25. A Little Lie Is Good For The Soul

She only gave Ezra a second to fully take in the sight of her in just her lace underwear before going back to kissing him. He didn't need to be told twice. Aria was then carried off of her door in a second and into her room, by the man she had dreamed of doing just so a hundred times before.

"You have to tell us everything!" Hanna said for the millionth time. And for the millionth time, Aria answered with a firm 'No'. "Come on, Spencer told us about Hardy. Why won't you tell us about Ezra?" Hanna was trying to convince Aria to spill about her night with Ezra three nights ago, to no avail.

"Hanna, I was all for listening to Spencer telling us all the gory details of her night with Hardy but I do not want to hear about Ezra," Emily popped another strawberry in her mouth. She was still on the fruit diet, unlike the rest of the girls. She repositioned herself on the floor, stretching her long tan legs in front of her. Spencer was on her far left, a pillow crushed between her chest and the floor. Hanna was opting the same position in the middle, her legs flying about in the air.

"Why not?" Hanna's eyes left the magazine splayed open in front of her to look up at her friend, her forehead crinkled in confusion. She knew she wasn't the only one who thought Ezra was hot. Why wouldn't Emily want to hear about him and Aria?

"He was our teacher, Han! It's still too weird for me," Emily shook her head. Aria then walked out of her walk in closet in a black dress that fell halfway down her thigh. It was sleeveless, yet still modest with her whole chest covered.

"See? Em's not comfortable with it, so just drop the subject. Okay?" Aria spoke really fast. She had been talking like that all day, obviously freaked out about the back to school faculty gathering tonight. Hanna sighed in surrender, deciding that she'd just make Aria tell her later. She'd spill sooner or later. "Okay, what do you think of this one?" Aria twirled in her outfit for the seventh time that day. Seven ensembles, and none of the clothes she picked out were appropriate for tonight. There was always something wrong the girls would point out. Too revealing, too distracting, not revealing enough, a bit too eclectic, too old, looks porn-ish. That last comment was obviously Hanna's, which raised eyebrows from everyone in the room. Aria never knew she had 'porn-ish' clothing. According to Hanna, she was wrong.

"It looks like you're going to a funeral," Spencer commented with a grimace. Aria groaned, frustrated. She did not feel like trying on something else. "Look, you're going to a faculty gathering and meeting people who used to be your teachers. As one of their colleagues' dates. Find something that won't remind them of the fact that you used to be a student of theirs let alone Ezra's."

"Easier said than done," Aria muttered as she turned around to go back to rummaging her already messy closet, closing the double doors.

"Do you think Mr. Coller is still alive?" Hanna suddenly asked out of nowhere.

"Of course, why would you say that?" Emily quickly replied, horrified by the idea that said teacher was dead.

"I don't know, he was really old," Hanna shrugged. "Spence, who are you texting?" Spencer had been quiet the last few minutes, typing furiously on her iPhone. The goofy grin she had on just a second ago vanished at the mention of her name.

"No one," she slipped the gadget under the pillow, trying to act nonchalant. Without a warning whatsoever, Hanna took her phone away and opened it to find texts from Hardy. Emily too saw from behind Hanna's shoulder, before Spencer took the device away. "What did you see?!" There was panic in Spencer's eyes, and the other two women broke into fits of laughter.

"Let's just say I think I'm good without Aria telling me anything about Ezra. Seeing your texts with Hardy were enough," Hanna said between intakes of breaths. Spencer grabbed the previously flattened pillow in her hands and beat Hanna with it, making Emily laugh even more.

"What is all the commotion?" Aria opened the doors to her closet.

"Spencer and Hardy's texts are-" Emily didn't get to finish her sentence. Spencer jumped from her spot next to Hanna, dropped the pillow and covered Emily's mouth. She landed beside Emily hard, and grunted from the pain.

"Hello, Ms. Montgomery," Hanna said as soon as she saw Aria's dress, and whistled. It was black with straps crisscrossing the top of her chest and the hem fell right above her knee. It revealed just enough skin and not an inch more.

"You like?" Aria's eyes brightened up at Hanna's reaction. The women in the room all agreed, and she couldn't be more relieved. It was about time.

"Here, use these." Hanna slipped out of her nude heels, and flung them at Aria. She expertly caught them in the air and put them on, a significant height added when she stood up. "Perfect!" Hanna sounded excited, while Aria still had butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't for the life of her remember why she agreed to go to this faculty gathering tonight. No vegan dinner was worth this.

"Guys, I have a sort of announcement to make," Emily spoke up. Aria settled down on the floor with everyone else to listen.

"Em, is everything okay?" Hanna changed into a sitting position and so did Spencer.

