Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Pretty Little Liars or the characters, although I wish I owned Ian Harding. Please enjoy.
Chapter 1
Ezra smiled to himself as he walked down the hallways of Hollis College, taking another sip from his coffee.
The day was September first; the first day of the new school year. It was also Ezra's first day of his first teaching job, and it was going great. He was teaching an English Literature course, and throughout the day, his students had been ready and excited to start the school year and had been very interested in the lessons he planned on teaching.
He was also starting on a fresh slate this year. He was single and definitely okay with it at the moment. His past girlfriend, Jackie Molina and he had broken up eight months ago after a failed relationship due to lack of common interests and communication, and there hadn't been a new girl in his life since then. Ezra shook his head at the memory, wondering how he spent almost a year with her. He could barely stand being in the same room with her now.
Ezra rounded the corner of the hallway that lead to his office, and he suddenly bumped into a man in the hallway.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." He said quickly, looking up at person in front of him.
The older man smiled at him, shaking his head. "Don't be, it's my fault. I was busy reading an essay rather than watching where I was going. I'm sorry."
Ezra laughed. "Busy first day?"
The man nodded. "Yeah, I've got to get all my assignments straightened out. My family just moved back from Iceland yesterday, so it's been a pretty hectic day." He held out his hand. "I'm Byron Montgomery, by the way."
Ezra reached out to shake his hand. "Ezra Fitz. I'm the new English professor."
Byron smiled. "Ah, well it looks like we're going to be working closely this year! I teach the Art and History class, and the Dean is making a joint course between our classes."
"Oh, well I'm glad I bumped into you and got to introduce myself then." Ezra said.
"Likewise." Byron replied. "Look, if you're not doing anything this afternoon, you should come over to my place so we can discuss what we want to do with the course. You could stay for dinner if you'd like."
Ezra nodded. He had only been in his apartment for two weeks now, and he was currently living off of take out. A home cooked meal would be nice. "Yeah, that would actually be great."
"Good." Bryon ripped out a piece of paper from one of the binders in his hand, writing down his address and giving it to Ezra. "I'll see you around… say, four?"
Ezra smiled. "I'll be there."
Byron nodded, continuing down the hall. "See you then."
Ezra let out a deep breath, before walking into his office. He gathered up all of his papers into the leather briefcase he had, before throwing the strap over his shoulder and tossing his coffee cup in the trash. Shutting off the lights, he closed the door behind him, locking it and putting the keys back into his pocket.
Glancing down at his watch, he saw he had about thirty minutes until he needed to be at the Montgomery house, so he decided to go home and drop off his things.
Exiting the school building, he breathed in the fresh air, thanking the stars for making his first day go easy on him.
xxx
Ezra knocked on the front door of the grand house, running his hands down the front of his deep blue, button down shirt. He had changed into that and a pair of dark washed jeans when he had arrived home, allowing him to get out of his work clothes.
A few moments later, the door opened, revealing a middle aged woman, with long, straight brown hair, dressed in a black blouse with jeans. She smiled brightly at him.
"Hi, you must be Ezra!" She greeted him, reaching out her hand. "I'm Ella, Byron's wife."
Ezra accepted her handshake, smiling back. "It's nice to meet you, Ella."
She stepped aside, ushering him in with her hands. Ezra stepped through the doorway, looking around the place quickly.
Even though there were still cardboard boxes everywhere, the place had a very antique-like feel to it. There was a living room to his right, decked with a reddish leather couch and coffee table, and a wall lined with bookshelves with most of the books already unloaded onto them. The kitchen was to his left, which was formal and expensive looking with the black marble counters. A stairway lay ahead of him, leading to the upstairs of the house where he presumed the bedrooms were.
"You have a lovely house." He told Ella.
"Thank you." She smiled, guiding him into the living room. "Byron should be home soon; he had to go pick up our son, Mike, from his lacrosse tryouts."
Ezra nodded. "Would I have him for a student this year?"
Ella laughed. "No, he's still a sophomore in high school." She shook his head. "He's growing up so fast. It's killing me."
Ezra chuckled. "Your child growing up is one of the most amazing, but hardest things to watch."
He sat down on the couch, crossing his fingers together. Ella sat across from him in a single seated chair.
"Do you have kids?" Ella asked, looking at him curiously.
He shook his head quickly. "No. I just graduated from college; it's my first year teaching."
She nodded, chuckling. "I was going to say; you're… very young."
Ezra snorted, grinning. "Thank you?"
