Chapter Nine

Ezra peppered his wife's neck with kisses as she asked absentmindedly, "Do you ever think about how old Annie is getting?"

"Trying to make love to you here," he mumbled against her neck as he continued in his attempts to seduce her.

"Seriously, do you ever think about it?" She asked again.

He finally gave up and pulled himself into a sitting position, "All the time, why?"

"She's just growing up, she's 16 almost 17. She'll be off to college in a little over a year. She's interested in guys and—"

Ezra cut her off, "Wait, she doesn't have a boyfriend does she?"

Aria just shrugged and looked away, "That's besides the point, but we should warm up to the idea."

"Why would I want to warm up to the idea? She's my baby," Ezra said seriously.

Aria groaned, "Ezra, promise me you won't be a shotgun wedding kind of dad."

"Oh darling, no one will touch my daughter..." He chuckled, but Aria knew part of him was serious, which scared her. She lightly laughed in response, her mind reeling. He was upset at the idea of Annie having a boyfriend that was her age, what would he do if he found out it was her teacher? He would be furious, and if he found out that she knew all he'll would break loose. Aria was now regretting promising not to tell Ezra. But she was a romantic, what could she say?

Ezra broke her from her thought, "Hey, is everything okay? What's on your mind? You've seemed a little jumpy lately."

"Um, it's nothing," she said as she tried to think of what to tell Ezra. He could read her like a book, "Spencer's due any day, I think that just has me a little on edge. Any moment she could call me, screaming in labor."

"Ahh, I see," Ezra nodded, "The joys of parenthood."

Aria smiled, "It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?"

"It is the most beautiful and terrifying things I have ever experienced," he said as he placed a kiss on her forehead before moving to her ear and then back to her neck.

Aria giggled, "Okay, okay! You win!"

...

Meanwhile, Annie and Patrick were on a date in the city. Somehow they ended up in a club and Patrick ended up with a drunk Annie.

"What the hell have I done?" He asked himself as he held her up.

She was giggling uncontrollably, "I want to dance, pretty boy!"

"Pretty boy?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Aren't you going to say I'm pretty? Or do you not think I'm pretty?" She whimpered. If Patrick wasn't so concerned and upset with himself he would think drunk Annie was hilarious.

Next thing he knew Annie was screaming at the top of her lungs, "Hey everyone! My boyfriend thinks I'm ugly!"

A few people gave him dirty looks as they looked at the crying girl in his arms, "That's not true, I didn't say that." He defended.

Some sleazy guy came up moments later, "Hey sweetie, is this guy bothering you? Why not come with me and I'll get you a drink?" He said with a sly wink.

Annie lifted her head and smiled, completely forgetting she had just had a meltdown in public, "Sure."

Patrick glared at the guy, "No way, you are staying with me and we're taking you home."

"Why don't you let her decide?" The guy asked, winking at Annie once again.

"Why don't you stay away from my girlfriend?" Patrick stepped up, staring the guy straight in the eye.

Annie found that extremely funny in her drunken stupor, "Girlfriend."

"Who do you want to stay with, honey? Me or this boyfriend of yours?" The guy asked as he placed his sweaty hand on Annie's arm.

This caused Patrick to tighten his grip on Annie as he swung his arm and punched the unknown guy square across the jaw, "She is not your honey."

Annie gasped and Patrick rushed her out through that had gathered due to the commotion. They came out to the sidewalk, the city unusually quiet.

"What was that?" Annie yelled, seeming to sober up a bit.

"He had no right to touch you like that," Patrick huffed.

Annie rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I do not belong to you."

"No, Annie. You don't. But that guy was a jerk and he was looking for a young naive girl to prey on," Patrick retorted.

"Yeah, like you," she said as she began walking away.

Patrick ran to her and grasped her upper arm, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home," she stated, shaking herself from his hold.

"No way. You can't go home, you're drunk. Oh my god, I got you drunk," he said as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"You didn't do anything, I have free will. I got myself drunk, but I feel a lot better now. Thanks to the shock in my system when my boyfriend punched a guy," Annie replied, before preceding to get a taxi.

"Annie, let me take you home at the least," Patrick pleaded.

Annie climbed in and shut the door leaving Patrick in the cold.

He huffed and began to make his way home. Why was she being so stubborn? Seconds later he looked up to the sounds of a crash. Fear paralyzed him as he saw the cab she was in rammed into by a car running a red light. He ran as fast as he could and when he reached her she lied lifelessly, mangled in the wreckage.

"Yes, there's been an accident. My girlfri- some girl and a taxi driver. The corner of 4th Street. Please hurry," He rushed out to emergency services as he held Annie's cold hand.

...

So sorry for the infrequent updates for this story... I've had extreme writers block for how I want this to go down. But I figured it out... Drama! So what did you think? Please review and let me know! Will Annie be okay? How will Aria and Ezra react? Until next time...

xoxo
-RissyWrites