Authors Note:

Hey readers! This is Carlet, MonkeyLovr's friend here on fanfic, here to deliver some bad news. Unfortunately MonkeyLovr just doesn't have the time to write and continue her stories anymore. You can thank school for that. She is up to ears in homework and spends a ridiculous amount of time each day doing assignments. So as much as it pains her to have to make this choice, she has decided to no longer continue her stories. I really hope she changes her mind soon, but until she does this will be the last chapter of the Hardened Heart and all her other stories. This chapter wouldn't even be up if I didn't have the password to her account AND saved this chapt she sent me a few days ago. So anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing!

"Mom." Ezra said. "You need to stop doing this."

"Doing what?" Dianne slurred, placing her glass of whiskey on the table.

"Drinking." Ezra sighed. "You can't keep doing this. It's unhealthy."

"I can't." Dianne cried. "I need this."

Ezra sighed. It'd been almost ten years since his mother started drinking. Ten years since his family fell apart. All because of the unknown killer. Ezra had promised his father he'd find his killer, but up until now, he'd failed at doing so.

"Mom." Ezra whispered.

"I need to drink to feel better. I can't live like this." She took another drink.

"If only we knew who killed Dad."

Dianne was silent.

"Ezra." She took his hand in hers. "I know who did it."

Shocked couldn't even begin to explain how Ezra felt.

"What?"

The tears she'd been trying to hold, starting rolling down her face.

"I'm sorry." She cried. "I'm sorry. When your father died, you and Wesley were both so young. I didn't want you two to worry. I wanted you to live your lives, graduate High School, College, I wanted you to not live holding on to who the killer was."

"Who did it, Mom?" Ezra whispered. "Who?"

Loud sobs escaped her lips, as she tried holding back the tears.

"Mom. Please." Ezra begged.

"Dad's colleague."

Ezra's eyes grew wide. He couldn't believe it. He was gonna find out who killed his father.

"Who?" Ezra repeated.

"Byron. Byron Montgomery. He came over for dinner a few times."

The last time he'd seen him was a few days before he was killed. Almost ten years ago.

"He did it?" Ezra's voice grew loud. " How do you know? Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I couldn't. There's no proof he did it, Ezra."

"How do you know he did it then?"

"He confessed. That poor excuse of a man, came here a few days after your father died and told me that he'd been the one who killed him."

"Why would he do that?" Ezra asked. "He seemed like a good man."

"People have different faces, honey. He wanted what your father had. He wanted me."

"What?" Ezra asked in disbelief.

"He told me that night that 'Now that he'd successfully eliminated your father from the picture', he could finally have me. Of course I refused and threatened to turn him in, but I have no proof."

"That son of a bitch." Ezra screamed. "He has to pay for this."

"Ezra, honey, please don't do anything that could get you in trouble."

Ezra shook his head.

"I need some fresh air." He whispered before heading out.

The loud sound of thunder woke Ezra up. He sat up, running his hand through his messy hair. It was still dark out, so it surely still was the middle of the night. Unable to fall back asleep, he layed in bed thinking. He needed to keep his promise. He needed to hurt Aria, break up with her in the most cruel of ways. Needed to do it soon. He had too.

It was the perfect time to do so. She was crazy and head over heals in love with him. He had no doubt about that. It was the perfect opportunity. He knew just how to make it hurt. He'd break up with her, telling her she was used all along. Tell her he never felt anything for her. And lastly, he would tell her the piece of shit of a father she had.

Aria didn't deserve that, he was very much aware of that. But what else could he do? A promise was made. A promise that had to be kept. And he needed to end things with her soon. Before it became much more complicated.


One month later

Winter break had always seemed way too short, but for Aria this year, it'd felt like an eternity. She'd gone down to Maine to visit some relatives for the holidays, and too say it was boring, would be an understatement. It was unusual to miss Rosewood. Every year, she'd always look forward to going to Maine, as all her family would meet there and enjoy the holidays.

This year was different. This time she had a certain someone she didn't want to leave. Someone she'd missed terribly for the past fourteen days. Late night calls and texts, weren't enough for her. They weren't the gentle kisses he gave her, the relaxing state he always seemed to put her in. They just weren't the same as spending time with.

