When All Else Fails
The night went by only interrupted a few more times, but nothing major. Ezra had taken the rest of the week off to take care of Aria, who was unable to do practically anything for herself. She couldn't even feed herself, which made her feel a little incompetent. But Aria was recovering smoothly from her surgery and felt that she needed to give Ezra some much needed time alone. He hadn't been alone since she had moved in, so she went to spend the weekend with her family. They loved having her, if just for the weekend and they took great care of her. On Sunday night, Aria went back to Ezra's, knowing she had to go back to school on Monday.
"I'm going to have so much makeup work, I'm dreading it!" Aria whined as she sat at the counter eating dinner with Ezra.
"Hey, so am I, we can do it together!" Ezra also had to go back to school tomorrow and was frankly a little upset about it. He had enjoyed his time off with Aria, even if it did involve cleaning up her puke.
"I missed you when I was at my moms." Aria turned serious, but still smiling.
"Well I missed you too." He kissed her on the nose and started the clean up their bowls of lo mein and fried rice. Aria was still in her sling and surgical wrap, and she was still restricted to use her arm at all. School tomorrow was going to be tough, she couldn't write at all, and how would she carry her books? She would figure it out in the morning, but right now, she had to get some sleep, knowing it would be a long day tomorrow.
The couple woke up early so Ezra could help Aria wash her hair and he had even mastered the flat iron in the couple of days that they were home together. It didn't look all too bad, and Aria was surprised. She picked out what she wanted to wear and Ezra helped her put it on, it was a simple outfit of leggings with a sweatshirt, no one would judge her because she just had surgery, so she really didn't care what she looked like. Her sweatshirt again either had to go over her whole sling so Aria wouldn't help but giggle as Ezra put it on her.
"What do you keep laughing at?" Ezra looked up from his spot on the floor putting Aria's vans on.
"It's just that, I look ridiculous with this sweatshirt covering my arm. It looks like they just amputated my arm instead of fixing it!" Aria was laughing so hard and Ezra was looking at her like she was crazy. It wasn't that funny, but Ezra started laughing at how much Aria was laughing. It turned into a fit of the giggles for both of them and neither could stop laughing. After they had recovered, they left for school separately, Aria a little earlier so she could get her makeup work from her other teachers. School went by rather slowly and Aria felt very far behind, but everyone was so willing to help her that she was okay with it. Fourth period came around and the class welcomed back not only Aria, but Mr. Fitz also.
"Mr. Fitz, where were you for four day?" One of his male students asked.
"I was visiting some family in New York actually, it was freezing." Ezra said laughing along with his students.
"Now let's welcome back Ms. Montgomery from her shoulder surgery, and everybody be willing to help her, we don't need any more accidents like before, sound good guys?" Ezra told his class. They all nodded and got to work on a project they had started while Ezra was out. Aria joined in a group and the rest of the school day went relatively fast for Aria. The rest of the week went slowly with no accidents or anything, she was relieved, her life had begun to seem like a movie with all of the drama. There was one thing on her mind though, and that was that she was late. She had cramps and other signs of PMS but she never actually got her period. She was a little worried because she thought that she had been eating well and so she should be getting it. She talked to her friends about it over lunch on Saturday at The Grille.
"I'm not really sure though, should I see my nutritionist? I thought I've been eating a well-balanced diet. I mean, I'm eating three meals a day with snacks in between." Aria asked her friends for their advice, but knowing if she told Ezra he would freak out saying that she's not eating enough, even though she thought she was to begin with.
"I would, just to be sure, there's probably nothing wrong, it's probably just that it takes some time to become regular again." Spencer suggested.
"Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it." Hanna added, feeling that Aria might just be overthinking it. Aria nodded her head but made a mental note to make an appointment with her nutritionist. She called later that day and they wanted to see her as soon as possible. They didn't want anything to happen to her, if she wasn't getting enough nutrients. They scheduled her later in the day, which was perfect since Ezra had an interview with Hollis, so he wouldn't even have to know. She took Spencer along with her for support and that sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Spencer was looking around at the disgusting pictures on the wall.
"This is gross, I'm never doing this again!" Spencer had to look away from the wall because it was making her sick. Aria just gave her a look.
"I mean, I will support you in whatever you need me to!" Spencer faked enthusiasm and aria just laughed. They called Aria's name and Spencer went back with her. First, she would just talk to her doctor, and then she would be examined.
"Alright Aria, what seems to be the problem today?" Her doctor said looking over her previous health history.
"Well since my hospitalization, I think I've been eating very well. Like I eat all three meals a day and keep them down, and I'm not eating junk, I'm eating healthy food and stuff. I haven't started working out or anything, but I still haven't gotten my period, and I'm a little worried that my body isn't accepting the nutrients or something." Aria explained.
"Well that's very common in women recovering from an eating disorder. When was your last period?"
"Oh geez, probably four months ago." Aria revealed, which surprised the doctor.
"And when did you start eating regularly again?"
"About three months ago."
"Well, I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't be getting it, so let's take a look." The doctor had Aria hop up on the table and she started by pressing on her stomach and asking if she had any pain. Aria said that she wasn't in any pain, but there was some pressure. The moved onto a gynecological exam next. Aria hoped that Spencer wouldn't feel too awkward being in the room for this, but she was fine, she stayed seated at Aria's head and held her hand. When the doctor was all finished, she removed her gloves and sat back at her computer.
