August 7th, 2013

Aria's eyes fluttered open to see Ezra gazing at her.

"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered, smiling and tucking a piece of her hair gently behind her ear before letting his hand rest on her neck.

Aria groaned softly and smiled back, "Morning."

She brought her hand up and set it on top of Ezra's, rubbing her thumb across the back of his palm before lifting it from her neck. She sat up and bent her head down to give him a light kiss on his forehead then she stood up and walked towards the kitchen. Aria shivered as the cold air wrapped around her legs and she suddenly wished Ezra's shirt went farther than just above her mid thigh. Ezra watched as she dragged her feet and yawned. He chuckled to himself when he heard her curse under her breath from nearly walking into the counter. She quickly prepared coffee for the two of them and turned the machine on before walking back towards Ezra. She dressed into a fresh pair of jeans and a loose gold printed tank top before moving to the bed.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked as she crawled back into bed beside him.

He hadn't even noticed the grin across his face as he stared up at the ceiling, "I don't know," he answered, but he did know, he was thinking about her. He turned to face her, "When do you get off work today?"

"My shift ends at one."

He nodded as if he were contemplating something, "I'll come by then and we can go do something?"

She nodded and smiled, "Sure. What are you gonna do until then?"

Ezra shrugged, "Probably read or something."

"Doesn't that editing job you got start up soon?" she asked as the coffee maker began to beep. She got up and walked back to the kitchen, this time Ezra following her as he pulled a pair of pajama pants over his boxers.

He licked his lips nervously as she got two mugs out of the cabinet, "Yeah about that... It was pushed back for a couple months. I won't be starting until January of next year," he replied cautiously. Truthfully Ezra had forgotten all about the job since he had never really taken it in the first place. He wasn't in the position to be committing to anything, but he didn't need Aria knowing that.

"Ezra..." Aria began as she poured their coffee.

He rolled his eyes as he made his way to the fridge, "What?" he asked, taking out the half and half and setting it on the counter.

Aria put her mug down and stepped towards him, "Ezra, Hardy was right. What are you going to do here? You need a job."

"I'm fine," Ezra insisted, "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, but I'm allowed to be worried about you," Aria said.

"There's nothing to worry about. I'll start work in January."

"What are you going to do for five months? I'll be starting school which means I can't work as much and what will you be doing? Sitting around waiting for me to get home?"

I probably won't be doing anything, Ezra thought morbidly to himself before shaking it out of his mind, "Aria, what is this really about? Are you worried about money?"

"No," she said quickly, shaking her head, "I just don't want you to be hanging here by yourself all the time, okay?"

"Okay, I-"

"I'm gonna be late. I'll see you at one," Aria snapped as she grabbed her phone and wallet, pulled on her sandals, and made her way hastily to the door.

"Love-" the door shut as Ezra finished his sentence, "you..."

He looked into her untouched mug of coffee before glancing at the clock. 8:15. It was a five minute walk and she didn't start work until nine. Ezra sighed as he dumped the contents of her mug into the sink and finished fixing his own cup. He made himself comfortable on the couch as he sipped on his coffee, looking proudly at the apartment he and Aria shared. Everything was now unpacked and it was starting to truly feel like home. Their home. The thought was enough to make Ezra smile again and he leaned his head against the back of the couch, closing his eyes and letting his sudden exhaustion take over.

Ezra's eyes shot open as he realized he had fallen asleep. The coffee in the mug he was still holding jumped over the side when he twitched and landed on his thigh, thankfully it was now room temperature. Ezra mumbled a few curses under his breath at the stain that would probably end up on his pants as he set the mug on the table in front of him and looked at his phone. 1:15 - one missed call from Aria.

"Fuck!" he muttered as he got up and began dialing Aria. After the way she left in the morning he didn't want to give her any more reasons to be upset.

"Ezra?"

"Aria, I'm so sorry! I fell asleep, I didn't mean to. I'm coming right now-"

"Ezra, relax. I called earlier to let you know I wouldn't be done until 1:30 today."

Ezra let out a big sigh of relief, "Okay, good..."

Aria laughed, "Okay I have to get back to work. See you in fifteen minutes, don't go back to sleep," she teased before hanging up.

Ezra still felt guilty. What if she didn't have to work late that day? He couldn't remember ever being this tired before. It was getting worse like the doctor said it would, but now his drowsiness was potentially threatening his relationship with Aria. He knew he should tell her the truth, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He wanted his last moments with Aria to be real. He didn't want the last possible months of them together to skip through the passion that made their relationship so irresistible in the first place. He didn't want her to be careful around him. He needed her to pull roughly on his hair even though it hurt. He needer her to yell at him when she felt like she had to. He needed everything; the screams, the kisses, the silence, the sex, the tears, the laughs, the anger, the happiness... all of it. It was the combination of everything that made them so right for each other.

