A/N: I hope everyone had a good weekend! Over my weekend, I got to thinking, and I finally know where I'm going with this story. Let's just say, this chapter and the next kind of serve as fillers, and the chapters after that is where things start to pick up. I've been working for a couple days on two future chapters, and if things go as planned, they should be up this week. I'm hoping. No promises, though, it depends on if I'm satisfied with how they're written.

I just wanted to say, in warning, the next couple chapters might not be as long as the last couple ones are. We'll see how it goes. And if it kind of seems like this chapter dragged along, that's because I got a mild case of writer's block trying to write this, but I think it turned out okay. I'm not impressed, but it'll do. I tried, at least. It'll get better, I promise. Haha.

Once again, thank you so much for your kind reviews, I really appreciate them. Please keep reviewing and letting me know what you think, it really means a lot to me and helps me improve. :)

- J

Disclaimer: Yeah, I still don't own anything.

Chapter Four- "Crossed Signals"

One week. It had been exactly one week since Aria's disastrous meeting with Ezra. In that week, they had had little correspondence between each other, just a message sent by Ezra thanking her for meeting with him and that he was sorry that everything was so awkward and complicated between them, and he hoped that they could still be friends. Aria responded back the next day saying that she was sorry, also, and that of course they could still be friends. How hard could it be?

And yet, it had been six days since she sent that message, and she hadn't heard a single thing from him. Ever since he came back into her life, she couldn't stop thinking about him. It was pathetic, for 8 years, she hadn't had any contact with him, and she was fine. She didn't waste any minutes thinking about him, she didn't wonder where he was, and she didn't care.

Actually, that was a lie. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she thought about him every single day, wondering where he was, wondering who he was with, wondering what he was doing at that moment. Not that she let anyone know about that- as far as anyone close to her was concerned, Ezra Fitz was nothing more than a teacher that had left her class halfway through the year to go teach at Hollis. Not even her friends knew that she still thought about him.

Why did she ever let him back into her life? She knew from the moment she got that message from him that it was going to be bad news. But no, she fought against her better judgment and met up with him, calming her conscience by telling herself that she had no expectations, that this was nothing more than just a meeting with an old friend for coffee.

Except that it was so much more than that. In agreeing to meet Ezra for coffee, she was opening up old wounds, making herself vulnerable to falling in love with him again. Of course, it wasn't as if she had ever stopped, anyway. But, once again, that was besides the point. She knew that by meeting him, she was opening herself up to the disaster that would, for sure, come. And yet, she was completely willing to.

"Aria, you better be out of bed and getting ready right now, our train for Rosewood leaves in an hour and we need to be at Penn Station in 30 minutes! Hurry up!" Spencer yelled from the living room.

Aria groaned. She, of course, had been fully dressed and ready for the last hour, but she was still in her room, stalking her Facebook page, hoping for some sort of message from Ezra. And as she refreshed the page, for what seemed to be the thousandth time, she knew none would come. She shut down her laptop and placed it in her bag.

Getting up from her desk, she took one last look at the picture of her and Ezra and scoffed. "Yeah, so much for no expectations," she muttered to herself. Shaking her head, she rolled her suitcase behind her and closed the door to her bedroom.

As she walked to the living room, she saw Spencer lazily lounging on the couch, her suitcase and bag already waiting beside the front door. Emily and Hanna were nowhere to be found. Aria rolled her suitcase over to the door and placed her bag down beside Spencer's before sitting down on the loveseat. "Where's Emily and Hanna?"

Spencer laughed, "Still asleep, our train doesn't actually leave for another two hours." Aria narrowed her eyes at Spencer, who held her hands up in protest. "Hey, I was just thinking that we could go out for coffee while they got ready. You never did tell me what happened between you and Mr. Fitz on your date last week," she said, taunting Aria.

"There's nothing to tell. Ezra and I met up for coffee, NOT a date, we talked for a few minutes. It was awkward, we were both uncomfortable, so I suggested we just try it again another time," Aria replied nonchalantly, trying her best to mask her disappointment.

Spencer eyed Aria skeptically, "Aria, I know you better than that. What really happened?"

