"When Spencer's parents hear about this…" As soon as Ella Montgomery's words reached Ezra's ears, he became instantly confused. He kind of just stood there, not knowing what to say. He knew that there was no way of getting out of telling Ella about him and Aria at this point. He swallowed. "Ella…it's not…Spencer…" "Well, who is it then? It can only be Hanna or Aria, and Hanna has a boyfriend and Aria certainly would never—" She suddenly stopped rambling, and Ezra could see in her eyes that she had found the answer on her own. He could see tears well up in her eyes. "Ella…" he tried to reach for her shoulder, but she pulled away. "I trusted you…as a friend…as her teacher…" "Ella, I'm still your friend. I'm still the same guy." "NO, Ezra. It's not that simple! You—you took advantage of her! I thought—I thought you were different!" "Ella, it's NOT like that. I would NEVER hurt Aria!" "Then what is it, Ezra? How is it different?"
Ezra put his hands firmly on Ella's shoulders. "Just—just listen to me for one minute, okay?" Ella made a slight nod. Ezra stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "I…I love Aria. I love—I love the way she lights up any room she's in, with just her smile, her laugh," he could see a very slight smile on Ella's face that quickly went away as soon as she noticed it was there. "Whenever I'm with her…it's like nothing else matters. It's just me and Aria. Everything else disappears. And every moment I'm with her…I just fall harder. I love her, Ella. I love her."
Ella tried to wipe her tears away. "Is that true?" "Yes. Every word of it—" Ezra was interrupted when he saw the four girls walk out of the room. He immediately ran to Aria. She practically threw herself into his arms. He could feel her sobs soaking into his shirt, but he didn't care. He just held her, and he never wanted to let her go. "Ezra…I did something terrible…" she said softly. "Shhh…it's okay…I'm here." Ezra said, softly stroking her hair. He kissed her on the forehead. He figured anything more would get him in trouble at a police station.
"Aria." Ezra heard Ella's voice beside them. Aria pulled away. "Mom, this isn't what it looks like—" "Don't bother, Aria." Ella sighed. "Just go get in the car. We'll be there in a few minutes." Aria nodded, gave Ezra's hand a squeeze, and walked over to the other girls, hugging them all before she walked out of the station. Ella looked straight at Ezra. "Ezra, I think you should go. I just—I can't tell Byron about this right now. The last thing we need right now is this…we'll um—we'll call you later." she ran her hands through her hair. Ezra could see the circles under her eyes. She was so tired. He could tell. "I—I understand, Ella." He began to walk away, when Ella called out again. "Ezra—wait." He turned around. "You…you really love her?" "I do." "…Okay." she said quietly. He wasn't sure if it was a sign of approval or simply recognition. He decided to give her a small hug, which was expectedly awkward, then left the police station.