I fall onto my knees out of breath and gasp for air while toppling onto my side into the cold wet ground. It had been pouring out earlier, now just a drizzle but the pavement still leaked of moister. I had no ride home when I got done with the store and now it's almost completely dark. I went with the girls to pick up Hanna from the hospital after being cleared to go home from spending time at there for a week. She is doing well despite the broken leg and in a wheelchair, mainly seemed a little cranky when we dropped her off at home and helped her bring some things she needed into the living room, where she will be sleeping since she can't get up the stairs at the moment. So after I brought in the last few things she needed from her room she asked us to leave, not in the mood for company despite seeming scared. It was all over her face, the fact that the person who ran her over could still be out there. So on the way home I asked them to drop me off at the store to do some inventory and now I regret it, because once I locked up and turned to head home before the weather could get bad again a fist connected to my stomach hard, making me lose my breath before another fist connected to my jaw and I was down for the count.

I groan as my hands grasp onto the pain of where I was hit, gasping for the air that got knocked out of me. Laughs swarm me and my eyes slowly go upward till I see a group of kids staring down at me. Amber, her brother Tommy, and their two senior friends named Brock and Ellie. By the looks of it, the boys had nothing to do with those hits as they are standing above me, but more behind the girls who are both hovering over me completely.

"Four Eyes. Nice of you to drop into our fists." Amber laughs and nudges Ellie.

"Such a loser, Brant. I forgot how fun it is to knock you around." Ellie adds.

I glare slightly at all of them, but especially the two girls. Ellie, another person in Alison's back pocket and who happened to be Amber's best friend. From the two of them, Ellie scares me the most. Amber has always felt more like the backup whenever they were all together. Amber is the bigger of the two, Ellie being slim but tall and works out. She doesn't have as hard of a hit as Amber, but it's easy to tell that she knows what she is doing compared to the others who just swing without really aiming.

I take a breath, sitting up a bit and then manage to get to my feet painfully. "Guys come on. It's been a long day and I'm not up for putting effort into entertaining you."

They all just smirk and half laugh with amusement. "Cute." Ellie says, "Making it seem like you're the one who helps us have fun. Rather than us just enjoying it." She cracks her knuckles.

I back up a bit, hitting the wall of the store with one of my hands raised up in a 'please stop' motion while the other is still clutching my gut. I knew it was too good to be true that I hadn't been bothered by any of them since Noel's cabin party. I know for a fact that this is payback for Noel banning Amber and her goons from ever being invited to his parties again. He made it clear that anyone who picked on me was not welcome.

But then, as if a miracle happened something wizzes towards us and whacks Tommy on the back of his head, making him grunt from the hit and his hand goes to the spot he felt the pain. "Ow. What the fuck?"

This gets everyone else's attention as we all look at him, the girls having their backs to me now. Someone in dark clothing is standing in the middle of the street, a lamp shining down on them enough to see that they aren't moving. I can't tell who it is, but I notice there's something in this person's hand. That's when the dark figure hurls it towards us and the second object gets Amber in the nose.

"Ow!" She yells, grasping it right in her hands.

I take this as my cue to leave, tip-toeing away before they could notice and then haul ass, speeding down the block at a full paced run. I have no clue what happened but I don't stop till I reach The Brew, checking to see if they are behind me completely out of breath before walking inside. I try to keep my cool so no one inside notices that I'm hurt, ordering a coffee and then sitting down at the back of the cafe to hide away. My hand is gripping onto my sore stomach as I bring the other to my pocket to grab my phone to text someone to get me. That's when I notice there's a missed message from the same unknown number as the other times.

Completely confused I open it to see that it says, "I helped you. Now you owe me one."

I blink slowly, reading it a few times to make sure that I'm seeing this correctly. I don't like the sound of this anonymous person practically asking for a favor. But my thoughts are eventually distracted when I hear my name faintly and worriedly being called from across the room. My heart immediately sinks to my stomach, my head rising up to peel my eyes away from my phone. I know that voice.

"Aunt Ella." I say nervously, trying not to show any agonizing pain. But by the look on her face, it seems she may already know that I'm in bad shape. "I didn't know you were in this part of town on a non school day."

She softly smiles, seeming to humor my attempt of a conversation before walking over to sit next to me. "Needed a muffin." Her eyes are glued to mine, then her hands go to my hand holding onto my sore stomach. "I saw what they did."

My heart sinks even further, "W-What?"

"Those kids, Jessie."

"I-I…" I gulp slowly, not sure how to explain.

"I was across the street down the block, too stunned to scream out to you and then saw someone tossing rocks at them before everyone bolted." Her eyes are glued to mine but then shifts them away and her hand still on mine now pulls it away from my shirt to raise it up herself, just enough to see the bruising on my stomach. I haven't been able to check it yet, but by her soft gasp I know it's not good.

