Their Love

"Excuse me, do you know where I could find Anthony Matthews?" Maria whispered quietly while looking at the ground.

"Um, well, yes actually, I am Anthony Mathews," whispered Anthony, who had also been staring at the ground. He looked up reluctantly knowing it was rude not to make eye contact with a lady. Maria however kept her eyes on the floor determined not to ruin the moment by saying something embarrassing when she became lost in Anthony's eyes.

"Grandma, are you awake?" Aria asked sweetly with a hint of concern in her voice. She had been reading the newspaper to Maria, like she had every morning before school since her grandparents moved into the nursing home three years ago.

"Sorry darling, I must have drifted off, didn't get much sleep last night. Your grandfather may be losing his memory but he'll never stop snoring". Maria replied, she'd been staring at a picture of Anthony and her on their wedding day since Aria had arrived. Maria was normally so upbeat and picked up on every little detail, nothing got past her without a nicely worded criticism, but recently she had seemed more distant. While others may have put Maria's recent distance down to old age Aria knew it was something else. Her grandmother may be losing her health but she'd never stop finding something wrong with everything you did.

"Do you want me to continue reading grandma?" Aria finally said, hoping to receive something at least a tiny bit resemblant to the women she knew and loved dearly.

"No, I think I might just go and sit with your grandfather." Maria replied with a touch of sadness in her voice, still staring at the picture frame. Aria knew she wouldn't receive anything out of her grandma today, maybe she would try again tomorrow. Aria slowly got up to leave before taking one last look at Maria.

"Have a good day grandma, I'll see you tomorrow." Aria said loudly trying to grab her attention one last time.

"Yes dear," Maria replied quietly still not looking at Aria. There was no use, she would talk to her mother tonight and see what she said.

Aria began walking out of Maria's room and looked at her watch. "No!" she exclaimed, her bus would be outside now and if she missed it Mr Paine would give her another lecture on the importance of being on time. She ran through the corridor almost bundling old Mr Handson and his shopping trolley into the corner.

"Aye, watch where you're going, some of us intend on staying on our feet for a bit longer at least. " Mr Handson yelled down the hall while Aria kept running. CRASH!

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, are you ok?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

"No I'm the one who should apologise, I'm not the best at watching where I'm going." Aria replied annoyed, scrambling to shove everything into her bag before the bus left.

"It's fine, I love being thrown against the wall by random strangers, I'm Ezra by the way," Ezra said, offering a smile.

"Aria," she replied stifling a laugh. Finally looking up after successfully shoving everything into her bag.

"Wow" Ezra whispered quietly under his breath. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed how stunningly beautiful the girl standing in front of him was until now. Aria quickly looked down at her watch again; she was never good at talking with boys, especially when they were as cute as Ezra.

"Sorry but I really have to go, I'm going to miss my bus." She said in an attempt to leave before she managed to embarrass herself anymore. Before Ezra got a chance to reply Aria was already walking out of the building. Why do you always miss your chance he thought to himself? He promised that he would see her again, the feeling they had shared when their eyes met for those few seconds was something he couldn't explain and he knew she had felt it to.

"Love at first sight," Ezra chuckled as he heard the words roll off his tongue, he had never believed that saying, until now.

Aria sprinted with desperation to the bus, jumping on just before it took off. She smiled to herself, she couldn't handle the embarrassment of Ezra seeing her waiting at the bus stop when she ran off saying she was going to miss her bus. Aria felt a pang of guilt as she thought of him, he probably thought she wasn't interested after she left so quickly. Why did she always ruin things with boys like Ezra? She had never felt a connection like that before and Aria knew she would have to see him again. She'd make sure she visited Maria early tomorrow so she had time to talk to Ezra.

Aria had woken up especially early this morning, hoping to bump into Ezra before she had to read the newspaper to her grandmother. Her heart sank however, when she managed to make it to Maria's room without even catching a glimpse of him. Maria was already up when Aria arrived, still with that sad expression on her face, still staring at the picture of her and Anthony.

"Hello grandma," Aria exclaimed loudly, trying to grab Maria's attention while at the same time trying to forget about Ezra.

"I don't really feel like listening to the paper today Aria, why don't you go enjoy yourself instead," Maria replied flatly, not moving her eyes from the picture.

"Are you sure? I don't mind really, I quite enjoy it actually," Aria said happily, trying to sound more upbeat.

"No." Was the only reply Aria received and although she knew she should have protested she wanted to find Ezra more than anything. Aria proceeded to leave the room quietly hoping that Maria wouldn't change her mind and decided she did want to listen to Aria read the paper after all.

