Chapter 33 here. I wrote this one in between doing psychology revision so I'm sorry if its not very good. Thanks to new followers and reviewers, its great to know that people are liking the story. Also thank you to those of you who review after each update. I really appreciate it and love hearing what you think! Lots of thank yous I know but just quickly thank you to Lucy and Sophie (love ya both) for your constant support and ideas. They help a lot! Lu, the lizzy bit is for you as I know how much you love that lady. Halloween is coming up soon, anyone doing anything nice? Personally I love Halloween x I'm thinking about making the chapter after this one have a Halloween theme to it. What do you think? xxx Anyway enjoy . . . .

Thalia's Tree x x x

Claire's POV

"Is 12 o'clock an okay time for me to come pick you up?" Asked Shane as he pulled up outside 114 Blooms-Dale Lane. He had offered to drop me of at Aria's house so I could give her the present, and I had gratefully accepted.

Last night was amazing. Not only did I get to watch my best friends fall over a number of times, I actually got to laugh at them without having to worry about them laughing back, seeing as I wasn't planning on falling off my chair. Don't get me wrong I did skate around a few times and sang at the top of my lungs to the blaring music, but I just got tired easily. Aria, dear of her, had offered me her wheel chair at one point, but I declined. For some reason the idea of someone pushing me around a round jam packed with people made me feel nervous. I was happy enough holding onto Shane's arm anyway.

Don't even get me started on Shane.

Do you remember Lizzy? The very irritating lady at the front desk? Well, Shane doesn't let grudges go that easily, as you can imagine. It was getting late and we were all thinking of getting ready to leave when Shane insisted that he do one more lap. I was too tired to argue so just sat back down on my chair and watched him and Eve zoom around. They got half way when I saw them slow down to a stop and Shane pulled on Eve's arm, getting her to go closer to him so he could whisper something in her ear. Obviously I had know idea what he was saying but I was suddenly very curious as to what he was up to.

That's when I noticed that Lizzy was stood by the music box, talking to the DJ. I saw Eve laugh and nod her head as Shane suddenly started off again. At this point I had had a pretty good idea of what he was going to do. From the opposite side of the room I stood up from my seat to get a better view of what about to happen. I saw my best friend called the woman's name and as Lizzy turned around to look in Eve's direction Shane took his chance. At full speed my fiancee speed straight over to Lizzy and without a second thought ran over her feet, causing the woman to cry out and fall straight on her ass.

"You shouldn't walk around with no shoes on!" Shane had called to her as he carried on skating. "Its a dangerous place!" The look on Lizzy's face was a picture. She had stuck her middle finger up at him but he just returned the gesture with his cheeky-boy grin.

You should never mess with Shane. After that we left as quickly as we could, laughing the whole time. I hope we never have to see that lady again, for her sake as well as ours.

Returning back from my thoughts I answered "Yeah that would be great. Thank you Shane."

"No problem." He said smiling. He moved closer to me and kissed me on the lips. "Make sure to call me if anything happens."

How did I live before I had him? "Everything will be fine. I promise." I know that I shouldn't make promises that I can't necessarily keep, but if it makes Shane relax a bit, then I'll take the chance.

"Okay. Say hi to Aria for me." He said as I got out of the car. Leaning over to the passenger side window he wound it down and stuck his head out, his thick brown hair blowing in the wind. "Love you." He called.

I blew him a kiss as I walked backwards up Aria's drive way. "Love you too."

Shane drove off and I stopped to look at the house. I had never been here before, but I was immediately impressed. It wan't a big house, but it look like a home. Somewhere you would feel comfortable in. It was painted white with a slope leading up to the front door on the left hand side, in front of it a driveway. However there was currently no car parked there.

It was a very pretty house, with colourful flowers growing in the hanging baskets by the door and in the soil that lined the house. On the right hand side of the house was a gate, which I'm guessing leads to the back garden.

