Lacrosse Lovers

Summary- Ian's dead so SOMEONE has to be the new lacrosse coach, and that's Mr. Fitz. And coincidentally the assistant coach is Aria. On Mike's lacrosse team. With Noel. So they have to be very careful. But Ezra can't help looking at Aria in those short shorts. Oh boy.

Chapter 9-What You Know Might Kill You

I apologize in advance for any typos.

LOOOOOOOOONG CHAPTER!

General POV

Aria came flying down the stairs, but stopped when she saw Ezra. "Mom," she whined. "I told you not to kidnap Ezra! He has a life, ya know!"

"I didn't kidnap him, he was watching the lacrosse game with your father, brother and Kristina," Ella told Aria, stirring a bowl of spaghetti sauce in the process.

"Whatever, I'm going to Spencer's."

"No, you aren't. We have guests. You aren't allowed to go out for dinner with guests at the house, you know that," Ella said.

"Kristina's basically family and I'll take her out for pizza tomorrow, kay?"

"Are you going to take Ezra with you too? He's staying for dinner and so are you."

This caught Ezra by surprise. He did not agree to that. "Um, Ella, I don't want to intrude-"

"You aren't intruding," Ella insisted. She looked at Aria seriously and said, "And you aren't leaving, understand?"

Aria rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine."

"Oh, stop being such a drama queen," Ella teased. Mike came down the stairs hand-in-hand with Kristina. Ezra and Byron laughed at him, and Aria tried not to. Ella walked up to her son and said, "You have a little lipstick right there, Mike." Ella went to wipe it off, but Kristina stopped her.

"Oh, don't worry, I got it," Kristina laughed. "Oh, you know what? I can't see that well in here. I think there's better lighting upstairs, c'mon Mike." She smirked and grabbed his hand and dragged him upstairs. Something told all of the adults-and Aria-they would be doing a little more than removing lipstick.

Ella laughed and called, "Hurry back! Dinner's ready."

Mike and Kristina came running down the stairs quickly, knocking things-and people-over and bumping into each other. They both took their seats and started grabbing for food.

"Whoa," Ezra commented, but Byron just shrugged and joined them, in a more civilized way of course. Ella took her normal seat and that left two seats: Aria and Ezra's seats. And with their great luck they were sitting next to each other.

"So, Mike, how's that history report going?"

Mike looked up at her suspiciously. "History report?"

"Yes, Mr. Krayne told me about it. It's due next Monday. Am I ringing any bells?"

"Did he assign it Tuesday?"

"Yes."

Mike took a large interest in his spaghetti and Ella knew he wasn't telling her something. She turned to Aria, "What did he do?"

When Aria wouldn't respond Ella asked again, "What?"

"I-I got in a fight and was in the principal's office during 5th through 8th period," Mike muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"I got in a fight, mom," Mike said more audibly.

"Michelangelo!"

"Aw, mom, not the full name," Mike pleaded, trying to hide behind his spaghetti as Kristina tried not to giggle.

"Mike, I thought we agreed on no more fights!"

Mike groaned. "It wasn't my fault mom."

"How is it not? What did he do that was so bad?"

Mike blushed slightly when he answered. "Well, Connor Thomas, um, he said some things about Kristina that didn't belong in his mouth."

"So?"

Mike answered shyly, "I punched him in the mouth."

"Mike!"

"Wait, Connor Thomas? His jaw is broken," Ezra said, butting into the conversation. "He has to wear a head brace, now."

"Is that what's on his face? I thought he was insane or something," Aria laughed.

"I know, right! The first day I saw him with it I thought he had be abducted!" Kristina giggled. "But then Mike told me the story."

"And what did you do?" Aria asked, smirking.

"I punched him, of course."

"Then she kissed me and said thank you," Mike added, pecking Kristina on the lips. This earned an "aw" from Aria, which in turn got a noodle thrown on her, courtesy of Mike. Aria squealed and threw it off of her as if it was diseased, and Ezra helped her clean the sauce from her blouse.

"You're still in trouble with me, Mike."

"I told him I was sorry!"

"Not good enough."

"Aw," Mike complained. But he just shrugged and went back to his spaghetti.

