The next morning I woke up to an amazing, very shirtless Ezra. I lightly traced my fingers over his chest. "Aria." He groaned.
"Ezra. How about we use some of our newfound freedom and grab some breakfast?"
"Sounds good." he replied.
Ezra opened the door for me, and as we drove he kept one hand on the steering wheel and the other interlocked with mine, sitting on my lap.
We went to the hostess table, and I said, "Fitz for two, please."
I felt her eyes on Ezra as she flirtatiously smiled and said, "Right this way."
Once we got our table, I reached across the table and linked my left hand with his right.
"Shit. Ezra, look over there." I quickly pulled my hand away when I saw Katie Wilson, a girl from school, was wearing a waitress uniform and headed for our table.
"Hey." Ezra said. "It's okay. This is what we wanted, right? To out us?"
"I love you," I told him, re-intertwining our hands.
"I love you, too." Katie walked over to us.
"Aria? And….. Mr. Fitz?"
"Yeah- can we just get the strawberry pancakes? Oh and I'll have a chocolate mocha latte."
Ezra said, "I'm just going to share hers. But I'd like a coffee- preferably black." Katie looked a little grossed out at the thought of us sharing food.
"Sure… We'll get those coffees right out to you." Katie took our menus and walked away.
She soon brought us our pancakes. I took a bite and sighed. Ezra grabbed his fork and lifted his bite into my mouth before taking a bite himself. I could feel someone's gaze on me, so I turned around to see Noel Kahn staring at me. I remember when Noel came back to Rosewood High after his suspension- it was after I found out about Jackie and all of us had seen Ian's body in the belltower.
Ezra walked into the room, and started to erase the L-I-A-R-S hangman game on the board. He stopped and stared at me for a minute then turned back around. Noel stopped in the doorway and said, "Need some help with that, Mr. Fitz?" Ezra glared at him and told him to take his seat, which just so happened to be next to me. "Miss me?"
Spencer and I were talking about Noel when Ezra stepped out of his classroom. "Aria- do you have a minute? I'd like to speak to you about your essay?" Spencer looked at me. "You don't have to go." I replied with, "I'll see you in a minute." I walked into the classroom, Ezra shutting the door behind us. "Are you okay?" He asked me, and I looked down.
"Yeah- I'm fine." I told him.
"Do you want to talk about it…. Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"Uh," I hesitated. "Not really.
"Aria, don't shut me out- I'm here for you." I felt bad, but I was still angry.
"I'm not shutting you out, I just don't really feel like talking to you about it." I flinched.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Jackie." Ezra stepped closer to me. "And I understand how it looks- but you see, she doesn't change anything!" He paused. "Come over later."
"I can't tonight." I told him, lying.
"Aria! Please talk to me."
"I don't know what to say. Things just feel different."
"But they're not different, nothing's changed! I'm still in love with you!"
I needed to leave- I needed to think. "I can't do this right now."
I started to leave, but he stopped me. "Are- are we over?"
My heart broke, but I had to get out. "I don't know," I said and walked out of the room.
I was so sad- I missed Ezra. I glared at Noel and went back to eating my pancakes.
After we ate breakfast, Ezra and I took a nice walk outside, ignoring questioning glances at my hand intertwined with his.
A group of the kids from Rosewood High stared at us, and I turned Ezra around, pushing him against a tree, and pulled at his tie.
I slammed my mouth against his, giving the kids a clear view of us.
"Aria." Ezra mumbled on my lips. "Not that I'm objecting to this- but what's going on?"
"I'm just giving these kids a show." I told him, pulling him by his tie back to my car.
He gently took my hand off his tie and locked it with his. "Aria- when have we ever cared what they think?"
I sighed. "You're right. As always. Let's just screw them."
AN: Maya never died.
For summer break, Ezra and I had been invited to spend a few weeks with Spencer, Toby, Hanna, Caleb, and Emily at one of Spencer's beach houses. We both accepted, our parents thinking it was just the four girls. Maya couldn't come because she'd already told her parents that she'd go to Italy with them. We were leaving the day after tomorrow- but we told our parents we were leaving three days ago as an excuse for alone time with our 'others'.
"This is weird." Ezra said to me.
"Ezra! It's not! We'll just meet them at the airport!"
"I don't know them. Call me crazy, but I don't usually wake up next to my students."
"You're fine with waking up next to me!"
"That's different, and you know it. These are just students to me."
"Ezra- please do this. I want you to get to know them."
I scooted closer to him on the couch. "Please?"
He pulled me onto his lap, and kissed my nose. I smiled and leaned in so our lips would meet.
"Alright. Only for you." He said a minute later.
"I'm going to hop in the shower."
"Okay, I'll call Spencer."
As soon as I heard the water running, I dialed Spencer's number.
"I'm so excited!" Was the first thing she said when she picked up the phone.
"Me too, Spence!"
"What's up?"
"Girls day tomorrow in Philly? I need some serious retail therapy."
"Yeah- I'll call Hanna and Em. Are you at Fitz's?"
"Yeah- but you don't have to rush. What's up with you?"
"Oh, I'm at home, waiting for Melissa to bring back dessert. Do you need to go? I mean, don't you want to spend some time with Ezra?"
"It's fine. He's in the shower." I told her.
I heard the shower turn off. Men take really short showers.
"I'm putting you on speaker so I can take the cake out of the oven."
"Cake? Can I come over?"
"Sorry- there's not enough room for three. Plus we have a dinner reservation in an hour."
