she doesn’t know when, why, or how it happened, but she’s now standing, yelling, here with her “loving” boyfriend, james.

he usually is—of course, he has a daughter; why wouldn’t he be sweet?

his daughter is from a previous relationship with some other girl, the name being unimportant.

she always tried to be a nice stepmother for aria.

it worked out quite well, actually, with aria even calling her mom.

it was all picture perfect, until a ‘small’ argument between the two parents.

and all of a sudden, he’s not so sweet anymore.

he’s yelling, raging, even.

apparently, she’s not being protective enough of the little seven year old, but the girl can’t stay inside forever, right?

she’s trying to talk him out of it, not wanting him to get aggressive—obviously.

“oh, jesus, shut up! it’s not like you have a say in this anyway, you’re not even her real mother—“

oh, sh//t.*

his expression immediately morphed into one of shock and softened.

it hit her right in the heart, though.

of course, she’s not aria’s real mother, all of them know that.

still, it’s painful.