A/N: Over 100 reviews! Yay! Thank you all so much for getting me here!
Aria stood in her floor length red dress looking out her bedroom window. Time seemed to fly by and now it was her dad's wedding day. Her Uncle Greg and Aunt Andrea decided to stay the few extra days to see her and Mike all dressed up, and December seemed to hit in full force. Snow had fallen on the ground, making large piles and made a slush made its own appearance too, covering the streets and curbsides.
"You look amazing Aria," Hanna stated in her company. Like she volunteered for, Hanna had come over to do Aria's hair. She set the dark brown locks into curls and gathered it to one side in a cute low pony. It was very Aria and extremely pretty.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," she groaned, turning back to her friend. The wedding was just hours away.
"Breathe," Hanna instructed, taking her friends shoulders. "You can do this Aria. It's just a wedding, don't think of it as your dads."
Aria bit her lip and nodded. It was a good thing Hanna was here because she knew how to handle this. Even though she destroyed the wedding day of her own dad's (because of 'A') she still had to experience it all. The day set Aria on edge but Hanna calmed her down every single time.
"Can I come in?" Mike asked through the door. Chuckling, Aria went to go and open her bedroom up for her brother.
"We match," he claimed showing his red silky bowtie he had on. The girls broke out into smiles, seeing the tacky thing. It did not look good on Mike. He went back to being a little 10-year-old boy.
"Oh, here," Aria said grabbing his wedding corsage from her desk. Byron had dropped it off earlier this morning, telling both Mike and Aria to put one on before they got there. It was a red carnation, matching their wedding attire color perfectly.
"You look handsome," Aria told her brother with a smile as she pinned it to his jacket coat.
"Thanks," he murmured while watching her, "you look pretty awesome too." Chuckling at his words, she stepped back and made sure it looked good.
"So when do we leave?" Mike asked.
"As soon as the both of you step downstairs," Ella smiled coming down to their room. "Oh, you two look cute." There was a tease in her voice, as she enjoyed seeing her kids do this for her. Glancing at Aria's dress she zoomed in at her chest area and gave an iffy look. "Aria…"
"I know, the seamstress wouldn't fix it," she grumbled to her mom as they walked downstairs with Hanna in tow.
"Wow, look at you guys," Andrea exclaimed when they walked down the stairs. Jack was going crazy over them, finally settling for being held in Hanna's arms while they all talked amongst each other.
"Perfect timing," Greg said greeting the person at the back door. Jason stepped in the house modeling a suit and skinny tie making him appear like he came out of a fashion magazine.
"Hey," he smiled to Aria when he caught her eye.
"What are you doing here?" she wondered confused, glancing at his attire too.
"He's taking you to the wedding," Andrea answered for them when Jason went shifty. Dressing up wasn't really his thing, and to make such a bold move on Aria's behalf, he hoped that it was the right thing to do.
"We all figured since you wouldn't bother asking him, we would do it for you," Mike added. Still stunned, Aria was unsure what to say. Her family had done this for her? But when? He was out of town for the time being…did he come home just for her?
"Well? Tell him he looks nice and get going," Hanna spoke. The statement broke tension and they all chuckled.
"Ready?" Aria asked both her guys, showing her sign of approval. Relieved, Jason relaxed his shoulders and held out his arm for Aria to take. Smiling up at him, she held him close as they left the house.
"They didn't pressure you into this did they?" Aria asked after Mike stuck his ear buds in his ears for the long drive to the chapel.
"No why would they?" he asked her, taking his eyes away from the road.
"Because I know how they can get," she replied with a shrug.
"Aria, I wanted to do this for you. But I want to make sure I'm not stepping over some invisible line here. Is it okay that I'm here? Do you want me to be here with you?"
"Of course I do," she said shocked he would ask a thing. With each of them letting out a deep breath, they grabbed hands. "You look gorgeous," he told her, glancing to her quickly.
Blushing, she grumbled out a comment about how handsome he looked and they got on with their day. Silence and cautious boundaries flew out the window and it was like any other day with each other. They laughed and talked. Jason told her all about his boring business trip and she told funny stories about her days and Jack. When they pulled up to the chapel, Aria and Mike had to go to the back. Kissing Jason quickly while hearing some disgusted comment from Mike, they parted ways and had the day begin.