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. Actually, it's good news." She was silent for a second before continuing, "I had my final exam and I'm graduating at the beginning of next month!" She looked so excited, a grin plastered on her face.

"Em, that's amazing! Congratulations," Aria quickly hugged her friend. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"I guess I was worried that I would fail and I don't want to already tell you guys about it and not pass," she shrugged.

"Oh please, like you could actually fail." Hanna rolled her eyes. "I'm graduating soon too you know," Hanna suddenly said out of the blue.

"Next month?" Spencer asked in shock. What was with everyone keeping important things like these to themselves? Hanna simply nodded. "And you haven't told us because…" She let the sentence hang in the air.

"I don't know, it just slipped my mind to tell you guys." Hanna shrugged.

"Well I'm happy for both of you," Aria put an arm around Hanna's shoulders. "Now you guys have to do my hair and make up, because I think my hands are trembling." Everyone laughed and got started on Aria, the subject of Spencer's texts with Hardy coming up again. Spencer felt like melting into a puddle of embarrassment the whole time, and it took everything in her to not do just that.

Two men in black uniforms opened the double doors for Aria and Ezra. They greeted them with a 'Welcome to Frank Darmascus' and forced smiles. The couple entered the extravagant building, their feet stepping onto marble floors. It took Aria a moment to take in the sight before them, not what they expected at all. When Ezra told her that the faculty gathering was going to be in Principal Rook's place outside Rosewood, she had thought of a cramped place in Philly. Obviously, she was wrong. This place was definitely top of the class, the building itself being a skyscraper. But even though the architecture was breathtaking, it was nothing compared to what was inside. The door they had just passed were glass ceiling to floor ones, with huge carved golden handles. The lobby was a circle, the reception in a round counter in the middle. Above it was an enormous chandelier, which added to the sophisticated feel of the red velvet curtains lining the walls. Aria and Ezra both exchanged impressed looks, the only thing on their minds being how the hell Evan Rook could afford a room in this place. The two slowly walked hand in hand towards the reception and was once again greeted with the forced smile of a blonde woman. Her hair was up in a twisted up do, not a strand out of place. She wore a similar uniform of black just like the doormen, with gold embellishments. Her lips were a stunning matte red, a significant contrast to her porcelain skin. Aria couldn't decide to hate or adore her for how beautiful she looked.

"How may I help you?" Amanda, according to her name tag, flashed her pearly whites at Ezra. Aria couldn't help but turn her head to look at him, to see of the drop dead gorgeous woman had any effect on him. It was a relieve to find him unaffected whatsoever.

"We're here to visit a resident here. His name is Evan Rook," Ezra said politely. Amanda's fingers immediately flew across her keyboard, checking if Evan was expecting anyone tonight. She remembered every permanent resident in the Frank Darmascus building, it was her job. She just needed to see if the guy had requested to not be bothered for the night, had company, or was expecting anyone in particular. She finally found his name and clicked on it, finding tonight's information.

"Are you part of the Rosewood High faculty?" Amanda asked, after finding the note that said Ezra was expecting a whole faculty to visit him tonight. He had provided a list of names, and information on whether or not each guest was going to bring a plus one. The building was very strict on security, so it was necessary. When Ezra had said that he was bringing a date, the news had spread like a plague. Everyone was dying to see his girlfriend, having not seen him with one since the moment he joined Rosewood High that first year when Aria was still his student, yet claiming that she was unavailable. Other teachers had always urged him to introduce his mystery girl, but he always changed the subject. He never denied nor confirmed that he had anyone special. He couldn't, not with his relationship with Aria still being illegal.

"Yes, my name's Ezra Fitz," he nodded. Amanda once again looked at her computer screen, scanning the alphabetized guest list. She finally found his name with a 'plus one' next to it.

"Mr. Rook's penthouse is in floor PH2. You can take the elevator down that hall on your left," she pointed towards a hallway branching out form the lobby. Ezra raised his eyebrows at the word penthouse, before being able to mumble a 'Thanks'. The building itself was magnificent, he couldn't imagine what the penthouse must look like. Ezra was leading Aria down the hallway towards the elevator when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Her hands slipped out of Ezra's and her face was pale.

"Aria, what's wrong?" Ezra asked, concerned. He took the steps towards her to close the distance that had formed when Aria stopped walking. Now that he was close enough, he could her short ragged breaths.

"Ezra, I-I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't do this. I-It's too big of a step. Let's just go back to your place o-or mine," she stuttered. Aria was freaking out. She couldn't thing of any reason why she thought this was a good idea. Ezra was crazy for thinking that this was the way to tell people about them. He had simply gone insane. "I just can't. They won't take it well. They'll figure out that we started going out when you were my teacher, Ezra! You'll get in so much trouble, do you even understand that?" She was rambling, her voice elevating. She was so glad that the hallway was empty except for them. She was starting to hyperventilate, backing up against the wall to lean. She kept her eyes on the black marble floors between her legs. Her breaths were getting even shorter and her vision blurry. She could feel the room spin so she adjusted her position, but she must have tilted instead because she could feel Ezra's arms holding her up.

