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Chapter 20:

"Which one?" Hanna asked the girls, showing them two pictures with beautiful dresses in each. The girls were sitting around Aria's hospital bed, helping Hanna decided what to wear for her one year anniversary with Caleb.

"The blue one." Aria said, just as Spencer said "The yellow one."

"Okay, Em, it looks like you're the tie-breaker." Hanna said, but Emily didn't seem to hear her. She was staring out the window, lost in thought.

"Earth to Emily!" Hanna said, waving her arms in front of Emily's face.

"Huh? What? Sorry" Emily stammered.

"Everything okay, Em? You haven't said much since you got here." Aria asked, looking closely at her friend.

"Yeah, I guess...okay, no. There's something I wanted to say to you, but I'm not sure how you'll take it. And I just want you to know that I'm not trying to offend you or imply anything-" Emily rambled until Aria cut her off.

"Don't worry, Em. You can tell me anything." Aria smiled, reassuringly.

"Well...ok I was just thinking..." Emily took a deep breath before continuing. " Mike came here yesterday, wearing a black hoodie, after visiting hours, when nobody was allowed to see you. I'm not trying to say that he's A but it seems kinda...suspicious."

Aria just stared at her. "Are you seriously thinking that Mike is A? I mean, he's my little brother! He would never lock me in a freezing room and hit me to the point where I'd be sent to a hospital. Not to mention, A also poisoned me while I was here. Don't you think that's kinda...impossible. Plus, he was on vacation with my parents."

"I know, I know. I just couldn't get it out of my head. I don't want to think he's A, but it just seems like a really big coincidence." Emily said, defensively.

"Actually, I was kinda thinking the same thing..."Spencer piped up, and Hanna nodded.

"Guys, Mike isn't A. He'd never hurt me!" Aria defended her brother.

"Look, Aria, we know that you love him. We just don't know if telling him everything about A is a good idea is all." Hanna said, carefully.

Aria sighed. "I don't like lying to him, but if all of you are suspicious, then I guess I shouldn't tell him everything. But I have to tell him some things, or else he'll get suspicious. Okay?"

"Absolutely." Spencer nodded. Emily and Hanna agreed as well.

LATER:

It was dark outside, and Aria was asleep in her hospital room. A hooded figure slowly crept forward and walked up to her bed. They reached into their pocket and pulled out a shiny object. A knife.

A stepped towards Aria's bed, and held the knife up just over her heart. The figure stared down at Aria's peaceful face, and seemed to hesitate for a moment, before tightening their grip on the handle and plunging it into her heart.

A stared at Aria's lifeless form for a moment, and then fell to their knees. When they fell, their hood was removed, revealing a mess of brown hair. The figure looked up, and he had tears in his eyes. It was Mike.

Aria screamed as she woke up from her vivid nightmare. Ezra, who was reading a book in a chair next to Aria's bed, immediately got up.

"What's wrong? Are you in pain? Where does it hurt?" Ezra panicked.

"Nightmare." Aria whispered, still in shock from her dream.

Ezra immediately became calmer, knowing that Aria wasn't in any physical pain. He wasted no time in scooping her into his arms and soothing her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, when she was calmer.

Aria told him about her dream, and about how her friends were suspicious of Mike and she didn't know whether or not she should trust him. She wanted to trust him, but the girls had a point.

When she was finished, Ezra tilted her face up, and wiped her tears. "It's okay. You've been through a lot. Nobody's blaming you if you're suspicious of him. Just don't think about it for a few days and then you can consider it with a fresh mind, okay?"

Aria nodded. Ezra always knew how to make her feel better. This was one of the many reasons why she loved him. She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his.

LATER:

"Hey sis!" Mike said cheerfully, as he entered her room, still wearing his lacrosse jersey from practice.

"Hey Mike. How was lacrosse?" Aria said.

"It was okay. I've missed the last five practices so I'm a little out of it, but I'll get back into it soon." Mike replied.

"Yeah. You're a great player." Aria replied, encouragingly.

"So how are you feeling?" Mike asked.

"Better. The nurse actually let me have a sip of Ezra's coffee today, so I guess I'm finally recovering." Aria smiled.

"Wow! You're back on coffee, you MUST be getting better!" Mike teased. Everyone knew how reliant Aria was on her caffeine.

"Ha ha! You're hillarious." Aria replied, rolling her eyes mockingly.

"I know." Mike replied with a smile. "Anyways, I actually have to get going. I'm meeting some of the guys from the team. They're going to help me catch up. I'll be back tomorrow, after school." Mike said, getting up.

"Okay. Have fun." Aria called, as Mike walked out.

When Mike left, Aria sat there, lost in thought. Something at the back of her mind was nagging at her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Okay so I have some questions for all of you:

1) What did you think of last night's episode?

2) Who do you think Big A is?

3) Should I make Malcolm visit Aria?

4) Do you think it's time I made Aria go home? I feel like she's been in the hospital for a while...

One more thing, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reviews. I try to respond to everyone (unless you're a guest, in which case I can't.) But I do read each and every review and I try to make my chapters work with everyone's suggestions. So if there's anything you want to see, let me know and I'll see what I can do :)