"You both look great," their father said when they lined up for the precession.
"You too," she replied, trying to muster up happiness for her father and Opal. Opal's dress was nice…it was a little revealing for Aria's taste and she could hear Hanna mock the woman in her head, but Opal was nice. She was a little childish and loud, but she was never mean to her and Mike, yet at least.
Music began paying and all five bridesmaids, including Aria, walked down the aisle; the groomsmen escorted them, Aria luckily getting her brother to walk her down even though it was out of order. When they stood, waiting for the bride to enter the room, Aria took in a deep breath. She glanced to Jason and then her brother. This was it, she said in her head. The doors opened and there showed Opal. Her father smiled at the woman like she was the light to the day and soon the distance was closed between them.
All the way through the ceremony, Aria was holding onto Mike's stare. Like she promised him, they wouldn't have to stand there and watch their father kiss another woman. Instead, they kept life entertaining and calm. A few times Mike did this cross-eye thing for the camera, which made Aria hold in a laugh and then at one point Aria did it back. They missed their dad kiss his bride and when they marched back when it was all over, they laughed together.
"What were you guys doing?" Jason asked as he watched them all through the wedding. Both Montgomerys cracked up again and explained the whole game to Jason. "Aria cracked first so she has to buy me coffee."
"No one said anything about getting a reward if they were winners," Aria protested.
"It was a mental thing," Mike claimed, laughing along the way back to the car.
"Guys, the party bus is over here," Bryon exclaimed, catching up with his kids. "Jason…oh hi," Mr. Montgomery said surprised to see him here.
"Hey," Jason acknowledged.
"We are actually going to ride with Jason back to the reception," Aria said carefully, "but we will be right behind you."
"Mike…did you want to come?" Byron unhappily accepted that his daughter didn't want to go but chose to ignore that her comment included both her and Mike.
"I'm cool with Jason and Aria," Mike supplied. Trying not to pull a face, Byron kept his hands in his pockets and nodded. He walked away silently, leaving an awkward wake in his trail.
"Come on," Jason said breaking the looks Mike and Aria were giving their dad as he left them. The three of them got into the car, blasting songs they all liked to listen to.
The rest of the time at the wedding was fairly calm – well, mostly. Opal was still loud and obnoxious as usual, saying hello to her guests and announcing she was now a Montgomery (which made both kids sick). She tossed the bouquet, had her husband get her garter, and listened when her maid of honor who was her best friend gave a speech. Mike also gave a speech, one that Aria helped him with. He went through it perfectly, being smooth and understanding to his dad the groom.
"I'm stealing you away," Jason claimed as Aria sat there at her assigned table listening to some bridesmaid of Opal's talk.
"Thank you," she breathed, relieved she was away from the girl Trixie. She would not stop talking and Aria couldn't get a comment in to tell her goodbye. Taking her to the dance floor, Jason swayed with Aria to some slow song neither of them knew.
"Thank you for being here tonight," Aria said glancing up to Jason.
"I wouldn't be anywhere else," he replied, bending down and kissing her.
The night ended on a good note. After a few more dances between the couple, Mike dragged them into a photo booth their dad had rented for his special day. They took numerous pictures in there, each getting at least two or three different strips of all of them.
"Aria," her father called after her when the decided to leave the wedding. Swallowing hard, Aria spun back to see her father. "Thank you for coming tonight."
"Of course," she replied putting on a smile.
"Mike wouldn't have come without you," he acknowledged.
Aria was unsure of what her father wanted. Did he want her to admit that she knew that? That she did this for Mike and not for him?
"Have a goodnight sweetheart," he told his daughter with a pat on her shoulder.
"You too dad," she answered, turning back around and going to Jason's car.
"Here," he said helping her pick up her dress while trying to keep his jacket around her shoulders.
"Thanks," she breathed out, getting in the car. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Mike already asleep with his headphones in his ears.
"So you had fun?" Hanna wondered as they all met up at her house the day after.
"Yea, it wasn't too bad," she admitted, sipping her coffee.
