As I was writing this, I felt so self-indulgent because I know that there will basically NEVER be a dialogue-heavy scene where Ezra gets filled in on what is going on with the girls and the A-Team. But man, I would DIE. Absolutely fall on my face while yelling "JESUS! FINALLY!" I want him to get clued in almost as bad as I want him back with Aria. (Almost.)
Anyway. I have thought about it so often I decided to write my thoughts down in case some of you guys are salivating for it as much as I am!
(It always made sense to me that Hanna would be the one to spill it because she is the one that gets extremely defensive/protective about her friends and always takes spontaneous action to try to fix things even when she probably shouldn't.)
When the bell rang, Hanna filed out into the hallway behind Aria, Spencer and Emily before remembering that Mr. Fitz promised to have his notes on her college admissions essay ready immediately after class.
"Hey, I'll catch up with you guys at lunch, okay?" she called after them as she turned to head back into class. She lurched to a stop just outside the doorway when she saw Ezr—Mr. Fitz, Mr. Fitz, Mr. Fitz she recited to herself. Almost two full years of Aria's stories had left her thinking of him way too casually. Breaking the habit was easier said than done – especially since she wanted nothing more than to figure out how to get them back together.
A problem for another time.
Watching Mr. Fitz scrub his hands roughly through his hair made her sigh. Was his frustration because of Aria? Probably. Freaking A ruined everything. She knew exactly why Aria was so determined to keep him at a distance – if only she could have done the same with Caleb so he'd be safe. Same goes with Mrs. Montgomery – Hanna admired Aria for being so willing to separate herself from all the people that mattered to her.
Shaking out of her reverie, she tapped on the door and let herself back into the classroom.
Mr. Fitz looked up, looking momentarily confused. "Hanna – what can I do for you?" His tone sounded resigned, even defeated.
"You said you might have my college – "
He interrupted. "Right, your essay. I have it right here..." As he shuffled through the papers on his desk, he smiled ruefully, "Somewhere."
Looking at his hunched posture and drawn countenance, Hanna hesitated before finally deciding to speak up. "Are you okay? You seem…"
He met her concerned gaze and snorted. "Yeah, I can't seem to find a word for it either." He gave up on rifling through his paper stack and started pulling at his hair again. "I just keep thinking it would be easier to just…stop. Other…people," he glanced up briefly before continuing, "have given up on me, so why shouldn't I do the same?"
Hanna started wishing she'd forgotten all about the essay and just gone to lunch. No matter what the circumstances, a personal conversation with Ezra Fitz was absolutely nowhere on her want-to-do list. But, this specifically was not a conversation she wanted to have – it definitely wasn't one she should have. If she tried to defend Aria, A would probably see to it that Mr. Fitz ended up in a coffin by the end of the day – then Aria would plop her stupid ass carcass in right next to him. She had not survived the last two years of hell to spend eternity in a box with Mr. Fitz. Even if she did just pretend not to think he was hot since finding out Aria was dating him.
Deciding to keep her mouth shut, Hanna shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "I can come back after school, or…" she trailed off as their eyes met. The burning combination of isolation, misery and bitterness she saw was too much. Screw A, and just for the next few minutes…screw Aria's 'separation is the best policy' strategy. No way was she going to keep let this man go on thinking the worst of her friend. He should know better.
"Okay," Hanna started. "If you are under the delusion that Aria is being selfish or given up on you or," she flapped her hands in the air, "whatever, then you need to get your facts straight. For the next few minutes – you're going to be Ezra, and I'm just going to be Aria's friend Hanna. And you are damn well going to LISTEN."
Taken aback, Ezra leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "I can't imagine what you think this will accomplish," he remarked with raised eyebrows.
Hanna snorted. "You obviously haven't been thinking at all. Either that, or you just don't know the first thing about Aria like you think you do."
As he began to lean forward defensively, Hanna shot her hands out and snapped, "Nope, you have no part of this conversation. This is a dialogue only."
"Er…I think you mean monologue."
Hanna rolled her eyes. You can call the guy Ezra, but you can't quite take away Mr. Fitz the English teacher.
