"And, Oh I want it to get better.
I swear I'll work to make it better.
So please don't leave quite yet"

Heart pounding. Blood pumping. Adrenaline racing. Ezra ran up the dirty staircase as fast as humanly possible in search of Aria. He knew he had finally figured it out. He had figure out from all his research who was actually pulling the strings. It worried him too much that he could not find any of the girls in Rosewood. He had to find her; even if it was the last thing he did.

"Do you think we could make it?" He heard a voice ask. Make it? Make what!? A chorus of "no's" soon followed after. He reached the top of the staircase and pushed open the door, hoping he wasn't too late.

"Ezra?" He heard Aria ask as he took a step into the cold winter air. She tentatively tried to move forward but halted after the sound of another rusty door opening filled the air. The girls shrieked and Ezra gulped as a mysterious masked figure appeared from the doorway, pistol in hand. He hurriedly ran in front of the girls, waving his hands in front of his face to direct the attention to himself.

"Hey, Hey. I know who you are. And the police are on their way." Ezra's fear overrode his judgement as he spat out the lie. He had no idea if the police were coming or if anyone was coming to save them. Everyone stayed still and silent for the moment, but before he even knew it, the sound of the firearm being shot filled the air. Ezra instinctively ducked and covered his head. The girls shrill screams echoed into the atmosphere once more as the masked figure pointed the gun at them.

With all the courage he could muster, Ezra lunged towards 'A'. He tried mercilessly to disarm the unknown person. His hands flew and coughed out strings of profanities as 'A' made his own punches. Ezra watched his life flash before his eyes as the person pinned him up against the edge of the building, his body dangling over the edge. For a split second, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aria huddled by the rest of the girls as she shouted his name.

Without a thought, Ezra's fist flew and collided directly with the anonymous person's nose. His mind didn't even register the gun going off as his knuckles met with cartilage before his entire body was filled with immense pain. The mysterious man fell to the ground from the force of Ezra's punch and the gun slipped from their grip and onto the concrete. The constant screams and sobs from the girls seemed to fade away in his mind to the sound of soft whispers. The sound of his own heart pumping blocked almost every other coherent thought and sound around him.

Ezra turned around, facing the darkened city's skyline. He reached down and pressed his hand gingerly to the bullet wound, his fingertips were immediately coated with his steadily pouring, sticky blood. Ezra tried to focus on the blurring lights of the city buildings as he tried to calm his own breathing and brush away the unconscious feeling looming over him. The feeling that these were going to his last moments of life numbed him to the bone. His last time to see Aria's gorgeous face. His last time to feel her silky skin against his fingertips and hear her soothing voice coo his name. His pain and worry for began to become overwhelming. Aria's soft voice though, seemed to snap him from his trance.

"Ezra?" Tears brimmed his eyes, but he kept them focused on his own distorted picture of the skyline in front of him. He didn't know how much time he had left, or if this was even going to be his last moments. All he knew was now, for now at least, Aria and the rest of them were safe. She and the others got another day, or as he hoped, a lifetime.

"It's so beautiful," he murmured. He dug his knuckles into the hard rock of the barrier between him and his free fall to remind him that he was still alive. And she was really behind him. The distant buildings and stars seemed to liquefy before his eyes as the blood from his abdomen rapidly poured out. Ezra turned around and took notice of her also damp eyes. He looked down sullenly at his body. The spot of the wound was covered with his crimson blood. Ezra pushed his black coat aside and heard Aria's cries. They too, blurring between his consciousness.

"No! No!" Aria rushed towards him and he immediately crumbled to her touch, crashing to the ground underneath her body. All of the girls then circled around him as they all cried his name. He could barely make sense of anything around him as Aria pulled his upper half onto her lap. She sobbed and begged for him to stay with her. Wet droplets hit his

cheek and he realized she was crying, and he was really dying. With the energy he had left, he reached out to touch her face at least one last time, to wipe her salty tears away. The last thing he wanted her to do was cry over him. She had done too much of that over the past week.

"Somebody call for help!" He heard Alison scream as her and rest of the girls, minus Aria, went to find someone.

"I'm sorry..." He slurred, his eyes slowly closing.

"No, you stay awake. You hear me? No, don't you dare close your eyes!" Aria screamed.

"I... love you." He tried to choke out as many last words as he could before the Grim Reaper hauled his body into his hearse. "You were... the best thing that ever happened to me." Ezra tried to squeeze her hand with as much power as he could, reveling in the feeling of her squeezing back.

"Ezra, no. Don't leave me." She ran her fingertips through his curly brown locks and squeezed his hand, trying to keep her love with her as long as possible. "Please don't leave me. Don't close your eyes, Ezra." Her touch seemed a million miles away along with her cries. Slowly, he saw her beautiful, memorable face dissipating into the darkness. He wanted to stay. He wanted to be with her. He didn't want her to cry or be upset. He wanted her to be safe and happy. That's all he could ever want.

"EZRA!"

"Please don't leave quite yet"

Yeah I kinda watched this scene over and over. It doesn't make it any easier. I was borderline sobbing at this scene last night and I almost started crying writing this. Last night was the only episode that ever made me cry, and it was absolutely amazing. I hope you guys enjoyed this. I may or may not do another chapter. It depends on how sluggish i'm feeling. Kisses!