Chapter 8

Ezra POV

Ezra hummed as he walked down the halls of Rosewood High on his way to his classroom. The bustling in the halls was more hectic than usual. Not paying much attention to it, he continued to his class. Soon after writing the morning bell work on the board the bell rang for first period. Once everyone was in the room, Ezra looked up to take attendance and was surprised to find Aria's seat empty.

"Anyone know where Miss. Montgomery is?" he questioned over the announcements. His students looked at each other before looking back at him. Biting his cheek in wonder, he marked her absent.

Halfway through the period, the principle walked in. "Principle Heart. What can I do for you?" Ezra stopped his lecture and looked at the principle.

"May I have a word with you outside, Mr. Fitz?" Ezra frowned, set the paper in his hand down on his desk, and then gave them a short assignment before following the principle out the room.

Ezra turned to the principle in concern. "What's going on?"

Principle Hearts let out a sigh. "Ella Montgomery was in a car accident yesterday afternoon on her way home from work. I thought I should inform you that Aria Montgomery won't be in class for at least the week."

"Is she okay?" Secretly, he wanted to make sure Aria was okay but knew he couldn't ask without it looking suspicious.

"I don't know. Byron Montgomery, her husband," Ezra nodded hoping to hurry the conversation along, "called to inform us. He seemed pretty upset so we didn't ask any questions." Ezra nodded.

Ezra went through the day thinking about Aria. Maria had called him during his free period and he had told her about what he learned. After school ended, he got in his car and made his way to the hospital. He hadn't really planned on going to the hospital but he went into autopilot and found himself in the parking lot. He rushed through the doors to the hospital and immediately scanned the halls for Aria.

After not finding her, he asked a nurse who gave him the room number and told him he couldn't stay long. Knocking on the door lightly, he poked his head in to find the tear stained face of Byron Montgomery standing at the edge of the bed.

Byron gave him a sad smile and motioned for him to enter. Ezra walked in slowly and poked his head around the corner to see if Ella was awake. There he saw Ella asleep with Aria in the chair next to her clinging to her hand with her head on the bed asleep.

Ezra clenched his jaw at the sight of his coworker hooked to several machines. He walked closer to Byron. "How is she?" he whispered.

"Ella's fine." Never taking his eyes off his wife, Byron finished, "Turns out she's pregnant." Ezra looked over at him in shock. "They say the baby should be fine but the next few days are crucial."

Letting out a huff of air, Ezra nodded. "How-How are you and Aria doing?"

Laughing slightly, Byron motioned to his face, "Well, I think you can see how I'm doing." Ezra smiled softly. Byron looked back to Aria. "She's strong. She doesn't really show her emotions. I think she feels the need to put up an act for me. I don't want her to. I've told her several times its okay to let go but every time I say that she claims she's okay." Ezra nodded. Byron peered over at him. "Can you do me favor?" he whispered. Ezra stared back at him and nodded. "Let Aria stay with you for a couple of days."

Shocked, Ezra opened his mouth to protest. "She trusts you, Ezra," Byron interrupted, "She speaks very highly of you. She may not open up to me but she might to you. Besides, I don't want to leave Ella and I don't really want Aria alone right now."

'Okay," he agreed reluctantly. He knew it was a horrible idea but she needed him right now and that came above everything else in his mind. He watched as Byron walked over to Aria, put his hand on her shoulder, and softly nudged her awake. Sleepily, she lifted her head and squinted at her father.

"Hey, sweetheart," he father soothed. "You're going to spend the night with Mr. Fitz, okay?" She looked behind her father at Ezra who smiled softly and waved. She waved back and nodded too tired to fight with her father. Kissing her mother on the cheek, she got up and walked up to Ezra. With a hand on the small of her back, he guided her out of the hospital and to his car.

The car ride to his apartment was spent in silence. Occasionally, Ezra would look over at Aria. Every time he did, she had her head against the window looking out at the buildings that passed.

