School began sooner than everyone anticipated and soon her uncle and his family needed to get back. Only having about a day or two with them left, she spent as much time at home as she could. At school and work, she dealt with her friends and 'A', but at home she made sure to clear her head from that. Greg could always read Aria like a book, and it didn't help to look anxious when 'A' came on her mind. After dodging her friends for a while (being busy almost everyday after school and at nights), it was finally clear they all needed to get together and talk. While on her anniversary date with Jason she texted them that Ali had the same dolls that were blackmailed to them and it couldn't have been a coincidence so they had been anxious to hear about the whole story ever since.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Aria said grabbing her things around the house as she tried saying goodbye to her Uncle and Jack who was looking gloomy that she was leaving.

"Its just dinner Jack, she'll be right back," Andrea repeated when's he saw how pouty her son looked.

"I'll bring you home a cookie," Aria bargained, kneeling in front of Jack to cheer him up.

"Chocolate chip," he requested, wrapping his arms around her neck in a hug.

"Got it," she smiled back, giving his nose a little kiss and his hair a shake when she stood up again.

"Oh mail," she exclaimed, stopping her way to the door to see if anything was for her. Flipping through a bunch of envelopes, most of them being bills, she found one that stuck out in particular. It was addressed to her and Mike. Tearing the paper, she opened it and took out the card.

'You are cordially invited to celebrate the wedding of Opal Grace Thomas and Byron Chad Montgomery'

Reading the date of the wedding, she saw it was only a few weeks away.

"Aria?" Andrea asked, peering over the table to see her face.

Curious to what she was looking at, Greg strolled over and leaned over her. It was a wedding invitation from their father. "Aria," he started to say. Before he could get anymore of his sentence out, she rejected it and said a quick goodbye again, slamming the door shut behind her. Glancing to his wife with the invitation in hand, the two of them knew she was hurting. Anyone who had to go through that would hurt and he wasn't sure what to do.

"Finally," Spencer exclaimed when she walked into the small café where they usually met. "What took so long?"

"Nothing, sorry," she said lifting her purse from over her shoulder.

"What's with you?" Hanna asked.

Shaking her head, Aria glanced away and out the window. "I got an invitation to my dad's wedding today before I left the house."

"Oh," Spencer said immediately going quiet.

"When is it?" Emily wondered.

"December 2nd," she said taking in a deep breath so she wouldn't cry. Luckily sitting next to her, Hanna wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulder.

"Are you going to go?" Spencer wondered. Effortlessly shrugging, Aria wiped the tears from her face and turned back to her friends.

"Moving onto another topic," Emily said trying to alleviate some gloom from the day. Unfortunately Emily and Spencer didn't know what it felt like to have their father marry someone else. They didn't feel that hurt and betrayal of replacement when it came to adding another woman in their lives. Switching to a different topic was going to make Aria's hurt worse and Hanna knew that more than anyone. Aria leaned her head down on Hanna's shoulder and tried to switch her brain to 'A'.

"So this doll…" Spencer stated. "It was in Ali's room?"

"Her closet," Aria answered, lifting her head from Hanna and wiping her tears. "Jason said she thought it was creepy and that she stuffed it in the back."

"Does he know where she got it from?" Emily asked.

"Tara's Trinkets," she replied. "Her dad bought it for her right before the place was torn down."

The girls sat there thinking, unsure what this meant.

"Alright, so," Hanna said taking a deep breath. "I let Caleb try and depixilae the image," she confessed.

"What?" Spencer exclaimed as the rest of her friends looked at her wide-eyed.

"You were right Spence," Hanna shrugged, "if this brings us closer to taking down 'A' then I want to do it. I need to know who this bitch is so we can bring her down. And Caleb wouldn't stop shutting up about it anyways," she grumbled at the end.

"Did he find something?" Emily wondered.

"He said he would text me if anything came up," she answered. Deflated, all girls sat there antsy in their seats. Waiting was not a good thing to do, especially with 'A' lurking around. Going back to a few things about their pasts, all four of them talked about the evidence they had and what it could all mean. Some things still pointed to Garrett, some were in question, and a few were still aimed towards Jason.

"Come on," Hanna said grabbing her bag and getting up from her chair. Curious, the girls all quickly laid down a few bills for their meal and followed her out the door. She led them to some parking lot where Caleb was sitting in his car. Alongside him was his laptop, eager to show them something more.

"Its an ID," he told them when all the doors were shut. Showing them the image, it was a photo of a fake ID of some brunette girl.

