>Your alarm clock abruptly awakens you from your dream-filled slumber.
>You reach your hand out to the nightstand without looking.
>The search ends as your hand slides over the vibrating demon.
>Grasping the infernal object, you yank it out of the plug, stopping the racket, and throw it against the nearest wall.
>You hear the sound of multiple pieces falling to the ground, and let a satisfied groan escape your throat.
>You pull your arm back under your covers and fall back asleep.
>After what seemed like only 5 minutes, you're phone lets out a harsh buzz, notifying you of a text message.
>It takes everything in you not to throw your phone against the same wall.
>You grab around your nightstand for your phone, and pull it in under your covers.
>You squint your eyes as the harsh light from the screen almost blinds you.
>The text is from Aria.
>She's asking you to come over.
>Her exact words were more like "Hey loser, come over I've got nothing to do."
>You check the time to see it's almost 1.
>The groan you let out this time is one of frustration.
>There's only one thing she could have been doing.
"How many have you watched?"
>You hit send and reluctantly slip out of your warm bed.
>Her reply comes back as while you're pulling on pants.
>"5"
>You tap out a blunt reply telling her to give you half an hour
>Her response is a quick "Whatever", so you finish dressing yourself and head out the door.
>She doesn't live that far from you, so you just walk.
>It gives you time to mentally prepare yourself for what was to come.
>Aria was the only dazzling you remained in contact with over the years.
>Sonata was too much of an airhead to live on her own, but she was a charmer.
>She had managed to finagle some richer guy into marriage.
>They moved away a while ago. To where you had no idea, and neither did you care, really.
>Adagio on the other hand, had just....disappeared.
>After the battle of the bands, she vanished somewhere and never tried to make contact with Aria, and you assume Sonata.
>That left Aria, who never left the town.
>She had never made friends during, or even after CHS.
>A small apartment and a minimum wage job was all she had.
>When she wasn't working, she spent most of her time sleeping, eating, or having you over to cook for her so she could eat.
>The latter was usually filled with back-handed compliments at you and your cooking.
>She also prided herself in a rather unusual hobby.
>She would sit on her couch for hours on end and watch gratuitous amounts of porn movies.
>The oddity of it was greater amplified by the fact that she would often ask you to come over and watch them with her.
>She always said it was because "You HAD to JUST see this really stupid part."
>Having nothing better to do, you would go over and do so.
>You could rarely hear what people were saying in the movies however, because Aria would just yell about how "lame" the whole thing was and how ugly one actor/actress looked.
>She would also provide insight on the sex scenes, like some kind of sports commentator or something.
>It was extremely awkward at first, but you had grown accustomed to it eventually.
>You were used to her apartment being filled with the sound of some girl getting herself filled.
>"HEY LOSER"
>You shake yourself out of your deep thought and look up to see Aria standing outside the doorway to her apartment complex.
>She was wearing a pair of purple sweats and a black t-shirt that was two sizes too big for her.
>Her hair wasn't done in her signature ponytails, she had just decided to let it all flow down.
>Her arms were crossed, tapping her finger on her arm in impatience.
>Even though the shirt was much too big for her, you could still make out the shape of her perky breasts.
>The way she had her arms crossed lifted her perky breasts up, giving them more definition then they would normally have.
>She catches your gazes and narrows her eyes at you.
>"Enjoying the view, pervert? God you're the worst."
"Good to see you to, Aria."
>She grunts in response and opens the door to let you in.
>You enter the building and she closes the door behind you two.
>"Come on loser, I've got a movie on."
>She saunters up the stairs, with you trailing behind.
>You take the opportunity to enjoy the view of her climbing the stairs.
>The sweatpants don't do much to show off her figure, but her hips sway with enough momentum to show off her curves.
>She doesn't need to look behind her to know what you're doing.
>"Enjoying the view, you pig?"
>You reply nonchalantly.
"Maybe if you were to lose the sweatpants it might actually be a show worth watching."
>She turns to you and slaps your face.
>It wasn't a hard slap, so she probably wasn't that mad at you.
>You look back to her, holding the cheek that had just been assaulted.
>Her face had turned a bright shade of red; her own cheeks the source of the deepest shade.
>Her eyes were burning holes into you, filled with embarrassment.
>"P-PE-PERVERT!"
>You smile at her reaction, and continue on.
"Oh don't play coy with my Aria, you know you like it when I compliment you."
