The Perfect Sky
It had been so long since she'd stepped foot inside the apartment that there was a thick layer of dust over most of the shelves. The picture frames had dust gathered in the corners, and had an aged look from lack of oxygen getting to them. She wasn't even sure anyone had been in the apartment since.
She stared down at the box resting on the floor in front of her feet. It was the same box that had been there since the last day they had stepped foot into it. She inhaled a rough breath, struggling to get air past the knot already forming there. How had so much changed in just a few years?
Aria giggled as she sealed the final box with boxing tape. She had no problem hiding her giddiness over the fact that they were finally getting out of this box of an apartment. It was cute and held a wealthy amount of memories for them, but there simply wasn't enough room for them anymore. Not with the newest addition to their tiny family.
Hell, they had been pushing it when Ezra had come up with the idea to get a puppy. Keller was no longer a puppy, and given the fact that he liked to sleep with them, the eighty pounds at the end of the bed mostly made their feet extremely hot by two AM.
The husky barked next to Aria as he sat at her side. She scratched the top of the dog's head and then took the ball from his mouth and tossed it out onto the balcony, where there were unfolded boxes in front of the railing so that the ball didn't go out onto the street. He scampered across the apartment after it and Aria smiled. He'd have plenty more room to run around in the new flat they'd gotten in Philadelphia.
The door opened across the room and Ezra walked in, breathing a bit heavy as he did so. There was sweat coating the top of the grey t-shirt he was wearing, and it didn't surprise her. It was eighty-five degrees outside.
Keller ran up to him and quickly dropped his toy, licking Ezra's hand instead. Ezra chuckled and knelt down in front of the two-year old dog.
"You're such a goober, you know that you crazy mutt?" He teased in a baby voice.
Aria rolled her eyes, laughing as she moved the full box of dishes down from the counter onto the floor. "Last box?"
Ezra looked up at her and nodded. "For the day. Hardy's got the truck ready to go, and then it's just back into town to grab a few things from your mother's. We can get the last of it in the morning."
Aria nodded. Ezra walked over to her and grabbed the box from where it rested at her feet. Aria grabbed the dog leash and walked over to Keller. She attached it to his leash and then followed Ezra out of the apartment, kicking an empty box that had a few books lying in it to the side as she did so.
She knelt down and lifted one of the books up out of the box. It was Pride and Prejudice; one of Aria's favourite books. The cover was tattered and torn, and like everything else, had a layer of dust over it. She blew on it, kicking up some of the dust. She coughed lightly and then turned the book open.
The inside cover had a scrawl across it. She paused for a moment and looked at it.
b-26 is happiness. forever and always.
"Can I ask you something?"
Ezra looked up from the book he was currently parsing through and met Ella's eyes. It was almost funny to him that he and Ella were once again working at the same establishment. He'd gotten a job at Sheridan Prep near the end of Aria's senior year while she'd been offered a job over the summer that offered more money. Given that she was a newly single woman, she'd quickly jumped on it.
"Sure," Ezra replied, dropping the pen in his hand onto the notepad he was scribbling notes on beside the book he'd been looking through.
Ella walked over to him and Ezra's eyes dropped to the book in her hands. He gulped as she settled it on the desk. "Is this about Aria?"
Ezra looked down at the page she had it turned open to. He cleared his throat and looked back up at her. There wasn't any kind of anger in her expression – she simply looked genuinely curious. He exhaled a slight sigh of relief.
"We weren't together at the time," he admitted. "I never even thought she'd see it, let alone anyone else."
Ella nodded. "There's still so much you two keep secret. It's good though. I was just curious."
She stood up and walked over to the bookshelves. They hadn't housed books in years. Instead, in the time before they had moved out, pictures had sat atop them. She picked up the photo in the middle of the clutter and wiped it off. Pictures from that day sat in her daughter's old bedroom, though the room had long been taken over by someone else.
Aria giggled, tugging Ezra into the photo booth behind her. She'd seen a generous stream of people make their way into it throughout the reception, but had yet to sneak in with him yet. They'd been too busy making the rounds among their family and friends.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her head as they came to stand in front of the camera. The red light on it blinked, alerting them that it would be taking a photo shortly.
