There was a surprising lack of response to the first flashback chapter. I hope you guys liked it, even if you didn't have much to say about it, because it's sort of the crux of this whole thing, and first of a handful of others which provide the backstory.

[Flashback]

"Hey, I thought you were helping out at the gallery," Ezra said when he opened the door. He was simultaneously surprised, delighted and troubled by her presence. Part of him regretted mentioning his apartment number to her that first afternoon they had met, no longer trusting himself to be alone with her.

"I was. … Can I come in?"

No. Say no, he told himself. "I'm, not, sure if that's a good idea."

It felt like a slap in the face. He was the one person she thought she could turn to. "I'm s-sorry, this was a mistake, I shouldn'ta come here. I just didn't know where else to go. … I'll see you on Monday."

Aria started to leave.

He couldn't reject her like that though. It would only make things worse. And he didn't want her to leave. She seemed upset. Ezra didn't know what the right thing to do was. The right thing would have been to end it before it went too far. He felt like garbage for what happened the other day, but he couldn't start ignoring her or pretending it didn't happen. He knew, since he crossed that line, there was no going back. He would be there for her if she needed him.

"No-o, wait. Are you okay? Do you need me to drive you home?" he offered, trying to help, but realizing what a terrible idea that would be given what happened last time.

"That's the last place I wanna be." The only place Aria wanted to be was in his arms. He was separate from the rest of her life, a safe haven, or at least, she had thought so. She had never felt safer than when his arms were holding her tight. Nothing else existed when they were together.

He was very concerned by her response. "Why? What happened?"

"Can we just, be here, for a minute?" she asked tearfully.

Ezra instinctually gave her a hug, momentarily ignoring the voice in his head. What could have happened at home? he wondered. What could be bad enough she would turn up on his doorstep? While they embraced, he became worried there might be something seriously wrong. His mind jumped to the worst possible conclusion. What if she came from an abusive home? What if letting things go too far between them was a substantially worse mistake than he ever imagined? Had he played on her vulnerable state and really taken advantage, despite what she said? Of course he had. They just attended her best friend's funeral. What kind of mindfuck was that, kissing her 5 seconds after she agreed to end things at her dead best friend's funeral? But he couldn't help it.

She was clearly still in a very vulnerable state. Was he still taking advantage of it? Was he letting his feelings cloud his judgment? Was he inflicting even more emotional damage on her by not drawing a clear line at the beginning? Even if that were the case, he was far too invested now to walk away. He cared far too much for her. The word 'love' flashed through his mind, like it had been doing sporadically over the past few days. He would try to push it aside and convince himself otherwise, but it kept cropping up every time he pictured her face. That image of her, inches in front of him, face dewy and cheeks flushed, had become the new definition, as if he'd never known the meaning of the word before. And now, having that beautiful face buried in his chest, weeping quietly against it, hurt. It hurt him to see the girl he loved hurting. He just wanted to make it better.

"Did something happen to you?" Ezra asked gently, continuing to rub her back. "You can tell me. I want to help." How could he help? If someone was hurting her, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from punishing the piece of shit for it. It would become plainly obvious he cared about her as more than a student. Yet he didn't care about himself. Even if he was never able to see her again, he would survive knowing he helped get her out of that situation.

Aria pulled back to answer him, so her words wouldn't be muffled, and she saw how scared he looked anticipating her answer. What must he be thinking right now? "No," she said, taking a step back and wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. She folded her arms and said, "I just feel like everything is falling apart and it's my fault."

Victims often blamed themselves, this much he knew. "I'm sure whatever it is is not your fault."

His certainty made Aria feel the tiniest bit better, but it was unfounded; he didn't know the situation. She could have prevented this woman from reentering their lives if she had told the truth right away. And A wouldn't be able to hold it over her head. Ezra didn't look any less worried, but seemed reluctant to say anything else.

"My father..."

What did he do to you? I'll kill him.

"had an affair."

Ezra started to breathe again. He hadn't realized he had stopped. The disturbing visions of painful trials and public disgrace vanished. Cheating parents he could deal with. No one was hurting her, except maybe him, by letting this go on.

"Over a year ago," she continued. "He promised me it was over. Then yesterday, she walks right up to us, tries to talk to me like I don't know exactly what was going on. She turned up again today, and I said something to her. I told her to back off, but she's not going to. She's setting out to break up our family. Who does that?"

"That's… hard… but it's not… your fault." There was a lot more he wanted to say, but still felt like keeping his distance was best.

"It is. I could have stopped this if I'd told my mom the truth, but my dad… he told me not to. He said he ended it and if I told my mom, it would only hurt her. I've been lying to her for over a year. She'll never forgive me."

"...It is not okay what your father did, but you are not to blame for any of it. It's an impossible situation he put you in." Again, he wanted to say more, but held back.

"I never told anyone about this before." Alison didn't count; she was there. She had urged Aria to do the right thing, but the thought of losing her family was too much to handle. It didn't stop Alison from tormenting Aria about her decision, both before and after her death. "I'm sorry to unload on you like this," she said, sensing his discomfort.

"Don't be. I want you to know… you can tell me things… I'll listen." He didn't know what this was between them, but wanted her to know he cared.

"Thank you," she said, wrapping her arms around him once more. Aria stood on her toes to kiss him, brushing her lips against his softly. When he didn't pull away, her tongue gingerly requested entrance into his mouth, which he granted, and their tongues danced together lightly. Her arms were looped under his, holding his shoulders, and she pulled herself up to reach him more easily, her tongue becoming slightly more eager. His heartrate accelerating, he turned them slightly so his back was against the wall next to the doorframe and squeezed his arms more tightly around her. She pressed herself into him and the kiss grew more heated.

When he felt things were getting out of hand, he loosened his hold on her. "Aria?"

Aria let her hands fall from his shoulders. She hadn't realized how tightly she had been gripping them. "I know," she said quietly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" She started over. "I'm not going to do anything to-" She took a breath. "I know it can't happen again."

Ezra took a deep breath, avoiding her eyes.

"Thank you… for being here."

He tried not to look at her, knowing what a hold she held over him, but he felt her eyes on him and finally met them. Aria gave him a small genuine smile, then turned to leave.

"It'll be okay," he said, wanting to offer her a word of comfort.

She nodded appreciatively and continued down the hall.

[To refresh your memory, a link to a clip of this scene in 1.03 To Kill a Mocking Girl is in my profile (begins at the 2 minute mark). ]