p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1d358c0b0076d9f5e5a6902745e0669f"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Chapter Seventeen/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d2da864100ea670b8bfc391a8f32204e"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;""/spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;"We wait around a lifetime/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="75b1e087f96ecef2868bfdd2a5af1303"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"for one person, we can find/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="536803c626e04b15e2d1d3f6f0698771"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"in a moment with someone else. /emspan style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""/em/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="90c23102cef2285e2e9684b403fe56ff"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"- /em/spanspan style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Stephanie Klein./span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a1a013e22a71caf894cbe74b0472bc35"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="530615bba6e9210f10b98152f24a152b""Sit down." Confused, Ezra sat down on the couth with his hands folded together in his lap. I stood before him, just as short as I always had been. These were the only moments when I would ever be as tall- or taller - than him./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="887d1e68de7716ecdc11e7de7a86a772""What's going on, Aria?" I could tell just by his tone of noice that he was even more nervous for what I was about to lay on him. What would be worse? Telling him that he had some secret kid that he didn't know about? Been there, done that. I realized a while ago that my life was like a really bad Lifetime movie. "Does this have to do with your plan?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="733804c9294cb17ca12dcadfe380b929""Yes." It was then that I grew an ounce of confidence. He wouldn't be em style="box-sizing: border-box;"that /emmad, would he? His leg was jiggling and you could almost hear his heart beating, no matter the short distance between us./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c213f4b165a5cea17d0ce868c7dc7b2e""Go on." I bit my lip, twiddling my thumbs. I did have a right to be nervous to say it out loud./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6e56cb867e3ddceb28b0142861e2fa8c""Ezra, when I tell you this, I want you to hear me out and listen to everything I have to say. Can you do that?" I was talking to him like a baby, plus I was being unknowingly ironic. Why would he listen to me say that it was Alison who caused the accident? Afterall, thats his almost ex-wife, and mother of a daughter whom he loved so very dearly. Of course he wouldn't return the favor of listening when everything he said to me when he was writing the book went through one ear and out the other./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c3b8c36d4da71b289f5fcb1b4e3c5e3d""Okay? Can you just tell me? You're starting to scare me." I sighed, looking him straight in the eye, looking for a shred of something- anything. They just stayed a deep ice blue./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="533b46ff9e039a90d05f0403f7cee5c4""I was out late last night." He was following and encouraging me to continue with small head gestures. "I was with Jason DiLaurentis. In case you didn't remember, that's Alison's brother, who told me that he wasn't allowed to have anything to do with yours and Alisons family, and I know why.." Ezra scrunched his forehead./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="05238ceda900d326a1365c77ab1974ad""Alison always told me that it was because he got back into drugs and alcohol and she didn't want him around Marley while he was still hooked. But why should I beleive her now? She lied to me about my entire life?" He laughed nervously. "But, why did she keep him away, the real reason?" Sucking in every molecule of oxygen, then swallowing my pride, I belted it out like it was a song that I couldn't keep inside my head./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1df0790bc77a50b1ef1912338ed7b7d3""Alison was the one who caused the accident."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="302fd9c80b4295a741bba4db7481fda3"Breathing ceased to be heard, but two hearts pounding against two ribcages wasn't enough to justify what I had just done. I had officially ruined everything; it was demolished in a pit of Alison's 'I told you so'. She knew that just this would happen, build our relationship up to such a fragile point, just to loose the pieces in the dark once again. If things stayed silent much longer, I was sure my void would return and be just as big as it was before./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="195a1ae77fe009aa4ad4dedf6afc847d""She wasn't in the car. She paid Jason to hit you. Alison wanted you to either die or have seviere brain damage..which was pretty successful." I refused to cry. It wasn't a time for me to be crying. I had no reason to shed a tear in his direction right now. Our story had always played out as him as the strong one, but not today. He crummbled. He let out of a few before bottling