So glad to hear you're enjoying the story. Comments and reviews always welcome!

ELIZA'S POV

"Library?'' Maggie said, sliding her arm through mine as I left Professor Robbin's classroom.

''Oh um,'' I started. I desperately tried to come up with an excuse as to why I didn't want to study with Maggie right now because I instead wanted to head home before my meeting with Arizona so I could shower and hide my hangover with makeup. ''I'm really not feeling too great, I have to meet with Professor Robbins later to go over my essay so I think I'm just going to go home and try and get a nap in before.'' I turned to look at her, giving her a small smile, hopeful she wouldn't see through my lies.

''Okay, I mean I will miss my study buddy but maybe I will see you tonight? I'm supposed to be helpful Amelia clean the apartment before I start moving my stuff in.'' She put her hands on my shoulders and pulled me in for a hug, pulling back to look into my eyes. ''Hmm, I guess after closer inspection you aren't looking too great,'' she said with a giggle. I playfully gasped and pushed her away from me.

''Cheeky bitch!''

She leaned in and gave me a quick cheek kiss. ''Let me know if you need anything. Love you.'' She left heading off in the direction of the library and I made my way off campus and towards my apartment.

I felt bad about lying to my bestfriend, but I couldn't exactly tell her the truth. Oh yeah sorry Maggie raincheck on studying, I need to go home and get hot for hottie Prof. Robbins. I laughed at my stupidity, I don't know who I was thinking I had a chance with her. Several issues, she was my teacher, she was way out of my league and I was almost certain she was in a relationship. But here I was on my way to get sexy instead of studying like I should be.

After getting out the shower I braided my wet hair before slathering my body and face in moisturiser. I wrapped myself in a robe and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of my mirror surrounded by all my makeup products. I wanted to go for a 'makeup, no makeup' look since she had already seen me today and knew I wasn't wearing a fall face. I settled on concealer, mascara and a little bit of bronzer finished off with a pinky lip. Looking at the time I saw that I had an hour until I needed to be at her office, so I made my way to the kitchen to make myself a snack and go over my essay before the meeting. I wasn't sure what she wanted to discuss with me right now, she said that she had some personal experience with my essay topic which was PTSD, but I didn't know if she meant personal or second hand experience.

As I ate and read my essay, my mind couldn't help but keep drifting off to the thought of Arizona. She looked so good today in class and I couldn't help but feel like that had been for me, I know that I was silly to think that but every interaction I had with her recently seemed to involve me undressing her with my eyes. Finishing up my food, I put the plate in the sink and grabbed my bag from the chair. I checked myself out in the mirror quickly, happy with my outfit choice; I had settled on a pair of high waisted black jeans, a grey cropped tee and a leather jacket. I released my hair from the braid and scrunched it a little to ensure it held its curl before I slid on a pair of black boots to finish off the outfit and headed out the door.

My nerves started to creep up on me as I got closer to school. Please don't make a fool of yourself Eliza, I pleaded with myself. She's your teacher, you see her practically everyday, it it just like every other day when you've seen her and not stopped thinking about wanting to fuck her. Just be cool, you're the queen of hiding your feelings, don't lose your crown now.

''ELIZA!'' My thoughts were interrupted by my bestfriends as they crossed the promenade arm in arm.

''You look like you feel better,'' Maggie said, raising an eyebrow.

''Yeah you did not like this earlier,'' Amelia looked me up and down.

''Uh yeah I had a nap and woke up feeling better so I had a shower and got myself looking cute for moving time later,'' the two girls look at me suspiciously.

''Are you heading to your meeting with Robbins?'' Amelia asked, a smirk on her face.

''Yup, then straight to yours. I'll pick up some wine on the way.'' I was desperate to get the topic off of Arizona.

''Hmm okay, sounds good,'' Maggie replied, not buying any of it.

Amelia gave me a quick slap on my ass before they continued towards her apartment.

