Chapter 14
I Can't Shake You Off Of Me
Christmas was coming fast, and it was apparently coming too fast for most of Rosewood. Aria's hours at her job nearly doubled in the weeks following Thanksgiving. People were rushing into buy everything they had, and finding themselves even more frustrated when they were turned away on a particular item. There was a specific brand name sweater that had sold out in the first week of December, and she had proceeded to have people growling at her for the week after that over the fact that there weren't more coming in until just before Christmas.
If that wasn't bad enough, her teachers were piling on the work load as well, to cram in as much before Christmas break. The common knowledge that a seniors second semester was a lazy semester didn't do anything to help, because her teachers wanted to be sure they covered the most Important information before that happened.
In the midst of it all, she was running herself ragged, running on fumes and caffeine to make it through her days.
"You gonna finish your dinner or just wear it?"
Aria lifted her head up off her pillow and yawned as she moved the Chinese food container from beside her, onto the nightstand. She sat up and grabbed her textbook, looking down at the page she'd been reading.
Ezra turned his wrist and looked at his the time on his watch before grabbing her textbook out of her lap and flipping it shut. "Nope. It's nine o'clock. You're done for the night."
"Ezra-"
"No," he said more insistently as he settled the book on the nightstand beside him. He leaned forward and brushed her hair off her cheek. His brow furrowed has he brushed his fingers over her cheek once more. "You're running a fever."
"I'm just hot," she said insistently, reaching for her textbook once more.
"No," he drawled, grabbing her hand. He moved his other hand to her forehead and then leaned forward and pressed his lips against her forehead. "No, you're definitely running a fever."
Aria sighed, and a pout planted firmly on her face, but it did nothing to change his stance on keeping her from touching her textbook.
"You need to rest," he exclaimed. "And if you keep fighting me on this, I'll call your mother."
Aria scowled at him, clearly not pleased. "You're my boyfriend, not my superior."
"And you're being childish." He pointed to her pillow. "Rest."
Aria huffed and dropped against her pillow, crossing her arms over her chest. Ezra turned his attention back to the TV, continuing to make his way through the late dinner they had ordered. He reached over, never taking his eyes off the screen as he snatched her phone from her hands when she tried to text someone.
"Hey!" She whined. "I was just telling Adriana I was going to sleep."
Ezra looked down at the screen. She was texting Spencer about studying. "Liar. Sleep."
Aria turned over on her pillow, and even if she was angry with him, it didn't last long, as she quickly fell asleep.
Once Ezra was finished eating, he picked up the left-over containers that had food in them, and walked to the kitchen to put them into the fridge. He returned to the bedroom afterwards and placed Aria's textbook into her bag. As he knelt down to open up her schoolbag, she groaned and opened her eyes.
He looked up at her, brushing her hair out of her face. She seemed warmer than she had been just forty or so minutes before. "Something wrong?"
She shook her head. "I feel sick. And dizzy."
"Like you're going to puke?" He asked.
Aria nodded, pushing herself up slowly.
Ezra wrapped his arms under her and lifted her up off the bed before carrying her out of the room and across the sitting room to the bathroom. He settled her down gently next to the toilet, and barely had enough time to turn the light on before Aria began to retch.
He knelt beside her and pulled her hair out of her face, holding it back while his other hand rubbed soothing circles up and down her back. Aria gripped the toilet as her dinner made its reappearance. He stayed beside her until she managed to stop vomiting, and then stood to grab a cup. He filled it with water and then knelt down beside her and handed it to her. Aria rinsed her mouth out and then took a few sips after flushing the toilet.
"Feeling a bit better?" Ezra asked.
Aria nodded. "Back to bed."
Ezra nodded and lifted her up into his arms once more. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder. Her face was hot against his cool skin, and it worried him. He'd seen her sick before, but he'd never actually had to care for a sick person on his own. More than that, he'd never actually seen her this sick. When they had shared the flu last year, they had both been reaching the end of it when they had returned to school.
He settled her on the bed and then walked to the kitchen and filled a glass with water before going into the bathroom in search of fever reducer. He found some and then returned to their bedroom.
He filled the small plastic medicine cup that came with the liquid medication with the proper amount for someone of Aria's age and weight, and then handed it to her. She grimaced as she tossed it back and swallowed it quickly, before she took the glass of water from him and took small sips from it until she'd drank about half the glass.