"Well Aria, there's some things that could be the reason for this. Would you like your friend to step outside for this?" Aria shook her head no, and the doctor proceeded.
"Well, it could be from your shoulder surgery, the medication can mess with your cycle sometimes. That would be a logical reason. Another reason would be because you're stressed out. Have you been under a lot of stress lately?" The doctor asked, writing notes about what Aria is saying.
"No, not that I can think of, I've actually been feeling a lot less stressed since I've been seeing my therapist and everything." Aria answered the doctor.
"Well then I've got one more possible answer to your problem. Is it possible that you could be pregnant?" Aria thought about it, shocked at the question. She wasn't on birth control because she usually ended up throwing up whatever she took, but she didn't think that Ezra and her were ever unprotected.
"I don't think that's possible, I'm always safe." Aria responded, a little scared.
"Well, why don't we do a blood test just to be sure? That way we can rule that out if you're not pregnant. I'll be right back." The doctor stepped out to get her supplies. Aria and Spencer sat in silence for a few minutes before Spencer broke it.
"Wow, pregnant, that would be-"
"Stop it, I don't even want to think about it until I get the results." Aria said, tears forming in her eyes. The doctor drew her blood and told Aria that they would have the results in a matter of hours and they would call her. Spencer drove Aria back to her apartment, but on the way they made a pit stop.
"I can't wait a matter of hours Spence, I need to know now!" Aria walked into a drug store and bought three pregnancy tests after making sure no one she knew was in the store. Aria put her sunglasses on and went back into the car.
"Do you want me to wait with you while you take them?" Spencer asked when they pulled up to the apartment. Ezra wasn't home yet, so now was a good time to take them.
"Would you?" Aria pleaded, not wanting to do this alone.
"Yeah, do you want me to call the other girls too?" Aria nodded and let herself and Spencer into the apartment. The other girls were over within ten minutes and they were shocked, but supportive. Aria went in and peed on the three sticks and waited for five minutes with the girls waiting to see what they would say.
"God this is the longest five minutes of my life!" Hanna whined about a minute and half into their wait.
"Oh, of your life, yeah I'm sure this is real tough on you." Aria rolled her eyes. Hanna apologized and Aria accepted it but stayed quiet. The kitchen timer went off and Emily went to retrieve the tests from the bathroom counter. She handed them to Aria, who refused to look at them.
"Just tell me what they say." Emily looked at the results.
"Well, there's a 2/3 chance that you're pregnant, one of them is negative." Emily revealed, showing her the negative one. Aria broke down in tears and all the girls comforted her.
"Hey, you don't know anything for sure yet, that negative could be the right one, just don't get upset yet." Hanna hugged her, trying to calm her down.
"Ezra's going to freak out." Aria whispered, wiping her eyes.
"No he won't, he will be totally supportive." Emily reminded her.
"I'm seventeen and pregnant with my English teacher! Tell me that's not messed up." Aria felt awful, like she was going to throw up.
"Hey, you're eighteen on Wednesday Aria, and if Ezra get's the job, he won't be your teacher, everything will be legal." Spencer reminded her. Aria just sat in silence. Aria checked the time, Ezra would be home soon. Aria wiped her eyes and told the girls they should leave before Ezra gets back, he would know something was up. The girls left and Aria was trying to find a place to hide the tests. She began to think of places Ezra would never look, and she had an idea. Aria pulled her box of tampons out from under the sink and stuck the tests in there and then she put the box back in the cabinet. She was so tired and exhausted, so she climbed into bed for a nap and was out before she knew it.
Ezra arrived home a few minutes later, but he realized that Aria was sleeping, so he took his coat off and started to make dinner. About thirty minutes later, he woke Aria up.
"Hey baby, dinner's ready, why don't you come eat?" Ezra whispered in her ear as he tucked her hair behind her ear. Aria's eyes fluttered open and she smiled.
"Hey, how'd the interview go?" Her raspy voice asked as she stretched.
"That's why we're having dinner, we're celebrating. I got the job! Your dad really did me a favor, he pulled a lot of strings to get me that interview." Ezra said kissing Aria.
"That's great babe! Are you going to take it?" Aria sat up in bed.
"I think so, then we can finally be public, me not as your teacher, and you'll finally be eighteen." Ezra smiled and helped her out of bed. They ate dinner and Ezra realized something was a little off about Aria.
"You okay hon?" He asked, clearing her plate from the table.
"What? Yeah, I'm fine, just tired." Aria hated lying to him, but she knew he would freak out if she told him, and then it ended up being nothing. Aria's phone started ringing and once Aria saw who it was she picked up immediately. Ezra could only hear Aria's side of the conversation, but it sounded like a professional one.
"Yes, this is she." Aria answered.
"Mhmm, okay, okay, yes I'll call. Thank you." Aria hung up the phone.
"Who was that? Ezra asked turning the TV on.
"Um, it was just The Grille, I applied for a job there and they wanted to know when I could come in for an interview." Aria lied again, knowing that soon she would have to apply for a job there because she was seventeen and pregnant to her English teacher.