"You guys, doesn't that look like Alison?" Aria wondered gazing at it closer.

"What does that say? Vivian Darkbloom?" Emily asked squinting at it.

"Does it ring any bells with you guys?" Caleb asked hopefully. They all shook their head and didn't seem to have a clue. "Great," he sighed.

"Well then this is the last of what Aria had on her phone," he said switching his screen to a video again. Pressing play, he showed another short part of the tape. It couldn't have been more than five or ten seconds, and it was of Melissa walking into Alison's room, angrily asking where Alison is. It wasn't much to see, but it was a lot to go on.

"I still don't know what this means," Emily claimed, shooting down the rest of Caleb's hopes of getting closer to who 'A' is.

"I'm confused now," Hanna claimed, sitting back in her seat.

"Maybe its time to call it a day," Spencer suggested. Doing jus that, they all pulled their minds together and went to leave.

"Thanks Caleb," Aria said getting out of the car.

"Be careful," he called to them as they all stepped out and shut the doors.

"You guys, come here," Spencer whispered. "It's a fake – the ID isn't real," she supplied for them when Caleb was out of sight and they were alone.

"Wait…she got a fake for herself?" Hanna asked.

"Remember when she took us to college parties and we needed fake IDs?"

"Wait, so you think she got herself two separate IDs?" Aria clarified with a question.

"I don't think – I know. It all makes sense now you guys," Spencer claimed.

Catching on, Emily went in shock. "Ali was being blackmailed by 'A' too…"

For the next hour and a half, the four of them sat back in the café and talked about the new information they obtained. This was a whole new game if Ali had been previously messed with 'A' too. Who knew how deep this really got.

"Halloween night and her mystery outings…" Spencer recalled for them.

"We always thought she was dating some guy she didn't want to tell us about," Emily said.

"She was trying to take down 'A'," Aria said still too surprised to comprehend this all.

"So then what really happened to her?" Hanna questioned in a small voice. No one dared to answer the question because they feared the answer.

"I have to go you guys," Aria sighed as she opened her phone to see her mom telling her to come home.

"No," Spencer whined.

"My mom wants me back at the house," she replied while getting up from her seat. "If there is anymore to talk about let me know. We can go over the rest at school tomorrow."

"You'll be there early?" Emily asked.

"Bright and shining," Aria groaned back, going up to the front counter and paying for a chocolate chip cookie before she left.

"Since when did she have an urge for cookies?" Hanna wondered.

"Who knows," Spencer replied rolling her eyes.

When Aria got home, all three adults were sitting at the kitchen table with somber face. Mike was sitting in the chair too, slouched down trying to look like he didn't care.

"What's going on?" Aria wondered when they looked at her.

"Can I go now?" Mike asked. With Ella nodding, he rushed upstairs and slammed his door.

"Come sit honey," Andrea said patting the seat next to her. Nervous, Aria slowly walked over to them and took her seat.

"I heard you saw your father's wedding invitation today," Ella started slowly, staring at her across the table. Ready to speak up, Andrea put a hand on Aria's to show that she just needed listen.

"Aria, I know that you feel like it's your responsibility to take care of this family but its not. It's my duty as a mother to watch over you kids and do things in your best interest. And this time," she said softly, "I think that you need to go to your fathers wedding."

"What? No," Aria said defensively when she was done.

"Aria," her mother sighed giving her a look.

"No mom," Aria protested again. "I'm not going to go watch him marry some bimbo he only met a month ago!"

"He's still your father Aria," her uncle said gently.

"Like that's supposed to mean something," she argued trying not to cry as she stood up from the table. "This entire month since he's met Opal he's been nothing like a father. All he cares about is that we respect his new wife like a mother and an equal."

"We know sweetie," Andrea said with an understanding face. "All we are saying is that maybe going to the wedding is the right thing to do."

"I will not stand up and watch the two of them get married at the church," she spoke defiantly.

"Aria," her mother said stronger this time.

"You can't make me do this," Aria said crossing her arms stubbornly.

Ella knew that stubbornness was a trait she got from her, and she knew there wasn't much she could do about it. Although Ella completely agreed it was a big thing to ask of her daughter, she had to because Byron was still the kids' father. Standing up with her empty tea mug, she frowned. "Then you are going to have to tell Opal and your father yourself that you won't be apart of their wedding."

Aria's heart and breathing stopped at the same time, unable to process what she just heard. "What?"

"Opal is having you and your brother be apart of the wedding," Ella answered from the kitchen sink.