it back up. He wiped his face, and stood up./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="780bc1f5783fbcf02e504a6d8210cc7d""Perhaps I should go. Y'know, get some air. Is that- Is that okay?" I walked over towards him, putting my hand on his bicep. Ezra watched my hand and looked me in the eyes, just as i had a few moments ago./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="935852cbdc5cfcd17fcffa7e091a33ff""Don't shut me out, babe.' I wiped a tear off of his cheek. "Ezra, I'm here for you. No matter what. I promise I won't lie or hurt you." I smiled softly, he sat back down on the couch, holding my hands./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="19f419936809f5b7d55e5d063935bc6c""Thank you." I responded by giving him a hug, his hands wrapped around my waist, mine around his neck. It was intimite enough. He needed me, and I would be there for him. It's not that I didn't think this would be hard, but I figured my plan to destroy Alison and her life, would all come into play the moment Ezra could actually say more than three words to me./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dc53785d25a3e11fb45aa5dbc946e293"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Ezra/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0850777d0ea75700ff4b6454b38b0cf5"I couldn't have been more speechless. It was Alison all along. How come I didn't see the signs? It had been exactly two hours since Aria told me the truth, and I couldn't be more thankful. I was ready to take Alison down. I needed to do whatever I could to get Alison into jail and manage to get Marley back. Something in the back of my head told me that all the evidence laid in California, but I couldn't go back. Not alone at least. I needed Aria. She was the best moral support anyone could have. I sat at the park bench, all I could think about was Marley, it was half past 5:30, so I wouldn't be surprised if she was fighting with her mother about eating green beans and having brownies for dinner instead of a nice green salad or whatever Alison decided to make. I got up and listen to the kids in the back of the park by the field screaming and playing with frisbees, I wanted one of my own..so bad. I walked across the street and back into the apartment complex./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3de19807a27873ac9d8d3c288eda1012""Aria?" I yelled when I came in. She was huddled over the stove making what smelled like Macaroni and Cheese./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bac96fd3336a71d9d6f7b62dc89fba4a""What're you doing?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="75f8aaa319b6d8ba95223ddf8738929b""Slaving over a hot oven becasue I love you and you love me and don't want me to die from food poisioning." I chuckled./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6384e3eb629a7d36938b76385b8e33ed""No, really."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8bc55100bfef0c7b8118b592f5c0319c""Making enhanced Mac and Cheese. It's pretty good, you've had it before." I sat at the small table by the kitchen./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f9a381aaf6d6480da75870b543edd9ed""Ar?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ce65082bf17e6a4f3b8e43aace30a01d""Hmm?" She was too busy stiring and mixing to look up at me./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a066360a9b7011a5ceaabb74b737270b""I was thinking while I was down there..and," I sighed. "You said you had a plan to take Ali down." She turned and put the wood spoon down on the counter./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="570096f1b91c3a05b6b3cd2ab2112d0a""Ezra.."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="df91478ae9c6bd8f00ac707723eb87c6""I want in." A smile twisted on my face. I would get Marley back. Even if it's the last thing I did./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9c0f0b59a4cb6d6c59f6002bf3892a28"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Alison/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="df50cabd4695e13d66919d8fa5a07383"As Christmas neared, we only had two days left, I was becoming more and more stressed. I worked all day on meal prep and I still wasn't done. Growling, I fed Marley her tacos that I made the last second and she picked off the lettace. I would've shoved it down her throat, but she didn't fuss too much over it. Knocking interupted my mental checklist./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5ddac64a08f80a2cbc26ed5682020e86""Daddy's here, Mar." Her head perked up and her face fell./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e9ac733b46548cdc179fce55e747568a""Tell Daddy I hate him! I hate Daddy! He's a jerk!" I scolded her and she bowed her head./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2e2a8d5ac341e2e1aabb55e74dd39c11""Wrong Daddy." I smirked and made my way to the door, swinging it open./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="885b731f2fc15456f387ec3a9f439cab""Toby." My voice was plain and flat. Toby pushed me out of the way and into the home./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="897bf0f6477ad1efdf78696da787513d""Where is she?