A/N

Here's a new story about what's next for Aria and Ezra. I incorporated some of the clips from upcoming previews to guide the story. I'm only expecting this to be a short story, maybe 3-4 chapters. Hope you all enjoy!

CHAPTER 1

Aria's POV

I had been wandering around town for the past hour. Byron and Ella thought I was at Spencer's with the rest of the girls, but I just needed sometime to myself to think and escape the icebox that currently is my home. Since Ezra and I told my parents about our "unconventional" relationship, I have been on lockdown and forbidden to see him. It has been the most difficult few days, and I never expected it to get this bad. I glanced up at the clock in the center of town and realized I should probably be getting back soon, my parents were going to call Spencer's to make sure I was there and I had to be there to answer the call. As I took a deep breath trying for the umpteenth time in past few days trying to pull myself together, it started to pour. Great, I thought, just what I needed.

Suddenly, without any warning, I burst out in tears. I can't do this anymore, I thought, it's all too much, Ezra, my parents, A, the girls, how am I supposed to figure all of this out on my own? With my tears flowing, I continued to stumble in no particular direction, crippled by my thoughts and never ending salty tears staining my cheeks. Before I know it, I'm jolted by cars honking at me. I'd stepped out in the middle of the street completely oblivious to my surroundings. And then I heard it, the voice I have been dying to hear, the voice of the man I loved- Ezra.

"Aria, Aria," Ezra shouted at me, his face blurred by the downpour. "What are you doing out here?" he asked me, his face full of concern.

"I..I… I can't do this anymore, it's all too much, I need you," I blurted so quickly and jumbled that it was a miracle he could even understand me.

Ezra only responded by pulling me tightly in his chest and kissing my head, a comforting gesture I had learned to love. " I'm here," he said, " and I'm not going anywhere. I don't care what your parents say, I'm not leaving you, I can't."

With those reassuring words, I looked up to Ezra's eyes slowly touched my lips to his and responding when he depended the kiss. For a moment we didn't care about the cars honking at us to get out of the middle of the street, my parents, A, anyone or anything. It was as if we disappeared into a world where only we existed together and all of our problems washed away.

While I moved to reclaim my place snuggled in Ezra's chest, he spoke softly into my ear, "As much as I don't want this moment to end, I think we should probably get out of the middle of the road. Come on, let's get you warm. " Ezra guided me to his car and gently shut the door after me. At this point, all I could do was stare at the rain, hoping it would magically erase the pain and difficulty of the past few days. I had tuned out Ezra shutting his door and even missed his numerous questions directed at me. It was only when he place a hand lovingly on my leg that I was pulled out of my daydream.

"Sorry, what? I didn't hear what you said," I spoke quietly and with a puzzled look on my face.

"I was asking what you wanted to do. Where do your parents think you are? How did you get out of the house? The way Byron spoke to me yesterday, I was under the impression that he had you on lockdown…" Ezra responded, clenching his jaw as the last sentence left his lips.

"No, no it's fine, my parents think I'm at Spencer's working on an assignment," I said mindlessly, clearly still not fully paying attention to my current reality. "Wait, what did you say about my dad? When did you talk to him?" I frantically looked at Ezra, searching his eyes for any sort of answer.

It was clear from the deep breath he took in response and his immediate rubbing of the back of his head that he hadn't realized I was unaware of Byron's visit to his apartment. Ezra glanced out of his side window for a minute, clearly trying to think of the best way to explain what had happened to an already disheveled Aria. "Why don't we go back to my apartment for a bit, I can get you some dry clothes and then I can drop you at Spencer's. I don't want to chance your parents finding out that we met tonight. I don't want things to get any worse for you," Ezra responded assertively while guiding the car towards his apartment and navigating through the downpour that had yet to stop.

He was clearly trying to steer the conversation away from the topic of yesterday's apparent interaction with Byron. I mean I can understand my father's hostility at home this morning before leaving school. But, I didn't really expect him to immediately track Ezra down and attack him. With all of these thoughts racing through my head as I tried to get a grasp on the situation, I brought the conversation right back to Ezra's last comment. "When did you talk to my father? I don't understand, you weren't teaching yesterday, so you obviously weren't at Hollis. Did he come to your apartment? What happened?"

"Aria, why don't we just wait until we get back to the apartment Aria, we need to get you out of those soaked clothes, you're going to get sick," Ezra spoke as he carefully drew circles lovingly on my leg.

"No, Ezra, if we're going to make it through this, you need to tell me everything. We can't keep secrets like this from each other. So tell me, I need to know what he said to you," I spoke with confidence while I steadied Ezra's hand by placing mine on top of his.

We had come to a red light and he looked over at me, obviously attempting to decide if he could just brush off my questions. He faced forward once again and as the light turned green, he once again set the car in motion and began to explain carefully, " I, uh, I was at my apartment yesterday when your father came by… he said he needed to talk to me about the conversation you and I had with him and Ella at the house. I don't know what I thought he was going to say, but I knew from the moment he walked in the door that the conversation was not going to end well. He was so tense. It was if he had psyched himself up for the conversation and wasn't going to back down no matter what." Ezra paused once again and it was obvious that he was finding it difficult to continue. I could see the lines of worry on his face and his knuckles whitened as his grasp on the steering wheel tightened. I had never seen Ezra this afraid to talk to me and to be honest, he was scaring me.

"Ezra, hey, listen to me, it's okay, just tell me. I can handle it, what did he say?" I spoke in the most reassuring voice I could muster even though I was petrified about what I was about to hear.

"At first he was somewhat understanding, he honestly took me by surprise, explaining that he knows it's difficult to navigate some student and teacher relationships and that he had obviously made some mistakes…. But then, he said I was never to see you again and that if he had to involve the police, he wouldn't hesitate to do so. Believe it or not, that wasn't the worst of it. The look on his face when he realized that we had been spending time in my apartment nearly tore him apart. It was if seeing my apartment and where our relationship developed that he truly realized our relationship was reality and not just a sick joke. I didn't know what to say, so I just didn't say anything and he left," Ezra finally finished, holding his breath waiting for my response.

Words weren't an option, I was too shocked to do anything but stare straight into the rain once again. Just when I thought the rain might be subsiding, a crack of lighting shot across the sky and thunder quickly followed. It was clear the storm was far from over and not just in a physical sense. Tears streamed down my face, but my expression didn't falter, and a look of pain and confusion remained on my face expressing everything I was feeling in that moment.

It was at this moment that Ezra pulled into the parking space in front of his building. "Let's just go inside," Ezra spoke softly as he moved to open his door. He quickly made his way to my door, opened it and offered his had. Without bothering to wipe away my tears, I immediately grasped his outstretched hand and we ran inside the door. While we might not be able to escape the unrelenting storm that we know as our lives currently, at least we could momentarily find some shelter away from it all in the apartment that had meant so much to us, 3B.