"I think your just saying that because Jason was there," Spencer teased. Aria blushed and made them move onto a different topic.
"So I think I figured out something," Emily stated, taking out her laptop. She opened her laptop holding all of the evidence and 'A' texts on a document.
"Wow, did you compile all of that?" Aria wondered.
"Yea, and it took forever," Emily replied. Showing them how strange the 'A' texts were from a whole perspective, she gathered that two different people would have to be sending them. It made things fall into place after that. A few 'A' texts used the word 'brother' when talking about Jason, but then again some didn't. Some were also warnings instead of harsh threats. It was like one person was playing offense and the other defense. Alongside that, one was a lot scarier than the other.
"So if we are dealing with two 'A's…" Emily suggested.
"We are in a hell of a lot more trouble," Spencer concluded. The girls went over everything from the past few months, making sure they had everything noted in that file Emily created. Their assumptions seemed right. There had to be two 'A's. The personalities were so different at times – it was either that or 'A' was bipolar.
"So how was the wedding really?" Spencer wondered as Aria walked back with her to her house.
"It was good…I mean it was okay. It was my dad's wedding, I don't know what else to say about it."
"I heard your dress was pretty."
"Yea, pretty revealing," Aria spoke up. "I swear I pulled it up every 20 seconds. Finally Jason just gave me his jacket."
"Did Mike have fun?" Spencer pried.
"I think he did," Aria answered glancing to the ground. "He seemed to be glad he went."
"are you?"
"I guess," Aria shrugged, "I mean, I don't think I would have regret going if Mike still went, but it was fun to get out. There were parts of the wedding that were worth it – that I had fun at, but other times… I think I could have spared myself from watching my dad suck off Opal's face."
"Yea ew," Spencer agreed.
"Spence, what are we going to do about 'A'?" Aria wondered quietly passing the house down from Jason's.
"I have no clue. Just the fact that their could be more than one stalker against us makes my body shiver," Spencer stated to Aria, rubbing a hand up and down her arm for emphasis.
"Do you think there always was?"
"There could have been," Spencer shrugged, "it kind of makes sense. We wondered how 'A' could do such things that a normal person couldn't get done without excessive planning and exact timing. Two places at one time seems perfect to me."
"As long as we don't let 'A' know we are too close to this then we should be in the clear," Spencer stated again.
"Which is going to be hard to do considering 'A' knows everything about us," Aria added.
"We have the flash drives," Spencer justified. After pulling together all their resources, the girls went out buying a bunch of USB drives to copy the document onto. 'A' couldn't take all of them without them knowing right?
"I just hope this works," Aria stated as the Hastings's house came into sight.
Stopping in front of the house Aria quickly hit her friend. "Spencer…"
"What?" she asked confused to what Aria was looking at. Following her gaze both girls noticed the curtain move in the house. Freaking out Spencer grabbed her friend for comfort. No one was supposed to be home. Her mom was out on some business trip, her dad was at the sports club and her sister was in Georgia.
"Aria…" Spencer feared, gripping onto her friends arm tightly. Backing away from the house, the two girls held onto each other while an eye on the window.
"Ah!" they both screamed when they ran into something behind them. Realizing it was Jason, the two of them calmed down. Aria had on her rapidly beating heart taking in deep breaths, while Spencer was practically collapsed against Aria relieved it wasn't 'A'.
"Everything okay?" he wondered curious to why they were freaking out.
"Yea we just thought you were…"
Aria nudged Spencer and she immediately caught her accident. "I mean we were just…I…uhh…"
Apparently Spencer's brain was still catching up to her so Aria had to take the lead. "We were just freaked out."
"Right," he said not believing his girlfriend for a minute.
"I'm sleeping at your place tonight," Spencer muttered to her friend still holding onto her. Aria tried to give a smile while Jason was watching them with a careful eye.
"So what are you doing out here Jason?" Spencer said regaining her old self-back.
"I was out here working on the yard. You guys passed me up a while ago," he stated oddly.
Raising an eyebrow at each other, they silently wondered if he heard any of their 'A' talk.
"Oh we didn't see you there," she said.
"Obviously," Aria replied rolling her eyes. Giving her a nudge, Spencer shot her a look. "So how's the yard coming along?"
