I got so scared last night during the Ella and Aria scene. From Ella's reaction to Spencer and Ezra… she is going to FLIP OUT when she finds out about Aria and Ezra.

I didn't proofread this, so I apologize for any typos.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Ezra's POV

I took a good, long, look at myself in the mirror after screwing the cap back onto my tube of toothpaste. There were dark circles under my eyes, and my hair was a tousled mess.

I was so glad the day was finally over. After the exhausting day I had just endured, I could not wait to climb into bed, curl under my warm sheets, and fall into a peaceful sleep. The college fair had started out this morning as plain as can be, that is, until Aria exploded about Jackie. Why doesn't she believe me when I say that things are over between Jackie and I? Doesn't she trust me?

And Aria complaining about Jackie led to her accidentally spilling the fact that she kissed Jason to me. I knew that there was something going on between them, yet I let myself believe her when she told me that I had nothing to worry about. How could she cheat on me? She told me she loved me.

I had to admit, that that had hurt. Hearing those words from her mouth, that she had kissed Jason, when she was the one who had been so headstrong about I being the one who was going to cheat. Yet, she still did.

I was still getting over the initial shock I had received when I found out that Aria's friends knew about us. They must have known for a while now, definitely back when we were teacher and student. I understand that she must have had to tell somebody, but I still felt a little bothered that she did not tell me that her friends knew about us.

Not long after, I found Aria. At Jason's house. In that moment, I realized that I was hurting her by being around Jackie, when Jackie did not know I was in a relationship. When we had that argument during the college fair, I could see in her eyes that she was really struggling with this. She did not want to hide anymore.

I had to admit, I was getting tired of it too. It would be such a relief to be able to walk into a coffee shop, holding Aria's hand, and grab a coffee or something and not be bothered. And the first step to doing that, was telling her parents. Before they heard about us from anyone else.

A soft knock on my apartment door whisked me out of my thoughts. I ran a hand through my hair as I watched myself in the mirror. Who could possibly be here at this time? It was eleven fifteen!

As I swung open the front door, I barely had any time to register what had happened or whom my mystery guest was, before a small body forced themself against me and tightly wrapped their arms around me, burying their head in the comfort of my chest.

I reached out to close the door before wrapping my arms around Aria's warm body. She was sobbing softly, causing her to shake against me.

"Shh." I cooed quietly, as I stroked my fingers through her hair.

It took a few moments, but eventually she managed to lift her head up from my chest, but remained looking down. I tightened my grip around her as she finally looked up at me. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. I wiped away another tear that had escaped her eyes onto her tearstained cheeks.

"My mom…" She sniffled. "Rumor… Spence… you… student… true…disappointed betrayed." She wailed.

I honestly had no idea what in the world she had just said or what she was talking about. A rumor about Aria's mom, Spencer, a student, and I, being true and someone was disappointed and betrayed?

I was beyond confused right now.

A few seconds later, she wiped her tear stained face with the sleeve of her shirt and took a deep breath.

"My mom saw…" She began. "You and Spence talking…" Aria paused. "She… said she heard rumors about you…"

My eyes widened at that statement. No rumors could possibly be good. It was only my first year at teaching for crying out loud!

"Dating a student…"

I nodded, waiting for her to continue. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"She asked me if you and Spence were dating…"

Really? Why would Ella think Spencer and I were dating? I rarely ever saw the girl outside of class.

"I said… I said no," She said a little louder, regaining her composure. "But I asked her what she would think if I said it were true… She said she would be disappointed and… betrayed… that you would use your power like that."

I was surprised, to say the least. Ella had always struck me as the understanding one. Earlier, I had been so sure about finally telling Ella and Byron about Aria and I. But after hearing this news, I honestly, wasn't so sure.

"Wait so… does she know about us?" I was confused. How long had Ella known this rumor? Did she believe it was true?

"I don't think so, or else she would have said my name, not Spencer's'!" She exclaimed in a frustrated manner, as I closed my eyes.

If this was how Ella felt about me dating on of my past students, telling her parents about us suddenly became the last thing on my To Do List.

How were we possibly going to tell Aria's parents about us if this was how they were going to react? And this was just Ella. I knew that Byron's reaction was going to be much, much, worse.

"How are we going to tell them?" She whispered, as more hot tears fell down her rosy cheeks.

I kissed her forehead gently and held her closer to me.

"Together." I said. We were going to tell them together. Aria had to know that she was not going to be alone in this. If she got in trouble for this relationship, then I had to too.

I led her back to my bedroom, before asking her whether she wanted to stay the night here or not.

She nodded, before answering, "I already told my mom I'm staying at Spencer's."

I sat down on the edge of my bed as I watched Aria slowly make her way over to the other side of the room where my dresser was. She opened up a drawer that I had kept all her clothes in for nights like these, before she pulled out one of my old Hollis T-Shirts.

"I can't believe your mom thinks I'm in a relationship with Spencer." I blurted out. "It's just so… unlikely."

