Soooo. Hi. I know I haven't posted in SO LONG and I'm so sorry. I know you've all been waiting for me to start my sequel to 'Wait For It,' but after the revelations of 4x12, and a bad case of writers block, I'm feeling pretty uninspired.
This story is more than likely going to be a one shot. I may add to it if I feel like I want to, but that's undecided right now. You'll all be as upset as I am that Ezra is apparently now on the A-team, or some form of baddie on the show, but I have confidence in him that he's good, and I will never give up on Ezria.
Here is my optimistic (yet perhaps slightly unrealistic based on the Halloween promo) take on what will happen when Aria finds out and confronts Ezra about it. Enjoy!
The dim streetlights did nothing to light up the dreary town of Ravenswood as night fell. For the night of a local celebration, the streets were strangely silent, much to the girls confusion. Spencer, always the one to take the lead, was the first to step out of the vintage looking costume shop, quickly followed by Aria, then Hanna, and Emily. Usually in first position, the tight corset and heavy material of her dress left Em slightly behind the rest. The door banged shut behind them and the sharp breeze hit them immediately. Hanna sighed loudly, perhaps out of boredom or nerves, or maybe in an effort to warm herself up.
"So.. where to now?" Hanna waited for confirmation from Spencer whilst she adjusted her hat. As a modern fashionista, the blonde was not used to old-fashioned hats. She forced it back on her head, in an effort to make it more comfortable.
"The poster said the celebration was at Ravenswood Memorial Cemetary, and things start at 8pm." Spencer's brain whizzed around in her head as she checked her phone in her purse. It's almost 10 now, so it should all be in full swing.." Spencer trailed off as she examined the emptiness all around them. No noise could be heard at all.
"Wow. The townsfolk of Ravenswood must be hardcore party animals.." Aria commented sarcastically as she copied Spencer, looking down the deserted streets.
"Okay.. so didn't board shorts say that Alison would be there at 11? We should get going.." Emily fidgeted, the old-fashioned shoes a complete change from her usual comfy old sneakers.
"Yeah.. Let's go." Spencer made a move first, and the girls followed, apart from Aria.
"Guys." Aria stayed where she was and shouted them, an alarmed expression on her face.
"What? Aria c'mon we need to get going." Hanna was getting impatient.
"I think I left my purse up there." She gestured to the building they'd been to an hour previously, A's lair. The girls sighed as soon as she said the words. "I'm sorry.. But I can't leave it there, A will know we've found it. I'll go get it quickly, wait here."
Spencer frowned, but acted quickly. "Wait. I'm coming with you."
"Why?" Aria asked, secretly glad that she wouldn't have to go up there alone.
"Because friends don't let friends sneak into creepy lairs alone." Aria laughed as Spencer joined her. "Han, Em, why don't you go and find the cemetery? We'll call you when we're on our way to you."
The two girls nodded and moved quickly in their previous direction as Spencer linked Aria.
"You know I can handle myself you know, you should of seen me with Cece," Aria winked, "that one lesson with Karate Jake really payed off."
Spencer laughed, but then went more serious, making small talk as they walked the short distance to the lair.
"How are things going with you two..?" She was hesitant but didn't need to be.
"Eh.. I think I made a mistake. Besides, Ezra and I kinda had a moment earlier.."
Spencer stopped as they reached another sidewalk.
"What? What kind of moment?" She'd un-linked Aria and was now face to face with her friend as her cheeks turned rosy.
"Um.. Well we had coffee and talked... and talked... and I sorta kissed him.." Aria smiled, thinking back to this afternoon.
"I knew it." It was Spencer's turn to wink now as she linked Aria again and resumed walking.
"What's that supposed to mean? Plus you don't exactly seem surprised.." Aria didn't know whether to be offended or laugh.
"You just can't do it. You can't be away from him." Spencer smiled, one that was almost as big as Aria's, but not quite.