>You prepare yourself for another slap, but it never comes.
>She just turns back up the stairs with a "Hmph!" and resumes the climb.
>Sadly, her room is on the second floor, so your enjoyment is cut short.
>Aria stops at her door and keys herself in.
>She holds the door open for you as you walk in as well.
>Her apartment was a complete mess at the moment.
>More so than usual.
>The kitchen on your left had empty pizza boxes littered all over the counter.
>The sink was full of plates that weren't even washed.
>Her living room had clothes and even more pizza boxes scattered all around it.
"Aria...how often do you actually cook for yourself?"
>She fumbles around for an answer.
>"Enough...Once or twice a week...maybe....I think"
>You walk into the living room and survey the place more.
>The hallway had more clothes just lying around.
>You didn't even want to imagine her bedroom at the moment.
>The TV had been turned on and the title screen for a DVD was on it.
>Unsurprisingly, it was a porn movie, called Pulp Friction.
>Aria nudges you forcefully and you turn back to her.
>"I'm hungry loser, cook me something."
>You look at her in mild disbelief.
"Do you even have any food to cook with?"
>She crosses her arms returns the look you gave her, nodding.
>"Uh DUH. Of course I do. Otherwise I would have made you go to the store first."
"Really? show me then."
>She walks over the kitchen and opens up the several cabinets that are above the counter.
>Scanning the contents, you see most of the food she had was either canned or preserved.
>You had bought some actual food for her to make to keep herself healthy. Veggies fruit, eggs, fish, and other things.
>Where the hell did she put it all?
"Is this really all you have?"
>She scowls at you.
>"Well I would have had more, but all that food YOU bought me started smelling bad, so I threw it all out."
>Whoawhoawhoa. Was she blaming YOU?
>You furrow your brows stare right into her eyes.
>She steps back slightly at the eye contact.
"I bought that food with MY money from MY job, so YOU could actually have a decent meal. Instead YOU seem so content on just stuffing yourself with this..."
>You slam a pizza box off the counter, and she jumps in surprise as you do.
"...this garbage! You need to take care of yourself!"
>Her expression softens slightly, and she casts her eyes down.
>"Mumble mumble care mumble me..."
>What?
"What?"
>She looks back up at you, a blush forming on her face.
>"I said I have mumble take care of mumble..."
>You lean in closer to her to hear what she's whispering.
"You're going to need to speak up, Aria."
>She pushes you back as she yells.
>"I SAID I HAVE YOU TAKE CARE OF ME"
>Her outburst sends you a couple steps back in shock.
>She's just standing there with her arms crossed and looking to the side, staring at nothing.
>You take a moment to recollect yourself, and look around her apartment again.
>You always spend hours cleaning every nook and cranny, just so she had a decent place to live.
>It wouldn't even take a week for the place to fall back into a state of disarray.
>You would always try and show her how to cook and clean for herself, but she would just brush away the lessons, telling you to do it yourself.
>Did she just not care about staying in a clean place?
>Or was there some other reason.
>You just sigh to yourself and push her out the way to get into the kitchen.
"I'll just make us some pasta"
>She uncrosses her arms, walks over to the couch and collapses on top of it without removing the clothes that she had cast on to the cushions.
>"Let me know when it's ready. You know where all the stuff is."
>You clear the sink of all the nasty plates, deciding you'll clean them later.
>Pulling a box of pasta and an unopened jar of sauce, you set work.
>You fill a pot half full of water and place it on the electric stove in the middle of the counter.
>Bringing the water to a shimmer, you find a shaker of salt, and sprinkle some of it into the water.
>While you wait for the water to boil, you set about finding a clean plate.
>But you find that all her plates were the ones that had been in the sink.
>You quickly clean a couple of plates with the meager soap she had left.
>Drying off the plates, you set them on the table and head back to the pot to put in the spaghetti
>10 minutes later, the noodles are ready.
>You pour the water out of the pot and pour equal helpings onto each plate
"Come get it, Aria."
>Muttering "Finally", she heaves herself over the couch and walks over.
>You place forks onto each plate, and open the jar of sauce.
"Help yourself to the sau-"
>Aria just dumps half the contents of the jar onto her plate and starts eating.
>You stare at her in shock as you grab the jar and cover your pasta.
>The two of you eat in relative silence, the music from the DVD menu the only noise in the apartment.
