Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars
Author's note: You've probably been waiting for this chapter to find out what happens next, huh? So here you go!
Italics = Flashback
Ezra made his way out of the apartment smiling the entire time, tonight had been amazing. He got into the car, wondering what to do now. He had wanted nothing more than to go inside with her, he didn't want the night to end to be honest. But he knew she was just going to tease him to the point he might actually give in. Did he want to give in? He wasn't so sure himself. She was amazing, beautiful, smart, witty… but was this really going anywhere? Did he want this to go anywhere? He couldn't change who he was, he couldn't give her what she needed. She deserved someone who was caring, kind-hearted, generous, loving, prepared to give up everything for her…. And that wasn't him. He was Ezra Fitz, the billionaire who liked sleeping around, never with the same woman twice. He liked it, it made him feel… well, nothing, but that was the point. Ezra pushed the button to put down the sliding window and said, "Tristan…Nine Circles of Hell, please."
Aria felt lightheaded, like she was going to faint. Her heart was racing and pounding so hard that it was almost all she could hear. Fear immobilized her as he pushed up her dress with his free hand, but it wasn't like she could get away anyways, he was pushing her against the wall with all of his bodyweight. He bent forward and kissed her neck, which made her skin crawl. Matt said, "Hmmm, I've missed this, I've missed you. I want you so bad Aria, you know you want me too." Aria couldn't speak because he was still clasping her mouth with his hand, so instead she nodded. Matt felt Aria nod and leaned back to look at her. He said, "I knew it, you still love me." Aria nodded again in reply. Matt asked, "If I take my hand away, you're not going to scream?" Aria shook her head. Matt removed his hand cautiously, eyeing her warily.
Aria lifted her hand to his face slowly, making her intention to touch his cheek clear. Aria caressed his cheek with her thumb and said, "Of course I still love you Matt, but you hurt me really bad. How am I supposed to trust you again?" Matt looked determined and said, "I'll do anything to make you trust me again, just say it and I'll do it. Just…please give me another chance?" Aria nodded and said, "Okay, I'll give you another chance. Just please don't do this, don't force me into doing something I don't want to do." Matt sneered, "You didn't seem to have a problem doing it with someone else." Aria shook her head and replied, "I never had sex with him, I just spent the night there, I swear. I couldn't sleep with him…because I still love you." Matt asked, "So you're still a virgin? You're all mine?" Aria nodded and said, "Yes, I am. And yes, I'm all yours, I always will be." Matt replied genuinely relieved, "Oh Aria, you don't know how much that means to me."
Matt leaned in and kissed Aria, who threw her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. Then all of a sudden she bit his tongue and kneed him in the groin. Matt dropped down on his knees in pain and Aria made a run for the door. Matt yelled, "You lying bitch!", and lunged forward. She turned the doorknob, opening the door, but all of a sudden she felt Matt grab one of her legs. She kicked her leg several times so he'd let go, but he just pulled harder and she fell down hard on her knees. He grabbed her other leg and pulled her to him, sliding her on her stomach across the floor. He flipped her on her back and spit his words at her, "Now why'd you go and do something stupid like that!" Aria tried to get away, but Matt put his entire bodyweight on top of her. He ripped off her panties and said, "I'm going to enjoy this." Aria started panicking even more and started kicking and screaming harder, "Let go off me!"
Tristan stopped the car in front of the club and said, "We're here, sir." Ezra looked out the window and spotted a group of women in their early twenties standing in line outside the club. They were giggling, ready to have a good time. They were all attractive, so each one of them would do. Though he found himself thinking that none of them were Aria. What was going on with him? Maybe once he slept with someone, he would stop feeling like this. Maybe if he slept with her, he'd lose interest? But he couldn't…he wouldn't…and not just because of the promise she had made to herself. His ex-girlfriend had been a virgin…and she had broken his heart into a million little pieces. So in his mind, sleeping with Aria would only cause him heartache. Tristan asked, "Sir?" Ezra was pulled out of his thoughts and replied, "Uhm, you can just drive home, I've changed my mind." Tristan nodded and said, "Yes, sir." A few seconds later, Ezra's phone rang. He saw who it was and immediately picked up, "What's wrong?"
