"I am in love with him." Aria Montgomery said without hesitation and a small smile graced her delicate features. It was difficult not to smile when she was only fingertips length away from him. She knew that if she moved her hand an inch to the right, then her soft skin would brush against his, and as if the chemistry exploded between them, her cheeks would color and her heart would beat fast with desire.
That idea was a comfort as she let her words sink in, but she bit down on her lip to resist the urge to reach out for him and surrender into his familiar warm embrace. She imagined that it would be better for her parents have some time to at least try to understand the situation before she went and made a scene.
Ever since she had met Ezra Fitz in that dimly lit bar and spent an evening with her legs wrapped around his waist up against a bathroom stall, she found it physically draining to be apart from him for too long.
Perhaps it was the notion of first time love that had created these feelings that she harbored for him, or maybe he truly was her soulmate. Her better half. The ying to her yang. The one that she was destined to spend her life with. They had certainly been through the ringer to prove how dearly they each held one another. For a painful minute, nothing but deadly silence filled the Montgomery household.
Aria swallowed loudly, sure that the uneven pitter patter sound that her heart was making could be heard by the world as it spun madly on, completely oblivious to the confession that had fallen from her slightly parted, rose red lips.
If one thing was certain, it was that when she had first placed her lips to his, the two had become inseparable; as if there was an invisible thread that joined their hearts together. Some unspoken promise that bound their souls for eternity. Aria had included all of these carefully considered sentiments in the speech that she had nervously prepared in front of her bedroom mirror for her parents, but the words had fallen short as soon as she had gazed into Ezra's hopeful blue eyes.
He was always distracting her, for better or for worse. Not a moment had passed when doubt began to knock her train of thought off its tracks. It was not as if she had expected her parents to react well to the news, nor was it some kind of revelation that nothing but silence filled the room.
She had mentally prepared for this very moment for the past five months, ever since the guilt of the lie had started to eat away at her conscience like some form of cancer.
It was no longer in her best interest to simply deny the relationship or ignore it. The struggle to keep it a secret had strained both of them and it would surely falter without acceptance.
The clock ticked away another second. Another second of uncertainty; of words unsaid. The birds continued to sing outside. A car horn sounded in the street and the faint cry of a baby echoed off the walls of the silent house as Aria waited impatiently for her parents to speak.
Suddenly, there was a stir of movement beside her and before she could react, Ezra's hand reached for hers and as if on instinct, she gripped onto it for support, clinging to him for dear life. Aria squeezed his hand shyly, thankful that she had been able to experience falling in love for the first time.
Regardless of what happened next, they would be forever joined in this moment. Part of her heart would forever reside in his. And she would always be waiting... Waiting for acceptance... Waiting for the secrets that had spun her life into a spider web of complexity to finally be revealed.