"I love you, Ezra murmured against her hair as the first photo snapped.
She turned in his arms and wrapped her arm around his back as he did the same to her. "I love you too," she replied back. "Now smile for the camera."
He chuckled, resting his chin on the top of her head. The next photo snapped and then Aria turned to him and grabbed his suit jacket, pulling him in for a kiss. His tongue brushed over her bottom lip as the camera flashed a third time.
They parted a few moments later and Aria smirked at him, though she still held tightly to his jacket. He rested his head against hers once more as he turned slightly towards the camera and they both smiled in time for the camera to take a final photo.
"Photos for the grandkids," Aria said with a laugh as she looked up at Ezra.
"There you two are!"
They looked up in time to see Hardy walking in with his fiancée, Selena. She was carrying their nine month-old daughter, Olivia. She and Aria had become close friends in the four years that they'd spent in college together – Aria as an undergrad, and Selena as a grad student.
"Come take photos with us," Aria insisted as she reached a hand out to Selena.
She looked up from the photo in her hands at the sound of tinkling laughter and the scamper of claws across the floor. Keller had been breeded with another husky, and after the pups had grown enough to be given away, they'd given away all but the smallest, whom Olivia had been quick to name Tweety, because as a baby, she'd always made high-pitched whining noises. The name had stuck.
"Momma." The statement was being made about the photo in her hands. The picture of Aria and Ezra at their wedding. They were smiling – his head against hers.
She leaned down and settled the photo in a box before she stood and began gathering more photos and settling them in more boxes.
Aria looked up at Ezra as he walked out of the bathroom. He had nothing more on him than a towel that was wrapped around his waist, while she had on hot pants and a thin ribbed yellow tank top. She had it pulled up over her stomach.
"You don't have any baby fat," he told her she could say anything. Aria scowled at him and then stood up, moving off the couch.
She walked over to him and bit down on the inside of her bottom lip as she looked up at him. He made a throaty growl at the look she was giving him.
"Wanna have a little fun?" She asked as she trailed a feather-light hand down his chest. There was a smirk playing on her lips as she did so.
"Shouldn't we go to your mothers before it gets too late?" Even though he asked the question, they both knew he really didn't expect an affirmative answer.
Aria reached for the towel, pulling on it as his hands moved up the inside of her tank top. "She won't mind. She loves the kid."
"That's because the kid leaves at the end of the night," Ezra replied in a throaty voice.
Aria pushed up onto the tips of her toes and pressed her lips against his as she pushed the towel off his body. His hands hooked into the inside of her shorts and then he tugged quickly, sending them to the floor with his towel before lifting her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
It was nothing to pack up the little that had been left. They were last minute items; a few pictures and leftover books. Everything else had been packed up and moved. And yet they had sat for more than four years, untouched.
And it seemed right that way somehow. If they weren't touched, then things hadn't really changed that much. Except that they had. A lot could change in four years. Four years was the difference between walking and driving. High school and college. Infancy and pre-school.
Aria wrapped a hair band around the end of the braid she'd tied her hair up into as she finished knotting her hair. The sun was just beginning to set, leaving a pretty hue of oranges, pinks and yellows along the horizon. It had been a cloudless day.
Ezra turned the dial on the radio console as the car sped down the highway.
"-senator says to expect budget-" "-lost to the white sox-" "-football season starting in a few months-" "-and while the weather has been beautiful these past few days, expect heavy showers and thunderstorms tonight with the temperature in the high sixties."
Aria looked around the car with a scowl on her face, as if a grumpy look on her face could fight off any clouds that were rolling in. But as she looked over to the east, she could see the clouds rolling in fast. In the distance, she could see the showers as the rolled slowly towards the highway.
"I guess we shouldn't hang out too long in Rosewood," Ezra murmured as Aria switched the radio to the CD in the player as they drove. The first song kicked in.
