***Chapter 32***

**Jason's POV**

I felt sick, from what Aria had told me, Charles had tried to ruin her memories of me while she was down there. Had hurt her when she wouldn't choose him over me. I pulled her tighter to me, wanting to make sure that I wouldn't lose her again. Needing to keep her safe and here with me. We had stopped talking and she was now curled up next to me, breathing steady and muscles relaxed. I combed my fingers through her hair, as I thought about what she had told me.

The Charles that she had told me about, that didn't seem like the brother that I remembered. I closed my eyes, trying to remember more about him. It had been so long ago and I had tried to forget about it for so long that it all seemed blurry now. There were hints, where we were playing together, a little about seeing Ali as a baby and him being there. But the more I focused on them, the harder they were to grasp. They felt like a dream half the time anyway, the details blurred to where I wasn't sure if they had ever even happened. I gave a sigh, knowing that it was pointless to keep pushing for the memories.

I looked down at the girl in my arms, feeling that as long as she was safe, I could rest. I didn't have to worry about someone hurting her when she was with me. And watching her relax or reach for me when she was otherwise clearly distressed made me both nervous and proud. I smiled when I realized that she had fallen asleep, her hands clutching my shirt to keep me close to her. I know that she had said that she wasn't ready for a relationship, that she had freaked out at the thought of being more than friends. I had watched her spiral enough times in the short time that she'd been back to believe that. But still, I couldn't help the fact that I cared about her. I closed my eyes, loving the fact that she was here with me. I know I should have worried that someone would wonder where she was, that she shouldn't stay here tonight. No doubt her parents or one of the other girls would be worried about her. But I was so relaxed in this moment, able to close my eyes and know with absolute certainty that she was safe. That I let myself drift off to sleep.

The sound of a phone ringing pulled me from my warm haze. I reached over and grabbed the phone, hitting the answer function to shut it up. I was vaguely aware that my bed was warmer than normal, that there was a weight across my chest and a sweet scent filling the air, but I ignored it as I pressed the phone to my ear.

"Aria, where are you?" I heard Spencer's voice come over the phone, sounding panicked.

"Spencer?" I questioned, still half-asleep.

"Jason?" her tone had changed from panicked to confused. "Why are you answering Aria's phone? Is she with you?"

Aria. That explained the phone ringing in the middle of the night. I opened my eyes and looked down at the sleeping girl in my arms. Her face was peaceful as she continued to sleep. Her head was resting on my shoulder and one of her hands was loosely grasping my shirt. I almost wanted to let her continue sleeping, she looked so comfortable. Still I knew that she needed to get back to her house, and probably to Spencer since she was calling and looking for Aria.

"Jason?"

"Yeah, Spence. She's with me. One sec." I told her, putting the phone onto the night stand.

I shifted Aria slightly, trying to wake her up gently. I didn't want her to freak out in my arms when she woke up, or be disoriented. Making sure that her head was resting on the pillow, I carefully pulled my arm back out from beneath her. Then I pressed a kiss to her hair, needing to make the gesture before waking her, taking the moment of reassurance. I brushed her hair back, rubbing my thumb across her cheekbone and she gave a little moan. My heartbeat increased at the sound and I knew that I needed to wake her now.

"Aria, wake up." I told her gently, shifting again so that she was no longer wrapped in my arms.

She tensed at the movement, apparently beginning to wake up. I wasn't sure if I should be in the bed with her, or if that would freak her out. She didn't open her eyes, but she remained tense and I reached out, stroking her face once more. She flinched back, her face tightening in fear. I pulled my hand away from her, but she didn't relax. I wondered for a moment what had happened exactly that made her flinch back like this, if Charles had been there while she slept. I pushed that thought aside, not being able to handle it. I needed to stay in the moment right now.

"Aria, it's me. Spencer is on the phone, she's wondering where you are." I said, hoping that would get her to relax.

Earlier, there had been something that when she had frozen up against the wall had taken her out of the memory and her fear response. What that had been I couldn't tell, but I was hoping it was tied to what I had said. That had seemed the first moment she had started to come back. Hopefully I could do the same again. Maybe reminding her of things happening now would help.

She stayed still for a moment before her eyes opened slightly. After a moment, her entire body relaxed, as though she let out a breath she had been holding in. I reached over grabbing the phone from the nightstand and offering it to her. She took it, slowly moving to sit up in the bed.

"Hey, Spence. What's up?" her voice was slightly slurred from sleep and she was slow to move.

I slowly moved off of the bed, picking up the two mugs of full hot chocolate. I guess I hadn't needed to make them after all. I grabbed my phone off of the night stand, shoving it into my pocket before heading down the stairs, I knew that she would come down when she was ready and I didn't feel the need to eavesdrop on her and Spencer's conversation. I checked the time when I got to the kitchen, it was after midnight, no wonder Spencer was wondering where Aria was at. It was weird that I hadn't heard my dad come in, or Ali move around at all. There was usually some noise coming from her room, but I guess she had turned in early tonight. I checked out the window to see if my dad was home. But his car wasn't there, which I didn't understand, there was no way he was still at the office, he never stayed passed 9.

I shrugged, knowing there was nothing I could do about it. My dad and I weren't on the best of terms still; there was a cold war raging in the house. Ali and I didn't trust him, since he kept lying to us, while he got angry any time we tried to talk to him. It left us with very tense meals when we actually ate together, though that didn't happen often.