Matt lifted some of his bodyweight off Aria so he could undo his belt and zipper. It was then that Aria noticed the empty champagne bottle from Sunday on the coffee table. She eyed him and when he wasn't looking she reached for it and hit him over the head with it. Matt fell down onto the floor, blood drops sliding down the side of his head. Aria didn't know if he was still breathing, but she couldn't make sure, she needed to get out of there. She scampered off of the floor and made her way out of the apartment building. The sudden intake of fresh air made her lightheaded and she dropped down onto her knees on the concrete sidewalk. Seconds later two unfamiliar faces came rushing towards her to make sure she was okay. One of them made a call. Minutes later a familiar face wrapped his jacket around her and scooped her up into his arms. She heard him say something to the two other men, but she couldn't make out what it was. She felt safe again. All the excitement took its toll and Aria lost consciousness.
Aria opened her eyes a bit later in the car, she was still in Ezra's arms. He looked down at her worriedly. Aria's eyelids felt heavy, she was exhausted. She just closed her eyes again and fell asleep.
Hours later, Aria shot awake in the middle of the night in a strange bed. When her eyes adjusted to the dark, she noticed she was in Ezra's bed, but he wasn't in it himself. She flicked on the light on the night stand and then she got out of bed and noticed she was still in her dress. She really needed to get out of this dress, she really needed to burn this dress. This dress was ruined forever. Even though she had had a lovely time in it earlier, what happened to her in it later, made her sick to her stomach.
She looked around the room and saw one of her luggage bags on the dresser. She walked over to it, opened it and saw a bunch of her clothes in it, neatly folded. She took out some panties, sweatpants and a t-shirt and got changed. Afterwards she walked down the hallway to find Ezra. She saw light coming from under one of the doors, so she knocked and then opened it. Ezra was sitting behind his desk, she assumed he was working. Aria walked inside and Ezra looked worried when he saw her.
After picking up Aria from the sidewalk, he had put her in the car and gone to her apartment. His two security men had already taken care of Matt, which was probably a good thing. If Ezra could get his hands on that guy… Ezra's heart constricted as he walked into her apartment. The first thing he noticed were ripped panties on the floor, then he saw blood. Ezra was so angry, but mostly at himself. He walked over to her bedroom, got a luggage bag out of her closet and put in some clothes. Then he walked out, closing the door behind him and went back over to the car. He handed the bag to his driver and got in the back with Aria. He shook his head sadly, she looked so… vulnerable. He picked her up again and placed her in his arms, where he knew she was safe.
Ezra looked at Aria as she walked towards him. Even in sweatpants and a t-shirt she looked unbelievably beautiful. How could anyone hurt her like that? Ezra couldn't look her in the eyes and said, "I'm so sorry…." Aria looked at him confused. He continued, "It's all my fault. If I had just gone inside with you, then none of this would have happened. I could have protected you…." Aria replied, "It's not your fault." Ezra said still looking down, "I should've been there for you." Aria walked around his desk, turned his chair so he was facing her and he looked up at her, guilt written all over his face. She repeated, "It's not your fault." Aria could tell he didn't believe her. She continued, "Besides, he didn't…" Aria couldn't finish her sentence, she didn't want to think about what could have happened.
What Aria had just said got Ezra's attention and he asked, "He didn't?" Aria shook her head. Ezra sighed in relief and he visibly relaxed. He admitted, "I was so worried. I don't think I could have ever forgiven myself if he had. When I walked into your apartment-" Aria put two fingers against his lips to stop him and said, "I don't want to talk about it." Ezra nodded.
