AN: Sometimes, I'm not sure if I should continue this story, because I'm not sure how many of you actually like it. But I'll continue anyway, because I can.

Disclaimer: PLL isn't mine.

CHAPTER FOUR

After the text from A, Aria couldn't get back to sleep. She was shaken, and with good reason. A was capable of almost anything, but Aria always thought A would draw the line somewhere.

But to threaten her and Ezra with something like this… It was awful. A child's life could be ruined by A. Aria looked over at Ezra. He was snoozing so peacefully, a smile on his face. He'd giggled once or twice, and said her name.

Aria wasn't sure what the worst part was. Since they had used protection, two forms even, they hadn't been as careful as they usually were. Aria was entirely sure that A wasn't bluffing.

Sighing, she looked at the clock. It was almost 2 AM. She lay back down, trying to get some sleep. Her movement shook the bed, and Ezra turned over, opening his eyes slowly.

"Aria, why are you still awake?" He murmured.

She hesitating, trying to decide what exactly she could say to him. "I had a nightmare… About A."

He reached out and held her, "Aria, Mona can't hurt you. She is locked away. You're safe."

"Ezra, I dreamt she sabotaged our condoms; I know she's locked away, but I'm still scared of her… The things she did to us, all because of Ali. Because we didn't stop Ali from bullying her. What if she did really sabotage our birth control, huh? You didn't exactly pull out."

He looked at her for a moment, before speaking in a measured voice, "Aria, if she really had sabotaged our birth control, and you did get pregnant, then that's that. I would stand by you, no matter what. You and I … we can handle anything, together. I promise you, I will never leave you again." He paused, kissing her briefly. "Now, just lay back down and try to get some sleep. You told the girls you'd be there tomorrow."

"Will you hold me?" Aria asked.

"Always."


The next morning, Aria woke up to an empty bed. She figured Ezra was probably just out getting breakfast, so she snuggled back into the covers, knowing she should probably get dressed.

Since it was Thanksgiving break, she was trying to absorb all the time she had with Ezra and the girls. So yesterday was rabies shots with Ezra, and today was mani-pedis with the girls. Pretty normal, or about as normal as her life got, with A around.

She knew she had to tell the girls, but she was hesitant. She wasn't exactly positive A did it. He/she/it may be crazy, but maybe threatening a child's life was too extreme. She decided to wait a few weeks, and take a pregnancy test if she had any symptoms.

But for now, she realized she probably should start getting ready. Ezra was taking forever to get back from running to get breakfast; she wasn't really that surprised. He probably went the Brew and she knew the lines were always long, especially since he was so polite and let everyone order before him. Even if he knew he had a starving girlfriend at home.

Home. She'd been calling the apartment that more and more, recently. It felt right. Since the dog attack, Byron had let her stay there whenever. When she was recovering from the attack, Ezra had spent almost off of his free time taking care of her. He didn't even grimace at her scars, which covered her torso and legs. But not her face. A had let her keep her face untouched. And while the bites were deep, the doctors had done a good job on the stitching, leaving her with faint scars. Ezra wasn't even disgusted by them; he hated that it happened to her, but he still told her, very earnestly, that she was beautiful, scars and all.

When Byron saw the love Ezra had for Aria, and he seemed to become more accepting, even going as far as to let Ezra stay the night on the floor next to her bed the first night she came home, because Aria looked ready to go home with Ezra, her father be damned.

Aria reluctantly dragged herself out of bed, walking over to the section of the closet where her clothes were kept. She scanned them briefly; lately all she had been wearing was sweats. She wanted to dress up today, as she usually did. She wished she could spend the day with Ezra, but she had promised the girls.

She pulled out a pretty simple outfit, by her standards. A pair of black skinny jeans, with a white shirt skulls patter across it. Not too dressed up, but better than the ratty sweats she'd been wearing.

She walked to the bathroom, her clothes in hand. Looking in the mirror, she saw that she definitely needed a shower. Her hair looked like a sassy mop after a tornado. She hopped in, letting the hot water soothe her, letting it take away her worries for the time being. Today was 1

By the time she got out, Ezra was back. He was sitting on the couch, eating a bagel, a book in his hand. She plopped down next to him, and he looked up.

"Sorry it took so long the li-," he began, but she cut him off with a kiss.

"The line was long, because you let everyone go in front of you, I already know. It's because you're too sweet." She said, picking up her cup of coffee and taking a sip. "But, I love you anyway."

For a few minutes they sat there in silence, just chewing on their food. Ezra hadn't even bothered to turn the TV on, though she knew since it was the day before Thanksgiving, there had to be some good cartoons on.

She didn't mind; these moments of silence weren't awkward. Just relaxing. Instead of turning it on and ruining the moment, she snuggled u next to him, still sipping her coffee, with a bagel in one hand. She peeked over at the book in his hands, trying to see what he was reading.

He noticed and couldn't help but smile. He shut the book over his thumb, letting her see the cover. It was titled, When She Woke. Aria had never heard of it, so she nudged it, asking what it was about.

"It's a modern day Scarlett Letter. Last time I saw Mrs. Welch, she pretty much shoved it in my hands and told me I had to read it. Not my usual thing, but I like it."

"Well, I'm glad. About time you read something modern," she said, then stood up, "As much as I would love to sit here and read it with you, I have to go to Hanna's. It's almost 10."