Weary, she laid back down, and Ezra finished picking up the room and got a bucket for Aria before he changed out of his day clothes into a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt.
He laid down next to Aria and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing his hand up and down her back as she rested against him. She was so warm that she was sweating, which only served to make him more nervous.
Not even half an hour later, she awoke again, and barely had enough time to roll over on the bed before she threw up again. Ezra pulled her hair off her neck once more and shook his head. Once she settled back on the bed, he pulled the blankets up tighter around her shivering frame and walked out of the room, grabbing his phone as he did. He checked the time.
It was almost 11 PM, but he didn't know what else to do.
He walked into the bathroom to retrieve the thermometer before lifting his phone to his ear. It rang as he walked back to the bedroom and turned on the thermometer. He usually wasn't one to spend so much money on things he rarely used, but temporal thermometers were supposed to be the best thing to use for taking temperatures.
He brushed it across Aria's forehead and then watched the LED screen as he waited for the other end of the phone to pick up. The screen lit up in a teal shade. 104.1
"Hello?" Her voice was groggy over the other end of the phone, and a part of him hoped that she was just tired and hadn't actually been sleeping. "Ezra, why would you call me at this time?"
"Aria's really sick," he replied. "She's got a really high fever."
"Alright. I'll be right there." The line clicked dead a moment later, and Ezra sighed, turning the thermometer off. One part of him thought about how it wouldn't be very good if he caught Aria's flu, but the better half of him was worried about his girlfriend.
He walked back to the bathroom to replace the thermometer, and then grabbed a wash cloth and wetted it with cool water before he returned to the bedroom and perched on the edge of the bed. He gently wiped Aria's face off before settling the cool cloth on her forehead. She whimpered in her fitful sleep as she shivered.
He looked up a minute later as lights streamed through the blinds across the room.
Ezra moved off the bed and walked out of the room, down the short hallway to the front door. He opened it before Ella had even made it up the walkway.
She looked as tired as he felt, and was dressed in sweats.
"What's her fever at?" She asked as she stepped inside the house.
"A hundred and four," Ezra replied, shutting the door and tucking his hands into his pockets. "I wouldn't have called, but she threw up earlier, and then I gave her fever reducer and water, and she threw that up too."
Ella nodded, removing her jacket. "The girl has never taken sickness easily. But then I gather you know that."
Ezra nodded, leading her into the bedroom. Ella crossed the floor and walked over to Aria. She rested the back of her hand against Aria's head. "When did this come on?"
"As far as I know, earlier this evening." He explained. "She was fine when she went to school this morning."
Aria coughed wetly in her sleep, and Ella moved her hand to Aria's back, rubbing it gently. She nodded.
"There's a nasty flu going around right now. You'd do well to not catch it from her."
"I'm not really worried about me right now," he said honestly.
Ella leaned down and pressed her lips to Aria's forehead before standing up. "I'd definitely say she should stay home tomorrow, and maybe even Friday. Just make her take the weekend, because if you let her think she's got the option to go to school, she'll go. And make sure you've got crackers. It's one thing that she seems to always be able to keep in, regardless of how sick she is. It helps her with keeping water in, too."
Ezra nodded, filing everything she was telling him to memory. "Thanks, for coming this late. I wouldn't have called…"
Ella shook her head. "I really don't mind, Ezra. She's my daughter, and she's ill. If she tries to fight you in the morning, have her call me, and I'll give her a good talking-to."
Ezra chuckled, and Ella smiled. He couldn't help but be silently grateful that they seemed to have Ella on their side now. She made certain battles with Aria a lot easier.
-
I don't wanna mess this thing up
I don't wanna push too far
-
Aria awoke the next morning with a throbbing headache. Her stomach didn't feel much better, but it was the first time since the night before that she didn't wake up because she was going to vomit. She exhaled a heavy sigh as she looked around the room. The curtains were still closed, blocking out all the light.
She pushed the blankets back and swung her legs over the side of the bed, bringing her hand up to her feverish forehead as the room spun around her. She waited for the worst of the dizziness to pass before she moved off the bed and walked out of the room. She walked across the sitting room to the bathroom and turned on the light before using the facilities.
Once she was finished, she stood in front of the mirror and turned the faucet on to wash her hands. Afterwards, she grabbed a washcloth and wetted it before rubbing it over her face and neck. As ill as she felt, the cool cloth felt good on her hot skin.