"Aria!" Ezra yelled from across the corridor, sprinting towards where Aria stood.

"Hey," She replied sweetly with a smile.

"Wow, you really are beautiful," Ezra said mesmerized while Aria giggled. "I said that out loud didn't I." Aria continued to laugh as Ezra blushed, embarrassed beyond belief.

"Its ok, I thought it was cute," Aria said after finally controlling her laughter.

Aria and Ezra were still talking when Maria walked out of her room a few minutes later, she'd been so rude to Aria and needed to apologise. However as she made her way through the corridor she saw something she hadn't expected. Her shy granddaughter was conversing with a very nice looking boy, and as she watched them for a few seconds longer her heart sank. They reminded her of what she and Anthony used to be like, before Anthony was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and forgot almost all of their life together.

"Maria, wait up!" Anthony yelled running to catch up with Maria.

"Hey, Anthony how have you been?" Maria asked shyly, trying not to say the wrong thing.

"I've been well, what about you?" Anthony replied trying to avoid the moment he knew was coming.

"Quite good," Maria answered still being conscious of her words. Following Maria's reply was a long awkward pause, one both of them wished to fill but couldn't seem to find the right words in which to do so.

"I haven't seen you around lately," Maria finally said, hoping to provoke a conversation out of Anthony.

"Yes, sorry you see, I, well I um," Anthony let out a long sign this was it, the moment Anthony had been preparing himself for all week "I-was-wondering-if-you-would-like-to-go-on-a-date-with-me." He said as fast as humanly possible, all his words blurring into one.

"I'd love to," Maria said smiling. She'd wondered for weeks if he was even interested in her but the feeling that engulfed Maria and Anthony when their eyes finally met dispensed any doubts they could have had. They stood there for what felt like eternity, the silence that had once seemed so awkward was now the most normal way to be.

For the next few weeks a routine fell into everyone's life without even the slightest of understanding of what was happening. Aria would visit Maria as early as possible every morning, but each time Maria would send her away explaining she wanted to spend more time with Anthony. Ezra and Aria would meet under a large gum tree in the corner of the nursing home garden after she 'escaped' her grandmother, as Aria always said. They would talk for a good hour although to them it never felt like long enough, Aria would run off, always with that cheeky smile Ezra loved. Sometimes in passing Maria would see the two of them together all though she never stayed for very long, they reminded Maria too much of Anthony and her when they were young, of they way the would never be again.

It was about 3 weeks since Ezra and Aria had met and for the first time they didn't talk that day, Ezra had swimming trials before school today. Aria still visited the nursing home that morning, she wanted to talk to Maria.

"Hey grandma," Aria said walking into the room.

"I don't feel like"

"No I really need to talk to you today grandma," Aria cut in before Maria could finish.

"Ok, what's wrong Aria, does it have anything to do with that handsome boy you've been spending all your time with," Maria asked almost patronisingly. Aria

was very taken back, she'd never have thought her grandma of recent days would know about Ezra and her.

"You know about Ezra?" Aria said slightly embarrassed.

"Oh honey, nothing gets past your old grandma," Maria started to laugh and for the first time in months Aria saw something that reminded her of the Maria she used to know.

"Ok, well since you know, is something I need help with," Aria said brightly, she was happy that her old grandmother was back and she finally had someone to confide in.

"Let me guess. You and Ezra have been spending quite a bit of time together lately but he hasn't asked you to go on a date yet, and you don't know if he's interested in you that way?"

"Ok now you're starting to freak me out grandma," Aria was shocked, she always knew her grandmother was smart but not a genius.

"Well I went through exactly the same thing with your grandfather so I can't take all the credit." Maria laughed, amused at the fact that even 60 years later teenagers still had the same problems.

"Well… what did you do?"

"If you and Ezra are meant to be there really isn't anything you can do honey, you just have to wait for him to be ready."

"But how will I know if he's 'the one'?" Aria asked still confused with the whole situation.

"You can never really be sure, but for your grandfather and I it was the feeling I got whenever we made eye contact," Maria said not as confidently anymore, the amusement of watching her granddaughter worrying about boys had quickly disappeared and was now replaced with a heart wrenching sadness.

"The feeling like nothing else in the world matters, like you could just sit there for hours staring into each others eyes and it still wouldn't be long enough." Aria said imaging the times Ezra and her had spent together. Maria just smiled nodding her head, but she couldn't hold her composure for long. Once one tear trickled down her check more and more just kept coming, soon she was sobbing into her lap while Aria held her. Aria couldn't understand what was happening, just moments ago Maria had almost seemed like her normal self and now she was a mess. She'd never seen her grandmother like this and it frightened her, if Maria wasn't the strong women she thought she was, then who was she really?

