***Chapter 24***
**Aria's POV**
I crashed with Mike that night, it was harder to sleep without the anti-anxiety pills but I was grateful that I had dumped them out. Mike's alarm had gone off a few minutes ago, and though he had hit the snooze button I couldn't fall back asleep. Climbing out from underneath the warm covers sent a shiver up my spine, but I couldn't climb back under. I wrinkled my nose as the smell of dirty laundry rose up from the piles of clothes on the floor. I headed back to my room, grabbing my phone and tucking it into the pocket of my pajama pants. I swung by my room to grab a hoodie before brushing my teeth and heading downstairs. I rubbed self-consciously at my neck, knowing that there were still lingering marks there and that they weren't covered up by concealer like they usually were. My phone chirped as I set the kettle on to boil.
-Jason: Sorry about last night. You up for coffee this morning?-
I perched on the stool next to the counter, staring hesitantly down at my phone. I wanted to see Jason, being with him usually made me feel better, but after last night I didn't know if he would still give me that same sensation or if I would just be freaking out the whole time. I looked around at the walls of the kitchen, even though the room was open and airy I could still feel the confinement radiating off of them. Since my little stunt of not answering my phone or being at the photo lab, my dad's rules had been incredibly strict and going out to coffee with Jason might be one of my few chances to get out of the house today.
-Aria: Sure, what time?-
The kettle was whistling by the time that Jason texted me back with a time. I still had more than an hour until he wanted to meet up, this morning I had slept in later than any of the other days. I set my tea to steep before replying that it worked for me and that I would see him then. I heard Mike moving around upstairs and I only hoped that he would take a fast shower, since we shared a bathroom.
"Morning." Mike muttered as he walked into the kitchen, he had thrown a hoodie on over the shirt that he had slept in.
"Morning, aren't you going to shower?" I asked, watching as he moved straight for the coffee machine which my dad had set to brew automatically in the mornings.
"Nah, I showered last night before bed." He responded as he went about fixing his coffee.
"Since when do you shower at night?" I questioned, he had always showered in the morning, it was how he woke up in the mornings. His morning routine hadn't changed at all in the last five years, so I didn't understand why he was suddenly switching it up now.
"Just the past few nights." He replied, taking a drink from his coffee mug.
I frowned at his response, before realizing that it was perfectly timed to his wearing a tank top to sleep in. He had changed his habits to make me more comfortable if I was crashing in with him that night. I felt my throat tighten that he was doing so much for me. I got up from the counter and moved over, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug.
"Thank you."
He wrapped his arms around me before giving me a squeeze and taking a step back. He grabbed his coffee cup off of the counter before heading upstairs. Even though he didn't want to talk about it, I was incredibly grateful that he was being such an amazing brother through all of this. I wiped at a tear which had slid down my cheek as I thought about how grateful I was for Mike. I finished brewing my tea before emptying the basket and taking a few drinks of the hot liquid before taking it upstairs with me. I grabbed my shower things as I finished off my tea.
I dressed in a pair of bell-bottom jeans that I had picked up at a vintage shop and a pink flowy tank top. I was going to try and act normal, even though I knew that I would get cold. I looked at my face and neck in the mirror, making sure that even though I was showing more skin, the bruises were still covered. I'd worn fuzzy socks under my boots, wanting the extra little bit of comfort for the day. I grabbed Jason's jacket and pulled it on over my outfit.
"Hey, where are you going?" my dad asked as I walked downstairs. He was still wearing his pajamas and robe with a cup of coffee in his hands.
"I'm going to coffee with Jason again." I told him with a smile.
"Oh, I thought you were going to come to Hollis with me again today." He commented.
"Yeah, I am. I'll be back before we need to leave." I assured before heading out to my car with only a short stop off at the cop in the squad car.
My hands were shaking slightly by the time that I parked near the Brew. I couldn't believe I was that nervous about seeing Jason again. I grabbed my purse and tugged his jacket in tighter around me before heading into the coffee shop. Jason was already there when I walked in, sitting at a table with two mugs of coffee in front of him along with a cinnamon roll and a muffin. I smiled when I walked up and took the seat opposite him.
