Ch. 50
General POV
"Aria?" Ezra called from the other side of the door, "Please let me in."
Aria could hear him banging on the door and pleading with her, but she didn't want to talk. She just wanted to lay on the cold bathroom floor a little longer without having to talk about her feelings, or think about what had just happened. Her father was still cheating on her mother, and she had no idea. She thought that they were passed it because that was what Byron had convinced them all of.
"Aria," she heard Spencer's voice say softly, "May I please come in?"
Aria briefly lifted her small body off the chilly tiles of the bathroom floor to unlock the door before lying back down in the exact same spot.
"Aria," Spencer said gently as she walked towards her best friend's petite body that was splayed on the floor in front of her.
"What?" Aria mumbled into a towel that she had put on the floor to act as a pillow.
"Do you want to talk about it? I know all about unfaithful fathers," she said with a smile.
It was true, Spencer's father had cheated on her mother and fathered another child, but it was way before Spencer was even born. Aria sympathized with Spencer because it's hard to deal with, regardless of when a parent cheats, but Spencer never had to witness it firsthand and been asked to keep it a secret.
"Aria," Spencer began again as she lay on the floor next to Aria's curled up body, "Tell me what's going on. We're team Sparia!"
Aria chuckled at that nickname, and she rolled over to face Spencer.
They heard the door close and footsteps fading away. Ezra had left. Aria's face fell,
"Is Ezra mad?" she asked with tears in her large eyes.
Spencer shook her head as she tucked a stray piece of Aria's hair behind her ear, "He knows that you're going through a lot, but he just wishes that you'd let him in – and not just literally through the door, emotionally, too."
Aria sighed, "I know. I trust him more than anyone, but I … I just can't handle the pitiful looks of everyone right now. I now know what Mike meant when he said that everyone was looking at him like he was a bobble head after he was diagnosed with depression. I don't want everyone's sympathy. I don't want to be in this situation!" Aria said as she pounded her fist against the tile floor.
"I know," Spencer said as she pulled her tiny friend close, "We don't have to talk about it."
Ezra paced down the hallway outside of his room. He wanted to help Aria, but he couldn't do anything if she wouldn't let him.
"What's the matter, Z? You look awfully anxious."
Ezra knew before he turned around that it was Jackie Molina speaking.
"Jackie," he said with a sigh, "I'm really not in the mood right now."
Jackie looked taken aback, "Every time I talk to you you're either busy, or it's not a good time, or you're not in the mood. When can we talk, Ezra?" She asked with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Jackie, I honestly don't know what we have to talk about," Ezra said evenly.
"How about the fact that I made a huge mistake by letting you go, and that I regret it every day," Jackie said as tears started to fill up her eyes. She blinked them away before they could fall.
"I'm sorry that you feel that way, but I'm with somebody now. I'm in a committed relationship, and she makes me happier than I've ever been before," Ezra said as his face relaxed at the thought of him and Aria together.
"But what if you weren't? Would things be different?" Jackie asked pleadingly.
"But things aren't different, and I am in a relationship," Ezra said with a shrug, "I'm sorry, but you broke up with me, and it took me a long time to get over it. Aria is the first girl I've loved since you, and I've never loved anybody this much."
Jackie bit her lip to keep herself from completely breaking down as she heard the man she loved say he loved a teenager more than he had ever loved her.
"She's a child, Ezra!" Jackie said accusingly, "She was your student. You were her teacher!"
Ezra nodded, "But now she's not my student, and I'm not her teacher, and even if she was I still wouldn't be able to stay away from her. She's it for me, Jackie, and I hope you find someone you love this much one day."
Jackie nodded and sighed deeply as she turned away and walked back to her room. She thought, "I have, and it's you."
Ezra opened the door to his teacher's dorm and knocked on the bathroom door.
"You can come in," he heard Aria's voice say so softly he could barely hear it.
He saw Spencer lying on the floor with her arms wrapped around Aria's small waist. Aria wasn't crying, and she and Spencer weren't saying a word to each other.
"Aria," Ezra whispered as he lay down on the other side of her.
Spencer let go of Aria as she rolled to face Ezra, "Ezra," she said quietly, "I'm sorry I didn't let you in before. I didn't mean to –"
Ezra cut off her unnecessary apology with a light kiss. He pulled her into a tight embrace with his chin on the top of her head.
"You don't have to apologize, Ar," he said as he kissed the top of her head.
Aria closed her hazel eyes and leaned into Ezra's warm chest. She breathed in his comforting scent and wrapped her arms around his t-shirt clad waist.
"I love you," Aria murmured into his chest.
Ezra smiled as he mumbled into her dark tangled hair, "I love you, too."
Ezra idly traced patterns into the exposed skin on Aria's back where her shirt had ridden up from lying on the floor. She had changed into a t-shirt and leggings once they had gotten back from dinner, right before secluding herself in the bathroom. Aria sighed as she pressed her body closer to Ezra's, which seemed to be radiating heat.
"I think I'll let you two be alone," Spencer said with a small smile as she walked out of the bathroom, "I love you, Aria."
"Love you, too," Aria said with her face still pressed into Ezra's chest.
Author's Note:
I know that it wasn't too dramatic for the FIFTIETH chapter. Thank you all for the reviews, I look forward to reading them every time I log on. PLL tonight! Let's hope for some Ezria scenes! Xoxo, PenGirl97