"And what does Mike say about all of this?"

Andrea tried to come up with words. "He's…"

"Like you," Greg answered. "He's following your lead and saying no."

Aria swallowed hard and saw the bigger picture now. Mike was still young and even though he had problems with their dad, they always found a way to work it out. Mike and Byron always had a better and easier relationship than what Aria had with him. Mike was being defiant because of his consideration to his mother and sister. He was trying to step up and be the man of the house, but Ella didn't want that. Mike still needed that fatherly figure in his life and divorce wasn't an excuse to lose that. A reason Mike was having problems in the first place was because his life was so off balance and he didn't have a good support system at home. So to get him to go, Aria had to go and she could now see why it was so important that she take the lead and do this.

"What's my role?" she asked with her voice shaking.

"A bridesmaid," her mother said coming to sit back with a kinder tone.

"And Mike?"

"Best man," she answered. Nodding, Aria tried to breathe. It was like the house was caving in on her and her lungs weren't big enough to get a full breath of air in.

"We just want you to think about it," Andrea said watching her. Nodding again, Aria turned away on heel and went upstairs to sit and cry about it.

It was all too much to have this responsibility and expectation on her. She couldn't think or breathe or talk. It was like having a jumbled mess in your head, ready to scream it all out but for some reason all that happens is your mouth opening and nothing coming out. It hurt too. A stinging sensation was in chest and eyes when she thought about having to go watch her dad get married to someone else.

Aria slammed her door closed and leaned against her desk to try and breath. Everything inside of her felt numb and dizzy. Sliding to the floor, she tried to take in more deep breaths. Mike needed this; he needed a good relationship with his father. Mike needed stability; he needed a family. Calming herself then, she laid her head back against the wood and sat on the floor to get her bearings.

"Its a lot to take in, I know," Greg said sticking his head in when Aria glanced up to see who was opening her door. She stayed weakly in her spot on the floor, still trying to process it all in silence.

"Come on, let me in so we can talk about it," her uncle instructed gently. "I know that this is going to be a big deal for you and I want to help." Aria tried to ignore his words and presence. She didn't want to talk about it or share how she was feeling. For once, she just wanted some room to breathe and make a decision on her own. The presence of her uncle came more as a reminder that this was for Mike than that it was good for her too.

"I think I need to deal with this on my own right now," she stated with a shaky voice while staring blankly at the wall.

"As much as I want to give you space, i'm that type of parent who hovers over their kids – and you happen to be mine." Sighing, Aria got up from the floor and moved away from the door. She dusted off her bottom and crossed her arms waiting for him to talk.

"This isn't just for Mike," her uncle said, reading all the thoughts swirling in her head. "This is for you too."

Aria shook her head and tried not to snap back at the man she loved. That was untrue. Mike was their main priority. And as much as she loved her brother and would do almost anything for him, she hated to do this. She didn't want to see the reminder of the new happy couple being 'happy'. She destroyed her parents relationship twice. Why stick the knife further?

"Aria," he sighed when she wouldn't acknowledge him. "its fine."

"We both know it's not," he stated seeing right through shaky voice and insecurity was showing more than she knew and Greg was good at observing her.

"There's nothing to say," she shrugged again trying to make him go away, "I'm fine with it. I'll go talk to Mike."

"I think there is a ton more to go over before you talk to your brother," he rebutted. "Would you sit?" he asked politely, nodding over to the spot next to him on her bed. Sighing, she tiredly walked from the middle of the room and took a seat at the edge of her bed. The conversation got started quickly turning out to be like a blur. Everything she thought he was going to say turned out differently, and afterward she actually felt better. Her heart wasn't in so much pain as it was before and instead of anger and guilt, she felt okay. He loved her, and her uncle said that repeatedly. He had her best interests in mind and he thought spending some time together, even over something as huge and complicated as her father's wedding, was a way to do that. Her uncle Greg never wanted this for her or her brother and he knew it was a lot for her to handle – he could understand her like that. It had already been so much responsibility on her and taking care of the family that he knew it was even worse; he was in her shoes at one time.

Kissing her head after they were done talking, Greg stood up and left the room. Aria was a strong girl, just like her mother and him. She would do just fine. Their lives, Greg and Aria, were so similar that he wished more for her. His life consisted of worrying and taking care of everyone in the past – he was such a fixer in his teenage years that it took up a lot of his life and unfortunately that was passed down to her too. Carefully watching Aria walk into Mike's room when he disappeared from the hallway, Greg smiled. Yes, she may be a fixer, but she was also more than that. She was more than he could be and that was brave.

