Chapter 2: Three Months Later
Aria put out four wine glasses on the side tables of her sofa, filling them to the rim with rich, strawberry wine. She looked at the clock, finding it to be way too early to be drinking, and she knew she shouldn't be drinking at all, but she felt like she needed to. She sat down on the sofa, staring out the window as she waited for her three best friends.
She looked over to the half empty wine bottle, practically begging for her to drink the rest of it. She shook her head, trying to shake away the thoughts, but they kept coming back stronger. She closed her eyes, but she kept seeing the bottle. She licked her lips, practically tasting the alcohol on her lips. Her hand moved toward it subconsciously when she heard a round of knocks at the door. She jumped, getting pulled out of her trance.
"Aria, open the damn door and give your best friends a hug," Hanna yelled, knocking like a maniac. Aria smiled softly and walked over to the door, unlocking it and flinging it open, revealing Hanna, Spencer, and Emily.
"I've missed you all so much over the summer," she said as she pulled them all in for a group hug. They stayed in their embrace a few seconds longer before pulling away and walking inside, "How have you all been? It has been forever!"
"Yes, it has," Spencer said as she took a seat on the sofa, along with all of the other girls, "You went all MIA on us."
"Yeah," Emily chimed in, nudging Aria playfully, causing her to fake a smile, "We were lucky if we got a phone call from you every few weeks."
"For real," Hanna agreed, passing the wine glasses around. As Aria received hers, she just stared at it while Hanna continued, "You and Fitzy must have hit it off. Speaking of which, where is he now? Buying you flowers, sending you chocolates, buying you new books," the girls giggled, all except for Aria.
The small brunette gripped the glass in her hand and downed the whole thing, soliciting a soft whimper when she finished. The girls watched as she looked sadly at her hands, standing from her spot and pouring herself another glass of alcohol.
"Aria, what is going on," Hanna asked, her voice filled with worry and seriousness, "When we do talk to you, you usually babble your pretty little head off about Ezra."
Spencer watched as she didn't answer and took a big gulp from her second glass of wine, "Aria, please, talk to us. I want to know what has made you so upset."
She looked at her three best friends and let a silent tear fall down her cheek, "It was only for the summer. At the end of August, he had to go and work on his last year of college in New York. I needed to commit to my own work, so we stopped seeing each other. He moved away. I never even got to tell him how I really felt, feel, until it was too late. I miss him so much." She downed the rest of the wine, crying silently as she finished.
"Have you been drinking to try and rid him from your mind," Spencer asked, taking the glass away from her, knowing she was right.
Aria lunged for it, but Emily held her back. Her silent tears turned into full blown sobs, "Please," she choked out, "It makes it hurt less. I need it."
Emily stroked her hair softly, whispering calming words to her as she broke down, "Aria, calm down. Shhhh, it is going to be alright."
"No," she sobbed, curling into her friend's arms, "I need him. I need him." All three girls gathered around her and tried to soothe her, but she ended up falling asleep. They all lifted the tiny girl up and brought her over to her bed. The group sat back down on the sofa in silence as they watched their heartbroken friend whimper in her sleep.
"She is heartbroken, you guys," Hanna said softly, "It is worse than what happened with Eric. I think we need to call Ezra and make him come down here. I can't stand to see her like this."
Spencer looked at the girls, "She has only known him for five months."
"And she loved him, and he loved her," Emily replied matter-of-factly, "She knew Eric for years and didn't love him the way she does Ezra."
Hanna nodded her head, "Em is right, Spence."
"I know," she replied, looking over to her friend, "But she will have to call him, not us."
Ezra closed the door to his dorm room, sighing as he leant against it. He walked over to the refrigerator, grabbing a beer. He lay down on his bed, wanting nothing more than for Aria to be right beside him. He missed her more than any words can express. The way her eyes shined when they were together still made his knees weak. Her laugh echoed in his head ever since they said their goodbyes. He knew he should've told her how much she meant to him before it was too late. Now, she probably had another man in her life. Someone who let her know all of his feelings and not holding anything back. However, he was a coward. He should've fought for her.
He felt his eyes fill with tears as he reached over to retrieve her photo from his nightstand. He traced her perfect face, wishing he could really be holding her in his arms. He wished for nothing more than for her to call him up right now and say she wanted him back. However, he knew she probably never wanted to speak to him again.
He wished he would've just never left her, but it had been a while since they ended it back in August. Now, it was nearing the end of November, and he knew he had to see her. Just one more time.
"Dude, you will never believe what just happened," his roommate, Darren, ran into the room with a huge grin on his face, "There is this huge plague going around school."
Ezra sat straight up in his bed, "How is that good news?"
"Don't worry," he said, shrugging his reaction off, "It's in the freshman dorms. Anyway, the university is closing for a while for it to stop spreading. We are being transferred to," he thought for a moment and snapped his fingers, "Hollis College! Yeah, that is what it is." Ezra's heart skipped a beat as he processed what just happened. Was fate trying to tell him something? Was he really meant to be with Aria? "Pack your things, dude. We have to be out of here by tonight."