The door of the lair was no longer fully ajar. There was now only a small crack that stopped the door being fully shut. Spencer and Aria remained glued to one another as they approached the room. Thanks to the costumes, their breathing was almost non-existent so they made basically no noise at all. Aria was just about to separate herself from Spencer and run ahead when noise could be heard from inside, a voice perhaps, from towards the back of the room. A voice that Aria recognized all too well..
"I'm serious. They've been in here, the coat closet was open and there's a journal missing from the desk. I saw them go into a costume shop about an hour ago, I think they'll be at the party."
Spencer was the only one taking notice of the actual words being said. As soon as Aria heard the words her legs went weak and gave way. She gently staggered and collapsed into Spencer. Her throat felt as if it was closing. She had to be hallucinating, she had to be. It couldn't be him. No. It couldn't. Not Ezra. Not her Ezra. Not the love of her life. The shock and stabbing pain of the man she loved betraying her, combined with the tightness of the corset didn't mix well. She couldn't breathe. Her legs were shaking and her mouth was dry. A lump appeared in her throat and tears streamed down her face. Her vision blurred and she could just make out Spencer holding her as her mouth gently moved, obviously in an attempt to guide Aria through her panic attack without attracting attention from Ezra in the lair.
"Aria.." Spencer's whispers became clearer and clearer. Her eyes shut and opened again, her vision improving with every single blink. She rapidly moved her eyes and began to breathe slower and slower with no more panting, until she returned back to normal.
She sat up gently, and Spencer looked at her with soft eyes, giving her a tight hug. She pulled away quickly and stuck a finger to her mouth, symbolizing for them to stay quiet. Tears still stained Aria's cheeks as she let Spencer guide her away from the doorway so they were now behind a corner.
"Stay here, okay? I'm gonna go listen in. Trust me, Aria. I'm sure this isn't as it seems." Spencer whispered so quietly that it was barely audible. Aria was still trying to catch her breath and stop the tears flowing. She nodded slightly to her friend. Spencer smiled at her again and leaned over to kiss her forehead.
"Trust me. Remember Toby.."
This gave Aria a slither of hope. She sat up a little bit more and peeked around the corner to see Spencer sneak towards the door. She could vaguely hear but not quite. She sighed as she watched Spencer crouch by the door, the back of her head the only thing visible to Aria. It was only when Spencer creeped into the actual lair that Aria decided she had to make a move.
Slowly she crawled, not wanting to have to rely on her legs that had so quickly given way to her before, and quickly arrived at the entrance of the door. She could see Spencer now stood up, hiding behind the coat closet. She could hear perfectly what was being said.
"Listen to me. Listen to me very carefully. I'm telling you that they were in here. Shit. They must know everything. Ali must of guided them here. We've gotta find her." Ezra's tone was harsh but determined, a tone that Aria hadn't heard before. Her stomach turned as she sat there, listening carefully.
"I'm looking now. I don't think anything else has been taken. They definitely don't know I'm here and I don't think they'd come back, they're going to the party."
Spencer carefully creeped back out. It was a miracle, but the floorboards didn't creek at all, and neither did the door. She was shocked to see Aria sat so close to the door, but she wasn't angry.
"What do you wanna do?" Spencer's tone was barely audible and Aria was surprised that the decision was hers to make. She shrugged gently but then slowly got up.
"I'm just gonna go get my purse."
One deep breath later, Aria boldly walked straight into the room with determination. Ezra was stood by the first board, with a phone to his ear. He was still talking and had his back to her, not even noticing she was in the room.
"Are you sure you don't know where she is? Not even a guess?"
Aria didn't look up as she walked all the way to the computer where her purse was. Picking it up, she double checked that everything was inside and then began the journey back over to the door. She paused when she reached Ezra, almost as if she was able to go any further without some kind of answer. He was still talking and had the money transfers book in his hand. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Spencer enter, too, and without warning, she gave a loud cough, resulting in Ezra spinning around. At the sight of the girl he loved, he dropped everything and the phone, along with the book, fell to the ground.
Tears welled up in her eyes as soon as she caught sight of his. Stood there, in a black jacket and black cap. It was as if he was someone completely different. She couldn't speak even if she wanted to. Fixated to the spot, all she could do was rush to conclusions in her head.
