Forget Me Not
Chapter Ten
"A goal without a plan is just a wish."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Aria
I picked up the Mexican food on my way home from the bar, pushing away the sad feelings I got from Ezra leaving so suddenly. But I had a full-proof plan. This was going to work and Alison would never find out. Everyone would be happy, and maybe, just maybe, Ezra would come into the light.
I opened the door to the two-bedroom apartment Spencer, Hardy, and I shared. Riley didn't live with us, not yet, and hopefully not ever...I only wanted to be with one person in all honesty. My phone dinged just as I set down the food and I beamed at the message.
Ezra's at the apartment. We're on our way home.
I responded to Hardy's message with a simple 'ok' and set my phone down, putting the food in the warming drawer to keep hot. I then moved into my bedroom to change my clothes - they smelled strongly of the revolting scents from Snooker's.
As I was just finishing setting the table, the front door opened and in walked Hardy and Spencer.
"Hey guys! Just in time, too!" They looked at me foreignly, as if I was a stranger.
"Why-what put you in such a good mood?" Spencer asked carefully, smiling gently.
"I have the perfect plan. You guys are gonna love it! Really!" I took the food out and dished it onto everyone's plate.
"What is it?" Hardy spoke as he sat down, motioning Spencer to sit too. "This 'perfect plan' of yours?"
I finished serving the food and sat down to eat. I took a bite of the fried rice before jumping into the details.
"Okay, so we all know that Alison wants to keep Ezra in the dark. She threatened all of us about what she would do if we told him about the past."
"Go on," Spencer pursed her lips.
"Well, what if we just help him remember?"
"What do you mean, Aria? I'm not following..." Hardy looked at me, eyebrows furrowed.
"Yes! It's perfect! And you've already helped me! The apartment! He will see things, maybe they'll trigger memories! I know for a fact something weird happened at the bar today! He stared off into space with this look of adoration on his face - and I know he wasn't thinking of Alison because they're fighting right now. Guys...this could work!"
They just looked at me.
"Well say something!" I exclaimed, becoming irritated with them.
"I-yah, I guess it could work, possibly." Spencer shrugged, looking to Hardy for agreement.
"Yah. Definitely. We'll help you." I smiled at both of them.
So we ate and talked and for a moment, everything felt like old times. Just for a moment.
Alison
"I'm so serious right now, Jason. I swear to God, if you don't find him..." I trailed off as I hissed into the phone to my older and dumber brother.
"Ali, cool it. I followed him here, it won't be long before I find him. Have you forgotten how small Rosewood is?"
"Just find him, okay?" I snapped, hanging up on him. It was already ten at night and it had been three days since Ezra left. It made me angry, but sad too. Sad for Marley, sad for myself.
Marley was sleeping soundly in her bed with Priscilla and I was lounging on the couch, flipping through the channels. I contacted Jason after Ezra left so he would follow him. Aria had to have met up with him already, but of course, she wouldn't think I was watching them this closely. Sure, Jason was a risky choice given that he was 'A' all along and the girls know that, but he was the only person I could get. I wasn't hiring a stranger because I don't like telling strangers secrets about me or my family.
I didn't think I was wrong for the choices I made. I didn't do anything wrong in the first place. Maybe staging the car accident, but that's all I did...
I heard the pitter-patter of feet upstairs and sighed.
"Marley, why are you awake, baby?" I called, letting her know that I knew she was awake.
"Mommy, I can't sleep. Where's Daddy? I want him to sing to me." I flinched when she said 'Daddy.'
"Daddy's not back yet? Do you want Mommy to sing to you?" I asked as she came downstairs slowly and sat next to me. I brushed through her curls with my fingers.
"I miss Daddy," she whispered. I didn't know what to do. What to say. A few heartbeats passed.
"I know...me too," I picked her up and started carrying her back upstairs. "You should do what Daddy told you to do if you miss him." She nodded and closed her eyes, placing both hands on her heart. Her eyes flew open.
"Can I sleep with you?" she asked in her small voice.
"Of course, darling." I assured her, carrying her to my bed, Priscilla in her hand.
"Should we pray for Daddy?"
"What?" I asked confused. We didn't pray. We never talked about it. I didn't understand how she knew what it was.
"Miss Deborah, from my preschool, she says, she says that if you pray, if you pray when something is sad, or bad, she says if you pray, someone will make good things happen and someone will fix the bad thing, or the, or the sad thing."
I was awestruck. My two year old daughter was lecturing me on prayer.
"We don't do that, baby. It doesn't work." I said gently, turning out the lamp.
