Byron was standing infront of his daughter, who had messy hair, and swollen lips. Normally he would have been furious and yelled at the guy on the other side of the door, but right now he knew that that wouldn't solve any of his problems. It would only make things worse. Ella had been furious at him for picking a fight with Aria. So his wife now refused to let him into his own hotel room. He was allowed to come back once he had apologised to Aria.
This was not something Byron liked to do. He hated it. He didn't agree with Aria's decision to date Ezra, he didn't agree with a lot of things. And now he had to pretend as if he was okay with her decisions, which he wasn't. "Hi, Aria. Can I come in?"
Aria didn't trust her dad showing up at her door. She was certain he was up to no good, since just a few hours before he had tried to set her up with Holden. She wondered if he was just there to check on what her and Ezra were doing. She couldn't believe he was so annoying. When he was like that with Noel and Jason she had found it annoying, but she never felt the need to defend them like she did with Ezra. Ezra was someone she was absolutely certain of. He was the one guy that would never hurt her, he would never betray her and he would never push her to do anything she didn't want to do. Plus she loved the fact that he had never had sex, she couldn't stand the idea of Ezra with somebody else.
"That depends. Are you going to be nice?" Aria scoffed. He was probably there too rant about how she was making wrong decisions about her life, and how she should just dump Ezra. She was not going to let him speak bad of Ezra in his presence.
Byron walked further inside without saying a word. He gave Ezra an angry glare, although that was probably not the best idea. But he couldn't help himself, he just didn't like the idea of that guy, or any guy, alone with his only daughter. Unfortunately for him Aria was stubborn, she wasn't going to take orders from him. He might have pulled it off when she was still living in his house, but now that she was on her own he had nothing to say.
Ezra could feel the tension in the room, and wondered it they expected him to leave. Probably not though, Aria didn't tell him to leave. Byron on the other hand, probably wanted to push him out the door himself. But he wasn't going to let Byron hurt Aria again, without him being there for her. He couldn't understand why Byron would be so cruel to his little girl. He understood that the guy was protective of his only daughter, but this was just a little over the top. What had he ever done to make Byron hate him?
"Look Aria, I'm sorry if I offended you today." Byron said, not sure if he meant it or not. Ofcourse he didn't want to see Aria upset, and especially not because of him. But why couldn't she understand he was trying to spare her the heart-break she was going to have again soon? He had seen how sad she had been because of Jason and Noel, and he didn't want for it to happen again.
Aria was happy her dad was apologising, it made her feel a lot better. Maybe he finally realised that Ezra was a good guy, and that she was capable of making her own decisions. "Thank you Dad, that means a lot." She said, with a small smile on her face."Do you want something to drink?"
"Yeah, I would like some coffee." Byron said.
"Ez, Do you want another coffee?" Aria asked Ezra.
"Yeah, That would be great. Do you need some help?" Ezra politely asked like the true gentleman he was.
"No thanks, I've got it." she said.
After making the coffee, she handed both Ezra and her dad a cup of coffee. Just as she was about to speak, her Phone went off. She muttered an apology and picked up the Phone. "Spence?" she asked. Spencer was mumbling into the Phone, and it was clear to Aria that she was drunk. "Where are you?" she asked, worried about her friend.
"Okay I'll be right there." she said, grabbing her things and walking to the door. "Sorry, but I have to go get Spencer. You can stay, I'll be right back." she told them, and walked out the door.
This left Ezra and Byron in a very awkward situation, and none of them knew what to say to the other. Ezra understood Aria had to go, he also had to pick up Hardy a few times. But he wished she had asked him with her, because now he was alone with her dad. And her dad wasn't looking very happy, as he sat down across from Ezra.
"Look, Ezra. I don't know you, and I don't intend to get to know you. I don't like you. And I probably never will. But apparantly my daughter likes you, and I don't want to lose my daughter. So I suggest we'll be friendly towards each other, when Aria is around. But other than that, I don't intend on bonding. And if you do anything to hurt my daughter, I swear that you will regret it." Byron told Ezra, making Ezra a little uncomfortable and angry.
"I would never hurt Aria, sir. I love her, and I intend to keep loving her." Ezra said. He wanted to say more. He wanted to tell that he didn't like him either, that he didn't want to get to know him either. But he wasn't going to let this argument escalate into something he would later regret.
"I sure hope you mean what you say." Byron scoffed, he really wanted to go. But he just couldn't go without saying goodbye to his daughter.
Meanwhile Aria was walking home with a drunk Spencer. She hoped her dad and Ezra would get along when she was gone, she really wanted them to bond. She wanted her dad to approve of Ezra, and she wanted Ezra to like her dad. If things continued like this she could see Ezra and her dad spending a lot of time together in the future. Because they would be the people to build a tree house for their children, and her father would have to give her away at the wedding. She knew maybe she was thinking a little far ahead, but she couldn't help it. She just really loved Ezra.
"Ariaaaa, Can you call Hardy?" Spencer slurred, pulling on Aria's arm.
"Why would I call Hardy?" Aria wondered if there was something going on between Spencer and Hardy.
"Becausee... I haven't spoken to him since that night." Spencer went on, not speaking really clear.
"What night?" Aria asked, really excited to hear the answer.
"The night he kissed me... " Spencer said. Aria wanted nothing more than ask Spencer all kinds of questions, but she knew Spencer really just needed to lay down right now. They were close to their room, and Spencer was almost falling to the ground. She opened the door for them, and supported Spencer to her bed. Her dad and Ezra both looked to the door as it opened, anxious for her to return.
"This one needs to go to bed." Aria laughed, as she brought Spencer to her room.
