All I have to say is that you guys are amazing! Absolutely amazing! Forty-four reviews on two chapters? That's more than I could possibly wish for! I'm really loving this story, so I'm glad you all are as well!

As I said last night, the others will be updated. My week is just extremely hectic.

I DON'T OWN ANYTHING.

~Chapter 2~

Her heart was swelling with emotion the minute his old, worn and torn Converse touched the hardwood floor inside of her room. Aria struggled to hold back the cry that had formed in her throat. Although she managed not to break down into tears, the slight catch as she spoke Ezra's name gave it all away.

With her arms outstretched, she reached towards him, wanting to feel him hold her; to prove this wasn't some dream. Aria was petrified that in a snap, something would contort this all into a nightmare and she'd wake up with empty arms and an even deeper hole in her chest.

"Ezra," she repeated once more, a bit more urgent than the last. He seemed to stand stationary for a moment and it was driving Aria crazy and pushing her towards thinking she was imagining all of this. She had to be; there was no way Ella would ever listen to her and willingly let Ezra into the house. Her mother had taken her father's side in fear of losing him again.

And there was no way Byron would ever let Ezra step through the front door, much less pull his car up the driveway.

Aria's body began to shake and quiver, the task of holding back cries and her emotions becoming painful. It was like taking a stab wound to her chest with a knife positioning itself right over her heart. It was becoming agonizing.

Ezra still stayed in her doorway. From what Aria could see, he looked as if he was trying to hold back emotions himself. That had happened in a dream before, but the minute Ezra had showed her how he felt, blood came pouring from every which way. Aria pushed the memory from her mind and tried locking it away in an imaginary storage bin labeled "Trash".

"Ezra, please," she begged, holding out her arms even wider. Aria was sure she looked like a toddler wanting to be picked up, but that didn't matter. A masochistic part of her wanted to know if this was real or not, despite the torture that could come if it wasn't. "Please come here."

Ezra listened and watched Aria. Her voice was growing weaker each time she pleaded for him to come closer. His arms began to ache was being pinned at his sides; he wasn't even sure why he was still standing there across the room. In any other situation, Ezra would've sprinted right to her.

There were emotions flickering across Aria's face that he hadn't even seen before. Aria was usually full of light and buoyant with a determined and stubborn streak. This Aria made it seem like the strong old Aria was being pulled into a much darker place within herself, leaving a weak, broken down, and vulnerable girl.

And Ezra didn't like it one bit.

Now he knew what she needed him for. Aria needed him to pull everything back together again. It's what they had always done for each other throughout the relationship; piecing everything back together for one another because they loved each other. But this wasn't the regular situation. This was going to be much more difficult, but Ezra was willing to do it. He loved Aria more than his own life, maybe even more.

Ella stood on, watching the young couple barely interact with someone. Part of her was growing irritated at Ezra's reluctance, but another was surprised they weren't clinging to each other within the first five seconds of seeing each other.

Aria let out another soft cry. "Ezra, I need you."

That sent him straight into her awaiting arms. Ezra practically threw himself to his knees into order to not be taller than Aria has he held her tightly. Aria's heart practically burst at the contact. A cold sweat of relief broke out onto her forehead; this wasn't a dream after all. It was real; very, very real.

Ezra held back a small cry, while his hands ran through her hair, trying to comfort them both. He hadn't expected that a simple hug would bring such overwhelming emotion. Her scent wafted through his nostrils. It had always been a mixture of roses, vanilla, and cinnamon and it was always a source of ease for him. Nobody else had it, making it distinctly Aria.

Her tiny hands grasped at his tee shirt, making small fists as she clung to the fabric. Aria held on so hard that the tips of her unpainted fingernails made dents in her palm when they met. The pain was worth it though. Everything was worth it just to have Ezra that close to her again.

A door slam could be heard downstairs followed by a series of grumbles and grunts. Ella bit her lip, knowing there would be hell to pay, but it was better to confront Byron now than have him come upstairs and rip Aria and Ezra from one another. Seeing the two now indicated to Ella that everything she believed about them had been a lie; a trickery. They loved each other. Ezra wasn't and had never been using Aria.

Ella had said she needed time to process, but the processing had been done in the matter of ten slow minutes. Their relationship was a real one, made up of trust and love and respect; more of a foundation than she and Byron had ever had. It was genuine. She also felt a bit proud that for once, she wasn't agreeing with her husband. Ella was prepared to fight for Aria and Ezra's side if the time came. Her daughter's happiness mattered more to her than her own.

"Byron's home," she said quietly. Despite her voice, Aria's bedroom was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop to the floor. "I'll go deal with him."

