Chapter 1

It's cold. Rain is falling hard now. My hands grip the steering wheel tightly as I try my hardest to keep control of the car on these slippery roads. My stomach flips again. It's been doing that all day. My thoughts are completely jumbled up in my mind. I take a deep breath and will myself to calm down. It doesn't work.

I'm here now, pulling up to his apartment complex. The end of a drive I've made many times before. But it all looks different now. I park, turn the keys and unbuckle my seatbelt. Getting up and walking to 3B seems impossible. I pull my visor down, and slide open the little mirror inside. I've seen this face my whole life. Aria Montgomery's face. My face. Today, my face, like everything else, looks a little bit different.

I swallow the knot in my throat, wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans, and step out of the car. As I start making my way to Ezra's apartment, I feel as though the walk is taking a million years... And it's going too fast, all at the same time. I'm there now, outside of his door. He's not expecting me, but I know he's home. He's always home on Saturdays. I think he always hopes I'll come over and surprise him with coffee, or concert tickets or some crazy, exciting plans. I'm surprising him, today. I'm not sure how happy he'll be about this surprise, though.

I don't know how long I've been standing here, outside his door. A few seconds? Five minutes? An hour? Finally, I muster up all the courage I have left in me, raise my left hand, and knock twice. It's strange knocking on this door. It's been a while since I've neglected to use my key and just walk right in.

A few moments later, the door is opening, and I see a familiar face. His eyes looking straight into mine, knowing everything about me... Well, almost.
"Hi!" he says. "You knocked?"
He leans down and gives me a quick kiss before I can answer.
He feels me pull back, and instantly knows something's wrong.
"What's up?" He asks as I step into the room. I glance around a little, thinking about how to start this conversation. I didn't even try to plan what I would say. If I had, I know I'd have forgotten instantly, considering how afraid I am.

I turn around to face him as tears well up in my eyes for the first time since I found out. He moves closer to me, concern filling his facial expression.
"Aria, what's wrong? Hey, talk to me."
I can't think. I just want him to put his arms around me and tell me everything's going to be okay.
But I know this conversation has to happen first. I look up at him.
"Let's sit down" I say as we walk over to the couch.
I set my purse down by my feet and place my hands in my lap, unable to take my eyes off of my twiddling thumbs.
"I have something to tell you." Okay, that's a start. I look up into his eyes, and I can tell every part of him is completely focused on me, my words.
"I, uh... I've been... I've been noticing some... Changes, lately. I was worried, so..." I'm crying now. It's hard to speak.
"Aria. What's going on?"
I take a deep breath, trying to prepare myself for what I'm about to tell him.
"I was worried. So I went to the store and I... I picked up a pregnancy test."
With that, his face changes. I want to stop talking. Tell him it's not true, that there's nothing to worry about, but I have to keep going.
"I took the test and... And it came back positive."
The tears are coming on hard again, and I have to work hard to talk.
"I wanted to be sure, so I made a doctor's appointment for this morning. They ran some more tests, and..."

Somehow my eyes have managed to travel back to my hands in my lap. Tears are streaming down my face, now. I make myself look up at him. He's afraid, I can see it. But he's still entirely focused on me. I continue.
"I'm... I'm pregnant, Ezra."

I look down again. He's silent for a moment, and for the first time since I started talking, he takes his eyes off of me.