The Case of You and Me

Chapter Thirteen - B is for...

A/n I can't believe this story has one k views thank u sm :)!! get ready for angst also I've been told in the past that constantly changing POV's breaks immersion and I need to do it for this chapter so just know there's POV changes and it's pretty clear whose perspective it is 

Aria's POV

The most emotional times I've fallen asleep comforting Liz (in no particular order):

1. 11 years old, her mom left to run a skin care company in New York.

2. 13 years old, her first boyfriend Timmy Austen broke up with her at the middle school dance.

3. 17 years old, her body couldn't stop shaking because she was begging for drugs.

4. 20 years old, Michael had forced me into a bathroom at a frat party.

5. 20 years old, Michael had kidnapped us and locked us in a storm bunker after driving us around for hours with a bomb strapped to me.

—

"Liz, what's he done to you?" I whisper in the morning.

She sits under the bunker's door, the one ray of sunlight that's escaped through the crack is on her face. "I've been here and I really don't want to talk about." She tucks her knees into her chest. "I've missed you and I want to talk about something happy for a little bit, like you and that guy that looked like he was about to take you in the hotel lobby so that you'd be seduced into letting me die or something."

"Take me? Really? Spencer wasn't ready to take me, you're making it weird."

She lets out a small laugh and it's comforting. "Whatever, there's no way you both aren't in love with each other."

"We're friends and—"

"Friends? I've never made out with a friend like that."

I sigh once. "We're friends and we're comfortable with each other." I explain vaguely, and the look she gives me makes me roll my eyes. "Don't judge, you and Jacob did way more than make out and were still just 'friends.'"

Liz rolls her eyes. "Really, Aria? A friends with benefits sort of situation?"

"You've done it a lot, Liz."

"I'm not you, Aria," she frowns, "You get attached, and you love fixing problems in people's lives and that makes them like you and...I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I'm fine, Liz, and I need to tell you something." Liz quirks an eyebrow. "We're going to get out of this and to do that I'm going to have to be different. I'm going to be the person I was when I was with Lana, and I hoped you'd never have to see me like that."

She surprises me with a laugh. "Sure."

"What?" Is it bad I'm offended that she doesn't believe me. "I can—I can be a bitch."

"Bitch, yes, badass, no."