Chapter Two

Ezra sat staring out of his window. It was late, it was dark and he simply couldn't sleep. He kept replaying his evening with Aria, how she had looked, what she had said, God he even remembered how she smelt! This was ridiculous, how could he possible like this girl. She was still a child really, not even out of high school, she was the age he wanted to teach. He tugged his hands through his hair and then let his head hang down, closing his eyes for a few moments. When he did, all he could see was her, her hair falling softly about her face, her smile as she took in every word he said. Pushing himself up from the window seat, he slammed the book he had failed to read down onto the little centre table and stalked off to the bathroom. Perhaps a shower would help clear his head.

Aria rolled over and looked at her clock, the bright red digital numbers confirming it was still some ungodly hour. She sighed and flopped back onto her back and stared at her ceiling. A faint light drifted over the top of her bedroom door, someone else was still awake. That was weird, usually everyone in her house was asleep at this time of night . . . well, morning. She slipped out of bed, tugged on her robe, and tiptoed out of the bedroom. The light was drifting up from downstairs, the kitchen, as well as the faint aroma of hot chocolate. Her stomach growled slightly at the aroma and she padded downstairs.

Ella, her mother, was sitting at the kitchen table, mug in hand. She stared off into space not seeing anything in front of her.

'Mom?' she asked quietly, moving closer to the silent woman. Ella's eyes flickered up to her daughters face and stared for a moment, before a wan smile pasted itself across her face.

'Aria, sweet heart, what are you doing up?'

'I couldn't sleep, Mom, what about you? Are you alright?' Aria took in her mother's appearance, her hair hung limply down her back, her robe was haphazardly tied, her feet bare on the linoleum floor. She looked almost grey and her eyes were tinged with red. This couldn't be good. Aria felt her heart hitch a little – what could be so wrong that it caused her mother, the strongest woman she had ever known, to fall apart?

'Oh, I'm fine honey, don't worry about me. Do you want some hot chocolate?' She stood up and moved about the kitchen, preparing the drink, but Aria could feel nothing had really changed.

'You know, Mom, you can talk to me if you need to.' Aria tipped her head to the side as she waited for her mother to respond but nothing came. Ella set a pale blue mug in front of her daughter before she patted her lightly on the head.

'Go back to bed soon or you'll be really tired. You've got work in the morning.' With that she drifted away. Aria felt gooseflesh rise on her arms, her mother was acting really weird and she didn't like it at all. But now that she was gone her mind soon flitted back to the strange evening with Ezra. Aria found herself letting out a huge sigh but she had no idea why. Ezra was smart and funny and most definitely attractive, but he had balked at her age. It wasn't as though she was looking for anything, she had pretty much closed down that part of her life when Ali died, not wanting to really let anyone else in. Was she only after friendship though? Was that really all she had hoped for when she had invited him for dinner. She rose from the chair in which she had been contemplating everything and moved to rinse her mug. If he wasn't really going to talk to her it was going to be a really long, awkward summer.

Rain fell heavily onto the windows as Ezra and Aria woke from fitful sleep. They each turned and groaned at their respective clocks and they each buried their heads under pillows in the hope of squeezing an extra ten minutes out of the night. Ezra was the first to give in. He pushed the covers back and stumbled into the shower, thoughts of Aria still taunting him. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to her, that he had barely scratched the surface, and it was that feeling that had kept him awake all night. Aria managed another fifteen minutes before her father, Byron, knocked on the door and pointedly reminded her that it was only the second day of work and she really shouldn't be late. She groaned understanding and forced herself to sit up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and rubbing at her bleary eyes.

'Couldn't sleep?' asked her father.

'Nope, but it's nothing.'

'Work was okay then?' he asked again, concern laced through his words.

'Yes, Dad, work is actually pretty good. Just couldn't sleep, that's all.' She smiled pointedly at her Dad who raised his hands in defeat and closed the door behind him as he headed off for breakfast. Aria stood and stretched, pulling out every muscle to try and shake the exhaustion out. She shook her head and looked across at the mirror – it was going to take a lot of make up to get through today.

The archive room was just as she had left it. What had seemed like a challenge yesterday now felt like an insurmountable task. She pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, though the rest of her hair was tied back in a lazy ponytail. Her jeans, far more suited to the kind of work she was doing, hung low on her hips and the purple vest top she wore was certainly helping to keep her cool in the small room. The rain might be falling outside but it was still humid, a typical late June day in Rosewood. Aria had managed to get more of a routine established, and small piles of books and papers were scattered all about the shelves which lined the poorly lit room. Post it notes labelled the sections. Aria was determined to get this job done well and she was using every skill she had to do so. It seemed silly, it was just a job, but it was important to her now. Not only as a distraction from her life last year, but also as an adult task, something she was responsible for.