>"This is pretty okay, Anon."
>That's usually the closest she ever gets to a compliment.
"Thanks."
>Both of you return to your plates, finishing off what was left.
>Aria sits back in her chair and lets out a belch.
>As you place the dishes in the sink, you grab the rest of them and squirt soap into the mess several times.
>Aria gets up and resumes her previous position on the couch.
>"Get over here loser, it's time to watch the pinnacle of porn movies."
>You roll your eyes as you grab a sponge and start to scrub the plates.
"You can start without me, Aria. I need to do my usual cleaning of YOUR apartment."
>She either doesn't notice the underlying message of your statement, or just doesn't care, as she hits play on the remote and starts the movie.
>10 minutes in and you're scrubbing dried food off plates to the sound of a girl getting rammed by multiple guys.
>Aria would occasionally pause the movie and yell at you about how stupid the acting was.
>She would go on and on about how lame they sounded and how it was "the worst."
>You would just nod your head in agreement and place another dish up in the cabinet.
>After half an hour you placed the last plate onto the shelf and closed the cabinet.
"Finally done with that."
>She turns to you with an annoyed look on her face.
>"Took you long enough. Get your sorry ass over here and watch this crap with me"
>You walk over to the couch, clear the cushion on the opposite end, and sit down.
>You turn to her and nod, and she resumes the movie.
>For the majority of the movie, you two laugh and mock the poorly written script and the 2nd rate acting.
>You even make fun at some of the sex scenes, imitating things the actors say.
>Aria is on the floor howling in laughter as you make fun of the faces the actresses make, copying their lines as well.
>It's rare to see Aria actually smiling genuinely.
>It almost makes you forget about how she is letting her life go.
>Aria shakes you and points at the tv.
>"Look! Look! There's another sex scene! Do your thing, Anon!"
>She looks at the TV again and her smile slowly fades to a look of curiosity.
>"Anon, what he is doing?"
>You turn to the TV to see what she was talking about.
>One of the actors was fucking a girl up the ass.
"What you've never seen anal before?"
>She turns to you with a shocked look on her face, and shakes her head.
"So you're telling me you've never seen anyone do anal in any of the porn movies that you've watched."
>She shakes her head again.
"How the hell could you have never seen ANY porn movies with things like this?"
>"I.....I....I don't know, I guess I just...never noticed or..never picked..."
>Her attention is fixed towards the TV and the scene.
>It's a close up of the girls ass as she's getting railed from behind.
>You turn to the TV, and back to Aria, who is glued to the screen.
>You feel your pants get tight as you watch the hot monkey sex.
>Deciding you need to cool off, you head to the bathroom down the hall to splash some water in your face.
>Aria sees your movement and turns to look at you, confused.
>"Where are you going Anon?"
"Gotta use the restroom"
>"Could...Could you go and...get a blanket from my room..."
>It was getting pretty cold in her place.
>Magical merponies must like it cold sometimes.
"Yea sure no problem."
>Aria pauses the movie as you head into her bathroom and close the door.
>You turn the faucet in the small sink to full blast, cup your hands underneath the stream, and bring it to your face.
>The ice cold water shocks you out of your aroused state of mind.
>You repeat the process a couple more times before you shut the faucet off.
>After you dry yourself off, and look into the dirty mirror that hung above the sink.
>Seeing yourself in this situation, you can't help but reflect on it.
>Normally, guys your age would jump for the chance to watch porn with a beautiful girl.
>But for some reason, you didn't feel very lucky.
>Aria shouts at you from the living room, forcing you back to the real world.
>"ANON I'M COLD."
"ALRIGHT"
>You open the door and continue further down the hall into her bedroom.
>As you grasp the doorknob to Aria's room, you mentally prepared yourself.
>Aria had never let you into her room to clean before.
>She said that was "her space".
>Taking one last deep breath, you fling open the door.
>At least, you try to, but the door gets stuck on a massive pile of clothes and other items.
>No amount of mental preparation could have prepared you the abomination that was Aria's bedroom.
>You couldn't even feel the rug at the bottom, let alone see it.
>The entire floor was covered in a layer of miscellaneous garbage.
>From clothes to even more pizza boxes and discarded makeup items, the place was like a small city dump.
>How the hell did she live like this, holy shit.
>What surprised you the most was that the place didn't smell like a pigsty.
