I do not own Pretty Little Liars.

Belongs to Sara Shepard and Abc Family.

The ride was too quiet if I'm being honest. Arias personality is so hyped up that I didn't know how to feel about it. Not even the radio was on, and that was always the first thing she would do as soon as we'd get into the car. But no, not even that happened. I think I over did it this time. In the mindset she's in right now with everything that's going on with her parents, she's very sensitive.

I pull up to the Hastings place. "Uh." I start.

She slowly takes her eyes off the window to look at me. They were blood shot red. It was obvious she'd been crying.

"Do you want to come in or stay in the car?"

It takes her a minute to answer. Like she was processing what was going on. "I'll come in."

I nod. "Kay."

She follows me through the gates to head into the yard and catches sight of the barn, freezing in her place. I always forget that the last time she saw Ali they were here having a sleep over in the barn when she went missing.

I put my hand on her shoulder and she freaks. "Chill Aria. It's just me."

Her eyes had a mixture of fear and sadness at the same time as her eyes popped out of her head. Then she calms down and they went right back to the depressed look she's had for days.

"Come on." I grab her hand and pull her along.

No one seemed to be home, which is fine by me. We then head up the stairs and enter mine/Spencer's room. Her room was big but not big enough to fit us both. Not with the dresser, bookshelves, desk and her bed (that was sticking out towards the middle of the room) in the way. Her parents had squeezed an extra twin mattress onto the floor by one of the windows near her bed. I was literally in between that wall where the window was and Spencer's bed, so there was no floor space for me to walk. I had to jump from Spencer's bed to mine because I have my mini TV at the bottom end of the mattress set on the floor with my Xbox 360 and PS2 scattered around anywhere I could find space. Over on the windowsill were all my DVDs and video games stored in a cardboard box. When I was in Melissa's room this wasn't a problem. I mean I had to take a lot of the stuff from the old house and put it in storage till I could get my own place but I knew I would have the space for those so I kept them with me. Now I have no space for even myself.

"Jessie."

I turn to her from the dresser I shared with Spencer. "Yea?" I say a little surprised to hear her speak.

"This is crazy."

"What is?" I raise an eyebrow.

"They have you in the corner of the room like you're a rag doll."

"That's a weird comparison Aria." I start to smile.

"Jessie seriously." My smile fades. "It's like they just stuck you in here because they had no choice."

I wanted to say they didn't have a choice but we both knew that they had options for me to have my own room. "Don't blame Spencer."

She shakes her head. "I'm not." I was now slipping into my pjs. I was so done with this dress. "But you have to do something about this. It's dangerous."

"You know as well as I do that Veronica and Peter don't listen to a word me or Spencer say. And even if they did you'd have to get Queen Melissa to get over her Wrenphobia to let me have back that room."

She starts to smile. "Wrenphobia. Seriously?"

I laugh, pulling my hair back into a ponytail. "Thought of it myself."

"I had no idea."

I smile.

"Why couldn't you just share Spencer's bed? It's big enough for both of you. What was the point on forcing a mattress in here?"

I start looking around the room. "I chose the mattress." Then I walk over to the closet.

"Why?"

"I didn't want to take up her bed. It's big enough yes but I didn't want to invade her space." I put an annoyed face. "Where the hell are my sneakers."

"You know Spence wouldn't have cared."

"I know but I'm fine with this arrangement." She gives me a look. "For now."

She half smiles. "Well I have an idea."

"Okay?" I walk over to Spencer's bed and look under it.

"See if mom and dad..."

"Ah ha!" I crawl under and pull out my high tops. "Found them."

"Jessie?"

"Hm?" I say as I get up.

"Let's see if mom and dad would take you in."

That took me off guard, so in the shock of it I drop my sneakers onto my toes. "Ow!" I sit on the bed and rub my foot. "Shit."

I look at her as she sits next to me. "Don't say no."

"Ria..."

"Please?"

"I just...I don't want to intrude. It's not fair to you guys."

"Jessie. Mom and dad were supposed to be your Guardians anyway. We just weren't around at the time."

I occupy myself with putting on my sneakers. "Again I'm..."

"Stop. It's okay."

I half smile as I tie my laces.

"Just think about it?"

"You know it would be the same thing at your house. There's no space for me."

"You can share..."

I shake my head. "Your bed isn't big enough."

"We share my bed every time you sleep over."

"It's one thing to share for a night or two. It's another if I move in." She starts to open her mouth. "But like I said before, space isn't something I like to invade."

"Jessie, we stuck ourselves in a trunk while playing hide and seek." I start laughing. "I think sharing a decent sized bed will be less of a fight over who is squishing who."

"Yea. Well back then I didn't have a problem with feeling squished. So won't be sticking myself into trunks anymore."

"You mean being claustophobic."

"Is having panic attacks while in tight spaces being claustophobic?"

She nods. "Yea. I'd say so."

I start to nod as it got quiet.