She settled it back on the side of the sink after turning the faucet off and then turned the light off as she walked out of the room. She walked over to the dining room table, where there was a box of crackers and a bottle of Gatorade next to it. There was a small note taped to the front of the box.
Had to go into work for a few hours.
Your mom said crackers help?
Call me if you start feeling worse.
Xoxo, Ezra
She smiled at the note and grabbed the box of crackers and the Gatorade before walking back to the bedroom. She closed the door and then walked over to the bed and placed both things on the nightstand before crawling back into the bed and snuggling under the comforts of the blankets. She closed her eyes, easily coming to the realization that her head didn't hurt quite as badly when her eyes were closed.
She knew she must've dozed off at some point, because she was awoken when the door opened. She peeled the blankets back and looked up to see Ezra. He looked as tired as she felt.
"Hey," he murmured, settling his bag at the end of the bed.
She smiled wearily at him. "Hey. Tired?"
He nodded. "I was worried about you last night. Didn't sleep very much."
"I'm sorry," she murmured. "Are you done already for the day?"
Ezra nodded, kicking his pants to the side and grabbing a pair of flannel pajama pants from one of the dresser drawers before he removed his vest and dress shirt as well, leaving him in just a black t-shirt. "I figured I could grade from home."
He sat down on the bed, and brushed a hand across Aria's forehead, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "How're you feeling?"
She shrugged. "Crappy. Still tired."
Ezra smiled and wrapped his arm around her. "Shall we nap?"
"Yes," she replied, nuzzling her face into his chest. "We shall."
He brushed his fingers up and down against her forearm lazily as they rested. It didn't take long for Aria to fall asleep again, and he wasn't at all surprised. She'd been working herself much too hard in the past few weeks, which had been one of the reasons that he'd been limiting how late she could study. He understood that she didn't want to fail on her tests, but he was also aware of the fact that she was incredibly smart all on her own, and that she could do just about anything she set her mind to without killing herself in the process.
It wasn't long after she fell asleep that he managed to doze off, and he didn't wake until the sound of something breaking on the floor disturbed his slumber.
As he rubbed the exhaustion from his eyes, he looked around the room. It was dimly it by the TV, but Aria wasn't in the room.
Ezra moved off the bed and walked out of into the sitting room and then into the kitchen. There was a bowl on the floor surrounded by what he assumed had been chicken noodle soup, and Aria was curled over the trashcan, shaking as she heaved into it.
He slipped his hand under her shirt, rubbing slow circles on her upper back as she struggled to catch her breath. When she managed to stop getting sick, she stood up and wiped her mouth.
"Sorry for waking you," she murmured, wiping the corners of her mouth. "I was just going to get soup, but I took one sip, and…" She shook her head.
Ezra nodded, pressing his lips to her forehead. She was still quite warm. "Go lie down. I'll get this cleaned up."
"Are you sure?" She asked. She looked genuinely apologetic. Ezra nodded and stepped around the mess on the floor to grab the roll of paper toweling on the counter.
Aria headed back to the bedroom and he quickly wiped up the mess before wetting a few tissues and wiping up where the puddle had been with soapy water so that the floor didn't become sticky. Afterwards, he filled two glasses with water before heading back to the bedroom. He gave one to Aria, and kept the other for himself.
"What time is it?" He asked as he settled on the bed next to her.
"Almost eight," she replied. "You slept so long, I was beginning to wonder if you were the one who was sick."
Ezra chuckled and shook his head. "I just didn't get very much sleep last night."
-
Nothing but emptiness inside; love leaves a black hole when it dies
How can I ever love again, I've come undone, undone, undone
-
The weekend came and passed in a similar fashion. Aria's fever finally broke by Saturday afternoon, though Ezra was wary to let her have her textbooks back, even though she had two days of homework to catch up on. He realized later that the adult in him was probably a bit more strict than he needed to be when he told her that she needed to not put so much pressure on herself.
Monday morning, Aria returned to school with every bit of homework there had been over the weekend. She was still slightly stuffed up, but she was happy to be back among her peers.
Her day passed effortlessly, though she was back to putting pressure on herself. She was pretty sure that in the past few weeks, her note-taking and studying had surpassed even Spencer's diligence. Even so, by the end of the day, she was happy that she didn't have to work.
