SO sorry it has taken me so long to update this! I've been really busy with school and my Lucian story started to consume me and I kinda forgot about this one... haha. Anyway, thanks for the reviews last chapter! (: I hope you love this chapter and don't forget to leave a review! The more I get the quicker I will update! They honestly help motivate me to write...

Previously:

"Promise me that if you ever truly fall in love with Aria that you won't tell her I put you up to pursuing a friendship with her and to fall in love with her. I know you say you are doing this for yourself, but I know you aren't. You are doing this for my sake and for Aria's because you and I both know that no one will want to be with her when they find out all of her problems. I'm just still shocked you haven't ran yet," and with that Ella walked back into the room leaving me standing there with a shocked expression on my face.

Ezra's POV

I couldn't believe Ella thought I was honestly doing this for her because I wasn't. Sure, maybe at first I was going to do this for her, but now that I looked into the situation and know what kind of a person Aria is, I want to become friends with her and be there for her every step of the way and truly fall in love with the woman she has become today. I know Aria has a dark past, but I only know what her mother has told me; the surface of every story without the full insight of the situations. I have a past that no one knows about and I'm willing to open up about it to Aria. I know she is the only one who would truly understand what I went through and I know it would help to get her to open up to me as well. For her to open up to me though, I'm going to have to do as much as I can to get her to talk.

I didn't realize I was still standing outside of Aria's room until I caught a glimpse of the door opening up again and Ella and Byron walking out. I looked up at Ella and gave her a small smile, which in return she gave a barely audible one back. I waited until they were inside the elevator until I opened up the hospital room door and made an entrance. I walked over to the chair located on the far end of the room and sat down, taking hold of Aria's hand and bringing it up to my lips to kiss softly.

"If only you know the pain you have put everyone through," I said softly. "You mean so much to everyone around you and you just don't realize it. These past few agonizing days, Aria, they have been the worst days of my life. I just wish I could see your beautiful hazel eyes again; I would do anything to see them right now in this moment," I finished.

I continued to stare down at her and gently graced her cheek with my thumb. I thought she was so beautiful in this moment and I just wished she would wake up. She didn't deserve to be in this state; she didn't deserve to do what she did to herself. Still gently caressing her cheek with my thumb, I gave her one last quick kiss to the forehead and then looked away, grabbing her hand. Suddenly I felt the slightest squeeze to my hand and I looked down, getting my wish.

"Where am I?" she asked, voice hoarse.

"Oh thank god you're awake!" I answered joyfully. I ran out into the hall and called for Aria's doctor and she approached not seconds later.

"I'm Dr. Johnson. I've been assigned to you here," she said with a small smile to Aria.

"Where am I?" Aria repeated again, this time to Dr. Johnson.

"You're in the hospital, honey. You um, you shot yourself," Dr. Johnson answered Aria.

Aria then looked over at me, tears in her eyes. "No, no she's lying. Please tell me she is lying!" She yelled at me. I looked over at Aria sadly and she let her tears spill.

"Aria, you were upset. Do you even remember why you shot yourself?" I asked her.

"I believe it had something to do with Auburn, but I could be wrong. I don't really know, Ezra. I was upset and I wasn't thinking about anything I was doing. I am the honestly probably the dumbest person on the face on this planet and I think it's a hazard to be around me. That's the honest truth," she said to me.

I looked at her and I began to tear up. The sight of her so broken and lost would make anyone's heart break if I was speaking the truth. I wanted to do nothing but hug her right now, but I knew it would be a dangerous thing to do knowing how fragile she still was at the moment. Finally, I spoke, "Aria, you are correct. You shot yourself because Auburn was hurt and so was Bridgit. You walked into your apartment and found them and called the police and ambulance, then you were checked out and taken to the hospital and released and you stayed behind and right when Mike was going to tell y'all the news on how they were progressing you left and came to my place and then left, called me, and shot yourself and ended up here. I have been coming up here every day to check on you and sit with you. I was scared for your life Aria, I hope you know that. Your parents were and still are worried sick about you. Do you even realize the amount of pain you have put everyone through that cares about you? Everyone loves you Aria. Can't you see that? Is that too much?" I asked Aria, my voice raising a few octaves.

"I'm sorry Ezra. I'm sorry for being a fucking idiot. I'm sorry for not knowing what to do with my life. I'm sorry for being suicidal and I'm sorry that I am not good enough for anyone who comes along and gives me the time of day, which rarely happens if I may add. You know, I thought you would be a decent guy, one that cared enough about me not to judge me, but I guess I was wrong about you. I guess all guys really are the same," she replied angrily.

"Aria, I do care about you. Probably more than I should considering I just met you not even a week ago and we don't really know that much about each other, but I promise you one thing, if you would allow me, I would like to be your friend and share things with you. I want to be different from all the other guys," I said to her, looking her right in the eyes.

"Ezra, I don't open up to people easily; it's hard for me to trust," was all she answered.

"Well, I hope I can change that. I need to go home though. I will see if the doctor has notified your parents yet that you have woken up before I leave and then I will come back and see you tomorrow," I told her.

"Okay, thank you for being here. It means a lot, honest. And if it helps, I want to call you a friend, but only if you will allow that," she says with a smirk.