I walked up the slope with Aria's present in my hand. We hadn't gotten her a big present, but we'd all chipped in the buy her a heart shaped silver locket, the type where you can put two pictures inside. We'd asked Chace if we could use one of him and Aria, and then on the other side we'd put one of Shane, Michael, Eve and I. It was a picture we had taken from our trip to Dallas when Michael had a recording session.

I saw a doorbell at the side of the door and pressed it. I listened out for the ring inside the house, knowing that though a lot of people had doorbells, it didn't necessarily mean that they worked. What was the point of that anyway?

I waiting a minute before figuring that no one was coming to answer the door. Maybe they hadn't heard it. I knocked three times but again, no one answered. I remembered that there was no car in the driveway, maybe they weren't in. But Aria new I was coming around this morning. I thought. She wouldn't forget.

I tried the door handle to see if it was open, thinking that maybe Aria just couldn't get to the door. To my surprise the handle went down and the door creaked open. Popping my head inside I couldn't hear anything, I was just met by silence. Somehow it felt wrong just walking into someone's house without being asked, but never the less I did so. Its not like they weren't expecting me.

Upon entering the house I could see that it was just as pretty as the outside. it almost reminded me of my grandparent's old cottage. The ceiling at wooden beams around it and the floor was also made of wooden paneling. The walls were painted a cream colour and paintings hung up around them. I looked at couple. Some were of landscapes like farm cottages and the sea, and other's had old sayings painting on. Things like, 'Home is where the heart is' and 'People say a picture holds a thousand words, so lets make a story."

At the far end of the corridor there was a wooden staircase leading upstairs. Figuring that someone may be up there, I began to walk towards it, but stopped when I reached another door to my side.

The door was closed to but I listened in. I thought I had heard a sound.

I pressed my ear to the door and sure enough there was a faint sobbing sound. Sobbing?

Slowing I pushed it open and looked in. What I saw was a sad sight, no matter how hard your heart was. Aria was sat cross legged on the floor, a couple of inhalers scattered around her. From the angle I was stood she was sat sideways, facing the television which was currently on. I could see her tear stained face and her red eyes. She held her hands up to her face so they were covering her mouth, her shoulders shaking as she tried to suppress sobs and coughs. It was obviously that she was trying so hard not to be heard.

I unfrozen from the spot where I was stood. I slowly walked over to the crying girl, not wanting to move too fast in case I startled her. But I knew she knew I was there anyway. I placed the small box I was holding on the glass table to my left and knelt down in front of Aria, picking up the TV remote next to me and turning it off.

The front room wasn't that big, just big enough for one sofa which could hold two, maybe three people and a big arm chair. The glass coffee table had been pushed to the side, probably so Aria could do her treatments on the floor, and the were double doors which probably lead to the dining room. It was closed.

The girl in front of me did not look like the girl I had been laughing and joking around with last night. This girl looked small and fragile, like she may break at any moment, if she hadn't already.

I'd never seen her like this before. There was no smile on her face and as I looked in her eyes they were full of fear and panic.

"Calm down Aria." I said gently. "Shh, its okay. Come on you're hurting yourself." Aria's shoulders continued to shake and cried even harder, her coughing becoming stronger. It was obviously from her wide eyes and heaving chest that she was finding it hard to breathe.

I pulled her trembling hands away from her mouth and held them tightly. "Breathe sweetie." I instructed. My voice came across very calm and collected, even though inside I was panicking. What do I do? I thought. She can't breathe!

I let go of her right hand and with both of mine I place her left one on my chest, where my heart was. I prayed that it wasn't beating too fast.

"Breathe with me Aria." I told her. "That's it, good girl." I took deep breaths and saw her do the same. She began to calm down slightly, though she was having a hard time still. She tried to take in breaths but every time she did she started coughing and choking even harder. I knew from past experiences with her that when she was having an episode she need to take in long breaths so that she could cough properly. This wasn't happening though.

I gently stood up and help my friend up to, sitting us both on the big sofa. I picked up her inhalers that were on the floor as well. I held them in front of her, figuring she would know which one to use. Surely enough she picked one of them and I helped her to get the top off. I watched as she held it to her mouth and took long puffs, stopping every couple of seconds to cough. It seemed to help.