She yawned as she stepped into Ella's classroom. Ella looked up from the test she was grading and picked up a blank one off the end of the desk. "You ready?"
Aria nodded, walking over to her mother. She took the blank test and walked over to her seat. She settled her bag against the leg of her seat and pulled a pencil from it before scribbling her name across the top.
"You've got thirty minutes," Ella told her. "Go ahead and start."
Aria went to work on the test, and was done within fifteen minutes, even though it included a full-page essay explaining the primary character's internal conflict and how that affect the resolution of the book. She read over her answers twice, only making minor changes. When Ella finally alerted her that her time was up, she resigned to the fact that if there was anything she'd gotten wrong, there was no way to fix it now.
She brushed a hand through her hair as she tucked her pencil back into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. Her screen lit up, and she tapped in the unlock code before the text message popped up on her screen.
Is Ezra okay?
-Hardy
Aria's brow furrowed, confused.
"Is something wrong?" Ella asked.
Aria shrugged, tapping the green button on the screen of her phone and lifting it to her ear. "I don't know."
The phone rang several times before it clicked over.
"Hey, are you with him?"
"No," Aria drawled. She coughed and grabbed a tissue from Ella's desk. "What do you mean, is he okay?"
"No one called you?" Hardy asked. "I thought your father would've at least…"
Aria sighed. "Why would he call me? He hates me."
"Sorry, sorry. He went home at like nine this morning."
"Why?" She drawled once more. "What part of I don't know where he is did you miss?"
"He hit his head on the corner of his desk."
"What!? Why didn't anyone call me!?" She growled into her phone. She could see that Ella was confused by her current conversation.
"It was just a scrape. He didn't need stitches, but the dean sent him home. I thought he would've called you."
Aria sighed, shaking her head. "Well he didn't. I'll call you when I get home."
"Alright. Drive safe. It's snowing again."
"Yep," Aria replied. She pulled her phone away from her ear. She looked up at her mother. "Ezra went home after hitting his head, and apparently no one thought it was important to call me."
Ella's eyebrows raised in surprise. She couldn't help but feel just a little surprised herself that Aria hadn't received any kind of call.
Aria tapped a few things on the screen of her phone and looked back up at her mother. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She walked out of the room with her phone against her ear once more, and walked to her locker to collect her jacket. The phone rang repeatedly until it clicked over to voicemail. Frustrated, she tucked her phone into her bag and then pulled on her coat and her hat.
-
I beg you, release me,
Go home, cause she's probably up waiting
-
Aria coughed as she pushed the front door open. The cold air burned her throat, and she was grateful to be inside as she stepped across the doorway. She closed the door behind her, calling Ezra's name as she wiped her boots on the small rug in front of the door.
Once most of the snow had sloughed off, she stepped off of it and headed into the apartment. She kicked her shoes off near the bedroom door and then walked over to the table and settled her schoolbag on a chair before removing her coat and settling it on a chair.
She walked over to the bedroom and popped her head inside the open doorway, but the bed was empty, though the blankets were rustled.
She huffed and turned in her spot, looking around the room. The bathroom door was ajar, and the light was on. She crossed the room curiously, and pushed the door open further. Ezra was curled up on the floor.
"Ezra!?" She knelt down and shook his shoulder lightly. He groaned and lifted his head from where it was resting on his arms and looked up at her. A moment later, his eyes grew wide and he shoved up off the floor and curled over the toilet.
Aria frowned, shaking her head as she knelt down next to him. She rubbed her hand up and down his back until he managed to stop getting sick.
Ezra rested his head on his forearms, exhaling heaving breaths.
"Why didn't you call me when they sent you home?" She asked as she brushed his hair off the side of his face. The 'scrape' that Hardy had referred to might not have warranted stitches, but it was bruised and had clearly bled more than just a few drops.
"You were out last week," he rasped. "And when they sent me home, I was just a little light-headed."
Aria shook her head, resting the back of her hand against his forehead. "I didn't mean to get you sick."
He looked up at her and shook his head. "You don't know that this is from you. I could've caught this off a door handle."
Aria chuckled and shook her head at him. "If you say so." She reached up and hit the flusher on the toilet and then stood up. "C'mon. The bed is a lot more comfortable than the floor."
Ezra looked up at her, and then down at her hands. "Right. Like you could lift me," he laughed.