Ezra quickly changed out of his pajama pants into a pair of jeans and pulled a dark grey t-shirt over his head before nearly running out of the door. He came to the small coffee shop where Aria worked at exactly 1:30 and stepped inside. She was just taking off the blue apron she wore for her uniform as she saw him enter. She hung the apron up behind the counter and said goodbye to her boss and a fellow co-worker as she made her way to Ezra. She greeted him with a smile and a chaste kiss on the lips before grabbing his hand and lacing his fingers through her own.

"I'm sorry about this morning," she said as he held the door open for her and allowed her to walk outside.

"Aria, it's alright," he assured her, waving his hand.

"No, it's not. You were right. I am worried," she said as they walked through the warm, end-of-summer air together.

Ezra nodded in understanding, "It's going to be okay, Aria. We're going to be fine."

"I know, I know. It's just scary, you know? I mean maybe not for you but, this is the first time I've ever been on my own. It's the first time I'm really taking care of myself and I just... I want everything to go perfectly," Aria said softly, staring at the ground as it moved beneath her feet.

"Hey," Ezra stopped on the edge of the sidewalk and lifted her chin up with his free hand, "I'm scared too. Do you know what your dad would do to me if anything happened while you were here with me?" Ezra asked with a playful grin.

Aria giggled softly, "Ezra..."

"I'm kidding," he said with another grin, "But I'm still scared," he added with a much more serious tone.

"Of what? You've done this before. You've been to college and even worse you were by yourself. At least I have you. You've done this 'adult responsibilities' thing before."

"Aria, anyone who has me to deal with along with going to college has it a lot worse than being on their own," he joked again, bringing a smile out of Aria, "Yeah I've been to college before but it's different this time. Try moving across the country with your girlfriend who will now be surrounded by thousands of younger, better-looking guys every day."

Aria giggled again at his comment, "Ezra, I'm trying to be serious."

"Okay, I'm sorry. But it is scary for me too, Aria. This is the farthest I've been from home and everything is finally coming together for us. I want it to be perfect too," he admitted and pressed his lips gently against her forehead, "You haven't eaten yet, have you?" he asked, changing the subject. Understandably so, the future was a rather sore topic of discussion for him.

Aria shook her head in response.

"Well then let's get some food. I'm starving," he said as he began walking again.

On their way to a nearby deli Aria began to laugh quietly.

"What's so funny?" Ezra asked as he glanced over to his girlfriend who was chuckling to herself.

"Nothing, I was just thinking... I know it was like this whenever we went to Philly but here it's so different. I guess in Philly we knew we'd always have to go back to Rosewood but now, it can just stay like this."

Ezra lowered his brow, "What are you talking about?"

Aria smiled again, this time looking up to meet Ezra's questioning look, "No stares," she said.

He was confused for a moment longer before finally catching on to what she was saying. People on the street didn't stare as they walked by hand in hand. To everyone else they were just an average couple on their way to enjoy a nice lunch. She was right about how it was different. Sure they had those precious moments away from Rosewood where they could go out without being questioned but even then there was always the reminder that eventually they would have to return to all of the whispers. As they walked down the street now they were no longer tied to the place they once knew as home. There was nothing looming over their heads telling them that the judgement-free time they had was limited. That time was now endless, or somewhat endless. Ezra didn't have the luxury of dreaming that big but Aria, Aria felt infinite.

"I'll get a table outside for us," Aria said as they stepped inside of the small deli.

"You want the caesar wrap, right?" Ezra asked, although it wasn't much of a question. She always ordered that.

This time however, she shook her head slightly, "No, get me the veggie sandwich," she corrected before releasing his hand.

Ezra scratched the back of his neck; she always got the caesar wrap, "I thought-"

"Lucas says it's to die for," she said with a shrug.

Ezra nodded, "And Lucas is...?"

"My co-worker, silly. I've told you about him before," she said before wandering off to find them a table.

Ezra scrunched his face at what she said. He could swear he'd never heard her say the name Lucas anytime she talked about work. That was another side effect of his condition, memory loss. It wasn't anything serious but just like the headaches and the exhaustion it came and went as it pleased.

"Next!" the cashier called out.

Ezra stepped forward, "One veggie sandwich and a chicken caesar salad, please."

