Staring out at the ocean, Ezra thought to himself, "What the hell am I doing? This is either going to be really good or end badly." Harp's barking brought him back to reality and he threw the tennis ball again.

"He has a lot to talk about with me," Aria squealed to her friends. They had all been hanging out at her apartment waiting for the response. The time change was killing them. Luckily they knew he was up now so hopefully the responses would not take so long. They were all assuming he was waiting by the computer like they were. "It sounds like he has a nice life."

"No mention of a family," Spencer added.

"True, he only mentioned his dog. Usually if you had kids they'd come before the dog," Hanna replied.

Your town sounds nice. I'd love to be that close to the ocean. Teaching has perks, two more months and I'm off for the summer which is great. I did move out, but I'm on my own. I got a little apartment in town. Nothing fancy but it's my own little place. I'm glad you really want to talk to me. I was afraid you wouldn't. I have really missed you.

Aria

Hitting send, Spencer and Hanna looked at her with their mouths open. "If that doesn't send a message I don't know what will," Spencer said.

"Jeez, now we'll have to wait and see what he says." Hanna added.

"I decided I'd make the first move. I don't feel like tap dancing around the situation. Now my only problem is Noel." Aria said. "What do you think I should do?" She asked, her eyes pleading with them to give her an answer.

"I say go for Ezra." Hanna said excitedly.

"Bottom line Aria, if you don't love him you shouldn't marry him regardless of what happens with Ezra. But I wouldn't break it off just yet. You need to think about it for a week so at least the poor guy thinks you gave it some consideration," Spencer said chuckling because she honestly did not care if Noel's feelings were hurt.

Harp and Ezra returned home around 8am. He quickly put food out for Harp so he could then go check his computer. His eyes lit up when he saw the email from Aria. "She misses me." He said out loud. He had hoped this would happen. He was excited to hear that it was 'just her' in the apartment. He figured if she had a boyfriend or family she would have mentioned it. He had hoped she picked up the hint that he did not when he only mentioned Harp. What was he going to say now? He decided he needed to call Hardy for some advice.

"Hello," a voice answered groggily on the other end of the line.

"Hey man, sorry to call so early," Ezra said.

"Jeez man, it's Saturday. What's up?" Hardy answered making sure Ezra could hear the tone in his voice.

"I know, I know, but she emailed me."

"Who did?"

"Aria and she misses me."

"Really? She said that."

"Yes she actually wrote in the email 'I've really missed you'. What do you think I should do?"

"I don't know man," he said pausing and Ezra noticed it.

"What are you not saying?"

"Ok so here's the deal. You have Liz and she's a really nice girl and it could work out for you two, but then there's Aria. And there's always going to be Aria. I think you need to pursue this and see what happens. If you don't get it out of your system you never will. I also think you should break up with Liz because either way you don't love her and she deserves better. Ok, that's all I have."

"You're right. You're always right."

"That's my job and it's why you keep me around."

"Liz is coming over today for a picnic, I think I'll do it today. I don't want to cheat on her, that's not really fair."

"Sounds like a plan, keep me posted."

"Will do. Thanks!"

"Anytime," Hardy said and he hung up. Smiling to himself, he knew this was for the best. Ezra would never love anyone else and who knows this may work out in the end.

It was a good talk with Hardy and he was right. Ezra knew it was time to end it with Liz and then he could be completely free to pursue a relationship with Aria because he would only be lying to himself if he said he was only in it for friendship. He went back to the email and began to type his reply.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. It's sunny and 72 here, perfect beach day! I just got back from walking the dog and it's gorgeous out. I don't mean to rub it in but spring must be in the air in Rosewood. The warm weather will be there before you know it.

I don't know how else to say this but I've really missed you too. Things ended badly for us before but I feel like this is a chance at a new beginning. You have no idea how happy it's made me to just hear from you. Keep the emails coming.

Ezra

P.S. Also my cell number is the same if you need to reach me.

As he hit send, he hoped this email was not too over the top. He wanted her to know he was interested and this was the only way he could do it. For some reason the writer in him ceased to exist. He had lost his knack of the English language within a matter of minutes. He had always been thrown by his feelings for Aria, which made him feel that she must have been the one because no other woman did this to him. Now he had really started the ball rolling and he was not sure where it was going to go.

