CHAPTER SEVEN
After everyone had at least one slice of pie, the loved ones got out of the house as quick as they could. Ashley Marin explained how she was busy the next day, as did each of the Hastings. Once those four broke the ice and decided to leave, Ezra snuck out with them alongside Wesley, not even wishing Aria good bye. Slowly all of their other peers dwindled down to no one, and Aria and Spencer were alone at last.
Spencer wasted no time and started cleaning and doing the dishes. While Spencer washed, Aria dried. The two stood alongside each other while the TV provided the noise. It was left on some sports channel and was recapping a football game.
Aria sighed heavily from her thoughts. Ezra was so mad. Spencer, sensing what Aria was thinking about, set down the dish that she had been scrubbing. "What did Ezra say?"
"Nothing worth repeating," Aria mumbled.
Spencer turned and leaned against the counter so she was facing Aria. She crossed her arms over her chest and asked, "I get why you didn't tell Ezra about Wesley, but why did you never tell me?"
Aria swallowed hard and continued drying her dish. Spencer grabbed the plate from Aria's hands and set it down. "Aria, did anyone know? Because I got the feeling that Hanna and Emily did… why didn't I?"
Aria clenched her jaw and refused to bring up the rocky reason. "Spencer, don't do this."
Spencer scoffed, "No, you need to talk about this. You always just keep to yourself and it bothers me."
Aria leaned against the kitchen island and mirrored Spencer's pose. "I didn't tell you because you weren't…around," Aria whispered.
"It had to have happened in high school, Aria. The four of us were inseparable, so me 'not being around' makes no sense."
"You didn't know because you were off hunting down Toby!" Aria shouted.
Spencer bit her lip and felt tears in her eyes just hearing the name Toby. "Oh," Spencer said simply.
"And before you go off on another interrogation, Ezra yelled at me for cheating on him four times, one of which was with you."
"Would you go back? Would you go back and not cheat on him with me? You two would have broken things off eventually!"
Aria glared at her, "And how do you know that, huh? Are you a psychic now, too?"
"Don't give me that," Spencer ordered, ignoring Aria's other words. In Spencer's mind, Aria was basically insinuating that Spencer ruined her and Ezra's relationship. Yeah, Spencer was the other woman, but Aria didn't exactly oppose to anything they did in those couple of weeks. "Just because you're mad at Ezra, don't you dare take it out on me."
And with that, Spencer stormed away and went upstairs, leaving a stunned Aria in the dimly lit kitchen. Spencer grabbed a pillow from their bed and screamed into it with all her might. There was just too many things spinning in her mind.
Spencer was actually relieved that Ezra was angry at Aria. Spencer always envied Aria and hated Ezra because of how he reacted to Aria's confession. Aria had explained that Ezra was upset, but ultimately let Aria do what she wanted. If only Toby had acted like that.
Aria called Spencer and spilled that she had told Ezra everything. She explained that Ezra wasn't too happy, but didn't completely freak. Yeah, he freaked a little, but not extremely. That one statement had given Spencer so much hope. Maybe Toby would react the same way.
Spencer drove over to Toby's and on the ride there, she tried to decide what to say. She finally decided on a speech – speech writing strategies were fresh in her mind due to her being the valedictorian of her Rosewood High class. But the speech she was about to deliver was going to be vastly different than the words she spoke in the RHS auditorium.
Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the door of Toby's loft. She softly knocked on the door and Toby answered in seconds. They had been on good grounds ever since Mona was locked up once and for all and A was officially over.
"Hey! What's up?" Toby asked sweetly, pulling her inside.
Spencer shoved her hands in her pockets and sighed, "We've gotta talk…about um… I need to tell you something."
Toby furrowed his brow and sat down on the couch. Spencer sat next to him and smiled sadly. "I'm not… We're not…"
"What's going on, Spencer?" Toby prompted.
Spencer tugged her head up and stared at the ceiling. After a few seconds of deep breaths, she cupped Toby's face and looked him straight in the eyes. "I can't be with you."
Toby's eyebrows just scrunched together harder. "What are you talking about?"
"I just, whatever we had, whatever it was, it's gone, Toby. I don't know where it went, but it's done," Spencer explained. "I think it's just over for us."
"Spencer, you know that's not true," Toby argued.
She decided to rip off the band aid and get it over with. "What is true is that there's someone else."
