Forget Me Not

Chapter 14

"Goodbye, Alison." Aria said, her tone was annoyed and she led me into the checkout line by my hand. I didn't say anything to Alison. I would have to talk to her sometime though, while she was in Rosewood.

A Few Hours Later

"Aria?" I called, she had been in the bathroom for a while, probably taking a shower.

"I'm in the shower! I'll be out in a few!" I heard her voice, it was a beautiful sound. It rang throughout the apartment and it made me smile. I was glad we were finally together. I knew she had been waiting for this for a long time. But my past was still a little shady. Like why had a left Rosewood in the first place? Aria seemed like she was the only thing I cared about during that time.

I saw her bag full of memories and spotted that same keychain I saw earlier. Curiously, I stood from the couch and went over to it, taking it our and looking at it as a whole in detail. I flipped it over a couple times before suddenly remembering where I had seen it before and why it was so important.

He climbed out of his car as his phone chimed, he looked down and saw the notification telling him that someone had activated the security system to the cabin. He walked inside cautiously before spotting her keys on the familiar keychain. His heart sank as he looked further and saw the meat book lying on the coffee table. She knew. She saw everything. As he continued looking around, he saw that the back window was wide open. She had ran away. She was scared.

I began to panic as more memories from that dark time came rushing back to me, forehead starting to sweat.

Running through the woods, chasing after the only girl he had ever truly cared about, worrying about her safety. He called her name multiple times, desperate to spot Aria. He needed to explain everything to her. Who knew what she was thinking? He knew for sure she was scared of him though.

"Aria! Why are you doing this?" He cried. He then thought about calling her, she had to have her phone with her. But after it rang one time, she put it on silent mode. But once was enough, he dashed after her. She ran to the ski lift. He didn't want to do it, but he had no other choice. He sat next to her as she struggled to pull the lock-bar down.

She yelped when she saw him and scooted to the very edge of the bench.

"Shh, I didn't want you to find out like this. Okay." He said as the ski lift started up.

I couldn't stop the tears from coming down my face. What had I done? This was why Hardy didn't say anything about me hurting her...I had hurt her more than I could have ever imagined.

"You knew Alison! You knew her! You pretended not to! But you knew her..and you wa-"

"Yes! Yes! I know! I lied. I'm so sorry! There were so many times I wanted to tell you...but I-I was afraid. I was afraid that you wouldn't forgive me."

There was a second of heart wrenching silence..he had to try to explain himself.

"I met Alison in college..she lied about her age and I believed her-"

"I don't want to hear this! I don't wanna hear it! I just want to get off!"

"Aria, please just listen to me-"

"Nothing you say will change anything!" she was holding on to the armrest as tightly as she could. And then she crumbled. "I don't even know who you are."

"Yes you do. Yes you do." He waited, he so desperately wanted to hold her, to comfort her, to protect her. But he couldn't bring himself to touch her after she screamed at him for trying the first time.