I hope you guys had a great Christmas time! May all your dreams come true.

Sorry for the late update but I was so stuck, plus I was without Internet. As always, thanks to Marcia794 for her precious help. I tried to give our perfect couple some happiness (and you an extra long chapter) as they don't get any in the series :') Hope you enjoy!

This chapter is dedicated to my friend Mel; you will detect yourself once or twice while reading lol.

Chapter 10 - Keeping The Promise

Aria's POV

"That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway." - John Green, The Fault In Our Stars

"Aria, we need to talk." Okay, I was officially scared now. Ezra referred to A as a male, same thing had happened with Mrs. Grunwald but I never mentioned that to him. So, he knew it from someone else and all my fears were verified once again. My face stayed expressionless and I tried really hard to hide any ugly emotions that were about to show up. However, I couldn't help asking my next question.

"Are you working with A?" My voice seemed strong somehow and for some reason I wasn't breaking up. Although I knew too well from the look in his eyes what the answer would be, I kept my composure.

He hesitated for a moment but he had no other choice than to admit the truth, so he finally answered me with a determined look, "yes, I've been working with A for a while." My whole world stopped. I realized at the moment that I had kept one last hope that maybe I was being wrong and everything was in my imagination but no, all my fears were justified. The next thought made me shiver and I looked into his eyes, terror clouding my features.

"Ezra.." I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. "Do you know who A is?" He quickly shook his head and I had no idea if this made me relieved or frustrated. Maybe both.

"No, nobody does, Aria. I once spoke with a male on the phone, that's why I guess it's a man." I sighed.

"This could just be Toby or Lucas. It means nothing." He didn't know who A was. He just did everything to protect me. It was exactly what happened with Toby and relief flooded through me, he was just another part of the A-team, doing things out of despair and under threats. Right?

"I'm so sorry, Aria." His eyes were full of guilt and regret while boring into mine.

"Why? Why did you do it?" I asked him in calm way, I really wanted to understand him. I knew how manipulative A could be, I had even done things I never wanted to do. I had blackmailed Jackie in the most pathetic way after A made me to. I knew how it felt to be bullied and I wasn't exactly able to judge Ezra for whatever he did under A's pressure. It was wrong, he had betrayed me, but I wanted to know the reason why. There wasn't time to make the same mistakes as Spencer on this; she ended up in Radley after a similar situation. But now Ezra was here, willing to talk to me and I wouldn't let this opportunity go. I had a chance to save my relationship.

He stayed silent for a few moments and you could tell that he was trying hard to stay calm. "I told you again, but you weren't listening at the time," he chuckled sadly. I looked at him confused. "This Saturday, when you came to my apartment. I told you that I did everything so I wouldn't lose you." My heart skipped a bit, but I needed more.

"What do you mean?" I whispered. He nodded and cleared his throat, never leaving my eyes.

"As you already know, A found out about our relationship as soon as it started." I nodded and we both smiled unconsciously at the mention of the beginning of our relationship, as in that night at the bar that changed our lives. The very next day we saw each other in our classroom and that's when I got the first A text. Mine and Ezra's relationship has been an all-time favourite for A since the very start. "You weren't the only one who got a text that day." I froze in place and stared at him with terrified eyes. This was insane.

"What do you say, Ezra? You've been working with them since..?" A small sob escaped my lips and I quickly covered my mouth with the palm of my hand. How could this be? Tears were rolling down my face but I didn't care.

"After class ended, I got a text." He sighed obviously annoyed with all this situation. "Someone knew about us, Aria. It was dangerous, and I didn't want to lose my job." He was right, I couldn't blame him; it had been dangerous.

"Then you came in my classroom and you were so bold and brave," he smiled, ''but I let you go. I couldn't do this." He shook his head and averted his eyes from my face.

"It's not your fault." I said and grabbed his hands in my smaller ones. He turned his gaze towards me once again and gave me one of that heart-melting, earth-stopping smiles.