"Good, almost done," Jason answered, still staring at the two. He knew something was going on again. The stack of questions was out from the closet rising again.
"Well, we are going to go back to Aria's house," Spencer announced, leading Aria by the arm.
"Don't you need your stuff Spencer?" Jason wondered as they went to pass him.
"I'm…going to borrow some of Aria's," Spencer lied. "I'm too lazy to get them."
Ready to hit her friend, Aria tried not to pull a face. Spencer was being a horrible liar right now. What was with her?
Glancing to Jason, Aria watched as he was staring at the two of them.
"Yea, we are going to go," Aria announced. Giving a smile to Jason, she walked along with Spencer, arm in arm. "Is he still looking?" Spencer wondered. Peering over her shoulder, Aria quickly looked back in front of her. "Yup." Jason was still standing there in the middle of the sidewalk with a puzzled face watching them walk away.
"Bad bad bad," Spencer repeated, pacing Aria's floor when they got up to her room.
"What kind of lying was that?" Aria asked her friend when she shut the door.
"I don't know," Spencer groaned plopping herself on Aria's bed, "I just froze. I was totally thrown off guard with 'A' in my house and then Jason was there. I couldn't seem to find a filter."
Aria sighed and leaned back against her desk.
"He totally knew we were lying," Spencer continued to groan.
"Don't remind me," Aria sighed.
"Why didn't you say something to him?" Spencer asked getting up to look at Aria.
"What was I supposed to say? I can't lie to him, he sees right through it – its part of the perks to being Jason DiLaurentis and my boyfriend!"
"Ugh," Spencer sighed.
"He's your brother, I thought you could lie better," Aria mumbled.
"Trust me, Jason isn't the only one who can tell when you are lying. I literally have to prepare out a whole statement before lying to him. He's like a freaking lie detector," she snapped. Both of them heaved a sigh again, unsure what to do.
"I don't want to borrow your clothes," Spencer groaned after a few minutes of silence.
Jokingly offended, Aria grabbed the nearest soft thing she could find and threw it at Spencer.
The girls avoided Jason for a while, putting most of their time and effort into solving who 'A' was instead. They felt like they were on the brink of a breakthrough and needed to figure out the puzzle instead. It was easy for Spencer and the other two friends considering they didn't usually see Jason as much as Aria did. Even though they said hi to him at school or around Rosewood when he would randomly appear, they never had to deal with him more than that. Aria did. She was having the hardest time playing doge 'em with him, considering he wasn't actually busy this week. She felt horrible always saying that she had work or was going out with the girls; sometimes she even blamed it on spending some time with her family. It made Jason's curiosity grow and Aria's worry skyrocket.
"Aria," Jason said immediately getting up from her porch swing when he saw her.
"Oh hey…" she said quickly kissing him and then moving to go inside.
"Wait," he called trying to catch her. Thinking he had questions about what was going on and trying to trap her, she walked inside instead and tried to invite him in instead.
"Aria," Ella said in a very gentle tone. Snapping her head over to look at her, Aria noticed how red her mother's eyes looked. "What's going on?" Aria wondered when she saw no one but her mom and Uncle sitting there looking somber. Both of them were looking at Jason who was conveying a message back to them about something.
"What is it?" Aria wondered again.
"Your friend…Holden," Ella started. Aria's heart quickly picked up its pace and she felt her palms go sweaty. "What about him?" Numerous scenarios went through her head and reevaluating the secrets they told each other. Did Holden tell them about her and Mr. Fitz? Was her mom upset about that? Is that why her uncle wouldn't look at her and was quiet? Maybe Mrs. Strauss found about his fighting. Was he in trouble? Was she getting blamed for knowing?
"Sweetie," Ella said coming over to her. "Holden passed away."
The words took Aria's breath away and she suddenly felt dizzy. The floor seemed to escape from her feet and her stomach churned. As she staggered back, Jason caught her by the arms and situated her back on her feet.
Aria wanted to ask how, when, what, where, why, wh-…Things began feeling numb and her head began getting hazy.
"Wh-…Ho-…." Words couldn't seem to form and her breath was escaping from her lungs quicker than she wanted.