Finally, they arrived to his apartment. Without a word they got out and walked up. "Ummm, I don't really have anything that would fit you but you're more than welcome to sleep in a pair of my boxers and t-shirt."

Aria simply nodded as she scanned the room before her. He saw her smile slightly as she walked over to his book collection. Ezra walked over to his dresser and rummaged through it pulling out a pair of white boxers and an old Hollis t-shirt. He walked up behind her and saw her admiring the book he wrote, Fearless Love. "You're more than welcome to read it," she jumped slightly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Uh, here are the clothes for you to wear. You can change in the bathroom," he handed her the clothing and motioned to the bathroom. She put the book back on the shelf and went in the bathroom closing the door softly behind her.

When Aria returned, Ezra was sitting on the sofa flipping through a magazine. He stood up and told her he was going to change and only got a nod in return. Emerging from the bathroom, he looked over at Aria on the couch just staring off into space. "You all right?"

Not moving her eyes, she asked, "Is that a typewriter?" Ezra came closer and sat beside her. He averted his eyes to where she was looking.

"Uh, yeah it is," he watched her as she got up and walked over to it lightly tapping the keys.

"I didn't realize people still used these,"

Chuckling, he responded, "They don't. Well, I don't at least. That's just to make the room look good." Aria looked back at him blankly. Clearing his throat, Ezra stood and motioned to the bed. "So, you're going to sleep in the bed. I'll take the couch." When Ezra looked back toward her, he saw her quickly avert eyes away from him. He looked down at himself and found himself smiling when he realized she had been staring at his nude torso. He looked back at her and smiled. "If me not having a shirt on is making you uncomfortable just tell me and I'll put a shirt on."

"I don't want to kick you out of your bed," she said softly ignoring his last statement.

"You're not. I'm offering it to you," she nodded. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?" she shook her head. Ezra nodded and looked down unsure of what to say. "Have you eaten at all today?" Aria looked at him in slight anger. "You should eat something," he responded taking the look as a no.

Aria finally complied and followed him to the kitchen. "So, there's not much I can cook but I have a few snack foods. Plus I can make one hell of a peanut butter sandwich." His attempt at humor didn't even earn him a smile from Aria.

"I'll just take some chips," she stated noticing the chips on top of the fridge. Ezra grabbed them for her.

"What's it about?" she asked popping a chip in her mouth. Ezra furrowed his brows in confusion. "You're book," she clarified. "What's it about?"

Realization set in and he smiled with pride. "It's about fearless love."

"Well, no duh. That's the name of it," Finally, he got a little smile out of her. He grinned back.

"Guess you'll have to read it now won't you?" he quipped back. Aria smiled slightly before popping a chip in her mouth.

Aria POV

Aria lied in the darkness unable to sleep. She was literally a few feet away from the man she told herself she had to get over. This was going to be hard with her staying with him for the night. Knowing her dad though, she was probably staying for more than the night. She thought back to when he had caught her looking at him. She was nicely surprised when he had returned from the bathroom in nothing but a pair of sweatpants. A teacher should not look that good without a shirt on. But then again, a teacher shouldn't look that good period. Sighing, Aria rolled over to face the wall and closed her eyes. Within minutes, she was asleep.

A few hours later, Aria shot up with sweat pouring down her face. Her breath quickened as she looked around her room and nothing seemed familiar to her. Remembering where she was, she closed her eyes to try and steady her breathing. The dream she had just endured had seemed so real. She was standing in the middle of a cemetery looking around at all the headstones. Her mother, father, friends, everyone was dead. Spinning around in circles looking at all the headstones, she dropped to her knees in tears. Within seconds, she felt a pair of arms surround her. She looked up and expected to see Clark only to be faced with Mr. Fitz. That's when she had woken up.

Softly, she climbed out of bed and walked over to the book shelf. Using her cell phone as lighting, she found Fearless Love and pulled it out. Walking back to the bed, she climbed in and opened the book.

The next morning, she woke up and looked around. The book she had been reading was lying on the floor beside the bed with a bookmark sticking out the top. She didn't remember having a bookmark or putting the book on the floor.