Ella rolled her eyes, but smiled and stood up. "I'm going to make some tea. Would you like any, Ezra?"
Nodding, he leaned back against the back of the couch. "That would be wonderful, thanks."
She walked into the kitchen, leaving Ezra alone in the living room. He sighed, standing up and moving to look at the books that lined the bookshelf. He ran his finger along the binds of the books, reading their titles.
Lots of them were on history and physics, with a few good books that Ezra knew. None of them were any of the classics though, and he shook his head in disappointment.
The front door opened behind him, and he turned around, expecting to see Byron getting home with his son. He was mistaken.
Doing a small double take, Ezra watched as a brown haired beauty walking through the door. He inhaled a quick breath as he took in her features; the long and curly, chestnut locks falling down her back that almost reached her waist, her heart shaped face with full, pinkish lips, and the clothes she was wearing that would definitely make her stand out in a crowd.
She was dressed in a white tee-shirt with red owls printed on it, and a black skirt over it that went up to her waist. She was wearing dark blue heels and carried a mini silver backpack that was draped over one of her shoulders. Large rings covered most of her fingers, and she wore lots of necklaces that fell down her chest, and her ears were decked with large, silver hoops.
She walked further into the room, not noticing him at first. As she got closer and dropped her bag beside the chair Ella had been sitting in earlier, he realized how absolutely tiny she was. Her head would probably barely pass his shoulders, and that was with the three inched heels she was wearing.
Finally, she lifted her head and her gaze looked with his.
Ezra's breath caught in his throat as he got lost in the big brown eyes that stared back at him. He watched as her lips parted slightly, and her eyes trailed down his body for a moment, before snapping back up to his.
A small smirk crossed his face at the slight blush that colored her cheeks. She smiled back at him, biting softly on her lip.
Ezra continued to watch her, unable to pull his eyes away. She was… beautiful. Delicate. Exquisite. Breathtaking. All of the above.
He realized that they had been standing there for a few minutes without saying anything, and he finally found his nerve to speak.
He cleared his throat, trying to figure out quickly what to say. Stay simple. "Hi."
Mentally slapping himself, he watched as her smile grew larger, exposing a perfect set of pearly white teeth. "Hi." She responded.
He felt his stomach twist at the sound of her voice, and he briefly wondered why this girl he had known for not even ten minutes had that type of effect on him by saying a single word.
One hand ran threw his hair while the other stuffed itself in his pocket. "Uh, I'm Ezra."
Her smile didn't falter from her face, and she twisted her fingers together in front of her. "I'm Aria."
Even her name is beautiful. Ezra thought to himself.
Aria cleared her throat gently, taking a small step closer to him. "So," She began. "Are you here to look at my family's collection of books, or was there something else?" She smirked at him.
He laughed slightly. "Well, this is a wonderful library." His hand gestured to the shelves behind him.
Aria snorted, raising her eyebrows in question. "My collection is better."
Taking a step closer, Ezra tilted his head to her. "Oh really? What does it include?"
"You can't beat the classics." She told him. "Mine's full of them."
Ezra looked at her, shocked that she was interesting in the classics. "Ah, so you're more into books like It Happened One Night."
Aria laughed, nodding. "That's one of my favorites."
He grinned. "Mine, too."
The two stared at each other for a moment, before the silence was interrupted by Ella walking back into the room with a tray in her hands, holding cups of tea. She smiled.
"Hey, sweetie." She greeted Aria, setting the tray down onto the counter.
"Hi, mom."
Ella straightened up again, looking between the two of them. "I see you've met Ezra. He's going to be working on a joint class with your father this year. He's the new English teacher at Hollis." She told her, smiling over at Ezra.
The smile faltered slightly from Aria's face, but she quickly covered it up before Ella noticed. Ezra caught it though, as he still had barely been able to tear his eyes from her.
Her eyes moved up to meet his again. "You're a teacher?"
"It's my first year."
Aria swallowed, nodding softly before looking away. He looked at her, confused.
He was pulled from his thoughts by the front door opening again. Byron walked into the house, followed by a young teenager who was dressed in sports attire and whose short, blond hair was dripping in sweat.
"Hey, Mike." Ella called. "How'd tryouts go?"
The two of them walked into the room, and Byron smiled over at Ezra, who returned the look.
"Good." Mike told her. "I made the team."
Ella smiled largely at him. "Congratulations!"
He shook his head at her, but a small smile touched his lips. "I'm gonna go take a shower."
