Your friend Tony seems like quite the character," Aria takes a seat in the booth at an old, quiet diner. It looks like something out of the fifties, bright colours plastered all over the walls and chairs. Neon signs such as Eat At Home and 24/7 are stuck above the bar side where there's red stools sitting underneath. The floors are checkered black and white which the booth colours are light blue and yellow.

"Yeah, he's wild," I sit parallel to her and cross my hands on top of the table.

"He looks up to you a lot, I could tell," She points out while she straightens out her hair and adjusts my sweater to fit more comfortably on her.

"That's because he's short," I mutter. "He and I go back a few years, to when I first moved here. He's a decent guy I just need to keep my distance for the most part." I tell her truthfully. I would keep my distance, if I could.

"Oh, I get it," She nods.

The waitress walks over, sporting a high ponytail to support her bleached blonde hair. She takes a good look at the two of us before introducing herself in a peppier way than should be. "Hi guys, what can I get you to drink?" She holds her pen against her small notepad, ready for a response. Her plastic face stays as still as a statue, as if she became completely frozen.

"A water for me," I say quiet, averting my eyes from the uncomfortable stares she's withholding against us.

"May I have a coffee please?" Aria says in a polite tone while making eye contact with the waitress. She smiles, kind towards everyone, even when the waitress isn't being so kind back.

Without a word, the waitress walks away.

"Coffee at nine in the evening?" I point out and she smiles sheepishly. How cute.

"I breathe coffee." She mentions before opening the sticky menu. "What's good here?" Her eyes leave mine.

"Everything is pretty decent," I say, scanning through my own menu. "Order whatever you want."

"A water, and a coffee," The waitress sets down our drinks before standing up straight and plastering a fake smile back on her face. "Are you two ready?" Her voice, fake as she looks. Sad.

I looked up at Aria and let her order first, being the gentleman she tells me I am. "I'd love the Belgium waffles with the side of fruit, please."

"And yourself?" She leaned her hand on the table and turned her focus completely on me, blocking the view of Aria.

I gave her a soft frown before changing my expression into a raised eyebrow; disbelief washing over me. "I'll take the chicken club, thanks," I dismissed her rude behavior and handed her the menus.

She scoffed in rejection while raising her eyebrows. I looked away, uninterested which through my peripherals, I noticed her give a sour look at her notebook. She finally walked away with the menus and once again, I'm alone with Aria.

"It's interesting that he still thinks of you as his best friend considering you put him in the hospital last year." Aria nonchalantly commented as she took a sip of her coffee with both of her hands. My sweater rested in between her skin and the white cup, blocking the connection of uncomfortable temperature. Her face is calm as her words flow.

My instant reaction is to stiffen. I scratched my temple for a moment and frowned. Well, fuck. "He told you that?" I asked, my voice rougher than I intended.

"I already knew." The simplicity in her voice nerved me.

My leg begun to bounce up and down in an anxious manner, my hands instantly clamming up as if I've been caught with something. "What?" I said , confused. "How di-"

"It's a small town, Eli." She glanced at me for only a moment but in that moment, her curious eyes were ice cold. "People talk." Her eyes stayed focused on her coffee, her face completely unreadable.

I stared at her for a moment, unsure how to respond. I stopped shaking my nervous leg and wipe my hands on my pants before leaning close to her. I gave her a small smirk to attempt to provoke her emotions, to hide my blindsided fear. "Does that scare you?"

Aria sets down her coffee and looks at me so deeply, it's almost as if she's staring through me. "Did you enjoy doing it?"

"What if I told you I did?" I mimic her burning stare, keeping my body leaned over the table, near her.

Her indecipherable expression shifts into a smile. "I wouldn't be surprised. Tony seems like the type to instigate negative situations." If only she knew, the shit that he can cause.

I play with the left over salt on the table for a moment, keeping my eyes fixated on my newest distraction. "What if I told you he wasn't the only one?"

I shouldn't be so concerned about what she thinks of me, seeing as it wasn't long ago that I'd prefer her to just hate me and stay away. But the thought of her looking at me in a monstrous way almost makes my body hurt. I can't put my finger on the emotion she's radiating through me.

