Aria laid curled up in Ezra's arms with nothing on but huge grin. She couldn't remember the last time she was this happy. She wished it could always be like this, so optimistic and carefree, but reality had always proven to be a bit more complicated. Turning over on her side she looked up at an almost asleep Ezra.
"So how are we going to play this?" she asked. Ezra's eyes opened up, and he groggily looked her over.
"Play?" he questioned.
"I'm talking about you, me, my family… Hollis?" she added nervously.
Ezra shock his head in understanding. "Are you worried about getting me into trouble?"
"Yeah, I tend to do that to your jobs" Aria said sadly.
"Well don't. You are not my student, or a staff member, I'm sure they can't legally penalize me. Plus Dean Williams knows of our past, I'll just be upfront with him" Ezra suggested.
Aria smiled warmly at him. "Well family might be a tad trickier than that" Aria warned.
"Let him hate it, I'm used to it" Ezra said honestly.
Aria laughed, "says the person who doesn't live with the man"
"Are you saying you want to be a secret again" Ezra pressed.
"No, not a secret, just not a walking advertisement. Maybe baby steps until the waters have cooled." Aria suggested.
"Aria the waters have been raging since he found out about us" Ezra said frustrated.
"I know, I'm not saying for a long time, just maybe a week or two. Dad has been very anxious ever since you came back, I don't want my father to have a freaking heart attack." Aria tried to explain.
"Ok, a week or two, but were not going backwards again. I don't want to hide this, it has never felt right" Ezra said firmly.
Aria smiled, and kissed his lips. "Deal. I'm going to call mom. I'll tell her the truth but have her tell Dad I'm staying with her tonight"
"And you think she will cover for you?" Ezra asked skeptically.
"She'll be so happy I'm with you, she'll do whatever I want" Aria informed him.
"Is that so" Ezra replied as rolled over and placed his body on top of hers. "Well I know Byron would be very unhappy to know the things I'm doing to his daughter" he smirked as he kissed her neck.
Aria just giggled wildly.
"Morning" Ella grinned over her coffee cup as her daughter made her way into the house.
"Good Morning" Aria laughed back, knowing Ella must have been waiting on her all morning.
"So?" Ella asked back impatiently.
"So.." Aria smiled back.
"If I'm going to be covering for you, the least you can do is indulge me in my curiosity" Ella whined.
"Oh Mom, I was just teasing" Aria relented. "He was at the wedding, he asked me to dance with him, and then he apologized, and I apologized, and now we're starting over" Aria explained with a huge grin on her face.
"Wow, that was fast. I knew he would cave, but I really thought it would last longer than this" Ella admitted.
"It's been over a year, that felt like an eternity" Aria corrected.
"Well as long as you two are happy, I'm happy" Ella smiled. "But why lie to Byron?" she questioned.
"I'm just worried about Dad lately, I've seen him so frazzled and stressed out. We agreed to baby step him into me and Ezra getting back together" Aria tried to explain.
"Sweetie, you are always trying to take care of everyone around you, but don't put his happiness in front of your own. I know for sure Byron wouldn't do that for you, especially when it comes to Ezra." Ella warned.
"I know, I'm going to tell him. I just want this time around to go as smooth as possible. I mean we're all adults now" Aria reasoned.
"Oh, hunny. You could be fifty and you would still be your Dad's baby girl. I can't imagine that ever changing" Ella smiled.
"Well he's going to have to except that, and he's going to have to except Ezra" Aria said firmly. "But in the meantime, I need to grab some clothes because we are hiding out in his house"
"Bringing back to old days?" Ella smirked.
Aria just rolled her eyes, and went to grab her clothes.
Making her way back into Ezra's house, Aria found him buried into his laptop. "Whatcha working on" she asked, making her presence known.
Ezra hesitated for a moment, "I'm re-working some evaluations" he answered.
Aria caught on pretty quickly. "Some or just one?" She asked.
"Well just one at the moment" clarified.
"Ezra, I'm not expecting you to do that" Aria said as she came and sat down beside him.
"I know, but it probably needed to be revised either way. Plus it would help to…. Cool the waters" he smiled.
Aria smiled sweetly at him. Then curiosity struck her. "So how bad was it before?" she questioned him.
"Well that would be unprofessional for me to discuss with you Ms. Montgomery" Ezra answered feigning offense.
"As unprofessional as going after your ex girlfriend's father, and then giving him a pass once you start sleeping with her again? Aria pointed out.
Ezra paused for a moment, taking in her comment. "I see what you did there" he responded. "I can see where the whole situation looks questionable, but disclosing evaluations with family members would only make it worse" Ezra defended.
"It was that bad, huh?" Aria smirked.
"Ahhhh…. Yeah" he conceded