'Good morning,' came Ezra's voice from behind her.

'Morning.' She didn't even turn to look at him, just continued to read through the piece of paper in her hand, although for some reason she didn't seem able to see the words any more. He sighed softly and she felt a shiver go through her.

'Look, can we talk, just for a minute?' He seemed so sincere and so lost that Aria couldn't help but turn. He looked tired, his face grey and his eyes pale. He, too, was dressed in jeans for today, a tight fitting t-shirt clung to his frame. Aria felt a lump form in her throat and she forced herself to look at him.

'I was rude last night, I'm sorry, personal issues. Can we . . . I don't know, pretend like the last ten minutes didn't happen?' Ezra leaned against the door frame and watched her face as she thought about what he had said.

'I guess I just don't understand, I don't know what I did wrong.' Her words were measured calm, but Ezra detected an undercurrent of something.

'Like I said, it's not you. Not really, anyway. I was surprised that you were only sixteen, I thought you were older. It felt strange then but I realise now that it shouldn't have made a difference, we were just two colleagues having dinner, after all.' He laughed a little, trying to reassure her or humour her?

'Well, yes. It's not like it was a date or anything,' she laughed back, an awkward tone in her voice.

'Right,' he nodded in return. 'Shall we continue then?' he asked, gesturing around her.

There was some progress being made. Ezra and Aria had worked in companionable silence for the last couple of hours and much had been achieved, but he was tired and his eyes were beginning to itch.

'Shall we go grab a coffee, take a break?' he asked wearily. Aria stood up and stretched, a little of her flat stomach peeked out from beneath her top as she raised her arms above her head.

'Great idea, I didn't sleep too well last night, coffee would be great.'

'Me either,' Ezra replied quietly, almost so quietly she wasn't sure he had said it all. Ezra led the way up to the staff break room and poured two mugs of coffee before slumping into the chair he had been in when they had met only yesterday. Aria followed quietly and sat opposite him, crossing her legs and folding her hands around her mug. Ezra watched her for a moment as she stared into the mug. She looked tired, he was surprised he hadn't noticed earlier.

'So, do you have a girlfriend?' asked Aria innocently. Ezra swallowed back a sudden lump in his throat.

'No, I don't.' There was a finality in his voice that warned Aria not to push any further. She waited a moment, unsure what to do. The silence stretched on until Ezra broke it himself.

'I was engaged, to another Hollis student. The day after we graduated she told me that it was over, that she couldn't imagine married life right now and all the usual it was me not you crap. Anyway, so yeah, that's it.' He lifted his mug to his lips and sighed before taking a long swallow. Aria reached out and placed her hand on top of his to comfort him, she felt something stir within her as she touched him, some spark she couldn't explain, but she pushed it down.

'I'm sorry,' she said simply. Ezra looked at her hand resting on his and then at her, at Aria, whose eyes were full of such sympathy and understanding that he could feel himself beginning to break. He had fought against this for so long though, fought against breaking down again over that woman, that he pulled his hand away and smiled tightly. Aria felt her heart sink a little but smiled outwardly.

'Thank you, but I'd rather not think or talk about it any more, if that's ok.' Ezra's voice was hoarse and quiet, she knew he was still in a lot of pain, and so she nodded an agreement.

'What about you, Aria, anyone special in your life?' Aria chuckled and shook her head.

'No, I'm too busy for boyfriends. I have my friends, my family, you know . . . and my writing takes up a lot of my time.' Ezra's face warmed a little as she spoke.

'You write?' he smiled.

'I thought I mentioned that,' Aria replied nervously, she was sure she had told him, but perhaps it had slipped her mind after all.

'I don't remember, what do you write?' Ezra had leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table and his gorgeous blue eyes stared intently into her own.

'Erm . . .' Aria stuttered, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. 'I write short stories, they're mostly personal, a way to process what's going on in my life.' Ezra smiled a lop-sided grin and Aria felt her heart stutter. She took a deep breath to regain control and lifted her own mug, taking a calming sip of her coffee.

'I'd love to read some, if you wouldn't mind? I'd . . . I'd like to know more about you.' This time Ezra's gaze was warmer even though he had no idea why, he didn't want to be drawing closer to this girl, he knew he should be keeping his distance, but right now, in this moment, all he could think about was how much he wanted to curl up with her on the sofa in his apartment and watch old movies whilst chatting about insignificant things. Jackie would never spend time like that, she had no interest in being still or quiet, always dragging him around. Aria was him, she shared his likes and dislikes, she was open and honest and caring and . . . oh God, what was he thinking? She was sixteen, that was the most important thing, she was sixteen.

'Of course, if you don't want to I would understand completely,' he muttered nervously.