"Good; you reek." Aria told him, scrunching up her nose.
Mike smirked, holding out his arms and walking towards her. Aria backed up, holding up her hand in front of him.
"Do not touch me." She told him sternly.
He laughed, lowering his arms and turning to head up the stairs. "Love you too, sister dearest." He called over his shoulder.
Byron laughed at the exchange, and Ezra hid the smirk on his face behind his hand.
Ella shook her head. "I'm going to go work on unpacking a bit more." She declared, leaving the room and walking up the stairs.
Byron turned to Ezra. "I'm glad you could make it."
He nodded in agreement. "Of course."
Aria shifted to stand up straighter, and Byron turned to look at her. "How was school, sweetheart?"
She stared at him for a few moments with no expression on her face, and Byron sighed. Ezra watched the two of them, feeling the tense vibes coming off of the situation. He looked at Aria, whose jaw was locked in what seemed to be held back anger.
"Fine." She said sharply, before turning and leaving the room, following her mother upstairs.
Byron shook his head, before looking at Ezra apologetically. "Sorry." He said softly.
Ezra shook his head. "It's okay."
"Aria and I, we just… haven't been seeing eye to eye lately." He explained.
Nodding, Ezra sat back onto the couch. "I'm sure it will blow over eventually." He said, trying to lighten the mood.
Byron nodded, his eyes seeming far away. "Hopefully."
He shook himself out of it, before changing the subject. "Shall we get started?"
"Sure."
xxx
Ella walked into the living room almost two hours later, finding Byron and Ezra sitting on the couch leaning over papers that rested on the coffee table. The two had been working hard to get their class put together, and almost had it completely planned out. They looked up at her as she entered.
"Byron, could you help me with dinner, please?" She asked.
He nodded and stood up, before turning to look at Ezra. "Feel free to make yourself at home however you'd like."
Ezra smiled in thanks, standing up as well. "Actually, I think I'm going to go get some air and get a relief from all that paper work."
Byron laughed. "That sounds nice. We'll call you in when the foods ready."
Ezra nodded, watching them walk into the kitchen before walking over to the front door and stepping outside. After closing the door behind him, he moved to lean against the railing of the porch, looking around the front yard. It wasn't big, and was mostly covered in trees until it reached the neighborhood road. As he looked on, he saw a bench sitting against the trees a bit in the distance to his right, and noticed someone sitting on it. He squinted further to see who it was, and realized it was Aria.
He smiled slightly, before pushing off the railing and walking down the steps. He made his way over to the bench, stopping a few feet in front of her. She had her head resting in her hand and her elbow on her thigh, and was leaning over, looking at a white piece of paper in her other hand. Her head snapped up when she noticed his presence.
She quickly folded the piece of paper in half, hiding its content from him and smiled softly at him. "Hey."
"Hey." He replied. "You mind if I sit?"
"Yes." She said, before shaking her head. "I mean no. Wait, I mean –" She stopped, taking a deep breath and pressed her hand to her forehead, looking down at the ground. "Yes, you can sit."
Ezra laughed lightly, sitting down next to her. He leaned back, looking her way.
"Sorry, I'm a bit out of it today." She told him. "I'll blame it on the jet lag."
He grinned, chuckling softly. "I heard you just got back from Iceland."
She nodded. "Yeah, I was there for a year."
"I spent some time In Reykjavik, before I went to Amsterdam. It's a great city." He added.
Aria looked up at him, licking her bottom lip. "So, you're teaching at Hollis?"
He nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. I grew up in Rosewood before I moved to New York. My brother had moved back here, and he lives a little while out of town. He found out they were looking for a new English teacher and knew I majored in it, so he proposed the idea to me. I couldn't pass it up. It's my first teaching job."
She smiled softly at him. "Yeah, I think I'd like to teach."
He looked at her in shock. "What's your major?"
Aria frowned slightly, leaning back against the bench. "Well, I'm not really in college yet, but I'm leaning towards English."
Ezra furrowed his brow. "You're not?"
She shook his head. "No… I'm sixteen." She laughed nervously, looking up at him slowly and biting her lip.
Ezra's eyes widened a bit by her statement. Never before had he met a sixteen year old girl who was interested in the classics, rather than all the vampire bullshit they were obsessing over these days, or caught his eye as much as she did.
He snorted, shaking his head. "You don't seem like your sixteen."
Aria laughed. "My mom thinks I'm an old soul that was born into a teenager's body due to the amount of writing I do."
