A/N; Hey guys! This is just a Ezria drabble that I couldn't get out my head after the last ep (WHY EZRA :'(), I've just been obsessing over different theories and stuff, and this is what I think should happen ;) P.s, there's a flashback in here, but I'll indicate where so that there's no confusion!

P.s, for anyone who follows Worth It In the End, I promise I'll update soon! I had another few chapters written but they got deleted, and now I just don't know where I want to go with the story..so any ideas/suggestions welcome! Okay my A/N's are way too long. Apologies.

Aria was one of the most loyal girls you could ever meet. Her friends were the most important things to her in the earth - along with Ezra and her family- and the petite young woman was willing to do whatever it took to protect them, even if it meant lying to them. Okay, she knew that the lie she was telling was partly to protect herself and Ezra too, but she was convinced that it was the best thing to do in the grand scale of things.

The four friends approached the cash register in the old, dark shop in Ravenswood to purchase the ridiculously frilly dresses that they had chosen. While completely un-flattering and hideous, the ancient dresses were the only semi-decent things the best friends were able to find in the creepy town.

Spencer, Hanna and Emily had all made their purchases, and were looking at the creppy skull display in the window as Aria stepped up to buy her dress. She reached down to where her bag normally sat on her hip, only to come away empty handed. Her heart did a strange lurch as she realised she must have left it in -A's lair.

'Shit.. I can't let them go back there', She glanced towards her friends. 'Not when he's there..'

She turned towards the frail old woman who was working the cash register, "Um, I left my purse somewhere, can you keep this behind here for me?", She handed the dress over as the woman nodded. "I'll only be about 10 minutes." Again, the woman simply nodded. Aria smiled at her and walked over to her friends.

"Guys, I left my bag back in the park, I put it on the ground when that creepy guy pulled me up onto the stage." This wasn't true, but it was the best Aria could come up with. "I just need to go get it, stay here and watch my dress? I'll be back soon."

Before her friends could stop her, she ran out the door leaving behind only the scent of her favorite perfume.

Spencer turned to the other girls and said quietly, "I didn't see Aria put her bag down.. did you guys?"

As her two best friends shook their heads simultaneously, Spencer couldn't shake the feeling that the small brunette was keeping something from her and the other girls, and when A was involved, that was never good.

Aria ran along the dark street to the corner building where the stairs that led to A's lair were situated. She took a deep breath and began to climb the stairs two at a time, hoping that he was still there but at the same time wishing he wasn't. As she came to the edge of the white wall that blocked her view of the room, she took a deep breath. She may trust him, but she was still finding it hard to take all this in.

She walked into the small-ish room and let out the breath she hadn't realised she had been keeping in. There he was, Ezra Fitz, - also known as the love of her life - sitting with his head in his hands looking upset and older than his years. He still hadn't noticed Aria standing behind him, rubbing her arm awkwardly and biting her lip.

'This is all my fault', she thought. 'He's only doing this to protect me, and its ruining him'

With a drawn out sigh Ezra slowly turned around, still not realising Aria was there. He jumped slightly when he saw her, but his look of shock quickly turned into a smile as he recognized the petite girl. Aria returned the smile, but half-heartedly.

"Ezra.. do you really have to do this?" She turned away, trying to hide her teary eyes from him.

Ezra took Aria by the shoulders and turned her around so that she was facing him, however she kept her head down, embarrassed. Ezra tipped her chin up and gave her a small, sweet smile. Before pulling her against his chest and kissing the top of her head. Aria gave in and let the tears flow, clutching Ezra' s tee-shirt in her hands. She wasn't completely sure why she was crying, she guessed it was due to the stressful day she'd had.

"Shhh, come on it's okay Aria" Ezra murmured as he stroked Aria's head. "You know why I'm doing this. I explained it all to you the other night, please Aria, just hang on in there. It will all be over soon, I can feel it."

-Flashback-

Aria and Ezra had been sitting chatting in the brew for almost 3 hours. They barely even noticed that it was now completely dark outside, and everyone else had left the small coffee shop. They were too busy soaking each other in, making up for the time they had lost over the past few months.

Before Aria really knew what she was doing, she leaned in and kissed Ezra on the lips, it was short and sweet, and for a moment after she wondered if she had made a mistake, and tried to move on from the kiss by talking, however it wasn't long before the couple were in the bathroom re-enacting their first 'date'

As Ezra trailed kisses down her neck, Aria couldn't keep hide her feelings any longer and whispered, "I love you Ezra, I don't know who I was kidding but I always have and I always will."

She barely got the last word out before Ezra's lips crashed down passionately on her own. "I love you too" He said when he broke away.

Aria beamed, she hadn't been this happy in a long time. "So.. what does this mean?"

Ezra's smile faded... he knew this meant he had to tell her. "Well.. I have to tell you something first, and you're not going to like it, but promise me that you'll hear me out, because it's not what you think. Just remember that everything I have ever done is to protect you okay?"

Aria nodded slowly, "Okay..?"

Ezra offered out his hand which Aria accepted, and the two walked out of the small coffee shop bathroom and onto the street where Ezra's car was parked. Ezra helped Aria in, and then walked round to the drivers side. He took a deep breath before climbing into the car. Aria shuffled over and snuggled her head into his shoulder, hugging his arm with both of hers. It reminded Ezra of when they had been sneaking around after Aria's parents had found out about them. A small smile formed on his lips, they had been through so much, surely they could get through this too.