Aria was a bit shaken after Maria's break down but as per her request she didn't tell her mother about it. Maria was right though, the next day Ezra asked Aria out on a date, and of course it was in his sweet nervous manner that Aria loved.

"So um, Aria I was wondering, you know since we have been hanging out for a while, and well, do you want to go out with me," There was a short pause, in which Ezra became even more nervous. "I mean, like on a date?" he quickly added.

"I would really like that," Aria smiled back, somehow she managed to dissolve all his nerves in a single smile.

They organised to go out and see a movie next Friday night, not wanting anything too awkward although they knew a dinner would never be awkward, as even silence felt comfortable to them. Aria couldn't wait, although she decided against telling her grandmother the good news, she didn't want a repeat of yesterday.

It was finally Friday and from the moment Aria got up she knew it wasn't going to be a good day.

"Honey wake up" Aria's mother Ella, had shaken Aria awake, which had been quite a hard task.

"Mum its 4:30am, what could possibly warrant you waking me up at this time?" Aria asked still half asleep.

"I'm sorry but your grandfather just passed away," Ella had said sympathetically. Aria had just stared at her mother blankly for a while, unable to comprehend the words that had just came from her month. They'd known for a while that Anthony didn't have long left but no one thought it would be this soon.

Ella drove at least double the spend limit on the way to the nursing home, Aria was surprised she didn't receive about 6 speeding tickets. When they finally arrived at the nursing home Aria felt even more devastated, the whole atmosphere was depressing. Maria was sitting on a chair next to Anthony's bed sobbing while in a complete rage, she could see the look of pure heartache spread across Maria's face, one of the staff was trying to comfort her but it was useless. Aria and Ella sat with Maria all day, at first they tried to comfort her then they tried to distract her, and even tried to just get her to leave the room, but nothing would work. It was around 4pm when Maria finally seemed to settle down, well maybe a little bit Aria thought. Things changed however when Ezra arrived about half an hour later offering his condolences.

"Aria" Ezra whispered quietly as he walked through the door. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise you had company, I'll come back later," Ezra said quickly.

"Thank you dear, that would be appreciated," Maria butted in before Aria or Ella could disagree. Her statement should have sounded appreciative but the way Maria communicated it made it seem patronising. Ezra practically ran out of the room after Maria's comment with Aria not far behind him.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't think that you grandmother would still be in his room, I'm such an idiot," Ezra said apologetically

"It's fine, really," Aria smiled back, automatically making Ezra feel better.

"Well I'll let you get back to your grandma but I just wanted to offer my condolences and give you this box of chocolates," Ezra pulled a small box of chocolates from his backpack, forcing Aria to smile even more. How was it that even in the saddest of times Ezra could still make her smile? Aria thought to herself. "Also if you want to reschedule our date then that's totally fine given the circumstances," Ezra added.

"Thanks, for the chocolates and for understanding. I'll text you when things settle down and we can go out," Aria replied still smiling. She then pulled Ezra into a tight embrace, even the feeling of his strong arms around her made everything seem all right. Eventually they separated, Ezra left and Aria went back to her grandmother. Once she entered the room her happiness was immediately replaced with concern, Maria was once again crying but this time she was even worse. She sat there sobbing into Ella's arms staring at that same picture of Anthony and her on their wedding day. For a while Aria was confused, why was it every time something to do with Ezra came up that her grandmother lost all composure? That's when it hit Aria. She stared at the picture and for the life of her couldn't figure out why she hadn't noticed it before. A horrible feeling developed in her stomach and she quickly realised something she should have weeks ago. Ezra bore a splitting resemblance to Anthony, if you didn't know any better you would be certain they were related. Everything washed over Aria faster than she could comprehend. Just after Ezra's mother had started working at the nursing home Maria changed, she became sadder, every time Ezra was mentioned Maria would burst into tears. Ezra reminded Maria of Anthony and Maria couldn't handle seeing what she and Anthony used to be like, what they would never be like again. The sick feeling in Aria's stomach grew, how could one person bring depression to someone and so much joy to another? Aria looked at her grandmother and in that moment made one of the most selfless decisions in her life. In that moment she decided that she would never see Ezra again, never talk about him again. She had to, for her grandmother.