But that torture would thankfully end today. Two coffee's in hand, she anxiously knocked on the door of apartment 3B. One mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi, four mississippi. five mississippi. She knocked on the door once again. Six mississippi, seven mississippi, eight mississippi, nine mississippi, ten mississippi. Nothing. Remembering about the spare key he had, she retrieved it from under the mat, and let herself in.

After closing the door behind her, she wasn't prepared for what she saw. Stepping out of the bathroom, Ezra was wrapped only in a towel. Her breathing caught in her throat as she noticed his bare chest, still slightly wet.

"S-sorry." She stammered, looking away. "I knocked, and no one answered, so I remembered you told me to use the spare key if you didn't answer so I did, but I'm so sorry, I shou-"

"Aria." He chuckled. "It's fine. Really." He assured.

Aria nodded.

"I'll right out." He told her.

As Aria sat waiting for him, his bare chest came back to mind. He was so beautiful. It was the first time seeing him shirtless, so she felt a bit uncomfortable. One thing was for sure though, she did not regret letting herself in.

"So, how was Maine?" He asked, now running a new towel through his wet hair.

Aria smiled, making herself over to him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to his lips.

"Way too long and boring without you." She confessed. "I really missed you."

Ezra kissed her, allowing his tongue to make its way inside her mouth.

"I missed you too." He replied, once he pulled back for air. "A lot."

And he wasn't lying. The past two weeks without her, were hell. He was just so used to seeing her everyday, spending almost ever Friday night and Saturday with her, and to have her be gone completely for two weeks, really put a spin to his life.

"Well I'm back now." She smiled.

"You are." He smiled back.

Ezra kissed her nose, and when he looked down, he spotted the silver Aria necklace he'd gotten her as a Christmas present before she left.

"I see you really like your gift." He stated proudly.

"Are you kidding me? I don't like it. I love it. Thank you again."

"No problem." He replied, once again kissing her gently.

"Well, I should get going. I'll see you at school."


"Hey." Aria smiled, taking a seat at their usual table.

"Hey." They all smiled back.

"How was your trip?" Emily asked.

"Boring." She sighed.

"I feel ya." Hanna agreed.

"How was yours?" Aria asked.

"Just the usual." Emily replied.

"And yours, Spencer?"

"Way too long. Especially with Melissa around the house."

"Well, Emily and I have to go talk to Ms. Adams about our group project. I'll see you two later."

They both nodded.

"Aria." Spencer spoke up, after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah?"

She sighed, picking at her breakfast.

"I need to tell you something. Well, two things actually. It's been eating me up since last month. I know you'll be angry with me, but i need to tell you."

"Ok…"

"That day when you told us about Ezra, " She sighed. "I followed you there. I was upset and angry that you'd kept that secret from us."

"You followed me?" Aria questioned, as if she didn't know.

Spencer nodded.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I did, but once I got there, I regretted it."

"How could you?"

"I'm sorry."

Aria sighed.

"That's not all though. I know how much you like Mr. Fitz." She started, but was cut off by Aria.

"Ezra." She corrected. "And I love him." She clarified.

Spencer's eyes widened.

"Anyway, when I was sitting there, I was able to catch some of the conversation between him and his friend."

"You were eavesdropping?"

"No. I swear I wasn't. I just heard it."

"So what?"

"Aria, I know you love him, but please just be careful. He might not be who you think he is."

"W-what are you talking about?"

"I heard him saying how he would get revenge on someone, make them hurt. I wasn't able to completely makes sense out of all of it, but he said it was a promise he had to keep. Aria, he can be dangerous."

"I can't believe you." Aria yelled. "First you follow me there, and now you're trying to get me to turn against him? You know nothing about him. You don't know him like I do, so please stop."

"Aria. That was never my intention. I just want you to be safe. Not get dragged into his mess."

"I am safe. He's not the person you're saying he is. You just want to make him look bad."

"Ari-"

"No." She stated ."This conversation is over."

Aria stormed off, fury burning her entire body. How dare she say something about Ezra? She didn't know him like Aria did. She had no right.

Spencer sat once again picking at her food. Well that didn't go well. She could count on kissing her friendship with Aria goodbye. Her intention was never what Aria thought it was. Keeping Aria safe was all Spencer wanted. But maybe she'd done the wrong thing? And who knows, maybe she'd heard wrong afterall. One thing was for sure though. She wouldn't let Ezra Fitz ruin her longterm friendship with Aria. She would apologize endlessly.


