Shoutout to the reviewer who pointed this out to me, you're the ultimate. Hope you enjoy this.

"Why are you here exactly Ezra?" Aria asked, her voice small. Her eyes didn't move from his face as she searched for an answer. She watched him stand there and noticed the deep lines in his face that weren't there the other day but also the undeniable sadness that was etched onto his face from years of denied loneliness. Aria wanted to move closer to him but knew that wasn't the way to go. "Do you want to come in and sit for a while?" She whispered, unable to move her eyes from his.

Ezra nodded as he breathed out. "Yeah," he muttered, moving into the apartment as Aria moved aside to let him in. She shut the door and turned around to face him and Aria couldn't say to herself that she didn't feel awkward. Not awkward because she was around Ezra – it was almost quite the opposite. Awkward because she couldn't believe Ezra was seeing her in a dingy, shitty apartment in an awful part of town. She watched him collapse on the couch that groaned under his weight and observed that he didn't seem to take any notice to the creaking.

She coughed slightly, wondering if her voice was going to be there or not when she spoke. "Would you like something to drink?" Aria got another whiff of the strong alcohol that had now covered him in its smell. "Water? Coffee?"

"I don't mind," Ezra said softly, not bothering to turn around and look at her because he was more interested in his own hands. "Whatever you're having." He stated simply and Aria nodded to herself. She grabbed two glasses and filled them with tap water before walking over to where he sat. Aria handed Ezra his glass as she sat down on the opposite end of the couch, despite him being plunked in the middle. Her brain suddenly went into alert mode as she remembered she hadn't shaved her legs and that they were on very, very full display in front of a man who had already seen her in bad states. Aria shifted so her legs were underneath her and a pillow covered whatever was left on show. She cursed herself for caring about prickly legs when she had a daughter in the hospital.

"Thanks," Ezra said, offering Aria a smile. Aria returned it, her heart swelling to double its size. "I'm sorry for showing up like this."

Aria shrugged. "Don't be, I'm not used to company so it's nice," she admitted as a half-truth. She was absolutely exhausted and was hoping for a very long nap before having to return to the hospital tonight but then again, if Ezra was sitting by her side on her sofa it wasn't the end of the world.

"You look tired." Ezra noted, not taking his eyes off her and Aria squirmed under the intense gaze that she hadn't been scrutinized under for quite a while. "So do you," she said.

He nodded, "yeah," he breathed, sipping his water but then he shook his head and put it down on the floor. "I don't have a very good excuse compared to yours though."

Aria shrugged, feeling the guilt unraveling inside her. "No," she said, "you have your own reasons, you just found out you have a baby girl and that she's sick, so, still a very good reason. I've been tired since she was diagnosed." Aria stopped herself from giving out more; she knew she should, she knew she would eventually but right now, in a crappy apartment with a hazy atmosphere, she didn't feel as though it was the right time.

"When was she diagnosed?" Ezra asked. Aria didn't even give him any time to finish before she answered with "six months ago." Aria remembered that day very well and it was a day that she relived nearly every time she looked at Daisy and a day that she wished she could forget. "I would relive every single day of hell that A put me through just so I didn't have to relive that one,"

Ezra moved closer to her, sensing the tears that were coming to her eyes and put a hand on her shoulder. "I wish I never left," Aria admitted, her eyes shut so she didn't have to look at him. "I wish I never left you and the girls. I've missed you all so much it's been killing me," a few tears slipped from her eyes and Ezra's hand moved from her shoulder to her face so he could gently wipe them from her cheeks. Aria opened her eyes to look at him. "It's been absolute hell, college was awful and then Daisy got diagnosed and ever since then I've only wanted you. I could shove you in the back of my head during college and tell myself it was best you didn't know, best that I didn't ruin your life but ever since that day all that's been on my mind has been you. And it's so selfish, it's so selfish it sickens me." She finished her words with a sob that racked her whole body making Ezra drag her towards him. He shifted in his seat so he was directly opposite her; his eyes not moving from hers.

"Is that why you left me, us?" He whispered, knowing that if he spoke any louder, Aria wouldn't be the only one on the couch bursting into sobs. "You didn't want to ruin my life?"

Aria looked at him with a miserable expression on her face and she knew that whatever she had blurted out her mouth the other day hadn't pushed him away. Not one inch. "How would it have looked, Ezra?" She sniffed, hiccupping all the way through it. "You are the most intelligent, kindest man I have ever met, what would it have done to your reputation if people knew? Forget about mine but I couldn't let you suffer more than you'd already had for me,"

Ezra didn't know what to say and Aria could see that. "I am so sorry Ezra, for everything I've said and done." Aria whispered to him and Ezra cupped her face, stroking her cheek and he felt warmth inside him when Aria burrowed herself deeper into his hand. He let out a small, quiet laugh. "Shall we just get some sleep?"

Aria smiled gently in response as she nodded.

…

Aria woke up for a brief moment three hours later. She looked at the arms surrounding her in a way that wasn't when they had got themselves into the bed. She smiled which soon turned into a grin but it wasn't long before Aria fell into one of the most peaceful sleeps she'd had since she left Rosewood.

…

Aria woke up at six in the evening to an empty bed and cold sheets. Aria looked at the pillow, which looked just as fluffed as the night before. She swallowed, thinking to herself. Aria quickly got up to see if he'd be in the kitchen or sitting on the shoddy sofa but she knew it wouldn't be true. She cursed herself for being so optimistic when she saw the empty apartment but was suddenly overcome with a bout of sadness.

He's a boy, she told herself in sadness as she sat on the floor as sobs overtook her, he's just a fucking boy. But as she said those words in her head again - the words that had carried her through college missing him, the words that had made her delete his number from his phone, the words she told herself every time she wanted to find him and tell him about Daisy – she knew they're weren't true. Maybe Aria had always known they weren't true, but in this moment, collapsed on the cold and hard wooded floor, she could no longer kid herself that Ezra wasn't just a stupid boy.

He was a man – and a man who'd she'd been desperately in love with since the age of sixteen.

Thanks for reading guys, sorry about the reupload lol

See you next time

xo