Aria couldn't shake off the feeling that something between them had shifted, and not in a good way. Rae had started acting distant all of a sudden and while Aria had initially dismissed it as work, the more she thought about it the more she was convinced that Rae was avoiding her. She didn't get it. She was confident that she hadn't done anything wrong. But after four days even her confidence had begun to falter. But now, enough was enough, she was going to find out why.

"Rae?" she said. They were in the kitchen, eating snacks, sitting on the two barstools that stood along the outer side of a portion of the kitchen counter. She held a coffee in both her hands, loving the warmth it spread. Rae had come out of his room as Aria had called him to drink coffee and refused to let him go back to his room.

"Are you avoiding me?" There was no point in beating around the bush.

"No," Rae said, a little too fast.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you didn't. I'm not avoiding you either. I just have a lot on my plate. We have some projects coming up, so we need the designs ready. Honestly it's not you it's me."

Aria almost believed him. Almost.

"No, something's definitely wrong isn't it?"

Rae let out a strained laugh. "No nothing's wrong Aria."

Aria narrowed her eyes, "Rae-"

"Just back off!" Rae exploded. "Just leave me alone. I told you the truth. If you're not willing to believe it, then that's your problem. Believe what you want to believe."

Aria instantly felt guilty. Just because he had opened up to her about something didn't mean they were suddenly close. The closeness, like the one Rae and Jill or Lilliana and Aria had, it took years to build. She had just wanted to help, but she hadn't realised she was being pushy. She wasn't entitled to anything, after all, they had barely spent two weeks together. He was more likely to open up about anymore of his problems to a dog, than her.

"Rae, I-uh... I'm sorry. Really, I know you have a lot on your plate and I shouldn't have forced you. So, sorry."

For a moment Aria thought she glimpsed a bit of guilt in Rae's eyes, but it was gone so soon she knew it was probably her overactive imagination. She was prone to over-analysing this sort of stuff.

"It's okay," he said. His phone rang. "I gotta take this." He stood up and went into his room.

Aria groaned and dropped her head into her hands. She had probably ruined their shaky truce, and made Rae retreat back into his shell. She knew that the sort of change that one made in oneself took time and even the slightest trigger could easily make the person retreat back into the safety of their self-made walls.

She just had to go and blow it.

*******

Rae viciously suppressed the pang of guilt that he had felt when Aria had apologized. He knew he shouldn't have said those things, yet it was the only way to make Aria back off. He couldn't danger her life too, if his parents ever found out what ideas Aria had put in his head. Her words battling with the words that were drilled into him since childhood kept him awake most nights, going on and on as if they were being played on a broken radio. Those nights were taking a toll on him, his ever present dark circles getting prominent day by day, and he was starting to feel drained.

Today was one such night, but instead of voices, memories floated around his head. He remembered his first panic attack, way back in high school, when his secret and suppressed feelings had gotten too much for him to bear. He had suppressed the memory countless times, not wanting to replay his mother's harsh words and lack of embrace. He remembered the shock of her vicious words enough that they still hurt, cutting an already unhealing wound.

His mind then drifted to the other day, when he had broken down in the solitude of his room. He could remember the way Aria had come in and embraced him, even though they had had a fight mere hours ago. She had held on to him tightly and not let go even after he had calmed down enough and exhaustion had dragged him into sleep.

His mind was caught up in a whirlwind of long suppressed emotions. Anger, tiredness, depression, pity, disgust all fought against one another, wanting to dominate. Recently a new contender had joined in. Hope.

It felt ages ago when he had talked with Charlotte and Arthur. The feeling of hope had shown for a few hours then, hesitant and afraid. Tentatively it had tried to bloom, yet now all he could feel was the ghost of the dead flower, long squashed by his demons. What was wrong with him? He could see the pity in Aria's eyes, even though he knew she hid it quite well. He remembered the ghost of the slap his father had given him, the sting of the faint scars from the mile long walk he had been forced to take barefoot. He knew his father had taken them through the then recently demolished road to make it even more painful for him.

He didn't realise he had exited his room and walked towards the storage room until he held the bottle of rum and a packet of weed in his hands.

He needed to escape, and fast.

*******

Aria lay awake, one hand tucked under her head and the other splayed on her stomach. No matter how tired she was, she couldn't find sleep. So, she'd resorted to making potential conversation scenarios that could take place during the next deposition. She examined all the cards on the table, both displayed and hidden. She went through every scenario, no matter how improbable and tried to detach herself from the case and see it from her opposition's eyes. It was an exercise that came to her as easily as talking.

Her mind was so occupied that when a crash came from outside, she was startled out of bed.

What the hell?

What puzzled her was how the hell a burglar got in when there were police barricades at every end of the neighbourhood. The number of cases had increased going from four to ten, leading to an even stricter quarantine. Rae and Aria had both gotten themselves tested, and to their relief they had tested negative.