"Yeah, I'd like that," I answered before walking out the door. I find the doctor and she told me that Aria's parents had been notified right when she woke up and that they should be pulling in at any moment. I thank her and then leave before making my way to my car. I ordered a pizza and picked it up before I go home, and once inside my apartment, I begin to devour it. After my belly is full, I go over to my couch and grab my laptop, opening up my documents and beginning work on the next chapter of my book.

Chapter 2

Today. Today marks the beginning of something wonderful. Aria is now awake and I couldn't be happier. Sure, things were rough when she first woke up. She didn't know where she was, how she got there. I cleared all these things up and asked her if she knew why she shot herself, which she answered with "I think it has something to do with Bridgit..." and she was absolutely correct on this. The fact she can remember why she did this to herself is enough for me to believe that she will make progress in recovery.

Aria told me that it was hard for her to open up to people because she can't trust easily; something I can completely relate to. I know the feeling of not knowing when someone will be there or if they will turn around and share all of your secrets once you spill how you feel or anything that may have happened. I know Aria has trust issues because of her past, but I am more than willing to do anything to help her change and I hope it will, in return, help me learn to open up and trust more as well. This is something we both need to do. Tomorrow, tomorrow I will go back and speak with her, begin to share my past and some of my secrets. I need her to trust me. Her final words before I left though, they hold a special place in my heart. She repeated my earlier words to her, "I want to call you a friend, but only if you will allow that". The feelings I got when she said those words to me, that feeling was like something I'd never felt before. Wanting her to open up to me was something I wanted a lot, but her accepting to be my friend and allowing me to be hers was even bigger and something I was scared I wouldn't achieve. My biggest accomplishment though will be when I get her to open up to me about everything. I need to get her to a point of trusting and within a week or two I know I can reach that point.

Do I think things will become more? Of course. Do I want things to become more? I'm not sure. Can I see myself marrying this girl? Maybe. Can I see me myself running away like Ella Montgomery predicted I will? I'm not sure. This question is still undecided on and it will be for a while. I guess we will just have to wait to find out when the time happens; I'm sure there will be one, there always is.

Some say being in love is the best thing, but I think love in general is even better. Think about it for a moment. You have this person who you call your other half, this person who you love and they love you. You are in love. But then you have a friend, a best friend even, and you know that no matter what they will always be there for you to listen to you no matter what. Will your partner always be that way? No, they won't and everyone knows that is the truth. They will get mad, they will leave, and maybe, just maybe they won't come back.

And in my case, she didn't come back and she never will. The one person who I was once in love with is no longer here today, and it is all my fault. I was selfish-say if you will- and that one day will be a day in my life that I will forever regret. I will never be able to get her back, not after everything that happened. Hell, I couldn't get her back if I tried. Why? The simple reason of her not being here anymore. The day she left me was a day she left this earth forever and it was all my fault.

I stopped writing and read what I had written so far, sadness becoming overwhelming as I recalled the days of Gina. She was gone and never coming back. If only I hadn't been so stupid and selfish. Maybe she would still be here today. I knew now that if I wanted Aria to trust me and open up to me that I would have to start with the darkest thing in my past and that would be what happened to Gina. I knew I was taking a risk telling Aria about this, knowing it could scare her away, but I knew if I wanted her to trust me, she would after I told her what I needed to. I stand up and stretch, then grab my keys and head back to the hospital. I know I told her I wouldn't be back until the morning but I figured I might as well start tonight. I get into my car and drive to the hospital and then I take the elevator to Aria's room. Inside I find Ella and Byron there and I smile at them when they acknowledge my presence.

Aria's POV

I had woken up after being in a coma for almost a week. Hearing what I had done to myself made me feel horrible. I couldn't believe I had actually shot myself. I knew I was upset, but I can't believe I would ever go that that extreme of a measure ever again. I promised myself I would never become suicidal again, but I guess I broke that promise the night I pulled that trigger. I needed someone to call a friend and I knew that Ezra was the best thing. He was there when I woke up and that meant a lot to me.

I can't believe I said he was like other guys, because he isn't anything like any other guys that I have known in the past. After he left, my mom and dad showed up, and they were still here at this very moment as Ezra came strolling back into my room.

"I thought you said you weren't going to come back until the morning?" I asked him.

"I thought I wasn't, but I need to tell you something important," he answered, worry etched onto his face.

"Okay. Mom, dad, can you please give Ezra and I some privacy?" I asked them.

They both nodded their heads and silently walked out of the hospital room, leaving just Ezra and I together.

"Um, I want you to trust me, but in order to do that, I feel like I need to open up to you about some things-things from my past that I've never told anyone about before. And I'm not lying when I say I've never told anyone any of these things. What I'm about to tell you, Aria, it's big and you might be scared of me after I tell you. I don't want that. I want you to open up to me so I'm doing this to be fair to the both of us," he tells me.

"Ezra, you make this sound like it is something worse than me shooting myself," I answer and I notice him cringe at the mention of what I did to myself that landed me in the ICU.

"That's because it IS worse than what you did," he tells me in a whisper.

I become to become nervous about what he is going to tell me. He takes a seat next to me and grabs my hand. "Aria, I don't want you to be scared of me for what I am about to tell you. This is big, very big and it could possibly ruin everything." He takes a breath. "Aria, I killed someone and no one knows," he finished.

I shutter at what he just confessed, knowing now that if this case ever comes back up, I can go to jail for not speaking up about what I know. Could I rat out Ezra though? Right now, I don't think I could, but I don't think I could any later either. I knew now that I was once and for all, screwed. That was the only way to put it.