Toby pulled away from Spencer and glared at her. "What are you saying?"
Spencer just wanted him to stop talking and just accept it. She just wanted him to let her go. "I'm in love with someone else. And I pick them."
"It's Wren, isn't it? It's always been Wren!"
Spencer clenched her jaw. She should have expected him to think that. "No, it's not him. It's not even a him."
Toby cocked his head, "Wait, what?"
"It's Aria. We're in love," Spencer nodded.
Toby started laughing and Spencer stared at him, bewildered. "Why, why are you laughing?"
"Aria, please," Toby teased. "You can't be serious. You're leaving me for a woman. A not even lesbian woman? You're kidding. Are you crazy?"
"No, I'm not crazy! We love each other! And we just, it's right. I promise Toby, it's right."
"It's not right, Spencer. Don't sit there and try to justify yourself. Cheating on someone you love is not right. Nothing about this is right!"
Spencer gulped and let a few tears loose. "I'm sorry I did this to you, but…"
"But, nothing. We're over."
Spencer was crushed by his words, even though he said what she wanted. She got up off of his couch and smoothed her shirt. "Bye, Toby."
Spencer grabbed two pain killers from her medicine cabinet and swallowed them down. She retreated back to her bed and curled up under the duvet. She didn't care if Aria came up to bed or not. Spencer was now stuck in a bad memory and she just wanted to be alone.
Aria finished doing the dishes and laid down on the couch. She was pissed at Wesley for spilling her secret, she was pissed at Ezra for yelling at her like that, and she was pissed at Spencer for starting a fight.
After mindlessly watching a rerun of a late night talk show, Aria gave up. She grabbed her keys off of the table and headed outside. She slammed the door behind her, hoping Spencer would hear her.
Spencer did hear her, but wasn't about to go retrieve her. Spencer knew she was probably going to Ezra's to apologize, and she didn't need to hold Spencer's hand for that.
Ezra had dropped Wesley off at the nearest hotel as fast as he could. Wesley had tried to ask him for forgiveness and it was a one-time thing that happened a long time ago, but Ezra had stayed silent. Even though Wesley insisted he made the move on Aria, Ezra knew Aria hadn't stopped him.
Aria had never stopped any of them, actually. She didn't stop Noel in her junior year. She didn't stop Jason in that same year. And she sure as hell didn't stop Spencer. But, Spencer was actually the only person Ezra didn't know who made the move. He wanted to believe Spencer made the move, but something made him feel like it was Aria.
He was now alone in his apartment – the same one from all those years ago. He poured himself a scotch and for the first time ever, really, he realized how horrible his whole relationship with Aria had been. He was her teacher, for Christ's sake! And now he was her sperm donor! She could go on for hours about how he always had a "special place in her heart" but she could never convince him that she wasn't only using him for her needs or that she was sorry for cheating on him all those times or for leaving him a second before they were supposed to go to New York together. Nothing about them was right. None of it had ever been right.
As if on cue, he heard a knock on his door. He knew who it would be and he just didn't want to answer it. He didn't have the energy. After a few more quiet knocks, he heard her huff with annoyance. Then he heard the locks clicking and the door open.
"I still have my key," Aria smiled weakly.
"Give it back," Ezra ordered harshly.
Aria ignored him and set the key back into her purse. He rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his drink. Aria shook her head and grabbed the glass from his mouth, causing it to spill on his shirt. "No, you're not gonna start that again! Despite popular belief, scotch does not help everything, Ezra."
"Why are you here?"
Aria sat down on the coffee table and stared at him. "You never let me apologize properly."
"Aria, I don't want your apology."
"But I want to give it," she protested. "I was lonely, Ezra. I was nervous that you were going to just leave me and go off with Maggie." Ezra opened his mouth to protest but Aria held her hand up. "Even though you had said Maggie didn't matter to you and I did, you never called. And then your brother was here, and we had lunch and talked and then your mom happened. Again. She kicked him out of your apartment and I let him stay with me. Then we started kissing."
"I don't want the story either," Ezra spat.
Aria continued, "After a few seconds, I stopped him and I said 'we shouldn't do be doing this' and then he left. And I hadn't seen him again since tonight. And the next morning, you were back."
Ezra squinted his eyes, "You're such a liar."
Aria flinched, "Ezra, I'm sorry, but… I would take it back if I could. I really am sorry. But, I'm not lying about anything, please believe me."