She took a metal baseball bat from where it stood on the other side of the bed and held it loosely in one hand. She creeped out the room, her footsteps silent as a cat. She thanked her military family background for drilling into her stealth and strength.

She raised her bat over her head and was about to strike when she spotted Rae. He was unsteady on his feet, his t-shirt crumpled and and his brown hair sticking out in every direction as if he had roamed his hands through his hair one too many times. He held a now empty bottle of rum and-

Oh god, is that Jill's lamp?

It was. Aria cursed. There were half burned sticks of weed littering the coffee table too. She cursed again. He seemed to notice her then.

"Aria, what are you doing here?" he said, his words slurring. She was impressed by his ability to stand upright even though he was most definitely shit faced high and drunk. Oh never mind. As he moved towards her he stumbled, and were it not for Aria's reflexes, he would've been lying face first on the floor.

"It's my house Rae," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Ri-ight."

She made him stand upright and ordered, "Stay right here while I get you some water. I think a few bottles ought to do it."

Four bottles and two bathroom breaks later, Rae was as sober as he could get so Aria deemed it the right time to broach the subject. She knew there was still enough alcohol in his body for him to let his guard down.

"So, you wanna tell me why you got drunk as if you're in some club? 'Cause there are some very breakable things here Rae. Never mind the fact I never did like that lamp, but Jill's going to be so pissed," Aria said, chuckling at the thought of Jill going berserk on Rae.

Rae was lying on the couch while Aria sat on one of the armchairs, her bat held in her hands.

"Please don't tell her," Rae said groaning.

"I won't, not if you tell me why you got so drunk."

Rae mumbled incoherently.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I said I wanted to escape!"

Escape? Escape what?

She voiced as much.

"My reality," he whispered, almost as if he didn't want her to hear him.

She rolled her eyes. "Stop being so melodramatic Rae, and cut to the chase. I haven't gotten all night."

She knew she was being harsh, but that was the only way to get Rae to talk.

"I haven't been able to sleep properly for the past few days," he said. Aria remained silent, not wanting to say anything that might make him stop talking.

"After you went back to your room that night, I got a call from my mother. I had a talk with the pastor after that too. He was visiting the house along with his daughter, Penny. That call was one of the worst moments of my life, because for the first time I started having hope that maybe I was okay, that being me was okay, but then they just had to go and ruin it. And I'm grateful for it somehow, because it was my wake up call into reality, because it showed me exactly what my reasons were for suppressing that part of me.

"I can never outrun my parents, Aria. You might think that I'm just being dramatic, but you do not know my father like I do. He has contacts in places you wouldn't have even heard about, because they are that good at their job. He is a powerful man Aria and if he gets to know that I'm embracing myself and who's putting those thoughts in me, he might not hurt me, but he will definitely hurt you. My father is a rigid man, if something doesn't fit his ideas of good, or will tarnish his image or that of his family, he won't hesitate to destroy you. Not kill you, but like destroy your career, your reputation, and everything else that's emotional to you. Not physical."

Aria couldn't keep her laughter in any longer. She caught Rae looking at her in shock. She laughed until she had tears in her eyes, and then laughed some more. When she was sure she wouldn't burst out laughing again she said, "Sorry, I just- I wasn't laughing at you, but kinda laughing at you 'cause let's be honest, the situation is so messed up it's funny. It's like such a sad movie plot bro."

Rae looked at her strangely, and sighed. "Only you would laugh at something so serious."

"Dude, you gotta admit that's some cheap dialogue right there. How many times have you heard or read books where the guy goes 'I can't do this' or 'You'll get hurt and I can't have that' and the girl goes 'please don't leave me' or 'we can do it together'. Well, news flash brother, I don't give a fuck whether this bruises your male ego and whatnot, but I don't need your protection. And your father, forgive me, but he can go fuck himself for all I care. He might have contacts but guess what, so do I. I'm a lawyer, Rae. You can't be one without making some dirty contacts as well. You say your father is dangerous, I say my mother is too. You have no idea the kind of contacts you make when you are in the culinary business like my mother is. Your father can't touch me honey, and I'd wager he can't touch you either. Because I'm willing to bet that you have some contacts too."

Her eyes were cold, and her body was taut with tension. She radiated power and confidence.

"Besides you are his son. Don't tell me you don't have half the brains he does. You're powerful Rae. You've built houses, and high rise towers. Don't tell me you've never done work for some dirty people."

She caught the cold smile on Rae's face and she smirked.

We're back in the game.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Did you like it? 

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A/Q: When was the last time you talked about the weather?

I don't think I've ever done that, especially to make small talk. I hate small talk. It's always so awkward and stuffy. I think.