"Apparently he was doing some kind of martial arts without his parents knowing and his heart ended up giving out. He was taken to the hospital and…" Ella stopped, unsure of what to say.
"He had pills," Aria choked out with tears.
Ella twisted her hands hating how difficult this was for her daughter, "they must not have been able to overcome the strain he was putting on his body and heart. He was doing some dangerous fighting. It couldn't save anyone."
It saved me, Aria thought in her head. Heaving now, Aria struggled out of Jason grasp and struggled to think for herself. No, this wasn't it, it wasn't right.
"Honey," Ella started. Her voice reminded Aria of saying Holden was dead. Holden…dead. Holden – her friend, her best friend, her savior, her confident – was dead. Dead. The word repeated in Aria's head and she couldn't handle it.
"Aria!" her mother yelled for her when she ran upstairs. Slamming her bedroom door shut, Aria collapsed to the floor and sobbed. Her phone gave a bing, which made her think of Holden. Maybe it wasn't true, maybe he texted her. Flipping it open, she tried to clear her blurry eyes and look at the text.
He should have been more familiar with what his real pills looked like. Who knows what kind of person could have tampered with them ;)
This is my game bitch and its not over until I say it is so back off – A
Aria gaped at the text unable to process it. 'A' did this – 'A' tampered with Holden's pills and got him killed. 'A' made her lose her best friend; 'A' made it her fault.
Chucking her phone across the room, Aria bawled with tears unable to contain herself and the pain she felt. This was on her – this was her fault Holden was dead. Because of Aria, because she had dug so far into who was 'A' Holden was killed…KILLED.
"Aria? Aria," her mother called to her. Aria could barely hear the calls as she cried. Her body curled itself into a bawl rocking back and forth. Why? How? 'A' had gone so far as to kill her friend. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair.
Feeling sick to her stomach, Aria pushed herself up and flung the door open, running for the bathroom. She dove past her mom, Jason, and uncle who were all standing near the door and heaved her lunch into the toilet.
"Sweetie," Ella said coming to comfort her.
"No," Aria claimed making them all stay back. She wiped her mouth, with tearstains still running down her eyes. She couldn't take this hurt. It throbbed – it throbbed so bad. There was so much guilt, so much pain in her heart. Her friend was dead. Another one. Collapsing on the floor, Aria covered her face with her eyes and cried some more. She couldn't do this anymore, she couldn't live like this. 'A' was taking everything away. She was killing Aria. She killing Holden – no. No, 'A' killed Holden. Holden was dead. He was such an innocent bystander, being just a normal friend for Aria. No, this wasn't right. This wasn't fair.
Arms of her mother circled her small frame and Aria continued to sob. She gasped and made all sorts of hideous noises for her friend's death. She couldn't do this, she couldn't take this.
Her mom's warmth was encompassing her. It was making her warm, making her feel safe. That wasn't right either. A person like Aria didn't deserve this. She wasn't worthy of comfort and sympathy. She killed her best friend. She killed Holden. Shifting and shoving her mom away from her, Ella ended up pulling away and Aria moved back. She couldn't get up; she wouldn't be able to run back to her room, but she could stay there and cry. She needed to be alone; she needed everyone to go away.
"Aria," her mother tried again, worried she was going to hyperventilate and pass out.
"No," Aria panted. "No, no, no."
"Ella," Greg said worried about the same thing. Aria was starting to sway, now showing the dizziness she felt.
"Aria," her mother called again, firmer this time.
"No," Aria responded, ignoring everyone around her calling her name and wanting something from her. She needed this to stop – for everything to stop. Ignoring the tingling feeling she was getting all over and the spots that were starting to appear in her vision, she gave one more "no" before passing out into the black darkness.
The three adults all quickly lunged for Aria after she collapsed. Ella was so panicked and unsure what to do; she felt helpless so she looked up to her older brother for guidance. Jason was already coming near her to scoop Aria into his arms and Greg was preparing a cold compress. "Put her in her room," he instructed to Jason. Ella knew Aria was going to take Holden's death horribly. The two of them had recently got close again and it hurt Ella to tell her. Holden was such a sweet kid. He was good to her daughter too, always making her laugh and smile.
