A/N This is something I wrote while I was waiting for my flight in Rome. I was sitting on the floor, listening to Lady Antebellum when "When you were mine" came up and I started writing. Ever since I've been writing down songs by Lady Antebellum that somehow fit Aria's and Ezra's relationship and I want to write it as "what if.." chapters that aren't connected.

I don't own anything. Not the song (the italics are the lyrics), not the characters. The only thing I own is my imagination.

Anyways.. here we go.. oh oh oh.. please keep in mind that I'm not a native speaker and this time I'm really not sure about the tenses.. (if anybody would like to be a beta-reader for further "what if"-chapters I'd be forever grateful!

Aria was lying in bed, tears rolling down her face. She didn't even try to brush them away. She had been listening to that song for the last hours.

Words spoken, my heart open,
No I never had butterflies like that,
We danced in the moon glow,
Your hands moved slow,
You kissed me on the lips;
Swore I wouldn't look back.

It was just like we were flying, in another time,
I felt the world was ours for the taking,
When I fell into your eyes,
Never a doubt that we would make it if we tried,
You promised you'd never break my heart,
Never leave me in the dark.
Said your love would be for all time,
But that was back when you were mine.

There was no second song like that. No song that described their relationship - their love - better. She used to think that "Just a Kiss" was their song, especially after that night at the masquerade.

But that was before.. before he had left her without saying goodbye, without a call or a letter. It just didn't seem like him to leave like that. After all they'd gone through together. He'd promised to never break her heart, because after Jackie he knew how it felt if someone broke your heart.

"No matter how hard I try, I can't stay away from you-" What a fool she'd been to believe him. Anger was starting to rush through her veins and for the first time in days she felt somewhat alive. The constant sadness had weighed her down, leaving her breathless and in tears.

She hadn't left her room for a week - her parents never asked why, probably thinking this was about everything that had happened with Mona's arrest and Maya's death. But Aria didn't even think about telling them the truth. Not after everything both of them had done to her and Ezra. If she'd tell them now, they would probably only tell her that that was exactly what they had tried to prevent. They'd be happy that he was finally out of town. Happy to know that everything they'd told her about Ezra just being another college boy chasing after younger girls, had come true.

"Maybe they were right all along." she muttered quietly. Why else would he just disappear? She didn't even bother to check her phone for any messages anymore, something she'd done on a regular basis for the first three days. If he didn't want to reply to her countless calls, messages and emails, he probably wouldn't start calling her now.

The worst thing about today was the fact that it was September 1st. Their anniversary. Earlier, they had made jokes that they should recreate their first date. She'd mocked him, saying that she wouldn't call it a date since they'd ended the night in the bathroom, but on the inside she loved the idea. It was "them".

Sighing, she got up. If she didn't show up downstairs at some point, her parents might corner her in her room, making her talk about things she wasn't ready to talk about. So she made her way downstairs and as soon as she caught a glimpse of who was standing on their front porch, she froze.

Aria wasn't sure what to think of the scene she was witnessing this very moment - her mom and Ezra talking or arguing, she wasn't sure which of the both it was. Ella was gesturing wildly, Ezra was taking runs between trying to interject and looking down with a somewhat sheepish expression on his face. Since it was only the two of them, Aria guessed that her father wasn't home. He wouldn't take the chance of letting Ezra stand on the front porch. At least not if there was a slight chance that Aria would come downstairs and see him.

The last few days, she had spend thinking about the "what if's". What if she would see him again. Beck then she'd been sure that she'd just walk up to him and let him embrace her. But right now, she only felt anger boiling through her whole body. Anger because he had left her. Anger because he dared to just show up at her house in the middle of the day. She didn't expect to feel this kind of anger, so she just walked downstairs, opened the front door and started yelling at him. She didn't even care that her mom was still standing there.

Ella took a step back to let the two lovers face each other. Aria's glare had given away all her emotions and Ella knew that she should better not stand in her way. She didn't want to die of frostbite any time soon.

