Chapter 9

Ezra POV

After dropping Aria off at his apartment, Ezra ran by the school to pick up some papers to grade. He was walking through the halls when his cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, he immediately felt guilty. Maria. He needed to tell her Aria was staying with him. Should he? His finger played over the ignore button until, with a sigh, he pressed the answer key.

"Hello," he muttered into the phone.

"Hey, Ezra. How was your day?" he heard Maria say into his ear. Ezra was quiet for a while before he told her that it went fine. "Anything interesting happen?"

Ezra closed his eyes. It was if she knew. "Well, Ella Montgomery got into a car accident two days ago on her way home from work. She's fine but Byron wanted Aria to stay with me."

"Ezra, please tell me you told him no." Ezra remained silent. Hearing her sigh as he entered his classroom, he knew what was coming. "She's your student, Ezra. Do you know how this looks?"

"Maria," Ezra stated frustrated. "Her mother is in the hospital recuperating and you expected me to just leave her alone. Byron was trying his best to take care of his wife. He didn't want Aria to feel the need to take care of them both and he didn't want her staying at home by herself. What did you expect me to do?" How could she think about the way things looked? Aria was dealing with a lot right now. She needed him. And honestly, he needed her.

"And he couldn't find someone else who isn't her teacher to baby-sit?" Ezra clenched his jaw in annoyance.

"Byron thought it was best she stay with an adult. Preferably someone she'd open up to. I'm not going to kick her to the curb all alone. She's staying with me."

"Ezra…"

"No, Maria. End of discussion." He knew he was being hostile with her but he needed to do this. At the moment, he couldn't care less about the way things looked. Sighing, he changed the subject. "So, how's Ohio?"

After a long pause, she finally answered, "Great. My father is pretty upset. Jack was his closest friend but I've managed to help out a little I think."

"Good."

"Hey, I have to go. Bye." She didn't even give him a chance to respond before she hung up. Snapping his phone closed, he shoved it in his pocket and grabbed the few papers sitting on his desk. After leaving the school, he grabbed some Chinese food before heading back to his apartment.

Aria POV

Aria studied the picture. The boy kind of looked like Ezra but not a whole lot. The little boy had short black hair and Ezra's beautiful blue eyes. The dimples that formed at the corners of his mouth when he grinned would make any human being smile. Aria was still looking at the picture when the door opened and closed.

Dropping the photo as if it were on fire, she jumped away from the desk and turned to look at Ezra who was standing at the door looking at her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry,"

Ezra sat the food down on the counter before walking up to her. "No, it's fine." He picked up the picture and smiled as he peered down at Aria. "This is my nephew. He turned three last week."

Aria smiled. Not his son. Relief flooded over her. "He's adorable. He's going to be a ladies man with those charming dimples and beautiful blue eyes." Ezra glanced over at her. Aria knew she had just pointed out the traits that Zane had managed to gain from the Fitz side of the family and blushed.

"Yeah. I don't get to see him that often." When Aria asked why, Ezra suddenly became very quiet. Aria watched his face as anguish appeared. "My brother, Nathan, he, uh, he wasn't the best father in the world. He was a drunk. An abusive drunk. He never laid a hand on Zane but Clarissa, his wife, wasn't so lucky. He lost custody of him. Nate is getting help and he's doing a lot better. He hopes to get partial custody sometime next month. Clarissa allows me to see Zane about four times a year. She sends me pictures all the time."

"I'm sorry," Aria whispered.

Ezra looked up at her and she saw his blue eyes shining from tears. "I've never told anyone all of that," he whispered. Aria hesitantly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms instantly found their way around her waist.

"Well, thank you for telling me," she whispered in his ear. She felt him nod against her shoulder.

Sniffling, he pulled away but kept his hands on her hips. Looking into her eyes, he stated, "I hope that you can trust me enough to open up to me, Aria. If you ever want to talk about Alison or whatever, just let me know." Aria nodded in understanding. Suddenly her phone rang. Excusing herself, she walked over to the coffee table where she had laid it and picked it up.

"Hey dad, what's up?" she questioned. She listened intently to what her father was saying and found herself falling to her knees. Ezra was there instantly to wrap his arms around her. She broke down in tears as she hung up.

"Shhh," Ezra soothed her rubbing her back.

"The-the baby died. The trauma was too much for it to handle," she got out. Ezra's arms tightened there hold on her. She turned in his arms and threw her own arms around his neck and buried her head in the crook of his neck as she cried.

Ezra POV

Aria had managed to stop crying but refused to release Ezra which he wasn't complaining about. They sat there for a while in silence. "Aria?" Ezra whispered. She moved slightly but kept her face buried in his neck. "Do you want something to eat?" She shook her head no. Aria's breathing began to slow down. She was asleep. Ezra hooked his arm under her legs and hoisted her up.

