Ezra POV

"Man, what the hell are you doing!" Hardy yelled the second after Ezra shut the door, "She's clearly way too young for you."

"I know, I know," Ezra sunk against the wall as he spoke, feeling defeated by the situation at hand, "But you saw her, Hardy. She's beautiful, and she's smart, and she's really, really mature for her age."

Ezra exhaled loudly, and thought back to the events of the night. No girl had ever made him feel this way before. Holding her in his arms just felt so right. For the millionth time Ezra found himself questioning how they could be wrong together when nothing had ever made him feel like he belongs somewhere more.

"You've got to get your head out of the clouds," Hardy patted Ezra roughly on the shoulder, "What happens when her parents find out?"

"What happens when the principal finds out?" Ezra mumbled under his breath.

"What?" Hardy screamed, "She's your student?"

Ezra hung his head. Of course Hardy would react that way. Everyone was going to react that way.

"Look, Hardy, I know this is coming as a shock to you." Ezra spoke cautiously, "But I love her, I really do. And I really need your support through this."

"Ez, you really got to get it together, man. I'll always be there for you, but I can't respect your decision to get into this."

"I think you should leave, Hardy." Ezra shot back.

Hardy stormed out of the small apartment and slammed the door behind him. Just as Ezra sank down into his couch, his phone chimed, and Ezra moaned as he reached into his pocket to grab it.

Hardy isn't the only one who will react that way once

everyone finds out what- or who- you've been doing.

- A

Ezra blinked a few times and then glanced again at the message. There was no way Hardy could have sent him a message that quickly. But it had to have been him. No one else was in the room with him. That was the only way someone would know what had happened. He laid back down on the couch, knowing he had a long week ahead of him.

Ezra sat at his desk Monday morning. Aria had been a distraction all of class. The casual glances that she through his way seemed so innocent but Ezra knew that they were dangerous. After the bell rang, Ezra stood up and said goodbye to his students as they filed out of the door. Aria stopped in front of him and waited for everyone else to exit the room. Ezra cleared his throat before shutting the door behind him.

"So. . ." Aria smiled coyly up at him, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Aria. . ." Ezra moaned, pulling away from her tempting grasp.

"What's wrong?" Aria inquired, taken aback by Ezra's sudden change of character.

"If we're going to do this, we have to be careful." Ezra stated.

"Ezra, we are careful. No one's around, it's okay." Aria protested.

"I know, I'm just worried," Ezra sighed.

"About what?" Aria inquired.

"People knowing." Ezra said. He didn't know how to tell Aria about the text messages. More than that, he wasn't sure if he wanted to. That could scare Aria into leaving him, and no matter how risky their relationship was, Ezra already knew that he couldn't live with himself if he let Aria get away.

"Ezra, what's wrong?" Aria demanded to know.

"I just don't want to hurt you, that's all." Ezra lied. It wasn't really a lie; Ezra didn't want to hurt Aria, but he wasn't exactly telling the truth either.

Aria leaned in to kiss him again, this time he didn't pull away from her. She looked into Ezra's eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm not worried about you doing that." Aria said. Ezra felt his heart jolt at her words. He wasn't the one that would hurt her. It was A, whoever A was.

"I know," Ezra sighed, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Aria chirped, and Ezra felt his heart flutter as Aria leaned in to kiss him and their lips intertwined yet again.

Ezra wrapped his arms around Aria's tiny waist and hoisted her up so she was sitting on his desk, never taking his lips off of hers the entire time. Aria slid her hands up Ezra's neck and tangled her fingers in his hair, drawing a subtle moan from his lips. No one had ever felt so right to Ezra as Aria did. He wanted to take things slow with her, afraid of messing something up and scaring her off. But at the same time his judgment was so clouded around her that he couldn't even think straight.

Every second with Aria felt like a second spent in heaven. Ezra relished in her kisses and squeezed her tightly. He gently traced the inside of her lips with his tongue, and she opened her mouth slightly to let him inside of her. Suddenly, Aria pulled back from Ezra.

"What's wrong?" Ezra asked.

"Ezra," Aria laughed, a sound that was sweet to Ezra's ears, "The bell rang."

"Oh um," Ezra mumbled, "Sorry. Do you want me to write you a note?"

"It's fine," Aria smiled, "I just have study hall. The old bat of a proctor won't even know I was gone."

"Are you sure?" Ezra asked, gently stroking Aria's cheek.

"I'm positive." Aria nodded.

"I'm sorry," Ezra said, "I just get so carried away when I'm with you."
"Ezra, stop apologizing." Aria teased in a mock-stern voice, "You've done everything perfectly."
"Sorry," Ezra murmured sheepishly, "Oh um, I mean. . ."

Aria silenced him with a quick kiss, and Ezra sighed as she pulled back from him.

"Goodbye Ezra." Aria smiled.

Ezra watched Aria gracefully walk away from him. She turned around and waved just as she opened the door, and was gone in an instant. Ezra sat down at his desk, a huge smile on his face.

Aria made him happy. There was nothing that could change that. As long as they were careful, Ezra and Aria could be happy together. Ezra wasn't going to let anyone get in between them.

A/N: Hey guys! Hope you liked this Chapter. I know that not a lot is going on but this is going to be a LONG piece so I need a lot of set up. Sorry everyone who wants Aria to be with Jason, let's just say you'll like next chapter better (wink wink) Anyways, 5 reviews and I'll post the next chapter by Friday! Thanks much :)