"The very next day, when I saw you at Ali's funeral everything changed though. You were standing there, so small and fragile, I wanted to protect you. I felt the urge to be there with you and try to make you smile again." His eyes were honest and I felt so angry, so mad that our lives were being played by someone sick as that. Nobody has the right to manipulative people, turn their lives upside down and destroy their happiness. "When you said goodbye, I knew that I couldn't let you go." I had been so mad that day, I had just lost Alison (or that's what I thought at the moment) and I had also lost him. Even if we had just met, I was already falling in love.

"When I returned to my place, I was determined to be with you. You had the most wonderful eyes I had ever seen, and the most adorable smile." I laughed as he wiped away my tears with one of his hands. "I said to myself, 'Ezra, you can't let this girl go.' But someone had a few other ideas." His smile turned into a sour grimace and I wondered how it must have felt, to make a decision as tough as that and have someone on top to make things even more difficult. "I got an email that said I had to be afraid of jail and it had a photo of us kissing behind the windows at the church." I winced. It was cruel when we saw personal moments of us printed on a piece of paper. It made me feel sick to my stomach.

"Who is this monster?" I said out loud in frustration. Ezra just shrugged and couldn't hide the sadness in his eyes either. I focused on him once again, my voice soft and sweet. I wasn't mad at him; maybe I was a little, for keeping everything he had been doing from me, but I tried to take his place. And I knew that I would do anything to protect him, like he did.

"They obviously got the message that I wasn't afraid of going to jail. So, they contacted me again," he paused and focused his attention on our folded hands. "Saying that I would have to do a few things in the future, or else I would lose you."

"How?" I asked him frowning.

"They would tell you some.. things." He replied and avoided my eyes. I narrowed mine and waited for more, he was the one who wanted to talk after all. He sighed and looked at my direction again. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me. I was afraid you would leave me, Aria."

"But what would make me walk away?" I asked and leaned in so I could look into his eyes, but he avoided my gaze once again and remained silent. A million thoughts were running through my mind at that moment; what was so serious that could change my feelings about him? And more importantly, did I really want to know? They say that ignorance is bliss and my gut told me that this would be my case now. A small part of me wanted to learn the truth right away. But a bigger part of me was scared; and it needed him. I needed Ezra, even with his flaws and even with his secrets.

"I have to explain, you have to listen to me." There was despair and fear in his eyes and then it dawned on me; Ezra was scared that the revelations that would follow would make me run away from him. He hadn't talked to me all this time in the fear of A but also in the fear of me leaving him. I decided that I didn't need the truth, I needed him. Whatever it was that he had done it was in the past anyway. It didn't change anything. We were all victims and there was nothing we could do about that. A wanted to ruin our lives, to keep us apart, to make us hate each other. But I couldn't let this happen. Ezra couldn't doubt my love anymore. I had to show him that no matter what he told me next didn't matter, that the truth wouldn't change my feelings about him and that I would be his forever. However, words couldn't show that.

"Not tonight." I caught him off guard by crashing my lips to his and tangling my hands in his hair, something that made him fall backwards on the sofa, me on top of him. When he realized what had happened he tried to pull away from me, never breaking the kiss though. However, I wouldn't let this happen so I wrapped my hands around his neck and kneeled on the sofa, each one of my legs on either side of his waist. That way he couldn't move an inch away from me. He was hesitant at first but when he got the message that I wasn't going anywhere, he grabbed my waist and I gripped the back of his head so as to deepen the kiss, making both of us moan. He knew too that he wanted me as much as I did at the moment, it had been too long.

He spun us around so I was laying under him and he started covering my neck and collarbone with open-mouthed kisses. It didn't take us much time to take each other's clothes off and I was soon writhing under his touch. At some point we managed to get up and he carried me to my bed, where we continued our activities for probably a few hours, until we both fell asleep in each other's arms.

When I woke up, I could sense a room full of bright light under my eyelids. I was wrapped around someone's body and when the previous night came back to mind, I smiled to myself. He knew I was finally awake, because he tightened his arms around my body and with my eyes still closed I left a tender kiss on his chest. When I opened my eyes a few moments later, I was met with the most beautiful eyes on earth, looking adoringly at me. A smile appeared on Ezra's lips and he leaned in to give me a chaste kiss.

