Ezra's P.O.V.

I rolled over and reached for her familiar touch, but it wasn't there. It hadn't been there in months. She was gone. The bed was cold where she once slept. A piece of my heart ached at the loss. It might be easier if she really was gone, but she wasn't. I still had to see her everyday, third period. She would hardly look at me anymore. It was torture for both of us.

I missed her so much it hurt, and I didn't think I was going to make it another day without her. I knew she wouldn't be awake, but my impulse got the best of me. I dialed the familiar number, which I had dialed many times the past few months, but for the first time, I pressed send.

It rang a few times, and I was starting to panic. When she woke in the morning, she would see that I called. Do I leave a message or just hang up? My thoughts were interrupted when the last thing I expected happened; she picked up.

"Hello?" She whispered.

"Hi." I said slowly, my embarrassment melted away at the sound of her voice.

"I'm sorry to wake you up." I began.

"I was already up." She said shortly. I couldn't tell what she was feeling, she didn't sound mad, but she wasn't overly friendly. Neither of us had been, we had ended thing mutually because it was getting too hard to keep us a secret, but we were both hurt.

"I just needed to hear your voice again."

"Ezra…you shouldn't have called." She trailed off.

"But I wanted to. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't call you and tell you this."

"Tell me what?"

"Tell you how miserable I am without you, and how heartbroken I am. To tell you how much I miss you and how I think we made a mistake ending things. I want you to know that I still think about you every day and every night. You think we ran out of time, but the reality of it is that our time didn't run out. Eventually, yes, everyone's time runs out, but this isn't our time. You and I are both here, so there is no reason for us not to be together. I can't live without you Aria, and I needed you to know that."

The line was silent. Then, I heard a click. She had hung up. I guess I didn't blame her, it wasn't fair of me to spring that on her in the middle of the night. I sighed and put the phone down. I couldn't help but let a few tears slip from the corners of my eyes. I swung my legs over the side of my bed and stood up. I went out into the living room and opened the large window that went out onto the fire escape. I sat in the window frame and felt the cool October air wash over me. I wanted to go back to the night I met her and not move bar stools next to her. I ruined her life. I never should have gotten involved with her when I figured out how young she was. But she was so intellectual, she had the soul of someone much older. She understood me like no one ever had. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I heard a noise inside the apartment, almost like a knock at the door, but I knew that was impossible. It was almost 2 in the morning. I went back inside the apartment and I heard it again. I was positive it was a knock at the door this time. I went to the door and opened it, hoping it wasn't Mrs. Rodriguez from next door locking herself out again.

"Hi." She said, her arms wrapped around herself, holding the scarf tied around her neck. I stood paralyzed for a moment.

"Hi." I responded, a bit confused. I opened the door wider and she came in. I shut it behind her.

"What are you doing here? You shouldn't have come, it's late."

"But I wanted to." She turned around and faced me, repeating the line I had used on the phone just a while ago.

"I have one thing to say to you, and then if you want me to go, I will."

"Okay." I said nervously.

"I love you Ezra Fitz. I love everything about you, even the things I don't like. I want to be your forever, and it's as simple as that." The tears brimmed around her eyes. I stood there for a moment, taking in her beauty as she stood there in her pajamas. Then I moved quickly.

Before I knew it, my hands were in her hair and her hands were behind my neck. I picked her up and kissed her with more passion than ever before.

"I missed you so much." I muttered between kisses. She pulled away.

"I've been waiting months for that call." She smiled and I did the same. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. I was trying to make up for all of the months that I had been without her.

"Want to get lost with me for a few hours?" I asked and she nodded enthusiastically. I grabbed a sweatshirt and my keys. We piled in my car and I pulled out onto the road. I drove until I didn't know where I was. It didn't matter though, because I was with Aria.

"So what now? What do we do this time?"

"There's something you should know, Ar. I resigned from Rosewood, tomorrow's my last day. Or today I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"I got the job at Hollis, it starts next week. So we can be together now, in public, if that's what you want." I pulled over.