"No, you lied about CeCe. Once I got back, you called my brother. I asked you, I asked you what happened and you lied to me and said something about CeCe's store. You had the chance to tell me all of this, and you lied to my face!"
Ezra was now fuming and Aria just had to take it because she knew he was right. All she could say was, "I can't believe you remember that."
Ezra laughed, "Yeah, well."
"Stop being so mean to me," Aria cried. "I'm sorry I kissed a guy eight years ago behind your back while you were gone!"
Ezra stared at her in astonishment. "It was my brother, Aria, not just any guy. And it wasn't just one guy. There was a girl in that category, even."
"Don't throw Spencer in my face," Aria yelled.
"How can I not? At least with the guys, you just kissed them one time. With Spencer, you were with her for two weeks and I know you two did more than kiss!"
Aria and Ezra remained on the couch. Aria was worried that if she stood up, she wouldn't be able to stand because of her nerves. Ezra opened his mouth a few times before asking, "Do you love her?"
Aria let a few tears drip down her cheeks. "I do, Ezra. I love her a lot."
"More than me?" Ezra asked, feeling his heart break.
Aria squinted her eyes shut and shook her head, "It's, it's complicated, Ezra."
"So two weeks?" Ezra asked, calculating a timeline. Aria nodded and Ezra felt a tear run down his cheek. "Have you slept with her?"
Aria fiddled with her hands and Ezra looked away from her. With Jason, she had just kissed him for a second. With Spencer, they slept together for two weeks.
Aria swallowed Ezra's words and knew he had been waiting for this argument since he found out about Spencer. The day she told him everything, she could tell he was holding in a lot of her anger. And now, all that anger was coming out of the wood work.
"You know," Ezra started while pouring a new glass of scotch, "I never got how a person could cheat. I mean, a kiss, I could understand, and I'm sure you do, too." He turned and noticed her reaction. All she did was hang her head low. "But, how someone could have sex with someone they weren't committed to… my mom did it and I didn't understand. Then again I was eight. My dad did it and I was thirteen. That time, still didn't get it. But when you did it, I was twenty seven years old. Twenty-seven. I still didn't get it. Still don't."
Aria stood up and was now standing beside him. "I'm sorry for hurting you."
Ezra just drank some more. "What hurt the most was that it wasn't just sex. It was love. If it had just been sex, I could've gotten over it, but love…"
"Have you gotten over it?" Aria asked nervously.
Ezra set his drink down and looked Aria straight in the eye. "No," he answered honestly.
Aria gasped a little and sighed, "You have to. I'll help you try to find someone if you'd like."
"Before you asked me to help you guys, I was planning on leaving. I had a job offer and everything," Ezra blurted. "I was gonna try to really get over everything and move on by leaving."
Aria stared at him, shocked. "And you gave it up? Why would you do that?"
"I wanted you to be happy. And I knew you'd hate me if I said no."
Aria cupped his face. "You know I could never hate you."
The hair on the back of Ezra's neck stood up from her touch. It was such a sensual action between them that he couldn't help it. He knew he'd just given a speech about how cheating was wrong, but he wanted this. He had wanted what was about to happen for eight long years.
Aria and Ezra leaned into each other at the exact same time, lips colliding. Aria opened her mouth wider and was enchanted by the familiar feeling. They hadn't kissed in eight years, but all that time evaporated. Aria swooned at the whiskey taste from his mouth and she truly felt bliss. But, once Aria felt Ezra's hand glide down over her side, Aria was repulsed by herself and backed away.
"Oh, no," Aria muttered, once she had pulled away. Ezra covered his mouth with his hand and stepped away. "I'm so sorry," Ezra said quickly.
"No, neither of us is at fault. Um, I should go," Aria replied. She stepped to the door, but then looked back. "That can never, ever happen again. And Spencer can never know."
Ezra nodded, hand still over his mouth. That did not just happen.
(A/N:) Uh oh... Ezria is getting into treacherous waters. What do you think will happen next? And what flashback did you like better, Spoby Fight or Ezria Fight? Personally, I'm an Ezria fan so it was weird to write Spoby for once! And what's next for dear Sparia?! Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! But sadly, I can almost guarantee that I will NOT be updating tomorrow.
Anyway, please don't forget to review! I love reading your critiques and what you think will happen!
Have a nice Friday my lovely readers! - M
