Author's Note: I'm very pleased that you guys are enjoying the story so far! This is only going to be a short story. Maybe around 8 to 10 chapters at the most. But anyways, if you have any suggestions feel free to write them in the reviews or you can PM me! Okay, enough rambling, enjoy the next chapter.
Aria's POV;
Ezra and I spent the rest of the day watching old Disney movies and snuggling up to one another. Despite the really rough morning, it was a pretty good day considering I spent every minute of it with my loving boyfriend.
"Are you hungry, baby?" Ezra whispered huskily in my ear. I giggled as he bit down on my ear slightly.
"Maybe just a little." I said as I turned my body so I was laying on my stomach.
Ezra kissed my forehead and started to softly stroke my forearm.
"What would you like, my sweet?" I swear, all of these cute nicknames he's giving me is the most sweetest things ever.
"Would you mind making your special mac&cheese?" I asked sweetly. Ezra sighed as if he was going to say no, but I started kissing him all over his face and batted my eyelashes at him. I knew he couldn't resist my needs when I did those things.
"Please, Ezra." I asked as I batted my eyelashes even more. Ezra cracked his famous boyish smile.
"Okay, but only because you asked so nicely." I gave him a soft kiss on his lips before he decided to get up and start our dinner. I got up as well as I helped him get out the ingredients. I brought the metal pot over to the kitchen sink and started putting in some water. When that was finished, I settled the pot onto the stove and turned it on to medium heat.
Ezra was half way done making our dinner, so I decided to go wash my hands before the food was ready. I looked into Ezra's mirror and gave my reflection a small smile.
"Don't listen to what those people are telling you. They have no clue what they're even talking about." I thought to myself. I sighed softly as I ran my hands under the warm water and pumped the sweet smelling soap into my hands. I dried my hands off with a fluffy towel and pulled my phone out of my pocket as it started to buzz.
"Remember, honey. Ezra doesn't love you. He's just using you."
Another text appeared on my screen again. "So how's the slut's day been? Getting another fucking from the teacher I see."
Tears started forming in my eyes once again. I thought I was done with all this crap today. My phone dropped, but I didn't pick it up. I honestly didn't feel like dealing with all of this shit right now. I opened the door and gathered my things.
Once I came out of the bathroom, Ezra acknowledged me and smiled sweetly, but that quickly changed into a frown when he noticed me gathering up my things from the couch.
"Aria, where are you going?" He asked sadly. I didn't answer him, I just walked out of the door. I ran down the stairs as quickly as possible before the tears stung my eyes. I only have one other place that I could go right now. My mom's apartment.
I made my way to my mom's apartment as fast as I could. By the time I got to the door, I had tears running down my face. I stood there, staring at the door for several minutes calming myself down before I had enough courage to knock on the door. I wiped away the tears and my smudged makeup as best as I could so my mom wouldn't ask too many questions. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door, wrapping my arms tighter around my body to provide some sort of comfort for myself. Ella almost immediately opened the door to let me in.
"Honey, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly. I sniffled softly before I answered her.
"I had no where else to go. Can - can I stay here tonight, please?" I shuddered. Ella gave me a sincere smile and brought me in for a hug. She gently stroked my upper back to calm me down.
"Of course you know you can always stay here. Did something happen?" I shook my head, tears threatened to fall.
"Can we not talk about it tonight? I just want to be here and have a break from everything." I choked back my tears. "I miss you." I hugged Ella tighter. When we pulled away from the embrace, she let me in. Ella seemed a little shocked considering we haven't seen each other in the past few weeks (other than in school) and things have been a little iffy with her and I because of my on-going relationship with Ezra. But I could see that she was happy and relieved to see me. We walked over to her couch and watched old Disney movies like old times when I was a little kid.
After the movie was over, Ella turned off the TV and turned towards me. She didn't say anything for a couple of moments, I was assuming she was trying to word whatever she had to say, nicely.
"So, honey.. Why are you here exactly? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that you know you can come to me for whatever reason. But for me to help you, I need to know what's going on.." She told me. I looked around the around, trying to avoid any eye-contact what-so-ever. How am I suppose to tell her that everyone thinks I'm a whore? I mean, seriously. Ella put her hand on my knee, reassuring me. I sighed softly and looked at her.