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5dcd1b46bbee33a0d5b1119696fa6238""Kitchen." Toby truged down the hallway, his motercyle boots were muddy and making tracks on the hard wood floor below it, I wanted to say something, but I didn't. I followed Toby into the kitchen. He stood in the door way while Marley munched on shredded lettace. He was quiet, only looking over her features. She had a cleft chin, that i could only assume came from him, though I had one too, bright blue eyes, just like Ezra's, and blonde hair that was slowly turning into a dirty color. Toby set his backpack down and turned to me with a tear in his eye./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="36d135ac00b2d6ed9cb84375f123fd1d""She's beautiful." He looked back at Marley who was now more concered with who the homeless man in her grandfathers home was. Toby sat next to her in the dinning room, trying to be respectful, I closed the door that led from the kitchen to the dining room./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b563d1681293c992158bf44c5b3f8084"I wish I could see the look on Ezra's face when he realized he would never see Marley again. In a way, I almost felt bad for taking her away, buyt he should feel just as bad for cheating on me with some short freak, whom he barely knew- after the accident of course. I sat on the couch, flipping through the notifications on my phone./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b77aacb64923571d8cb71f07b426bd4b"If this was winning, I would order a sweet side of victory with every meal./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e593925c436940eb3051a69142543c88"Another knock on the door interupted me from my thoughts.\/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="300440744d4759a499a374583f22d904""I got it Mommy!" Marley yelled as she turned the nob, my pulse quickened as I saw the black uniforms and hats they were wearing. They carried badges on their chests and guns in a holster around their waist./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d78336fbe9a2de30af59c59f751ee0bf""Hi!" The officer bent down to be level with Marley./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="664efa7d81b3227e1716aceabaa036fa""Hi!" Marley was quick to pull me towards the door. The officers crossed their arms and I told Marley to go play with her toys in the other room with Toby./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fd34eb6aafb804d7fd31c7fe1b8a86d3""Hello." They looked me up and down before speaking./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="95476236f9f8d6338b09487772b9a1f6""Are you Alison Dilaurentis-Fitz?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e99eee2c38bfcc7dc29a54759b12c664"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Shit./em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d2da864100ea670b8bfc391a8f32204e"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;""/spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;"We wait around a lifetime/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="75b1e087f96ecef2868bfdd2a5af1303"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"for one person, we can find/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="536803c626e04b15e2d1d3f6f0698771"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"in a moment with someone else. /emspan style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""/em/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="90c23102cef2285e2e9684b403fe56ff"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"- /em/spanspan style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Stephanie Klein./span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a1a013e22a71caf894cbe74b0472bc35"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Aria/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="530615bba6e9210f10b98152f24a152b""Sit down." Confused, Ezra sat down on the couth with his hands folded together in his lap. I stood before him, just as short as I always had been. These were the only moments when I would ever be as tall- or taller - than him./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="887d1e68de7716ecdc11e7de7a86a772""What's going on, Aria?" I could tell just by his tone of noice that he was even more nervous for what I was about to lay on him. What would be worse? Telling him that he had some secret kid that he didn't know about? Been there, done that. I realized a while ago that my life was like a really bad Lifetime movie. "Does this have to do with your plan?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="733804c9294cb17ca12dcadfe380b929""Yes." It was then that I grew an ounce of confidence. He wouldn't be em style="box-sizing: border-box;"that /emmad, would he? His leg was jiggling and you could almost hear his heart beating, no matter the short distance between us./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c213f4b165a5cea17d0ce868c7dc7b2e""Go on." I bit my lip, twiddling my thumbs. I did have a right to be nervous to say it out loud./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6e56cb867e3ddceb28b0142861e2fa8c""Ezra, when I tell you this, I want you to hear me out and listen to everything I have to say. Can you do that?" I was talking to him like a baby, plus I was being unknowingly ironic. Why would he listen to me say that it was Alison