I had this idea in my head and decided to type it up into a oneshot.
Aria sighed when she saw her father's car in the driveway she had hoped that she would be home before him but she had fallen asleep and now she'd have to face his pitying stares and his attempts to console her.
Even though Aria suspected that her father was glad that Ezra Fitz was dead.
Aria put her key in the lock and turned it pushing the door open as she did so, seconds later Byron appeared in the small hallway.
"I thought I heard the door," he said. "Dinner's almost ready." Byron turned and walked back into the kitchen.
Aria followed him, "I'm not hungry," she replied. "I'm just going to grab a bottle of water and go up to my room."
"Aria you have to eat."
Aria sighed she knew he was right, she'd barely eaten anything in the past three weeks and the weight loss was noticeable on her already slight frame. She scratched the skin just underneath the cast she had on her left arm. "I'll just make myself some toast."
"Sit," Byron said. "I'll make it."
Aria nodded and sat down taking a sip of her water as she did so.
"Where have you been?" Byron asked quietly.
"Ezra's," Aria replied staring at the floor. She glanced up and saw the pain etched in her father's eyes.
"Aria… maybe you shouldn't…"
"Dad," she whimpered. "It's the only place where I feel close to him."
Byron took a deep breath, "Okay," he replied. "Well next time you go there let me know and I'll drive you."
Aria nodded she wasn't going to tell him that she went there every single day whilst he was at work.
Byron turned his attention back towards the toast; he buttered the slices and put them on a plate which he then placed in front of Aria.
Aria took a small bite and washed it down with a gulp of water.
A few silent minutes passed.
"Your friends stopped by." Byron said breaking the silence.
Aria didn't respond.
"They said they've left you messages."
Aria nodded her head in confirmation.
"Aria your friends can help you get through this don't push them away."
"Nobody can help me through this." Aria replied she stood up, "I'll be in my room."
Byron stared numbly at the spot his eighteen year old daughter had just vacated and choked back tears it pained him to know that his little girl was suffering so badly and that he couldn't help her in any way.
Hanna threw her phone down onto the bed beside her, "Voicemail again," she told Emily and Spencer.
Spencer shook her head, "Why can't she see what's staring her right in the face? I don't care whether she loved Ezra or not he was A, the whole relationship was a lie. I don't care what lies he told her the fact is none of us have gotten a single message from A since he died that's the proof right there."
Emily nodded, "And Ali said he was the person she was hiding from. I can't believe we were taken in by him. All this time and A was right under our noses."
"Aria was quite literally sleeping with the enemy," Hanna added, she picked her phone up again and dialled Aria's number once more.
Aria stared numbly at the TV; she didn't even know why she had switched it on as she had no clue what was happening. Her phone vibrated on the bedside table and she glanced down at the screen assuming it would be Hanna, Spencer or Emily who had already left several messages. No such luck.
Poor Aria it must kill you to know that Ezra was innocent. Get it? "Kill" – A
Aria dropped the phone onto her bed, she'd started getting 'A' messages soon after Ezra's death it was one of the reasons why she always switched her phone off when she went to his apartment. She didn't want the time she spent there to be tarnished by the taunts from her mystery tormentor. Aria lifted her good arm up to her face and traced the scabs there cuts from shards of glass and minor burns from the airbag, her fingers gingerly brushed against the still sore cut on her bottom lip caused when she'd bitten through it. It was yet another reminder of that night.
Aria's eyes fluttered open at the sound of her father's voice gently saying her name. "What's wrong?" she mumbled sleepily.
"Nothing," Byron replied. "I'm just going to work. Mike's going to get your assignments from your teachers for you. I'll be home at the usual time will you be here?"
"I um," Aria replied.
Byron nodded, "If you go to Ezra's again text me to let me know so I don't worry when I get home okay?"
Aria nodded, "Okay."
Byron bent down and kissed his daughter's forehead. "I love you Aria."
Aria allowed herself a slight smile. "I love you too dad."
Aria closed the door of Apartment 3B behind her and quickly glanced around to make sure that everything was how she had left it the previous day the thought of someone coming into "their" place made her feel nauseous. Once she was happy that nothing had been moved she relaxed, kicked off her battered converse, switched on the laptop and curled up on the sofa.