"Morning, beautiful." He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and kissed me again.

"You know, I could get used to this." I mumbled in my sleep and I heard his chuckle, as my eyes closed again. I was exhausted.

"Wake up, angel," he whispered in my ear and kissed my hair. I groaned and tried to cover my head with the sheets but the cruel creature pushed away my hands and pulling the sheets again, he left me naked on the bed.

"This was violent!" I moaned and he chuckled, but he soon stopped and the room became silent. This made me open my eyes just to see him licking his lips and a single part of him slowly came to life. I coughed and laughed at the same time and this switched his attention back to my face. "As much as I want to spend the rest of my life in this bed, we have school," he said and I pouted. He kissed me again and he got off the bed, my eyes glued to his perfect body as he headed to the living room, probably to retrieve our clothes.

When he got back, I was in the exact same spot he left me, unable to move. I smiled at him and wondered once again how I had managed to be away from him all the previous months. It had been painful but now that I had him back I realized how much painful it truly had been. He threw my clothes on the bed but didn't return my smile, something that made me frown. He kept looking at me though, so I covered my body with the sheets and got up from the bed getting closer to him.

"What's wrong, babe?" I asked pecking his cheek with my hand. Ezra hesitated and I noticed that his face was grim, again. I felt so guilty at the moment because he had been like this all the time we were apart and I realized how important I had become to him. It was the same for me, but I was the one who officially ended things between us.

"I'm just thinking.. That I will lose you again." He held my gaze and his voice was barely a whisper. I was in loss of words; why was he thinking like that? Truth was, I never told him what was in my mind since yesterday, that I was finally determined to fight for us and not let anything get on the way again. I chuckled and quickly gathered a tear that was rolling down my cheek.

"I'm not leaving you, Ezra. Ever again," I managed to say in a strong voice.

"There are so many things, Aria, that you - "

"Stop. Please." I placed a finger on his lips so as to stop the words that I knew would follow. I couldn't go through a rant again, it was pointless. "I'm not afraid of the truth, Ezra. I'm still mad at you for everything that's happened but I still want to fight." This made him smile at least.

"If what happened yesterday night was fueled by you being mad, I really should piss you off more often." I pursed my lips and gave him a punch on his side, something that made him laugh out loud, just before I burst into giggles myself. Ezra took my face in his hands and became serious again, but not in his frightening way.

"Aria, I've promised to love you forever and that's what I will do." He said and gave me a kiss that I never wanted to end. We finally pulled apart and I noticed that I was still wrapped in the sheets plus we would probably be really late for school.

"We have school. And my father doesn't know where I slept." Crap. I sighed in frustration and turned around to grab my clothes. "And I haven't checked my phone since while we were on our way here."

"Shit. And I promised Spencer I would make you call her as soon as I found you," I looked at Ezra and narrowed my eyes, "but then you started being seductive and all and I never had the chance!" He said in an apologizing way and reached for his mobile in his pocket. Fear clouded his face and looked at me again. "We have 20 minutes to get back to Rosewood." And with that, all thoughts about our perfect night or the days full of dread in front of us were forgotten.

During our drive back it was mostly silent in the car but it wasn't awkward, it never was with him. We exchanged a few promising glances now and then and I held his right hand in mine until the moment we reached my house. I didn't reply to any of the messages I had; two of my dad asking me what time I would be back (thank God I had told him the previous day that Hanna wasn't feeling good so he assumed I spent the night with her) and thousands of the girls asking me where the hell I was, if I was okay or if Ezra had hurt me. I laughed to myself because the only thing he hadn't done since yesterday was hurt me.

"Have they been looking for you?" Ezra asked me. I put my phone back in my bag and turned at him smiling.

"Yeah.. My dad and the girls."

"Is Spencer furious?" We laughed and I rolled my eyes. This girl could be such a pain in the ass sometimes, but I still loved her. After a few silent moments, I noticed that Ezra was fidgeting, obviously trying to find the right way to tell me something. I could tell by the way he kept looking at my way with a nervous smile and the fact that his palm in my hand was sweating.

