A/N Marathon update. I really hope you like this.

Aria went to school on Thursday as normal. News of Noel's arrest had hit the newspaper but no one seemed to say anything to her. She was named in the small blurb about it so she was kind of surprised no one approached her at work. She was trying to remain positive. She saw Ezra's email but had not responded yet. She knew he was busy and could wait for a reply. She was laughing to herself about going to the prom with him as she was walking to her car Thursday afternoon. Spencer was waiting for her. Aria waved and Spencer gave a weak smile. Aria assumed that she was there to scold her about not talking to Ezra yet. "Hey what's up?"

"I've got some news. Noel has been released."

"Are you kidding? Why?" Aria said, her body tensing instantly.

"He posted bail. He will go to court next month. I'm sorry Aria. I wanted to be the one to tell you." Spencer leaned in to hug her. Both of them knew this would happen, but Aria had hoped for more time.

"Thanks. I appreciate it. I should really get home then."

"Do you want to stay with me?"

"No, I'll be ok. I just want to get home. God knows where he'll be."

"Just remember all the proper paper work is in place. Call the police if anything happens. Even a noise outside. They are on your side Aria. Remember that." Spencer said hugging her again.

"Thanks Spence." Aria gave her a weak smile, got into her car and headed home. She was going to lock herself in for the night. She needed to digest the fact that Noel was back on the streets as they say.

For the next week Aria went to school and went home. She only did things in broad daylight. Every night she checked the locks on the door and all of the windows. Once it became dark out she would turn all the lights on in the apartment. Aria was afraid that Noel was going to come look for her and she wanted to be prepared if he did.

Ezra was buried in a historical romance. He worked late each night. Penny was a great asset. She had set up numerous meetings with the author and they plowed through the 1000 page novel. Ezra felt it was too long but he actually enjoyed the story. Veronica Walsh was a gifted author who knew her strengths and weaknesses. Ezra had prepared to do battle with her but he found that as long as the criticism was constructive and he could show why he suggested something she was willing to listen. Together they trimmed her story cutting things that were not important to the story making it stronger piece of literature.

On Wednesday, Penny put the first edit of the Walsh project on Mr. Hayden's desk, now tentatively called Love and War. Ezra knew the title needed work but he hoped Mr. Hayden would be pleased.

As he sat in his office waiting to hear from Hayden he decided it was time to check in with Aria. Looking at his watch he knew she would still be in school so he decided to send an email.

How the heck are you? I am sorry I've been out of the loop. Today was my deadline and we made it. I think I owe my assistant a gift or something. She's been a trooper. Now we're just waiting to see how we've done. What have you been up to? I'm sure as the end of the year is approaching you've been busy.

I've missed you. Luckily if my calendar is right we'll be seeing each other in about two weeks. We really need to start planning that so our flights are close to each other. Plus I'd love to book a hotel away from the airport.

I hope you are having a good day at school. I love you. Talk to you soon.

Me

As he was hitting send Penny called his intercom. It was time to face Hayden.

Aria got his email during lunch. She had been distracted the last week looking for Noel everywhere she went. However it had been a week and she had not even seen his car around town. Maybe nothing was going to come from what happened. She was glad Ezra had sent an email. She knew he had been busy and she really did not want to disturb him. Now she knew it was safe to talk to him again.

You're alive! I'm so glad you made your deadline. It's been killing me not to send messages or emails but I really didn't want to distract you. Please let me know what you're boss says and take your assistant out to celebrate, she's earned it.

School is busy. Next week is the AP English exam so that will take up a lot of time prepping. My non-AP classes are psyched because they just have study hall next week lol. I can't believe how quickly the end of the year is approaching.

I can't believe the month is almost up. We do really need to start looking into that. I'll get on it because I wouldn't mind leaving the airport this time either.

I love you too!

Me

As she hit send her next class was starting to come in the classroom. She sent a text to Hanna and Spencer quickly.

Dinner and drinks at the Grille tonight?

They both replied they would meet her at 6pm. She was happy. It had been a week and it was time to get out of the apartment. She could not hide forever.

Spencer called Hanna after she got Aria's message. "Hey."

"Hey," Hanna said. "Were you shocked to get that message?"

"I was. I thought we were going to have to drag her out of the apartment."

"Maybe she is just finally doing better. She's had a week to process."

"Yeah, we still need to keep an eye on her but I think this is definitely a step in the right direction."

"I agree. I'll see you tonight."

"Sounds good. Bye." Spencer hung up the phone and smiled. Hanna was right. Aria has had some time to process and she is finally moving forward. Even though she wanted to ask if Ezra knew yet she decided she would not push the issue tonight. They were going to have a great time.

"Ezra, sit down please," Mr. Hayden said.

"Thank you sir. So what do you think?"

"Honestly, Ezra this is some of your best work."

"Really? Thank you sir."

"Despite what you have heard, this was not a punishment. I wanted to challenge you. If you continue to edit the same kind of material you'll become very good at one thing. The goal is to become very good at all kinds of material. That is what a truly successful editor is."

"Thank you sir. This was a challenge but I came to really enjoy it. Plus Veronica Walsh knows what she is doing which helps a lot."

"I have put notes in the margin. There are only a few things that still need some tightening up and the title," he said pausing.

"I hate it. We're working on it."

"Glad to hear that. I want to be ready to send this to the printers in a month."

"A month, ok we can do that."

