CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EZRA

It had been over a week since Ezra had last heard from Aria. He was worried beyond belief but he could tell that she needed her space right now. It wouldn't help to be overprotective; Ezra had a feeling that it would actually just push her further away. So he waited, as much as it killed him to do so.

They had only been seeing each other for a little over two months now but this time apart was eating Ezra alive. He felt like a giant part of himself was missing. Well, it wasn't missing exactly. He knew exactly where it was, about a five minute drive East of his apartment to be precise. He tried calling her once, but hung up before she had answered. She had to come to him, that would be best for all involved.

Sighing quietly, Ezra stood up from where he had been dwelling in a state of self-loathing and called for his dog. "Come on, Nemo. Let's go for a walk." After donning his shoes and jacket, the pair made the short walk to Rosewood City Park. The handful of children running around enjoying the beautiful afternoon tore at Ezra's heart. The atmosphere just made him think of Parker. He turned to head out of the park, unable to deal with the happy families milling around him, when he heard someone call his name.

"Ezra?" It was said so softly that Ezra thought he had imagined it. Turning back towards the park, however, he spotted Aria standing no more than fifteen feet away, next to a jungle gym where he could see Parker climbing. Without a second thought, Ezra strode towards her and enveloped her in his arms, pressing his face into the loose curls framing her neck.

"I've missed you," he whispered quietly. "So much."

"Oh, Ezra… I've missed you too," Aria replied, lifting her head from his shoulder to see his face. She brushed a few tears from her cheek and sat down heavily on a nearby bench.

Taking his place next to her, Ezra gently picked up her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, all the while keeping hold of Nemo's leash with his other hand. "I tried calling you…" he trailed off.

"I know, I saw the missed call. I'm sorry about what's happened here," Aria responded, looking down at their joined hands in her lap.

"What exactly has happened here, Aria? I mean, one minute we're enjoying the swim meet… the next you're packing up and leaving me standing alone in the parking lot. I don't mean to press if you're not ready to share, it's just that-"

"Ezra," Aria cut him off, smiling slightly. "You're babbling again." Looking towards where her son was currently playing tag with some other children, she decided that he deserved to know about the Noel situation, especially if he was to be a part of her and Parker's lives.

"I know that I told you a little about the situation with Parker's father, Noel. But I never told you the whole story," she took a deep breath before continuing. "When I was in high school, I had this massive crush on Noel. He was star quarterback of the football team, handsome, and every girl fawned over him. So when he started talking with me and basically showed any interest, I gave up being me in order to have him. I turned into one of those girls that drops everything to meet her boyfriend, ignores her friends and family and is ultimately consumed by nothing but him. Noel was sweet and very nice when we started dating, I even followed him to State College after graduation when he was offered a football scholarship. Being away from Rosewood, though, changed him completely. He started ignoring my texts, going to parties and not inviting me, even hanging out with other girls. When we were together he... he tended to push me around a bit. I started to give him space because I thought that maybe I was suffocating him. One night he came to my apartment, drunk as all get out, and told me how much he loved me. How much he couldn't live without me. One thing lead to the next and a few weeks later I found out that I was pregnant," Aria brushed a few tears from her cheek as she told Ezra her story. He tied the dog to the leg of the bench before wrapping his arms around her and pressing a couple kisses into her hair.

"I was scared, Ezra," Aria whispered. "I was twenty years old and pregnant. Not knowing what to do, I invited Noel over for dinner and told him about our situation. He lost it, telling me that I had taken advantage of him when he was drunk. That I had planned this to keep him around when I knew that our relationship was going nowhere. He told me that he wasn't ready to be a father and that the situation was mine to deal with, to leave him out of it. He left my apartment and the next day I packed up my things, moved back to Rosewood and finished my fine arts degree at Hollis. I didn't hear from him again until last year, actually just before I ran into you. He had decided he was ready to be a father now and he wanted to be a part of Parker's life. I told him that it was him who had walked out on us, that his son didn't know who he was because he had decided that he didn't want to be around. Noel didn't like my response so he shoved me a couple times, not enough to actually hurt me, but enough to shake me up and threatened me saying that he would get the best lawyers money could buy in order to take Parker from me. I can't lose him, Ezra, I just can't. I know that I haven't been the most perfect mother but my little boy is my whole world."

Aria broke down at that point, sobbing into Ezra's shoulder as he crushed her to him. He whispered soothing words into her ear and ran a soft hand up and down her back until her crying subsided into nothing more than a couple hiccups.

"Aria listen to me," Ezra said, turning her head up so that she could see him. "You are an absolutely FANTASTIC mother. I don't know much about how custody cases work, but I do know that you being there for every part of Parker's life shows how much you love him. A judge will see that. Along with your steady income and the support structure you've built with your family and friends, I don't see how Noel has a shot in hell at taking Parker from you." Ezra wiped the last of her tears away before continuing. "You are the most courageous, strongest woman that I know. Parker is the luckiest kid in the entire world to have you as a mother, don't ever think anything less of yourself."

Aria wasted no time in crashing her lips to Ezra's. Instead of running as fast as he could from her and Parker, as she had thought he would, he was telling her that he loved them. He loved them way too much to ever leave or even think about it. She pulled back after a couple of moments and reached into her purse to retrieve a tissue to clean up her face.

"Thank you so much, Ezra. Thank you for looking at me the same way you did yesterday… or last week rather," she smiled.

Ezra leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips before responding. "I love you, Aria. Nothing you just said changes that."

Aria reached over to brush his messy hair away from his forehead. "I love you too, Ezra," she whispered.

A large grin came over Ezra's face and he couldn't help but to place a series of quick kisses against her mouth, hugging her to his side. Minutes later, Parker came running over to them, completely unaware of the moment the two of them had just shared.

"Eza! And Nemo!" he yelled excitedly. With little more than a glance in Ezra's direction, Parker threw himself at the year old dog. Gleefully laughing as Nemo joyfully licked his face. "I'ze missed you, Nemo."

"Hey, what about me?" Ezra asked in mock hurt. Aria laughed at the playful banter between the two.

"I missed you too, Eza, don't worry!" Parker replied, standing up and allowing Ezra to pick him up from the ground, pressing a kiss to his hairline after he had settled him into his lap. "Guess what, Eza?"

Ezra chuckled at the little boy's lisp. He would miss these days, that was for sure. "What's that, Parks?"

"Momma, promised to take me for pizza after ta park! Will you come wit us?"

"Absolutely, I mean…" shooting a glance in Aria's direction. "That is if your Mommy wants me to come."

Aria started to pack up their things, allowing Ezra to stand with Parker on his hip and Nemo's leash in his other hand. "We can't go get pizza without Ezra, now can we Parker? I'm glad we found him." With that, the three of them made their way out of the park and back towards town.