***Chapter 34***

**Aria's POV**

Spencer was a restless bedmate, I should have remembered from sleepovers in the past. But I couldn't sleep when she was moving around trying to get comfortable. Her hair was tied back in a pony tail, so it only hit me across the face once as she tossed and turned. Eventually, when I knew for sure that she was asleep. I got up from the bed, curling up on the chair with Jason's coat wrapped around my shoulders and a blanket covering my legs. I cradled my phone between my hands contemplating texting Jason, but it was nearly 4 in the morning and I didn't want to wake him up. Or feel the disappointment when I realized that he wouldn't answer since it was so late. I buried my face into the collar of the jacket and tried to relax. It helped somewhat but I still barely slept that night, just dozing lightly in the chair.

"What are you doing on the chair?" Spencer asked when she woke up around five bringing me out of the light sleep I had managed.

"I couldn't sleep." I justified, shrugging my shoulders. "You want the first shower?"

She looked at me for a moment clearly contemplating me, before shaking her head. "No, you can have it. I need some coffee first."

My eyes widened at her words, Spencer coffee was intense and while it would definitely help with keeping me awake after my mostly sleepless night, it was also like drinking straight rocket fuel. I let out a sigh, knowing that I could tolerate the coffee and that I really did need that shower to look and feel even somewhat human. I nodded and she took that as enough confirmation as she shuffled out of bed and down the stairs to the kitchen. I rubbed tiredly at my eyes before grabbing my robe and heading into the bathroom. There were still traces of my makeup from last night, covering up the last of the scabs around the sides of my throat. I knew I would need to cover them up in the bathroom before Spencer could see me. I had gotten close to telling Spencer about what happened last night, but I couldn't stand it. I didn't want her to know. Maybe it was that didn't want her to feel bad for me, or like what she went through wasn't as awful. But if I was being honest with myself, it was more that I didn't want to have to admit it. As long as I kept it buried and secret, despite the police knowing, I could pretend that it hadn't happened. It was one of the foundations I was building the strong wall between before and after the dollhouse in my mind. Trying to lock away any of the memories so that I could continue to function and go about my life. I barely even noticed that I was shaking when I reached for the shower curtain to climb in.

After scalding my skin with the hottest water I could stand, I quickly dressed, making sure that my makeup covered any marks still remaining on my face and neck, though thankfully all my bruises were fading to the sickly yellow proclaiming them nearly healed. Spencer was still down in the kitchen, rather than having come back upstairs so I went down, finding her looking through the fridge for something to eat.

"Did you let Ali know we're going to meet with Leslie?" I asked, moving towards the coffee pot and pouring half a mug before grabbing the flavored creamer from the fridge and mixing it into my cup. It was more than I would normally use, but would also help to cool it down enough for me to drink.

"I texted her, but I haven't gotten a response yet." She returned, closing the fridge after placing the creamer back inside. "Don't you have anything to eat for breakfast? What happened to that tofu bacon you used to keep?"

"It made me sick." I responded, taking a drink of coffee.

"Alright, would you be able to drop me off at my place? That way I can get some fresh clothes before meeting at Mona's. And maybe some real breakfast."

"Yeah, no problem. You ready to go now?" I questioned, thinking that maybe I should put my coffee in the travel mug if I was going to be driving her right away.

"No, we can wait a few minutes. Let you finish your coffee. I don't know how safe you are driving before your caffeine." She teased, making me roll my eyes.

"Hey, I'm not that bad without coffee." I tried to defend but she just laughed.

" I didn't know you were having so much trouble sleeping." Spencer shifted the topic slightly while I took a drink, causing me to wince into the mug.

"Some nights are worse than others. Sometimes I forget that I'm not in that place. It takes me a moment to remember that we made it out of there." I admitted, looking down into my coffee.

I didn't want to see Spencer's face as the silence settled around us. It was another one of those things that I was ashamed of. How badly I was holding up, particularly at night when I was in my room. Strangely, I had been able to relax and fall asleep with Jason in his room last night, just like I had been able to sleep in Mike's room. Despite there being another person there, I felt safe in a way that I just didn't in my own bed.

"I'm sorry, we should have slept downstairs last night." Spencer broke the quiet.

"No, it's fine. I need to get used to it. I can't avoid my room forever." I replied with a shrug. "You ready to go?"

I rinsed out my empty coffee mug before turning back to Spencer who was now standing next to the counter. She grabbed her purse, which was set on one of the chairs, apparently she had brought it down while I was in the shower.

"Yeah, have you gotten anything back from Ali? I've called her half a dozen times and she's not picking up."

"No, but I can give Jason a call when I get back from picking you up. Maybe he knows what's going on with her." I replied while we walked out the front door.

Spencer walked over to the cop while I locked up the house and pulled out my phone. I figured I would send Jason a quick text before calling him.

-Aria: Hey, how's it going?-

I smiled at Spencer when she got to the car and we headed down the road. I was anxious for my phone to ring, from either Jason or Ali. My hand drifted up to my neck, rubbing absent-mindedly over where the microchip was implanted under my skin. I know that Spencer had said that we should keep them in, but it absolutely disgusted me knowing that he had chipped us like that. I gave a sigh and lowered my hand, I could tell the doctors about the chip today, but that would let Charles know that we knew and we would lose the little advantage that we currently had over him. Which was something we desperately needed, since it didn't seem the police were making any headway.