She turned around to face me. "I couldn't believe it either. I thought right then and there she was going to say she knew about Mr. Fitz and me," She scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "And instead she said Mr. Fitz and Spencer."

"Spencer is the last person I could see dating one of her teachers. The very last." I commented. Spencer had always seemed like the kind of person who would never do anything against the rules.

"Change that thought. She wouldn't even be on the list." Aria gave me a small smile.

As my thoughts wandered back to Aria's parents, my mind begun to race. There were just so many possibilities of their reaction to my relationship with Aria. They could accept it and we would just move on with our lives as if nothing had changed, they could never let us see each other again and lose all faith and trust in me, or they could hurt Aria because of her mirroring actions of her father. I took a deep breath. There had to be a way to get them to understand that what Aria and I had was real.

"What if they don't let you see me again?" I suddenly asked, frightened. I do not know how I would be able to go day by day, knowing I was not allowed to see Aria. I shook my head, ridding my brain of the heartbreaking thought.

"They can't do that." She whispered as she walked back over to me and sat in my lap. I wrapped my arms around her and she nestled herself against my chest. I pressed a kiss into her hair, inhaling the delicious scent of her shampoo.

"They're your parents Aria. They can do whatever they want because you're not eighteen yet." I said reluctantly. It was true. If Aria's parents told her that we were not allowed to see each other anymore, then there was nothing I could do about that. We, if possible, would end up going back to a hidden relationship, just when we were starting to fully go public. It was two steps forward, but two steps right back.

"We just need to figure out a way for them to accept us, despite our previous circumstances." I mumbled against her silky hair.

"Do we… tell them that we were together while I worked at Rosewood?"

She shifted in my lap so she could look up. My eyes met her frightened big brown eyes.

"My dad was in a relationship with one of his students, remember? My mom will never forgive me for making the same mistake as my dad!" Her eyes begun to water again as those painful memories came back to her.

I hugged her tighter against me, wishing that all this could be over. I hated seeing her in so much pain. I knew that she was eager to tell her parents about us from our conversation in front of Jason's house, but after this conversation with her mother, she seemed to back down on the whole plan as well.

As much as I did not want to tell them, I knew we had to. Before anyone else did.

"This is not a mistake, Aria!" I tried to convince her. "Don't compare your dad's mistakes to yours. Your father cheated on your mom with a student. You are not cheating on anybody."

I had to say that. Even though she admitted she had kissed Jason, I knew that she still loved me. And hopefully, her love for me crushed the amount of lov- actually, change that thought. What she has for Jason is far from love. She barely knows the guy! The love she has for me hopefully is able to crush the amount of infatuation she has towards Jason… or else this bombshell towards her parents would not be worth enduring.

"Ezra, you know I love you, right?" She whispered to me as she looked up to me with glassy eyes.

I nodded. I knew she loved me.

"I'm… I'm sorry I kissed Jason." She looked down. "I didn't mean to hurt you." Tears began falling down her face once more, although she turned away in an attempt to try to hide them from me.

I placed two fingers against her chin and moved her head slightly, forcing her to look me in the eyes.

"I forgive you… as long as it doesn't happen again."

She nodded fiercely at this.

"I also need you to promise to believe me when I say that I don't have feelings for Jackie anymore. We can't move forward if you are unable to trust me about that." I told her.

She looked down and started playing with ends of her hair, as if she was checking for split ends.

"It's not that I don't trust you, I do… I just don't trust her. That she won't make a move on you. She doesn't know you're in a relationship, remember?" She hinted, making me remember our talk earlier that day at Rosewood High.

"Well…" I sighed. "Once we tell your parents, we can start telling everyone else."

She settled back against my chest and the pace of her breathing began to slow.

We stayed there for a few moments, just resting against one another, before Aria let out a huge yawn.

"Time for bed?" I chuckled as she twisted herself in my arms to face me.

"I guess." She mumbled, before she crashed her lips to mine. I pulled her body closer to me, if that was even possible, as she tangled her fingers in my hair. Her tongue grazed my lower lip as I opened my mouth, eagerly giving hers entrance. Our tongues fought in a passionate battle for dominance, as she crushed her petite body against mine.

How could I have this taken away from me? The sparks that erupted in us whenever Aria and I kissed, is nothing I would ever experience with anyone else. Because Aria and I were meant to be together. We already managed to keep a student teacher relationship, and we had been through everything life could possibly throw at us and more. There was no way that her parents' opinion on our relationship was going to be the thing to tear us apart. I cannot lose her. The reason I wake up every morning is to see her beautiful face. The reason I risked everything for a relationship with her while I was her teacher was because I loved her. I really truly loved this woman. And there was no one, no one, who was going to be able to tear that love apart.

I can either leave this a three/four shot, or I can make it into a story. If I were to do that, it would end up being about Aria and Ezra trying not to let her parents find out the truth about them. But there are already a few stories out like that, so I'm not so sure how I feel about making this into a story. At the moment, I think I'm going to keep it a three/four shot. Let me know what you guys think though, and please leave a review!