A/N: So this chapter was going to be longer and I was going to post it tomorrow but after last night's episode I all thought we could use more Ezria right now. In case you didn't notice I made a cover photo for this story that i'm actually quite found of. The people in the letters are Noel, Corrie, Aria and Ezra, so they're going to be playing some big roles in this story. p.s. Corrie is portrayed Felicity Jones
New Message from 3
Ezra saw the notification appear on the home screen of his phone. '3' of course, was Aria. They had avoided using their real names when adding each other into their contacts so that if one of them were to lose their phone, or if someone was reading their conversation over their shoulder, their entire realtor ship wouldn't get blown. He had avoided opened the text message Aria had sent him discretely as possible trying not to be rude to the student currently auditioning in front of him. Aria knew that he was busy, so she wouldn't text him unless it was important. He quickly unlocked the screen and read the message she had sent.
What are your plans tonight?
Ezra glanced up at the kid who was currently singing. Awful, would be an understatement. Ezra was no singing prodigy, his ear was not expertly tuned to recognize the name of a note just by hearing it, but he could tell that this kid was flat, pitchy, and emotionless. To make matters worse, this was the third time Ezra had heard him sing the song because he kept asking to restart because he would forget the words.
Ezra diverted his eyes from the train wreck currently taking place center stage and wrote Aria an answer.
No plans. I'm probably getting home around 7:00. Want to come over? I can pick something up.
Ezra didn't want to get his hopes up, but he really wished Aria would be able to come over. Even if it was just for an hour. Almost immediately her reply came through.
I want to, but I can't. Sorry, babe. Can I call you later?
Ezra sighed as he read her reply. Frustrated he chucked his phone on the table and ran a hand angrily through his hair. He'd been at these auditions for hours without any food or water, currently listening to the one of the worst auditions in history, sitting next to his girlfriend's mother who was the biggest clockblock in the world, when all he really wanted to do was go home and hang out with Aria. Plus, his ass had fallen asleep from sitting in the same position for so long.
The kid on stage finally gave up and apologized before scurrying out the door, clutching his sheet music closely to his chest.
As soon as the door closed, Corrie spoke, "Well that was a complete disaster."
"So much for going out with a bang," Ezra added. He got up from the uncomfortable chair and started to stretch, wincing at the pins and needles that were running through his lower body.
"Wait, is that it?" Ella asked surprised.
"Yeah, he was the last one," Ezra answered. The huge pile of resumes no longer existed. Now there were three smaller piles; the largest one being the 'no' pile.
"We've been here for four hours," Matt pointed out from the piano. He started packing up his things and walking down the steps towards the group. He wrapped his arm around Corrie's shoulder,
"Yeah, hate to break it to you, but tomorrow's probably going to be even longer," Corrie said with a regretful smile on her face. Ezra began to tidy up the room, returning chairs to their original locations, picking up bits of trash. When he returned to the group of adults, Ella and Corrie were chatting excitedly,
"Yeah, it's no big deal! I love having company! It gets so lonely just me and the kids," Ezra caught the end of Ella's sentence as he walked back to join the group.
"Well then it's a date!" Corrie exclaimed. She turned and saw Ezra entering their group, satchel over his shoulder, one hand in his pocket, the other holding his phone, which he glared at grumpily. "Hey, Ezra, we're going to Ella's after callbacks tomorrow for dinner. You in?"
A glimmer of hope filled Ezra, maybe he would finally be able to see his girlfriend for once.
"Yeah, sure, that'd be great." Ezra said honestly with a smile.
"Great!" Ella exclaimed, "well I left my things in my classroom so I'll get going," Ella said while heading out the door, waving everyone goodbye. Matt left soon after that saying he needed to teach a piano lesson, leaving just Corrie and Ezra.
"Who ya texting?" Corrie asked Ezra. The two had decided to walk out to the parking lot together.
"My girlfriend," Ezra answered absentmindedly, his main focus on texting Aria. He had told her that he was coming over for dinner tomorrow and she said she would try to work something out so that they could somehow spend some time together. Ezra felt Corrie look over his shoulder down at his phone, which Ezra quickly hid from her view, "What are you-"
"She's in your phone as heart?" Corrie asked in disbelief, "What, does she not have a name?"
Ezra smiled and rolled his eyes finding that oddly enough, he thought Corrie's teasing was quite funny, if not a bit childish.
"No, she doesn't have a name. When she was young her whole family was killed by a bunch of rapid crocodiles. She was so young that she couldn't remember her name," Ezra said seriously, he looked over and made eye contact with Corrie and they both started cracking up.
