A/N: Lots of dialogue in this one. I hope you like it! :3 Please review.

CheyeM1287 - Thanks! :) My twitter is LucyHaleQuotes.

Disclaimer: "Pretty Little Liars" is not mine.

Ezra's alarm blared out sounds at seven on the dot. After a refreshing shower, he got dressed. Ezra usually referred to his style as "floor-style", which basically meant he'd wear whatever was on his floor that didn't smell strange. Now that he had an actual job, however, he decided on a more professional ensemble of clothing. An uncomfortable blouse and a tie, it was.

As Ezra stumbled towards the kitchen area, he made himself a cup of coffee. When he had gotten a decent amount of caffeinated fuel in his system, he started to resemble his normal self again. And his normal self immediately realized Aria was probably still fast asleep - he had forgotten to set her alarm.

Ezra's fist pounded on Aria's bedroom door. After a few moments, Ezra could distinguish a groan and Ezra heard Aria get up, slamming the bathroom door behind her. Ezra had nearly finished his second cup of coffee, when Aria entered the room.

"Morning!" Ezra said just as cheerily as he had the day before. Aria hadn't had two cups of coffee yet and only managed to respond with a grunt.

She was eating her toast, when Ezra stood.

"You're leaving already?" Aria asked.

"Yes."

Aria glanced at her phone to see the time and cursed loudly. "I'll never make it on time!"

One corner of Ezra's mouth hitched up a fraction of an inch and he prayed not all her mornings were this rushed. "Come on," he said, motioning for Aria to hurry up. "I'll drive you."

Aria looked him square in the eye and gave him a quizzical look. She was hesitating. Ezra noticed.

"It's just a ride, Aria."

"Someone could see us."

"I'll drop you off around the block."

"Someone could still see us."

"So tell them your mom dropped you off."

"My mom's in Iceland."

"But everyone else doesn't know that."

Aria contemplated what to do some more.

"I will give you a detention if you arrive late in my class," Ezra threatened, a glint in his eyes.

"Oh, that's low, Mr. Fitz."

Aria and Ezra crossed the lot. They got in the car and Ezra started the engine. They didn't talk as Ezra pulled out of the parking lot with a sharp U-turn. When Ezra started speeding up on the main road, Aria found her voice.

"So I was thinking that maybe I should transfer out of your class," she said quietly.

Ezra didn't look her way. "Don't."

"I feel like it's the right thing to do."

"It's not."

"It is. It's just going to be too awkward looking at you over a desk in the morning, calling you Mr. Fitz, while sharing mac and cheese with you in the evening."

Ezra took a deep breath. "I know this situation isn't ideal, but it's only temporary."

"What do you mean? I'm not planning on moving out anytime soon." She glanced at Ezra. "As long as you won't make me, that is."

"I've been saving up some money for a while now and I have a job, so I should be able to afford my own place soon enough. You shouldn't transfer out of my class." Ezra made a left turn. "In fact, you can't. All the other English classes are full."

"Of course they are," Aria muttered under her breath. Her lack of sleep and this car ride with Ezra were taking its toll on her good humor.

"Come on!" Ezra said, nudging Aria with his elbow. "It won't be that bad. Besides, I thought we'd come to some sort of an understanding yesterday."

"We did."

"And I trust you to keep this quiet."

"I will keep it quiet."

"I mean it." His eyes briefly went to Aria. "Don't tell your friends anything. Meet them at their place, not yours. Don't have guys over. I'll do the same."

"I said I would keep this quiet!" Aria repeated, a little annoyed with his condescending tone. She didn't like to be patronized.

"And I met you only two days ago, so excuse me if I'm hesitant to take your word for it."

"Well, you can. We both have something at stake here."

They both fell silent after that. The purring of the engine was the only sound that filled the car. Ezra stopped in front of one of the very few traffic lights in Rosewood and continued driving once it had turned green.

"Ezra?" Aria said after a minute. She hated awkward silences.

"Yes?"

"I fell asleep on the couch."

"Really? Then how did you end up in your room?"

Aria was about to ask him the same thing, when the car stopped. It was time for Aria to get out. Aria studied her surroundings; there was nobody to be seen. As soon as she'd established that, she got out of the car. Ezra immediately continued driving towards the school, and Aria was left wondering if the fact that he didn't want to be seen dropping her off was the only reason he was in such a hurry.

Aria still arrived several minutes late, despite the trouble Ezra had gone through with driving Aria. Ezra let her get away with it, though, and allowed her to inconspicuously find a seat.

During lunch, Ezra had the pleasure of seeing Aria again. He was on "lunch duty", as all the other teachers referred to it. He and one other teacher had to eat their lunch in the cafeteria in order to supervise the students. Which meant Ezra couldn't hole up in his classroom or hide in the teacher's lounge like he'd been planning on doing.

Ezra couldn't really be bothered to watch over the students, because after two minutes it already became clear to Ezra that nothing interesting was going to happen. He was sitting at the table reserved for teachers; it looked exactly the same as all the other lunch tables, except that it was a little smaller. The other teacher that was supposed to join him wasn't there yet.

