Chapter 23:

The silence in the room was deafening as everyone waited for Mike to respond, but Mike just sat there, silently.

"Oh my God" Aria said. She felt her knees buckle and would've fallen if Ezra hadn't caught her. He kept his arms around her, keeping her steady as she leaned back against him for support.

Mike continued to stare at the ground, silently.

"How could you?" she whispered. "I'm your SISTER! You betrayed me and you've hurt everyone in this room, all these people that I care about. What the hell is wrong with you?! "

"You want to know what the hell is wrong with me?! YOU! YOU are what's wrong!" Mike exploded. "Ever since you kept that secret about dad and that skank, Meredith, everything feel apart. As if that wasn't enough, YOU had to date your teacher! Mom and dad don't even know I EXIST anymore! It's always "Aria this." or "Aria that". Even on our vacation, mom and dad were always saying "I hope Aria's okay!" or "Oh my poor baby's hurt!" THAT'S why I left early! THAT'S why I came back to Rosewood before mom and dad. THAT'S why I did all this!" Mike was breathing hard, his face red with fury.

Aria turned to her friends. "Guys, could you all please give me a few minutes with Mike?"

Everyone looked hesitant to leave them alone, especially Ezra. The girls and Caleb started to slowly file out of the apartment, but Ezra hesitated for a moment. "Are you sure you're okay by yourself?" he asked, concerned.

Aria leaned up and whispered something into his ear. He nodded and she smiled, putting her hand on his cheek for a moment before gently nudging him towards the door. When she was sure everyone was gone, she turned back to her brother.

"You're right. I have a HUGE part in our family's spiral towards dysfunction. But you know what, Mike. I have a reason for everything you just accused me of. I kept dad's secret because I was afraid. I didn't want to break up our family. I dated my teacher BEFORE I knew he was my teacher, and I'm in love with him. Maybe one day, when you fall in love, you'll understand that. And as for me getting hurt. How could you even say that?! You can't blame ME for getting kidnapped. If anything, I should be blaming you! Now you tell me something. And correct me if I'm wrong. You blackmailed, assaulted, and tormented me and my friends to the point where we feared for our lives because you were jealous that mom and dad pay more attention to me? Give me a break!" Aria said, rolling her eyes.

Mike glared at his sister, silently.

"Now that we've gone through all that, you want to tell me the truth? Because, I'm really getting tired of you trying to cover up whatever it is." Aria said, sitting down next to her brother.

"I'm not covering anything up!" Mike said, defiantly.

Aria raised her eyebrows. "Okay. If you want to continue playing that game then please, show me the phone you use to send me and my friends those texts. If you can show me that, I'll believe you."

Mike fidgeted slightly, avoiding her eyes.

"That's what I thought." Aria said, nodding. Before Mike could see what she was doing, she had plucked his phone from his pocket and ran towards the door.

"Give that back!" he shouted, running after her.

Aria opened the door and ran out. Mike chased after her, but was stopped by two pairs of strong arms. He turned back and saw Ezra and Caleb holding him back.

"Let me go." he said quietly.

"Not a chance." Ezra replied.

"AHA! I KNEW IT!" Aria said, triumphantly, holding up her brother's phone.

Everyone gathered around Aria and looked at the phone.

"Prey don't hunt hunters unless they want to get hurt. Tag, you're it." -A

Aria approached Mike and motioned Ezra and Caleb to let him go. She handed him his phone.

"I love you, Mikey!" she said, pulling him in for a hug. "But if you ever lie to me again, even if it's to protect me, I will rip your tongue out and feed it to vultures. Got it?"

Mike laughed as he hugged his sister back. "Sounds like a plan." he replied, grinning.

Family moment! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Okay, so I am pretty much out of ideas right now so if anyone comes up with ANYTHING at all, even if you think it's dumb, PM or review and let me know. I have the worst case of writer's block EVER right now.