Aria walked into Mike's room, knocking on the door before she entered. "Its okay if you want to go you know," she settled on saying as she sat down on his bed.

"Aria," he groaned, taking out his headphones to listen to his sister.

"I'm going," she said ignoring his warning call.

"Why?" he wondered, swinging his chair to face her.

"Because its…its what I should do," she claimed, trying to find meaning in her words as she said them.

"Aren't you angry with dad? Upset?" he asked puzzled.

"Of course I am," she admitted, "but that doesn't change the fact that I'm attending his wedding. Are you with me?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I don't know if I can watch him get remarried."

"We can stare at each other instead," she said completely agreeing. "You and I will both be up on that alter with them, so instead of watching them kiss and say their vows, we try and ignore it and do the whole silent communication thing with each other."

"Yea?" he asked, shaping up about it.

"Yea," she smiled back, feeling the weight lift off her shoulders. Even though it was a lame idea, and might not work, it gave them hope that it could. For a moment there, Aria felt like everything was okay. Maybe it would turn out all right for once.

Shagging a hand trough mike's hair, she left his room and went back to her own. Jumping on the bed, she laid back and huffed. What a day…

"Wow," Hanna claimed when Aria stood on the platform at the fitting place. Her dad called that night asking if they got their invitations and it was okay for them to be part of their wedding. Aria knew that her dad had already spoken to her mom about it but she agreed anyways. The next day after school she was supposed to go to a fitting for her dress. And as much she hated to wear something that someone else picked out for her, she went. She took Hanna with her after school to see how ugly the dresses were going to be.

The seamstress tugged at Aria's dress, trying to make it tighter to her body as they stood there. "What about this?" Aria asked the woman after she finished pinning some alterations. "That supposed to be like that – no higher," the woman replied in broken English. Intrigued and a bit uncomfortable, Aria looked back at herself in the mirror and wished it would be fixed. The dress that Opal picked out for her winter wedding was a red spaghetti strap floor length bridesmaid dress with a V-neckline empire pleated bodice and ties around back. It was really pretty, Aria had to admit, but it was also really revealing. She felt like her boobs were on display for the wedding and she didn't like it.

"I wish she had bad taste," Hanna sighed to Aria when they left the place. "The dress looked amazing on you."

"Han, my boobs were practically popping out," Aria claimed, ignoring the compliment as they walked.

"Its Opal, what did you expect?" Aria gave a sigh and knew she was right. Opal was a revealing type of person. "Honestly, it looked great. How are you going to do your hair?"

"I don't know," Aria sighed, not feeling good about this again. After talking to Mike last night, she felt a lot better and told her mother she would go. Things were cleared up and she had positivity, but now, after trying on the dress and staring at herself for the longest time, it all felt wrong again.

"I'll do your hair if you want," Hanna claimed. "That way I can see you before you go."

"You don't have to," Aria said still glum about the whole thing.

"It will be fun," she said slinging her arm around her friend's shoulder to try and cheer her up. Trying to put on a happy face, Aria agreed and went out to dinner with Hanna.

"So how was it?" Greg asked his niece when she got home and settled into her room for the night.

"Fun," she said sarcastically.

"Looked that good huh?" he wondered as he stood in her doorway with her arms crossed. She had been sitting at her desk doing homework for a while and no one wanted to bother her, yet they also wanted to hear about the fitting. "Did you take Hanna?"

Aria nodded.

"And what did she think?"

"That it looked nice," Aria grumbled. Throwing her pencil down, Aria crossed her arms. "I just…don't feel good about this whole thing anymore. I don't want to go."

"Your mom got you out of the bachelorette party and the rehearsal dinner party. I think the least you could do is show up for the actual wedding," he said gently.

"I know," she sighed.

"Have you talked to Jason about this?" Greg wondered. Shaking her head, she glanced at her homework. They had each been so busy again, and haven't talked much; she didn't want to damper the mood with her self-pity. "Then it's probably a good thing that he's here waiting downstairs huh?"

Surprised, Aria gazed at him to see if he was joking and then got up from her chair to go downstairs. "Hey," she said when he came into view. He was talking with Andrea and playing with Jack at the same time. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to visit," he shrugged, analyzing her.

"Come on Jack, lets go play with your cars in the family room," her uncle said guiding Jack away from them.

"I would go somewhere else…" Andrea blushed, but she couldn't. The whole bed rest concept was more just like stay off your feet, so most of her time was spent at the kitchen table or the sofa.