Ezra grabbed his suitcase, threw all of his clothes he saw around the dorm, picked up his picture of Aria, and looked over his shoulder, "This is all I am taking. Have whatever else you want. I'm going to Rosewood, now."
Aria groaned, bringing her hand to her forehead. She opened her eyes, which darted around the room toward her friends, still sitting on the couch, watching her intently. "Why are you all staring at me like that?"
They all got up and walked over to her bed. Hanna was the one to speak first, "Aria, we love you so much. You are our sister. We don't want you to be hurting like this, okay? Look, we all know that Ezra loved you. Loves you."
She shook her head softly, looking down at her fingers, "No. He doesn't love me. If he would've loved me, he would've came back by now. No one can love me. I just destroy everything. First Eric left me, then Ezra. There is something wrong with me." The girls all had tears in their eyes as they listened to their always happy and perky best friend talk lowly about herself.
Emily gulped and placed a hand on Aria's, "Don't ever say that. We love you. You are the best person I know, Aria. Nothing is wrong with you."
"And you don't destroy everything," Spencer added, "I know you think that now because all you can think of is the bad things that has happened, but all of that will fade away. You are a great person, inside and out, and if any guy makes you feel different, they aren't worth it."
"He made me feel like I was his world," she smiled sadly as she thought of him, "He made me feel like I was the most beautiful girl on Earth. He didn't make me feel different at all. But, now that he has left me, I feel like I wasn't good enough."
"He didn't leave you for good, Aria," Hanna said softly, "He left for school. He will be back, I promise. If fate wants you to be together, then you will be together, okay? But you can't figure out what faith has in store for you if you drink your life away."
"Thank you guys," she said, wiping away a tear.
"Come on," Ezra said angrily, as his car began to shut down. He pulled off the side of the road just in time before his car came to a complete stop, "Damn it!" He yelled as he hit his steering wheel with the palm of his hand. He got out and lifted his hood, wondering what had gone wrong. A guy, looking around twenty-five or so, pulled up to him and offered him a ride, "I was just going to town. I'll drop you off wherever you need to go."
"Thank you," he replied, grabbing his bags and throwing it in the back of the truck.
"So where are you headed," the man asked, looking over to Ezra curiously.
"Um, the apartment complex across from Mockingbird," he told him, giving him an awkward smile.
The guy smiled and looked at the road, "Oh, yes, I remember that apartment complex well. I have had a few great experiences over there. Well, not one time. It started out great, but my girlfriend at the time came home and caught me cheating on her. I mean, if she would've let me have her a few times, I wouldn't have resorted to cheating, you know? She was just so persistent on waiting until she was married. I wasn't going to give her a ring!"
Ezra listened carefully to the man, finding his words to sound familiar. His eyebrows knitted together in wonder and thought. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name."
He gave a small laugh and glanced over to him, "Oh, my bad, bro. My name is Eric."
A fire of anger burst inside of him. He looked over to him, "Stop the car." Eric looked at him nervously, but Ezra didn't drop his glare, "I said, 'stop the car'."
"Bro, are you crazy are something," he asked with a nervous laugh as he pulled over to the side of the road, "I mean, you're not going to try and kill me now, are you?"
Ezra rolled his eyes and looked at him with dagger eyes, "Actually, you are the crazy one, 'bro'. I know that girl you cheated on. In fact, I dated her after she caught your sorry ass in bed with another girl that wasn't even half as great as Aria. And it is not her fault for wanting to wait, and if you really loved her, you would wait, too. Don't make it her fault for you being an idiot. And no, this time I won't kill you, but I swear if you ever come near Aria again, or hurt her in any way at all, and I find out, you might want to think about running," Ezra finished and saw the look of nervousness in his face, but he was silent. Ezra kept his stare, "Now, did I make myself clear?"
Eric gulped and nodded, "Mhmmm."
"Good," he mumbled through clenched teeth, "Now, I'll take it from here." He grabbed his bags and through them over his shoulder as he hopped from his truck and started walking to her apartment. He had always wondered what he would do if he ever ran into the person who hurt his girl. And he finally found out. After about two hours of walking in the winter weather, with nothing more than a thin coat, Ezra finally made it to the apartment complex he left three months ago and regretted that decision everyday of his life.
"Thank you, God," he whispered into the air as he walked up to the buzzer and pressed "Montgomery, Aria". He was patiently awaiting a response, but it was wearing thin quickly. He pressed her name again. No answer. Again. No answer. The hope that he had had when he saw the building after two endless hours of road was now gone. She isn't here. She must've moved. She probably has forgotten about me. Ezra sighed and ran his fingers through his hair angrily. Fate had told him something at his old college, so where was it now? It surely couldn't have disappeared?
He shook his head sorrowfully before letting his feet take him further down the street, where it led to Hollis College.