Five weeks later Aria sat in her room, watching from her window as an almost perfect winter day played out in front of her. Almost was the imperative word in that sentence, it would have been, if she could see Ezra. Ezra, even the thought of him created a painful longing in her stomach. Ever since her grandfather had died Aria had cut off all contact with Ezra, she stopped visiting him, stopped answering his calls, texts, emails. He'd given her about a week of space, then started to attempt contacting her. He'd ask her how she was, if she wanted to meet up, maybe go out for some pizza, just to talk. He'd even tried getting Aria's attention by informing her about his life, he'd gotten a canary about a week ago. After three weeks of no reply though he'd stopped, she'd thought it would make things easier, it didn't. Aria missed him more than anything, but she did it for her grandmother and that was a good enough reason for her. Maria had become slightly happier in the last few weeks, well as happy as you could expect.

"Do you want something to eat," Ella said as she walked into Aria's room, breaking her train of thought.

"No, I'm fine," She answered bluntly.

"Still thinking about that boy?" Her mother asked, although she already knew the answer.

"I miss him so much" She replied. "But it doesn't matter, he's probably forgotten all about me."

"I'm sure he hasn't." Ella said trying to comfort Aria.

A few metres away Maria stood in the corridor, watching as her daughter tried to comfort her granddaughter. The words 'I miss him so much' only made the grief of the last few days even worse.

Three days later Aria was studying in her room with her headphones on full volume, drowning out almost all the sound around her. Outside it was a dreadful winter day, it was pouring with rain, the clouds were over cast and it only made Aria feel worse.

"ARIA! ARIA!' Ella yelled, but of course Aria couldn't hear. "ARIA!" She screamed as loud as physically possible.

"WHAT!" Aria yelled back, she'd finally heard.

"Can you please answer the door," Ella said still yelling. 'God' Aria thought to herself, 'wouldn't it have been easier to answer it yourself.' Already in a bad mood Aria flung the door open hoping to get rid of whoever stood on the other side. Although the person standing on the other side of the door was the last person she would ever expect. She could feel her heart drop and knew she had to escape before she did or said something she regretted.

"Aria," Ezra said simply whilst smiling. Just hearing his voice made her nervous, he looked so perfect standing there and she couldn't take her eyes from him. 'No' she thought, 'I can't' she tried as fast as she could to slam the door in his face but somehow he got a hand on the door first.

"Aria please, just hear me out," Ezra said staring into her eyes, when Aria gave no response he continued. "When I first met you I couldn't believe how perfect you were. I've only had a few girlfriends but I've never felt this way about anyone before. It's like nothing else matters on earth, like I don't care about anything but you. And I couldn't believe how lucky I was, I mean some people don't get to experience this until they're older, some people never feel this way about some else, but I'm only 17 and I already get to experience this. For the first few weeks we were together I felt like, like, well I've never been great at expressing my feelings," Ezra smiled embarrassed while Aria laughed. "Anyway the point is that I can't stand being without you, these last few weeks have been torture and I want to be able to hang out with you, and be around you," Ezra finished. Aria was crying at this stage and at first Ezra thought it might have been from happiness, but his hopes were soon crushed.

"I'm sorry Ezra but we can't, I know you don't understand but I just can't." Aria whispered through her tears, sorrow apparent in her words.

"Yes, we can" Ezra replied, he knew this was his last chance and he had to take it. "We can because, because, because, because I think I'm falling insanely in love with you," Aria's heart sank even further, she wanted nothing more than to say those exact words back to him, but she couldn't.

"We can't," was all Aria could manage.

"Yes you can darling," Maria said, Aria and Ezra hadn't even noticed her standing in the hallway behind them until now. "I know you cut Ezra off for me, and I am very thankful for that but I can't ask you to keep doing this. I know how much you care for him and you should be together." Maria said tears welling up in her eyes.

"Are you sure grandma?" Aria asked.

"Yes, I lived a long happy life with you grandfather and now it's your turn to feel the way I did." Aria ran over and pulled her grandmother into a tight embrace, she couldn't find the words to express her gratitude but Maria knew what she wanted to say anyway. "I'll leave you two alone then," Maria smiled, before walking into the kitchen. Aria turned to Ezra a big smile spread across both their faces. At that moment there was only one thing Aria thought would make this even more perfect. She stepped closer to Ezra their eyes locked only centimetres apart, they slowly moved even closer. When their lips finally met it was like nothing they had ever experienced, a feeling of total and utter happiness ran through both of them. After finally pulling apart Aria and Ezra just stood there in each other's arms, knowing that this is where they would always belong.

Maria laid down on her bed 2 months later. As she drifted asleep, she saw her life with Anthony play out before her eyes. All those cherished memories, all the times when they had felt like they were floating on air. Maria finally felt content with her life, a long happy life she'd lived and she wouldn't change a minute of it. She looked up, the words "I love you," drifted from her mouth. She closed her eyes, knowing they would be the last words she ever said, and she was glad they were to Anthony.