"Great. Thanks Ezra."

"You're welcome." He said standing and heading for the door. Ezra turned back to Mr. Hayden. "May I ask a question sir?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Why the short deadline for the first edit?"

"Well two reasons actually. First I wanted to see where you were after a week. I did not expect you to have accomplished so much. Ezra if I told you I need this book next week it could be done it's almost there and I'm impressed by that."

"Thanks, and the other reason?"

"I wanted to see how well you worked under pressure. I can hear the grumblings around the office too. I don't want to know what's going on it's not my business but I wanted to see if you could still get your job done no matter what. You've proved you can and you can do it exceedingly well."

"Thanks, Mr. Hayden." He said as he walked out of the office with a big smile on his face. Some of the women were watching to see what end result was. Some seemed surprised and others gave him a wink. Ezra finally made it back to his office where Penny was waiting.

"Well, what did he say?" Penny asked.

"We nailed it!" Ezra said giving her a hug. "Thank you for all your help I couldn't have done this without you."

"You are welcome Ezra. We make a good team."

"That we do. Don't bring lunch tomorrow. You and I are going out to celebrate."

"Sounds good to me."

Ezra headed into his office and checked his emails. He was happy to see that Aria had responded. He sat for a minute basking in the glory of doing a job well done. He took a project that could have ended in disaster and made it a big success. He was happy he was able to do that. He replied back to Aria.

We nailed it! Best review from my boss ever. I'm taking Penny, my assistant, out to lunch tomorrow to celebrate.

Let me know how you make out on flights and we can book them.

Love you!

He hit send, grabbed his stuff and headed out. He was going home to take Harp to the beach for a good run. Harp had been cooped up for the past week while Ezra worked and he deserved a treat too.

The girls were enjoying dinner and drinks as planned at the Grille. Aria had done errands that afternoon and had not even been home yet. She was feeling good. "So how has work been Hanna?"

"Good, busy with prom season which is a good thing but I could use a break." She said laughing. Hanna owned a boutique in Rosewood where she did some designing and ordered from really unique designers. It was starting to become very successful. "I actually got a dress in today that I think you should wear to prom."

"Are you kidding?" Aria said starting to laugh. "I have my go to black dress for such occasions."

"You'll love it. It's purple, short with some sequins. It won't over power the girls but it's better than black."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Aria said.

"Hanna is right. Get away from black. At least go check it out." Spencer said giving Aria a nudge with her elbow.

"Yeah come by tomorrow after school and look at it. I'm not putting it out on the floor until you see it." Hanna said.

"Alright, I'll come," Aria stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes were locked on the door.

"Aria what is it?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, what are you staring," Spencer started to ask until she was seeing what Aria was seeing.

Noel had just walked through the door of the Grille with some bimbo. Everyone in the place began to stare at him and whispering to the other people in their parties. Hanna turned around and finally saw him. She opened her purse and threw money on the table. Standing up, Spencer followed suit and pulled Aria with them. The three of them pushed their way out the door not even looking at him.

"I thought I could handle it." Aria said while she sat on her couch. Hanna and Spencer had brought her home. Hanna was on the phone to the restaurant making sure they had left enough money. Everyone knew why they left and the owner said it was not a problem, they were all set.

"You are handling it." Spencer said. "Just because you are feeling better doesn't mean you need to be in the same room as the creep. I know you don't want to hear it but you need to tell Ezra. I think you will feel better."

"God, Spencer. I will tell him when the time is right. I'm seeing him in two weeks."

"Aria, Spencer is right." Hanna chimed in once she was off the phone. "You need all the support you can get right now."

"I know." She said starting to raise her voice. "I will tell him when we meet in Kansas City. I think I just need to go to bed now." This was the politest she could be without throwing them out the door.

They said their good byes and left. Spencer and Hanna knew she was angry and scared and they wished they knew what they could do to help her.

When Spencer got home she did something she should not have done. Aria would be so angry with her but she did not care. Aria needed someone in her corner right now that could hold her and let her cry. Her friends were not the right people for that. So Spencer did the only thing she could think of. She emailed Ezra.

Dear Ezra,

This is Spencer Hastings writing. Aria's friend. I'm not sure you remember me but that's not the point. I have some not so good news that I think you need to be aware of. There is no easy way to break this so here it goes.

Last week after Aria broke everything off with Noel he came to her apartment and threatened her. He also assaulted her. She ended up with some bruises and a bump on the head. The physical damage was minor but I'm afraid the emotional damage is worse. For a week she basically went from school to her apartment, hiding from him. Tonight we thought she was better because she suggested going out to dinner. During dinner Noel came to the restaurant and she froze. She is back in her apartment and will probably continue to keep hiding. She was going to tell you what happened when you go to Kansas City because she wanted to tell you in person, but I didn't think it could wait.

I know I've over stepped my bounds but I really think you need to know and if you could call her or even come see her she would really benefit from seeing someone who loves her.

Again I'm sorry I did this but Hanna and I don't know what else to do and thought you might be able to help.

Spencer

After Spencer sent the email she let Hanna know what she did. It was probably not the right thing to do and Aria would be upset at her but it needed to be done. Aria needed to know she was safe and loved and right now the only person who could do that for her was Ezra. Spencer had a feeling he would be on the next plane out, she hoped he would anyways.

I promise Ezra is coming to Rosewood and everything will be happy again lol. Please review. I appreciate them all!