A/N: Hi! Ive been terrible about not posting. Hope there are still some readers out there.

She didn't know what to expect as she walked across campus towards Ezra's lecture hall. Sure, she'd enjoyed messing with him last night, but now, that confidence was slipping away with each step she took. How would she keep up the lie, or would she even keep it up at all?

"Good morning, Ezra."

"Morning." He mumbled, not even bothering to look up at her.

"Damn, Aria. Looking good today." Jeff, one of the students complimented as he walked in.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Ezra's eyes slowly taking in her appearance. Those extra minutes she'd spent on her makeup and outfit seemed to be working.

"Thank you."

"You're dressed for a date, aren't you?" Jessica pointed out.

Over the past few months, Aria had grown incredibly close to her students. She was only a few years older than them, and the girls had practically become her friends, so this interrogation didn't bother her one bit.

"Of course, she is," Aimee added. "Look, she even did her make up extra nice today."

Perfect. She could feel Ezra's eyes on her once again. Guess she would have to play along.

"So, who's the lucky guy?" Jessica asked in curiosity. "Is he cute?"

"Duh." Aimee rolled her eyes. "Do you really think someone as beautiful as Aria would date someone who wasn't cute?"

Aria laughed.

"So?" Aimee asked. "How hot is he?"

"Very." Aria whispered. "He has these beautiful eyes you could stare into all day and- "

"Enough." Ezra growled. "This is an English class. Save the chit chat for later."

"Relax, Ezra. Class hasn't even started yet." Aria waved him off.

"Doesn't matter." He hissed. "Quit talking and help me set up."

"Ezra, there's still time left. Let me finish my story."

"Come on, Professor Fitz. Let Aria finish telling us about her mystery man."

He didn't even acknowledge their request. "Aria. My desk. Now."

Aria rolled her eyes.

"Geez, someone didn't get laid last night." Aimee whispered as Jessica giggled besides her.

"I'll finish telling you later." She promised them.

"Aria!"

Goddamn.

"Good luck with Professor Grouch."

"Thanks."

"Okay, what do you need." Aria huffed as she stood in front of him.

"I want you to pass these out. And you're going to be giving the first half of the lecture today. So be prepared."

"What the hell, Ezra?" Aria snapped. "You usually tell me in advance when I'm going to be doing this. I can't just prepare in minutes."

Everyone's eyes were on them.

"Well that's just part of learning. Always a first for everything."

"Dude, you can't do this." She argued.

"Um yeah, actually I can."

The lecture hall was silent.

Fucker, Fucker, Fucker!

"Ugh. Fine." She snatched the notes from his hand, quickly skimming through some of his plans.

Oh boy. This was not good.

"Okay, class. While Aria gets ready for today's class, let's go over some rules."

"As always, be on time. You guys know how much I dislike tardiness. You do a pretty good job at not being late, but just a friendly reminder."

"and two, if you get to class early, I expect you to sit quietly at your seat. No chit-chatting, no gossiping, and no distracting Aria or I if it's not related to the class, other-"

What an ass!

"If you're talking about what just happened, I told you already. We still had time and I'm free to talk to the students and they're free to talk to me even if it's not class related. This has never been an issue."

"I'm sorry, Aria." He let out a small laugh "I didn't realize this was your class."

"Ohhhh." Some students chimed in, other giggled while the rest were silent.

"Silence." He ordered. "I make the rules and I expect you to follow them just like I expect the students to."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "What is your problem today?"

This was getting out of hand. He was being a complete jerk. Sure, she'd enjoyed messing with him, but it wasn't fair he was taking it out on his students.

"Nothing." He spat as he sat at his desk. "Just start the damn lecture, Aria."

Deep breath, Aria.

"O-okay, class." She began

"The end of the semester is fast approaching, and I want to make sure you guys finish with the grade you've all worked so hard for."

"We already know that, Aria." Ezra spoke from his seat. "Get to the point of the lecture."

Inhale for four, exhale for eight.

"Okay, then."

His first interruption came ten minutes into her lecture telling her she needed to sound more confident. Okay, that was something she agreed with since she wasn't prepared at all. The second one, came five minutes after that, telling her to go over the key points more in depth. Also, a valid point, but the third interruption followed just two minutes after.

"That made absolutely no sense. What kind of lecture is this? We need them to learn, Aria, and I'm pretty sure you just confused the shit out of them."

Her blood boiled and she fisted her hands at her side.

"Then you give it yourself. Like it was originally supposed to be. You expect me to give a good lecture when you gave me two minutes to prepare? I can only do so much, damnit. And it doesn't help when instead of helping me you're just calling me out. Screw you, Ezra."

Gathering her notebook and fighting back her tears of anger she stomped back to her desk.

Her outburst not fazing him one bit, he picked up his stack of papers and made his way toward the middle of the classroom.

"Alright. Let's move on."

The rest of the class went by painfully slow. She typed furiously at her laptop, trying to gather everything Ezra was saying into notes as she could expect these surprise lectures in the future. He would not embarrass her again.

At the end of class, she picked up everyone's tests, slamming them on Ezra's desk without a word.