Aria sighed, and gave in. It was getting difficult for her to hold in all of these thoughts in her head. "Okay, fine. Look, let's go for coffee and I'll explain everything then."

Spencer smiled and grabbed her bag. She stood up and waited for Aria to lead the way. Aria scribbled a quick note to Hanna and Emily telling them that they went out to pick up some coffee and would be back soon before walking out of their apartment and locking the door.

"Stairs or elevator?" Aria asked Spencer.

"Stairs, the elevator never works for me."

"It must hate you, it worked for me a couple times last week," Aria said with a laugh.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Hurry up, lets go before they wake up and decide to come with us. You'll never be able to tell me what happened then."

Aria agreed, and the two made their way down the stairs. When they reached the lobby, they had made it just in time to see a cute guy wearing jeans and a Hollis sweatshirt walk through the double doors. Aria grabbed Spencer's arm, who had kept walking, oblivious to what Aria had just seen.

"Ow! Aria, what are you doing?" Spencer yelled as Aria pulled her around the corner to hide.

"Shh! Look over there at the guy who is walking towards the elevator," she whispered, pointing at the guy.

Spencer followed Aria's gaze and smiled, watching as the guy walked into the elevator carrying a black leather messenger bag, "Oh, he is cute. And he obviously lives in this building, too." She watched as Aria's eyes grew wider. "Why? What's wrong?"

Aria's voice came out as a whisper, "He's wearing a Hollis sweatshirt."

"Who? That guy? No way!" Spencer asked, surprised that someone here in New York would be wearing a sweatshirt from the college in their town. "Who do you think it was?"

There was no denying it. "That was Ezra."

Ezra had spent the last week stressed and worked to the max. On Monday, as soon as he stepped foot into the school, the principal ushered him into his office and surprised him with the task of supervising an three-night field trip to Washington D.C.- that would begin on Wednesday. Needless to say, Ezra was less than excited to have to not only design a lesson plan for his sub to use on Wednesday, Thursday AND Friday, but actually find a sub on such short notice.

He decided that instead of coming up with a complicated, full blown lesson plan for his sub to follow, which would mean having to print out worksheets, type up directions, and make sure his students brought the necessary items needed to complete the assignments, he decided that his students would spend two days rewriting the essays they wrote analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, and on Friday, they would take a pop quiz. Of course he wouldn't actually grade it or put it into their grades, it was just for show. But they didn't have to know that.

The downside, to using this plan, however, was that that would mean having to actually grade all 62 essays in two nights, he taught a staggering three periods of AP English, but in comparison to making lesson plans, this was the better way to go.

By Wednesday, he decided that, after spending two full nights preparing everything, this was not the smartest decision. But, he survived. Arriving at school the next day with a small messenger bag that contained a change of clothes, a book and his laptop, he was actually looking forward to a few days away from the school.

By the time he arrived back in New York City on Saturday morning, he was exhausted. After getting dropped off by the bus at the school, he quickly hailed a cab, desperate to get back home and have a nice nap- that would, preferably, last until he had to go back to work on Monday morning.

All that changed once he actually made it to his building. Hastily walking through the lobby, he pushed the up button on the elevator, mentally willing it to open. He was not in the mood to actually walk up four flights of stairs today. The elevator doors opened and he practically ran in, incessantly pushing the number 4, wishing that it would move faster so that he could get into his apartment, drop down on his bed, and sleep forever.

Ezra could hardly contain his excitement when the doors opened to his floor and he had finally made it to his apartment. Pushing the key into the lock and turning it, he listened with satisfaction as he heard the lock click and the door creak open. He was finally home.

Suddenly he didn't feel so tired, all he wanted to do was sit on his couch with a pillow and blanket, a bowl of popcorn, an old movie, and his laptop. After spending three nights in a 5-star hotel with overpriced food that charged a ridiculously large price for internet access, he couldn't wait to finally check all of his favorite websites. The lack of internet access made him feel incredibly cut off from the world, and it made him realize how much he relied on it. He made a mental note to try and cut back on his internet usage, although he knew it would probably never happen.