"I have suspicions." Aria gives me a look as if I'd been on a wanted poster.

Aria moves away from the table a bit and slides her coffee to the side. I keep my gaze on her face and watch as her emotions flicker into all different directions. Her eyes never meet mine, but mine never leave hers.

"Chicken club," The waitress happily puts the plate down in front of me. I can tell the fake blonde is smiling even though I keep my focus on someone else. "And the waffles," She sets it down abruptly and walks off.

Aria eyed the waitress walking off and raised an eyebrow.

"Suspicions?" I ask, referring to her earlier comment before we were interrupted, internally begging her to give me an inkling of what she's thinking.

"What's something you've never told anyone before? Not even Tyler." She ignores my questions.

I sigh and lean back in my seat, feeling slightly exhausted and plenty annoyed. "There's not a lot I haven't told Tyler..." I mumble, focusing my eyes on the table. My appetite suddenly lost.

She remains silent and waits for my thoughts to collect themselves. Even though I'm not looking at her, I can tell she's observing my face. Suspicions, suspicions. Hm. Does she suspect that I've hurt plenty of people? She wouldn't be wrong, I suppose. But does she really see me as the type of person to threaten another? Do I give it away too easily?

I rub my face with my hands. "You're not going to let that go, are you?"

She bit her lip and smirked. "Probably not."

My throat cleared, and I nodded in defeat. "Okay. So, you know that I was away for a year, right?" A sudden need to fidget in my seat comes back to me.

"Yes, I remember me asking you about that and you told me off," She laughs. Her features are so calm, so inviting, that it's almost hard to believe that she's aware who she's sitting with.

"I'm sorry about that," I look down, almost ashamed. I treat women so terribly. Am I really that sorry though?

"No need, I get it. We didn't even know each other and I was being pushy." Her beautiful smile finally returns which makes me feel a little more at ease.

"You haven't wondered?"

"I have assumptions as to why you left for a while, but no sure answer." She tells me honestly. The things she must think of me.

"Please enlighten me," I look up at her, oddly nervous.

Aria shifts in her seat and crosses her legs on the booth seat. Her plate isn't in front of her as she's pushed it to the side, and her hands are buried in my sweater which are placed on the table. "Well, from the little information I was given and have observed, I know that Tyler gets nervous when you drink. I know that Lacey gets nervous when you become distant with her. And I know that both of them love and worry about you all the time." She points out. "So, I figure that considering you do drink, that that wasn't your problem. I also know that you've had a rocky history, so I was thinking that you went away to deal with some issues that needed fixing." She looks at me nervously and I just stare at her, dumbfound. "Am I close?"

"You're pretty bang on," I muttered. "You're right, I did need to leave to get help." I admitted, keeping my eyes on her fidgety hands.

"You can talk to me," she reassured. "But you don't have to either."

Hm... "I uh, I do- did-" I stopped talking. I couldn't get into this with her. I couldn't get into this at all.

She tilted her head but sat in patient silence.

I frowned and looked down at the table. What the fuck was I supposed to say?

I needed a cigarette.

I sighed. "I did a lot of drugs," I said out loud, for the first time bluntly since rehab. "I'm a drug addict," I nervously chuckled. "Therapy likes it when it's admit out loud...I've- I've done bad things to get them, and I've done worse things while selling them." There's no turning back now. My doctor would be so proud.

I glanced at Aria's poker face. Why did I have to care about what she thought of me? Suddenly I was freaking the fuck out?

I cleared my throat. Just use this as a way to scare her away. "I was really heavy into anything I can really get my hands on. Coke, speed, acid, oxi, pills, you name it, I was on it. For a while, it helped with my thoughts..." Or so I thought it did. "I felt on top of the world while taking them, but when they wore off, I was more in the dumps than I could ever imagine." I kept my eyes on her hands, feeling highly ashamed at the information I just gave her. The palms were glistening in sweat.

"So you went to rehab," She stated almost as a question.

I nodded slowly. Mental asylum, rehab, jail. "Y-yeah..."