"Whoa, Aria. Breathe, just breathe." Ezra had known from his own experience with his mother that this was a panic attack. A really bad one. After his dad left, his mom had been unstable for a while. Panic attacks happened to her more than just once or twice. "Listen to me, take a long deep breath." Aria shook her head to indicate that she couldn't but Ezra pushed her to do so, and she eventually did. She took a long shaky breath. After repeating that several times, her vision slowly cleared and the room stopped its spinning to a halt. She still felt slightly light headed, but so much better than she had before. "Are you okay?" Aria simply nodded, slowly looking up. The color in her face was back, and Ezra let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Once she had composed herself, Ezra spoke up. "Aria, we need to do this. You know that."

"But it's too much, Ezra. I can't." She was back to staring at the ground. "And they would never take us seriously… they would never take me seriously."

"Hey," Ezra lifted her head up by the chin to meet his eyes. "We know that we're serious. I take you seriously," he completely knew what she meant. Even with her all grown up now, seeing her as Ezra's serious girlfriend let alone the mother of his child was nothing short of unlikely. But they had to at least try. "And Aria, I know that they would jump to the conclusion of us being together when I was your teacher. But we've talked about this." They had. It was decided that they would say that they had started going out when she already moved to New York. They would say that the time Ezra had disappeared from Rosewood, he had moved to New York to be with her. But then they had a falling out, at about the same time that he moved back to Rosewood. That would explain the fact that they weren't married and why had gone back here. But then when Aria moved back in town too, they patched things up. It was the perfect story, and Aria knew it. She was the one who came up with it. All of it. She was that good. But that feeling in the pit of her stomach that their story would fall apart the second it was out of their mouths was growing. Fast.

"Fine, but don't you dare leave me for even one second." A smile crept into his face, and he leaned in for a soft peck to assure her that he wont. "I need to go to the ladies' room, give me a second." She walked away to the nearest restroom, only a short walk from the elevator. She needed to regroup on her own, and fix her make up. She had a feeling her previous panic attack had messed it up in some way.

Ezra leaned against the spot Aria had too, checking his phone. It was a little bit after eight, so he figured everyone must have already be in Rook's penthouse by now. Actually, almost everyone. A familiar voice suddenly rang through the hallway, shaking Ezra out of his thoughts.

"Ezra," Mrs. Welch called him from down the hall, making her way towards him and the elevator. "How are you?" A genuine grin was plastered on her face. He had always liked the woman. She had always felt like that aunt you always want to visit to him.

"Never better, how about you?" Ezra responded, before pressing the up button for her.

"I'm great! Now I hear that you're bringing someone tonight, who's the lucky lady?" She asked curiously, noticing the slight blush that ran though Ezra's features.

"You'll meet her soon enough," was all he could say. What else could he say? 'Remember Aria Montgomery, the brunette in my AP Literature class? Yeah, she's my girlfriend now. Oh, and we have a three year old daughter.' Yeah, no. Didn't think so. Just as he said so, Mrs. Welch's eyes were off of him and on someone behind him. He turned around, knowing exactly whom he was going to see. It was Aria, walking towards them from the ladies room. The look on her face says that she was not expecting to face any of the faculty members here. "Mrs. Welch, this is my girlfriend," he introduced her confidently. Well, at least he looked confident. Inside, he was a nervous wreck. But he also knew that the sooner he said it, the sooner the horror of people's reaction would be over.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Aria Montgomery," the older woman finished for her. Aria had thought -and hoped, oh how she hoped- that teachers wouldn't remember her that much. It wasn't like she was the only student in all these years. What were the chances that they remembered her? But now that she thought about it again, how could they have forgotten? Practically everyone knew them –or at least knew of them- when the whole Alison tragedy happened. They were in such spotlight that it was impossible to not know the name 'Aria Montgomery', or any one of the girls. "I remember you, you were one of the best students in my class." The way Mrs. Welch said it, she wasn't brutally pointing out the fact that she was a student in Rosewood High the same time Ezra was teaching there. It was simply a compliment. The elevator opened with a chime and they walked in, in an awkward silence. But for some reason Mrs. Welch didn't look uncomfortable at all. After Ezra pressed the PH2 button, the teacher spoke up again. "So how did this happen?" she referred to them being a couple. They simply explained that they first got together in New York and dated for a few years before splitting up. Then they continued that they got back together a few months later after running into each other in Rosewood. She seemed to buy it, and was not bothered by them. It was a relief, to both Aria and Ezra. Now they just had to get through the rest of the night.