"I think it will work." She said, she wasn't sassing me, she wasn't challenging me. She was simply stating her opinion - her innocence would never cease to amaze me. I wish I could've been like that.
Ezra
I was getting out of the shower on Saturday morning. I was heading back to LA the next day. I couldn't run away anymore. I had to face Alison, and I had to be there for Marley. I couldn't abandon her...them.
As I was opening a drawer that I stuffed my clothes into, an abstract picture clouded my vision.
A younger version of myself laid next to a small girl with beautiful, chocolate hair. I watched the girl and me laugh and giggle at each other, tangled in sheets.
"Last night was perfect." She was obviously younger than me by a few years. I saw myself blush and pull her closer to me.
"You made it that way." I couldn't see her face, it wasn't blurry, but her hair was covering it. The girl glanced over at the clock.
"Mr. Fitz, you're going to make us late for school!" She got up, wrapping a sheet around her, giving the universal meaning that neither of us was wearing clothes. She was still facing the younger me in the bed.
"Miss Montgomery, are you accusing me, a teacher, would let a student be late to school?" Montgomery. The name clicked. Aria? She bent down and pecked me on the lips.
"Care to join me in the shower?" The two of them got up and practically ran to the bathroom. My eyes widened as I saw the face of the stranger. Aria. A very young, very nude Aria.
My head was pounding and my pulse was racing. I couldn't make sense of any of this. I needed to talk to someone. Someone who could tell me I was crazy. I was, wasn't I? I was obsessed. Obsessed with this girl whom I had just met almost two months ago.
It explained so much, why she cried when she saw me the first day with Alison. Did I rape her? Did I coax her into having sex with me then skip town to LA and got in the accident? Or had my mind made that memory up. I just wanted a simple answer and Aria made the most sense to me at the moment. It couldn't have been her, though...
I finished getting dressed before I grabbed my car keys and fled out of the apartment before more memories could come back and confuse me.
I typed Hardy's address into my GPS system and waited for it to give me my route. Hardy had given me his address before he showed me to the apartment.
I arrived and knocked on the door. I waited a good ten seconds before pounding on the door again.
None other than Aria answered.
"Ezra?"
"Oh, I, um...I'm sorry. I didn't know you lived here." I muttered, scratching the back of my neck. She didn't shrink away from my gaze this time.
"You can come in," she said, opening the door wider and allowing me access.
"Thanks."
Hardy walked over and Spencer soon followed, crossing her arms over her chest like she did the day before.
"Hey man! Why didn't you call? I could've met you somewhere!" Hardy smiled and patted my shoulder as I made my way to their couch.
"Look, Hardy...I need to talk to you about something." Hardy widened his eyes and nodded. He walked over and sat in an armchair across from me.
"Anything." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes just for second.
Aria
Spencer quickly rushed over to me.
"We're going out. We're going shopping. We'll be back in an hour!" Spencer cried, almost sounding desperate.
"What?" I asked, pulling my eyebrows together, but she didn't care. I slipped my shoes on and had my coat halfway on when she pulled me out of the apartment and slammed the door.
"What the hell? What is your problem?" I exclaimed, rolling my eyes as I struggled to keep pace with her as she made her way down to her car.
"I'm sorry, but you do not want to be there for guy talk! If he remembered something...you being there is just going to make it awkward and more complicated. You can't forget that he's married, Aria!" I huffed out a breath and jumped into the passenger seat.
"You're probably right...but..I just, I want to be there...if he does remember me. That's all." She gave me a sympathetic look and backed out of the apartment parking lot.
Hardy
I was nervous, I didn't know what he wanted to talk about and it didn't help that the girls left me here with no one but myself.
"Hardy...I think I'm going insane." Ezra spoke, shaking his head.
"What? Why?" He remembered.
"I, uh, something happened...just forty minutes ago. I was walking out of the shower when I remembered something...and I'm pretty sure it was before the accident. But it's completely confusing. It's like trying to put a puzzle together without knowing the picture. I get bits and pieces, but none of it makes sense. None of it goes together!" Ezra sighed and closed his eyes again, rubbing the back of his neck quickly a couple times.
"What did you remember?" His face went bright red.
"It was nothing, really. Just some old stuff between me and a girl..."
"Who was the girl?" I pressed on. Did he know about Aria? And how much did he know?
"That's the crazy part..it was Aria." He whispered her name as if she was still in the room. I didn't know what to do, how to respond. "Hardy, please - either tell me I'm insane or tell me the truth. I'm so sick of everyone keeping my own past away from me."
