A/N: So heres chapter two! its been nearly a year since i first posted. Hope you all enjoy this and are still interested!

Time froze as soon as Aria heard those words. There was a murderer in her apartment. She couldn't react. To say she was frightened, would be an understatement. She was terrified. A killer was standing just a few feet away from her. A killer who'd managed to break into her apartment. A killer who'd probably hurt her too.

There was silence surrounding them both. Both were at loss for words. She was scared out of her mind, while he'd himself frozen after confessing.

"Please don't hurt me." Aria whispered.

He was brought back to reality when he heard her small, broken voice whisper those words in fear.

"Hurt you?" He asked. "I'd never hurt you."

"Y-you just told me you killed your girlfriend. Of course you'll hurt me." She shot back, trying to remain calm, and standing tall and brave.

He walked closer to her, but soon regretted when her piercing scream reached his ears.

"DON'T COME NEAR ME." She yelled, tears of fear threatening to fall from her eyes.

"I-I" He stuttered.

"No. I don't even know you. You break into my apartment, and tell me you killed someone."

"Please. I just need to stay here for a bit. I won't hurt you. I'll explain everything."

Aria shook her head. Her heart was pounding so loud she could hear it. It was pushing against her chest, hurting her. It felt as if it'd bruise her chest. She couldn't take it anymore. She'd never been more frightened in her life.

"Leave. Now." Aria ordered.

Wiping away a tear that'd managed to escape, she built up all the courage a tiny person like her could manage, and bolted towards the lacrosse stick.

He didn't react until he saw the stick swinging towards him, and had enough time to snatch it out of her hands.

The fear he saw in her eyes the moment he took the stick away from her, made him feel terrible. The tears were now falling freely down her face, her whole body tremebling.

"Please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me."

"I wont." He told her sincerely, placing the stick down.

"Just leave. Leave before I call the cops on you. I'll give you ten seconds to leave."

"I need help. If you'd let me explain."

"Leave." She shouted. "Go!"

He was about to protest once more, but noticed the fear and anger present in her.

Simply nodding, he made his way towards the front door.

"I'm sorry." He told her.

She didn't say anything back, only watching him leave. Her heart rate slowed down as soon as he shut the door behind him. She ran to the door, locking it, and placing a chair on the handle for extra security.

There was no way she'd be able to fall back asleep anytime soon. Making herself a cup a coffee, and grabbing a blanket from the closet, she made herself comfortable on the couch.

Some random cartoon show played in front of her, but her mind was still thinking about what had happened just minutes ago.

A murderer, a killer, a complete stranger had been in her house. She bit her nails nervously, as she thought back. There was a killer standing in her house.

She debated calling up Hanna, or just driving over. Afterall, this guy could come back.

Why she hadn't called the police right away, was something she'd been asking herself for the last ten minutes.

"I won't hurt you."

He'd kept his word. He didn't hurt her.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she switched the channel, hoping she'd find something to take her mind of the previous incident.

But all she kept seeing were those blue eyes. How could she be thinking about how beautiful he was, when he'd admitted he was a killer?

She couldn't help it though. Something about him had been afterall the reason she hadn't called the police on him.

Although beautiful, his eyes held sadness. She could see it clearly.

But that didn't change the fact that he was a killer. He was dangerous. And although she was curious for an explanation, he was dangerous.

He was a killer.

Ezra looked down at his phone.

3:30AM.

He'd been walking around the city for an hour and a half. He was scared. Scared of going back home. Scared of everything.

If he was being honest, he really didn't care about Jackie. If she was dead, she well deserved it after what she did.

Though he hadn't been sober when their fight had occurred, and it was an accident, that still wouldn't change the fact that if she was dead, he'd be labeled a killer and would get locked up. That couldn't happen.

He kicked a brick wall forcefully cursing at life for everything bad that had happened to him in the last year.

"Why can't I ever be happy?" He cried. "Why is everything I love always taken away from me?"

"Why?" He whispered to himself.

Wiping away the tears, he walked to one of the many parks New York offered, and made himself comfortable, or as comfortable as one could get, on one of the cold metal benches.

He was thankful for this park in particular, as it was a secluded one. As he lay there on his back, he couldn't hold the tears anymore. He was lost. Confused. He knew he should've never gotten involved with Jackie again, as his heart belonged and would always belong to his wife.

It was just past four when his eyes finally drifted shut.

TPOBH~

Aria woke up, her back hurting from the way she'd fallen asleep on the couch the previous night. She glanced at the clock above her window, noticing it was only 5:30.

Even though she hadn't slept very much, she didn't feel tired. For a second she forgot why she'd fallen asleep so late, and more so, why she'd fallen asleep on the couch.

And then it hit her.

Mystery stranger and all that came with him. Her body shuddered as she remembered. Though now, she wasn't frightened. She was just confused.

She got up from the couch, stretching as she did so. Her body was stiff. A run would be sure to fix this.

Thirty minutes later, as she was nearing the end to her run, she ran past someone getting up from a bench. She ran back, as she recognized who he was.