The first thing he did, after changing into his pajamas, turning on the TV to The Way We Were, popping popcorn, and settling into his couch, of course, was turn on his laptop and log onto Facebook. This was the first time he had logged on ever since he sent Aria that message after their tense meeting last week, and he couldn't help but be pleased that there was a message from her waiting for him.

Aria Montgomery

I'm sorry, also, that our meeting was so awkward. It wasn't all your fault, I'll admit, I'm partly to blame, too. I think it was because we decided to see each other so soon. I'd really like to try be friends again, but I think it might take some time getting used to each other again. I say we just take it day by day and see how everything goes.

Ezra could live with that. As long as it meant that they still had a chance to be together, he was fine with whatever her decision was. If she wanted to take it slow, take it day by day, start off as friends, he didn't mind. He didn't blame her if she wanted to move into things with him with caution, he needed to earn back her trust, and he was willing to do whatever it took to do it.

Ezra Fitz

I completely agree. Whatever you think is best, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get us back to normal. Back to the way we were. I miss hanging out with you in my apartment eating Chinese take-out and talking. If taking things day by day means that we can eventually get back to that, then I'm all for it.

By the way, I'm sorry for sending this message so late, I was coerced into chaperoning this school field trip to D.C. and I just got home now.

It wasn't long after he sent his reply that he fell into a deep sleep, not to wake up until the morning after.

Instead of going out for coffee, Aria and Spencer ran back up to their apartment. It was decided, Aria needed to tell Hanna and Emily, just in case they ever saw him in the building and freaked out.

Walking into the apartment, Spencer yelled for Hanna and Emily. A few seconds later, Emily came walking down their stairs still dressed in her pajamas, obviously just woken up, and Hanna joined a minute later, drying her hair with a towel.

"I thought you guys were going out for coffee, where is it?" Hanna asked, looking around the kitchen.

"Let's just say we didn't make it past the lobby," Spencer said cautiously.

"Why? What happened?" Emily asked with a yawn as she laid down on the couch.

Hanna pushed Emily's feet out of the way and sat down on the other side of the couch, while Spencer sat on the loveseat, and Aria stayed standing. "Look, I haven't been completely honest with you guys. Well, technically I have, but you were just too drunk to understand."

"Go on," Hanna said, curious to hear what Aria's news was.

"Um, I went out on a coffee 'date', and when I say 'date', I use that term very loosely. Last week. With Ezra."

Emily and Hanna's mouths dropped open as they heard the name of their ex-English teacher escape from Aria's mouth.

"You did? How? He came to visit? How'd he know you were here? Is he still cute?" The barrage of questions came at lightning speed from Emily and Hanna's mouth. Aria held up a hand to stop them.

"Calm down. I'll explain everything," she said, sitting down next to Spencer. "Last week, I got a friend request from him out of the blue. I added him, and when I looked at his profile, I saw that he was living here in New York City, also. As soon as I added him, he sent me a message asking me if I wanted to meet up for coffee. I met him, it was totally awkward, we left about 15 minutes. He sent me a message asking if we could be friends, I replied saying of course we could, and I haven't heard anything from him since." The entire story came out in a rush, Aria not really stopping once for a breath.

"You're kidding, right?" Emily asked.

"Far from it," Aria said. "And, that's not even the best part," she said, pausing for effect. She watched as Emily and Hanna involuntarily leaned forward. "When we were going downstairs to pick up coffee, we saw him in the lobby. Walking into the elevator. He lives in this building!"

"No freakin' way!" Hanna exclaimed.

"Yeah, totally crazy, right? I mean, he was telling me that he's been living in this city for 7 years, what if he's been our neighbor this entire time? For God's sake, we've been going to the same coffee shop and never even noticed!"

"Maybe it wasn't him, maybe it was just a guy you thought was Mr. Fitz," Emily rationalized.

Aria shook her head, "No, it definitely had to be him. What other guy is his height, has curly dark brown hair, blue eyes, and wears a Hollis sweatshirt? It's him, I'm positive."

"Well, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to tell him?" Emily asked.

Aria dropped her head into her hands, "Ugh, I don't know. I thought things were complicated back in Rosewood, but it seems like it's much worse out here! I need to get away. I need these four days in Rosewood to think and get away from the city," she muttered.