I stared at him, shocked. I could do nothing but nod.
"Yeah. It was Aria." I finally got the words out. He relaxed somewhat, but then a whole knew characteristic emerged. Worry? Guilt?
"Did I...did I hurt her?"
"What do you mean?" he knew what I meant. Emotionally. I knew the whole story by heart from living with Aria and Spencer.
"Did I, you know...rape her? I was a teacher. Her teacher." He breathed the words, scared. I almost laughed but I maintained my expression. "Is that why she's been so weird around me lately? Why she's been crying all the time?"
He had it all wrong. What could I say? How could I even begin to answer him? He didn't remember anything, just a few, minor memories.
Just as I opened my mouth to speak Aria burst through the front door. She gave us a weird look as we both had our breath caught and were staring at her with wide eyes.
"I just forgot my purse..." she explained slowly, picking her purse up. Ezra then stood up and took her hand, dragging her outside the apartment. What the hell was he doing now?
Ezra
"Look, I know that you know me." I scrutinized her face as I spoke, she flinched away from me. My expression softened and I took a step away from her. She really was scared of me.
"What are y-" I put my hand up, stopping her.
"Yeah. You don't know what I'm talking about! Just...Aria...I know that you know what I'm talking about! Please...just answer one question." I pleaded, she looked up at me slowly. More tears in her eyes. I wiped one away, she didn't flinch away from my touch, that was good, I supposed.
"What?"
"Did I hurt you? As in take advantage of you in any way? Is that why I was on my way to LA? Is that why you came to find me?"
"That's three."
"What?" I looked at her in confusion and her mouth turned up in a small smirk.
"That was three questions. You only said one." I chuckled nervously at her and ran a hand through my hair.
"Please answer, Aria."
"No."
"Why no-"
"No, you never took advantage of me." She interrupted me.
I sighed in relief and chucked again, it sounded more at ease now.
"Thank you." I breathed, I had taken a step back closer to her again. She stared at me, wide eyed. "So did we meet in that bar? Is that why you wanted to meet me there?"
"Ezra...I really can't talk about this. You only said one." She closed her eyes and I took that as a yes. She was different again, when she opened the door, she almost looked giddy. Now she was back to the scared, sad girl I met in LA.
"It was. We- we were in love, weren't we?" She held up a hand.
"Please. Ezra, just stop."
"Why?" I murmured, taking yet another step closer to the girl.
"Because."
"Why, Aria?" Our faces were only inches apart now. I could taste her breath in my mouth. She shook her head defiantly, keeping control of the situation, but I lost my care of control. I was done with Alison, I wanted to know my past with this one girl, Aria.
"I'm not leaving until I know everything." I challenged, she didn't say anything, she just continued shaking her head. I took her chin in my hand and forced her - gently - to look up at me.
"Give me a reason to get in my car, and leave. Never coming back."
Her breath caught in her throat and I could almost feel her will slipping away. I slowly bent down to meet her lips with mine. It was just a small kiss, but it felt so right. It wasn't even something one could explain. She pulled away then, looking up at me with a hurt expression.
"You're still married, Ezra! You have a daughter. An amazing one!"
"I know, I know." I ran a hand through my hair again.
"I think that this should be our last goodbye." She bit her lip and looked down. Her saying these things hurt more than they should have. More than I would have ever imagined. It was like a blow to the stomach.
"If that's what you want.." I studied the girl, she looked up at me and didn't nod or shake her head. She was perplexed.
"It's not, but it's the right thing to do."
I nodded at the maturity of her statement. I kissed her once more on the forehead.
"Goodbye, Aria."
"Bye, Ezra."
Jason
I sat in my car in Aria's apartment's parking lot. I saw everything. Ezra going there, Aria and Spencer coming out, Aria going back in only to be followed by Ezra and Aria coming outside and talking.
Then kissing.
I had always had feeling for Aria, despite what I did to her and the girls. I shook my head and dialed Alison's number.
"Did you find him?"
"Oh- I found him alright." I smirked.
"What do you mean?"
"He's right here, with Aria Montgomery."
"Does he know?"
"I don't know if he knows about anything, but he and Aria have something going."
"What is that supposed to mean, Jason?"
"It means they were just kissing."
There was a moment of angry, hurt silence. She didn't think this would've happened. She was wrong. Hadn't she learned that these two were inevitable?
"No. This means war. I'll call you when I need you." She hung up without a goodbye. I turned back to Aria across the street who had her arms crossed across her chest. I chuckled.
She was broken.