Ezra's eyes directly went to his floormate, seated at the opposite side of the cafeteria. He could easily find her in the mass, as she was the only person he recognized. She was smiling, looking infinitely happier than she had the first night he met her. Even though Ezra didn't really know her, the sight of it made him smile just as hard as she was. She was the closest thing to a friend that he had at this school. Which was pathetic, because Ezra was pretty sure she was terrified he was going to do something that was going to ruin her life. In her eyes, at least.

It took Ezra a while to look at anyone but Aria, but when he studied her for a moment longer, he realized she was laughing at something a tall guy was saying to her. She was flirting. She was flirting and it was hard to miss. The guy most certainly had noticed and Ezra did too, even from such a large distance. Aria kept shooting him little smiles. The guy responded by making jokes and touching her arm. Apparently the jokes were funny, because Aria repeatedly threw her head back to laugh. Aria also kept doing the whole gazing up and down thing - she wasn't hiding that she liked him.

"Are you worried about Noel Kahn?"

Ezra jumped in his seat when he heard a female voice from his side. He looked up. A tiny, dark-haired woman stood beside him. She gave Ezra a friendly smile and his smile in return resembled more of a grimace.

"I-I'm sorry. Wh-What?"

"Noel Kahn?" The woman motioned with her head to the guy talking to Aria; the guy Ezra was staring at. "Are you worried about him?"

"Err, should I be?" Ezra replied, befuddled.

The woman shrugged. "He's always been a troublemaker. Stole the answers to three midterms last year. I wouldn't be surprised if he's up to something again." She stared at Noel for a moment, before she shook her head, gave a wistful sigh, and turned back to Ezra. "I'm Mrs. Welch."

"Ezra Fitz." He shook the woman's hand.

"I know," Mrs. Welch said. She gave him a warm smile. "The new English teacher."

"Was that Noel Kahn talking to you?" Hanna asked Aria. They were both searching their lockers for the books they needed. Hanna's locker was coincidentally practically next to Aria's.

"It was," Aria confirmed.

Hanna chuckled. "I remember you always had the biggest crush on him. What did he say?"

Aria shrugged. "Just asked me some questions about Iceland." She took a book from her locker and stuffed it in her bag. "And, you know, asked me if I wanted to catch a movie with him tomorrow night," Aria added casually.

Hanna turned to look at Aria. "Really?" Hanna grinned. "That's so great! What did you say?"

"I told him I couldn't, because I was already hanging out with you."

Hanna's brow furrowed. "We had plans to hang out tomorrow night?"

"We do now," Aria said, closing her locker. She started walking down the hallway and Hanna was left to catch up with her.

"Wait! Why would you say that? Don't you want to go out with him?"

"I do," Aria said. "So if we happen to run into him at the pizza place he told me he's going with some of his friends, what's the harm?" Aria swung her arm around Hanna's shoulders. "I've been gone for a long time, so I thought it might be good to bring a wing-woman."

Hanna laughed. "I'm a little insulted you just assumed I'd be free that night. It's a good thing I don't have any actual plans."

Aria and Ezra made some sort of unspoken agreement to not push their luck, so Ezra didn't give Aria a ride back to Kenneth. Instead, Aria had to walk, but the weather was so nice that she didn't really mind. The weather was unseasonably warm for Rosewood. The sky was a clear blue and the sun shone brightly. The weather was boosting her good mood a little and she settled for a leisurely stroll. She arrived a good half hour later at Kenneth Hall than Ezra.

Aria inserted her key in the door and opened it. She nearly bumped into Ezra, who was heading outside.

"Oh, hey," Ezra said.

"Hi."

"I'm going out with some friends tonight, but we can try and cook something tomorrow?"

"Actually I'm going out with someone tomorrow, so how about the day after that?" Aria suggested. She smiled at Ezra. Ezra stopped in his tracks next to the door. She was going out with someone? He had a good feeling about who it was.

"No, you're not," Ezra said. The words escaped his lips before he'd thought them through, and he sheepishly turned around to look at Aria.

Aria's eyebrows were raised. "Excuse me?"

Ezra had no right to stop her from going out with Noel Kahn, but what Mrs. Welch had told Ezra about Noel made him worry. And could he stop her? As a matter of fact, he could.

"First essay of the year," Ezra said. "Thousand words. Consider this an official heads-up."

Aria groaned loudly. "Seriously?"

"Sorry," Ezra gave an apologetic shrug, though he was not feeling sorry at all.

"Well, what's the essay supposed to be on? Maybe I can start working on it tonight."

"That wouldn't be fair. You'll find out along with everyone else when I assign it in class tomorrow," Ezra said. "Besides, whoever you're going out with will have to write it as well."

Aria seriously doubted this, because she remembered Hanna used to pay Spencer to write her essays. Mentioning this to Ezra didn't seem like such a good idea, though.

"Fine," Aria said.

"Fine," Ezra replied. And he left the apartment.