who caused the accident? Afterall, thats his almost ex-wife, and mother of a daughter whom he loved so very dearly. Of course he wouldn't return the favor of listening when everything he said to me when he was writing the book went through one ear and out the other./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c3b8c36d4da71b289f5fcb1b4e3c5e3d""Okay? Can you just tell me? You're starting to scare me." I sighed, looking him straight in the eye, looking for a shred of something- anything. They just stayed a deep ice blue./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="533b46ff9e039a90d05f0403f7cee5c4""I was out late last night." He was following and encouraging me to continue with small head gestures. "I was with Jason DiLaurentis. In case you didn't remember, that's Alison's brother, who told me that he wasn't allowed to have anything to do with yours and Alisons family, and I know why.." Ezra scrunched his forehead./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="05238ceda900d326a1365c77ab1974ad""Alison always told me that it was because he got back into drugs and alcohol and she didn't want him around Marley while he was still hooked. But why should I beleive her now? She lied to me about my entire life?" He laughed nervously. "But, why did she keep him away, the real reason?" Sucking in every molecule of oxygen, then swallowing my pride, I belted it out like it was a song that I couldn't keep inside my head./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1df0790bc77a50b1ef1912338ed7b7d3""Alison was the one who caused the accident."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="302fd9c80b4295a741bba4db7481fda3"Breathing ceased to be heard, but two hearts pounding against two ribcages wasn't enough to justify what I had just done. I had officially ruined everything; it was demolished in a pit of Alison's 'I told you so'. She knew that just this would happen, build our relationship up to such a fragile point, just to loose the pieces in the dark once again. If things stayed silent much longer, I was sure my void would return and be just as big as it was before./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="195a1ae77fe009aa4ad4dedf6afc847d""She wasn't in the car. She paid Jason to hit you. Alison wanted you to either die or have seviere brain damage..which was pretty successful." I refused to cry. It wasn't a time for me to be crying. I had no reason to shed a tear in his direction right now. Our story had always played out as him as the strong one, but not today. He crummbled. He let out of a few before bottling it back up. He wiped his face, and stood up./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="780bc1f5783fbcf02e504a6d8210cc7d""Perhaps I should go. Y'know, get some air. Is that- Is that okay?" I walked over towards him, putting my hand on his bicep. Ezra watched my hand and looked me in the eyes, just as i had a few moments ago./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="935852cbdc5cfcd17fcffa7e091a33ff""Don't shut me out, babe.' I wiped a tear off of his cheek. "Ezra, I'm here for you. No matter what. I promise I won't lie or hurt you." I smiled softly, he sat back down on the couch, holding my hands./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="19f419936809f5b7d55e5d063935bc6c""Thank you." I responded by giving him a hug, his hands wrapped around my waist, mine around his neck. It was intimite enough. He needed me, and I would be there for him. It's not that I didn't think this would be hard, but I figured my plan to destroy Alison and her life, would all come into play the moment Ezra could actually say more than three words to me./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="dc53785d25a3e11fb45aa5dbc946e293"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Ezra/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0850777d0ea75700ff4b6454b38b0cf5"I couldn't have been more speechless. It was Alison all along. How come I didn't see the signs? It had been exactly two hours since Aria told me the truth, and I couldn't be more thankful. I was ready to take Alison down. I needed to do whatever I could to get Alison into jail and manage to get Marley back. Something in the back of my head told me that all the evidence laid in California, but I couldn't go back. Not alone at least. I needed Aria. She was the best moral support anyone could have. I sat at the park bench, all I could think about was Marley, it was half past 5:30, so I wouldn't be surprised if she was fighting with her mother about eating green beans and having brownies for dinner instead of a nice green salad or whatever Alison decided to make. I got up and listen to the kids in the back of the park by the field screaming and playing with frisbees, I wanted one of my own..so bad. I walked across the street and back into the apartment complex./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3de19807a27873ac9d8d3c288eda1012""Aria?" I yelled when I came in. She was huddled over the stove making what smelled like Macaroni and Cheese./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bac96fd3336a71d9d6f7b62dc89fba4a""What're you doing?