Aria took his hand and said, "It's late. Come to bed." Ezra withdrew his hand and replied, "I can't. I've got a ton of work I still need to finish, but you go on ahead." Aria frowned, why was he acting so cold all of a sudden? Aria went to sit on his lap, which clearly made Ezra uncomfortable. Aria kissed his neck, rested her head against his shoulder and said, "I need you." Ezra's heart ached as he heard those words, how could he say no to this girl? He…
"Marry me", Ezra blurted out all of a sudden. Aria leaned back and looked at him in complete shock, "W-What!?" Ezra replied, "Tonight really scared me, I don't ever want to lose you. I want to keep you safe and take care of you. So marry me?" Aria got off Ezra's lap, looked at him like she couldn't believe what he was saying and said, "Are you crazy!?" Aria could tell she'd hurt Ezra's feeling, even though he was trying to hide it and she continued, "I mean… don't get me wrong, you're a great guy. But….we've only known each other for a few days…" Ezra shrugged and replied, "So?" Aria frowned and answered, "So we don't know anything about each other." Ezra shook his head and said, "That's not true. Yes, we're still getting to know each other, but couples who have been together for years are still finding out new things about each other. Besides, I feel like I've known you for years."
Aria said, more to herself, "You're actually being serious…" Ezra looked at her expecting an answer to his question. Aria saw the look on his face, shook her head and said, "No, I'm sorry. The only reason why you're asking me this is because tonight scared you. That's not enough for me." Ezra started, "Aria, I-", but he was interrupted by Aria saying, "The answer is no, discussion over." Aria turned around and walked away from him, on her way out of the room. Ezra got up, went after her and said, "Please don't walk away from me." He grabbed her arm and turned her around, but let go off her a second later when he saw the panic in her eyes. Matt had said almost those exact same words earlier tonight when he had gone after her.
Ezra stammered, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't-, I wasn't thinking. Are you okay?" Aria looked lost into thought because she was reliving what had happened to her earlier. Aria had tears in her eyes as she shook her head. Then she burst into tears as she rushed into his arms, needing to feel safe. As she was sobbing against his chest, Ezra didn't know whether or not to put his arms around her. Carefully he closed his arms around her and he was grateful that she let him.
After standing there crying for some time, Aria seemed to have calmed down, so Ezra said, "Come on, let's get you to bed." Aria shook her head and replied, "No, I'm good right here." Ezra kissed the top of her head and said, "It's almost 4am, you need your sleep." Then he let go of her, scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to his bedroom. He put her on the bed and then tucked her in. He kissed her on the forehead and said, "Now sleep, my beautiful princess." He motioned to leave, but Aria stopped him by asking the question that was haunting her, "Did I kill him?" Ezra shook his head and replied, "No, unfortunately. But don't worry, he'll never hurt you again, I promise. You're safe." Aria frowned, what did he mean by that? Ezra turned around to leave, but Aria took him by the hand and asked, "Aren't you staying?" Ezra looked troubled as he replied, "No… like I said, I still need to finish up some work." Aria nodded sadly and Ezra left the room. Aria flicked off the light and tried to get some sleep.
Ezra walked over to his office, turned everything off and then walked into the guest bedroom. He changed into some boxers and then got into bed. About an hour later he was jolted awake as he heard screaming. He jumped out of bed and ran over to his bedroom. When he got there, he turned on the light and noticed Aria was having a bad dream. He rushed over to her side and gently shook her so she'd wake up. Aria woke up startled and out of breath. Ezra pushed some loose strands of hair out of her face as he said, "Shhh, it's okay. It was just a bad dream." After Aria's breathing was back to normal, Ezra got up from the bed and said, "I'll go get you some water." Aria replied, "Please stay." Ezra didn't know what to do. Of course he wanted to stay, but he didn't think it was the right thing to do after tonight.
Aria saw the look on his face and said, "Please? I need you." Ezra looked into her eyes and realized this was what she really wanted. He nodded and then got into bed with her. He turned off the light and Aria snuggled up to him. Not too long after, they both fell asleep and slept all through the night.
