Chapter 14
Aria POV
I must of drove to Ezra's in the fastest time ever. The whole ride there consisted of my mind knotting and tangling up, making me worry and worry about how he'd react. Then it hit me, I had to tell him about A, too. How else would I explain getting all of the information? An anonymous tip? I had to tell him, especially if I wanted to be honest with him. My palms were sweating like mad. Not knowing what to say I got out of my car and tried to calm my breathing. I had nothing rehearsed, nothing particular to say. I didn't even know what I was gonna do when he opened the door. What if Maggie and Malcolm were there? I couldn't show him then, could I? I began to slow down my pace. I had to keep my cool and just go up there. I got to the entrance of the building and pushed the door open, along with all my worries and doubts. I took to the stairs and climbed the 3 flights that led to the third floor. I walked past 3A, and carried on the short distance until I arrived at 3B. I coughed and conjured up all of my courage as I knocked clearly three times on the hard door.
There he was. The door swung open and his face turned into a big smile, clearly happy to see me. Then he saw my face, my tear stained eyes and his happy expression changed to one of worry and sadness.
"Aria?" he came closer towards me, "is everything okay?"
"Um. Are you alone?" I asked quietly and he nodded. "Could I come in?" Without any hesitation he nodded and moved aside, allowing me to walk into the apartment. I was still clinging onto the envelope (minus the A note) for dear life. How was I going to tell him?
"Aria what's wrong?" he was clearly getting more and more upset and worried about me as the time went on.
"I, uh. I need to tell you something. And before I tell you that something I need to tell you another something" I sighed, trying to push my breaking voice to the back of my throat.
"Aria you're scaring me" he said as he came over to me and held my hands. I placed the envelope beside me as we sat down on his couch. He'd calmed me down many times before. I'd had a panic attack at his place and he had handled it all so well. He made me feel safe.
I just had to go for it and say what I needed to say.
"A's back" I finally admitted, "she, he, whoever, has been for a while. They knew about us.. They've always known. They've saved us so many times. But now they're back and they asked me to do some stuff and if I did I'd get some stupid 'reward' regarding you." Ezra's face was one of shock, but his hands still remained tightly wrapped around mine. He cleared his throat.
"So.. what has A asked you to do?" his voice was low and serious. I hesitated, whether or not I tell him about getting information for Maggie.
"Well. The day Malcolm went missing. That was A.. They told me to go to your parking lot and that's where I saw him. I guess they wanted it to look like he'd just wandered off." I sighed to myself. "And uh. They asked me to get Maggie's contact details" I couldn't even look him in the eye.
"And did you?" he asked me, calmer than I expected him to. I nodded slowly.
"You don't seem angry" I said confused. "I only did it because I needed to be with you Ezra. And Maggie had threatened me and-"
"Wait what? Threatened you? When? What had she said?" he was suddenly angry.
"After I dropped Malcolm off, she grabbed my arm and said I had something to do with Malcolm going missing. I'm sorry I shouldn't of done what I did" Ezra shook his head and resumed to his calmer self.
"I can't believe she'd do that to you. Aria I promise she will never lay a finger on you again, I'm gonna have to talk to her" he said, clearly concerned.
"Ezra it's fine, honestly. You don't need to talk to her" I said. It would anger him enough about what I was about to give him, he didn't need to talk to her about anything else. "I understand you're angry but please it's okay-"
"Maggie came onto me" he interrupted, "I rejected her but she did it. She was pretty persistent, too" he laughed in a sad way. My eyes grew wider.
"Seriously?" I was half laughing but a part of me just sank. What if he'd accepted her advances?
"Yeah. She uh, got me backed up against the sink" he smiled and shook his head. "So whatever you had to do, I don't care. I just want you to be safe."
I smiled and looked down again, realizing I now had to tell him the most important thing. I couldn't say anything. I just had to give him the envelope.
"Here" I said, "A left this in my mailbox earlier. It's my 'reward'" He took it from me and opened it. His eyes followed his hands as he undid the seal and pulled out the birth certificate first.
"Is this.. Is this real?" he asked me, but obviously not needing an answer as he saw the paternity test underneath and laughed. "What is this? Some kind of joke?"
"What? No of course not! Look at the stamp, how could you even think I'd do that Ezra?" tears ran down my cheeks as he continued to look at the paper. His face got paler and paler as the time passed, to the point where I thought he was gonna throw up. I sat there awkwardly sniffling trying not to make too much noise as he processed the information I'd given to him. I leaned over to touch his leg, to show I was supportive and there for him but he just pulled away quickly, leaving me feeling embarrassed and stupid.
"Just go" he said quietly, "Please, Aria. I need time."
"Ezra.." I began, but stopped. I had to give him time to understand all of this I guess.
"Aria just go, please. I'll call you."
I nodded slowly but he wasn't even looking at me to notice.
He got up and went to open the door for me, not even glancing over to me. He was fully involved in the birth certificate, scanning it in its entirety. I picked up my bag, leaving him with the envelope and walked out. Closing the door pretty roughly behind me, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't believe how he'd reacted, how he thought I'd fake something like this. I went straight home and up to my room. I cried and cried, not knowing what to do. I got that he needed space, but this affected me, too. The tears soon made me tired, my eyes drooping, and before I knew it I was sound asleep, away from reality for a while.
Well that didn't go quite as well as Aria expected :( Will Ezra see sense? Will he go talk to Maggie? Chapter 15 coming soon! Please review!
I'd just like to thank you as well for all the lovely reviews everyone has left. I recognise a lot of people for reviewing almost, if not every single chapter and I appreciate it so much! You guys are the best :D xx