She remained silent but eyes peered into my fidget.

"Do go on," she insisted with investment.

"One day, I overdosed at a party and honestly thought I was going to die. And I swore I wouldn't take anything again, but I did, again and again, not caring of the consequences." At the time, I wanted to die. I didn't care anymore, I just wanted out.

"I got stupid high on drugs at Tyler's house, locking myself away in my room and I passed out, choking on my own vomit. Ty already knew that I was going down hill, from the last time I overdosed, and seeing me like that made him decide to get his father involved. So one day, I came home after binging, and Tyler, Lacey, and his Dad, James, were standing there waiting for me to come home." I sighed at what I've admit to her. I am so conflicted with my emotions that I don't even know how to act around her. I keep my eyes on the table, playing with the chip on the corner.

"Usually you don't go away for a full year though, right?" She asks, curious.

"No, but like you mentioned, I had a lot of shit I needed to sort out. And I sorted a lot of things out, and I'm doing a lot better. It's just challenging." I peered up at her and see that she's staring wide eyed right back at me. "It was a way to stay out of jail from threatening the lives of other people. For putting people including Tony in the hospital. I don't know, it was James's decision, I just went with it," I mumbled. I hated being weak.

"I see. A little while ago, you told me you moved here to get away from people who aren't good for your life."

"Yeah."

"Did you start doing drugs before or after those people?" I almost flinch at the word. I hate admitting who I am, I hate having my flaws thrown at me. I hate the memories.

"Uh, they introduced me. My addictions followed me after I moved here."

"Okay," She nodded.

"Does that scare you?" I asked again, never getting a full answer. She was being awfully calm about this. My eyes bored into hers, a growing need for answers in them.

Her smile grew as she played with the spoon in her coffee. "No."

"No?" I repeated. That word again.

Aria set down her spoon and clasped her hands in the middle of the table, close to my own fidgeting hands. "Well. It's evident that you haven't grown up in a way that most people do. That'll fuck you up along the way in some way or another. It's not a bad thing, it's just life sometimes. I'm sure you had to do things to get by, things that you may not be proud of or want to talk about. It's okay. But to judge you for that? It wouldn't be reasonable."

I stare at her in what seems to be shock. I've suppressed my emotions for so long, it's hard to dictate what I'm feeling. I don't understand how she could be so calm about the things I'm telling her. That she can full heartedly tell me that she isn't scared over the fact that I've almost killed people and have done disgusting things to get by in life. She's unpredictable.

"I don't really know what to say..." I mumbled.

"You don't have to. I get that you're going through things, and may not want to let me or anyone in, and it's fine. Whenever you want to talk about it, if you ever do, I'd hope you'd be comfortable enough to confide in me about it. And if not me, then Tyler definitely." Her voice is calm, collected. She sounds so confident in her words, yet so understanding and genuine.

Her warm smile relaxes my statued figure.

"You knew a lot more about me than you let on." I squint toward her which makes her smile, accomplished with herself.

"I did some research." She admitted sheepishly. "People like to talk, it wasn't too hard to put pieces together. Yet I'm still here."

"Yet you're still here." I echo. "I'm just. I'm not a good person, Aria. I'm not." I clench my jaw and move my hands slowly off the table. "And I don't think you should be okay with what I'm admitting to you. It took a long time for Tyler and Lace to understand."

She scrunched her face, distastefully. "Don't pull that shit on me. You are, you just wont let yourself believe it. And that's fine, but it doesn't make it true." She flattened her tone and almost scowled; The first time I've ever seen her not cheerful. "Not everyone has the privilege to walk out the doors without a defensive wall built up. It takes time to get where you're at now. "

I shook my head and let a quiet laugh escape my mouth. Feisty. "Fine." I gave a half smile. "Anything else you'd like to know?"

Her curious eyes make another appearance while a grin forms on her face. "Plenty." I have no idea what could possibly interest her about me.

"Hit me," I feel a vibration in my back pocket but ignore the notification.

With a lighter tone to our conversation, she finally pulls her plate of food towards her.