"Aria.. Please.. You have got to let me explain. This is not what you think it is." The panic in his eyes was evident, but the same eyes she fell in love with were still there. She couldn't bring herself to say anything. She knew that if she tried to speak her voice would break.
He took a few steps towards her and her body automatically allowed her to do the opposite. She plunged backwards and hit the wall. Turning around, she saw a giant poster of Ali blowing a bubblegum bubble. She looked so young. Her stomach turned as she looked back at him.
"Is this.. yours? Wh- what the hell is going on.." She couldn't even bring herself to look directly at him. "How could you do this to me.."
"Aria.. Please. I can explain all of this. I promise you." He didn't move any closer, but Aria couldn't take it anymore. She looked to her right and saw Spencer stood still, her eyes moving from Ezra to Aria, back and forth, until finally settling on Aria.
"Are you really who I thought you were?" Aria didn't even want to wait for the answer, her mind was clouded with an abundance of doubt. "I can't.. I need to just.." Aria trailed off, ignoring Ezra's pleas as she hastily ran over to the door and pushed past Spencer who immediately went after her.
"Aria, wait! I'm sure there's an explanation."
"I can't right now Spence, I need to just- I need to breathe." Aria continued running as she spoke, getting breathless with every step as she descended the long staircase. With a push, the doors of the building flew open and the dark night was once again revealed. She couldn't run anymore and collapsed on the sidewalk, her dress still keeping it's strong state as she sat there, sobbing her heart out on the cold stone floor.
"Aria.. Come here.." Spencer threw herself down on the floor next to her and wrapped her arms around her friend. Ezra mustn't of followed them as he hadn't emerged from the doorway. She held onto Spencer for dear life as she emptied all the tears from her body, only to fill it back up with sadness, not being able to do anything about the empty hole inside of her that came from the betrayal she'd experienced.
"Aria, you've gotta listen to me." Aria froze as she looked up, and Spencer did the same. Ezra was walking towards them, he must of been so quiet that they didn't notice him following them.
"No. I need to think. Please." Aria could barely fathom the words, her voice shaky from crying. She noticed something, though. His voice sounded different, a lot harsher from before in the lair. Was he really some kind of psychopath? Spencer shot up as Ezra got nearer to them, and she dragged Aria up as she did so. The two girls were backed into a corner as Ezra got closer, and closer. Aria could barely come to terms with how she hadn't realized what the love of her life was truly like, but her chain of thought was disconnected as soon as she heard it.
Gunshot.
The next few seconds of Aria Montgomery's life seemed to pass by as if it was in some kind of slow motion. Like a montage in a film, or an action sequence. When everything slows down and time seems to stop, almost as if your brain is trying to get you to come to terms with the events. The things that are happening so quickly they don't feel real, but they are. Perhaps it's your brain trying to make you feel as though you're in a world of fiction, maybe even trying to make you feel better, as if something hasn't actually happened, when in actual fact you couldn't be any further in reality.
The time between Ezra Fitz falling to the ground and Aria looking up to see a blonde in a red coat run away with a smoking gun passed about as fast as a century. His body hit the ground with a thud, echoing loudly throughout the deathly silent streets of Ravenswood, and Aria's cries were getting louder, and increasing by the millisecond. Her voice soon went hoarse, her mouth unable to form a single word as she shook her head profusely. She couldn't look at anything but his lifeless corpse as it lay in the middle of the road.
The slow motion stopped, and reality kicked in. Aria ran over to the body, placing one hand under Ezra's head to support it as she shook him, trying so desperately to bring him back to life.
"Wake up!" She screamed as she cried, her voice shaking even more. "Ezra.. " Her voice went down to a whisper. "No. You can't die. Come back to me, please, babe, I need you. We can make this work I know we can. You're a good person and I should of let you explain."
Spencer walked over to her and held onto her but she shook her off,
"No! I need Ezra, all I want is him to open his eyes. Please, please just open your eyes.."