"Aria?" Ezra's voice rang out as I pulled the cake out of the oven.
"Where did you put my shirt?"
"I didn't touch your shirt!" I told him.
"You're the one who threw it somewhere!"
I momentarily forgot Spencer was on the phone, and said, "Well you didn't have a problem with it earlier! I haven't been wearing a bra for the past four hours and I didn't blame you!" Spencer cleared her throat and said, "I'm gonna go. Bye, Aria." And hung up.
Ezra walked out with only a towel around his waist, looked at me and chuckled.
"What?"
"My shirt."
I looked down. Sure enough, I had on Ezra's faded grey shirt.
I tossed it to him and went to my drawer of his apartment to retrieve a new shirt. I asked him to clasp my bra, and once he did he kissed the top of my neck.
"Ezra." He hadn't put the shirt on yet, and neither had I.
"Mmm?" He asked, spinning me around and reaching his hand up to stroke my face.
I completely forgot what I was going to say. Sadly, Ezra Fitz had that effect on me more often than not.
I reached up and tangled my hands in his hair, pulling my mouth to his.
We were already right next to the couch, and I asked, "How late do you think we'll be for our reservation?"
"Very." Was his reply.
Ezra looked at me, and I pulled him down on the couch, ripping off the towel in the process.
I woke up with Ezra's arms wrapped around my waist. I turned around to face him.
"Morning, beautiful." He said.
"Hi," I replied. "What time is it?"
"Ten." He told me.
"Ten? I have to be at the mall in thirty minutes. I'm never going to make it."
"I'll drop you off- we'll grab coffee on the way."
Twenty five minutes later, I was kissing Ezra goodbye and slamming the door of his car.
"How's Fitz?" I was greeted by Hanna.
"He's great. How's Caleb?"
"Fabulous."
The four of us decided we needed bathing suits the most.
I held up a black one-piece to Emily and said, "This would look great on you, Em."
"Yeah," Hanna agreed, and held up a pink bikini.
"Okay-" Spencer said. "Are you planning to wear that or floss with it?"
Hanna gasped. "Come on! It's cute! Well, I'm buying it. I'm sure Caleb will like it."
I held up a navy blue bikini with fringe on the top. "Cute?" I asked them.
"You'd look great in that, Aria." Em told me.
5 hours later, we'd shopped for everything we needed and were about to head home when Hanna announced, "We need to make one more stop for Aria."
"Why just me?" I asked.
"Because you and Fitz get the biggest room, so it's clear you'll be having the most 'fun'."
"Han!" Spencer and Emily yelled. I just shrugged.
"We also have to remember that it's Ezra's birthday in a week, so you guys need to have stuff planned. We'll hang out for the day, I'll sing him the song I wrote him, and then I'll give him the tickets for the concert."
Hanna screeched, "You got Fitz tickets to a concert and not me?! What concert?"
"The Fray," I told her. "It's Ezra's and my favorite band. The concert starts at nine, so we'll be back pretty late. Spencer said all the couples would stay at a hotel that night."
"So we have to stay at a crappy hotel while you two jump each others' bones?" She said bluntly.
"Hanna! Get your mind out of the gutter!"
She pulled me into a store. I looked around me, while Spence and Em just stood there uncomfortably. It dawned on me. We were in the lingerie store.
I sighed, knowing Hanna wouldn't give up until she got what she wanted.
I let her pick me out a few outfits, then paid and we left to go spend the night in Spencer's barn.
On the way there, I couldn't get Ezra out of my head. As soon as we got to Spencer's I grabbed her guitar and wrote down a song for him.
The full moon
Is shining like a spotlight
I could just sit and listen to you talkin' all night
When you whisper
Yeah, baby, when you lean in
I get a crazy, crazy good kind of feelin'
It's like Amen from the back of the choir
Sweet home of freedom underneath the tires
Kicked back sittin' by a cracklin' fire
Strumming them guitar strings
And like an old song on the radio
That you grew up to and everybody knows
Rushin' of the water when the river rolls
Winding wild and free
Baby, you sound good to me
Baby, you sound so good to me
Mm-m-mm like a melody
Baby, you sound good to me
Tell me
All of your stories
And don't you leave nothin' out 'cause baby, I ain't in a hurry
Every little thing you say
Got a real nice ring to it
The way it rolls off your lips
And oh, when you give me that kiss
It's like Amen from the back of the choir
Sweet home of freedom underneath the tires
Kicked back sittin' by a cracklin' fire
Strumming them guitar strings
Like an old song on the radio
That you grew up to and everybody knows
Rushin' of the water when the river rolls
Winding wild and free
Baby, you sound good to me
Baby, you sound so good to me
Mm-m-mm like a melody
Baby, you sound good to me
Baby, you sound good to me
Baby, you sound so good to me
Mm-m-mm like a melody
Baby, mm-mm
Like an Amen from the back of the choir
Sweet home of freedom underneath the tires
Kicked back sittin' by a cracklin' fire
Strumming them guitar strings
Like an old song on the radio
That you grew up to and everybody knows
Rushin' of the water when the river rolls
Winding wild and free
Baby, you sound good to me
Baby, you sound so good to me
Mm-m-mm like a melody
Baby, you sound good (sound so good)
Baby, you sound good to me (sound so good)
Baby, you sound so good to me (sound so good)
Mm-m-mm like a melody
Baby, you sound good to me.
My friends stared at me in awe. I just walked past them, asking, "Is one pizza enough to share?"