It was almost four o'clock when her stomach growled loudly, the last thing she had eaten was the few mouthfuls of toast the night before. Aria sighed; there was no food in the apartment she'd spent the previous day cleaning out the fridge throwing out all of its spoiled contents and she hadn't thought to buy more. She slowly eased herself up from the couch and stretched her limbs before shoving her feet into her shoes once more. Proper grocery shopping could wait; Aria wasn't in the mood to cook anything right now so instead she decided to go the Apple Rose Grille for some fries and a tofu burger to take-out.
Once she got there she wished she'd gone to the grocery store instead. Sitting on a table right near the take-out counter was Hanna, Emily and Spencer. Aria thought about going back to Ezra's apartment but the smells from inside were making her stomach growl even louder, so instead she took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
She heard the whispers almost immediately as she quickly made her way to the counter, not from her friends but from other people from school and Aria understood why. Gone was the girl who took pride her appearance, who always dressed well if somewhat (sometimes) eccentrically. In her place was a girl, who was wearing too big stained sweatpants, a baggy Hollis sweatshirt, who's normally glossy hair was lank and tied back into a messy bun. Aria kept her head down as she walked past Emily, Hanna and Spencer, ignoring their calls. She placed her order and kept her back to them, she couldn't look at them, and she couldn't listen to them telling her that Ezra had been tormenting them the entire time and that she was too in love with him to see it. She knew what Ezra's motives were. She couldn't look at them knowing that they'd done nothing to help him that night.
"Aria?" Hanna said quietly tapping her on the shoulder.
Aria sighed and turned around, "What?" she asked harshly.
"Talk to us please?"
Aria looked towards the table and saw Emily and Spencer both staring at her. She wanted to ignore them, to turn back to the counter and pretend like they weren't even there but there was a voice inside her head screaming at her to hear them out, to hear why they'd ignored her pleas to help Ezra.
She nodded and walked the few paces to the table.
"Aria," Spencer said. "I know what you're going through and you…"
"How could you possibly know what I'm going through?" Aria asked talking over Spencer.
"I mean I know how I felt when I found out about Toby and the 'A' team."
Aria nodded, "Yeah and remind me Spencer how did that work out?"
"What do you mean?" Spencer asked.
"What were Toby's motives?" Aria said.
Spencer glanced towards Hanna and Emily, "He was helping us."
Aria nodded, "That's right he was helping us. Yet none of you were willing to give Ezra the benefit of the doubt, you were all so quick to assume the worst about him."
"Well," Emily stuttered. "Ali said that…"
"Ali's a liar," Aria interrupted. "She always was and she always will be." She shook her head, "You heard me screaming, begging for you to help him and you just left him there."
Spencer shook her head, "Aria we couldn't help it was too dangerous."
"That's bull," Aria replied, "And you all know it."
"We haven't gotten any 'A' messages since the accident," Hanna said. "So…"
Aria's phone chimed with a text message and she chuckled at the timing, she reached into her pocket and after a quick glance at the screen she handed to the phone to Hanna. "Good for you."
The guy at the counter yelled her name and Aria walked away to collect her food.
Hanna opened the message.
Poor Aria you don't have anyone anymore do you? No friends, no boyfriend. You're all alone just how I want you. – A
Hanna's hand began to shake; she closed that message and looked through the other messages on Aria's phone. There was message after message from a blocked number each one signed with that all too familiar 'A'.
"Hanna?" Spencer asked. "What's wrong?"
"Aria's still getting messages," she replied her voice wavering ever so slightly. "There's dozens here each one talking about Ezra."
Aria walked back over her take-out bag draped over her cast, she held out her hand for her phone. She looked at each of her friends, "You may have stopped getting texts but I didn't."
Aria walked back to Ezra's apartment and like she always did she switched the phone off before going inside, once again she checked to make sure nothing had been moved in the short time that she was away then she switched on the TV for background noise and ate her food.
The rest of the week passed in the same manner, except before going there on Wednesday Aria stocked up on food so she didn't have to endure anymore run ins with her friends. They'd tried calling her but Aria wasn't interested in hearing what they had to say. At least not yet, not when the memories of that night were still so fresh in her mind.