After hearing the news from the broken parents, Ella saw Jason at their doorstep soon after. He had a solemn looking face on silently asking Ella wondering if Aria knew. When Ella told Jason that she had no clue – that she had to break the news to her today when she got home – Jason volunteered to do it. He thought he could handle it and be strong for her. Ella had obviously been crying and he didn't want Aria to get nervous by what was going on. So Ella let him do it. He waited for her out on the back porch while Ella paced inside the house and Greg sat there silently. They were waiting to hear the tears and cries of pain, but instead, she came in the house. Aria glanced at all of them and asked questions; Ella had to be the one to break it to her again. And she did.
Aria's reaction was not what Ella was expecting. It switched back from being confused, to hurt, to demanding answers. It was so unlike Ali's were Aria just cried and eventually got over it. This time, for Holden, it was so much deeper. When she ran, Ella was bewildered on what to do. Space was probably the reasonable and right choice to go with, but as a mother, her nurturing instincts over ruled her and she went upstairs to make sure her daughter was okay.
Aria never had a lock on her door, but it was a respectful thing to always wait for her to open the door. As Ella followed that guideline, she shifted terribly. Aria's cries were so loud and painful it ached all of their hearts. Beneath all the worry Ella felt, she had to admit she was relieved that she sent Mike out and Greg had his family go home. With how upset Aria was being it would have affected all of them.
The adults were startled when Aria came shoving past them, running to the bathroom. And when she threw up Ella's concern spiked. Aria pushed them away like she didn't want the comfort, like she was trying to handle it on her own, but she couldn't. She slid down to the floor and cried some more and Ella took that chance to hold her little girl. Her arms wrapped around the teenager and tried to reel in some of heartache she was going through. It took maybe a minute before Aria started pushing her away again, skidding closer to the tub rocking herself. Finally she passed out, and everyone was left where they were now. Ella was helpless, Greg was concerned, and Jason was unable to think how he felt. Watching Aria torment herself gave a pain ripping through his chest.
Staying with her after she passed out, he kissed her head, rubbed her hair and cuddled with her gently. He kept a blanket wrapped around the two of them and a cold washcloth over her forehead as they laid in her bed.
"We came as soon as we heard," Spencer said entering Aria's room with the other friends in tow. This was another reason Jason despised small towns. It had only been a few hours since Aria passed out and they knew about Holden's death now too.
"How is she?" Emily wondered.
"She passed out a little while ago," Jason said worriedly. "She's taking it hard."
"What happened here?" Spencer asked bending down to the crushed phone. Analyzing the scene, Spencer saw a mark on the wall. Aria must have chucked her phone against the wall and it smashed into pieces. Concerned on why that happened, Spencer stood up again and came up with the only solution possible – 'A'.
"Please tell me your not thinking what I am," Hanna whispered to Spencer as she held the bits and pieces of Aria's phone in her hand. Nodding, Spencer confirmed the truth. 'A' had something to do with this.
"Do you think she'll be out for the rest of the night?" Emily wondered coming to sit on the bed. The situation reminded her so much of Maya. She had felt so much grief and agony; she knew what Aria was feeling.
"I don't know, probably. She exhausted herself," Jason sighed looking down at the sleeping girl. Her three friends stuck around the Montgomery place a while longer before deciding it was time to go. School was tomorrow and it was getting late. Telling Mrs. Montgomery they would be by after school to check on Aria and with her make up work, the left.
"What are we going to do?" Hanna asked when they left.
"I don't know," Spencer sighed, "but we need to get this to Caleb and see if he can put it back together."
"And if he sees a message from 'A'?'" Emily asked concerned.
"Then we have some major explaining to do," Spencer stated, finding this to be their last resort.
Jason stayed beside Aria for as long as he could. Once the sun rose, he knew he had to start going so he could get to work. He would have skipped the days, hell even the whole week for her, but he had finally got a meeting with this kid he'd been trying to talk to for weeks and it was really important that he was there for it. It took a lot of convincing to get up and away from Aria's sleeping form, Greg actually being the one to make sure he was up. The elder man came into the room, whispering it was almost 5am and didn't know if her needed to be somewhere. Once Greg saw that Jason did indeed had to be somewhere, he kicked him out from Aria's room, saying she would be fine and that he and Ella were here to take care of her if anything happened.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he told the man as he walked out from Aria's room.
