Chapter 21:

Ding dong

"I'll get it!" Aria called before realizing she was the only one home. Well, apart from Izzy, but she was pretty sure that she couldn't answer the door, unless she'd somehow learned to walk at two months old. Rolling her eyes at herself, Aria went downstairs and opened the door, her eyes widening.

"What are you doing here?" she said, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared into the baby blue eyes that she knew so well.

"Um, Can I talk to you?" Ezra said.

Aria hesitated before she stepped aside and let him in. Ezra stepped inside just as Isabel started crying again.

"I'll be right back." Aria said, running up the stairs. She came back a few minutes later holding Isabel, who was staring at Ezra. Ezra smiled at the baby and held his arms out to her but Aria stepped back.

"Why are you here Ezra?" she asked.

Ezra cleared his throat. "Aria, I came here to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left like that, I just, I needed to-"

"Ezra, stop."

Ezra looked up, surprised.

"I can't...Ezra, when you left I was a mess, I wasn't eating, I barely left my bed. And I can't afford to do that ever again. I have a child now, a child that needs her mother to be strong for her. We're a package deal. You want me, you get Izzy too. And you can't say you want us and then decide later that you can't handle it because if you do that, I know I won't be able to handle it. So, for everyone's sake, I need you to figure out if this, us, is what you want." Aria finished, holding Isabel against her protectively.

"Aria, I do know what I want. I want both of you, No, I need both of you. " Ezra said, putting his hands on her arms.

"Ezra, how do I know that you're not going to leave again? I love you, you know I do, but I can't just think about myself and what I want. I need to think about Isabel too, and I need to be there for her no matter what, not lying in my bed crying if you decide that you can't handle this. Being a parent is a huge responsibility, and I need to know that you're one hundred percent into this before I let you back into our lives." Aria said, gently taking his hands off her arms and watching as they dropped limply back to his side.

"Aria, there's something I need you to know." Ezra said, looking into her eyes. He gestured for her to take a seat on the couch and, after a moment, she did.

"Aria, I didn't leave because of Isabel. I left because you were in danger." Ezra said.

"What do you mean? In danger from what?" Aria asked, her hands starting to shake. Ezra held his arms out for Isabel and Aria obliged, afraid that she might drop her. Isabel went willingly into Ezra's arms and snuggled into his shoulder. If she wasn't so confused and worried, Aria would have thought it was adorable.

"Aria, my mother was trying to hurt you. She's the one that hired Jake to..." Ezra stopped, but Aria knew what he was going to say. Dianne had hired Jake to rape her.

"But how did...what...but he..." Aria's thoughts were all jumbled up. It just didn't make sense to her.

"She knew when we broke up and she hired Jake to try to make you forget about me. Then she got carried away and paid him to hurt you. I found out after Isabel was born while we were still in the hospital."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Aria asked, angrily. He had known for a month and he hadn't said anything! Why would he keep this from her?!

"Because I couldn't!" Ezra exclaimed. "If I told you the real reason why we couldn't be together, you would have fought for us. I know you would have. And I can't risk you putting yourself in danger, not while you have Isabelle. Your safety is my priority and I had to make sure that if I was with you, I wasn't putting you in danger."

"So how do you know I'm not in danger now?" Aria asked.

"Because I went to New York and I talked to my mother. She's not going to be a problem anymore." Ezra said.

"And you know that for sure?" Aria asked skeptically.

Ezra nodded. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't sure."

"And what about Jake?" Aria asked.

"He shouldn't be bothering us either, and if he does, I'll take care of him." Ezra promised.

Aria looked at him for a moment before sighing. "Ezra, are you sure you can handle this? Like I said, parenting is a huge responsibility."

Ezra nodded and looked down at Isabel. "I would do anything for this little girl." Then he looked back up at Aria and looked straight into her hazel eyes. "And I would give my life for her mother."

Aria stared back into his eyes as they slowly inched closer. Their lips met and they both felt the spark that ignited deep inside of them whenever they kissed. With his arm that wasn't cradling Isabel, Ezra pulled Aria closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers tangled in his hair as they deepened the kiss, holding onto each other as though their lives depended on it. All of the sadness and anger that had been building up inside of them throughout their month apart was finally released in that moment as they were finally happy, together.

Okay, so hope you liked this chapter. Next one should be up soon, and I haven't decided yet, but depending on how I go on with the next part, this story may be ending soon. I'm not sure yet, but before it ends I really want it to hit 300 reviews so do you think we could do that in the next few chapters? Pretty please with a cherry on top? ;)

-xox Sobia :)