"You sure you don't want to be in the show, Ezra? You're quite the performer," Corrie complemented with a smile. Ezra found himself chuckling and rolling his eyes, not really sure what to say; an effect that Corrie seemed to have over him, she was just so energetic and out there that talking to her was like a work out.
"But is she like 'The Doctor' from Doctor Who, no one knows his real name so they call him 'The Doctor' only in your case it's just 'The Girlfriend'?"
Ezra looked at her confused, "I – I don't get the reference."
Corrie sighed dramatically, "It's only one of the best shows in Sci-Fi history, it's been around since the 60's and it's still making new episodes now. It's brilliant, really" Ezra watched as Corrie suddenly turned into a nerdy fangirl in .006. He thought it was cute though, he liked seeing people talk about things that they were passionate about, it was one the reasons he liked English so much. Very rarely do you see people get excited about quadratic equations or polynomial functions.
"Wow, you're like a super nerd," Ezra commented with a smile.
"Yeah, what's wrong with being a nerd?" She questioned defensively.
"Nothing," Ezra said with a shrug. The two kept walking until they reached Ezra's car, "So, you'll send me the call back list, I'll type it up and post it on the school website?" Ezra asked, clarifying what exactly his job was tonight. Corrie nodded and the two exchanged their goodbyes, before departing their separate ways.
Ezra winced as he had another sip of his really shitty beer. As soon as he had gotten home he collapsed on his couch, exhausted. Eventually he got up and changed into only boxers and a t-shirt and grabbed something to eat. Unfortunately, his food supply was extremely barren, so Ezra settled for a bag of old pretzels and a Natty Light. Once he grabbed his pathetic excuse for a dinner, he returned to the couch where he laid down, his feet sticking off the end.
He thought about moving to the bed to eat, but he knew that if he got crumbs on their bed, Aria would be super pissed. Ezra sat the bag of pretzels in his lap and looked down at the unappetizing food. He was so hungry though, he didn't really care. He pulled out his laptop and pulled up Facebook out of habit. Almost immediately after he logged on Corrie sent him a chat message.
Hey, we never really exchanged contact info what's your number?
Ezra waited a second before replying with his cell number. He clicked Corrie's icon, which sent him to her profile page. Out of curiosity, he clicked on her info tab.
Work and Education
Rosewood High
*Theatre Teacher
Elon Universtiy
*BFA Acting
Relationship
Matt Kremer
Ezra scrolled down to look at all music, tv, and film interests. Maybe, they would have something in common and could potentially be friends.
Music: The Beatles, The Smiths, Dexy's Midnight Runner, Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Queen
Ezra smiled as he saw her music selection, it looked like she just walked out of a record store from the 70's. He moved down to the films section and laughed when the only ones there were Harry Potter, The Avengers, and Star Wars. He moved to the TV section and his eyes widened when he saw the amount of TV programs she had listed.
TV: Doctor Who, Sherlock, Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Merlin, Bones, Game of Thrones, Teen Wolf, Vampire Diaries
He was about to scroll down to see the books she liked when she chatted him again
This is your cell phone number?
Ezra replied that it was and then clicked on her photos. Her current profile was from a recent photo shoot she went to for new headshots for her resume. Her long brown hair was hanging straight down, framing her face, and her dark bangs laid straight across her forehead covering her eyebrows. Her eyes were darkly highlighted by eyeliner making the iris appear an even brighter green. Her skin was incredibly pale and her lips were a soft pink color. Corrie sent Ezra another message on Facebook, which he looked at.
You sure this is your number?
Ezra knotted his eyebrows, confused. He scrolled back up to double check that the number he gave her was in fact his. It was. Ezra told her that it was and then returned to look at her photos. He felt a little weird that he was internet stalking this girl, but it was only done with the intention to know her more, since he would be spending the next month or two with her. He went on her albums and noticed the latest one called 'Comic Con 2012'. He was about to click on the album when the noise of Facebook chat system alerted him to another message. He was about to log off if it was Corrie asking the same question, but when he looked down he noticed it was one from Aria. Ezra quickly clicked off Corrie's profile and then felt a little guilty for doing so. He didn't feel anything for Corrie in the romantic sense at all, yet some reason he was acting guilty about it. He shook his head, trying to physically clear his thoughts. He clicked on Aria's message and immediately the hint of a smile crept on his face.
Hey handsome ;) Wanna get on Skype?
Ezra didn't even bother responding, he quickly minimized his Facebook page and logged into Skype and quickly sent her a call. She answered almost immediately, and when he saw her a smile erupted on his face. She was lying on her stomach on her bed, in only a dark purple tank top. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail that hung over one shoulder. All the lights in her room were dark, so her face was illuminated from the light in her computer screen. She was wearing headphones and was smiling back at him.
"Halló kynþokkafullur," she said in a sultry voice. Ezra looked at her confused for a second.