The next morning Aria woke up and Ezra was wrapped around her, his head on her chest, one of his legs over hers, holding her down. She felt too warm and she was unable to move. She felt trapped, like she had felt last night. Trying not to panic, she gently shook Ezra awake. Sleepily he raised his head and noticed how he was almost completely on top of her. He moved himself so he was lying on his side next to her and said, "I'm sorry." Aria tried to put up a brave face and replied, "It's okay." Aria moved onto her side so she could face him and she cringed in pain. Ezra asked worriedly, "What's wrong?" Aria shrugged it off and replied, "Just a bit sore, that's all."
Ezra frowned, what had this guy done to her? If he got his hands on him, he'd… He was pulled out of his violent thoughts as Aria brushed his cheek with her thumb and said, "Hey, I'm fine." Ezra leaned into her touch, but then he saw a bruise on her arm she had gotten from fighting back. He sat up so he could examine her arm better and he saw even more bruises. He threw back the sheets and pushed her sweatpants up to just above her knees and he gasped. Her legs were covered in bruises and her knees were just entirely black and blue from falling down on them hard. Ezra looked at her wide-eyed and said, "We need to get you to a doctor." Aria rolled her eyes and said, "They're just bruises, it's fine."
Ezra sighed in sadness, said, "I wish I could take away your pain", and then he softly kissed one of her knees. Aria pulled him back next to her on the bed and replied with a smile on her face, "You do." Then she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. She wanted to deepen the kiss, but she could feel that Ezra was holding back. Aria looked him in the eyes and said, "Please don't hold back, I need you. Even though he didn't rape me, I can still feel his hands and mouth on me. I need you to erase his touch." Ezra felt heartbroken, how could anyone do this to his princess? But at the same time he was in awe with her strength. There was nothing he wouldn't do for this girl, nothing he wouldn't give up.
Ezra nodded and kissed her with a passion they had both never experienced before. He broke away from their kiss, leaving Aria wanting more. Ezra moved down to her neck and started placing kisses on every inch of it. After that she helped him pull off her t-shirt and he resumed his kissing. He placed kisses on her breasts, her stomach, her tummy and then started kissing both her arms, making sure to kiss each bruise multiple times. Then he slowly pulled off her sweatpants and starting kissing up and down her legs. After he was finished he asked her to flip over, so she did. He brushed her hair off to the side and started massaging her shoulders and her back.
Ezra leaned down next to her ear and whispered, "Do you have any idea how much you mean to me?" Aria turned her head to look at him and the look in his eyes made her heart ache. She moved onto her side so she was facing him completely and pulled him to her, so she could kiss him again with the same passion as before. After a while Ezra stopped and said, "Alright, that's my limit." Aria bit her bottom lip and said, "You don't have to stop." Ezra replied, "Oh, yes I do." Aria reached up to kiss his lips and then whispered against them, "I don't want you to stop." Ezra whispered back, "Then marry me." Aria let herself fall back onto the pillow with a sigh, which made Ezra chuckle. Ezra said, "It seems we've reached an impasse", and hovered over her lips with his, teasing her by not letting them touch. Then he whispered in her ear, "One day you're going to marry me, and when you do… I'm going to make sweet sweet love to you."
Aria gasped at the promise in his words, this man… But how could she agree to marry him now, she barely knew him? Not to mention, he did a complete one-eighty on the subject of marriage. Just a few days ago he had said himself that he wasn't "husband material", why the sudden change of heart? Aria put on her t-shirt again, said, "I need a shower", and got up from the bed. When she was on her way to the bathroom, she muttered under her breath, "A really cold one."
After her shower, she realized she hadn't brought any new clothes with her, so she wrapped a towel around her and walked back to the bedroom, where her bag was. Ezra himself had taken a shower in the guest bathroom in the meanwhile and was now getting dressed. He was buttoning his shirt as he noticed Aria walking in and his mouth dropped open. She was wearing a small towel and her hair was dripping wet, which made him bite his bottom lip in frustration. He turned his head the other way and continued getting dressed, trying not to look her way.
