This is just a short, AU story that I really enjoyed writing and I hope you enjoy reading it. Please leave a review!
A shudder escapes Aria's lips as she throws the blankets off of her completely bare body, scooping her bra from the carpeted ground and sitting up on the bed.
"You're leaving already?"
She disregards the male's voice on purpose. He should know that the act of getting dressed meant she'd be leaving soon. Then again, in the last five months she's known him, he always has been preoccupied in his state of mind.
Her eyes ferociously scan the entire floor for her second undergarment when she remembers what happened to them. She turns her body and faces the man in the bed.
"Ezra, give me back my undies," she demands, her voice hoarse and husky, presumably from all of her piercing screams that rung through out the night.
The male, who is merely a silhouette in the darkness of the small apartment, lets a grunt out. "Not until you answer a question for me."
"Yes, yes! I'm leaving now, okay?" Aria exclaims, recalling his first question. She extends her hand and awaits the fabric to come into contact with her freezing hands. Her entire body shivers from the lack of clothing and she's just praying he won't play the teasing game for long, not when her mother expects she comes home in half an hour. "Ezra, I don't have time for playing your games."
"That's not the question I wanted to ask," he says. His voice strikes Aria very appealing. It's hot, it holds emotion. "Why do you always walk out on me? Can't you stay for the night?"
Aria bites her tongue for a second, letting the soothing sounds of Ezra's breaths take over her anxious state of mind. The amount of times they've had that conversation is too much to count off the top of her head. He doesn't seem to understand how far deep he's gotten himself into. Not only does Aria care for him in more than a physical way, but she cares about his well-being. It was risky enough with his job and her reputation on the line.
"If you were my boyfriend, I'd consider it," she lies. He doesn't need to know that she'd much rather prefer reading one of the classic novels stacked on the stand in her room than spending the night with a guy she's in a relationship with.
Any guy except for Ezra, yips the vexatious part of her brain. She pushes her repressed thoughts in the deepest parts of her brain, although it doesn't fail to swim back and provoke her to speak her mind.
"Why do you want me to stay?"
When he shifts his body so that the moon's shine spills through the cracks of the shutters and onto his meticulous face, Aria sees the desperation and hesitancy sheathing his lineaments. He reminds her of a puppy dog, from his facial expression to the way he nonchalantly insists his beneficial friend that she should stay with him. It's more than apparent that his emotions have slowly entered the picture, and although Aria is positive that she's absolutely head over heels for the naked man laying in front of her, she knows better than to let her hopeless romantic standpoint take over. Ezra's lost the battle, the orange jumpsuit blinded by sheer infatuation.
"I hate being here alone."
Aria sees the luminous glimmer in Ezra's eyes when their eyes meet. It's the same way she used to look at her first love. She feels something claw through her chest — emotion. Something she vowed she wouldn't allow breaking through. It isn't fair of him to stir the pot. The safest thing for them is to continue their usual routine, a casual fuck every night Aria's free. Why isn't he able to see that?
She smears on her tough girl front and cocks an eyebrow, well aware that her expressions were hidden in the midst of the dark nonetheless. "You're alone every other night. What would make tonight any different?"
"You'd be with me," Ezra answers almost immediately, a dash of melancholy coating his tone. She feels something touch her hand, and it isn't her panties like she's expecting, but his hand. It's smooth and tender, sending a sensation surging from the tips of her fingers and through out her body. Frightened, she jerks her hand away and stares at him, wide-eyed. Ezra doesn't flinch in the slightest at her reaction, almost as if he's expecting it.
She doesn't know anything except one thing: she has to get out of there, stat. Ditching the underwear, she snatches her skin tight dress from off the floor and slips it over her body, wiggling it down her moderately voluptuous frame and dashing for the door.
But Ezra is faster, stealthier. He hops out of the bed and cuts through the kitchen to reach the door first, meeting her body as she lowers to grab her heeled boots. The only thing preventing him from cutting the lights on is the dignity that literally sprung out below his torso. He's already exposed enough, emotionally. Adding his physical nakedness on the list of vulnerabilities wasn't a point in his favor.
His heart races, and it's so loud he's certain Aria can hear it. Except for the first time Aria approached him in class only a few months ago, he's never felt so nervous in his life. He wants to show her that there was a chance for them and that they could make it work. If he has to choose between the sex over a real relationship, he'll choose a commitment any day. He wants to get to know what else laid behind those green-hazel eyes. He wants to undress her in more ways than one. He wants to give her everything he has, in hopes that she'll do the same.
Ezra's been patient but persistent. What will it take for her to acknowledge this? He doesn't rush or push Aria into something she doesn't want to do, but she can't deny what's right in front of her.
His voice shaky but surely, he questions, "What are you so afraid of?"
"I'm scared of you!" she blurts, throwing her hands, and heels, in the air. "I'm scared of how I feel for you. I don't want to be in love with you, but I am. And I hate myself for it. Is that what you want to hear, Ezra? Hm? Did you want to hear that cowardly, foolish young teenager that dared to fall in love with someone she wasn't supposed to?"
He's taken aback, for several moments. That isn't want what he was expecting to hear. In fact, it's more than he wanted.
When Aria takes a swipe to push him past the door, Ezra takes a grasp of her wrist, cautious not to inflict any pain. She can't leave, not yet. He's yearning for something, like a confirmation.
Unable to help himself, he leans forward to attach his lips to hers, except not with the driving hunger that usually empowered him, but a delicate and chaste kiss. When he feels her dainty hand touch his bare chest, he knows that this isn't a one way street. Her words were genuine, just like her soul.
And just like that, they're unable to tear themselves away from each other. He leans against the door for support as Aria's instinctive dominance takes over.
"E-Ezra," Aria whispers after pulling away to gasp for air. "We can't do this anymore."
His heart shatters into ridiculously small pieces at her words. "What are you talking about?"
"If we keep doing this, you'll end up in jail," she reminds, releasing her grip on his shoulder and the back of his skull. She, too, is panting but says no more. If there's one thing Ezra describes Aria as, it would be unpredictable.
"But it feels right, doesn't it?" he insists, caressing her cheek. She dips into his hand, responding fondly to his affectionate touch. Nodding against him, he can just barely make out Aria's lids closing. "Then give this a chance. Give me a chance. Please."
It's unlike him to plead, but what other choice does he have? Aria's so headset on protecting him, but he doesn't want that. He wants her.
"Fine."
He waits for her to finish. Nothing else comes out.
"Fine?" he repeats, more so as a question.
"I'll give it a try."
Ezra can't describe the feeling that swallows him whole. It's like elation and euphoria blasting from his toes to his throat, a croak threatening to surface and ruin the lighter mood.
"See you tomorrow, Ezra," Aria solely says before easily pushing him out the way and opening the door, careless of shutting it behind her. As he closes it himself, he can hear her small feet patter against the floor, inducing a smile from him.
He tries to get some sleep that night, but all he's thinking about are the ways he's going to prepare his first night with her, not as fuck buddies, but as a pair on a date. He's sure he can make this work and won't stop, even after he's sure he's given it his all.