On Friday Aria waited until she heard Byron's car pull out of the driveway, she jumped out of bed, showered, dried and styled her hair, applied the slightest hint of makeup and dressed in a carefully chosen outfit of dark jeans, a flowy spotty blouse and her favourite booties. She checked her handbag to make sure she had everything she needed and she left the house.
It was a little over two hours later when she arrived outside the modest building, to passersby it looked like a home but Aria knew different. She glanced around and quickly climbed the stone stairs that led to the front door, she buzzed and the door opened into a small vestibule. Once in here Aria removed the lanyard from around her neck and held the laminated card it was holding up to the entry system. Once again the door opened and this time she walked into a reception area.
"Hi," she said to the receptionist. "I'm Ellie Andrews and I'm here to see Peter Warne."
"I.D please," the receptionist replied.
Aria handed over the pass she'd just used to gain entry into the building and once the receptionist was happy that the photograph on the ID matched not only the young woman standing in front of him but also the one on the computer screen he handed it back to Aria and smiled.
Aria walked as quickly as she could to room 26, she used the sterile gel that was on the wall outside pushed the door open and went inside.
"I wasn't sure you coming," Ezra said from his hospital bed.
Aria smiled, "I wouldn't miss it for anything. I struggled to get a cab outside the train station."
She kissed Ezra's cheek, and sat down in the chair next to the bed.
"No," Ezra whispered and with some effort he patted the bed next to him. "I need you closer to me."
Aria smiled and sat down on the bed. "How're you feeling?" she asked noting that he was still hooked up to an IV.
"The pains still bad," Ezra replied. "But they've decreased my meds slightly."
Aria smiled, "That's good."
Ezra gingerly lifted a bandaged hand up and placed it over Aria's. "Aria, you know that even when I get out of here that I can't go back to Rosewood right? Not while 'A' is still out there. If I return it could put us both in danger."
Aria nodded sadly, "I know."
"Have you made any progress with what I sent you?"
"I'm looking through it," she told him. "But there are a lot of things to process."
Ezra nodded, "I know I'm sorry. I just wish I'd had more time to find out who this person is."
"You did the best you could," Aria replied. "Whoever it is they're masters at concealing their identity."
"Did you manage to contact CeCe?"
Aria nodded, "I did but she wasn't willing to talk to me, she's scared just like you."
"Bring some in next week and we'll look through them together, two heads are better than one right?"
Aria chuckled. "You're supposed to be taking things easy you're still recovering."
Ezra smiled and his thumb gently brushed the back of her hand. "I promise to stop if I get a headache or feel tired. I just want to help."
Aria smiled and she slowly eased herself into a lying position careful not to jostle the bed as she was worried doing so would cause Ezra pain.
"We'll get to the bottom of this," Ezra whispered. "I promise you we'll find out who it is."
Three weeks earlier
"Hi," Ezra smiled as Aria walked into his classroom. School and finished and most people had gone home.
"What're you doing here?"
Aria smiled back and sat down on his desk, she brushed her lips against his chastely. "I was thinking that we could drive to Brookhaven for dinner? A new vegan place just opened."
Ezra groaned.
"Hey," Aria said. "You owe me dinner we never made it to La Vina."
"Ah," Ezra replied. "And whose fault was that? If I recall you ran and left me at that resort."
"Because I found out you were 'A'," Aria responded. "Are you seriously suggesting that I owe you dinner because I left?"
"Without letting me explain." Ezra chuckled. "But you're right I do owe you dinner."
"That's odd," Ezra said as they drove towards their destination. "The brakes seem a bit off, I have to press really hard to get the car to slow down."
"There's a garage not too far from here," Aria said. "Maybe we could stop and have someone take a look?"
"You know if we stop at a garage we probably won't make it to Brookhaven right?"
"Vending machine food under the stars could be pretty romantic." Aria replied leaning closer to Ezra, she nuzzled her nose against his cheek and rested her head on his shoulder.