Aria was standing with Ezra at the edge of the room, talking with Mrs. Welch. He had kept his promise of staying by her side. She could feel eyes on her, and whispers behind cupped hands. It hadn't been as bad as she thought it would be but things weren't exactly smooth either. Every time they talk to someone, he or she would ask how they ended up together and they would tell the same story they had told Mrs. Welch. The fact that Ezra had a daughter was brought up, and they admitted that it was theirs. To their surprise, people just congratulated them on the little girl. A couple of teachers obviously didn't approve, but most of them seemed fine with the fact that Ezra was dating her and that they had a three year old. Everyone seemed to be concluding that Abby was conceived when Aria was in New York, which was true. But just because they weren't getting exiled for having a relationship didn't mean that people weren't talking. No matter how hushed the faculty members spoke, Aria could still hear that they were talking about them. She tried to keep in mind that at least things were going well. But she was also keeping in mind that they have yet to talk to Principal Rook. Speak of the devil, said man himself suddenly cut in their conversation with Mrs. Welch.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Welch. Do you mind if I talk with Ezra and Aria for a moment?" She excused herself and left, leaving the couple with the principal. "Would you two please follow me to my study?" They were led into a room with wooden double doors, people obviously watching them. But that was the last thing on Aria's mind as she walked the distance that felt agonizingly long. Why were they called to his study? Were they in trouble? She knew this would happen. Of course Principal Rook though that they started out in high school. Why wouldn't he? Ezra was about to get his license taken away, she just knew it. It felt like she was back in high school and was called to the principal's office. Which technically speaking, she was.

"You have a great place here," Ezra spoke up, once the doors were closed and the three were alone. The study was large, with bookshelves covering every wall. The bookshelves were the walls. Books filled them all, not one empty spot. But even with so many, they weren't dusty either. It showed very well that Rook took care of them. Ezra had no idea that he was a collector.

"Thanks," Rook smiled, melting away some of the tension. "Please, have a seat." All three sat, Rook on his chair behind the desk and Aria and Ezra on the other side. "I hope you were enjoying yourselves."

"Yes, we're having a great time. I haven't seen a lot of the people here in a while," Aria managed to say. She knew keeping quiet wouldn't help her case at all, so there was no point in that.

"I wanted to talk to both of you about… well both of you," he let out a nervous chuckle. If Aria hadn't known better, she would've thought that he was just as nervous as she was. But the possibility of that was doubtful. "I don't want to be the bad guy, but I am the principal of Rosewood High. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't make sure of this." Ezra and Aria both nodded, understanding him. They knew it was going to be weird for him to ask what he was going to ask, but it would even be weirder if he didn't. "Ezra, we've grown quite close so I hope what I'm about to ask isn't going to ruin that." Ezra made sure that he understood that he had to and Rook continued, "I'm just going to ask this right out, then. Were you guys at all unprofessionally involved when you were both either a student or teacher in Rosewood High?" The two simultaneously said 'No'. Aria's heart was beating a million miles per hour, but she kept her expression calm. "Are you sure? Because then you would have only been dating for a short while before having a daughter of your own." Once again, they both said 'Yes' that they were sure at the same time. With that, Rook was satisfied and he was back to being the fun principal. The guy could always be fun when he wanted to be, yet firm when he needed to be. He was a great principal. "So what's her name?"

"Her name's Abigail," Aria told him, a smile creeping onto her face. She opened up her iPhone and a picture of the three year old, showing it to the older man. Ezra watched as the two interacted, talking about his daughter. She could see that Aria was truly happy when the subject of Abby came up. There was just something. The way she smiled, a look in her eyes. Pride. Of her daughter. Of their daughter. Rook could see it too, that Aria couldn't be happier than she was concerning her child. And the one time that he stole a glance at Ezra, the guy was staring lovingly at Aria. He really did love her, and it definitely agreed with Evan. He was so glad that Ezra and Aria had something real, and that he wouldn't have to take Ezra's license away from him. He had heard talk from a few of the faculty members that they probably started out back in high school, but now chose to ignore it. The truth he knew was there was absolutely nothing wrong with the relationship before him. And he was sticking to that.

So now everyone knows! Well accept the students but talk in Rosewood spreads fast so I'm pretty sure they'll all know by the time the gathering is over. Anyways, reply to GirlOnFire9699: Yes, you guessed right! Thanks for all the reviews, they really mean a lot! Leave one for this chapter too!

Please please tell me what you guys think of this chapter in the reviews! Anything would do, really! Love you all for the /favorites xoxo

p.s. Just wanted to point this out, the title of this chapter is a quote from an NCIS episode where Troian Bellisario guest stars in! She was amazing there, just saying...