"You know that Aria's mom is going to Europe with her boyfriend, right?" She paused long enough to let Ezra nod, and then continued, "Okay, now let me help you connect some dots. First Aria breaks up with you – then does everything in her power to send her mother across the world. Do those two things together tell you anything?"
Seeing Ezra's blank face staring back at her, Hanna started wondering how she could have possibly become the smartest person in the room. "Think about it, Ezra. Two of the most important people in her life and she is trying to keep you both away from her."
Ezra shook his head, "But why would she…?" he trailed off in confusion.
"Okay, now let's look at what is going on with the rest of us. Look at my mom – she is now out on bail and being accused of killing a cop. Emily's parents are both being investigated because child services think they are abusing her. Before Mrs. Montgomery left, she was attacked by a swarm of bees. Do you think all those things were just RANDOM occurrences?" Hanna shook her head. "I can't believe that anyone close to us could possibly think any of this is normal."
Ezra frowned. "So what is it then?"
Hanna growled in frustration. "I refuse to give you the answers – you should be able to figure it out on your own if you've been paying attention to Aria at all over the past year!"
Sighing, Hanna took a seat behind a desk. "I assume Aria talks about us – so you know about some of the other people in our lives? Think about them now. Because of his association with us, Caleb has been stalked, arrested and shot. His mother – all the way in freaking California – was run off the road. His dad was framed for stealing and fired from his job. Emily's first girlfriend was murdered and her current one is getting involved with God-knows-who trying to help us. Spencer's boyfriend is just as mixed up in all of this as we are – going all the way back to being accused of murdering Ali. Hell, I've been run over by a car, Spencer ended up in the nut house and Aria was almost thrown off the Halloween train – not to mention nearly mowed down by another freaking car not that long ago."
Ezra's entire body jerked. "WHAT? Aria was…who the hell?" As he continued shocked stuttering, Hanna was happy to see that he was finally catching on.
"You're not saying that Mona…?"
Hanna shrugged. "Mona is still involved in all of this somehow, but no. We don't know who is behind it. Mona was – is – just an underling."
Ezra's leg was jiggling up and down agitatedly as he demanded, "How long has this been going on after you found out about Mona?"
"Ezra, it never stopped." At that, he bounced out of his chair and began pacing. "
Our lives are a complete nightmare – and Aria has always, from the beginning, done everything she possibly could to keep you out of it. Everyone in our lives is always in danger, and everyone that finds out about A – or the A-Team, whatever you want to call it – gets hurt. Keeping you safe has been her first priority since she met you."
Ezra's eyes narrowed. "That wouldn't have mattered to me, not nearly as much as keeping Aria safe."
Hanna smiled. "Well, she never once stopped thinking you were worth keeping safe. But then your son came to town."
"So that was when I stopped being worth the risk?"
Hanna pounded her fist on the desk. "Stop being such a jerk! Use that brain I keep hearing so much about. Jesus, Ezra. Malcolm was in town for about 5 seconds before A threatened him for the first time. He wasn't the last straw – he was someone Aria wasn't willing to risk. Keeping you in her life meant your son would be in danger – from the same person trying to throw her off trains and run her over in speeding cars. She didn't break up with you because she is some young, immature high school student – she broke up with you because every day brings us some new horrifying problem and she didn't want your son ending up as one of them!"
At that, Hanna got up and started walking out of the classroom. "Don't ever – ever – think of Aria as less than amazing. Not after what she has been through for you."
Before closing the door behind her, Hanna turned back around to face him. "Oh, and now that you know, try not to get killed. When I tell Aria that we had this conversation, she is probably going to use her tiny hands to rip me to shreds. She doesn't need us both dying today."
She paused again. "Also, for the record, I have always rooted for you guys. But seriously – you should have figured at least some of this out on your own, without me having to come spell it all out for you. Maybe think about what it means that you didn't before you do anything about it."
With a small smile, Hanna left. As soon as she made it down the hallway, she ducked into the girls' room and pulled out her phone. She sent "SOS – WITHOUT ARIA!" texts to Emily and Spencer and waited nervously for him so that she could spill about the mess she'd just started.
Holy crap, Aria really might kill her.
I have a couple other Ezria story ideas (mainly a reunion scene) that I could kinda connect loosely as sequels to this if anyone is interested. Thanks for reading!