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="75f8aaa319b6d8ba95223ddf8738929b""Slaving over a hot oven becasue I love you and you love me and don't want me to die from food poisioning." I chuckled./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6384e3eb629a7d36938b76385b8e33ed""No, really."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8bc55100bfef0c7b8118b592f5c0319c""Making enhanced Mac and Cheese. It's pretty good, you've had it before." I sat at the small table by the kitchen./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f9a381aaf6d6480da75870b543edd9ed""Ar?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ce65082bf17e6a4f3b8e43aace30a01d""Hmm?" She was too busy stiring and mixing to look up at me./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a066360a9b7011a5ceaabb74b737270b""I was thinking while I was down there..and," I sighed. "You said you had a plan to take Ali down." She turned and put the wood spoon down on the counter./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="570096f1b91c3a05b6b3cd2ab2112d0a""Ezra.."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="df91478ae9c6bd8f00ac707723eb87c6""I want in." A smile twisted on my face. I would get Marley back. Even if it's the last thing I did./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9c0f0b59a4cb6d6c59f6002bf3892a28"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Alison/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="df50cabd4695e13d66919d8fa5a07383"As Christmas neared, we only had two days left, I was becoming more and more stressed. I worked all day on meal prep and I still wasn't done. Growling, I fed Marley her tacos that I made the last second and she picked off the lettace. I would've shoved it down her throat, but she didn't fuss too much over it. Knocking interupted my mental checklist./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5ddac64a08f80a2cbc26ed5682020e86""Daddy's here, Mar." Her head perked up and her face fell./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e9ac733b46548cdc179fce55e747568a""Tell Daddy I hate him! I hate Daddy! He's a jerk!" I scolded her and she bowed her head./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2e2a8d5ac341e2e1aabb55e74dd39c11""Wrong Daddy." I smirked and made my way to the door, swinging it open./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="885b731f2fc15456f387ec3a9f439cab""Toby." My voice was plain and flat. Toby pushed me out of the way and into the home./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="897bf0f6477ad1efdf78696da787513d""Where is she?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5dcd1b46bbee33a0d5b1119696fa6238""Kitchen." Toby truged down the hallway, his motercyle boots were muddy and making tracks on the hard wood floor below it, I wanted to say something, but I didn't. I followed Toby into the kitchen. He stood in the door way while Marley munched on shredded lettace. He was quiet, only looking over her features. She had a cleft chin, that i could only assume came from him, though I had one too, bright blue eyes, just like Ezra's, and blonde hair that was slowly turning into a dirty color. Toby set his backpack down and turned to me with a tear in his eye./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="36d135ac00b2d6ed9cb84375f123fd1d""She's beautiful." He looked back at Marley who was now more concered with who the homeless man in her grandfathers home was. Toby sat next to her in the dinning room, trying to be respectful, I closed the door that led from the kitchen to the dining room./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b563d1681293c992158bf44c5b3f8084"I wish I could see the look on Ezra's face when he realized he would never see Marley again. In a way, I almost felt bad for taking her away, buyt he should feel just as bad for cheating on me with some short freak, whom he barely knew- after the accident of course. I sat on the couch, flipping through the notifications on my phone./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b77aacb64923571d8cb71f07b426bd4b"If this was winning, I would order a sweet side of victory with every meal./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e593925c436940eb3051a69142543c88"Another knock on the door interupted me from my thoughts.\/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="300440744d4759a499a374583f22d904""I got it Mommy!" Marley yelled as she turned the nob, my pulse quickened as I saw the black uniforms and hats they were wearing. They carried badges on their chests and guns in a holster around their waist./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d78336fbe9a2de30af59c59f751ee0bf""Hi!" The officer bent down to be level with Marley./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="664efa7d81b3227e1716aceabaa036fa""Hi!" Marley was quick to pull me towards the door. The officers crossed their arms and I told Marley to go play with her toys in the other room with Toby./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fd34eb6aafb804d7fd31c7fe1b8a86d3""Hello." They looked me up and down before speaking./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="95476236f9f8d6338b09487772b9a1f6""Are you Alison Dilaurentis-Fitz?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e99eee2c38bfcc7dc29a54759b12c664"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Shit./em/p