"Jalapeños on the sandwich, sir?"

"Yes please," he said almost in pain. He never understood how Aria liked those things, "And two waters."

"That'll be $15.43," the cashier said as Ezra handed him a $20, "Here's your change and your water. We'll bring your order out to your table once it's ready. Thank you."

"Thanks," Ezra said politely before stuffing the change back into his wallet and taking the water glasses in his hands.

He set the water cups down on the table before sitting down across from Aria, "So, how was work?" he asked.

She gulped down some water before speaking, "Nothing special. I had to stay late because they were down a worker and it gets pretty busy at that time."

"Any chance you can bring those barista skills into our apartment? As much as I adore cheap and shitty coffee..." Ezra trailed off.

Aria laughed and leaned against the back of her chair, "Yeah, as long as you don't mind a giant, industrial-sized coffee maker taking up half of our kitchen."

Ezra grinned and leaned over the table, "Maybe I'll just head over to your work and get the employee discount."

She leaned across to meet him and pecked him on the lips before being separated by the waiter holding their meals.

"Here's the salad," he said, placing the plate in front of Ezra, "And here's the veggie sandwich," he said as he placed the second plate in front of Aria. "Enjoy."

Aria smiled at him and turned back to Ezra as the waiter walked away. He was already digging into his salad and she was unaware that he had slept through both breakfast and lunch. She picked up her sandwich and brought it to her mouth, taking a small moment to inhale the delicious scent before biting down. Just as she was about to close her mouth and take a bite she caught of whiff of something familiar. She gasped quietly and dropped the half sandwich she was holding back onto the plate before she began lifting up the bread and examining the contents inside.

"Ezra? Are there jalapeños in this?" she asked sounding worried.

"Yeah..." Ezra said hesitantly, "You always get them in your sandwiches," he replied.

"Yeah, until almost a year ago when I became deathly allergic!" she said in disbelief.

Ezra's jaw dropped slightly and he let an inaudible gasp fall from his lips. How could he forget? He had been there when she first discovered the newly formed allergy. How could he have possibly not remembered that? Ezra snapped himself out of his own head and focused on Aria.

"I'm so sorry, I-I must have forgotten or something. I don't know why I did that, I-I'm sorry," Ezra muttered, growing increasingly more flustered. He grabbed the plate in front of Aria and brought it inside and when he returned his face was shockingly pale and he was cursing to himself under his breath. "They're bringing out a new one, I'm so sorry babe," he apologized again as he sat down, his fingers tapping nervously on the table.

Aria watched her boyfriend with curiosity. She wondered why he was acting so strange about something as stupid as forgetting she was allergic to jalapeños. Maybe not stupid, considering her life was potentially threatened but still it was such a small detail yet Ezra seemed to act as if it was the end of the world. She reached above the table with both of her hands and set them on top of his.

"Relax, Ezra. Really, it's nothing."

"You could have died! I'm such an idiot," he mumbled to himself.

Aria tried to comfort him but didn't know how. Maybe if she knew the real reason why Ezra hadn't been able to remember she would be able to understand why he was so worried about it.

"Here, sorry for the confusion," the waiter said as he placed the new sandwich in front of Aria and quickly walked away.

Ezra's eyes stayed locked on the table and Aria reached her hand over and cupped Ezra's cheek, forcing him to look her in the eyes, "Stop doing that."

"Doing what?" he asked, staring into her beautiful eyes that seemed to make all the horrible things he was feeling disappear into the air.

"Beating yourself up about this. It's no big deal. I'm not hurt. Just forget about it, Ezra," she said softly before removing her hand from his face and beginning to eat the food in front of her.

She broke eye contact but her words continued to ring through his head as he stabbed his fork numerous times into his salad. 'Just forget about it, Ezra.' He may not have a choice. He looked up when he heard a soft moan come from Aria's throat. He raised his eyebrows at her and she giggled when she met his eyes.

"Lucas was right, this is really good," she said, hinting towards the sandwich.

"As long as it doesn't replace me," he teased at the noise she made earlier.

"If you keep that up it just might," she teased back with a smirk.

Ezra shook his head and chuckled as he continued poking at the small pieces of lettuce left on his plate, wondering just how lucky he was to have walked into Snookers Bar that fateful day.


A/N

sorry i know this chapter is a little rough but thank you again for being patient with me guys! I appreciate all of the reviews you guys leave me and you should all especially thank the last two guests because without their push i dont know when this chapter would have finally made its way out. again the reviews help me out so much and it means a lot to me that you'd take the time to write them, you guys are awesome! ily

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