Ezra slowed the car as much as he could as they approached a sharp bend, suddenly he was near blinded with headlights and he realised that a car was driving at speed on their side of the road. Ezra swerved to avoid the vehicle and pressed his foot down hard on his brakes, but it was useless the car wouldn't stop and he couldn't regain control. The last thing he remembered was Aria's screams as the car rolled over.
Aria woke up with a loud ringing in her ears, her body ached and she could taste something metallic in her mouth but she couldn't figure out what it was. She fought the tiredness that was trying to consume her and slowly opened her eyes; it took a minute or so for everything to come into focus and that's when she remembered where she was. With difficulty she turned her head towards the driver's side of the car.
"Ezra?" she whispered spitting out blood as she did so, she quickly realised it was coming from a nasty cut on her lip.
Ezra didn't move. Aria groaned and rested her head against the headrest, her eyes flickering shut once more.
"Aria?" someone screamed. "Oh god Aria."
Aria heard a crunching sound and suddenly she felt hands on her, and she realised she knew the voice. "Spencer?"
"Aria," Spencer replied. "I'm going to get you out okay?"
"Wait," another voice shouted. "We shouldn't move her."
Aria's foggy brain tried to put a name to the voice but she couldn't everything was so muddled.
"Em," Spencer replied. "I smell gasoline. The ambulance could be a while. We need to get her out."
"Emergency services are on their way," another voice said and Aria knew that this must be Hanna.
"Come on," Spencer shouted. "Help me."
She leaned across Aria and unbuckled her seatbelt and with Emily's help they lifted her out of the car.
"Ezra," Aria mumbled. "You have to help Ezra too I don't think he's conscious."
They got Aria a safe distance away from the wreckage and Hanna covered her with her coat.
"Please," Aria whimpered. "You have to help Ezra."
Emily shared a look with Spencer and glanced back towards the car. Could they really leave him in there even though he'd been the one tormenting them?
"Ezra," Aria screamed as loudly as she could. "Please, please."
"Hanna," Spencer asked. "How long did they say we'd have to wait?"
Hanna shrugged, "As long as it takes. I wasn't sure of the exact location. I mean we stumbled across them by accident."
"I don't get it." Emily said. "Why would he text us with a warning that Aria was in danger and give directions to the restaurant?"
"What do you mean?" Spencer asked.
"Well if this was his plan he had to know we might find them and why put himself in danger?" Emily responded. "It doesn't make any sense."
"It makes perfect sense." Hanna replied. "It's so we start questioning what we know to be true. He's 'A' and we found him out."
"No," Aria mumbled fighting the lure of unconsciousness as much as she could. "He's not, he's not. There was another car and the brakes weren't…"
She was interrupted by the sound of sirens. "They need to help Ezra first. I'm okay they need to help Ezra first."
The sirens got closer, then suddenly their sound was drowned out by a large bang and Aria's screams as a huge fireball shot up into the sky.
Then everything went black.
Aria spent two days in hospital, her injuries a broken arm, cuts, minor burns and bruises were superficial but the doctors had been concerned about her unwillingness to talk to anybody. They'd been worried that she might be suffering a mental breakdown and had ordered a psyche evaluation. The psychiatrist had said that she was understandably in shock and that she felt that familiar surroundings would probably help her recovery. So Aria was sent home with pain medication and some sleeping pills to take when needed.
Byron returned to work five days later, he'd been scared to leave Aria alone but she'd assured him that she would be okay. Ella was still travelling around Europe with Zack and Aria had refused to let Byron tell her what had happened until she'd finished her trip around Italy.
Byron had phoned her four times in the first two hours to make sure she was okay. She'd just opened the fridge to get herself a drink when there was a knock at the door. Aria debated whether or not to open it, she really didn't want to speak to anybody but for some reason she knew that she had to.
Dianne Fitzgerald was standing on the front porch.
Ezra's mother looked exactly like Aria remembered her, immaculately dressed with not a hair out of place.
"Hello Aria," Dianne said.
That was all it took for Aria to breakdown, the tears that she'd been trying to hold in since the accident started falling freely down her cheeks. Her entire body shook with the force of her sobs. Dianne stepped closer to Aria and wrapped her arms around her.