Spencer began to tear up as she sat on the ground next to Aria, keeping her distance from her hysterical friend. Aria was in bits, with black eye make-up all over her cheeks.
"Please, please just wake up. Just open your eyes. This isn't what's supposed to happen Ezra. We were gonna get married. I was gonna move in with you, and we were gonna have our own kids." She gently laughed as she cried. "Daisy and James, remember? I said you couldn't pick and choose but you said you knew, you said you knew we'd have one of each. It was gonna me you and me forever.."
The sadness returned and her eyes went wide as she felt his skin getting colder and colder. She shook him more and more and then the truth set in.
Ezra Fitz was dead.
"No! No! Spencer.. no.. Please wake him up, please." She cried and cried even harder and draped herself over his body completely.
"Come on baby, please. Who's gonna live in your tiny apartment? You can't leave me, you can't. I don't want anyone else I just want you. It's always been you and I don't care what you've done, we can get through it. We go forward. Together.. remember?"
He smelt different and he had stubble instead of the clean cut shave that he had sported a few minutes earlier, but these details didn't matter to her. She held the dead body close to her and tried to catch her breath but it was pointless, everything was pointless for her in that moment.
Until she heard it.
"Aria? What's happening?! I heard a gun-"
No.
It couldn't be.
But it was.
Aria thought she was hallucinating. She couldn't possibly be hearing Ezra's voice behind her. He was dead, she was holding his lifeless body in her arms. She moved her head around and there he was, Ezra, stood in the doorway of the building she'd just ran out of. His eyes were confused and his face went pale at the sight of Aria hysterically crying as she held a body in her arms.
"What the hell is happening.." Spencer looked from alive Ezra to dead Ezra and tried to come up with a conclusion in her head, but Aria didn't bother.
She paused as she looked at the body she was holding and examined the face. Tracing a finger across his cheek she allowed herself to stop crying as she sniffled and carefully edged back, letting the body fall back down onto the concrete.
It wasn't Ezra.
She shot up and ran over to the doorway where Ezra stood, and he retaliated, opening up his arms to scoop her up with. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist as she pushed her lips down onto his and kissed him passionately for the first time since their 'goodbye' kiss last month. She pulled away quickly and tears ran down her face again as Ezra returned her to the ground.
"I thought you were dead.." Her voice was muffled as her head was buried in Ezra's chest.
"No, I'm right here. I'm fine, I'm fine, we both are." He hugged her tightly and rested his head onto hers, squeezing her tighter than ever before.
"What's going on? Who's was that body? It obviously wasn't you.."
Ezra, Aria and Spencer were sat in a small cafe in Ravenswood, not far from the lair. The cafe was creepy and quiet, but Aria and Spencer still looked pretty ridiculous in their old-fashioned evening gowns as they sat and drank coffee. Aria was sat by Ezra, her hand squeezing his tightly as she continued to reel from the near-death of the man she loved.
The police had came and the body was gone. Surprisingly not many questions were asked. Ezra spoke to the officers and they went on their way, almost as if they knew everything already. It had fell to Spencer to speak on her and Aria's behalf, getting questions that they all needed answered.
"This is a pretty ridiculous story. But I promise you it's all true. I just need you to listen." Ezra looked on edge as he spoke, but Aria nodded and said her first three words since entering the cafe.
"We believe you."
Spencer nodded.
"Wes isn't the only brother I have. I have a twin. You didn't have much time to get to know him, clearly, but you wouldn't of liked him. He's a few minutes older than me, but I guess I'm the more mature one. He was always different when we grew up. Always breaking his toys, watching horror films when he was like 8 or 9. He was odd, and a total opposite of me." Ezra paused and took a sip of coffee with his free hand.
"Anyway, my Mom hated it, as you can imagine.." He looked at Aria who nodded understandingly, she'd had the 'pleasure' of meeting Mrs Fitzgerald on a number of occasions, and it was not exactly her favorite pastime. "So, it all came to a head after his 5th serious fight at school which ended with his opponent sporting a knife wound.. She decided to take him to see a therapist, and it all led to a stay in a mental institution. He was diagnosed as criminally insane. We were both 16 at the time. I finished high school and moved to Rosewood to go to college. I didn't just drop my name when I changed from Fitzgerald to Fitz. I was dropping all ties with him.. My parents were reluctant to let me go, but after the drama with Maggie they couldn't stop me. I enrolled at Hollis and got on with my life."