His thoughts immediately moved to Liz. How was he going to end their relationship? They had not been together long but working on the book and everything forced them together a lot. Luckily the book tour was over and things were winding down. It was not easy but he was going to be truthful. She knew about the book so she would have to understand.

Aria had gone to take a shower while they all waited for the next email. "Yell for me if one comes in. I'll try to be quick," she said.

Spencer and Hanna had turned the TV on and were lounging on the couch, the laptop sitting on the coffee table waiting to be pounced on. Both of them had become enthralled in the Today Show, when they heard the alert, indicating a new message. Hanna pounced on the computer first to see if the new message was from Ezra. They had set it up so they would not miss any of the emails. All of them had decided they had to take advantage of the time that both time zones were awake so that they could get as much in as possible.

"Oh Spencer you have to read this," Hanna said.

"You opened it. Aria is going to be mad." Spencer said.

"Why am I going to be mad?" Aria asked walking towards them.

"I just read the latest email. It just came in. Oh Aria," Hanna started to gush.

"Well, let me read it." At first sight Aria thought he was just being vague talking about the weather and what not but when she read the end of it she was consumed. "Is this really happening? Could I really be getting back with Ezra?" She looked at them waiting for an answer.

"Maybe you should surprise him?" Hanna said.

"What do you mean?" Aria asked.

"Oh my god, yes. You should totally just show up and be like 'Hey'," Spencer said. "You could fly out next Friday and come home on the red-eye Sunday. It would suck but it would be so worth it."

"Do you really think I should? Because I really want to see him." Aria said.

"Yes! You have to do it. I love happy endings." Hanna chimed in.

"Ok let's look up tickets. I'll have to casually ask him what he's doing mid-week because it would suck if he wasn't going to be there. This is the most spontaneous thing I've ever done!"

The girls poured over the travel sites looking for the cheapest tickets they could find. It's a great idea but Aria did not feel like being in debt forever because of a whim. They also needed to brainstorm how to break the news to Noel that she was going away next weekend. Hanna and Spencer would cover for her in any story she came up with. Aria should have just broken it off with him and made things easier but she wanted to see Ezra first. It was important to gauge his reaction to her and see if it was really worth changing her whole life for him.

"Ok so I'm going to book this one. I leave here at 4pm, I have a layover in Kansas City and I get to LA by 10pm their time. I can rent a car and drive to his house."

"You don't have his address," Hanna said.

"I'll text him and tell him I want to mail him something," Aria added.

"Good idea. That way you'll have all the info. He is going to die when you knock on his door and he opens up and sees you." Spencer said.

"Sorry to put a damper on things but what's the story for Noel. It's not like you go away very often and we'll both be around." Hanna added.

"Visiting an old college friend?" Spencer suggested.

"Yes, that's good. She just had a baby and I'm going to see her in California. That's all he has to know. Her name is Amanda Fields and the baby's name is Jacob. Can you guys remember that? I'm not giving any more details. He barely listens if it's not about him anyways so it should be easy enough."

"I can handle that." Hanna said.

"Me too, jeez you can lie pretty easily." Spencer added.

"I wish I was that good. We just got an email from the Literature Society I was in during college and this girl did have a baby. I don't know who she is but she's real." She said laughing, making both of her friends crack up too. "Should I email him back or text him?"

"Send a text. Then we can get out of this apartment." Spencer said.

"Good point. Is it lunch time yet? I'm starved," Aria added as she pulled out her phone. She sent a message to Ezra.

Hey, just checking if it works.

Then they headed out to grab some food.

Ezra's phone vibrated. He looked at the caller ID and could not believe it was from Aria. He checked the text and responded quickly.

Hey yourself, it works. Great seeing your name pop up on my phone.

Ezra could not stop smiling. He was so happy to hear from Aria. He felt like a school kid. He could not wait for the next text or email. While he was busy thinking about Aria and what he could say next he lost track of time. Suddenly he looked at the clock and realized Liz would be arriving in a half hour. He quickly ran to the bathroom. He needed to shower quickly. While he was shampooing his hair he started talking to himself.

"Liz, we really need to talk. I know this isn't really fair to you but I think we need to end this. You know the girl in the book, is real and her name is Aria. I have been in contact with her and we've had a chance to reconnect and I want to take that chance." He said out loud. "God that sounds so lame. I need to word it better."