Twenty minutes later everyone had finished eating and Mike was walking Kristina home. They got up to her house and sat on the bench on the front porch.

"That was fun," Kristina laughed.

"Yeah, it was. 7th date." Mike rummaged through is pockets. "Darn, where'd I put it?" he mumbled to himself.

"Put what?"

"The bead for your bracelet. I could have sworn I had it." Mike gave up and sighed. "I'm so sorry, I can't find it."

"It's okay; you can just get me two next time." She kissed his cheek and got up to walk inside. Mike noticed the button on her bracelet. They'd gotten it at a homemade jewelry stand at a fair last week. That gave Mike an idea.

"Wait, come back here," Mike smiled. Kristina raised her brow at him, but obeyed. Mike started untying a button from his dress shirt which made Kristina curious.

"What are you…?"

"I got it," Mike smiled. He'd given up on untying the small button and just ripped it off. He then untied Kristina's bracelet and tried to put the button on. Kristina saw his struggle and helped him, and once it was on Mike retied the knot on the string bracelet.

"Aw, Mike, it's perfect," Kristina smiled, hugging him. She pulled back from the hug after a little while and smiled. "I should go inside."

"Bye."

"See you tomorrow."

I love you, Mike thought. "Um, Kristina?"

She turned back to face him and grinned. "Yeah, Mike?"

"Um-I-uh-C-Can I walk you to school?" God, he thought, that was a total fail.

She giggled and responded, "Of course, you walk me every day, silly."

"Oh, yeah."

"See you tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah." Mike gave her a small wave goodbye, which she returned.

Once she shut the door he made his way down the steps and sighed, "Damn."

PLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLL

Ezra swung the door to his apartment open on Aria's third knock.

"Hey, why are you here at," he stopped to look at his watch, "eleven twenty at night?"

She pushed passed him, letting herself in without a second thought. This took him by surprise, but he just brushed it off. When he turned her way after closing the door he didn't see Aria. No, Aria was the confident, bold, smiling, beautiful girl he'd fallen for. The girl in front of him was still beautiful, but she looked terrified. She was sitting on the couch, head in her hands, shaking. Ezra wasn't sure if he should hold her or keep his distance.

As he stepped closer to her, she spoke, "I only have forty minutes." Her voice shook as she spoke, and she sounded slightly hoarse.

He couldn't help himself from asking, "Until what?"

As her eyes met his he gained a better understanding of the intensity of her fear. "Midnight."

Aria was beginning to scare him. "W-what's midnight?"

"I leave at midnight."

This caught him of guard. "Leave? Where?"

"Bradley. Uh, Bradley, Oklahoma."

"W-why? When will you be back?"

Aria tore her eyes from Ezra's, taking a sudden interest in the floor. "I have to go away. I-I have to leave forever."

Ezra stepped closer to Aria. "Aria, you're scaring me."

Tears started streaming down her face. "I-I'm so sorry."

"Why? Is your family moving?"

"No. They aren't. It's just me. They-they don't even know I'm going." She stood up, almost losing her balance in the process. "I need to go, my plane leaves soon and-" As she was walking toward the door she broke down. She couldn't bring herself to leave. Her feet and legs stopped moving as she started crying. Ezra moved over to her and hugged her.

"Why? Why are you leaving, Aria?"

"If I don't everyone will know our secret by morning, I have to do this. I'm protecting you." She pushed her way from his grasp. Her face was still tear-stained, but she was finished crying. She refused to be the baby in this situation. It was her problem and she would have to deal with it.

"You aren't going to Bradley, Oklahoma to protect me Aria. What will happen to us?"

"We will be nonexistent! No one will know! You'll be safe and I won't have to date Noel! It's the only way."

Ezra caught on to the one thing Aria wanted him to miss. "Noel? This is about Noel?"

"No, this isn't about Noel! This is about the safety of everyone I care about. The deal is I have to date Noel and get him to fall in love with me. I have to dump you and kiss Noel by midnight or our secret is out."

Ezra paused, looking for the right words for his response. "Deal? That sounds more like a threat."