Once she was done with that, she returned back to her dad and Ezra. She was hoping they would be deeply into a conversation by now, but unfortunately that was not happening. They looked a little too happy that she was back.
"I'm back." she said, taking a seat next to Ezra.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go. Your mother is waiting for me." Byron said, using Ella as an excuse to get out. He wanted to spend time with his daughter, not with Ezra.
"Oh, Okay. I'll see you tomorrow after class, right?" Aria questioned her dad. They were planning on a late dinner with the four of them.
"Yeah, we'll pick you up, okay?" Byron said to his daughter. He knew she was hoping for him to invite Ezra too, but that wasn't going to happen.
"Sounds good." Aria said, with a small smile. Ofcourse she wished her dad would invite Ezra too, but she knew he didn't want to.
Once Byron was out of the door, Aria turned to Ezra. She was going to ask him all about Hardy and Spencer, hoping he had answers for her."Did you know Spencer and Hardy kissed? Did you know that? Did Hardy say anything to you?" She rambled on, causing Ezra to laugh.
"Yeah, I knew Hardy kissed Spencer. I think he really likes her, actually. They would make a good couple, don't you think?" Ezra replied, it had been a while since Hardy had really liked a girl. And he was happy for him, Spencer was a great girl.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she said, playfully mad.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realise I had to tell everything that was going on in Hardy's life to you." Ezra joked.
"hahaha, You're funny Fitz." She said, giggling a little. Then she gave him a small kiss on the mouth. "Will you sleep over?" she asked. Then she realised that Ezra had never slept with a girl and added."Just sleeping Ezra, nothing needs to happen."
Ezra nodded. "Sure." He was getting ready for that, but tonight was not the right night. Not after her dad basically told him he didn't like him, and didn't want him around his daughter."
They changed into some comfortable clothes, and laid down next to each other in Aria's bed. Ezra wrapped his arms around his petite girlfriend, and she let her head rest on his chest. She felt so safe and comfortable in his arms. She gave him a kiss goodnight, before falling asleep. Ezra took a little longer to fall asleep. He felt really comfortable with Aria, but he was feeling a little guilty about hiding things from her. He wanted to tell her what her dad had just told him, just like he wanted to tell her that he was paired up with Jason for his project. But he didn't want her to feel sad or worry about those things.
He really believed he was doing the right thing by not telling her those things. It would only hurt her, and it wouldn't help for her to know these things. And it wasn't as if he actually liked Jason. He really hated the guy for what he did to Aria. But he knew that if she ever found out he didn't tell her about it, it would hurt her even more. He knew he eventually had to tell her, but he decided to wait a little longer. After a while he finally fell asleep.
A few hours later, the alarm clock went off. That meant that they had to get up and get ready for classes. Ezra had a whole day of the project with Jason a head of him, which he was really not looking forward to. While Aria had a few classes, and then the dinner with Mike, Ella and Byron.
Aria quickly got dressed, while Ezra made breakfast for the two of them. He decided to get dressed at home, after eating breakfast with Aria. And so Ezra went to his place, to change clothes, while Aria went to her classes.
Ezra quickly got dressed at home, and made his way to campus. He really didn't want to go to the project, because that meant he had to spend the whole day with Jason. He hated Jason. He was Aria's first and he didn't even appreciate her, he hurt her. That made Ezra's blood boil and all he really wanted to do was punch Jason in the face. But that would mean a suspension for him, and he couldn't use that.
He walked into the classroom, and sat next to Jason who had a smirk on his face. "I saw the Montgomery's are in town." He said.
Ezra was already annoyed and it was just the start of class. Did Jason really have to talk to him about Aria or her family? That wasn't any of his business, he wasn't Aria's boyfriend. "Yeah, they are." he said, not wanting to go further into the subject.
"Well, I bet you're having a hard time then. They aren't exactly the nicest parents-in-law ever." Jason laughed, and Ezra was kind of relieved that they weren't just rude to him. But it still bothered him that Jason felt the need to talk to him about Aria and her parents.
"Let's start with the homework, shall we?" Ezra said, hoping Jason would dropp the subject. He did, and they continued working together in something that would be considered peace.
But what Ezra didn't realise was that Byron Montgomery decided to walk around campus, and he just happened to walk past Ezra's classroom. Byron was surprised to see Ezra sitting next to Jason. He didn't like Jason, and he had no idea why Aria and Jason broke up. He was just relieved that they did. But now Ezra was friends with Jason, apparently.
This annoyed him very much, since he knew Aria didn't like Jason nowadays. He wondered if Aria knew that Jason and Ezra spend time together, probably not. For some reason, he decided to take a picture of the two of them working together. He was going to ask Aria if she knew about the two of them spending time together, and if she would tell him she didn't he would show her the picture. That way he could prove he was right, and that would maybe cause Aria to break up with Ezra.
By the time Byron had finished his walk around the campus, it was time for them to pick up Aria. While Ella and Mike stayed in the car, Byron walked over to Aria's room and knocked on her door. He was planning on her asking her about Jason and Ezra that night, but he didn't know when yet. He couldn't ask her before they went to dinner, because then Ella and Mike would be mad at him. So he decided to ask her afterwards, and then he could play the caring father that comforted her.
Aria was not really looking forward to dinner with her family, but she was happy that at least weren't in a fight anymore. Although she hated them sometimes, she still loved them too. They were the people that raised her, the people she grew up with. So she decided it would be fun to catch up with them, and ask how people at home were doing.
And so father and daughter made their way to dinner, not sharing the same feelings about the night.
So, please review. Sorry I took a little long to update. I'll try to update soon, I've just been busy.