"Oh my God, Jessie." She touches wherever it probably looks the worst and it makes me flinch and hiss softly.

"I'm fine, Aun Ella." I pull my shirt back down, not even looking at it. "I play sports and skateboard. I've been through worse."

Her eyes land back on mine, the look in them is worried and scared. "You're telling me this happens often?"

I take a soft breath, not wanting to make her more worried. But I know I have no choice but to tell her at this point. "They don't like me very much."

She blinks in confusion, "How could anyone not like you? You're the sweetest."

I smile a bit, knowing she means well. "You know how high school is, Aunt Ella. There's always a group of people who like to pick on smaller kids." I keep my smile so she can see that I'm not letting it bring me down. I don't plan to say that Alison had anything to do with it. "Kids are cruel and I've learned to deal with it."

"You shouldn't have to deal with it though. This is assault."

I just shake my head gently, "I know. Which is why I don't let them get away with it. I stand up for myself, the way dad always told me to."

Now her face softly lights up at the mention of my dad and then smiles gently, "Joseph was always the best father when it came to helping you guys make sure that you knew how to defend yourselves."

I smile a bit more and nod in agreement, now upset that I'm thinking about my family. "I definitely miss him."

She nods slowly, rubbing my cheek in comfort with the back of her index finger. It even grazes my jaw a bit where they hit me and I know she's trying not to react to it. "I know. I miss him too."

I take a breath, my coffee still in hand. "Can you give me a ride home?" My eyes are to the ground now, thinking about everything at once and now needing to get out of here.

She watches me for a few long seconds in silence before saying, "How about you come to my apartment for a little bit. I'll make dinner and then take you back to your uncle's."

My heart sinks again, I know where this is going. "You wanna talk about the people who were bothering me."

She nods and stands, "A long talk about all this."

I groan a little bit, not liking the sound of that. "Please don't say anything, Aunt Ella. It'll get worse." If they find out that I said anything I'll be a bigger punching bag. But I of course won't voice that concern.

She shakes her head, "I don't plan to get involved. I know you can take care of yourself. I just want to know what's been going on. Your parents would not be happy that neither myself or your uncle noticed."

When we get to her place she helps me make sure that my injuries to the stomach and jaw are iced up and then she goes to make dinner. We talk about a lot of different things other than being bullied. The bullying is of course the main focus, but I reassure her to the best of my ability that I'm fine. I do tell her that they've been bothering me for years and no one really has known about it because I hide it from everyone. I definitely don't say that the girls know, because then Aria will get into trouble for not telling her or Uncle Byron. After this we just catch up and it feels really good to be able to. Since things with this anonymous person telling her about what Uncle Byron did, things haven't felt the same. Talking to either of them feels like strangers and I don't connect with them anymore because of their problems with his cheating.

...

As time passed things were mellow enough for a bit in Rosewood. I know, Rosewood feeling mellow made it seem like it was too good to be true. The only thing "thrilling" to happen was that Melissa's high school boyfriend moved back to Rosewood after leaving years ago for college and got back in touch with her. He is the coach for the high school field hockey team and since Spencer is one of his players he found out that Melissa is now single. So he popped up one day at their house to ask her out. She was hesitant of course 'cause he broke up with her and still being fresh out of a relationship with Wren she didn't know whether to go out with him. When she finally said yes they became thick as thieves. Melissa thanked Spencer for getting them back together that day when he came by. I was there when he knocked on the back door and she basically told him no before Spencer pulled her aside so she would take the chance. That's probably the best thing that has happened to this family because they rarely fight anymore. I know for a fact that I'm happy, because this allowed the family to actually bond over a good relationship and be on good terms with Spencer again.

But as if good things must come to an end for me weeks later I'm feeling overwhelmed while at work and it's a little hectic. I feel like I'm losing my mind when all day it's been a madhouse and I can not wait to get home. Once closing time comes, the freshman that works for me signs out from her shift just as Aria walks in because she's going to give me a ride home. This leads her to helping with last minute things. We organize some of the shelves and then sweep up the floor before heading to my office.

I sit behind the desk to double check a few things as she sits at the end of my desk, "So I heard you and Noel broke up." I say as I'm watching my computer, the way her breathing picks up for a second makes me know I hit a nerve.

"Yeah, we did." She says in a nonchalant kind of way with a shrug, but she looks a little off. "He thought I was cheating and I didn't like the accusations."

I stare at her for a second, giving a soft look. "For him to suggest you cheated after what you went through with your dad is pretty insensitive of him to even think of."

She half smiles and nods, "Boys. What can I say?"

I slightly laugh, shrugging. "I wouldn't know. Mine is too sweet to be real."

Now she laughs, and then smiles lovingly. "He really is. I agree. He's like a robot that was operated to be a good boyfriend."

I purse my lips a bit, "Don't joke. I'm half convinced with my luck that he is a robot."