"Which is why you two," Spencer said, pointing at Emily and Hanna, "need to get a move on getting dressed. We need to be out of here in 30 minutes."

Hanna and Emily nodded and went off to finish getting ready while Aria fiddled with the coffee machine. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"I mean, you can't just hide from him the entire time. What happens if you see him in the hall? Or in the lobby? Or if you got stuck with him in the elevator?"

"I don't know, Spence. I really don't know what to do," Aria said, placing the carafe on the counter beside her as she leaned against it.

"Well think of it this way, at least you'll have the four days in Rosewood to think about it."

Aria smiled, "Just what I needed."

Ezra woke up from his sleep to find popcorn strewn on the floor, along with his laptop and pillow, and a bad infomercial on the TV. Sitting up, he rubbed his stiff neck, wondering how he had falling asleep and how long he was out for. Picking up his pillow and laptop and placing it on the couch, he turned on the lamp beside him and walked into the kitchen.

3:41 AM. Damn, had he really slept the entire day? It was unbelievable how he had wasted so much time asleep when he could've been doing more worthwhile, like grading papers, or doing laundry, or- who was he kidding? He was glad to finally have been able to have an entire day where he did absolutely nothing.

He opened his fridge and took out a container of chow mein and popped it into the microwave, setting it for two minutes. He leaned against his counter. Ezra had learned from a very young age that deep sleep was a very dangerous thing for him, only because it always meant that when he woke up, he was refreshed, meant his mind was clear enough to wander. And whenever his mind wandered, it never ended well.

For the entire minute, his mind raced all over the place. How long exactly have I been asleep for? What did I dream about? I wonder how I fell asleep in the first place. Is my laptop broken? Even though it fell on the floor, it still works, right? I wonder what's going on on Facebook. Did Aria reply? The beeping of his microwave shook him from his thoughts, pulling him back into the real world.

Ezra pulled out the chow mein from the microwave and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. Making his way back to the couch, he turned on all the lights and placed his food on the table in front of him before pulling his laptop onto his lap.

Of course, he was still logged on. He refreshed the page, and, curiously, found that there was no reply from Aria. He found that strange because, usually, whenever he sent her a message, she replied back within at least an hour. It was one of her traits that endlessly amused him.

He blew it off, figuring she was busy and hadn't had time to check her messages. It wasn't as if he was expecting her to reply right away, he knew she had other things to tend to. And yet, he couldn't escape that nagging feeling in the back of his mind, telling him that she was angry with him.

It wasn't long after he finished eating and changed the channel that he found himself asleep again, whisked away with dreams of discovering that the girl he saw in the lobby really was Aria, and that she had been living in the same building as him, in the apartment right under him, all this time. It was a strange dream, but he couldn't help it, he felt oddly comforted by it. Maybe because he knew that it would never happen.

By the time Aria, Emily, Spencer and Hanna made it into Rosewood, it was already past 5. The train had been set to leave at 11, however, due to some random mishaps, the train didn't actually leave the station until 3. The train ride was relatively smooth, save for some mix-up with the girls being served vegetarian meals, since Hanna had accidentally clicked on that option when booking the tickets. When they arrived at the station, they were picked up by Ella, who drove them the two hours to Rosewood.

Needless to say, by the time Aria got into her own room, the girls had separated for the night and would meet up again tomorrow morning to prepare for the unveiling of Hanna's boutique, and plopped onto the bed, she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was read some mindless gossip on the internet and check out what was new on Facebook. However, when she tried to connect to the internet, she found that she couldn't.

"Mom? What's wrong with the internet connection?" Aria called down to her mother downstairs.

"Sorry honey, the internet's down this week. Something about a bad connection downtown that they need to fix. They turned off everyone's connection in this town until next Saturday."

Aria rubbed her cheek. Great, no internet this entire time she would be here? That was depressing. How was she supposed to keep up on current events now?

She closed up her laptop and leaned back onto her bed. She said wanted to be cut off from the city, and she got exactly what she wanted. However, she didn't expect that it would come at the expense of a very anxious Ezra, sitting in New York, waiting to hear back from her to calm his mind and assure him that, no, she was not angry with him.