"Are you following me or something?" Aria asked. "Are you a stalker in addition to a killer?" She spat harshly.

Ezra rubbed his sleepy eyes and simply shook his head.

"No, I'm not following you. I slept here last night."

Oh.

"W-why?" Aria asked.

"I don't know. Just needed time to think."

Aria nodded. She realized then she wasn't afraid of him. She actually felt bad for him. He'd slept on a park bench. A cold metal park bench.

"About last night." He started. "I really am sorry. I never meant to scare you."

"Well what do you expect when you break into someone's house in the middle of the night?"

"I'm sorry. I freaked out and ran. I just chose a random place to let myself in. I'm sorry."

Aria shook her head.

"You're lucky I didn't call the cops."

He sighed, as tears filled his eyes.

"At this point, I think I wouldn't actually care if I get locked up. I have nothing left in life."

A silent tear rolled down his face, but he was quick to wipe it.

He was obviously hurting. Aria assumed it was because of his girlfriend which he thought he'd killed.

She didn't say anything else, just walked away. But as she was doing so, something in her felt extremely bad for him. He seemed like a good person, so why was it that he'd killed someone?

Before she knew what she was doing, she was back in front of him.

"Look." She started, but paused shortly after.

Was she really gonna do this.

She sighed as she ran her hand through her sweaty hair.

"I don't know why I'm doing this, I can end up getting killed for all I know, but," She sighed once again." If you need somewhere to get cleaned up, you can come back to my place."

He shook his head.

"Why? So the cops will be waiting for me when I come out? Why don't you call them now? I told you, being locked up would probably be better than living in this misery. Last night I was just afraid. But now, go ahead, call them."

"I'm not calling the cops on you." She paused. "I should, but I believe in not judging without getting a real story. So lets just go back, eat something and we can talk there. Maybe I can help you."

Ezra thought about it for a second. He could really use some cleaning up. And honestly, he was beyond hungry. She seemed like she was being serious about not calling the cops on him.

"Ok." He said. "Thank you."

Aria didn't say anything, only giving him a small smile and a nod. Ezra got up following right behind her.

"For starters, can I get a name?" She asked.

"Ezra."

"Ezra." She repeated. "I'm Aria."

"Thank Aria. I promise you I'm not dangerous and won't hurt you. I'm not that terrible person I made myself seem." He told her sincerely .

She looked into his eyes, debating if she was actually doing the right thing. She could be joining his girlfriend in the afterlife in a few hours. But looking into his eyes once again, that same feeling she'd gotten last night and again that morning, told her she was. He didn't seem dangerous. Nothing he'd done had shown he would hurt her.

Again, instead of replying, she gave him a simple nod.

"Here, my brother left these a few weeks ago when he came to visit, hopefully they'll work for you." She stated, handing him a towel along with the pair of clothes.

He smiled, but from what Aria could see, it wasn't a happy smile. Behing that smile, she could see the huge amount of pain he was going through.

"Thank you."

"Yeah." She whispered.

Twenty minutes later, Ezra walked out of the bathroom dressed in the Tshirt and sweats Aria had given him. He was immediately hit with the smell of eggs and pancakes, making his stomach growl.

"I see they fit." Aria spoke as he came into the kitchen.

"Yeah."

"I made eggs and I'm just finishing up pancakes. Sorry, I don't really keep meat around the house so that's all I have. Coffee's ready though."

Ezra smiled. Again, that smile that made everything in her feel sorry for this man.

"Eggs and pancakes are perfect. You don't have to do this though."

Aria looked back at him.

"I know. But I want to know your story."

Ezra nodded.

"Do you need help?"

"Um, can you just get the coffee mugs from the cupboard?"

"Sure."

As Aria finished the pancakes, she'd figured she'd start out with small questions.

"So Ezra, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a professor at NYU."

Of all things, especially after the impression she'd gotten from him in the last few hours, she'd never guess he was a professor.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Used to teach at a High School back in Rosewood, and then Hollis, before getting here."

"Rosewood?" Aria asked. "My parent's live there."

"Are you from Rosewood too?"

"I'm from everywhere. I was last in Florida though before coming here, but my parent's decided to move to Rosewood. I lived there when I was little."

She brought the plate of eggs to the table, along with the pancakes. She almost forgot why he was here and what he'd done. But as soon as they were both seated, she remembered and waited anxiously, and to be honest, with an immense amount of fear for him to start talking.

Ezra sighed, already feeling the huge knot in his throat. Crying in front of her was something he'd never wanted to do, but just by thinking about what he was about to tell her, he knew there would be many tears. His eyes were already starting to fill up, and he knew soon he'd break down.

As Aria saw him, she knew she'd judged wrong. Something terrible happened to him. It was so clear and obvious just how much he was hurting by thinking about whatever it was that had happened.

Still. She need answers.

After a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke up.

"Last night.." He started.

A/N: wadya think? Please review and let me know if you liked it and are still interested. Thank you!