"You're not a teacher at Rosewood anymore?" I shook my head no and she grabbed my face and pulled it towards hers.

"Of course that's what I want!" She exclaimed.

"Maybe we should give it a few weeks though? So it doesn't look like we were hiding something?" She agreed. We drove around until I was sure I wouldn't be able to find my way home.

"What time is it? I asked her, and she told me it was 5:42. I pulled over again."

"Why are we stopping?"

"Because we're going to watch the sunrise." I said and got out of the car. I got a blanket out of the trunk and Aria joined me. We sat on the back of my car, wrapped in the blanket, and watched the sunrise.

"Alright, we should get you back before your parents realize you're gone. I kissed her nose."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be a great way to break the news to them." She laughed. Her parents knew that we had been together, and while they didn't support it, they didn't forbid it.

We drove in remote silence until I pulled up in front of her house. She kissed me one last time before getting out of the car and climbing up a tree to get back in her window. She waved to me and I pulled away. I stopped by the apartment quickly to shower and change. I drove to the Rosewood Grille and got a cup of coffee to go on the way. I yawned the whole way to school, probably due to my lack of sleep the night before. I parked and walked into the school building and made my way to my classroom. There was still about 25 minutes until first period started. I wrote in large letters GOODBYE on the board. Today was goodbye for me, and I was a bit too excited about it.

First and second period went well, but they were all sad to see me go. I was going to miss them too. The starting bell for third period went off and I took attendance.

"No Aria today?" I asked the class which held her three best friends. They shook their heads no. Lucky, I guess she got to catch up on her sleep. I marked her absent and then started class.

"I'm sure some of you have heard already, but for those of you who haven't, today is my last day here at Rosewood. I got a job at Hollis college that was just too good to turn down. So I brought in some snacks and things so we can have a bit of a goodbye party." I told the class. People got some food and then sat back down in their seats and fraternized with each other, while I talked to a few students.

"Oh my god." Hanna said loudly, everyone looked up from what they were doing.

"We have to go." Spencer said with tears in her eyes.

"What's going on?" I asked as they stood up. They made their way to my desk, along with Emily.

"Aria was hit by a car on her way to school this morning. She's in the hospital." The class let out a collective gasp. I tried to hold in my emotions.

"Okay, yes, go." I signed them a pass to leave and wrote on the back of it 'call me when you know something.' Emily nodded at me and they left. The class was unusually loud now due to the news that just broke.

"Alright guys, I know you're all worried about Aria, but let's try to keep it at a manageable level, okay?" I said and walked next door.

"Mrs. Richards, do you mind watching my class for the rest of the period before they get a sub in? It's a family emergency." I told her and she nodded. I walked back into the class and gathered my things.

"Alright guys, I have to go now because I have a scheduling meeting for my new job, so Mrs. Richards is going to watch you guys." I lied because I didn't want them to be suspicious.

"But thank you for being great students, and I can't wait to see what you all do with your life." I bid them ado and tried not to worry too much about Aria. She could be fine; it wasn't worth worrying about before I knew anything. I drove to the hospital, I couldn't wait until I heard from Emily, I had to see her. I parked and ran into the emergency department. I saw Aria's parents, Mike, and Emily, Spencer, and Hanna.

"Ezra, you shouldn't be here." Ella stood up once she saw me.

"But I want to be." I responded quietly.

"You two aren't even together anymore." Mike retorted.

"We are. We got back together last night, I resigned from Rosewood. I got a job teaching at Hollis." Ella sighed and sat back down.

"Let him stay. He needs to be here." Byron finally spoke, which surprised me. "He loves her and if she doesn't make it then she should have all of the people that love her and that she loves here. He deserves to say goodbye too." He said solemnly.

"Byron, you can't think like that, you have to stay positive."

"I'm just being realistic Ella." He spat and stormed off. I took a seat across from Ella and pondered what he said. I deserve to say goodbye. Today was supposed to be my goodbye, not hers. I deserve to finally be with her, our time isn't supposed to run out yet.