**Chapter 13**

***Aria's POV***

I was already pulled up outside of the school when it hit me that showing up to school to hang out with a counselor when I was playing hooky might be a bad idea. Sure, I hadn't told Jason that I was going to come by so he wouldn't wonder if I didn't come in. But I wanted to see him nonetheless. Figuring I could see a counselor without having to attend class or interact with other students, I grabbed my bag and headed out of my car and towards the school. Walking through the doors into the school was strange, I felt like it had been so long since I had stepped foot in here that I no longer belonged. It was only a month and a half, I thought, shaking the feeling from my mind. I took a deep breath and continued down the hall, glad that the classes were currently in session and there weren't any of my classmates in the halls. The door to Jason's counseling office was open, signaling that he wasn't in a session with a student. Still, I knocked softly on the door to ensure that it was safe to bother him.

"Come in." Jason called, sounding distracted.

I walked through the door, closing it behind me. Jason was searching through his desk, apparently looking for a paper. I smiled at the sight, his hair had fallen down around his face and he seemed so focused on the hunt that he hadn't looked up to see who came in. After a moment, he pulled free a paper, looking victorious and grinning. I giggled at the sight, he looked up at the sound, seeming to remember that someone had come in. He smiled when he saw me, putting the paper that he had searched for on top of the other papers.

"You came." He stated, sounding surprised.

"Well, I was the reason for your boredom after all. I figured I should help solve that problem." I explained, taking a step towards him.

He noticed my step and moved around the desk, he pulled me into a hug and I sighed at the warmth of the embrace. I smiled against his chest, the feeling of the tie against my face was a weird new addition to his hugs. Though I had to admit, I did like how he looked in the tight fitting button down and tie, it was a good look on him. He pulled back, brushing my hair back behind my ear.

"So, what have you been up to today?" I asked, stepping back a bit.

"Not much, only had a few students today. I was trying to find some papers, but my desk isn't the most organized." He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.

I patted his chest before moving past him and beginning to organize the papers on his desk. Putting them into neat piles which he would need to go through later and putting aside the adverts and business cards in their own stack.

"Aria, you don't need to organize it for me." He said, coming over to stand behind me, reaching out to grab my hand. I tensed slightly when I first caught sight of him in my peripheral vision, but relaxed when he seemed to radiate warmth on my back.

"Jason, your desk is a disaster. I'm not doing anything else today. So I can help with this." I gave a smile. "Besides, how can you function with this messy a desk?"

I glanced up from my stacking to see him rub bashfully at the back of his neck. He gave a slight smile which widened when he saw me smiling back at him. I think he realized that I was just teasing him and didn't mean anything by the comment.

"My desk at my other office is much cleaner, I'm just never here it seems." He admitted, taking the first stack of papers that I had ready for him to go through.

"How are things at the real estate office with your dad?" I inquired, wondering how it was going. I knew that this was what he had wanted to do and so the fact that he was splitting time back and forth between the two seemed slightly odd.

"It's alright. Real busy. So I need to be there a lot of the time. Doesn't leave a lot of extra time for counseling here." He responded.

"Do you like it though?" I had to ask, tossing an empty water bottle into the recycling can in the corner.

He was quiet for a minute, I glanced up to see him frozen in his sorting. His face ranged between wanting to answer and concentration; I wondered if anyone had asked him that question. Finally he gave a sigh before looking up to meet my gaze, his eyes showing just how conflicted he was and my heart ached in empathy.

"It's not bad, but it's not what I want to do with my life." He finally conceded after another moment.

"Then why do it?"

He looked startled at my question, I know that he must have felt a familial duty, but he should do what makes him happy. I wasn't sure why, but it hurt to see him suffering like this. It was strange, we hadn't been super close before I was taken, especially not since Ali came back from the dead, but now that he had reached out to me, I felt a pull towards him. And if I was being honest with myself, he had been on my mind a lot while I was taken, little things that had happened had reminded me of good memories that I had of him. I looked down, suddenly feeling the urge to break down crying at the realization that many of those happy memories of him were tainted. My hand went to my hair, the length still felt strange as it had been longer for so long. I could feel where I had colored my hair to the hot pink, there was still some slight damage to the strands there from the bleach, so even with the hair colored brown again I could still tell where it was. My vision was blurring from unshed tears and a shiver passed through my body, reminding me just how cold I was. I wanted to make new memories that would be free from the silo, untouched by Charles.

