Ezra's POV
I wake up to the most beautiful girl in the world sleeping soundly in my arms. Aria's hazel eyes flutter open when I gently kiss her forehead.
" How did you sleep?" I ask Aria.
" Great." Aria says as she snuggles up to me.
" Where do your parents think you are?" I ask Aria.
" With Spencer." She replies.
" Good." I say.
" Ezra what are we going to do?" Aria asks me worriedly.
" I think we need to find out what happened between our parents." I decide.
" How are we going to do that? You obviously can't talk to your dad, and every time I mention the name " Fitz" my mom acts as though she is having a nervous breakdown." Aria reminds me.
" Maybe you have been talking to the wrong person." I tell her.
" You think I should talk to my dad?" Aria asks me as if I'm crazy.
" Of course not! But maybe our dads have some mutual friends from high school that would know what happened between them." I explain.
" Ezra you're a genius!" Aria tells me excitedly.
" I wouldn't go that far." I say as my cheeks turn red.
" How can we find someone who will help us?" Aria asks.
" I have my dad's old high school yearbook, maybe we can look through it and see what we find." I suggest.
" Good idea." Aria says.
Line break
After leaving The Lost Woods Resort, Aria and I drove straight to my apartment. We are going through some of my boxes trying to find the old yearbook.
" I think I found it!" Aria exclaims as she pulls out the yearbook.
" Where should we look first?" I ask Aria.
" Let's just skim through it until we find something." Aria suggests.
We move over to my couch and open the yearbook. It immediately opens to the senior page.
" That's my mom." Aria says as she points to the picture.
" She looks just like you." I say.
" There's your dad." Aria says as she points to his picture.
My dad looked just like me when he was in high school. This makes me very uneasy, what if I grow up and become just like him? Aria immediately senses my tension and kisses my cheek.
" You're nothing like him." She assures me.
" How do you know?" I ask not convinced.
" Because you're sweet and gentile. You would never hurt anyone." Aria tells me.
" I hurt you." I say referring to the time I made Hardy convince her that our friendship wasn't real.
" That was to protect me. Some times people's intentions speak louder than their actions." Aria argues.
" I guess." I say as Aria flips the page.
The next page has a picture of my dad, Aria's dad, and a boy named Derek Black standing next to each other smiling in baseball jerseys.
" Who is Derek Black?" Aria asks me curiously.
" I have no idea." I reply.
" Let's see if he wrote your dad a message." Aria suggests.
" He wrote my dad a message!" I say when we see his signature in the yearbook.
Hey Robert! Thanks for being a great friend and teammate these last four years! I'm really sorry about everything that you went through these last couple of months. I hope you and Byron have fun in college!
- Derek Black
" What happened to your dad in high school?" Aria asks confused.
" I don't know, he doesn't talk to me about theses kinds of things." I respond.
" We need to contact this Derek Black guy. It seems like he was friends with both of our dads, he probably knows what caused this hatred between our families!" Aria tells me.
" It's not that simple Aria. We know nothing about this man, how are we suppose to contact him?" I ask.
" Let's look him up on Facebook!" Aria suggests.
" Okay." I say reluctantly as I hand Aria my laptop.
" He lives in Philadelphia! Maybe we can drive up there and meet him sometime!" Aria says excitedly.
" Is his contact information on his profile?" I ask.
" Yes, his phone number and email." Aria tells me.
" Good. I'll call him now." I say to Aria.
I pick up the phone and dial his number. Aria holds my hand nervously as we wait to see if Derek will answer.
" Hello?" A voice says to us over the phone.
Ella's POV
Byron and I sit in the living room together. Mike and Aria are both at a friend's house, so we have the afternoon to ourselves.
" Wine?" Byron offers.
I nod as he fills my glass. I don't usually drink this early, but with everything that's going on with the Fitzes I need something to relieve my stress.
" Please tell me again what Robert said to you last night." I beg my husband.
" I already told you, he had no idea that our kids were seeing each other." Byron reminds me.
" Do you really believe that?" I ask.
" Yes. Robert Fitz is a lot of things, but he isn't a liar." Byron replies.
" You know him better than I do." I say.
" Are you afraid?" Byron asks me gently.
" Afraid for myself? No. Afraid for our daughter? Most definitely." I admit.
" I won't let him do anything to her or you." Byron says to me.
" You and I both know what he is capable of." I remind my husband.
" I'll take care of it." Byron says as he pulls me closer to him.
" I think you should talk to this Ezra kid." I say.
" That would put Robert on the defensive. What good would that do? Byron argues.
" Yeah, I guess you're right." I say defeated.
" I could talk to Aria." Byron suggests.
" That's a great idea! She doesn't listen to anything I say, and girls have a special bond with their fathers." I tell Byron.
" I just don't want to see her get hurt like you were." Byron tells me gently.
" I don't either." I say whilst a single tear runs down my face.
" If he does anything to Aria, Robert Fitz is a dead man." Byron assures me.
Robert's POV
I fill my empty glass with the strongest liqueur I can find. Byron Montgomery really went to far this time. How dare he accuse me of wanting to hurt that little brat of his, Byron just dug his daughter's own grave. Now I do want to hurt her, and I most definitely will. My thoughts are interrupted when I hear somebody pounding on my front door.
" Derek!" I say happily when I see him standing on my porch.
" Hello cousin." He says back.
" What brings you over to Rosewood?" I ask curiously.
" Your never going to believe what just happened." He says avoiding my question.
" What?" I ask as we walk over to the couch.
" Your son and Byron Montgomery's daughter just called me! They told me that they are in love and want to know what happened between you and the Montgomery's." Derek says chuckling.
" Of course my son would be desperate enough to date a Montgomery." I say in disgust.
" I'm glad I never had to meet him." Derek tells me.
" What did you tell them?" I ask curiously.
" I agreed to meet them tomorrow in Philadelphia. We finally have a way to get close to Byron's daughter without him knowing it!" Derek says excitedly.
" You didn't tell them we are cousins did you?" I ask nervously.
Derek shakes his head and asks, "What should I tell them about you and the Montgomery's? Telling them the truth about what happened will probably make Aria closer to her family. Not to mention the fact that Ezra would hate you even more than he already does."
Furry fills my body.
" Lie then stupid! We want Aria to turn away from her father, so she will trust us!" I tell Derek angrily.
" You're not a liar Robert." He tells me.
" You're right, I'm not. However, I never said I had a problem with other people lying for me." I explain.
" Okay, I'll do what you say." Derek says.
" I will have the Montgomery's in the palm of my hands in no time." I say excitedly.
" Cheers." Derek says as he pours me another glass of wine.
Did you like this chapter? What will Derek tell Aria and Ezra? Please review, it would mean the world to me!