the title and quote in the description comes from birthright (feat. jon foreman) by sleeping at last.

also, there is more of this to come!

i.

He wishes the dreams would stop.

Not that Ezra is embarrassed by his reoccurring dreams where he's Prince Charming. If that was it, he wouldn't keep it a secret from his fiancee, Jackie. He would've told her about it long ago, they would've laughed, and life would've gone on. But he can't tell her, because she would ask who Snow White was, and while he's not the worst liar in the world, he has no idea what he would say to her.

The right answer would be that she was Snow White, but it's not the true answer.

It would be simpler if Snow White was an ex, or some famous actress - then it could be some form of cold feet that he'd just have to get over - but simplicity and his life have never really been related concepts.

The 'Snow White' figure of his reoccurring dreams is Aria Montgomery, one of the students he teaches in high school, a fact that makes Ezra hate himself more than a little.

Deep down, he feels like this is something important, that it's more than just a bunch of weird dreams - he feels so much happier with her in the dreams than he ever really has with Jackie, but that's just crazy and worrisome and he's pretty sure that the next step after following that is having a Law and Order: SVU episode based on you, so he ignores it.

ii.

She knows it's just a stupid school girl crush. A meaningless, naive, stupid schoolgirl. For one thing, Mr. Fitz is engaged.

Also, he's her teacher.

(She doesn't list the reasons in that order for any reason in particular, of course.)

Aria repeats those things to herself all the time, reminding herself that it's just a crush, because if she doesn't, then the idea gets caught up in her brain, and she starts over thinking it.

It would be so much easier to just push the crush out of her mind, and move on. She could date Holden or Noel or any guy who was her age and single. And she would. . .if it wasn't for the dreams.

The ones where she's Snow White and Mr. Fitz is Prince Charming.

It sounds so much cheesier than it really is - the dreams are an ongoing, complex story with twists and turns. More than once she's woken up in tears because of it.

Once Aria tried to talk about it with her friends, but the good-natured teasing from them reminded her about how ridiculous it sounded, so she decided to keep it to herself. (It took forever for Hanna to drop it - she had to endure months of being called 'Snow White'.)

Anyways, other people have had crushes on teachers without it being a big deal, so why worry?

iii.

Every once in a while, Ezra accidentally makes eye contact with Aria and ends up feeling really uncomfortable. The dreams immediately come to mind - especially the fact that they're pretty much each other's 'one true love' in them. He looks away right away, of course, hoping that didn't look weird or creepy.

(It did, of course, because Aria seems to avoid talking to him, and when she has to she seems really uncomfortable - but that could just be him.)

iv.

Her dad had an affair and her mom kicked him out and her family is falling apart and Aria is in near tears the entire day, trying not to seem so devastated. She already talked with Spencer and Hanna and Emily about it, but even though it feels good to know that they're all willing to let her stay over, she still feels devastated.

And she's apparently not paying attention as she walks out of the school, bumping into someone.

"Sorry - " She immediately says, freezing when she realizes it's Mr. Fitz.

For a moment he looks at her with such a look of shock, she wonders if she somehow injured him, only for him to recover, his expression growing concerned.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

People have been asking her that all day, and so far, she's been doing a great job at hiding how she really feels, assuring them that she's okay - but for some reason, from him it's different. It cuts her deep, catching her false reassurances in her throat for a moment before she bursts into tears and blurts out, "My dad had an affair."

"I. . .I'm so sorry." Mr. Fitz replies, placing a hand on her shoulder. They're both quiet for a moment before he adds, "Do - do you want to talk about it over coffee?"

"Sure." Aria replies without thinking.

v.

This was a stupid idea. Someone is going to see them and assume the worst and he's going to lose his job and his reputation and his fiancee and -

Ezra shakes his head, clearing his mind from the worries that seemed to explode in it. Taking a sip of his coffee, he looks at Aria, who so far hasn't said anything.

She sits at the other side of the small table, stirring her coffee with one of those wooden coffee stirrer things. He wants to say something to end the awkward silence, but at the same time he knows that he can't force her to talk about it. With nothing to talk about, he gets distracted looking at her. Despite the fact that she's not as dressed up as she usually is - her hair is in a simple ponytail, for one thing - she still looks beautiful.

Of course, then he realizes what he just thought and tears his eyes away, drinking more coffee and wishing he had an 'erase' button on his brain.

Aria suddenly sniffles, though, so he has to look at her, and after opening her mouth a few times only to close it, she finally speaks, "I just. . .I can't believe he did that - to my mom, to us. . ."

She talks for some amount of time - maybe an hour, maybe two or three, he's not sure - and he just listens. It's not particularly thoughtful, he mostly just has no idea what to see, but by the end she smiles at him with tears in her eyes and says, "Thanks for listening, Mr. Fitz."

"Ezra." He corrects without thinking, adding quickly, "I mean - you can call me that, since we're not in school and all."

He has a near heart attack, inwardly kicking himself for even saying that when she says, "Okay. Thanks. . .Ezra."

Then they're walking out, and again, without thinking he says, "If you ever need to talk with someone, I'm here. We can get coffee again."

She smiles, "Thanks. . .I might have to take you up on that."

They go their separate ways, and he tries not to think about how that sounds like a date.

vi.

Dad came home, hoping to convince mom to let him come back - which of course only led to a screaming argument. Aria slips out of the house quietly. She walks to the coffee shop, mostly looking down at the group. Someone holds open the door for her, and just as she's about to walk in a familiar voice says, "Aria?"

And there's Mr. F - Ezra.

"What's wrong."

She bites her lip, trying to hold herself together as she answers, "My dad - he came home to try and talk to mom, and they - um. ended up shouting. I decided to go get some coffee."

He nods, with a look of compassion on his face, "Do you. . .want to talk about it over coffee?"

Aria stifles a sob, nodding, "Yeah."

She gets some coffee, and this time they walk in the park. This time, she doesn't talk as much, but only because last time was like opening a dam - it was the first time, really, that she'd been able to just talk about how she fault about the whole mess.

After walking in silence for a while, she can't help but to think about how kind and understanding he's been, and she turns to look at him, "Thanks - again. For listening."

vii. "No pro - "

Aria suddenly give him a hug, and he freezes in place, too stunned to react. Then he lightly hugs her back, continuing as if he never stopped talking in the first place, "No problem."

Holding her feels right. It shouldn't, but it does. It feels like he's in one of those dreams where he's Prince Charming, and, for a moment, he's happy to just hold her. The instant she starts to pull away he lets go, and then they're standing way too close and he wants to kiss her, just like in those dreams -

Oh god.

"I - uh. Need to go correct some tests." He says abruptly, blurting out the first excuse to get out of there he can. She nods, understanding, and says goodbye. He walks away and fails completely and not thinking about how good it felt to hold her.