>It smelled like Aria had just emptied a can of febreze into the garbage and called it a day.
>Typical of her to hide the problem rather than just address it.
>"ANON"
"ALRIGHT JEEZ"
>You clear her bed of yet even more clothes to get the blanket underneath.
>Why did she even have these many clothes.
>You never even saw her wear anything more than her 2 usual outfits.
>You pull the faded purple blanket from the bed and pull it out into the living room.
>Aria is standing there at the end of the hallway with her arms crossed.
>The pants she was wearing had sagged a bit since she didn't bother to tie them up.
>The top of her emerald green panties were visible over the lip of her sweatpants.
>Your eyes betray you once more, and Aria pulls up her sweats.
>"Perv. The TV has nude women and here you are peeking at my panties."
"The difference between you and the porn is you're not in the porn."
>Aria goes to slap you again, but you raise your arm in time, laughing at her reaction.
>Her anger intensified at the unsuccessful attempt to injure you, so she just yanked her blanket from out of your hands and sat down on the couch.
>She threw the blanket over her entire body, leaving only her neck and head visible.
>You plop down on the couch next to her as she resumes the porno.
>The man was thrusting fast and faster into the chicks ass, while saying cheesier lines than ever before. 
>But for some reason, Aria wasn't going on and on about how stupid and lame the things he said were.
>She seemed really into this part.
>She was fixed onto the scene, watching every thrust the guy made intensely.
>A blush started to form on her face as the fucking went on.
>You turned back to the TV , only half watching what was on the screen.
>A quiet shuffling can be heard over the moaning and the slapping of balls.
>It sounded slightly wet as well.
>You look around the room for the source of the sound, but find nothing.
>You turn to Aria.
>Her eyes were half-lidded, and she was lightly biting her lip.
"Hey Aria?"
>The sound stops, and she turns to you, eyes wide and cheeks blushing harder.
"Do....did you hear...that?"
>She pauses the movie and turns her head to hear better.
>After several moments of listening she shrugs her shoulders.
>"I didn't hear anything. You must be going crazy."
>You raise your eyebrow in suspicion as she turns back to the TV and resumes the movie once more.
>The sound doesn't come back, so you assume it was just part of the movie.
>After 5 minutes or so the sound starts up again.
>But this time its louder, and it sounds even more wet.
>The shuffling sound is more akin to a "shlick"
>You turn to Aria to bring it to her attention once more.
>She was still watching the anal scene, but her expression had changed
>Her eyes were slightly glazed over, her mouth slightly open with her tongue lolling out.
>A bump rises and falls underneath the blanket that she was covered in.
>Was she...?
>No. There was no way. She had SOME dignity left in her.
"Aria?"
>The sex scene in the movie had reached its climax, the guy was unloading himself into the girl at that point.
>A light moan escapes past Aria's lips as her back arches.
>Enough was enough.
>You yank the blanket off of Aria, to reveal that your suspicions were valid.
>Aria's sweatpants were down at her ankles, almost completely taken off.
>She had pulled her shirt up and had a hand placed on one breast, rolling a nipple between her fingers.
>But the worst of it was that she had her other hand deep down in her panties.
>The crotch of them was a shade darker than the rest of the fabric, and jucies had leaked down the side of her legs and seeped into the couch cushions.
"ARIA WHAT THE FUCK!"
>Aria shoots straight up, pulls her shirt down and withdraws her other hand from her crotch and casts an angry glance at you behind a vivid blush.
>"Y-Y-You fucking pervert! You should be asham-"
>You cut off her off right there. You've had enough of her shit at this point.
"NO YOU'RE THE ONE THAT SHOULD BE FUCKING ASHAMED. LOOK AT YOURSELF."
>You throw the blanket down in a fit of rage.
"Have you no fucking decency?!? If either of us here is a pervert it's you!"
>You jab a finger at her, as she just stares at you wide-eyed.
>Aria, shocked at your outrage, just sits there in a stupor.
>Caught with her pants at her down. Literally.
>You grab the remote from her side, shut the tv off, and throw the remote down furiously.
"Look at yourself! Your place is a fucking shithole, you can't cook for yourself, and all you do all day is fucking watch porn!"
>She stands up and almost trips due to her not having pulled her pants up yet.
>"Th-That's not true! I have a job an-"
>You throw your hands up in a mock apology.
"Oooooooh well excuse me! You have a low end job that you use to pay for pizza and pornography!"