Ezra lifted his eyebrows. "You write?"
"Yeah, but so far it's mostly personal; just for me."
"I'm impressed." He replied.
She gave him a confused look, still smiling. "Why?"
Ezra unconsciously moved a bit closer to her, leaving only a few inches between them on the small bench. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Well, I tried writing. I didn't get very far." He smirked up at her as she giggled. "You're lucky. If you're doing it for yourself, it's pure passion."
Aria smiled as a small blush tinted her cheeks, and she looked down at her hands, playing with the edges of the piece of paper.
"What's that?" Ezra asked curiously.
She frowned, running her hand along the paper and squirming a bit in her seat.
"Sorry." Ezra murmured. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
Aria shook her head quickly, still looking down. "No, it's fine. You'll probably see them all around town, anyways." She whispered.
She slowly opened up the piece of paper, smoothing her hand across it to try and straighten it out again. Afterwards, she turned to Ezra, holding out the piece of paper for him.
He sat back and reached for it, taking it gently from her. Looking down, he read the words silently to himself.
MISSING
Alison Dilaurentis
Would now be 16
There was contact information at the bottom of the page and a picture of a pretty and young girl in the center of it. Ezra looked over at Aria, who looked at the paper solemnly.
"Was she your friend?" He whispered.
Aria nodded. "We were having a sleepover at another one of our friend's house last summer, and when the rest of us woke up, she was gone. Yesterday was the one year anniversary of her disappearance." She shook her head quickly in annoyance. "I hate these stupid flyers. Everyone's acting like it's a holiday, or a celebration or something. It's pathetic."
Ezra looked at her sadly, handing the paper back to her. "I'm sorry."
Taking the paper from him, Aria smiled softly. "It's okay. She'd probably love all the attention she's getting. I just miss her."
Looking at her lost expression, Ezra hesitantly reached out, placing his hand on top of hers. The moment they made contact, a gasp escaped from both of their mouths. It felt like electric sparks were shooting through their hands and spreading throughout their entire bodies at the single touch.
Aria looked up at Ezra quickly, looking for a sign of explanation. She was greeted with a shocked expression on his face that matched hers, and he looked back at her with the same curiosity.
He cleared his throat softly, trying to break the spell that had surrounded both of them. "Everything's going to get better, Aria." He whispered.
Her lips parted, and she shook her head slightly. "If anything, it's all just going to get worse now that we're back in Rosewood. There are too many bad memories here."
Ezra looked at her in confusion and opened his mouth to question her, but he was cut off by someone calling his name.
"Ezra?" Ella called out, looking around the yard. He and Aria quickly pulled their hands apart, just as she spotted the two of them on the bench and smiled.
"Oh, there you are Aria. Come on in you two, dinner's ready."
Both of them stood up and walked the distance to the front porch, and followed Ella inside. As they stepped through the doorway, Aria shot Ezra a quick glance, telling him to drop their conversation for now.
He nodded shortly, confirming that he understood her before following her into the kitchen.
xxx
The group of five sat at the dinner table, finishing up their meal.
Byron had been sitting at the end of one table, Ella at the other. Aria and Mike sat next to each other on one side, and Ezra sat across from Aria on the other.
As conversation continued throughout the meal, the two kept giving each other small glances. Aria would always duck her head, trying to hide her smile, and Ezra grinned softly at her before entering the conversation again.
Conversation mainly surrounded what life was like in New York for Ezra and Iceland for the Montgomery's. Byron and Ezra talked a bit more about how their class would go, and Mike and Aria shared small details about how their first day of school went.
Mike reached across the table for his fourth piece of chicken; he had already eaten almost half of the plate. Aria slapped his hand, making for him to slap her arm and her hitting his back again.
"Pig." She muttered.
"Drama queen." He shot back.
"Okay, children, settle down." Ella said, shaking her head.
Mike rolled his eyes, and Aria looked up at Ezra who smirked at her. She smiled back, before pushing back from the table and started to clear the plates.
"I'll do the dishes." She announced.
Ezra stood up as well, grabbing his plate. "I'll help."
Ella shook her head at him. "That's not necessary, Ezra. You're our guest –"
"And you invited me into your house and served me a lovely meal. It's the least I could do." He interrupted, smiled at her.
Ella smiled back, and shrugged. "If you insist, I'm not complaining."
The rest of them stood up, and Mike excused himself to go up to his room while Byron and Ella went into the living room, leaving Ezra and Aria to clear the table.