"It was worded just fine. I understand exactly what you mean," her voice sounded through the rush of water.

"Liz, you've been listening. I didn't expect you yet."

"Well sorry to disappoint you but I'm here. I have some news for you too. I'm pregnant."

"What?" He said throwing the curtain open.

"You heard me."

"How did this happen? We were careful."

"Well protection doesn't always work I guess."

"Are you sure it's mine?"

"How dare you? Of course it's yours. Who's would it be?" She said taking an indignant tone.

"Hey, I'm just asking. The timing is incredible, I plan to break up with you and suddenly you are pregnant." He said just as defiantly, reaching for a towel and stepping out of the shower.

"Well I'm sorry that this doesn't fit your little scenario of reconnecting with an old girlfriend."

"What do you mean it doesn't fit?"

"Well are you just going to leave me with this problem all by myself?"

"No, I will support the baby but that doesn't mean I need to marry you Liz. I don't love you like that and you know it." He said stepping towards her, the towel draped around his waist. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "You deserve someone who loves you."

"You are such an asshole," she said turning and walking away. He could hear her start to cry as she shut the door behind her.

He watched her walk to her car and sit there for a moment. He thought she was collecting herself before she drove away, he did not realize she was thinking about the problem at hand.

"How did he know?" She said out loud. Liz was not sure if the baby was his. She had not really advertised that she had seen someone else to Ezra but she needed more attention than he could give. She did not know what she was going to do because Ezra was going to want a paternity test and if the baby was not his he would be gone forever. She thought he would react differently to the news, but now she did not know what she was going to do.

No he did not handle it well. He was shocked by the whole situation. He also did not believe it was true and as much as he liked Liz he would not put this past her. What the hell was he going to do with a kid? He just did not understand it. They had always been careful. It was not something that Ezra screwed around with. Especially since no one he was ever with compared to Aria, he did not want to get stuck with the wrong person just because he could not keep it in his pants.

"What the hell and I going to do?" He said picking up his phone. Thank god Hardy had been on speed dial lately because the really needed some advice now.

"What's the problem now?" Hardy said without saying hello.

"She's pregnant."

"Who is? Aria?"

"No, Liz is."

"You're kidding me. What are you going to do man?"

"I don't know. She's pissed at me. I asked if it was mine."

"Oh no, why did you do that?"

"She walked in while I was in the shower. I was practicing my break up speech and she overheard me. Once she knew that, suddenly she was pregnant."

"It's a little fishy but you need to give her the benefit of the doubt."

"I guess so. Hey want to hear something funny?"

"Funnier than you becoming a dad, sure why not?"

"I was thinking of hoping on a plane Friday and flying to Philly. I'm going to surprise Aria and just show up on her door step."

"That is pretty crazy but I think it might be good for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah get out of here and clear your head. Talk to her, get on the same page and then handle the Liz thing."

"Thanks man. I think I'm going to do it."

"Good. Let me know how it works for you."

"I will. Thanks for listening again today."

"Any time, but hey I need to get a life so I can start bugging you."

"I'm always around," Ezra said as he hung up. He was going to book an airline ticket. He needed to see Aria. He needed to make sure he was doing the right thing.

He found a flight to Philly via Kansas City on Friday. He booked it. He was going to see Aria. A smile grew on his face. In light of everything that happened, he should not be this happy. Maybe he was still in denial but he definitely did not think he was going to be a dad. So while he was in denial, he was going to continue to be happy and keep looking forward to seeing Aria. He sent Aria a text message.

I could use a hug.

"You guys need to see this," Aria squealed.

"He is so cute," Hanna said.

"This is really going in the right direction." Spencer added.

"Answer him back," Hanna said.

"Ok I will. Jeez, what do I say?" Aria asked.

"Think of something cute." Spencer said.

The next time I see you, I'll give you a big hug.

"Perfect," Spencer and Hanna said together.

"God, Friday can't come soon enough!" Aria yelled into the air.

They all laughed because it was true. The sooner Aria actually got to visit with Ezra, see what was really happening between them, the sooner she could move on with her life. Six more days and she would know what her future held.

Ezra smiled when he saw the incoming message. Little did Aria know she would be seeing him sooner than she thought. He responded to her message.

I'll hold you to that.