Neither knew how long they stood there for, but once Aria's crying had subsided Dianne spoke, "Why don't we go inside?"
Aria nodded, "Okay," she whispered.
Dianne guided her in through the door and over towards the kitchen where she then sat Aria down in a chair. "Why don't I make us something to drink?"
"I'll just have some water please." Aria whispered.
Dianne placed a hand on Aria's shoulder, "I think you need something a little stronger than that."
Aria watched in silence as Dianne busied herself making drinks for the two of them, once she was finished she sat down and placed a steaming hot mug of coffee in front of Aria.
Dianne took a sip of her own drink and then reached into her black Chanel 2.55 handbag, she pulled out a small leather bound notebook and a silver pen with a Tiffany Blue band around it. Aria watched curiously as Dianne opened the notebook and began writing something down. Once she had finished she slid the book closer to Aria.
You can't react to what I'm about to tell you.
Aria looked up at Dianne who was watching her intently. Aria was confused and didn't understand why Dianne couldn't just tell her.
Dianne pointed down at the page again, and Aria nodded in affirmation.
Dianne began to write once more and Aria watched as the words were formed on the crisp white paper.
Ezra is alive.
Aria gasped and Dianne raised a finger to her lips indicating the need to be quiet.
He's badly injured but he's okay. I have a letter that explains everything.
Silent tears flowed freely down Aria's cheeks. Ezra was alive.
I'll give it to you and then leave, do NOT show the letter to anybody. If anybody asks why I came to see you say it was because I wanted to ask you about the accident.
Aria nodded.
Dianne smiled at the young woman in front of her, closed to notebook and placed that and the pen back in her bag.
"Aria," she said her voice wavering ever so slightly. "I'd like for you to tell me about the accident. I need to know that my son didn't suffer."
Aria was confused; surely Ezra had told his mother what had happened? But then she realised that Dianne was making sure that if asked why she had come to visit her she could say truthfully that she wanted to know about the accident.
Aria relayed the details to her numbly, still in shock from the news she'd just been given. Even though she knew Ezra was alive, speaking about the crash and the explosion that followed and the huge fireball that consumed the car leaving barely anything left of the silver Toyota caused her to start crying again.
It was almost an hour later when Dianne announced that she would have to leave, once again she reached into her bag only this time instead of the notebook from earlier she placed an envelope on the table in front of Aria. She stood up, put both mugs into the sink and Aria walked her to the door.
"I'll keep in touch Aria," she said.
Aria nodded and leaned forward to hug the older woman. Once Dianne had left she rushed into the kitchen picked up the envelope and ran upstairs to her bedroom.
Aria,
I am sorry it has taken me so long to get in touch with you and I am sorry that you've had to suffer this past week in distress.
I regained consciousness just as your friends pulled you out of the car. It took me a while to figure out where I was and what had happened. I could hear you calling my name and I tried to call back to let you know that I was okay but I couldn't make any sound above a whisper. I naively thought that your friends would come back to help me, but when I realised that wasn't going to happen I struggled to free myself despite the pain I was feeling. I had just managed to get myself out of the car when the explosion happened. I was close enough to suffer burns, and it had been my intention to stay near the car until the emergency services could get close enough to it. But as I looked up towards the ambulances I saw a lone figure standing there watching the scene unfold, they watched as you were strapped onto a stretcher and then they calmly walked away.
I knew instantly that the accident had been anything but. I knew that the brakes on my car had been compromised and I knew that you weren't supposed to have been in the vehicle with me. I was supposed to be alone. 'A' wanted YOU to suffer for my 'mistakes'. So I crawled further away from the scene and called the only person I knew who would happily take me away from Rosewood. My mother, she brought me to my current location to recuperate from my injuries.
I was so close to uncovering who 'A' is and I think they knew; that's why they wanted me out of the picture.
Soon you'll receive a flash drive, it's filled with various things that I gathered which I believe could lead to us finding out who this person is.
I thought you could go to my apartment (a place where you can be close to me) and look through them. Maybe there is something I've missed, maybe you will uncover this.