"You know, you're the first person to ask me that?" he moved over to me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into a hug as though he could sense that I was nearing my breaking point.

My hands fell away from my hair and I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face against his chest, hiding the tears that threatened to flow down my face. I shook slightly against his chest, but slowly his heat sunk into me taking away the bitter cold that encased me. His fingers twined through my hair, causing me to sigh at the soothing sensation. I relaxed in his arms for a few moments, before realizing that it would only make it more clear that I was still broken, normal people didn't need to be held by their friend's older brother. I stopped pulling away from him when I realized how I had just described him, even in my own head. I furrowed my brow, that he was only that. Determined, I pulled back and gave him a warm smile. I would work on being normal again. But I decided then, Jason wouldn't just be Ali's older brother. He was my friend too. Even if I had been Ali's friend first.

He seemed reluctant to pull away from me, seeming as though the hug was more for him than it was for me. Maybe he hadn't noticed that I was about to fall apart. I turned back to the desk, finishing clearing up all the papers and tossing his pens back into the cup, how could he use so many pens? He moved back over to his pile of papers, sifting through them mindlessly.

"I think for now, I'm gonna keep working at the real estate office. Help my dad get used to it. Then in a few years, when everything's settled, then I'll go back to counseling full time."

Having cleared his desk, I hopped up, taking a seat right in the middle of the now clean space. I watched him work, entertained by his facial expressions as he sorted through the papers. I felt a smile grow on my face as I realized what an open book he was. He finished the stack that he was working on and looked up, seeing me sitting on his desk.

"So that's the real reason you wanted me to clear off my desk." He teased coming over to stand in front of me.

I smiled up at him, enjoying the warmth that radiated out from around him. I gave a sigh when he brushed a lock of hair behind my ear.

"No, but it's definitely a benefit." I responded after a moment.

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when I gave a shiver. I glanced away from his inquiring gaze, not wanting to talk about why I was so cold when the room was warm. He stepped back, probably thinking that I was afraid of having him so close. I closed my eyes, letting my hair fall over my face.

"Do you wanna get lunch? My hours here are just about over and I doubt I'm gonna have another student come in within the next twenty minutes." He said clearing his throat.

I took a breath before looking up and giving him a smile. There was a hint of concern on his face and I was grateful that he didn't ask if I was okay. I knew that it was awkward for people being around me, like they were walking on eggshells. But it felt a million times worse to have them dancing around, acting like I was broken. At least his pretending that I wasn't falling apart made me feel less like I was.

"Lunch sounds great."

"How does the Grill sound? Or if you like we can go to that Thai place downtown?" Jason suggested, grabbing his jacket from the hook behind the door.

I wondered for a moment why he had brought it to the school this morning, especially considering how sunny outside it was lately. Though I suppose there were some clouds this morning. He paused at the door, waiting for me to come near.

"The Grill sounds fine." I assured, coming up next to him at the door.

I was just about to walk through the door, when he stopped me. He wrapped his jacket around me, silently letting me know that he had seen my shiver. I smiled when his scent encased me, the jacket beginning to warm me up as soon as he put it around my shoulders. I could feel warmth spread across my cheeks; I looked down hiding the blush from him. I stepped out of his office, pausing for a moment for him. He came up next to me, reaching out and taking my hand. His hand was rough and warm, but the sensation felt wonderful on my icy hand. I couldn't help the smile as we walked out of the school. While I was glad that classes were in session, that there were no students out in the halls, it still felt great to be able to walk through the halls in the open like this. He walked me out to my car, stopping at my driver's side door.

"I'll meet you at the Grill." He promised, giving me a smile.

I moved to take off his jacket, but he put his hand on my shoulder, stopping the movement. "Hang on to it."

He waited until I had gotten into my car and started the engine before moving over to where his car was parked. I turned the heater on, enjoying the extra warmth it brought me, even if I was still wearing Jason's jacket.

**End Chapter**

Hey, sorry about the lack of update last week. Things got a little crazy in real life. I hope you enjoy.