Aria's POV:
"Are you ready?" Ezra says, squeezing my hand. We're standing at the doors of the hospital. I haven't been outside in months and I'm nervous, as silly as it sounds.
I nod slowly and he pushes the door open. I breathe in the fresh air for the first time in months and smile as the smell of grass and flowers fill my nose. It's not the best scenery outside, a bleak, concrete car park with a few flower beds, but I don't need much. Just being outside of that room makes me feel ten times better already. "How do you feel?" Ezra asks me.
"Free." I say and smile at him. He leads me to his car and I get in, instantly smelling the smell that keeps me alive in that place.
He starts up the engine and we start to drive away from the hospital. I'm nervous at first that someone will pop out of nowhere and drag me back, but soon I start to relax. I feel safe with Ezra. "I'm not going back." I say, when we start to pass through familiar landscape.
Ezra frowns. "Aria, they are helping you, you know. It will only be for a few more months."
Months? He said weeks last time. "No." I say, shaking my head. "You can't force me back there."
He puts his hand on my knee. "Let's not have this discussion now. Let's just enjoy the weekend we have together, okay?"
I sigh and nod. I don't want to ruin this, both for Ezra and myself.
Fifteen minutes later and we're arriving at his flat, which I haven't seen in so long, but it's still as familiar as ever to me. "Do you want a hot shower?" He says and I nod. I haven't got anything with me except the white hospital dress I've been wearing for months.
Ezra runs the shower for me and I walk into the bathroom, pulling off the stupid brown socks we were forced to wear. "Shall I leave you?" He asks, hesitating at the door.
I shake my head. "Just... just stay with me a minute." I say and he hugs me.
We stay like this, listening to the running water. "Okay," He says a few minutes later. "Are you alright?" Suddenly, he sees the bruises on my arms from the times I'd refused to take my medicine. He takes my arms and looks at the bruises. "Did they do this to you?"
"I just refused to take my medicine." I shrug, as if it's nothing.
I get into the shower and let all my troubled thoughts run away with the water. I wash my hair for the first time properly in months and breathe in the steam deeply. This is the most relaxed I've been in a long, long time.
At least an hour later, I manage to pull myself out from under the warm torrent of water and look down at the disgusting hospital dress. I refuse to put it back on. I wrap a towel around myself, letting my hair hang wet around my shoulders. I open the door and hear Ezra in the kitchen. "Ezra?" I call and he appears almost seconds later.
"Hey," He smiles. "How did you enjoy that?" He asks.
"Is there anything I can wear?" I ask, a little embarrassed. "It's just that..." I trail off, not knowing how to put it.
"Of course." He says, pulling out a blue shirt I've seen him wear a couple of times at Rosewood Day months back. "Don't judge me," He says with a laugh, "I was given this as a gift – I think they remembered me fatter than I was."
I hold up the shirt to myself and laugh. It's almost touching my knees.
I go back into the bathroom and put the shirt on and button it up, leaving the top two open, then walk out into the kitchen.
"Here," Ezra says, handing me a mug of tea. "I bet you haven't had this is a long time." He smiles and kisses my head.
"Thank you." I say, "For everything. How you've put up with me for so long is a real mystery to me." I say.
"I promised you I'd stay with you." He says. "And I don't intend to break that. Ever. Unless you tell me you don't want me to." He ushers me into his bedroom and pulls back the duvet. "Here," he says. "Get a good night sleep. We can go out tomorrow, if you want," he says as I climb into his warm bed. "Or we could stay here. It's completely up to you." He says. "I'll sleep on the couch tonight. I don't want you waking up in the morning, forgetting where you are and completely freaking out." He says and I have to laugh.
Then, he turns out the light and I'm asleep before my head even touches the pillow.