You cannot tell anybody that I'm alive this has to remain a secret until we know who has been tormenting you and your friends. I'm sorry that I am asking you to lie to your family and friends, to keep up the façade of the grieving girlfriend but I know now that this person will go to great lengths to keep their identity a secret and that makes me worry for your safety.
I've enclosed an ID card; you'll need it to visit me. I took the liberty of choosing a pseudonym for you I hope you don't mind?! :D
Aria tilted the envelope up and watched as a laminated card fell into her lap, she turned it over and smiled when she saw the name Ezra had chosen for her. "Ellie Andrews," the female character from their favourite movie "It Happened One Night."
She looked back down at the letter and continued to read.
I've also created an email address which my mother will use to send information about my location.
ellieandrews3b the password is "B26".
I love you; everything I've done over the past few months has been for you.
Yours,
Always,
Ezra.
Two days later Aria received a stunning bouquet of flowers and a box of her favourite chocolates from Dianne, hidden inside the box of chocolates was the flash drive.
Present Day
Aria rubbed her eyes and looked over towards the clock on Ezra's desk. It was just after 5pm; Byron had dropped her off outside earlier that afternoon and was due to pick her up at 6. She had spent the last few hours searching through various files on the flash drive that Ezra had left; she closed the one she'd just finished and clicked on the next folder which was called "Lucas Gottesman." It contained several photos taken by Lucas on the Halloween train. Aria began looking at each photo closely growing more and more frustrated as she found nothing that might help them, she was just about to call it a day and stop looking when she noticed someone lurking in the back of one of the photos. She couldn't make out who it was and zooming in made the picture too pixelated to be able to see anything.
Aria rubbed her eyes in frustration, then she remembered that earlier that day as she came into the apartment building she had seen Ezra's neighbour at the mailboxes. The elderly woman loved doing cross stitch and as her eyes were not good she used a magnifying glass which she usually had on a cord around her neck. Aria smiled, placed the computer on the table in front of her, took out one of the simple stud earrings that she was wearing and went to knock next door.
"Hi Mrs Rosenthal," she said when the woman opened the door.
"Aria," Mrs Rosenthal replied warmly. "How are you holding up?"
"Okay," Aria replied.
"Such a lovely young man," Mrs Rosenthal said. "I know he loved you very much. Why don't you come in sweetie I just made cake?"
Aria shook her head, "I can't," she replied. "My dad is going to be here soon to pick me up but I just lost the back from one of my earrings and I can't find it anywhere I was wondering if I could borrow your magnifying glass?"
Mrs Rosenthal smiled and removed the magnifying glass from around her neck, "Of course you can Aria. I've never understood why they make those things so small."
Aria chuckled and nodded her head, "I'll bring this back as soon as I'm done," she said.
Mrs Rosenthal shook her head, "Oh no rush dear. I have another one."
Aria thanked her and went back into Ezra's apartment; she sat down with the computer on her lap and raised the magnifying glass to the screen.
What she saw caused her to gasp.
Because there peering through the window at the back of the train with an almost sinister smile on her face was none other than Alison DiLaurentis.
Aria searched through other folders and noticed that Alison appeared in several of the photos, always near the back so she wasn't visible, always watching Aria and her friends.
She was even in the background of a photo of Aria and Ezra taken during a trip to the zoo in Philadelphia the previous year.
Not noticeable unless you were looking.
Alison was 'A.' Alison was the one who had been tormenting them all along and she'd been manipulating people to do her deeds just like she had done with her friends before she had faked her death almost three years earlier.
How could they have missed it? Ever since she had returned to Rosewood she had been asking them questions about 'A.' About how much they knew, whether they had any ideas about who could be behind it. It had been Alison who had suggested to Spencer that maybe Ezra could be the mastermind behind it all, afterall they starting getting texts after he met Aria.
Aria reached for her phone, she switched it on and sent Spencer a text.
Alison is A.
She switched the computer off, gathered her belongings and went outside to wait for her father.
Spencer was waiting outside The Montgomery house when they got home.
Aria let Spencer go into her room first and closed the door tightly behind her; she took a deep breath and turned around. She was ready to argue with Spencer about this but before she could speak Spencer uttered two simple words.
"I know."
The End
Please review xx
(Not happy with the title of this so it will most likely change)