Ezra Fitz was pacing around the desk on top of which Spencer was seated. In his hand was a printout of the essay that had failed to gain Spencer Early Admission to Penn State. His eyes scanned the words on the page, and Spencer searched for approval. It didn't really matter if he liked the essay, he was there to help her make it better, but she wanted him to like in anyways.

Spencer wondered if she would have gotten into UPenn if it hadn't been for A. If it hadn't been for A, she never would have broken the way she did. She wanted to believe that it was A's fault, that was what was easier to believe. But what if it wasn't A's fault? What if Spencer just wasn't good enough? Who was to blame then?

Her failure was due to a million things. A threatening her, Toby lying to her, the pressure her family put on her to be perfect despite everything she had been through. Maybe it didn't matter anymore. There wasn't a way she could change what had already happened, but she wasn't quite ready to move on.

Spencer watched as Ezra shuffled the pages and began to read the last one. His mouth was pressed into a thin line, and his eyebrows were scrunched together as he scrutinized every word. Spencer thought about how she felt when she wrote it, just pouring her thoughts onto the page. She had given it her all and it still hadn't been enough.

"It was kind of a weird question for a college essay, discuss one situation in which you were right and wish you hadn't been? I could name ten." Spencer tried to make an excuse for her writing in case Ezra really did think it was bad.

Ezra stopped reading the paper, "Yeah well your high school experience hasn't exactly been typical."

"You hated it." It wasn't a question.

"No, no, I thought it was very well written, I thought it was very moving, I just. . . question whether this is something you want to share with an admissions committee." Ezra said.

"Why?" Spencer asked. Weren't those all things that made up a good essay? Didn't that mean she should have gotten in?

Ezra didn't answer for a moment, trying to choose his wording carefully, "I think colleges now more than ever are concerned with emotional stability, and choosing what to reveal and what to keep under wraps. . ."

"What should I keep under wraps? A friend of mine WAS murdered, I WAS bullied, I DID have a mental breakdown." Spencer glared.

"Right but nobody's asking for full disclosure. I think submitting this as is would be a huge mistake. Look, Spencer, if you throw this all out there your many attractive qualities might be overshadowed. Honesty may not be the best policy." Ezra looked into Spencer's big brown eyes and wondered how she could still be so strong and stand her ground after everything she had been through.

"So you want me to be somebody that I'm not?" Spencer asked.

"No, but you are more than this." Ezra tapped the paper.

"Yeah but I wouldn't be if it weren't for that! Why can't I just take a risk, and . . . and be real and I don't know, have a little faith that somebody who reads this will maybe be impressed that I left Radley and I'm not still there making crafts out of uncooked macaroni."

"No Spencer I. . ."

"No, when has being dishonest ever helped me? Or you?" Ezra stared in disbelief as Spencer spoke, "Or anyone?"

As much as he hated to admit it, Spencer was right. Being dishonest is what had failed his relationship. If he had just been upfront with Aria in the first place about his first relationship with Maggie, the strain his past relationship had put on him and Aria wouldn't have broken them apart. It was almost ironic, all the secrets, fights, and external troubles that they had survived in their relationship, and it was a stupid mistake he made when he was eighteen that ended them.

Spencer looked back at Ezra with an uncontainable fury. No, it wasn't fury. It was disappointment. After being let down by so many people, and failing at so many things, Spencer had hoped that Mr. Fitz, as her teacher, would at least try to sympathize with her. But he saw her the way everyone else saw her; broken and weak.

"I think. . . I should go now. . ." Spencer walked towards the door.

"No, Spencer," Ezra tried to stop her, but she was already gone.

That hadn't gone how he had wanted it to. Ezra knew that Spencer was strong, but he also knew that she was still broken when she had written her paper. He hadn't meant to make Spencer think that she was weak; that was the last thing he wanted. He just didn't want her to portray herself in the way he had.

Ezra realized that he cared about Spencer. After his relationship with Aria ended, he still viewed her friends as peers and people he could trust. He wanted Spencer to trust him as well, but that chance may have already been gone. As he heard her footsteps echo down the hall, Ezra picked up the paper that she had left behind, and began to memorize it, word for word.

A/N: Hey guys! I did not mean to take a month in between writing posting the first chapter and writing this one. I was waiting to see if anything else would happen between them, and the weeks went by so fast that I didn't realize I had people patiently waiting for another chapter. Thank you so much for the positive response I got to this story, I know it's an uncommon ship, but I think people are starting to open their minds to Spezra. Next chapter will start to stray from the storyline, the first half will be based on actual TV show evens but I'm developing them to be my own. The chapters will be getting longer as well! Stay tuned, love you so much. Xx