The week soon flew by, and Aria tried to ignore Spencer as much as she could. Although she'd been apologizing constantly, Aria was still furious with her. How could she even think Ezra would be capable of doing something like that? Ezra was perfect in every single way, and nothing anyone told her, would change that.

It was Friday, which meant spending the evening at Ezra's. She couldn't wait for this day to be over. And it was barely first period.

Ezra took a drink from his third cup of coffee. As a result of barely getting sleep the previous night, he needed all the caffeine he could get. Luckily for him, it'd been an easy week, as they'd just returned from Winter break, but regardless, he'd had a tough night and needed to stay awake.

All he thought about was how he was going to break up with Aria. It was decided he would do it tonight, but he felt so unsettled by the idea of doing it. Something in him seemed like it was trying to convice him otherwise, but he knew he had to do it. And it was better if he ended things sooner than later and before he was the one getting hurt.

The bell rang, and within seconds, the empty room began filling with the noisy teens.

"Ok, class take a seat." Ezra ordered. "I've graded your papers, you all did great."

He handed them out to each student, and when he reached Aria's, he debated taking off the post it note he'd attached to it.

You promised, Ezra.

Sighing, he decided to leave it on there and handed it to her.

Aria smiled, noticing the post it note. Post it notes, were their way of communicating in class, and she always looked forward to them. Her smile soon disappeared when she noticed the writing on it.

We need to talk.

All his notes were always so sweet, letting her know how he couldn't wait until she came over. But this one, she could practically hear the lack of emotion in his voice. What could this mean?

Her heart started pounding uncontrollably. He surely wanted to break up with her. It'd happened to her before. But all the other times, she didn't love or care for the guy as much as she did for Ezra. If he broke up with her, she honestly wouldn't know what to do. Her happy Friday, had now become one of the longest days of her life.


You can do it, Ezra. You can do it.

Those were the words he'd kept repeating, trying to convince himself that he needed to break up with her.

He paced back in forth in his living room, waiting for her to arrive. Soon enough, their was a soft knock on the door.

"Hey." She spoke softly, giving him a small smile.

Damnit. Why was she making this harder?

"Come in."

Aria stepped in, taking a seat on the couch.

"So, you wanted to talk?" She nervously asked.

"Um, yeah." He simply said, before silence filled the room.

He was going to break up with her, she could feel it. Wiping the sweat off her hands, she stood up, making her way to him, so she was standing right in front of him.

"Ezra, If you're breaking up with me, just say it already." Aria whispered.

Ezra's eyes widened.

"Just say it, I don't know what I did wrong, but if you're not happy with me anymore, just stop beating around the bush and say it." Aria whimpered. "Just say it."

As Ezra looked into her tear filled hazel eyes, it was like he'd been stabbed in the heart with a knife. She was already hurting, and he hadn't even ended his relationship with her. To think how much more she'd be hurting once he did, should've made him happy. Mission accomplished, right?

But it didn't.

The moment he looked into her eyes, was when he realized he wouldn't be able to see her hurt, all because of him.

The moment he looked into her eyes, was when he realized, or more like accepted, that for once in his life, he finally had someone who made him happy. Someone who brightened his days. Someone he wanted in his life. He was at a dead end. Confused. Not knowing what he would do.

"Ezra?" Aria asked, after a few moments. "Just break up with me already."

Instead of replying, he cupped her face in his hands, and with a passion he didn't know existed, kissed her. He kissed her until they were both out of breath. Kissed her until he was ready to say the words that'd been burning his lips for weeks.

"I love you, Aria." He simply said, before reattaching his lips to hers.

And as they kissed, he realized he was beyond screwed. Instead of sticking to his original plan, he'd gone and done the exact opposite.

Authors Note: What did you guys think?

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Did you fall for this little joke?Prolly not, y'all are too smart. Haha. But No worries, I'll drop out of skool before I stop writing! Ok well maybe not, but you get the picture!

Anyways, thanks to Valerie for that Authors Note at the top. AHH Ezra's finally fallen for Aria! What now!? Please review to let me know what y'all think!