𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘||𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐆𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐘

𝟖. 𝐀𝐥𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞

TW—Unconsented Sexual Advancements.

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ARIA AND SPENCER HEAVED THE LARGE wooden crate labelled fragile into the Hastings living room. Positioning it in the biggest area of space for them to get a good look at its contents while Brooke stared at the floor where they had been pulling it to make sure they weren't scratching Peter and Veronica Hastings expensive wooden flooring.

"I was afraid she wouldn't get it done in time for the memorial," Aria admitted in a strangled explanation as she used most of her weight to push along side her friend while Emily remained seated at the stools around the island and Hanna lounged on the sofa, watching the pair but in the heavy grunt work despite one of them being the most athletic and thus the strongest.

The blonde on the sofa rested her head on the arm, "And this was someone from your mom's gallery?" She asked, only standing up when they had pulled it to a stop and now the group were pulling the nails from the lid with an array of tools that Spencer had gathered from her garage.

"Right." Aria nodded, using the particular tool she was allocated—a screw driver—to dig the nail from the ply wood.

The division of divorced had been heavy in the group with now three out of the five friends parents separated. They treaded lightly around the topic, what with Brooks father leaving without reply, Hanna's binging that came about as a result and Arias mother living above the gallery, none of them were living in particularly stable house holds.

That's why Emily's next words were spoken cautiously and with worried glances as she spoke them. "Where is your mom?" She asked causing Aria to look up sharpishly. Brooke gave Aria a small smile when she caught her eye, given she had seen the family's situation first hand. There was no doubt that the Montgomery and the Bentley were the closest—which only made the situation with Mike all the more difficult.

Aria swallowed thickly before replying, dropping her gaze so that it appeared to be focused on opening the lid of their crate. "There's an apartment above the gallery, so she's staying there," She explained.

"Brooke where did your dad go?" Emily then asked, hoping that since Aria had taken it so well, she would too. And surprisingly she did too.

Brooke  shrugged. "No clue. My mom won't tell me and every time i ask she goes on some tangent about how we should be grateful to have her instead of dwelling on our dad leaving." She explained, to which they all silently nodded. "She's on a trip in New York this week so it's just me and Mason."

"Kind of weird isn't it? Your mom and your dad moving out." Hannah said, not looking up from the sketches of the model that was on the box they were having a hard time opening and so not noticing the unimpressed faces that the girls pulled upon her question.

Aria scoffed, dropping down her screw driver onto the marble of the kitchen island with a clank. "Yeah, like my dad should have left. That's what you'd expect." She said sarcastically, her hand on hip and an unhappy glare on her features. But upon seeing the guilty look on Hanna's face shortly after that showed she didn't mean it to come out like that, she sighed. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." She said with an apologetic smile.

"The whole thing just sucks." Brooke defended, turning the screw on the opposite side to Spencer with the fork she had ben given by Spencer when she could only find three tools. But she didn't have to tell Hanna that, she understood.