(A/N): I'd just like to say thank you so so much for all of the reviews, they mean so much to me! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Two
"Apparently the new teacher is really hot." Hanna gushed to Spencer and Emily as they walked into the classroom. As soon as they got a glimpse of Mr Fitz their jaws dropped to the floor; this teacher wasn't just hot, this teacher was absolutely gorgeous. They shared a glance as they took their seats, smiling to each other about the fact that they will be able to stare at him all year long.
"Hello, class, my name is Mr Fitz. Is everybody here?" He asked.
"This is everyone." Spencer affirmed efficiently.
"How about this seat?" Mr Fitz asked, pointing towards the empty seat two from the window.
"That was Aria's seat, she doesn't go here anymore." Spencer informed.
"Aria?" Ezra whispered. The Aria? The Aria who he hadn't been able to get out of his mind all weekend? Well, who else? How many Aria's were there in Rosewood? He had a lot of information to process. The girl he was infatuated with was a student. A sixteen year old student. She would have been his student, but now (through fate? coincidence? irony?) she wasn't, leaving just an empty desk taunting him of the situation. He needed to find out more, but by now his students were looking at him strangely, wondering why he was so perplexed by the notion that there was a girl who used to be there who is not anymore.
"Okay, um… let's get started."
"You know, it's a shame Aria's not here, she'd be all over Fitz." Spencer joked as the girls walked home.
"Are you kidding? It's a blessing! It gives the rest of us a chance." Hanna wiggled her eyebrows.
"Hanna, that's so creepy, he's a teacher!." Emily shuddered.
"If you were straight you'd understand." Hanna tutted, receiving glares from Emily and Spencer.
"Speaking of Aria," Spencer said, reverting the conversation back. "we should probably visit her soon."
"Yeah, we haven't been great aunties recently." Emily agreed guiltily.
In the beginning all three girls were regular visitors to Aria and Nathan, they even joked that he'd be able to say 'aunty' before he could say 'daddy'. As the months went on, however, their visits became more sporadic. What with summer and boyfriends/girlfriends and getting ready for junior year, they suddenly became far too busy. It wasn't that they didn't want to see them; they loved Nathan and of course Aria was one of their best friends, but they just couldn't find the time.
"Maybe we could go see them this evening?" Spencer suggested.
"I'll ring her." Hanna said, getting out her phone.
"Hey Han!" Aria greeted in a hushed voice as she picked up the phone.
"Hello? Aria? Are you there?" Hanna shouted down the phone.
"I'm here, Nathan's asleep in my arms so I need to be quiet." Aria explained in a whisper.
"I can call back later if this isn't a good time?" Hanna offered.
"No, it's fine, what's up?" Aria asked as she rocked Nathan back and forth.
"I'm with Em and Spence, we were just wondering if you were free for us to come round later?"
"That would be great! What time?" She asked enthusiastically; she loved Nathan with all her heart but sometimes three month olds weren't the best company.
"How's seven?" Hanna proposed.
"Seven's great." Aria confirmed with a big smile.
"Hey there, sleepyhead!" Aria said as Nathan opened his eyes. "Did you have a nice nap?" She asked. Nathan cracked a smile and Aria's heart melted; how did she make something so gorgeous?
"Guess what, Nathy? Your aunties are coming over later!" She cooed, earning another smile. "Shall we go buy some snacks?" She asked, as she realised that all she had to offer was bottled breast milk and teething gel. Her parents had taken Mike on vacation for a week, so Aria was home alone with Nathan, and she often forgot to feed herself. She took Nathan over to his changing table to put on a fresh diaper and some warmer clothes to go outside in and gave him a quick feeding before heading out the door. On her way out she caught her reflection in the hallway mirror; she definitely needed to put some makeup on before the girls arrived. 2 hours of sleep was not a good look on her. Oh well, it would have to wait till she got back from the store.
Once she arrived she very carefully placed Nathan on the child seat of the cart, laying him on his back with his favourite blanket as padding. After snapping a quick picture of him (What? He looked adorable!) she set off down the supermarket looking for something the girls would enjoy. As she walked down the aisle she tried for what felt like the millionth time to push Ezra out of her mind. Let. It. Go. It was never going to work. He'd find out about Nathan, or your age, and run a mile she told herself whilst she put some hummus into the basket.
"Aria?"
Her head instinctively rose like a flash at the sound of the voice she couldn't stop thinking about all weekend.
"Ezra." Aria said in little more than a whisper. The two stood silently staring at each other for a while, before Ezra finally spoke again.
"How… how are you?" He asked.
"I'm good, thank you, how are you?" She replied.
"I'm good!" He said instantly, nodding his head and smiling in an attempt to convey that he wasn't thinking about her 24/7.
"So… how was your first day of teaching?" Aria asked. Ezra was about to reply when a small cry came from Aria's shopping trolley. Ezra looked at the cart, confused, and then looked to Aria, who had gone bright red.
"I'm sorry, I have to go." She said quickly, walking away at lightening speed. As she turned the corner Ezra caught sight of a tiny baby lying in the seat of the trolley.
"Holy crap." He whispered to himself. She had a kid! That's why she wasn't at school anymore! Who was the father? Was she still with the father? Ezra suddenly felt like he needed a lie down.
"Okay Nathan, let's get you into the outfit Aunty Hanna bought you." Aria said, buttoning up the onesie which read I LOVE MY AUNTY on it. As she stared into Nathan's big doe eyes she couldn't help but think of Ezra's eyes, which were soft, blue and kind. Stop it, Aria. You're in no place for a relationship right now, especially not a relationship with a twenty six year old teacher. Luckily her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.
"Hey!" Aria said happily as she opened the door to her three best friends.
"Hey!" They all greeted excitedly in return.
"Oh my goodness, Nathan has got so big!" Emily exclaimed, walking up to the baby.
"I know, right? Soon he's going to be taller than me!" Aria joked.
"He's probably the only person in Rosewood who isn't taller than you yet." Spencer teased, never missing an opportunity to make fun of Aria's short stature.
"So, we got a new English teacher today, he's a major hottie." Hanna gushed as they all sat in Aria's living room. Aria snapped her head up from looking at Nathan to look Hanna in the eye.
"Oh yeah? What does he look like?" Aria asked, trying to play off that she just wanted to picture the handsome man.
"Gorgeous. He's got brown curly short hair and these adorable blue eyes and he just has cheekbones that I want to polish."
Yep, Aria thought, that's definitely him. Before Aria could reply, Nathan started to cry. She sighed; his timing truly was impeccable.
"I think he's hungry." Aria said, standing up. Aria had come to learn that Nathan had four cries; the cry for when he was hungry, the cry for when he needed his diaper changed, the cry for when he was tired and the cry for when he wanted attention.
"Aria, we're all friends here, you can get your boobs out in front of us." Spencer said dryly.
"Strip strip strip strip!" Hanna chanted.
"No way, it's weird." Aria said, embarrassed.
"It's not weird, it's natural." Emily comforted in a soft voice.
"…Okay, but promise not to stare." Aria warned.
"Promise." They all said in unison. Slowly and self consciously, Aria lowered her t-shirt just enough to feed Nathan. Hanna wolf whistled and Aria went bright red.
"Spencer, can you get the muslin cloth from the coffee table?" Aria asked politely. After Spencer handed it to her she threw it over her chest, covering herself up. Yep, she definitely wasn't Ezra material.
(A/N): Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter is personally my favourite so I'll upload it once this has enough reviews:) Please tell me what you thought!xx