"But my point is that you should consider moving in with us."

"Maybe."

"Look."

I watch her.

"You're miserable here. They adopted you but treat you the same as they do their own kids. Trying to make you someone you're not and bribing you to change your attitude? That's not how things should work and the only reason why you tolerate it is because of Spencer. If she wasn't around you would have found your own place a long time ago."

"But..."

"No." She takes a breath, shaking her head. "Why stay with a family where the ones who are supposed to be your adult figures and protect you are the ones ignoring you. Especially when you are still grieving."

"I'm not grieving." She gives me a look. "I'm not!"

"Then what would you call it?"

"Trying to deal with not having them around."

"It's the same thing."

"No it's not."

"You snap at people when you're angry. You're sensitive talking about them...and you still break down randomly."

I give her a look. "The only person I break down in front of is..."

"Spencer." She nods in agreement. "She's my friend too you know."

I give the -_- face. "I should swear her to secrecy."

"And what good is that?"

"I don't need the entire town knowing my business."

"I'm not the town Jessie. I'm your best friend."

"I know. But you have your own stuff to worry about."

"Doesn't mean I don't have time for yours."

"Just don't like sharing when I don't have to."

"When it comes to stuff like this I think is something you should be willing to share. No matter what the reason is behind why you don't want to or why you feel you shouldn't."

I watch her for awhile. Her concerned eyes were sparkling in the light. Somehow she managed to turn off her feelings about what's going on with her and turned this around for me. Why does she always have to do that? Why can't I be the one to comfort her and be there for her?

"How did you grow up so fast?"

She laughs. "That's life."

I half smile.

"And again... we're the same age." I hold back a smile. "You act like just because you're two weeks older that it makes you an old fart." We both start cracking up.

"I've just always felt protective of you. Like a sister."

She smiles. "We've always been close enough to be sisters. So that's understandable. But remember that I'm just as protective as you are. So don't put all your energy into keeping me safe and happy when you're going through a lot too."

"Then can I punch people?"

"No!" I laugh. "It's not funny..."

My smile slowly fades away, she wasn't joking.

"I was kidding."

She shakes her head. "No you weren't. I've helped hold you back from hitting someone." She watches me. "You've changed so much. I get why you did but taking it out on the people who are bothering you in that way is not a smart move."

"So you want me to just stand there and take their shit?"

"You take it or you deal with it. Just not in violence. It's going to backfire one day."

"Talking back to them backfires too but you don't seem to tell me not to do that."

She gives me a look. "I have tried that. You just don't listen."

I get up and go grab the backpack I usually use for sleepovers. "Let's go." I start walking towards the door but by her face I knew she was probably not going to let it go for long.

When we got back to her house we noticed the house was dark. I mean it was ten at night but it's not usually empty.

Your parents went out?"

She shrugs. "Who knows. No one tells me anything." She gets out of the car and heads towards the front door.

I grab my bag from the back seat, get out and follow her up the steps. When we get inside, the light from the staircase that leads to the second floor was on. No one was in the kitchen and no one in the living room. But if you looked down the hallway you could just make out a bit of light shinning through. The family room seemed to be in use as the faintness of the flickering TV was visible from the study.

"Probably dad."

"Should we..." But before I could finish we hear footsteps coming from upstairs.

The stairs start to creek and Aunt Ella comes into view. When she catches sight of us she jumps so high she almost fell down the stairs. "Jesus...why don't you guys clear your throats or something."

"Sorry." We both say as we try not to laugh.

"My goodness." She gets down the last steps, still trying to catch her breath from the sudden scare and heads to the kitchen. "You two always walk so lightly. Never know when you come in." She gets to the fridge. "How was the dance?"

We look at each other. "It was okay." I say.

"Just okay?" She turns back to us. Her eyes traveled towards the hallway. Turning our heads Uncle Byron was standing there. He looked like a zombie.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing Byron." Aunt Ella says. Her voice sounded far away as she said it, which of course was weird since she was standing right there.

"Why are you girls home so early?"

"It's not that early dad."

He looks at his watch. "It's barley after ten. The dance was supposed to end at this time."

"Got bored." I say.

He nods. "Well since you are in your pajamas I'll assume you already got your stuff."

I nod. "Mhm."

It gets quiet. I still can't get used to this awkwardness their lives are starting to turn into. They were the ones always hyper and almost never stopped talking. They always had something new to tell me whenever I walked through that door. But it didn't seem like that would be happening anymore.

"So..." Aria says. "We'll be going upstairs." We turn to leave.

"Actually." Aunt Ella says.

"There was something we needed to talk to you about." Uncle Byron finishes.

"Who?" We both say.

They look at each other. It was the same look they had just before Uncle Byron asked if I was sleeping over. "Both of you." They say.

I don't know why but my stomach did a summersault. They weren't making it noticeable if it was going to be a good talk or a bad one. I'm kind of afraid to find out but I followed them to the living room anyway.