"Wow. I can't believe you never mentioned this.." Aria sighed as Ezra finished talking.
"Aria, I don't want anything to do with him. I cut him off completely. Talking about him would be just like admitting he was still my brother." Aria nodded and Ezra continued.
"I was in my third year at Hollis, and I got a letter from him. He told me he was gonna be released soon. I ignored it completely, not wanting him in my life. He said he'd changed but I couldn't believe him. He'd done some terrible things, and I didn't wanna be involved in all of that. Anyway, fast forward a couple years and I was dating you. Everything was perfect. I'd just got the job at Hollis and we could go out in public together.." Ezra's smile was as wide as Aria's as he talked. "I didn't think anything could change it. But then he came back into my life. He called me and said he needed to talk. He said he knew where I lived, and he knew who you were, and that he'd harm you if I didn't help him. I went to meet him and he said he knew that you were friends with Alison, and that he needed my help to find her. He was the one that she talked about, the older guy she was seeing. He was around 21 at the time, so she'd of been like 14.. He told me he thought she was older but I knew he was lying. He was sick." He paused again and took another sip of coffee as he shook his head.
"He'd become obsessed with her, and so he bought me here so I could see everything he'd put together. All of the photos and timelines, they were all him. He'd found out about everyone who was in her life, and then everyone who was in their lives so he could figure stuff out. He wanted her, and if he couldn't have her no one could. She knew this and that's why she disappeared. I've never met Alison, but now he's gone she's safe. Cece was working with him, too. I have no idea why but she hated Alison. She came to see me a few times so I pretended to be him. She'd tell me everything. Anyway he knew exactly where she'd be tonight. He knew she'd be at the party, so he had this costume he was gonna wear and he was gonna go and get her. I don't know what he was planning to do, but it wouldn't of been pretty. I think Alison knew this, so she got him before he could get her. I'm just glad she got the right twin.." He let out a faint laugh, but the shock of tonight had taken it's toll on everyone.
"Ezra, I'm sorry we assumed.." Spencer sounded guilty but Ezra shook his head,
"No. No. Don't be. I can imagine how it looked." He squeezed Aria's hand even tighter.
"Who were you on the phone to?" Aria asked him, unsure whether or not she should be nervous of the answer.
"Wes. Yeah, I had to clue him in about it all. I couldn't do all of this alone. I would of told you about it all, but then the whole thing with Mona went down, and then Maggie, I just didn't wanna push you over the edge, I'm sorry." Ezra looked Aria in the eye as he spoke, meaning every single word.
"I understand. But we can't have any more secrets.. Spence we need to tell Ezra about everything that's been happening, we can trust him. That is, unless, you know all about it anyway.."
Ezra shook his head.
"No. I don't. I don't think that he was A. His one focus was Alison."
Spencer nodded and smiled weakly as she moved her hands and began to spill all of the details as Ezra listened intently, unable to believe everything that had happened in the past few months.
It seemed like the liars had just recruited a new helper in the A hunt.
Soooooo yeah. Kinda dramatic maybe and slightly unrealistic, but hey, I think it could work on the show. It'd make a lot of sense and I think I'd love it, I'm definitely a supporter of Ezra having a twin ;-) We will get through this Ezria fans! We need to stick together and have faith. 'True love prevails,' so remember that and don't stop believing in Aria and Ezra! I love you all, and I have faith that Ezra is a good guy and that his love for Aria is 100% genuine!
Don't forget you can tweet me 'adoringezriax' or follow me on tumblr at 'adoringezria'
Also today is September 1st, so it's Ezria's anniversary! If you're on Twitter we're going to be trying to trend #HappyAnniversaryEzria at 4pm EST time, 9pm UK time.
Please review xx