He gave a small pout, and then stood up to walk her to the door. "Well, have fun. I'll see you Friday, I guess."

"No, I thought you were coming over tomorrow," she said, looking quizzically at him.

"I know you invited me, but don't you think dinner with your parents is going to be weird? Especially with them having just gotten divorced and all." He said.

"That's why I need you there. Them insisting on celebrating as a "family" is going to be awful. Just me and Mike, with the Montgomery family, will be awkward. They love my mom, but it's still going to be weird. So I need you there, as a buffer. Take the stress of the divorce and onto our relationship."

"Aria, do you remember how our relationship began? I was your teacher… How is that better than a divorce?"

"Whatever, it'll split the awkwardness, and that's better than nothing. So I will see you tomorrow, at my house, at noon. I love you, bye." And with one last peck, she was gone.

Ezra sighed, and went back to the couch. He set his book aside and turned on the TV, hoping to find some good cartoons.


When Aria got to Hanna's, she almost gasped. She knew Hanna was the Queen of Beauty Products, but this was just overwhelming. Scattered about the living room were four mini-feet spas, as well as a variety of nail polishes and lotions. Hanna out did herself, again.

"Aria, you're finally here. Spencer just said she's going to be late… Apparently she had to do homework. I told her she should skip it, but no! She's crazy."

"Where's Emily?" Aria asked.

"She was up early and got here by 9. She went to be early, unlike someone who was busy having a sexy sleep over with Fitzy!" Hanna winked.

Aria's face fell. She felt the sudden urge to tell Hanna everything, but she didn't want to spoil the day.

Hanna noticed and wasn't going to let it go. As she turned to go back upstairs, she looked back and said, "When Spence gets here, you're telling us what happened last night. No secrets, remember?"

Aria rolled her eyes, "Fine, but not until Spence gets here."

By the time Spencer got there, it was almost 11. Hanna was furious, but she was more curious to know what was wrong with Aria. She practically pounced on her the second they all sat down for the foot spas.

"Now, spill. We want to know what happened."

Aria sighed. All she wanted to do was forget about it. Instead, she opened her messages and showed them to the girls.

Once they had all read them, and Aria saved her phone from being dropped into the spa by Hanna, who gasped so loud she swore it broke her eardrums, the incessant talking began.

"You two were having unprotected sex! Aria! That's dangerous." Of course that was Emily, looking more worried about Aria than about A.

"I can't believe A would stoop that low… First with the attack, and now with a baby." Hanna said, "This is a lot worse than me getting hit by that car."

"And don't forget, A locked Aria in a box with a dead body," Spencer said, and then continued, "Let's assume this is true. A set you up to get pregnant. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Aria sighed, snuggling deeper into her chair, "I don't even want to think about it. I just want to be a lie. Maybe A didn't really go through with it. Can we just not talk about A? He/she/it can wait. Today's about us."

Spencer, Hanna, and Emily just stared. They all knew the same truth that Aria did, that A never gave empty threats, but at the same time, Aria didn't need the excess stress. They all nodded.

"So, did you guys hear about Justin Bieber?" Hanna said, quickly diverting the attention to the most random topic she could think of.

Once they'd all grown tired of the Biebs, Hanna began to talk about Caleb, once again oversharing on their overactive sex life.

Emily rolled her eyes, and began to overshare back, about her and Paige, thinking it would shut her up.

It did the opposite, encouraging Hanna to ask more questions. When Ms. Marin finally came home, the non-stop questions stopped. And when the time to leave finally came, Aria was sad. Today had been almost perfect. Like a normal day. A had only been the center of attention for an hour.


Spencer insisted on driving her home, since Aria's car was at home. She even walked her to the door. It was obvious how worried Spencer was for her. For them all, really. She had insisted on walking Emily to her car too. Aria understood what a scare this had been for her, who was freaking out over this new A. Spencer always wanted the answers, and she panicked when she didn't have them. It was sweet, like having an annoyingly overprotective big sister bodyguard. Aria, Emily, and Hanna worried about Spencer too; but they knew Toby would never let anything hurt her. They were perfect for each other, Spencer and Toby. She giggled as she walked into her bedroom, trying to think of a couple name for them…

"Tocner.. No… Spency.. No… I got it, Spoby!" She said, and then fell onto her bed, laughing. For the next hour, she lay there, thinking of all her couple names for her friends… Paige and Emily were Paily, Hanna and Caleb were Haleb, and she and Ezra were Ezria.

It was so uncharacteristic for her to be this happy, she didn't even care about why. It was nice being normal again. When her phone went off, just seconds after her laughing fest was over, she was hesitant to grab it. She worried it was A. But on the off chance it was Ezra, she reached over and grabbed it. She was pleasantly surprised when the text was indeed from him, and smiled at what he said:

Just about to go to bed. I'll need all my strength for tomorrow. I love you, Aria. I'll see you tomorrow. Godnight. Xoxo Ezra

She replied back with a,

Good night. Don't worry, you'll get a reward for this. I love you, too. Goodnight. Xoxo, Aria

She looked over at her clock, and decided that 11:30 wasn't too early to go to bed, and snuggled down into her bed, with dreams of Ezra to keep her company.

AN: Sorry this chapter is so fluffy, but I think you'll be grateful when you see what's coming next chapter! ;) Review, and make my day!