'I think I'd like that, no-one has ever read them before but I'd quite like to know if I'm wasting my time. You would certainly be able to tell me that!' she laughed, tucking that damn strand of hair behind her ear again. Her laugh did wonderful things to Ezra and he sat back in his chair, trying to put some much needed distance between them.

'Great,' he smiled, trying hard to be sincere. This had been his idea after all, he could hardly back out now.

'Listen, we should probably get back to it,' smiled Aria. She stood, straightened her tank top, which only helped to draw Ezra's eyes to her petite yet curvy frame, and then collected their mugs for washing. He sighed softly. He was coming undone.

Aria's phone buzzed on and off all afternoon. Her friends checked in, her Mom checked in, her Dad checked in, her therapist. In the end she shut the thing off and slammed it into her purse in frustration.

'Everything ok?' asked Ezra from behind a cardboard box.

'Yes, it will be, when everyone stops treating me like some fragile thing that might fall apart at any moment.' She sighed and rubbed her face to try and shake some of the exhaustion that was starting to cloud her vision.

'Maybe we should call it a day?' Aria looked over the box to where Ezra looked as though he too was about to pass out.

'That might be a very good idea,' she smiled in reply. She started to gather her things when her stomach growled audibly. Embarrassed, she failed to stifle a giggle and glanced over to Ezra, who smiled as well.

'I think I might just need to grab some dinner first!' she laughed. She waved a casual goodbye and headed out of the door. Suddenly, Ezra couldn't bear the thought that she might not be around him. As she completely disappeared from sight he fought the urge to chase after her. All afternoon he had been fighting this urge to sit with her, to talk with her, to learn every tiny thing there was to learn. She was a child. He had started to repeat it like his own personal mantra. He kept saying it over and over and over again, even as he rushed down the corridor to catch up to her. Even as he invited her for dinner. Even as she agreed and smiled at him so that his stomach did a little flip. She was a child, wasn't she?

Aria sat curled up on his couch flicking through one of his older copies of Shakespeare. After they arrived, she had gazed in awe at his book collection which filled shelves and windowsills and boxes so that it spilled out into every corner of his tiny apartment. She had touched them gingerly, leaving a little trace of her everywhere she went. Ezra had stood in his kitchenette, stirring the pan of pasta absentmindedly whilst watching her wander. The way she smiled at a cover, gently fingered the gold lettering on older tomes, the way she turned and smiled at him when she could feel him staring. It was only as he served the pasta into dishes that he realised that, since their brief conversation that morning, he hadn't thought about Jackie all day. That was most definitely a first.

'Is it ok?' he asked casually as Aria ate slowly. She seemed to be making effort to eat and he wondered if he had over seasoned the simple pasta dish. Aria looked up at him, into those bright blue eyes that seemed to 'know' her and smiled.

'Yes, it's wonderful,' she grinned. She couldn't let him know, wouldn't let him know, that she was prolonging the meal so that she could spend as much time with him as possible.

'Good. Can I get you more water, or juice?' Aria glanced at their glasses, his filled with wine hers with water. It only reinforced to her how different they were, how much older he was. But it didn't seem to matter. She reached across the table and placed her hand over his.

'Everything's perfect,' she said softly. Ezra felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as she touched him. It amazed him that she could have such an effect on him when they barely knew each other.

'Good, I'm glad,' he said. Slowly, he drew his hand from underneath hers, feigning to wipe his mouth with his napkin. Aria let out a soft sigh, was it disappointment that radiated from her he wondered? The internal battles raged for them both, each knowing they wanted to know the other so much better than they did, but also both worried about what that would mean for them.

'Just how old are you?' Aria blurted out.

'Twenty-two.' That really wasn't a huge amount of time, just six years – and a bit if we were counting. When they were forty and thirty-four, no-one would care about the age difference. Would they?

'No, I don't suppose they would, then.' Aria felt her eyes widen and she coughed with surprise.

'Did I just say that out loud?' she whispered, a hot flush colouring her cheeks deeply. Ezra smiled at her, her dark hair framing her now bright red cheeks.

'Yes, you did, but it's ok.' He watched her for a while, just staring at her whilst she stared at him. Eventually, Ezra broke the contact and gathered the plates. As he put them in the sink he felt his heart pounding in his chest and he took several deep breaths to calm himself. This woman, this girl, was going to be the death of him. He agreed totally with what she had said, everything made sense, If they had a relationship, if this attraction between them had as much longevity as it did spark, then people wouldn't care about the difference. But if he was teaching and he turned up to a faculty mixer with a school girl, people would notice, people would care. He ran hot water over the dishes as Aria moved back to the sofa and the book she had been reading. He watched her intense gaze as she sought the meaning in the old words, watched as a finger played lazily with a curl of hair, watched as she licked her lips absentmindedly which served only to make Ezra want to kiss her, to touch her.

Honestly? He was quite simply screwed.