They definitely knew something was up, but I didn't have time to think about that right now since I was about to be late and Professor Robbins did not like lateness. I quickened my pace as I walked up the corridor towards her office, once outside her door I straightened up my outfit and pulled my bag closer to my body before gently knocking.

''Come in,'' her voice sang through the door.

I walked through and saw that she was on the phone, she gave me a small smile and mouthed an apology before gesturing towards the seat in front of her desk. I pulled my bag off over my head and placed it by the chair before I slid my jacket off my shoulders and rested it over the back of the seat. I looked over and saw her staring at me, looking away when I noticed. I took a seat and rested one leg on top of the other, my eyes now watching her, settling on her lips. I watched her mouth move as she spoke, her tongue poke out occasionally to wet her lips, I was transfixed. I would love to know how that tongue felt in my mouth, I would love to suck it between my lips after she went down on me, tasting myself on her tongue.

''Eliza,'' her voice cut through my daydream.

Fuck, how long had I been out of it? I looked up at her and saw her smirking, her pupils dilated. Long enough.

ARIZONA'S POV

I hung up the phone and looked over at Eliza. Her eyes were fixed on my lips, her eyes dark and I noticed a slight blush on her cheeks. I was relieved that I had been on the phone when she walked in as the distraction stopped my eyes popping out of my head at the sight of her. When I had seen her this morning she had been wearing a hoodie and jeans with her hair in a messy bun and from what I could tell no makeup, I had actually thought she was probably a bit hungover from the night before. But now she sat in front of me looking fresh faced and sexy as hell.

''Eliza,'' I said gently. She shook her head slightly pulling herself from her thoughts, her embarrassment written all over her face. I couldn't help but smirk at her, it was clear that the attraction between us was mutual and the way that she had been looking at me had left me feeling all sorts of inappropriate things. ''Shall we get started?''

She lifted her bag off the ground and rested it on her lap, removing a thick wad of papers and a textbook and placing them on my desk before returning her bag back on the ground.

''So I know this is probably going to be quite a personal conversation and I really appreciate you being willing to share this with me. Please let me know if you want to stop and take a break at any point or if you change your mind about wanting me to use you in my essay don't feel worried to tell me,'' Eliza said putting her serious hat on.

I gave her a smile and a small nod. ''Thank you Eliza, I really appreciate that.'' I scooted in my seat to get into a more comfortable position and rested my elbows on my desk. ''So I figured you could just ask me the relevant questions that you need answering instead of me just sitting here and talking to you.''

Eliza nodded and opened up her notebook. ''I made a list of questions already so I will just go through them. Is it okay if I record us? It's easier than me making notes.''

''Of course,'' I replied. Eliza took her phone out of her pocket and pressed record before setting it down between us.

''So, to start us off. What is your experience with PTSD?''

''My brother did a 13 month tour in Iraq and he came back with PTSD.''

''When did he get diagnosed?''

''A year after he first returned. Many people think that in order to have PTSD, a person has to experience the symptoms during the traumatic event or right after it, but that's not true. Many people have delayed-onset PTSD, which surfaces a few months after the event is over. That's what happened with my brother. He seemed okay when he first got back, but then he started becoming depressed and he couldn't sleep.'' I started to fidget. It was the first time I had spoken about my brother to anyone outside of my family.

''So did he get help?'' Eliza asked softly, noticing my nervous movements.

''He went to the mental health clinic at the military base. That was one of the most frustrating things about the experience. He kept going to the clinic and telling them that he needed help, that he was having trouble. But they kept sending him away. When he was having a panic attack, they told him to go home and lay down. They told him he would be fine. So he had to keep going back - 4 or 5 times - before they finally listened to him and gave him some help. I was really proud of him for being persistent,'' I felt the sadness in my heart.

''Did his symptoms improve after being diagnosed with PTSD?''

''Yes, they did. After he was diagnosed, he began seeing a psychologist and a psychiatrist on a regular basis. I think that really helped him. He started to take sleep medication, which helped his insomnia so much. And he also took anxiety medication, which helped him to stay calm when he got anxious. Pairing the medications with therapy did a lot for him,'' I started to pick at my cuticles, a nervous habit I had gotten rid of years ago.