"I've never been so excited to eat," Aria happily says while scooping her fruit into her mouth. She looks like a chipmunk.

"Don't choke," I muttered and she covers her mouth.

"Where did you grow up?" She asks and tightens her ponytail. I observe her elegant features and feel calmer.

"I was born in England." I say, smooth.

"Are both of your parents English? You don't have an accent."

"My mom is, she's lived there her whole life. My father moved there with her when they were teenagers."

"How did they meet?" She asks, a happy pitch in her voice.

I hate talking about him. I don't want to talk about him. In my mind, he's not even alive. He's dead, and I'm free from him. But I never am. "My father was on a class trip to England and met her there. It was one of those 'love it at first sight' things. They talked on the phone everyday until he dropped out of school and moved down with her." I fidget in my seat, uncomfortable with this dinner talk.

She doesn't catch on to my sudden change in mood. "That sounds cute, aw," She closes her eyes, content. "When did you end up moving from there? It had to be at a young age, no?"

I sigh. "I was four when I moved to Alberta with my... Dad. He's from around there," And I'll never turn back there again.

"Just your dad? So, I guess... You moved there after your mom..."

"I was four when she died, yes." I rub my hands on my face. She gives me a genuine expression and touches my hand for only a moment before putting it back to her fork. I hate talking about her too. "Why did you choose a smaller town to live in from California?"

"I grew up with crowds and a lot of people. A lot of fake people, and I wanted to get away from all of that and live somewhere with lots of nature and less people. I wanted to get far from my parents, truthfully."

I nod my head and watch her happy expression match the one I had just moments ago. Her parents have hurt her more than I think she realizes.

"How is Lacey doing lately, anyways?" She asks finally.

"She's good. So is Tyler. They're visiting his family this weekend." I look around the room for a moment to see the fake blonde gossiping to another employee. She makes eye contact with me for a moment before I look away, uninterested in gathering her attention.

"I hope they're having a great time," She says after swallowing with a held back voice.

"They sure deserve it." I have only gotten two texts from him today which I've ignored both of them. He shouldn't have to worry and I feel completely okay right now.

"You must be enjoying having the house to yourself though," She piles in a piece of her waffle.

"It's not too bad. How about you? You live alone don't you?" I have never visited her house before. I've been wondering where she lives and how she lives her day to day life. It must be hollow since she likes to spend a lot of time at my house - up until lately that is.

"It's nice but really lonely. I get scared being in there for too long, to be honest." She laughs.

"Yeah, I get that. You're always welcome at the house, though." It's odd that any other time, I'd love for her to have stayed away. Things change when you don't even realize it. For some reason, I feel good about the thought of having her around the house more. Maybe it's because I know that Lacey wants her there, and I feel guilty having them more distant. That has to be the reason.

"You wouldn't mind?"

"No." I reach over to stab a strawberry with my fork and putting it in my mouth. "Lacey misses you."

"Thief," She comments and slides her plate more towards her in a jesting way. "I miss coming there, honestly." She sighs softly. Considering I was the reason as to why she hasn't been at the house, I feel selfish.

"Have you and Lacey spoken lately?" I ask, feeling an immense amount of guilt wash over me.

"We talk almost on the daily, but we haven't really hung around each other all that often. I don't really know what's changed, she just seems too busy for a social life lately, I guess." She shrugs and continues eating.

"Come by when she gets back, she'll love to see you." I give a one sided smile. I felt bad. Fuck.

"Do you think we'll continue to hang out after this weekend?" She asks after nodding at my earlier statement.

"I told you that we'd be friends, didn't I?" My hands play with the left over bread on my plate.

"Yeah, but I figured you said that out of pity," She teases, returning the smile.

"We can be friends." Saying the words makes her squirm happily in her seat. Her content, happy face makes the conversation much more favorable.

"You know, people have warned me to stay away from you?" Her eyes focus on her fork but her smile remains the same; peaceful. "Idiots," she whispered.

"I really don't doubt that, honestly." I steal another piece of fruit before clasping my hands back on the table, ignoring the rest of the food on my plate.