"I know you will," Greg replied guiding them downstairs.
"If she wakes up…"
"I know, I'll call you and tell her you were here."
Jason felt like a horrible person for leaving Aria.
"She probably won't want to see or talk to anyone anyways. Go. She'll be okay," Greg added seeing his hesitance.
Nodding, Jason walked out of the doorway of the Montgomery house and left for his own place.
Aria woke up around 7am, with a tight face and chest. She almost felt like she had been run over by a truck, when she realized what had happened. It rushed back to her like water escaping a dam. It was one thing after another piling up on her – drowning her. Holden…dead…'A' having something to do with it…crying…throwing up…passing out. Burying her face in her pillows, she felt tears weld up in her eyes again and she cried. Guilt laid on her shoulders with a heavy presence and she wished it would go away.
"Aria?" someone asked. Hearing the footsteps get louder, she heard her door creak open further. A figure sat on the bed, dipping the mattress from the heavy weight. Soon after that, a warm hand appeared on her back and Aria knew instantly it was her uncle.
He rubbed her back in large circular motions while she cried again. She couldn't seem to stop her sadness and emotions that came out of her. Showing weakness and crying was not her thing, yet it was like her body and mind couldn't match up enough to care. She was a limp mess, crying her eyes out like a little kid.
"Do you remember what happened?" Greg asked her when he thought she was starting to calm down. Watching the pillow move in an up and down motion, he figured she was nodding. "Please go away," she croaked out.
"Aria," he sighed, knowing it wasn't the right thing to do.
"Please," she asked, this time lifting the pillow. She wanted to be alone, she wanted to cry in her own presence and not someone else's too. He knew that yet he didn't want to leave her.
"Go," she teared up again, hiding her face. Unsure of what to do, he got up from her bed and left. He carefully shut the door behind him and stood there for a while wondering if that was the brightest idea.
When Aria heard that he left, she threw the pillow off of her and openly sobbed. Holden was gone now and it made life so…excruciating. Her body was aching and she felt so weak and tired. She felt the pain and heartache, but when she said to herself Holden was gone, he was dead; it was like her mind couldn't register it. It was like it shrugged it off and didn't acknowledge it. Finding that it made things worse, guilt swarmed her again, making every breath she took in be a hard one to exhale.
Emptiness was with her for a while. For the morning Aria was left alone until her mom came up and offered her breakfast. She refused and even though Ella brought it up for her just in case she didn't eat it. Then during the afternoon her uncle came up wondering if she wanted lunch. She didn't and he brought it up anyways. Again, she didn't eat it. Now it was a little before dinner and her friends were over. They were sitting by her bed, as she stayed curled up with her legs in her arms on the mattress. All three of them tried to talk to her, asking her questions about her phone, her day, Jason, Mike, anything really. But she never talked. Instead she let tears drip from her face and blankly stare out in nowhere.
"Come on Emily, you can relate the best to this one," Spencer groaned when they left.
"What am I supposed to say? I know how it feels? That line is so over used and cheesy. It doesn't even touch base to how anyone really feels," she exclaimed angrily.
"We need to help her somehow!" Hanna protested.
"And we're trying," Spencer snapped back.
Jason was coming up the way, hearing the argument. "She's still up?" he wondered.
"Awake but very quiet," Spencer said.
Hanna rolled her eyes and put it simply for Jason. "She's curled up in a ball sitting on her bed staring at air. She won't talk or eat. She just sits there with tears rolling down her cheeks."
"Hanna!" the two friends exclaimed thinking it was inconsiderate to say it like that.
"What?! Someone had to prepare him for the sight!" she defended herself. Jason looked a little taken back with concern written all over her features. "Look," Hanna sighed, trying to sugar coat it some, "she's in shock now. Company hasn't really been what she's needed yet."
Jason nodded, understanding what Hanna was doing. She felt bad and was backtracking on her words he got that. Leaving them, he walked up to the Montgomery home and knocked on the door, being let in by Ella.