"Its okay, come on." Taking Jason's hand, Aria quickly heard him say goodbye to her family, and walked outside to the back porch swing.

"You alright?" he asked her when they sat down.

"Yea of course. What are you doing here?"

"I had some time on my hands," he answered. "I thought I would stop by since we haven't seen each other much." Aria agreed to that. Things picked up again in their schedules with school and work now, but something else was still off.

"Mike came into the center the other day," he said leading the conversation.

"Really?" she asked, curious to why he would stop there.

"He told my buddy he wanted to talk and used it as a therapy session I guess."

"Oh," she claimed, unsure what to say. Mike had still been going to therapy but I guess he wanted to have another one on one somewhere else too.

"Aria, were you going to tell me about your father's wedding?" Jason finally bluntly asked. He was unsure how to lead into the subject without feeling like he was prying. It was the truth that Mike had come into the center, but it wasn't to talk to a buddy, but to Jason.

"Yea," she said now putting together Mike went to go see him. "There is no friend of yours is there?"

Jason shook his head. Since that time Mike had come over to Jason's and collapsed on his couch, he somehow bonded with him. From time to time, Mike would come to Jason with little things or just to talk and Aria thought that it was good that they could have that kind of relationship, but in this case, it wasn't the greatest.

Inhaling a deep breath, Aria scrubbed her face with her hands. "I got the invitation in the mail the other day, and I went for a dress fitting this afternoon with Hanna."

"And you decided to go," he claimed. He figured that since Mike was going, she was too. "I'm a bridesmaid," she confessed, "and Mike is the best man."

"How are you holding up with that?"

She shrugged, unsure what to say. Jason wasn't sure why she was holding back from him, wondering if it was just because it was a touchy subject or there was something more. Either way, it didn't sit right with him. Staring at her for a while with his arm extended over the back of the swing, he rocked them in a slow motion.

Aria sat there for a while, with her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms around them. She couldn't figure out what to say to Jason, or even get herself to look at him. For some reason she didn't like this topic and had a hard time opening up about this. But he sat there patiently, rocking them back and forth, waiting for her to say something.

"I thought that I could do this," she spoke softly. "I thought I could be strong for Mike and watch my dad get married but I don't think I can." Her eyes teared up and Jason felt bad. Bringing her close, he tucked her body next to his and kissed her head. "Hanna said it's just a rough patch. That I'm having a hard time dealing with it all because its happening so fast."

"Is that what you think?" Jason asked.

"I don't know what to think," she shrugged. Lost she sat there with him and drowned herself in her thoughts.

Jason carried her up to her room after it started getting late. They sat there swinging for a while, even after she fell asleep. The motion was calming to Jason and it helped him think. Time with Aria wasn't always well spent. Many times they were pulled together when problems arouse in their life and other times it was for events like their anniversary. He wished that they could just have more days – regular days – together but he was fooling himself. This was Rosewood – the place for gossip, drama, and affairs apparently. Laying her down gently, he wrapped a blanket around her and kissed her forehead softly. He wished he could take away her pain and heartache. She wasn't one to deserve it, she should have to be a tortured soul like him. Moving away from her, he peered at her sleeping form one last time before going downstairs.

"She's asleep?" Andrea wondered when he came back down.

"Yea," he claimed tiredly.

"She's had a rough few days," the woman sighed.

"Why didn't she tell me?" he asked her. He was hoping he could find an answer underneath Aria's actions and help her solve her problems, but he couldn't do it alone.

"I don't know," Andrea shrugged. "For as long as I've known Aria, she's a very closed person. And she's a fixer. When it comes to people who like to fix things, she keeps her problems to herself."

Jason agreed with that, but still wished he could do something to help her.

"She's allowed to bring a guest you know," Andrea told him. "I'm sure she's thinks you don't want to go or get sucked into her problems, but I think it would help her and Mike."

He thought about it, concluding that Aria's aunt was right. It sounded just like to not ask him because she thought he should be spared of her problems and drama. It was part of the fixer ways. "When's the wedding again?"

"December 2nd," Andrea smiled, knowing he was thinking of taking some kind of action.

"Be patient with her Jason," Greg said coming into the room with them now. "She's all over the place with this situation."

Nodding, he told the two to have a goodnight and left the house. He was going to take care of her. And he was going to help her too. Jason was going to go to that wedding as Aria's guest whether she liked it or not. Her problems were now his and he was going to do anything he could to make them better.

A/N: What'd y'all think? More drama and interesting events coming up!