She stared at the 3B on the door, her hand in mid air, deciding whether to knock or not. It was after two in the morning, but something told her he'd be awake.
She knocked.
She listened for a sound, a signal that he was awake, but heard nothing. She had almost talked herself out of her visit and turned to leave when the door opened.
He stood there in the doorway wearing just a pair of black sweats. He was shirtless. She'd never seen this much of him. She sucked in a breath at the sight of his toned arms, shoulders and chest. There were tiny hairs sprinkled across his chest that grew in a pattern and disappeared below the band of his sweats. She followed the trail of hairs with her eyes as she fought the urge to reach out and touch him.
He didn't say a word, and neither did she. He simply stepped aside and motioned with his head as a gesture for her to enter.
She took a step in and looked around. It was dark inside; the only light was coming from a lamp on the table next to his couch. He'd been reading, she gathered, by the book laid open on the coffee table.
He shut the door the behind her. "How is she?" he finally spoke, even though they hadn't moved beyond the entrance to his apartment.
It took her a second to gather her thoughts; she was still caught off guard a bit by his appearance. "She's still unconscious, but the doctor thinks she'll be awake by morning," she finally managed. "I think she's going to be ok."
He shook his head in approval. "And you? How are you?" He asked.
She tried to force a smile, and nod her head as a sign she was fine, but she couldn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. She dropped her head and lost sight with his stare. "I don't know who's doing this to us, Ezra," she finally confessed. "We got another message from A as we left the hospital."
She handed him her phone to show him the message. He read it, and then tossed her phone over on counter. His hands found her face as he lifted it to meet her gaze again, "We'll figure this out, we'll find out who this person is, I promise you."
"And what about Noel?" She questioned.
His hands dropped from her face, she could sense the tension that suddenly crept over him as he took a step back. "I'm not concerned about him. I won't let him keep you from me. He's not going to come between us, Aria. I won't let him; I won't let anything come between us again."
"But what if he goes to the school board, or the police? I don't want you to loose your job, or get in trouble, Ezra." She stepped towards him, closing in the gap between them to just a few inches.
He instinctively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, "We just won't give him anything to use against us." She tucked her head under his neck and laid her face against his chest. Her hands reached around him and pulled down on his bare shoulders drawing him nearer to her as he planted a kiss on the top of her head.
She held on to him for a while. It was the only place, in his arms, that she felt safe, whole, and complete.
She finally loosened her grip on him and pulled her head back to look up at him.
Her eyes weren't tired, or stressed as they had been when she first got to his apartment, they now were full of lust and desire. She could see him take that in; see him process the look on her face.
"Kiss me," she demanded of him.
"Aria," he managed to get out before her lips pressed against his.
"Kiss me, Ezra," she breathed, though muffled by her mouth on his.
He didn't try to pull away or argue, instead he dove right in. They shared a kiss that was full of passion. There was so much time to be made up. The long weeks of trying to stay away from each other, of trying to do the right thing, the sensible thing, were immediately forgotten in their hunger for each other. Their time apart was lost now as their lips moved over one another's, and their tongues explored all angles inside the other's mouth.
He took a step towards the wall, she moved with him till her back was up against it. His hands that had once wrapped around her, holding her close, slowly made their way to her shoulders. He let his fingertips follow her arms down to her wrists. He grabbed a hold of each wrist, brought them above her head and pinned them against the wall. His kiss was so deep and feverish that she felt her heart speed up dangerously. He loosened his grip and let his hands find her shoulders again. His kisses softened and he pulled away from her mouth, and started with her cheeks, where the tears had once been, he laid kisses along her face, jaw and neck till he was planting delicate ones on her shoulder. He gently slipped the strap of her tank off her shoulder and let his lips cover even more skin. Her breathing had become labored, and she could feel the warmth spreading inside her. She felt fire burning within and knew she was ready for this, ready for him.
"Ezra," she breathed his name again.
He stopped and looked her in the eyes. They held each others stare for a moment. He was breathing just a heavily as she was and she could see him fighting the urge within himself.
He took her hand and led her to the couch. They sat facing each other, his hand still holding hers, but space now between them. Their breathing had settled by now, and she could sense that he'd let it get further than he'd planned.
"Tell me about A, Aria. We need to find out who this person is, and put a stop to the tormenting." He changed the subject, killed the mood, but she knew she needed to tell him about A.
And she did, she told him everything. She told him about last summer, about the Jenna thing, about every text she'd gotten from A. She didn't realize that she'd been crying till she felt his thumbs wiping away the tears from her cheeks. She felt such a weight lifted as he knew it all now. She was keeping nothing from him anymore.
She didn't remember falling asleep. But she woke to her phone as it jingled with a new text. She was lying on his bed, atop of the covers with a blanket. He was asleep on the couch, but starting to stir.
She opened her phone to check the message; it was from Emily, thank goodness, "Aria, where are you? Hanna's awake, get up here!"