"Thought I saw a man brought to life
He was warm, he came around
Like he was dignified
He showed me what it was to cry…"
Aria nodded. They drove in silence for several minutes as the clouds drew in closer.
The fog had hit first. That much she remembered. It had been dense and hard to see through for cars and even some trucks. The rain had come next, and when it had, it was like a bucket pouring out onto the entire city. The first wave had passed in just over twenty minutes, but by then, it had already been all said and done.
"Zack, can you grab Gracie out of her bassinette?" Ella called as she tugged a window down to keep the rain out of the apartment.
He walked into the room a moment later with the baby, and Ella smiled. For a five month old, she had some very defining features. She'd been born with a full head of jet-black hair just like her fathers, and as it had continued to grow, the curls had been thick as well. Her eyes were just as blue as his as well, but her features were all her mother's. Her laugh even reminded Ella of Aria's as a baby.
"Did the box come back on yet?" Zack asked as he handed her a bottle.
Ella nodded, gesturing her head towards the remote on the table as she lifted the bottle to Gracie's lips and began to feed her. She watched as the TV rolled through the channels until finally he came to stop on the news.
"-looks like the first wave of storms has ended, but we've got breaking news coming in from Philadelphia. Mark, what's going on?"
"A multiple-car pile-up is what we know so far, Kylie," he reported back. The police haven't reported if there are any fatalities yet or how many people were involved in the wreck. The highway has been shut down, and police are advising travel be halted for the time being."
The tv switched back to the newscaster in the studio. "We'll keep you updated as more information comes through."
It cut to commercial a moment later, and Ella turned to Zack, passing Gracie off to Zack.
"I have to call Aria."
"Is that everything?"
His voice rang through to her finally after he'd asked a third time, and Ella looked up at Zack. He held a box under one arm, and his other was wrapped around Gracie where she rested on his hip.
Ella gulped and nodded. "Yeah, that's it."
"Nana okay?" Gracie's small voice asked.
Ella nodded, smiling as she reached out for the young girl. Gracie happily accepted, and she hugged Ella tightly. Ella looked down into the box in Zack's hands and pulled out the picture she'd held earlier. It was the only copy ever made.
"Mommy and daddy!" Gracie squealed cheerfully. She stared down at the picture for several long moments while Ella and Zack headed out of the apartment. As they did, she was reminded of the many arguments she'd had with Byron over the need to get the apartment cleaned out once and for all. Mike had offered on several occasions, but Ella had insisted it should be something they did as a family. After all, the only real family Ezra had was Wesley, and Wesley had been in graduate school at the time of the accident, and then had moved to California with his father.
She'd finally given up on Byron a few months earlier when she'd run into him while he was out with Meredith and his 'new family'. They had a daughter, whose middle name was Ariana, but Ella struggled to believe Byron's insistence that she was named after Aria. He'd shut his daughter out after finding out about Ezra, and had never really let her back in.
On the other hand, Mike had just recently gotten engaged to a girl that seemed to make him very happy, and was just about to take his final exams. He'd be graduating in a few short weeks.
Gracie reached into the box as they stood there for a few more moments – Zack with his ever-so-perfect patience – and pulled out another frame. It was a bit smaller, and contained a photo of Aria and Byron. She was maybe fourteen in the picture, and it was the only one that had been in the apartment. The only picture Aria had ever kept of the two of them.
There was a button at the bottom of the frame, and she pressed on it.
"nothing's fine, I'm torn
I'm all out of faith
This is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed,
Lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed
Into something real
I'm wide awake
And I can see
The perfect sky is torn
You're a little late
I'm already torn…"
The song sent a chill through her as she stared at the picture a few seconds longer. It was the song Aria had played for the father-daughter dance, though she had danced with Mike instead. It was supposed to be comment on the fact that her wedding was the last thing she would let him hurt her with; that he couldn't hurt her with anything else, and if he tried to come back around, it would already be too late.
"Tell me the story again," Gracie said as she dropped the picture back into the box, clinging to the picture of Aria and Ezra.
Ella chuckled. "Sure kiddo. How about some ice cream first."