"So which one is mine?" I asked, pointing at the pastries that were both placed evenly in the middle of the small table.
"Whichever one you want." He replied with a smile.
I looked at him and all the nerves and fear washed away. Maybe we wouldn't have to be awkward after my freak-out last night. I picked the cinnamon roll and pulled it in front of me and I noticed the grin that spread across Jason's face when I did so.
"I thought you would like that one, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure so I got the muffin too." He explained at my look.
"You didn't have to do this." I told him, somewhat uncomfortable that he was spending so much of his time thinking about what I would want.
"I know." he said, taking a drink from his coffee.
I took a drink of mine and sighed at the taste of the latte. I leaned back in my chair, relaxing at how normal this whole thing was. I took a bite of my cinnamon roll and had to admit that the new baker here was awesome, it was a change that I was glad to come back to.
"I'm sorry, about last night. I shouldn't have pushed." Jason said, breaking the silence that had settled between us. "I just hate seeing you hurting."
I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable with the topic being brought up in public like this. I didn't want to break down here.
"It's not your fault, Jason. I just realized how damaged I am." I said, looking down into my cup to avoid eye contact.
"You aren't damaged." He rebutted, making me look at him rather than the liquid in my mug.
He said it with such conviction that I almost wanted to believe him. But he didn't know the truth, didn't understand why I flinched away when someone moved too quickly. Didn't know that I couldn't sleep through the night on my own. That I was always freezing. The way that he looked at me in this moment though, made me want him to never see the truth.
I dropped my eyes back to my drink, before taking a drink. I wanted this conversation to end so badly. I couldn't respond to what Jason said without him actually seeing just how broken I was. He must have understood my silence, since he just gave me a reassuring smile before picking at his muffin.
"So what are you doing today?" he questioned, changing the subject.
"Just doing some school work at my dad's office. The school is letting me finish all of my assignments away from school, so I need to get caught up."
"Ali is doing the same thing. She hasn't been back to school since she was released." He informed me.
"So you're spending more time at the high school than your sister?" I teased to which he gave a short laugh.
"Yeah, I guess I am. Though I haven't been at the school in a few days." He admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck.
After the tension of the beginning of our meeting, we went back and forth rather easily. I finished my coffee and most of my cinnamon roll, as Jason had snagged some of mine, before my alarm sounded letting me know that I needed to get going in order to go with my dad to Hollis. Jason helped me clear up our plates and we dropped them in the bussing station before walking out to our cars.
"I'll talk to you later?" I said when we reached where my car was parked.
"Definitely." Jason replied, pulling me into a hug before whispering. "You look good in my jacket, by the way."
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and I pulled back, blushing slightly but the warmth felt wonderful after the cold which had filled me for so long. I shifted slightly in his warm jacket before moving over to my door. He waited on the sidewalk until after I had shifted into gear and began driving away. I got back to the house and went inside, heading into my dad's office where he was typing away at his computer.
"Hey, how's it going?" I asked when I walked in.
He looked up, apparently so engrossed in his work that he hadn't noticed me coming in. He smiled when he saw me, before pushing a few more keys and turning his attention to me. "Pretty good, just finished up with the last of my emails. Mike brought your work from school." He told me, indicating a fairly large stack of books and papers that were on the corner of his desk.
"Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do." I half-laughed, though honestly the amount of work there made me a little nervous about getting it all done before commencement.
"Thankfully, you still have more than a month left to do it all."
I gave a nod before grabbing the heavy stack and heading up to my room. I would sort through it and try to tackle it one subject at a time. I placed the stack on my desk and immediately began sorting it into piles. It looked like math was by far the biggest stack of assignments, as there were more than 20 worksheets as well as the list of workbook pages. I grimaced at that pile before grabbing the significantly shorter English stack which had two books included in it. I figured that would take almost as much time as the math, so I'd start with that. I checked the assignment schedule and grabbed the work for the first week before grabbing the first week of history as well. That should be more than enough for today, I wouldn't be going through that fast.
"Ready to go?" my dad asked when I came downstairs, my school bag heavy with my assignments.
"Yep."
***End Chapter***