When I lived with my mother and father, I had a friend, Maisie, who was asthmatic. Sometimes she would have an asthma attack while I was with her. Thinking of this I decided to try out what used to help Maisie on Aria. I gently rubbed the smaller girls back in slow circles, allowing her to breathe in time with the movement of my hand. Once she had finished with her inhaler I lifted her arms up above her head. By doing this I was making her diaphragm bigger, meaning it would allow her to take in more air.

"I know this may seem strange," I began as I continued to rub her back, "But it'll will help you to breathe." Aria nodded and after a minute her coughing subsided completely. I let her arms down and stood up. "I'll get you a dink." I said. The truth was that I needed to get out of the room for a minute. What had just happened? She must have been crying before I got here about something and that had set her off. But what I kept think was What if I hadn't of come around? She would have been left by herself. She could of died.

I shook the thought out of my head. No, it doesn't matter what could have happened, it just matters that it didn't.

I found the kitchen and there was a glass left on the side. Filling it with water I brought it back into the living room. Aria had calm down now, even though her eyes were still bright red. She stared blankly at the black TV screen untill she heard me come back in.

I sat down next to her and gave her the drink. After taking a few sips she put the glass down on the table and turned to me. "Thanks." Was all she said.

"What happened?" I asked trying to keep the hysteria out of my voice. "Where are Chace and your dad?"

"They went out." Aria said simply, shrugging her shoulders. She looked miserable. "They went to Chace's performance about half an hour ago. He goes to a drama college. Wants to be an actor he said."

"And how long were you like that before I came in?" I asked worriedly.

Aria thought. "About twenty five minutes."

"What?!"

Aria immediately jumped which made me feel guilty. "Sorry." I apologized. Then I took her pale hands in mine. "Did something happen?"

Aria looked away and shook her head. I remembered the day before when I had done the same thing to Eve. I knew she was lying. "Sweetie you can talk to me. I'm here now and everything will be okay." I told her, making her look at me. My stomach was in knots.

Aria let out a sigh and a single tear fell down her cheek. "I'm scared Claire." She whispered. "I'm so so scared."

"Why are you scared?" I asked, moving slightly to get a better look at her.

"Because . . . no." She said and looked away again. "I don't want to say it."

I wiped away stray tears on my friends face and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why not Ari?" I asked. She was scaring me a little now. What could possibly be bothering her?

"Because if I say it out loud," She whispered. "It means its true."

I wasn't shocked by the statement. I knew what she meant. When my grandmother had died, I refused to listen to any conversation that included the word 'death' or 'gone', because I didn't want to listen to the truth. Sometimes, if your thoughts stay in your head you can try and convince yourself that it not true, but if you say them out loud, they have materialized and formed a life of their own. Nothing you can do will change them after that. Even to this day, if the memory of that terrible night begins to replay itself in my head, I refuse to watch and physically push it aside, hoping that one day I will forget it altogether and it will be like it never happened. Maybe.

"I know." I told her. I tucked a strand of her blonde her behind her ear. "But talking about it is the first step to feeling better."

"I'm going to die." Aria blurted out. Immediately she gasped and her hands flew out of mine and onto her mouth. Her eyes filled with tears and she leaned forward so that her head was by her knees. She tried to make herself as small as possible, the whole time holding back sobs as if she could magically take back the words she had just said.

"Aria." I said. "Shh, sweetie, its alright" I place my arms around her shoulders and held her close to me. She remained in a tight ball but I rocked her side to side.

My friends finally lets the sobs out. She came up from her position and allowed me to hug her normally, her blonde head on my chest and her arms wrapped tightly around my arm, which I was holding her with.

"I'm going to die." She repeated. "Nobody has said it but I know I am." More tears spilled out and I just continued to hold her.

"Aria, listen to me." The knot in my stomach tightened.