"Just say it." I blurt out and looked at his direction, he was driving me crazy. At first he was about to deny it but he gave up.

"I'm just thinking.." He paused and I caressed his hand with both mine in an attempt to comfort him. "Where do we go now, Aria?" He gave me a pained look and tried to take his hand away but I didn't let him.

"We go forward.. together." I said and closed the gap between us by giving him a kiss on his cheek. We would find a way to work things out like we always did.

After Ezra dropped me off at home I quickly took a shower and grabbed my books for school. The house was empty and this was a good thing because I really couldn't face my dad at that moment; plus, I couldn't ruin the night I had with more and more lies, it would feel like destroying it. My dress from our night out in Ravenswood was still laying on the floor and I made a mental note to pick it up and throw it away as soon as I got back home tonight. I changed into a pair of jeans, a black tight top and a red cardigan that reached my waist matching it with my black high-heeled boots. Adding a pair of red earrings and a matching necklace, a little mascara and my lip gloss, I grabbed my bag and left the room.

I was climbing down the stairs when there was a knock on the door. I frowned and quickly reached to open it. There they were, my three best friends with their arms crossed and a judging look on their faces.

"You think it's right to keep us worrying about you for almost a day, Aria?" Spencer was nothing but calm, but Emily and Hanna were smiling at me, probably noticing the look on my face which was radiating total bliss due to what had happened to me. Spencer looked back and forth between me and the girls and threw her hands on the air. "I'm so done with you!"

"Is everything fine, cute lady?" Hanna arched an eyebrow and I started giggling not able to hide my happiness.

"Sorry I scared you." I said with an apologetic smile and hugged my favourite girl. Spencer sighed and hugged me back.

"I just want you to be happy." She said with a small voice and I also noticed a smile in it. We pulled apart and I closed the door behind me, silently urging them to go ahead so we wouldn't miss first period.

"I think we could sacrifice Physics for a quick coffee full of.." Emily paused and leaning into me, she whispered in a teasing tone, "spicy details?" The girls laughed and I couldn't help the blush that appeared on my cheeks.

"Let's go!" said Hanna and they quickly turned around to follow her, leaving me behind while I shook my head and laughed, being so grateful that I had them in my life.

However, my mood clouded on our way to the brew because I hadn't made up my mind yet on whether I would talk to them about the new revelations. Ezra had been working with A and this was a fact. Also, I wasn't aware of all the reasons that had pushed him to that. He kept saying that there were a lot of things I didn't know about his life and I was a little frightened, I couldn't deny that.

We finally arrived at the brew only to find it almost empty as most people were already at school or work, but this was totally serving us. We occupied a small table surrounded by small couches at the back of the room and waited for the waiter to come and get our orders. I was in urgent need of caffeine in my system if they wanted me to talk about my night.

"So?" Hanna asked in a mischievous grin once the waiter left. I sipped my soy latte and waited until I knew I had their whole attention.

"I spent the night with Ezra." I said matter-of-factly and they nodded.

"We already gathered that. Go on." Spencer replied and I grinned. I finally told them everything that had happened The previous day, from the moment I left Rosewood High and reached his apartment without even realizing it. I told them about how I needed to be home, near him. About the photograph I found under his pillow, something that made them all melt and give me loving 'awwws' for minutes. About his confession and our small getaway to the cabin. About our passionate night and sweet morning, always leaving out everything A-related. When I was finished, I couldn't believe even myself that after all these weeks of pain and heartbreak we were finally together and the smile on my face was about to split it in two.

"I'm so happy for you, Aria." Emily said and grabbed my hand in hers. "It was so painful to see you two apart, torturing yourselves." I gave her a small smile but thoughts of what was in front of us made me wince. It wasn't going to be easy. We would be tortured again and again in the future. I was ready to forgive him for whatever he did simply because I couldn't live without him, but I still knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

"Is there more to the story?" Spencer asked me in a curious voice. I looked up into her eyes, I so wanted to talk. I felt tears gathering in my eyes and pursed my lips, trying desperately to keep my thoughts to myself. But could I lie to them again?