"Is that Icelandic?" Ezra clarified. Aria smiled, she was so happy to finally be able to talk to Ezra. She thought it was so cute the way his face lit up when he saw her. She laughed internally at the way his face scrunched together when she had greeted him in Icelandic.
"Já," She confirmed with a giggle. Ezra rolled his eyes and laughed with her.
He paused and then replied in very broken Icelandic, "hvers vegan þú talar Icelandic?"
"Why do I talk Icelandic?" Aria asked confused. Ezra nodded, "For being an English teacher, your grammar really sucks," Aria teased with a smile.
"I'm not even speaking in English!" Ezra exclaimed, frustrated. Aria laughed at his cute outburst and Ezra smiled at the sound of her laughter.
"I thought you would know Icelandic, you told me you spent some time in Reykjavik," Aria pointed out.
"I did spend some time in Reykjavik," Ezra said with a smile, "I stayed there for a like month and a half during a summer semester my junior year," Aria laughed at his sassy attitude.
"And hear I thought we could have secret conversations in Icelandic," Aria said wistfully, she twirled a piece of her hair around her finger.
"I mean we can, but you would just have to have a lot a patience and only ask me simple things," Ezra explained, "Like I know you said hello to me, but I have no idea what you called me," Ezra said, he stretched out further on the couch and moved an arm back behind his head to rest his head on.
"I said 'Hello sexy'," Aria clarified, Ezra gave her a flirtatious smile and winked at her, Aria giggled. She repositioned herself so that she was lying on her side, with her head resting on her hand, "Do you know how to say, 'I love you'?" She asked quietly.
"Ég elska þig," Ezra answered just as quietly. A small smile drew on Aria's lips.
"Ég elska þig líka," she responded. Ezra smiled at her, loving the way he felt when they talked. His stomach grumbled and he begrudgingly picked up the bag of stale pretzels but accidently picked it up upside down and caused an avalanche of stale pretzels to land on his shirt.
"What did you just spill?" Aria asked through her laughter. Ezra looked down at his shirt already 500% done with these pretzels.
"A bag of pretzels," he muttered to Aria, "don't worry, I'm on the couch not the bed," Ezra carefully moved his laptop to the coffee table and then tried to scoop all the pretzel bits back into the bag before throwing them away.
Aria stared at her computer screen confused, as she was no longer looking at Ezra's face.
"When did you get pretzels?" Ezra heard Aria ask. He had moved toward the kitchen and was trying to brush all the remaining salt off of his shirt.
"Like three month ago," Ezra admitted, " Maybe it's a sign I shouldn't eat them,"
"I think that the fact that they are three months old should be a sign you shouldn't eat them," Aria replied. Ezra gave up on his shirt and went over to his dresser to pick out a new one.
Aria laid on her bed, looking at Ezra's bathroom door through her computer screen. She was honestly a bit worried that when left alone, Ezra would rather starve then go grocery shopping. Sighing, she looked at the clock at the bottom of her laptop screen and noticed that it was only 8:00. Aria noticed movement on her screen and looked up to see Ezra shirt land on the floor in front of her. She bit her lip to contain the smile on her face.
"Hey, Hot Stuff," Aria called, "if your gonna get naked, you better invite me to the show," She heard Ezra laugh off camera, he came over in front of the computer in just his boxers. Subconsciously, Aria licked her lips, as she looked at Ezra practically naked before her.
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he said in a mocking seductive tone. Aria would be lying if she said she didn't contemplate his offer for at least a second.
"Nice try, babe," Aria answered with a laugh.
Ezra shrugged and turned to go grab a shirt. While he was over by his dresser he called over his shoulder, " So how come your aloud to Skype with me tonight?" he asked perplexed.
"I'm at my dad's and he went to bed early and took a bunch of sleeping pills which will knock him out till like six am so I figured we would be safe," he heard her explain. Ezra nodded understanding. Ezra heard the shrill sound of his phone ringing. He moved over to the coffee table and reached over his laptop to pick up his phone. Aria watched as Ezra reached for his phone over his laptop giving her a great view of the muscles of his lower abs, and the dark hairy trail that disappeared into his boxers. Aria couldn't help herself, she quickly picked up her phone next to her and snapped a picture of the great view. She would probably just send it to Ezra and tease him about it and then delete it shortly afterwards.
"Aria, I'm going to take this," She heard Ezra say before answering his phone, "Hello, yes this is him, yeah, I know I gave you the right number, okay yeah just send me the picture," Aria listened to Ezra talking on the phone and she wondered who would be calling him so late. When he finally hung up, Ezra lounged back on the couch without a shirt, and pulled the laptop on top of him.
"Who was that?" Aria asked innocently.