After a few moments, Aria asked, "What are your plans for the day?" Ezra turned to look at her, which had been a huge mistake on his part because she was standing there in nothing but lingerie, going through her bag. Ezra tried his best not to show his discomfort and replied, "Depends on what you want to do." Aria raised an eyebrow suggestively and said, "Oh, you know what I want to do. But I should probably go to school." Ezra looked a bit sad as he asked, "Already?" Aria giggled and replied, "Already? I haven't gone to class in 2 days." Ezra shrugged and said, "So? Take the rest of the week off. We could go away on a long weekend, what do you say?" Aria replied, "I'd say you're forgetting I have a job. I'm working friday night."
Ezra pouted and said, "Take friday night off too? Technically we've known each other since last Friday, so we should go out." Aria started, "Ezra-", but she stopped as Ezra walked towards her and kissed her. He looked her in the eyes and said, "You can't blame me for wanting to spend each and every single second with you." Aria's heart warmed at his words, so she sighed in defeat and said, "Fine. But on Monday I'm going back to school, no matter what you say or do." Ezra grinned and said, "Deal."
During breakfast, Aria asked, "So… what's the plan for today?" Ezra smiled and said, "Well, it's going to be really nice weather today, so I thought we'd go out. We could go to the park, walk around, talk… Then maybe we could have a picnic?" Aria smiled back and said, "Sounds great." After breakfast they got ready and left for the park. When they got to the park, Ezra told his driver to pick up the picnic basket he had ordered and deliver it to them at noon. Then Ezra took her hand, intertwined his fingers with hers and then they started walking.
When it was noon, they got the picnic basket from Tristan and they chose a spot under a tree. Ezra spread out the blanket on the grass and then they sat down. After lunch, he was leaning with his back against the tree and Aria was sitting between his legs, leaning back against his chest. They just sat there in complete silence, enjoying each other's company. Aria sighed in contentment as Ezra was playing with her hair. Then Ezra noticed the ice cream cart and asked, "You want dessert?" Aria groaned and replied, "I don't know, I don't think I could possibly eat any more." Ezra teased, "Not even mint chocolate chip ice cream?" Aria moaned in fake annoyance and said, "That's mean." Ezra laughed, got up and said, "Wait here." Then Ezra came back with one ice cream sandwich, sat down, broke it in two and gave Aria one half. As Aria accepted it, she had a look on her face that said she was remembering something. Ezra asked, "What?" Aria shook it off and replied, "It's nothing. Thanks." Ezra looked at her speculatively, thinking to himself, "No…She couldn't be?"
It was a very warm day and Ezra had gone to the zoo with his parents and brother. His parents had just bought them an ice cream sandwich and Ezra had wandered off, looking for a place in the shade to sit. Then he spotted the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, she was sitting on a bench beneath a tree. He couldn't help but go over to her, so he sat down, broke his ice cream sandwich in two and gave her one half. The girl smiled and thanked him. Ezra and the girl just sat there, eating their ice cream sandwich. Occasionally they would look at each other and smile, because they were too shy to say anything to each other. After they had both finished their half, the girl had some ice cream on the side of her mouth, so Ezra wiped it away with his thumb. The girl giggled, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Ezra grinned, he had just gotten a kiss from the most beautiful girl in the world. Suddenly he had an idea and ran off, not telling the girl where he went. The girl felt disappointed that the boy had run off like that, but then her brother ran over to her and said, "Come on Aria, let's go see the giraffes!" Ezra ran back as fast as he could, but when he got back to the bench, the girl was gone and he felt sad. He opened his hand and looked at the plastic toy ring he had gotten from a toy capsule vending machine. He closed his hand around the ring again and swore he would find that girl and marry her.
Sooooo, what did you think? Did you like the suspense in the beginning? Did you hate it when I suddenly went back to Ezra when Aria was in serious trouble? Tell me tell me tell me, I really need to know whether I did good on this chapter. Your feedback makes me a better writer, so review! ;)