Sitting her down on the bed, he removed her shoes before tucking her in. He was about to walk away when he heard her whisper, "Please don't leave."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll just be on the couch," he whispered.

Aria moved over and flipped the covers back inviting him into the bed with her. Ezra didn't hesitate to slip his own shoes off and climb in with her. Aria scooted closer to him and laid her head down on his chest. Putting his arm around her, Ezra pulled her closer and softly planted a kiss into her hair. She let out a soft sigh and gently laid her hand on his chest. Once he knew she was asleep, he brought his right hand up and placed it on top of hers. Within minutes, he was asleep.

A few hours later, Ezra awoke. Neither one of them had moved. Lying there looking at the top of her head, Ezra did some thinking. His feelings had definitely gotten stronger over the past few days. She had shown him a completely different side of her the past several hours. Placing his chin on the top of her head, he smiled contently. Maria hadn't been on his mind at all since she left. Aria was the only thing that occupied his thoughts. Closing his eyes on his thoughts, he fell back asleep.

The next morning, Ezra opened his eyes and immediately closed them again as the blinding sun presented itself. Moving his left hand up to his eyes, he was surprised to find he was able to move it. He looked over where Aria was supposed to be to find it empty except for a note. Sitting up, he grabbed the note.

Ezra,

Thanks for last night. Clark called this morning and asked if we could hang out today. I'll be back tonight.

-Aria

Ezra groaned. Clark. Figures. Throwing the covers off of him, he headed for the bathroom. Splashing some water on his face, Ezra looked at his reflection in the mirror. He had held her last night as she cried and all she could think about was Clark. Rubbing his hands over his face, he let out a loud growl.

He was doing some reading when his cell phone rang four hours later. Answering, he was surprised to hear Aria's voice on the other end of the phone call. "Hey, Ezra. It's-, uh, Aria."

"What's up?" he questioned.

"Can you come pick me up?" she asked innocently.

"Thought you were spending the day with your boyfriend," he spat.

"I was." Apparently she didn't hear the hostility in his voice or she just chose to ignore it. "I told him I was staying with you and he didn't really take it well. We got into a little argument. Look, can you come get me or am I going to have to walk all the way there?"

Sighing, he gave in. "Where are you?"

Aria POV

Aria sat on the curb watching the cars go by as she waited for Ezra. She thought back to the past few days. She had somehow ended up staying with Ezra. She had told herself just last week that she would forget about him and she was succeeding but then her father had to go and pawn her off on him. Now, she couldn't seem to get him off her mind. It didn't even bother her one bit that Clark was angry that she was staying with him. For a second she cared but then she thought back to yesterday. Ezra had been there for her when she needed him. He held her as she cried. He held her while she slept. He had even opened up to her about his brother.

A car pulling up brought her out of her thoughts. Standing, she wiped the invisible dirt off her skirt and got into the passenger seat. "Thanks," she said to him. Ezra simply nodded before getting back on the road. The car ride was spent in silence.

When they got to his apartment, they went and did their own thing. Ezra watched television while Aria sat on his back porch and read some more of his book. It wasn't until nine-thirty that night that Aria came in and sat beside him. She waited for him to look at her before speaking, "Me staying here hasn't helped anything." She didn't clarify.

"You mean with Clark." It wasn't so much of a question as it was a statement. Aria looked over at him with furrowed brows.

"No, I was talking about the whole forgetting about each others feelings thing." Ezra looked at her in surprise.

"You're right. My feelings for you have gotten stronger the past few days." Ezra stated looking at the TV. Frustrated, Aria reached over to grab the remote from his hand but he was too fast. He stuck it out of her reach.

"Ezra, give me the remote!" she yelled reaching for it. The closer she got the more he leaned away to keep it from her. Without realizing it, she had climbed on top of him trying to grab it. In the blink of an eye, the remote was on the floor beside the couch and Ezra had his hand on the back of her head pulling her face toward his. Crashing his lips to hers, Ezra wrapped his free arm around her back pulling her closer to him. Too shocked to do anything, Aria remained still. Soon though, she found herself responding with the same forcefulness.

A few minutes later, their lips pulled apart slowly. Ezra still didn't let go of her. Clenching his jaw, Ezra looked up into her brown orbs as she peered down at his blue ones. He remained motionless. Slowly, she leaned forward and captured his lips in a gentle kiss. She pulled back slightly before kissing him again. The kiss slowly grew into a sensual one. Aria placed one hand on his chest and the other on the side of his face. Oh yeah, their feelings were definitely not being ignored.