"Corrie, the drama teacher," Ezra said nonchalantly. He pulled out his phone and started adding Corrie's number into his contacts.
"Oh, she's pretty," Aria commented, barely containing her jealously.
"No, Aria," Ezra started. He hated when she got jealous, he thought that it was cute every once in a while but when she got jealous and doubted his feeling for her is when he got annoyed. He thought he made his feelings for her perfectly clear and is upset him when she thought he would just up and leave her when she was clearly the most important person in his life.
"I-I didn't even say anything," Aria stammered a bit taken a back.
"I love you aria and I always will, okay? So, don't think that I'm interested in anyone but you,"
"Okay," Aria agreed quietly. Ezra was glad she let it go, he didn't want to fight with her especially when they rarely got to see each other.
"You know what need to do" Ezra said changing subject.
"What do we need to do?" Aria asked with a smile.
"Come up with actual names on our phones," Ezra stated.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," Ezra explained, "I don't want you in my phone as just a heart emoticon."
"Ezra, I thought we agreed that using actual names would be too risky," Aria said
"It would be, that's why we should use fake names," He explained with a boyish grin, "What if I'm Romeo and your Juliet,"
"They kill themselves at the end of the show. No. I want our love story to be a happy one," Aria argued. Ezra couldn't help but smile. He tried to think of books he read, movies he's seen, somehow most great love stories ended in tragedy.
"I got it," Aria exclaimed in excitement, "I'm Scarlett and you're Rhett!"
"Gone With the Wind? Aria, they don't even end up together," Ezra stated, "at least Romeo and Juliet end up together,"
"You don't know that, they could have gotten back together. Unlike Romeo and Juliet, they are most certainly dead," When Ezra didn't seem to budge Aria pouted at him and Ezra finally decided to give in.
"Fine," he said with a sigh, fully giving in to his girlfriend.
"Really?" the excited look in Aria's face made it all worth it. Ezra nodded and she smiled back at him.
"Hey, you should go to bed soon. You're going to want to rest your voice," Ezra said with a wink Aria smiled wider and nodded in agreement.
"Ég elska þig," Aria whispered at him.
"Ég elska þig," Ezra whispered back. He watched as Aria turned off the Skype call and then turned off her computer all together. Ezra moved his computer off his lap and went to the fridge to look for some food for his unforgiving stomach. Head, halfway in the fridge, he heard a knock on his door.. He quickly pulled on a sweatshirt that was lying on his couch and went to answer it.
Ezra opened the door and was greeted by an old white guy probably in his 50's.
"Pizza for Ezra Fitz," Ezra looked at the man confused. Ezra was positive that he did not order a pizza.
"Um, I don't think I ordered a pizza," Ezra said slowly. The old man looked at him and grumbled.
"Well it's already paid for, you just have to sign," the man said impatiently. Ezra was going to tell the man to cancel the order but his stomach had other ideas. Ezra grabbed the box of pizza and signed the receipt. The old man handed him a copy and then walked off down the hallway. Ezra shut the door and carefully turned back to the suspicious pizza box. Cautiously, he opened the lid expecting a fist to emerge or it be full of bees or something. What he found was indeed a delicious pizza with pineapple. On top of the lid read a message
'dinner's on me tonight, babe –Aria xoxo'
Ezra smiled, Aria must have ordered him a pizza after the whole pretzel incident and told them to write a message on the box. Ezra thought back to his earlier thoughts; all great love stories had ended in tragedy. Well then him and Aria wouldn't be a great love story; they would be a beautiful love story. They didn't need to change lives with their love or inspire millions; they just needed each other. And that's really what it came down to. At the end of the day, he didn't need anything but her.
As always review review review. I'd love to know what you think of Corrie. Love her? Hate her? think she's an annoying slut?
THank you to my gorgeous and darling reviewers!
Guest: Hahah i'm glad you think so! I try! But yeah mainly cause he's a guy and because you can't have a good story without sex ;)
EzriaFreak: I'm trying to, darling
nainalovespll: Thank you so much for sharing the story! Yeah, I was like getting mad at Ella while I was actually writing it, but the truth will come out sooner or later...maybe ;)
obsessedwithezria: Gah!Its so great to hear that! thanks a bunch!
HarrylovesGinny09: Thank you!
lettherebelove0721:I'm glad you think so, I was trying to make her reasonable but still a parent!
CassandraPrince: Thank you very much! I like this comment a lot.
Liar2198: Hahhahahaha ooooh trust me ;) they'll be plenty of that to come ;)
KatyForYou:Oh I can guarantee the show will still be very prevalent! When they never mentioned it again in pll I was so upset! Now theres a story line the writers should have committed to. Thanks for the review!