''How did the PTSD affect you?'' Eliza stretched her arm out across the table, placing her hand on top of my own.

''For a long time, he didn't want to ever go out and do anything. He was depressed a lot, and I often thought it was something I was doing. We were very close, bestfriends since we were young and it did have an effect on our relationship, but I tried to be patient with him and just give him time. That was the big learning curve, giving him time. I couldn't expect him to just be the same person he was when he left. It takes time to recover from a horrible experience like war and I had to learn to be patient and give him time,'' tears started to form in my eyes.

Eliza squeezed my hand. ''We can stop if you need a break.''

I looked up at her and saw the concern in her eyes, but I shook my head in response letting her know she could continue.

''Okay, one final question; What do you think is important for people to know about this topic?''

I drew in a deep breath, turning my hand over so that I could grab hold of Eliza's hand. ''Many people won't understand what you are going through. One night after being in a crowded place, my brother got anxious and became so angry he punched a wall with his fist, breaking his hand. After hearing this story, some of my friends looked at him like he was a monster. This incident scared me, but I knew that he was just having a hard time adjusting to the little things, like being in a crowded store. I was patient with him and I stood by him when people walked away shocked after hearing the answer to the question, "What happened to your hand?" My point is that some people won't be able to understand what we are going through because they've never had to experience it. But that's okay. There are people who do understand and want to help. Don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it, because that's the only way you will get it,'' Eliza gripped my hand tightly as a few tears slid down my cheek.

''Okay, that's all I need,'' she said gently as she stopped recording and and placed her phone in her pocket. I couldn't stop the flow of water that continued to run down my cheeks so I turned my body around to face the wall in an attempt to hide my tears. Eliza started to shuffle around behind me, I quickly became aware of the presence of her body behind me and felt her hand on my back. As I turned to look at her I saw her face full of concern, she pulled me in to her chest and held me as my tears continued to fall.

"He was summoned for active duty almost a year after he started his recovery.." I whispered against her chest. "He never came home." She tightened her grip around me, her fingers running through my hair desperately trying to comfort me.

"I'm so sorry Arizona," she whispered as she placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

I pulled away from her slightly so that our lips were barely inches apart. Her eyes flickered down to look at my mouth for a split second before making contact with mine once again. Her fingers lifted to lightly brush the tears off of my face, they traced along my jaw and down my neck to rest above my chest.

"Eliza," I felt myself whisper as her lips moved closer to mine. She held my eye contact, I could feel them searching mine desperately trying to figure out her next move. If she moved any closer to me our mouths would be touching, I could feel her breath on my lips and the smell of her perfume was intoxicating. I closed my eyes, secretly hoping it would give her the confidence to close the gap, but instead I felt a loss of contact. I opened my eyes to see her moving back around the desk, she started collecting up her things and putting them back in her bag.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your brother. I honestly can't thank you enough for being so willing to share your story with me considering the pain that you've been through."

I attempted to collect my thoughts before rounding the desk, leaning against the edge. "I apologise for getting so upset, I haven't spoken about my brother to anyone else but my parents and I didn't expect to be overcome by so much emotion."

Eliza smiled softly, closing the distance between us once again to take my hand in hers. "Please never apologise for your feelings. I really appreciate you letting me talk to you about your experience." She turned and grabbed her jacket, slipping it over her shoulders along with her bag. "I have to leave. I'm helping my friend move. Is there anything I can do for you before I head off?"

Kiss me, I thought, but instead lightly shook my head.

She turned and moved towards the door, sadness overwhelmed me at the sight of seeing the back of her. "If you need any help with anything else, please don't hesitate to come by," I said as her hand turned the door handle.

She looked over her shoulder and gave me a smile that made me wanted to sprint across the room and take her in my arms. "I will most definitely take you up on that," she replied, stepping out of my office.

"Next time remember the coffee!" I shouted, hearing her laugh as she closed the door.