She just smiles and shakes her head with a soft nudge to my arm, "You always feel like this when someone likes you."

"People rarely like me, Ria. That's why I'm usually skeptical when someone wants to date me."

She smiles at me, shaking her head again with a soft laugh. "Well now you have your knight and shining armor. Who we both know is going to dance the night away with you at the Dance-A-Thon next week."

As if I needed to hear this noise at almost closing time, the bell on the door to let me know whenever someone walks inside rings and I groan, because it's a good 5 minutes to 8 now and people do last minute runs all the time.

I stare at Aria, who gives me a gentle smile. "Go on. I'll wait here."

I sigh but smile back before I put my best "business voice" on as I call out from my office that I'd be right out and to look around for whatever needed.

Mind you, I did not expect to walk out and see who it is. My heart sinks so far into my stomach I'm convinced that it will fall out of my ass. This woman with olive skin, dark brown eyes, around my height, and is barely older than me is wearing a black leather jacket with combat boots. Her naturally brunette hair now dyed blond with blue tips is staring at me with a soft smile, seeming mixed between wanting to walk over to me and keeping her distance.

"Hello, my love." She says gently in Spanish.

I blink so hard at her that I'm half expecting her to be gone when my eyes open again. But no, she's still here. My mom's younger sister Katie. Not in the slightest did I expect her to be here in Rosewood. She hates it here almost as much as she hates me. I haven't seen anyone from either side of my family since the funeral. My grandparents from both sides are gone, but I didn't know my mom's parents because they died maybe a year after I was born, and my dad only had his mom to raise him because his father left when he was a kid. She died a few years ago. So it's mostly just my mom's sister, and my dad's twin sister and their older brother (plus all of their kids) that I know from New Jersey. Almost everyone else was always nonexistent in our lives. Just the rare moments of family events would I see anyone else outside of my aunts, uncle and cousins.

The funeral process was hell. Me being a minor I wasn't allowed to make any choices, including the one to have my family be buried in Rosewood. So instead they are in New Jersey because everyone else felt that mom and dad grew up there so it was only fair. But I felt that since they moved HERE and raised me and Jeff HERE it was only fair to keep our family together. This of course did not go well, them feeling they would have me live in New Jersey anyway since the people who were originally supposed to take me in were in Iceland at the time. Hence why the Hastings' got involved. Now I have no choice but to have the unlucky pleasure to drive over there when I want to visit the graves. So the fact she's here at all confuses me 100%. Almost everyone in this family despises me other than my cousin Bobby, who happens to be the son to my dad's sister Casey.

"Katie…" Is the only word that comes out of my mouth, not able to fully process this at all.

She half smiles, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I should have expected you wouldn't call me Titi anymore."

I grind my teeth a little. I grew up calling her Titi, which also means aunt in Spanish. But as time went by and her hatred towards me grew I started calling her Katie more and more. Katie is 10 years younger than my mom, and about 12 years older than me. Our close age has always made us butt heads when I was growing up, kind of like siblings. She was only 12 when I was born and at first it wasn't a problem because she absolutely adored me, but then she went through a rebel stage once she hit a couple years into college. I was between the ages of 6-11 at the time she was in college and things were noticeably getting different between us when she was about 20 years old. She started treating me like I was gum on the bottom of her shoe and didn't want anything to do with me. So when all hell broke loose when my parents and Jeff died I stopped calling her Titi all together, because that was the last straw on her treating me like I was nothing to her.

"You haven't felt like my Titi in a very long time. You just haven't realized it." I say this so calmly it's scary, because she always made me afraid of her throughout the years she changed and it almost feels like no time has passed at all.

She smiles a little, her face kind of slacking and looking a little taken back. Taken back was never her style, so even that confuses me. "I know I haven't been the best person in your life, especially when you needed me the most. But I want to make up for it."

I blink slowly at her, wanting to kick her out, wanting to even yell at her for all the years of feeling like nothing. But I'm so exhausted at this point that I don't have the energy to. "I don't even care for your excuses or trying to reconcile things between us anymore, Katie. I just want to close up the store and go home."

I start to walk closer, keeping my distance enough to avoid her, and she doesn't make a big attempt to stop me. The only thing she does is slightly step towards me when I walk around her, following my steps with her eyes as I head to the door to usher her out. Then she sighs when I hold open the door, making the point to leave and she just nods before walking towards it. I see movement behind her when she moves and notice Aria is staring our way from the hallway that the office is, her eyes widen in shock.

I give her a soft look to not panic and then look back at Katie as she walks out the door. When she gets outside she turns back to look at me, "I'm going to be in Philadelphia for the week. I have some things to do there. So I'll be around if you need anything."

I don't pay too much mind to her offer, but I humor her when I give a quick, not so caring nod, "Okay."

She gently smiles before turning on her heels and walks off towards her car. I haven't seen that piece of junk in a while.