Aria chest began to heaved again and I stroked her hair in a comforting rhythm. For a minute I just let her cry, knowing that if I spoke she wouldn't hear me. The heart breaking sobs coming from the small girl in my arms indicated that she needed to just let all this hurt out.

When I detected a break in the crying I tried again. "Listen to me."

Aria's head came up slowly and she looked at me, waiting to hear an answer to all her problems.

"You are the bravest person I have ever met." I told her. "And living in Morganville, that's saying something. Nobody deserves life more than you do, you've been so strong and your positivity through everything life has thrown at you amazes me. I could never ever face any of the things you have with so much grace and hope." I paused to let it sink in.

When I continued, I made sure that every word of what I said was spoken loud and clear. "You're not alone Aria. You have so many people in your life who love you and want to help you." I smiled a sad smile. "You have Me, Shane, Eve, Michael, Chace, and even your dad to look out for you. You shouldn't have to suffer alone. No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you. You'll never have to worry about that."

I brushed away some tears that had begun to form in my own eyes. "I've been thinking a lot about death lately. I've wondered if it would be easier on everyone if it just came quicker. But I know that death comes to everyone at the right time. So you don't have to fear death." I paused and took a deep breath, trying to keep control as I said, "You just have to live life like everyday is your last. Because you never know when your time will come. And one day too late you will realise that you wasted your life being scared of something you can't change."

"You probably think I'm crazy." Aria muttered. "I mean, I've always had this stupid disease, you'd think I'd have gotten used to the idea of death by now."

"Who cares if you're crazy." I laughed. "Some of the best people are."

That made Aria giggle. "I guess you are right." She sighed. "Just some times it really hits home, you know? I've just never really talked about it to anyone before. Nobody ever understands."

"I understand." I said firmly. Because I did. "Why have you never talked to Chace about it? I'm sure he'd hate to think you were going through this by yourself."

Aria look down and began to play with her purple jumper. "It scares him." She told me quietly. "Sometimes when I walk past his bedroom door I hear him talking to God, praying for a cure." She sighed. "I want to talk to him about it, I really do but I'm scared that he'll break down into tears and I won't be able to comfort him" Aria looked up at me. "I don't want to make him sad."

"Oh Ari," I pulled her into another hug, comforting her once more. "I'm sure he would be more upset to think that you were too scared to talk to him. You need to. I can't always be there for you, but he can, and he would want to be. That's what big brothers are for."

"Girls?" I looked up and saw someone stood in the doorway. Chace. "Aria? What's wrong?"

I gently pushed Aria way and stood up. I leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Talk to him. I promise that you'll feel better once you do."

Aria nodded and, pleased with the answer, I walked towards the door, where Chace was stood looking very confused. To him I said, "She's going to need a treatment, but let her talk first."

I moved pasted him but before I could leave Aria called, "Claire? Thank you so much."

I turned around to look at her. She was wearing a sad smile. "Anytime." I told her. "Just remember, you can't beat death, but you can beat death in life." And with that, I turned and made my way out of the house, leaving Aria with her brother. Her dad was in the driveway and I smiled and waved.

Sitting down on the edge of the road I waited for my love to pick me up. I thought deeply about the conversation Aria and I had just had. It was deep, but it was good. I've been thinking the things Aria had actually talked about lately. Everybody could die at any moment, but some people, like us, are just more aware of it because we are constantly getting reminders.

I suddenly got a text message. It read:

Hey Claire, Just wanted to thank you again. Chace and I are gonna talk later when dad goes out. I'm nervous but I'm sure it'll be fine.
Don't know what I'd do without you.

P.s Thank you so much for the locket! I love it and I'm wearing it now x Tell the rest of the glass house gang thank you too!

I smiled to myself, sending a quick reply. I began to daydream, with my chin in the palm of my hand. I know that I thought death may be the answer to my problem, but if what happened this morning has taught me anything, its that no matter what, I have to keep fighting, for myself and for those I love.

And I'm going to fight hard.

'You can't beat death, but you can beat death in life.
And more often you learn to do it, the more light there will be.
Your life is your life, know it while you have it.' - Charles Bukowski