I wanted to check my phone to see if Jason had texted me back, but I doubted he was even up yet. Normally he would be awake by now, since he usually texted me to make plans for breakfast or coffee by now. But he was probably up pretty late last night, considering I was over there til after midnight. I felt my face warm slightly at the thought that I had broken down in front of him like that. But out of everyone I could have broken down in front of, I was glad it was Jason. This entire time, he had only asked me a few questions about what had happened and I had actually been willing to share with him things that I couldn't tell anyone else.

I remembered the texts that he had shown me, thinking about telling Spencer about them. But I didn't think that Jason wanted anyone to know, and I would let him keep his secret. Still, that Charles had decided to taunt him while we were gone, I didn't understand why he had used me to scare Jason, rather than Spencer. Some of the things that Charles had said, meant that he had been watching us for years and it made me nervous that even before he stole the A game from Mona, he had been watching Jason and I interact. I suddenly felt incredibly nauseous and had to take a couple slow breaths so I didn't have to pull over and throw up out the side of my car.

"You okay? You're looking a little green around the gills." Spencer broke the silence.

"Yeah, just not feeling the greatest right now."

"How long has the nausea been happening?"

"Since we've been back, some things just set me off." I replied, trying to dismiss how sick I was feeling.

"What time's your appointment today?"

"It's at 2:30, so I have time to deal with Leslie beforehand. And whatever else comes up." I muttered the last part, since it seemed that something always came up lately. Or maybe I would be lucky enough to get to work on some of the backlog of schoolwork that was waiting for me.

"I'm gonna send another text to Ali, maybe she'll answer this time."

"I don't think it's any use. She's clearly not answering us."

I pulled to a stop in front of Spencer's house, turning the car off quickly. She gave me a weird look when I climbed out when she did. "You coming in with me or something?"

"Actually, I was gonna run over to Ali's, see if she is awake and ready to go with us." I answered, hitting the lock function on my key fob before checking in with the cop outside of Spencer's.

It was strange that I had only been down this pathway a few hours before when I had fallen asleep with Jason. I waved at the cop before heading up to the door, barely noticing that the cop in the car got out when I came up. I rang the doorbell, figuring since it was so early that no one would hear knocking. I glanced at the driveway, at least Mr. DiLaurentis' car was gone, so I wouldn't have to deal with him this morning. There was no response for a minute and I frowned at the fact that neither Jason nor Ali answered the door. I knew Jason was here since his car was still parked out front.

"Hey, you looking for Alison?" the cop called, walking up towards the porch from his squad car.

"Yeah, is she not home?"

"Nah, she and Mr. DiLaurentis are out of town apparently, left late last night." He explained, causing me to turn back to the door.

"Is Jason home?"

"He hasn't left since I've been here, but he might still be asleep. It's pretty early."

"Thanks." I told the cop before ringing the doorbell one more time in hopes that Jason would answer the door. He probably knew why Ali and his dad had left town.

The door creaked open after a few seconds and Jason was standing there in just his pajama pants and I felt my mouth go dry at the sight of his sculpted torso. He looked like he had just gotten out of bed and I felt guilty that I had woke him up. But the sight of his hair more ruffled than usual and the sleep in his eyes helped to assuage the guilt a little.

"Aria? What's wrong?" he asked when he saw me standing there.

"Nothing. Can I come in?"

"Yeah, of course." He took a step back from the door letting me into the house. "What's going on? You don't normally make house calls at 6 in the morning."

"Sorry, I was looking for Ali. We're meeting with Leslie Stone this morning. She might have info on Charles and we figured she would want to be there." I explained, trying to maintain focus on his face instead of his bare chest.

"She and my dad went out of town last night."

"Why did they leave so suddenly? And so late at night? I mean Ali was here before I left last night and that was after midnight."

"I don't know, Aria. He didn't exactly include me in the finer points of his plans." He sounded frustrated with me, though that might be more the fact that he had just woken up.

"Sorry, I should have called first. I didn't mean to wake you up." I apologized looking down at my feet rather than at him. He was clearly still out of it and here I was fueled by overpowered coffee and jumping down his throat. I could feel my face flush a little.

His face was scruffy since he hadn't shaved in a few days and it looked really good on him. Something which made me uncomfortable, how attracted I seemed to be to him. I remembered the comfort that being with him had offered last night when I had panicked, and realized that I wanted to feel that safety and comfort again. I tried to breathe through my mouth so that his warm scent wouldn't overwhelm me.

"It's alright. I should probably be getting up soon anyway. I've got some work to take care of today."

"I guess I should head out then. I'll see you later?" It came out as more of a question, and I hated how that sounded. That I was so dependent and needy.

"Of course." He reassured before pulling me into a hug.

It was nice having him hold me like this and I laid my head against his warm chest, enjoying the sound of his heartbeat. He pressed a kiss to my hair and I felt him sigh when he did so. I squeezed him tighter for a moment before pulling away and heading for the door. He walked me out and waited til I was clear of the yard before closing the door. I still had a little while before I needed to head over to Mona's house, so I figured I would stop at the Brew and kill a little bit of time there before heading out to meet Leslie. Besides, as a jaw cracking yawn hit me, I realized I could definitely use some more caffeine.

***End Chapter***

Hope you enjoyed a little bit of shirtless Jason, as it's definitely a picture that I enjoy having in my head. Let me know what ya think.