They drove in a quiet, blissed out kind of state while 'Just a kiss' by Lady Antebellum played quietly on the radio. Ezra was beginning why Aria hadn't asked where they were going yet, as they had gone way past the turn off for his apartment, when he turned and saw that she had fallen asleep. He chuckled, her lips were slightly parted and her eyes were fluttering a little. He kissed her forehead quickly before turning his attention back to the road. Not long after he passed the sign that welcomed him to Ravenswood, and he shook Aria slightly to wake her.

"Aria sweetie," He paused and smiled at himself using the pet name already. "Wake up, I have to show you something."

Her beautiful hazel eyes fluttered open and she smiled "Woah, so I wasn't dreaming." A huge grin spread over her face. "Alright Fitzy, what's so incredibly important that it couldn't wait till morning?"

Ezra smiled and took Aria's hand once again. They walked until he found the door in the side of the building. He took a deep breath before turning to Aria with a pained look in his eyes. "Please just remember and hear me out, this is going to look really, really bad, but I promise you it's not what you think."

Aria frowned, "Ezra you're scaring me a little.. what's going on?"

Ezra replied by motioning his head to the door. He took out a key and unlocked it, before leading her up some dark stairs. They came out into a hallway where Aria could see a door. Ezra let go of her hand and went to open it, before seemingly realising something and taking a large stride towards Aria. He took her face in his hands and kissed her until neither of them could breathe any more. He pulled away and looked into her eyes for a moment whilst stroking her cheek with his thumb, then pulled away and walked through the door without looking back.

Aria took a shaky breath and followed him, she had a feeling she knew what would be in there. Her worst fears were confirmed as she walked into the room and saw a similar setup to the one her and her 3 friends had found all those months ago- It was one of A's lairs. There were hundreds, possibly thousands of pictures of her, Emily, Spencer and Hanna, as well as Ali and several other people the girls knew such as Toby and Caleb. Aria walked round in a slow circle, taking it all in.

After a few minutes Ezra decided to speak up. "Aria-"

Aria turned to face him, she had planned on yelling at him, but something about his expression stopped her. He didn't look evil, or cunning, he just looked like her Ezra. The one she knew and loved. So instead she said, "You better have a really good explanation for this."

Ezra then began explaining to Aria how when he found out about Malcom, he had recieved a text asking if he wanted to keep Aria safe, but also explaining that the only way for him to do this was to become part of the red coat team. As he said this Aria interrupted.

"I thought the A team and Red coat were on the same team?"

Ezra smiled sadly. "The A team takes orders from both the Red coats, but they don't know who they are."

When Aria didn't reply to this, Ezra carried on with his explaination. He told her how he had had to work with CeCe, working to track down 'big A' and Ali. Again Aria became confused, and Ezra told her that the A team and Red Coats recieved orders from 'big A' through text, and had no idea who they were. He was suspicious that it was Ali, but CeCe refused to divulge any information. She wasn't supposed to know anything either, but Ezra had a feeling that she did.

When he finished his explanation, Aria asked in a small voice, "Why were you so focused on Ali?" the way she said it told Ezra she almost didn't want an answer.

This was the part he had been dreading the most. "I used to know her" He said hesitantly.

This was too much for Aria. "You what? Ezra, are you really telling me that for the almost 2 years we were going out, you failed to mention that you knew my dead best friend? Oh my god, you're not- boardshorts.. are you? Are you her 'older boyfriend'?" The reality of the situation dawned on Aria. "Oh my god.. my parents were right. How many other teenage girls have you been with Ezra? I can't believe this..." Tears were streaming down her face as she passed back and forth across the room.

Ezra was quick to reply. "No! Aria, how could you think that? You- hey, look at me" He softly took hold of her wrists and held them in his hands so that she had to face him. "-You mean everything to me, ok? I was never involved with Ali in that way, I didn't even like her! She used to come to college parties in my dorm with Darren Wilden. There was just always something off about her. I never mentioned her because I didn't see any point in doing so- I barely knew her and I didn't want to upset you. But when I found out there was a chance that it was her that had been traumitising you for the past few years, I had to find out if it was true, and ask her why she was doing this to you. That's the truth, I swear Aria. You are the love of my life, and you always will be, ok? There is only you."

Aria took a slow breath in and out while she tried to sort her head out. "Is that everything?"

Ezra nodded.

"Okay.. I believe you. But you should have told me sooner."

Ezra's shoulers relaxed in relief. "I know, and I'm sorry for that. I was just trying to protect you."

Aria laughed, "You're an absolute idiot but god I love you Ezra Fitz"

"And I love you!" Ezra replied before kissing Aria on the nose and then her lips.

-End of flashback.-

"I know, it's just hard knowing that you're putting yourself in danger for me." Aria said as she smiled weakly and wiped her tears away.

Ezra shook his head, "Aria you know there's no point in this discussion. Without you, my life has no meaning. I will do whatever it takes to protect you."

Aria looked straight into Ezra's eyes. "I love you" She told him.

He laughed, "I love you too."

Aria walked over to where she had left her bag as Ezra asked her if the girls had suspected anything from her, she smiled and told him that he underestimated her acting skills.

Aria gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips before walking towards the door.

"See you later tonight for the second part of our plan, EzrA" She drew out the 'A', laughing as she did so.

A/N; Phew! You have no idea how long that took me to write haha. I've been script writing almost constantly for the past few weeks for drama, and I'm in that kind of mindset. So if there's a lack of detail or it's a bit choppy in places, that's why haha! I wanted to give up so many times, but I had to push through the writers block I've been suffering from! I hope you guys enjoy this, please review? It makes me happy. Once again, I'll have the next chapter of Worth It In The End up soon! :) xo