"You fell asleep reading last night. I found a bookmark on the shelf and put it in there," she heard from the kitchen. She looked up to find Mr. Fitz standing over the stove. Standing, she stretched as she walked over to the bar and sat on the stool.

"Thanks, Mr. Fitz. For everything." He turned his head slightly to look at her and offered her a small smile.

"Ezra," he stated.

"I'm sorry?" Aria stated confused.

"Mr. Fitz is a mouthful. When we're here you can call me Ezra. We're going to be roommates for a little while anyway." Aria wasn't surprised. She figured her father would stay with Ella and want her with someone but did it have to be the English teacher she was attracted to?

"You sure this is a good idea?" she questioned when he placed some eggs on the plate he sat in front of her.

He stared up at her and sighed. "I don't know. Feelings aside, you need someone. I know you have Clark and your friends but I think your father would prefer someone…"

"Older? Wiser?" she finished for him. He nodded pursing his lips. "Of all the people, he chose you."

"He said you spoke highly of me," he stated smugly. Aria blushed and picked up a fork to eat her eggs.

"I don't know what he's talking about," she mumbled as she took a bite. She looked from his eyes to his chest. Clenching her jaw, she shoved another forkful of eggs into her mouth. Ezra smirked as he ate his own eggs. Aria looked at the clock. "Shouldn't you be at school?

Ezra looked over at the clock. "Oh crap!" Aria's eyes widened.

"You're late for school! You need to go, now!" Ezra turned back to her grinning.

"Relax. I called in this morning. I told them I had a family matter to attend to and that I'd need the next few days off." Aria huffed and pushed him slightly.

"Jackass," she mumbled. When he looked away, she couldn't help but smile.

"So, do you like it so far?" he asked. She looked up at him. He motioned to the book beside the bed.

Swallowing the eggs in her mouth, she nodded, "It's really good. When was it published?"

"Last year. A friend of a friend took a look at my work and liked it. Within months, it was published and out in stores." He smiled with pride filled eyes.

"That's impressive," she grinned back. The smiles on both their faces slowly faded as they stared into each others eyes. Aria's eyes moved to his lips. She wanted so bad to kiss him. She knew this was a bad idea. Clearing her throat and averting her eyes back down to her eggs, she asked, "Can you take me home so I can grab a few things?" He nodded. "Thanks."

Opening the door to her house, Aria motioned for Ezra to come into the house. She didn't realize he had followed her to her room until she started throwing things into a bag and saw him standing in her doorway leaning against the frame with his hands in his pockets. Before they left his apartment, he had changed into a pair of navy blue jeans and a dark blue checkered polo shirt with a dark grey v-neck sweater on top. She froze and stared at him as he looked around her room. His eyes landed on her. She wanted to look away but couldn't.

"Aria…I…" he was interrupted by the voice of her father hollering her name from downstairs. Closing his eyes, he looked down.

"Yeah dad, I'm here! I'm just grabbing a few things before we head back to his apartment," my eyes stayed on Ezra the whole time. Licking his lips, Ezra peered back up at her. Aria nodded in understanding and continued to pack her bag.

"Oh okay," her father said from behind Ezra causing him to jump. "Sorry," her father stated. "I just came by for some clothes and something to eat before I head back to the hospital. Uh, Ezra," he turned and addressed the man in question. "Maybe I should get your number incase Aria can't answer her cell." Ezra nodded and raddled off his number as Aria continued packing. When she was done, she kissed her father goodbye before her and Ezra left.

Ezra dropped Aria off at his apartment while he went to run a few errands. Aria decided to do a little snooping around while he was gone. She knew it was wrong but she was little curious. Who was Ezra Fitz? She smiled when she saw a few pictures of him with other people who she assumed were some of his college buddies. She paused when she came across a picture lying on his desk of a little boy. She picked it up and flipped it over to read the back.

Zane Alexander Fitz

Age 3

Did Ezra have a son? Aria's mouth opened in shock.