>Aria's gaze was focused on the ground, trying to avoid the anger in your own eyes.
"You've been letting your life go for so long, and I've been here to just pick up the fucking pieces for you, only for everything to just let everything go to shit again, and the fucking process repeats itself!"
>Her hands were curled up into fists, shaking with anger.
"I've done it for so long because I thought at some point you would see how fucking bad you are, and turn everything around. But I guess I can see now that you're probably never going to change."
>Her shoulders slump down and her hands lay limp.
>She sits back down on the couch, cupping her face in her hands.
>You can her light sobs escaping from throat.
>Was she....crying?
>Aria, the girl that you had always seen as the tough one, was crying right in front of you.
>Your anger slowly dissipates, but your frustration remains in full force.
>Most of your friendship had been spent taking care of her like some child who didn't know how to take care of themselves.
>You let your words soak in a while longer, the silence in the room broken only by the quick gasps and sobs that emanated from the girl sitting in front of you.
>You pick your keys off the kitchen table and make for the door.
"I'm not going to watch as this fucking downward spiral anymore. Goodbye, Aria."
>You hear a sharp intake of breath cut off the sad sounds.
>"ANON NO PLE-EA-EASE. DON'T LEAVE ME-E-E-E."
>You feel her hand try and forcefully turn you around.
>You turn yourself around to issue another verbal outburst, but stop and stare at the sight in front of you.
>Aria's hair was still a mess from laying on the couch for so long.
>But there were also many tangles that were visible, from the scalp all the way down to the tips of her hair.
>Her eyes were sunken and bags had formed underneath them, indicating a heavy lack of sleep.
>Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks, running down her chin and falling down onto the rug and her shirt.
>Her lips quivered as she looked deep into your unsympathetic eyes.
>She tries to speak coherently, but her speech is interrupted by quick gasps as she tries to control herself.
>"A-Anon *hic* please don-don't leave me *hic* alone....You're a-*hic*-ll I have now...You're the only *hic* reason I-I get out of b-bed."
>Her hands slide down from your shoulders onto your chest and she grips your shirt, trying to pull you in closer to her.
>Her emotional state has left her feeble, so all she does is pull her into you, almost falling to the floor.
>"I don't *hic* want the only good thing in my li-life to leave m-m-m-me...I prom-promise h-that I'll *hic* turn my-my life aroun-around."
>Her grip tightens and she pulls herself closer to your face.
>"I'LL DO ANYTHING FOR ANON. JUST PLEASE PLEASE DON'T GO-O-O-O-o-o...."
>Her sobs return in full force as she collapses onto the ground in a fetal position, trying to shield herself from the real world.
>You sigh and look down at the sight in a mixture of pity and frustration.
>For as long as you've known Aria, she has been mean, cruel, and unwilling to change even her eating habits.
>Every time you had tried to make an effort to change her for the better had been thrown back in your face as she goes about her usual ways.
>She had been nothing but rude to you whenever you made the slightest criticism towards her.
>She was a textbook example of someone unwilling to change.
>And yet, you can't help but feel still feel some sort of emotional connection with the broken girl.
>While you have indeed had awful experiences with involving mistreatment, there were also the many good memories you two shared.
>Like the time you two crashed the CHS senior prom, threw the punch bowl at that blue athlete chick and pointed fingers at the two sophomores that were always tailing the magician girl.
>You two laughed so hard as blue fast kicked both their asses and was thrown out of the prom, eventually followed by you two.
>You internally smile as you remember at graduation, when everyone threw their hats up into the air.
>The two of you had stuffed your hats full of eggs prior to the ceremony.
>Half the students in front of you were covered in yolk and eggshell.
>They still haven't found out who it was.
>The both of you laughed during the entire graduation party that your family had held.
>And of course, you recall the many times you and Aria spent laughing at cheesy porno flicks.
>The girl that was cowering beneath you had shared so many good times with you.
>After everything you had said and done to each other, at the end of the day, you could still call each other "friend".
>You couldn't help but feel slightly awful for all you said and then deciding to just boot her out of your life.
>But on the other hand, you were so tired of dealing with her inability to put the slightest amount of effort in anything.
>You were torn between two decisions.
>Cut all ties with Aria and leave her to fend for herself?
>Or give Aria a second chance, and stick with her through thick and thin, and hopefully make her a better person?