Aria widened her eyes at him in a glare, though there was a smirk on his face as well. Ezra took her hands and stood. The room spun around him as he wavered on his feet for moment. He closed his eyes and waited for the spinning to slow before he opened them again and followed Aria out of the room and across the sitting room to their bedroom.
Once inside the bedroom, Ezra removed his pants and dress shirt before changing into a pair of pajama pants and a long-sleeved thermal shirt.
Aria changed as well, and once they were both dressed into pajamas, she grabbed her things from the sitting room and retrieved a bucket for Ezra before returning to the bedroom. She settled it next to him, and chuckled as she realized he was already asleep. Given that she'd had the same flu for most of the week before, she understood how exhausted he was.
She walked around the bed and settled in the spot next to him before retrieving her calculus book from her bag and opening it.
She spent the next few hours working through her homework, occasionally looking up when Ezra turned over or whimpered in discomfort.
When she was finished with her homework, she settled her bag beside the bed and then grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand. She brought up her messages.
I know Ezra's sick.
Can I bring dinner?
-Addy
Aria checked the timestamp on the message; it had only been sent ten minutes earlier. She replied with a yes and then moved out of the bed and grabbed a fresh pair of pajamas before walking out of the room and across to the bathroom.
She was quick about getting into the shower and washing up. By the time she was finished and had gotten dressed, she could hear her phone buzzing on top of a towel in the linen closet.
She grabbed it off the towel and slid the arrow across the screen bore lifting it to her ear. "Hey. Are you here?"
"Almost. It's snowing like crazy, so can you have the door unlocked?" Adriana asked.
"Yeah, no worries. Be careful."
"Always am," Adriana replied. Their call ended a moment later, and Aria walked back to the bedroom to retrieve a pair of socks from the bedroom.
Ezra groaned as he turned into the stream of light from the next room and opened his eyes. "Timeisit?"
"Eight," she replied as she walked over to him. She sat down on the edge of the bed where he had curled away, leaving her about a foot of space. "Adriana and Hardy are bringing dinner. Do you want me to get you some soup?"
Ezra shook his head, reaching up onto the nightstand for a tissue. "Maybe later." His voice was gruff, and she could see that talking hurt. "Some chloroseptic spray would be nice, though."
Aria nodded. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. She walked around the bed and grabbed the bottle from where it had been left before walking back around the bed and handing it to Ezra.
"Anything else?" She asked.
Ezra shook his head again. "Go eat real food. You deserve to."
Aria giggled. "And you deserve to sleep."
She looked up as lights filtered through the blinds. "I'll close the door so you don't have to deal with the smell."
Ezra chuckled before groaning. "Thanks."
Aria moved off the bed and walked out of the room before walking over to the door and unlocking it. She walked back through the apartment to the kitchenette, and grabbed three glasses. She filled them with ice before returning to the sitting room. At the same time, the door opened and she could hear Hardy and Adriana talking.
"Your parents are splitting up. Why would they want to spend the holidays together?"
Aria giggled to herself as she listened to them bicker. They had been for weeks, and even though they were having the usual 'nothing fight', she and Hardy both knew it was because there had been very little talk about getting married. Adriana wanted a ring, and the longer she was being pushed to wait, the more frustrated she was getting.
"My siblings actually agreed to come home for Christmas," Hardy told her. "My parents want to put on a good front before they tell everyone else they're splitting up. And considering what it was like living with them while I was in high school, it's nice to see a change."
They came around the corner and Aria waved at them as she headed back into the kitchenette for plates. She walked back into the sitting room as Hardy began pulling food from the bags they'd brought in. As he looked up at Aria, a light smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth.
"Crap. I forgot the soup we got for Ezra." He said.
Adriana sighed. "I'll go get it."
She walked out of the room and down the hall to the door. As soon as it closed, Aria leaned forward on the table.
"Are you trying to make her nuts? Christmas is two weeks away."
Hardy smiled at her and shook his head. "I'm just enjoying the ride, because I know the minute that girl's got a ring on her finger, she's gonna have the entire wedding planned. Don't be surprised when she tells you that we're getting married this summer- wait, no. This spring."
Aria giggled and shook her head. "You really think she'll want to get married that fast?"
Hardy's eyes widened. "Are you serious? Have you met Adriana?"
Aria laughed once more, taking a carton of rice from him. "I guess we better buckle up."