"People think I'm a whore." I started saying; Ella's expression turned ever so slightly. Her eyes were bigger than they're suppose to be and her mouth was dropped open, but she quickly shut it.
"Now, baby. Why would anyone ever think that?" I shrugged softly as I turned my attention to my thumbling fingers.
"Somebody called me this morning .. They told me Ezra doesn't love me and that he's just using me. And they said other things to me that I really don't want to repeat." I told her. Ella bit her lip as she gathered her thoughts.
"I expected that reaction when Ezra and I told you and Byron about our relationship. I never expected everyone to get so worked up about who I'm dating. I mean, Ezra loves me and I love him. Why can't people see that? Why can't they mind their own damn business. It's not their relationship. So why even bother?" I added, trying to hold back my tears as best I could.
Ella sighed softly as she shifted into a different sitting position.
"I don't know, Aria. But I could tell you this. I could absolutely tell you that Ezra is crazy about you. I didn't want to see that my little girl has gotten herself into some situation like getting involved with a teacher. But sweetie, he's not your teacher anymore. And I can honestly say that this relationship is growing on me. I can't say the same for your father, but it's sure as hell growing on me."
I smiled brightly as I heard those words come from my mother's mouth. I pulled her into another hug.
"Thank you, mom." I whispered slightly. I can tell that she was grinning because now our mother-daughter relationship is finally back to where it's suppose to be.
"You're welcome, honey." As we pulled away, she smiled at me.
"I can honestly tell that you and Ezra are crazy for each other. And for somebody to care about that much about my daughter is definitely a keeper." Ella said. I returned the loving smile.
"Well, he just is that. I really love him." I smiled at myself. I'm really happy that someone other than my best friends actually understand that Ezra and I have been through hell and back just to be together. I just wish other people could see that too. Ella settled her hand on my knee.
"I know, sweetie." Ella looked at the clock; It read 11:30 PM.
"Okay, this isn't going to be an all-night sleepover like with your best friends. You have school tomorrow. And I know how you get when you don't get your beauty sleep."
I chuckled softly at her and nodded. "Yes, mother." Ella motioned for me to follow her. She led me to another room. Once she flipped the switch, the light reveled an almost exact replica of my room.
"Oh my gosh!" I squealed. Okay, Ella is literally the best mom anyone can ever ask for!
"Do you like it?" She asked.
"I love it! Thank you." I reassured her. Ella sighed happily.
"Well, now whenever you don't want to go home, You can come here, and it'll just be like your other room."
"This room will definitely be used a lot." I told her as I let out a small giggle. Ella smiled happily. I'm happy and yet sad that her and Byron went through a divorce. Happy because now her and my relationship can finally go back to what it was before all this crazy shit happened; Sad because she won't be living at my house anymore.
"Okay. Sleep tight, baby girl." Ella said as she planted a kiss on my head. As she walked out of the room, she shut the door behind her. I sighed happily as I fell onto the bed. Soon enough, I fell into a deep slumber.
I woke up to the smell of Ella's cooking. I inhaled the aroma of bacon and eggs being made. I stretched my arms up and rubbed my eyes before I climbed out of bed. I made my way out of the room and into the kitchen area to where Ella was cooking.
"Morning, sweetie." Ella chimed. I smiled, still a little groggy.
"Morning, Ella." I replied. Ella scooped up the scrambled eggs and the thick-cut bacon from the pan and plopped them onto a clean plate. She set it down on the island and pushed it over to where I sat down.
"Eat up!" My stomach grumbled as the smell of the bacon and eggs reached my nose. I picked up the fork and stabbed a piece of egg, bringing the food up to my mouth.
Every chew I took, I swore the eggs got even more delicious.
"Holy crap. These are so good." I said as I punctured another piece of egg with my fork. Ella smiled pleased.
"Glad that you like them!" Ella looked at the clock, which read 7:15.
"Crap. I'm going to be late for work if I don't leave now. I still need to grade papers. I'll see you at school, Aria." Ella said as she planted a kiss on my head and left in a hurry.
After I was finished with my amazing breakfast, it was 7:25. Shit. I still need to go home and change my clothes and take a shower. I placed my plate in the sink and hurried into the bathroom to take a quick shower before school started.