They brought the plates over to the sink and settled them down on the side. Aria turned to him, smiling slightly. She picked up two plates and handed one to Ezra, turning on the water. They both started cleaning off the dishes, and Aria watched him in amusement at how slow he was at it.
"Have you ever washed a plate in your life?" She asked sarcastically.
Ezra smirked over at her. "Are you downing my cleaning skills?"
She laughed, nodding. "Yes; you're terrible at it."
He put his hand over his chest, mocking fake offense. "I'm crushed."
Aria shook her head, putting her plate down and taking his from his hands, elbowing him slightly in the ribs. Ezra brought his hand up, covering her target area, pretending to be hurt from her hit. Aria giggled, splashing his arm with soapy water. "You're ridiculous."
Ezra laughed. "What's with all the insults right now?"
She pushed out her bottom lip, raising a soapy hand to his cheek, patting it softly. "Aw, you poor thing."
He backed away from her wet hand, dipping his hands in the water before grabbing her face between his hands, rubbing them across her cheeks. Aria squealed, trying to get away from him, but ended up backing herself against the kitchen counter and trapping herself further. Ezra laughed, stepping closer to her, keeping his hands on her face.
She leaned back against the counter, giggling and trying to escape from his reach. He leaned over her, affectively pressing his body up against hers, causing her to stop struggling and look up at him.
Ezra gazed down at her as she straightened up, leaving only centimeters between their chests. She stared back at him through her thick, dark eyelashes, and Ezra felt himself getting lost in her chocolate orbs again. He gently brushed his thumb over her cheek, wiping away some of the water that was beginning to run down her skin.
He couldn't deny his attraction for her. She was beautiful, smart, and had great taste. If there was anyone he could have pictured himself dating, it was someone like her.
But in the back of his mind, he knew nothing could happen between them. There was a seven year age gap between them, and her parents would most likely murder him if anything happened. Even with this in mind though, he desperately wanted to know more about her, and couldn't seem to tear himself away from her at the moment.
Aria bit her lip, lowering her eyes to his lips quickly before snapping back up to his eyes. Ezra leaned down, his forehead brushing against hers. She slowly closed her eyes, tilting her head up slightly.
Laughter suddenly floated into the room from the living area, and they both jumped apart, remembering where they were. Aria's cheeks filled with scarlet as she looked up at Ezra nervously, before lowering her gaze. Ezra cleared his throat, reaching over to grab another plate and began to scrub it clean again. Aria turned around, taking a towel from the hanger on the side wall and wiped off her face before handing it to him. He grinned at her, accepting her offer and wiped off his cheek.
Aria smiled back, relieved to see he wasn't upset with her. He nudged her gently again, causing her to giggle. "I'll splash you again." She warned.
"Bring it, shorty." Ezra smirked.
The pair heard laughter behind them, and turned to see Byron standing against the doorframe of the kitchen. "Well I see you two are off to a good start."
Ezra grinned, taking the plate from Aria and drying it with a towel.
"You should come over again, Ezra. This was fun." Byron said, pushing in the chairs around the dining table.
"I'll definitely take you up on that offer." He confirmed, glancing over at Aria quickly.
Aria smiled back at Ezra, but ignored her father. Ezra watched as he sighed, before taking a deep breath.
"Aria, I need to talk to you later tonight, okay?" He spoke to her back.
She handed the last plate to Ezra, turning to her father. "No need, dad. Nothing's changed. Don't worry." She told him in a matter a fact voice, dropping the subject before turning back around to drain the sink.
Byron sighed and shook his head, running his hand along his face as he left the room.
Ezra watched as Aria walked over to the center counter in the kitchen, taking a seat on one of the stools. He went over to sit next to her, seeing a cell phone sitting on the table.
"Is that yours?" He asked her.
She nodded; looking at him confused as he picked up the phone and began to press the keys on it. "What are you doing?"
He finished typing and handed the cell phone back to her, and she looked down at the screen, seeing he had added his contact into the data. She looked up at him questioningly.
"If you ever want to talk about anything, you have my number." He whispered to her.
She smiled, typing quickly on her phone before shutting it and looking back at him. Ezra felt his phone buzz in his pocket, and he took it out, seeing he had a text from an unknown number. He opened it up, finding a simple smiley face in the message.
"Now you have mine." She told him.
Ezra chuckled and nodded, before glancing down at his watch. "It's getting late; I should probably get going." He told her, standing up.