"Do you know why the Dean wants to meet with us?" Ezra asked as they walked toward his office.

The evening before, Dr. Phillips, the Dean of Hollis, had emailed them both requesting a last-minute meeting with them.

"Nope. Shouldn't you know, though? Since you know, you're the head of the department or whatever."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't know. Obviously. That's why I asked you."

"Hm." Aria eyed him in annoyance. "It's probably to tell you to stop being such an asshole." She mumbled.

"What was that?" Ezra asked, stopping just outside of the Dean's office.

"Ugh, nothing." She huffed in response. "Let's just get this meeting over with."

"I heard what you said."

She sighed.

"You can't be calling me an asshole, Aria."

"Uh I can if it's the truth, which newsflash, it is the truth and you are an asshole." Aria argued.

"You know, whatever we're here for is probably your fault. You always mess everything up."

"Excuse me? You're the one always giving me last minute lectures and tasks to do without giving me time to prepare. What do you expect?"

"A good educator improvises and makes it through anything. I'm doing it to prepare you for the real world."

"No!" Aria argued once again. "You do it because you're a jerk and you just want to embarrass me."

"You know what- "

"Ahem." Dean Phillips cleared his throat from the door. "Will you to please come in and take a seat?"

Oh no.

When had he opened the door? Had he heard them?

"Of course." Ezra sat. "Is there something wrong, William?" Ezra asked.

He sighed. "I'm afraid there is." He responded taking a seat across from them. "Over the last few weeks, I've received several complaints about your class."

"What about?" Ezra asked. "Sir, I assure you I try to provide them with the best education that I can."

"I'm sure you do." William agreed. "But it's more than just that." He added. "I received the first complaint two weeks ago. The student said you made them feel uncomfortable."

"Sir, I can-"

"Let me finish." He held his hand up. "He said you and Aria spent most of class arguing and snapping at each other. I thought maybe you each had a bad day, had your disagreements, whatever. I let it go and reassured the student I was sure it wouldn't happen again."

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Up to this day, I still have students complaining to me. We're here to provide them with the best education that we can but that's not happening because you two are nearly killing each other during every single lecture.

"It's not like that." Ezra defended.

"We've had a few disagreements. That's all." Aria agreed.

He shook his head. "I heard you two arguing outside my door just now. If what's happening while you two are teaching, I can see how it's affecting the students. They're complaining about not getting enough test time, not getting full lectures in, or simply not understanding them, but you're also making most of them feel uncomfortable with your constant fighting."

He sighed.

"Look. I don't know if this is about something a little more personal, or if there's some other type of relationship between you tw-"

"William, I can assure you the only relationship between us is a professional one."

"Then please start acting like it. No matter what the disagreements between you are, discuss them, professionally, before or after class, not in front of the students."

"Ezra," He continued. "You know how much I admire your work and how honored I am to have you teaching here," He looked over at Aria, "and Aria, your father is one of my best friends, and you've grown into such a smart young lady but this can't keep happening."

"A-are you going to fire us?" Aria asked in concern.

He shook his head. "Of course not. You're both adults and I know you can work out your differences. I would switch you to another Professor, but it's too late for that. The end of the semester is coming up and switching you out would not be good."

Aria nodded in agreement.

"Can I count on you guys to start behaving more appropriately during class?"

They nodded. "Of course."

"And I'm so sorry." Aria apologized.

"Just please don't let me down." He smiled. "Although, now that you're here, I'd like to discuss which Professor you'll be TA for next semester. She's new to us this upcoming semester, but I'm sure you two will get along just great. She'll need someone as knowledgeable as you to help her feel more comfortable"

No. Someone new. A she.

It couldn't be.

"Professor Jackie Molina. I'll set up a meeting with the three of us in the next few weeks."

Fuck.

"Um, yeah. I've actually met her." She simply responded.

"Great! I'm sure you'll two make a great team. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting in ten minutes. We'll follow up in a week to see how things are going, okay?"

Again, they nodded as they walked out behind Dr. Phillips

"You two have a great day." He smiled at them before shutting the door behind them.

"Thanks a lot for getting us in trouble." Ezra grumbled.

"Me? You're the one who always starts it."

Aria sighed.

"Actually, you know what? I'm done arguing with you. If you want to keep embarrassing me with your surprise lectures and impossible tasks, go for it. I'll be the bigger person. I care about those students and I can't let our bickering affect their learning. So, congratulations, you win, I'll do whatever you say without complaining." Aria explained. "Email me if you need me to prepare something over the weekend or surprise me, I don't care. I'll see you on Monday."

And with that she stormed down the hallway.

"Aria, wait."

"What?" Irritation laced her voice.

He let out a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I was being an asshole, and I'm sorry. I should have never had you give lectures without being prepared. It wasn't fair to you or the students."

"Yeah. It really wasn't."

He nodded. "I'm sorry."

"How about this. We have one month left of the semester. We can't risk our jobs due to our stupid arguments. Let's try to get along for the sake of the students. They deserve better. What do you say?" She extended her hand out. "For the students?"

He nodded, taking her hand in his. "For the students."

A/N:Review if you're still here :)

I have the next chapter mostly written. and I have a lot of free time :)