I went back into the kitchen and rinsed out the mugs before placing them in the dishwasher, not wanting to deal with the drama if I didn't do the dishes right away. Ali had gotten really domestic since she had been back, probably because she was basically confined to the house, as per my father's command. So anytime someone made a mess in the house, namely me, she did a great impression of our mom, the stunning combination of annoyed, admonishing, and martyrdom. Ali had learned a lot of her mannerisms, but I had honestly hoped the ability to induce a guilt trip with nothing more than a look and a sigh hadn't been one of them. I got the juice out of the fridge and poured myself a glass, wondering for a moment if I should pour one for Aria. She hadn't gotten the chance to touch the hot chocolate and the way that she was always shaking made me worry. But I didn't know how much longer she would be upstairs, or how much longer she would even be staying since Spencer had seemed so worried about her.

My question was answered barely a minute later, by the sound of Aria's footsteps coming down the stairs. I figured she would check in the kitchen for me, or at least come through here on her way out. Though I was hoping that she would say goodnight before she left. She appeared a moment after I had the thought, smiling when she saw me. I felt my heartbeat speed up a little at her reaction, she was truly beautiful when she smiled. It wiped the fear and cares from her face, if only for a moment.

"Hey, I need to head back over to Spencer's. She's staying over with me and I missed our meet up time." She told me, a slight blush on her cheeks when she said the last part. Neither of us had planned on falling asleep, but I didn't regret it.

"You want me to walk you over?" I asked, seeing her sling her purse over her shoulder.

"It's alright. I'll be fine." She said, shaking her head. "Thank you, for being here for me tonight."

I walked up to her, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into me. Then I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Anytime you need me. I'll be here for you."

She pulled back before leaning up and pressing a kiss to my cheek. I smiled at her as she said goodnight and walked out my door back over to Spencer's house. I watched her wave to the cop before cutting through the backyard, once she had faded into the shadows I stepped away from the window.

-Jason: Aria, text me when you and Spencer get in safe.-

I hoped she wouldn't see me as too overbearing, but I worried about her. Especially when she was out this late at night, even if she was just walking back to Spencer's. I grabbed my drink and headed into the family room, switching on the tv to a comedy show I liked. About ten minutes later, I got a text back from Aria that she and Spencer had made it in safely. I responded with a goodnight text before turning back to the show. I wasn't really tired, not since I had that little nap with Aria. So I settled in for a while. It was more than two episodes later when I heard the car pull up outside of the house. I checked my phone, it was almost 2 in the morning.

"Jason, you're up." My dad sounded shocked when he came in, he paused in the flurry of his momentum into the house and looking at him I could see how freaked out he was.

"What's going on?" I asked getting up from my seat.

He ran his hands through his hair again, obviously frustrated. But he wasn't running away, so that was at least something considering how things normally went when he and I tried to have a conversation.

"I'm taking your sister with me out of town. We'll be gone for a few days." He said, looking anxiously at the staircase. "Don't say anything to Alison, but Charles made contact. Threatening that we would pay."

He started heading for the stairs at that, obviously intending to get packed and grab Ali. I followed after, shocked that he was admitting this in the first place. "I want you to come with us, Jason. But I won't force you."

"Why would he threaten us? He's our brother." I argued, making up my mind that I wasn't leaving.

If Charles wanted to reach out to me, then I would be here. Besides that, I couldn't stand the thought of leaving Aria behind. After what she had admitted tonight, I knew I had to protect her. If Charles tried to contact me, I would convince him to turn himself over to the police.

"He's not right, Jason. He's dangerous." We had made it up to his room by now and he was throwing things into his overnight bag. "I told your sister, and now I'm telling you. We sent him away because he tried to kill Alison. I'm taking her away so that he can't get to her.

"Are you coming with us?" he asked, when he had his bag packed and pulled down an extra suitcase for Ali.

"No, I need to stay here." I told him.

He paused for a moment before breathing out a heavy sigh. Then he did something that he hadn't done in most of my living memory. At least not since I was a child. He pulled me into a hug before stepping away and grabbing the bag for Ali.

"Please stay away from him."

I wouldn't have this argument with him, he was letting me stay, something he wasn't letting Ali do. Maybe it was because I wasn't actually his son, or he didn't feel the same drive to protect me as he did Ali, but for once I was glad that she was getting special treatment over me. It meant that he might trust me enough to leave me on my own and take care of myself.

"I'll take care of the police while you're gone." I responded, offering that in place of an answer. "I'm gonna head to bed, take care of Ali."

He nodded before I left the room, heading into my bedroom and pulling off my shirt and pants before grabbing my pajama pants and laying down in the bed. It still smelled like Aria, something which almost made me want to sleep next to the bed so that her scent was preserved in the sheets. There was some commotion in the hall when he woke Ali up, it only took him a few minutes to pack a bag for her and get her moving down to the car. I closed my eyes when I heard them driving away. Ali would be safe if Charles decided to make contact. And I would be here. I fell asleep with the scent of Aria bringing thoughts of the tiny brunette to my mind.

***End Chapter***

Hope yall enjoyed this one. I've decided I like writing from Jason's perspective some, so you'll see some more of that. Let me know what ya think.