Ezra looked back from Aria to Ella. A smile played at his lips; one of graciousness. He mouthed a "thank you" in Ella's direction to which she nodded and descended the steps.

After a few more moments of being enraptured in each other's presence, Ezra leaned back from Aria. Her hands grappled in hear at his shirt, not wanting him to go. "Don't leave me," she said quietly, burying her face into his shirt.

"Never again," Ezra replied. "I'm never going to leave you again, Baby. I just need to adjust myself." He stood up from his knees and dusted them off before climbing onto the bed next to her. Aria shifted so that she was lying down with her back pressed against the wall behind her.

Ezra climbed in, staying on top of the covers out of respect for her and wrapped her arms around Aria's tiny waist. Her cheek became flat against his chest, just wanting to hear the beating of Ezra's heart. For Aria, that would be the defining line that this all was real. There was still time for it all to turn to a hellish dream. Who knew what her mind could be coming up with this time?

"Aria," Ezra said. "Look at me, please."

She was never able to withstand his wants, except for when she was angry or stubborn or held her own opinion on the matter. Aria's chin tilted up in Ezra's direction, her eyes searching his for something. The pure blue of his irises made Aria's heart speed up even faster than it already way. Her fingertips traced his jaw, wanting to memorize everything.

"Listen to me," he spoke soothingly, drawing tiny circles on the small of her back. Pressed chest to chest, Ezra kissed Aria's forehead, his lips lingering ever so slightly. "I love you. You're never going to be alone again. Staying away from you isn't an option for me anymore. I don't care if your dad puts up a fight and hollers and yells. I don't even care if Mike throws another punch. I'm going to be here, right here, fighting for you and what we have."

Aria's eyes welled up with tears, but a different type than what had been brewing all week. She nodded her head, unable to speak.

"And whatever is going on inside of you…whatever is broken, I'm going to fix." Ezra's voice ended his mini-speech on a determined and sincere note. He meant everything he had said to her just now. There were more things that he could proclaim, but would save it for when she wasn't so overwhelmed.

Her hands wound themselves around his neck momentarily. Aria sidled up so that they were face to face and pressed her lips against Ezra's softly and chastely before tucking her head into the crook of her neck. That had been her test to figure if this was a fantasy; it wasn't and she knew it the minute Ezra's lips had kissed her back.

For a few minutes, they two laid there in quiet before Ezra turned on a movie. The screen played images and the speakers played music, but Aria was barely paying attention as she tried to hold onto her consciousness. Ezra was perfectly fine and awake, but wanted to will Aria to sleep. A few solid hours and maybe no screaming would do her a world of good.

"Sleep," he said quietly, his hands playing with the loose curls in her hair. It would be a slow road to recovery, but everything had to start someplace.

"No," Aria protested, not wanting to let herself slip into a world where nightmares would plague her mind. She wasn't sure if having Ezra around would make the nightmares stop, or at least decrease them in the horror factor. "I don't want to." A yawn gave way of her lie.

"You need to," Ezra replied softly. One of the hands that had been playing with her hair was now caressing her cheek and jawline. "I'll be right here when you wake up."

"Promise," Aria asked weakly, another yawn escaping her lips.

"Promise."

Ezra had let himself slip into slumber a few minutes after Aria had let everything go. When she roused with cries, the alarm clock blared bright red numbers stating that it was 4:25 in the morning.

"Ezra," Aria cried, her eyes springing open. Everything was black and not just from the darkness of the room. Her fingers could feel him, but her eyes couldn't even make out his silhouette. "Ezra," she cried a bit louder, her panic becoming clearer. Finally, a round of sobs broke from Aria's mouth which woke him up.

"Aria," Ezra said, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "I'm here. I'm right here beside you. Don't cry, Love."

Aria blinked a couple times, wanting to see past the darkness, but couldn't. "I—I can't see you," she spoke, her voice cracking here and there. Ezra reached over and turned on her bedside lamp, illuminating a small portion of the bedroom.

"Can you see me now," he asked, adjusting his eyes to the light. Aria blinked a few times before seeing him. Ezra's dark hair was tousled from sleep and his pupils were dilated from the new source of light rather than the blackness of her room. Still, it was her Ezra.

One of Aria's hands went up to cup his jaw and bring her face closer to his. Their noses brushed as she nodded her head silently before pressing her lips against his. Aria pulled away with a yawn, still hiccupping from her nightmare in which Ezra hadn't been there when she woke up. Instead, there had been a note from –A stating his disappearance.

"I love you," she spoke weakly before her eyes fluttered to a close. It wasn't until a few moments after when Ezra did the same.