"It is. It's a terrible threat. Someone way scarier than pathetic old Noel is threatening me, and my bet is that they'll do a lot more than tell our secret. They'll twist the story and make it seem like we did a lot more than we did." With that Aria turned toward the door. She rested her hand on the doorknob and prepared herself to turn it and never come back.

"Aria," Ezra breathed out, more confused than ever.

Aria sighed, taking her hand off of the doorknob. She turned toward him and asked, "Before I go, can you do something for me?"

Ezra didn't miss a beat when he answered, "Anything."

And just like that Aria was kissing Ezra. But Ezra knew this was way more than a goodbye kiss. Aria wanted something more from this, something that could get them in trouble.

"Aria… I don't think…. This is bad," Ezra said in between kisses. His hands and his brain weren't corresponding correctly because his mind said, "This is wrong," while his hands were unbuttoning her jacket.

Aria pulled back suddenly and begged, "This is the last time I'll see you. I need this, please."

"I-I"

"Say yes Ezra."

He shook his head and prayed this wasn't the wrong decision. While his head shook no his lips said, "Yes."

PLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLLPLL

Aria woke up the next morning to her phone alarm. She rolled over to turn it off when she saw it was actually a text message.

UNKNOWN

Hmm… did his performance last night get him an A plus? Now he really can go jail. But since you ended up hurting yourself more with this move, I'll keep your secret… for now. Your welcome, bitch; don't say I never did anything for you. Xoxo –A

Aria jumped out of the bed, realizing it wasn't her bed and that Ezra was sleeping next to her. But when the sheets had revealed her body she realized that she was fully clothed. Well, almost fully clothed. She was in an undershirt and her panties, but at least she wasn't naked. That's when she remembered what happened.

"Say yes Ezra."

He shook his head and prayed this wasn't the wrong decision. While his head shook no his lips said, "Yes."

Aria kissed him again and their hands went to work. He was faster with the buttons, being older and more experienced, but Aria wasn't far behind. Once Ezra was down a vest and a shirt-leaving his chest bare-and Aria was left in an undershirt, bra and panties Ezra stopped.

"Aria, I said yes. But, yes later." Aria gave him a strange look and he rephrased. "Yes, but not now."

Aria tried to catch her breath and asked, "Why not?"

"Because, you aren't leaving, you aren't going anywhere. Let our secret be out. But if we do this and our secret gets out then we'll be in trouble."

Aria sighed. "You're right."

Aria gasped. "How did "A" know?" was not the question she was asking herself. "How did "A" NOT know?" is what Aria was interested in. How on earth did "A" know that they almost did, but not catch on that they didn't?

Now Aria was paranoid. What if "A" did know, and just wanted Aria to think she didn't know. Every scenario was running through her head. Her thought process was interrupted by her phone.

Kesha's Blow rang throughout the apartment a lot louder than it should have, waking Ezra. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. Aria whipped out her phone and answered it quickly to stop the noise.

"Hello?"

"Aria! Where have you been? You disappeared last night! I called all of the girls' mothers and they said you weren't with them. I'm at Ali's memorial now and was just at her grave a few minutes ago. Aria, sweetie, where are you?"

Her mother was yelling so loud through the phone Ezra heard her, and once he did he mouthed, "Holy crap."

OH. MY. GOD. Okay, I knew the main points I wanted to hit in this chapter but I have this killer writer's block that is giving me a headache. I just COULD. NOT. THINK. I am so sorry if it's terrible. This was supposed to be one of the most critical chapters but it turned into a pile of rejection because I couldn't seem to write anything. Ugh.

Soooo… how do you expect Aria to lie herself out of this one?

And I love writing Kristina/Mike fluff. It's just so much FUN! :D Soooo… when should Mike say, "I love you" to Kristina? Soon? Or do you want to see all of the times he tries to but fails epically XDDDD

Anyway, I apologize for the suckyness of this chapter once again. I am ashamed -.-

Thank you for all of the lovely reviews! 130? You guys ROCK! I LOVE YOU ALL! :DDDDDD

Oh well, please review anyway. Help me be inspired :D

So, uh, yeah, Review please!

Love Always (even when you may not love me back),

-randomness