"How could you?" Arias's voice was as cold as ice. "One week you tell me you can't stay away from me, no matter how hard you tried, make love to me for the first time, kiss me for the whole town to see and then you just fall off the face of the earth - again!" She took a step, coming closer to him just to shove him away. He, however, didn't move. She had every right to be angry, he even had expected it. Maybe not to the extent he was now experiencing, but he had.

"Do you have any idea what I've gone through the last week with everything that had happened? I just needed you here, with me. Instead of being held by you, I listened to ,When you were mine' for the last days, thinking that this fit so much better now you've disappeared again." With every word she spoke and every shove, her demeanor changed slightly. Hot tears of anger became tears of sadness and rejection. "Did the last year mean nothing to you, Ezra? Not even enough to say goodbye?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Honey?" Aria turned around at the sound of her mother's voice. She hadn't been aware that Ella was still standing there. "You should probably let him explain." Aria raised her eyebrows in a silent plea to say more, but instead of saying more, Ella just turned around and left both of them alone on the front porch.

Aria crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, silently giving him the permission to tell his side of the story.

"You have every right to be angry." he stated, shoving his hands into the the pockets of his jeans. "In fact, your mom already yelled at me for the last fifteen minutes about what I did to you during the last week... well, except that she didn't know about our night together until now." Aria blushed a deep crimson. She hadn't thought about what she had said earlier.

"What I'm trying to say is.." he was searching for the right words to say. He was fine as long as it came to writing about feelings, talking about them was a lot harder. "I know that a simple 'I'm sorry.' won't be enough, but that's what I am. I am sorry. So much, Aria. Sorry for what you had to go through. Sorry for leaving the way I did. Sorry for not being there for you when you needed me the most. I know I'd promised you not to leave again without saying where I'm going. Sorry for making you think I don't love you."

"Then why did you? Leave the way you did?You promised you'd never break my heart, never leave me in the dark." she quoted the song she'd been listening to not quite 10 minutes ago. He knew the song well enough. Ever since Aria had been singing along to it in his car while they were on their way to Philadelphia.

Said your love would be for all time.

"I meant everything I'd said. No matter how hard I try, I can't stay away from you." He took a step towards her, still looking at his feet. "Your dad paid me another visit after that night at the ball. Apparently, somebody from Hollis saw us there and asked him about us the next day. He told me to stay away from you and threatened to call the cops, again. So that's what I did I went up to my folks place to clear my head, and look for a new you job - you know I need one. But it seems like history repeats itself ad everything felt like the last time. When I'd run away from you to New York."

Even the thought of that week, early in their relationship, made them both cringe. And he knew that he'd done the same thing, the same mistake, all over again.

"I know I promised not to run again, Aria, but I was scared. Not really scared for myself, my job or my reputation. But scared for you. Scared what people would say and think. Scared I would mess up your family again."

"What made you come back?" she inquired, tears slowly running down her cheeks.

"Your mom."

"What?" Her eyes were wide.

"She called me after she'd cornered Spencer about what was wrong with you. Seems like she had a feeling that this wasn't all about Mona or Maya, especially after she had noticed how cheerful and content Byron seemed under the circumstances. She told me to come back after I had explained everything to her. And she told me to do what I just did - tell you everything. Without trying to find excuses. She told me that this might be the only way to see if you would give me - us - a second chance."

He took another step, taking her hands in his, marveling at the fact that they fit together like puzzle pieces.

"What about my dad?" Aria raised her head to look at Ezra, a slight glimmer of hope evident in her eyes.

"Ella said, she would talk to him, make him see that what have is real and not just some crush you have on your teacher or that I am just some other college boy."

He brushed a strand of hair from her face. A familiar gesture that made Aria's heart flutter and made her realize how much she had missed him, missed this - small gestures that meant the world to her.

"Promise to never break my heart?"

"Never." he promised and leaned down to meet her lips in a soft kiss. A kiss that wasn't passionate, but gentle. A kiss that was supposed to mend their broken hearts. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up, her legs twining around his waist, never breaking their kiss. She kissed him with everything she had, never getting enough of him.

A cough interrupted them and as Ezra looked up and Aria buried her head in the crook of his neck, he saw Ella leaning in the doorframe.

"Thank you." Ezra's voice was barely loud enough for Ella to hear.

"Always."