"Aria, would you please stop staring out of the window like that," Hanna said as she looked at Aria in the passenger seat of her car.
"Hanna," Spencer and Emily warned from the backseat.
"What," she asked as she glanced over to Aria, who sat there, looking at the little snow particles beginning to fall, signaling winter was here a little early. She sighed and put her car in park, "Well, you might as well stare out of the window looking like an orphan for the rest of the ride, because we aren't getting out of this traffic jam for another ten hours."
Spencer scoffed, "I think you were born without sensitivity."
Emily frowned, "You guys, stop. We have another hour or so before we can get out of all of this, and I really don't want to hear you fighting the whole time, okay? Let's just worry about Aria here."
The brunette in the front shook her head, "No one needs to worry about me, okay? I'm a big girl. I'm just a big girl whose big dreams and big heart got crushed by a big college in a big city that is big hours away from here."
"Aria," they all said simultaneously, sympathy in their voices.
She looked around at her friends, "No, don't do that. I just need some time to think. I'm going to walk home and make me some coffee there. Thanks for all of your efforts, but this can't be fixed by you." She unlocked her door and got out onto the street, pulling her sweater tighter around her slim body and began her walk to her apartment two blocks away.
She looked around to see the little flurries of snow, landing all around her. Winter was her favorite time of the year. She loved the fashion, the snow, the cold, and Christmas. Everything about the season was perfect. Her boots clacked against the hard cement, echoing throughout the empty streets. She was alone. Except for this one guy she passed, looking extremely lonely, too. She just caught a glimpse of his face, but it was laced with disappointment, regret, and sadness. Just like hers.
Ezra kept walking as the little snowflakes fell onto his face. He felt alone. Like he was the only presence for miles. Sure there was cars lined up in a traffic jam ahead of him, but they didn't know what he was going through. How could they? Well, except this one girl he passed up as he was walking. She looked as if her heart had been trampled by someone. Some crazy idiot who left her. Just like he did with Aria. Wait. Aria? He turned around and looked into the distance, not seeing her silhouette anymore. He gathered up all of the strength he had left in his body and ran after her, hoping she didn't get too far.
Aria thought about Ezra, wondering how he was nowadays. Did he really still love her? Would he ever come back? How did he feel about their breakup? She wondered if he held back the most important feelings like she did, or if he really just didn't feel them at all. The guy on the street looked like he had been through hell and back. Was that how Ezra was right now? Now that she thought about the man's face, he resembled Ezra a little. Actually, a lot. Could I have been Ezra?
She shook her head, thinking that she imagined it. After all, she had seen Ezra's face on millions of people since the breakup. What makes this one different? "Aria," she heard someone call out of breath behind her.
She turned slowly around, getting the answer to the question, "Ezra?"
"Yeah, it's me," he replied as she watched his hot and heavy breath appear as smoke against the cold winter air.
Aria looked at him, wanting to just jump into his arms and make up for everyday she didn't kiss him, but she needed to know why he didn't come sooner, "Why now? Why did you wait three months to come back?"
Ezra looked at her pained face, guilt washing over his own, "I'm sorry for not telling you the truth about what I feel toward you. Aria, I love you more than I can even say. I was a coward for leaving you. I should've realized that you are more important to me than some big college far away. Where I need to be is right here with you. So, I guess fate stepped in and told me to come and find you. The university I was at shut down and they are sending us to Hollis. I packed my bags so fast and was on my way to see you, but my car stalled. I hitched a ride from a random guy, but it turned out to be that jerk, Eric."
"You were with Eric," she asked, walking a little closer to him.
"Yeah," he said, "But not for long. Once I found out who he was, I made him stop the car, told him a few things, and walked the rest of the way over here."
"How long did you walk for," she asked curiously, looking into his bright blue eyes that she had missed for far too long.
"Two hours," he replied, causing her eyes to grow wide, "Now, I'm here." He walked closer to her, inches away from her face, "I know you probably hate me for leaving you, but I had to at least see you one last time. I needed you to know that you are more than anyone could ever want in a woman, and I was too stupid not to stay with you. I'm so sorry, Aria. I love you so much, and I just want-," he was abruptly cut off by her lips attacking his. He dropped his belongings as she jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. He held her tightly to him, afraid that this was all a dream. That it was too good to be true.
They pulled apart for air, pressing their foreheads against one another as they breathed heavily. "I love you, too," Aria stated as she continued to stare at him, "You have no idea how long I have waited for you to say those things to me. Three months is way too long to be without you."
"Aria, a day without you is far too long," he corrected her as he looked into her big hazel orbs. She smiled and reattached their lips as they embraced each other in street, together again at last.
Note: Very satisfied with this chapter. Sorry for any mistakes. School has started, and since I am new and a little freshman, I am so overwhelmed and busy. I probably won't be able to update as fast anymore, but I will try every free chance I get. Thank you all for giving me encouragement and for reading what I post on here. I'm doing this for all of you:) Please review!
~Laura