When I got out of the shower, I only had little time to do my hair and makeup. I put on the clothes that I wore yesterday and then put my hair up in a messy pony tail. I then proceeded to make my way down to my car so I could go home really quick and get fresh clothes.
At 7:45, I pulled into my drive-way and quickly made it up to the house and into my bedroom. I scattered through my room looking for a cute outfit to wear. But that took too much work. I grabbed my favorite pair of dark washed jeggings from American Eagle and through on one of Ezra's old Hollis sweatshirt. After I washed off the remaining of my makeup, I put on fresh mascara and little eyeliner.
Once I got to school, the bell had rung signaling everyone to get to class. But I still had to go to my locker to gather up my books that I needed for my morning classes. I rushed to my locker and turned the lock then opened it. I grabbed my English, French, Calculus and Biology book. As I walked into English, my mother gave me a small smile and motioned for me to take my seat before she turned her attention back to the lesson.
The day has gone by pretty fast. No one has made little side comments. They mostly just gave me dirty looks, but I just brushed them off. The best part of all is, I haven't had any bitchy texts and/or phone calls. But I'm pretty sure that's because I left my phone at Ezra's apartment. Well, now that's a reason for me to go back there again. Also, I need to apologize to him for running out while he was making dinner.
I walked into the cafeteria; As I was paying for my lunch, the girls motioned over to me to come over and sit with them.
"Are you feeling any better today?" Emily asked. I smiled warmly at the three of them and nodded my head.
"Yeah. I went over to Ella's apartment. She let me vent to her and she welcomed me with open arms."
The lunch period went by pretty fast. Before I knew it, I was on my way to Ezra's apartment. When I got to my destination, I rang Ezra's bell and he let me in. I made my way up to his apartment. To my surprise, Ezra was waiting for me at his door. I smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss. He didn't seem to thrilled. When Ezra let me in, he shut the door behind him and motioned for me to sit down on his couch. My heart started racing; I already had all of these scenarios going through my head. What does he need to tell me? I thought to myself.
"Aria, I looked at your phone last night and again this morning. There were over 30 text messages and like 3 calls from various of numbers." My facial expression dropped from being worried to be scared shitless.
"Wh - what did they say?" I asked anxiously. Ezra sighed softly as he handed me my phone. I pressed the 'home' button. 35 new text messages; 5 missed calls and 5 new voice mails.
'Shit.' I mumbled underneath my breathe. I listened to the voicemails first; I put them on speaker so Ezra could hear them.
'Oh, poor, poor Aria. What would your mommy and daddy say if they ever found out that your former English teacher fucked the living hell out of you? They would be pretty pissed off, especially Byron. Am I right?"
I closed my eyes, letting some tears fall out. Ezra rested his hand on my shoulder. I climbed onto his lap and nuzzled my face into his neck as the next message played.
"Did Fitz get you pregnant yet? Bet he did, you fucking whore."
I had enough with all this crap. I took my phone and chucked it across the room. Ezra looked frightened considering he never saw me this upset before. Ezra wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him while I cried into his T shirt.
If this is how people are going to treat me from now on, I honestly do not want to be here anymore. I nuzzled my face into Ezra's chest as I let a few more sobs come out.
Ezra kissed the top of my head and rubbed my back to try to calm me down.
"I hate seeing you like this, Aria.." He whispered. I sniffled and turned my head up to look up at him.
"I hate this whole situation.." I murmured. Ezra put his pointer finger under my chin to lift my head up a little more before he planted a soft kiss onto my lips.
"You'll get through this, baby. And I'll be here with you. I'm not leaving you. I promise." Ezra reassured me. He always knows what to say to make me feel better. I held up my pinky to him.
"Pinky promise?" I asked as I batted my eyelashes at him and gave him a sweet smile. Ezra flashed his boyish smile at me and nodded his head while he linked his pinky with mine.
"Pinky promise."
Author's Note; Sorry this chapter wasn't that great. But I had to make somethings up in order for me to make an idea I had for the next chapter come into play. I promise that the next one will be a little longer and less suck-ish.
Anyways, thank you to Catherine (GilmoreGirls945) and Victoria (TeamEzria) for helping me with this chapter! Love you both!
- Alyssa