She followed suit after him, and walked along his side to the living room. Ella and Byron looked up from their seats on the couch.
"It has been a wonderful evening, but it's time for me to head home." He told them. They both stood and walked over. Byron reached out to shake his hand, telling him he would talk to him at Hollis the next day.
"It was a pleasure having you here, Ezra. You're always welcome to come back." Ella offered as he walked to the door.
"Thank you. I'll see you guys later." He said, stepping outside into the chilly night.
Byron and Ella called their goodbyes, and Ezra looked back at Aria who remained in the doorway. She gave him a bright smile and a small wave. He returned it, lifting his eyebrows and gesturing to the phone in his hand, reminding her that she could contact him whenever she needed to.
She nodded her head, and laughed silently, before watching him walk to his car.
Before he got in though, bright flashing lights coming from down the street caught his eye. He squinted, trying to see what was going on. There were police cars and an ambulance surrounding a white house which was blocked off by crime scene tape. People were standing watch, surrounding the area.
Aria noticed his watchful stare and followed his gaze, seeing what he was. A gasp escaped her lips and her stomach rolled. "Oh my God."
Ella looked up at her in confusion. "What's wrong, Aria?"
She shook her head in disbelief before managing to choke out, "It's Ali's house."
"What?"
Aria didn't answer. Instead, she jumped down the stairs of her porch and took off in a sprint towards the scene.
Ezra turned to watch her in confusion, and saw Ella come outside and look at the house in shock, before fear crossed her face. "Aria, stop!" She called to her daughter.
She ignored her and continued to run to the house, hope and fear battling to gain control of her emotions inside of her. Is she back?
Ella began to jog after her daughter, and Ezra shut the door of his car, following the two of them. As they got closer, he could see Aria trying to make her way through the crowd of people to a girl standing in front of the house. She stopped dead in her tracks shortly after, and Ezra looked up to see why.
His lips parted in shock as he watched two police officers rolling a black body bag on a stretcher into the back of the ambulance. The girl standing in front of the house turned to look at Aria in disbelief with tears filling her eyes.
Aria shook her head, before looking to her left. She walked over to a taller brunette girl who she talked to for a minute. Another girl with blond hair joined them a few moments later, and they all looked onto the scene together.
Ezra watched as tears filled Aria's eyes and her lips parted, before her gaze moved across the sea of people and met his. When their eyes locked and he saw the pain in hers, he immediately knew who was in the back of that ambulance.
Alison Dilaurentis.
xxx
Ezra walked into the church, looking around at the few people that had already taken their seats. Most of the friends and family were still gathered outside, greeting each other in shared sadness. Byron and Ella had invited him to come to the funeral, seeing as how he had been there when Ali's body was found. He originally wasn't planning on coming because he felt like he would be intruding on a personal event, but he wanted to see Aria and see how she was doing.
Walking to the side of the church, Ezra began to climb the staircase. When he got to the turn, he found Aria standing in front of a large, floor to ceiling window, where he had spotted her through when he first arrived. He smoothed out the front of his suit, before taking a step closer to her.
"Hey." He whispered.
Aria jumped slightly, not realizing he had been there. She turned to look at him, smiling meekly. "Hey."
He noticed the wetness that rimmed her eyes and felt his chest squeeze slightly. "How are you feeling?"
She shrugged, blinking her eyes to clear them. "Fine, I guess."
Ezra took a step closer, not believing her for a second. "You sure?"
Looking up at him, Aria breathed in a shaky breath, shaking her head quickly. Ezra opened his arms and whispered, "Come here" to her softly.
Aria stepped into his arms, burying her face into his chest. She gripped his jacket tightly between her fingers and breathed in his scent. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing one hand slowly up and down her back, while the other cupped her neck, his fingers braided slightly through her hair.
"Shhh." He murmured in her ear. "It's okay."
The two stood there for a few moments, before Aria pulled back, wiping underneath her eyes. She looked up at him apologetically, before thanking him quietly.
"I should go." She whispered.
Ezra nodded, wiping a missed tear off her cheek. "Remember, that offer to call me whenever is still open."
She smiled slightly at him, before hesitantly reaching up on her toes, touching her lips to his cheek. Pulling back, she smiled at him one last time. "I'll see you later."
Ezra watched her descend the stairs, only one thought travelling through his mind.
I am so screwed.
Author's Notes: Well, here's my second piece of writing! I really hope you guys enjoyed this, because I have big plans for this story! Please review and let me know your thoughts! xxx