"Aria.." Hanna called my name and snapped my attention back to them. I saw the honest concern in her eyes, her fear about me and all the love she felt, like we all did for each other. The tears started rolling down my face but they were silent ones, I had no strength to mourn over what my life was becoming at the moment.

"Ezra.." I paused and painfully bit my bottom lip while the girls were breathless waiting for me to go on. I averted my eyes and tried to stay calm, I kept telling myself that everything would be alright. He wasn't a monster. He was trying to save me and our love. "He's been working with A." It came out as a whisper as I couldn't hold back my sobs anymore because no matter how much I believed that he loved me, he still lied to me. Did awful things to my friends. He did things for the enemy. I wasn't exactly crying because of Ezra, I was crying for whatever was happening in our lives. Why did we have to go through all this?

The girls were speechless and looked at me without moving an inch from their seats. Hanna was kind of expecting it though, I saw her having a determined look on her face and I wondered if it was just because of our conversation the other morning. Spencer got up and took me in her arms, the other following suit and we stayed there for a few minutes moving back and forth in a soothing way.

"It's gonna be fine, I promise you." Spencer said and kissed my forehead as we broke apart. I dried my tears with my sleeve and took a deep breath. It felt good to having them know the truth.

"Why did he tell you now?" Emily wondered.

"I recognised him." I said and they looked at me with curious looks. "Cute clown in Ravenswood." I said and we broke out in giggles, surprised looks on the girls' faces. It wasn't funny what was going on but it was better laughing than crying.

"Did he tell you why?" Em asked me, reality was sinking in and I saw the hurt in her eyes.

"He said that A threatened him about our relationship, but also.. There are things I have to know, he said there are a few secrets." I said and painfully bit my bottom lip. "I'm scared." I declared and a few tears ran down my cheeks, but my friends were there to soothe me. Hanna still had a weird look on her face.

"I knew there was something bad going on. I had seen it in his eyes." Em said and shook her head, muttering something 'not only about Malcolm' under her breath.

"Good, because I hadn't." I replied in a bitter voice. I was still frustrated because of my ignorance. I knew Ezra so well, why hadn't I figured this out earlier? I had been so stupid and blind.

"But you forgave him." Spencer stated and threw me an accusing look.

"Don't do that." I warned. "I just.. I missed him and.." I stopped, not sure if the things I was thinking would make sense or not.

"And?" Hanna insisted. Fresh tears came and I wondered how much crying it would take until I was dehydrated by the end of the day.

"I was thinking that.. I'm afraid of what's coming. What if this was the last time?" I broke into sobs once again and buried my face in my hands. I loved him. Why was it so difficult?

"Don't think that way." Hanna said and took me in her arms, kissing my hair and whispering comforting things. As I was recovering, my phone rang. I reached for my bag and saw him calling, and smiled besides all the previous talk. I was really losing my mind.

"Hello?"

"Aria? Aren't you at school?" Right. We had English in second period and I always sneaked into his classroom right after first period ended.

"Um, not yet. We're grabbing a coffee with the girls but we were leaving." I said pointedly and the girls started gathering their things, we never wanted to miss English. Okay maybe sometimes I did, when I was extremely mad at my English teacher.

"Okay, it was just weird." I heard the smile in his voice. "I love you." I blushed but tried not to show it; the girls noticed anyway because they rolled their eyes at me.

"See you in a few." I muttered and turned off my phone. I never said a word as I stood up and got ready to leave. The girls got the message and not once did they mention Ezra on our way to school. It was a situation that concerned me so I would be the only one to deal with it.

In case you haven't noticed, I love drama. Do you?

Please review meeee, I really want to know what you think about my story or any suggestions you have for future chapters. Takes just a moment of your time to make me happy; do it and I'll give you Christmas cookies.

Oh! And take a look at my new one-shot, Surprise!

PS: how much did you die with the new promo because I did A lot. Wonder what their secret will be *face splitting smile*