glancing at her. "How the head?" he questioned.

"Hurts a bit."

"Okay, we are going to push some morphine," he said writing it on the chart. "Anything else hurting Aria?"

"I don't think so," she groaned.

"Okay," he sighed, putting his pen back in his coat pocket, "now you reopened the stitches on your stomach when you had pressure in your head, so be extra careful with your stomach."

Nodding, Aria watched as Wren dropped her chart at the foot of her bed and made his way back over to Spencer. "Only a few minutes Spence. You aren't even supposed to be in here yet."

"Okay," she nodded to him before saying goodbye.

"I'm so sorry Aria," Emily said first. Confused, Aria tried to slide up the bed but it became too painful when she was only halfway in the sitting position.

"Its our fault you fell down the stairs," Hanna gloomed.

"What do you mean?" Aria wondered.

"'A'", Spencer said, sitting down with her friends. "You got hurt because of us. We've been keeping secrets from each other and 'A' doesn't like it."

"What? No we haven't. We've–"

"We have," Spencer cut her off. "Jason is my half brother," she confessed. "What?" Aria practically shouted. Getting riled up, she sat there agape while trying to get more answers.

"You remember when my dad had been talking to Mrs. DiLaurentis? It had something to do with that. Her and Jason had been trying to get the secret out and stuff like that."

"He never told me," Aria croaked, thinking about Jason.

"I'm sure he was waiting for a good time to tell you," Spencer said putting her hand on top of Aria's. Skeptical was nothing close to what Aria was feeling. 'A' thinks that she hadn't been keeping a secret from her friends, well, her breaking up with Jason should have counted.

"Your secret?" Aria asked Emily.

"I sent that forged letter about my swimming to my parents even when you guys told me not to."

"Wow," Aria noted. That was big; plus so many things could go wrong with that – especially when and if 'A' was to get involved.

"I told Caleb about some 'A' things."

"What?" All three of them now shouted.

"I didn't tell him everything," Hanna said picking at the hospital bed sheets. "But it was too overwhelming and I was getting caught in my lies. I can't lose Caleb you guys."

"So what does he know then?" Emily wondered.

"About our suspicions of Jenna and Garrett. Nothing more than that really."

Going over it all again, the girls talked about what had happened. 'A' had sent them a text saying something along the lines of having secrets wasn't any fun unless someone was hurt so you could share it with everyone. The bitch was evil and not being sure who it was was making Aria get lightheaded. Her heart monitor spiked up again and Wren came in. "Okay, that's enough. Aria needs to relax and get some sleep," he said checking her over again.

"I'm okay," she said brushing him off as her friends got up from her hospital bed.

"We can't afford you ripping out your stitches again," Wren told her, "and your head needs to heal Aria. You split it open pretty deep."

"We'll go," Spencer said. "We will come visit you tomorrow morning okay?"

"Sure," Aria tried to smile to all of her friends. After they left, Wren checked off a few more things on her chart and looked at the monitor's around her.

"Hey Wren? Where are my parents and Mike?"

"I tried to send the three of them home but they wouldn't budge so they are in the cafeteria. Would you like me to go get them for you?"

"Yes please," she nodded.

"Alright, I'll be back," he told her, setting down her chart again and leaving.

Lying back against the bed, Aria didn't have to wait long for her family to join her.

"How are you feeling?" Ella asked her, coming to her daughter's aid.

"Okay," she forcefully smiled. Glancing at the rest of the company, Aria saw her dad was there, along with a pale Mike.

"The police would like to talk to you tomorrow morning Aria," Bryon stated.

"Why?" she questioned.

"Mike's bedroom window was open so they want to cross reference your story with what they think could have happened."

"Awesome," Aria groaned. Inhaling with a slight wince after a few moments, she glanced at her tiresome parents, "you guys should go home."

"I want to stay," Mike said immediately. Surprised, she tried to look at her brother but found his head stayed bowed.

"We're staying here," Ella said determinedly.

"There's no point," Aria stated. "Please. Go get some rest and shower."

"Mike?" Byron asked.

"I said I'm staying here," he repeated with more forcefulness.

"I'll have Wren try and find him a blanket and extra bed or something," Aria added, speaking up before her mother could say something.

"Alright," Ella gave in. "Love you both," she said kissing her kids.

A/N: P.S. Sorry, only 1 chapter uploaded today - I didnt have time to go through and proofread two. =(