I'm sorry it took me so long to update, I was working on a future chapter which I found quite difficult to write. And I'm sorry this chapter is short again, I honestly am trying hard to make them longer but hopefully I'll update soon.

Thank you for all of your reviews and MoustacheRain I don't mind at all, thank you so much for tweeting this story! I really appreciate it.


Ezra woke up feeling numb. It was a feeling he'd become pretty used too. He forced himself to get out of bed. He was going through the motions but he felt empty and had gotten to the point where he didn't feel like trying. He braced himself for another tough day in the hospital. Ezra knew that he needed help but hated being in the psych ward all the same. But at least he now had a friend in Aria. She was the only thing that made him feel good at the moment, the only thing that kept him going.

Aria woke up to the voices in her head. She tried to ignore them but it was hard. She felt so frustrated at having to fight everyday but she knew it's what she had to do. They seemed to be getting worse again though. The commanding hallucinations were back and they seemed to be more frequent and more like they were before she got into the hospital. She decided not to tell her psychiatrist yet though. If they got much worse she would but she really wanted to get out of the psych ward and she knew they wouldn't let her out if they knew things were getting worse.

The day was filled with lessons and a session with each of Ezra and Aria's psychiatrists. Later they had animal therapy which was where the local animal shelter brought in some cats and dogs for the patients to pet. It was one of the only things Aria liked about being in the hospital; she didn't have any pets at home but being around the animals made her feel a lot better and more relaxed. When she was really ill being around the animals was one of the only things that brought her back into this world.

Then there was dinner and Ezra and Aria sat together and chatted. The learned that they had a lot in common and they got on really well. Ezra thought that Aria was great though he couldn't help notice that something was a bit off with her that day. She kept getting words muddled up; stiffened any time anyone got near her and seemed to go off into a daydream at times. But he pushed his worries aside and tried to enjoy the time he had with this amazing girl.

Aria knew that she was struggling but tried her best to act as normally as possible and have a good time with Ezra. She was really glad that she finally had a friend and she didn't want to ruin that.

They spent their time after dinner in the common room and joked about awful books they had read and films they had seen.

"So how long have you been here?" Ezra asked

"42 days now, a month and a half"

"Wow that's quite a long time"

"Yeah I know but I'm a lot better now than I was when I first got here" Aria said softly "And I'm sure you won't be here for that long"

"Thanks" Ezra said "And I'm glad you're getting better"

After sitting in silence for a few seconds Ezra summoned up the courage to ask "What's it like? What's it like to have schizophrenia?"

Aria looked at him sadly "It's different for everyone but for me I hear voices in my head. They're quite scary; sometimes they just say mean stuff and sometimes they tell me to do stuff. And apparently I get delusional but I never really know when I am. Sometimes it's like I live in a completely different world to everyone else. It can feel really overwhelming like you just want to scream. It's really horrible" She said tears entering her hazel eyes

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to upset you" Ezra said and put his hand on her arm comfortingly

"It's ok, I'm sorry to cry" Aria said embarrassed "Erm I'd better go, I'll see you tomorrow"

Aria walked quickly back to her room, shut the door behind her and sighed, trying to hold back the tears. She was sure that Ezra thought she was crazy now, anytime she tried to explain her illness to someone before they always thought she was some sort of psycho.