Part 1

"It's so beautiful.."

"NO! No." Yelled Aria when she saw Ezra's wound. He fell, and she caught him, slowly lowering him to the ground. The others then saw what happened.

"EZRA!" Spencer yelled, rushing forward.

"Oh my God, Ezra!" Emily shouted.

"No, please! Ezra! You keep your eyes open, don't you close your eyes, keep them open!" Aria shouted, sobbing beside him, her hands on his face. His eyes slowly closed. "Don't you die on me!"

"Somebody call for help!" Ali shouted, tears running down her face.

"EZRA!" Hanna kept yelling his name. The sight was just too much for her. She sat down and started crying into her hands.

Emily was the only one who had enough composure to get her phone out and call 911. Tears were still running down her face, though.

"911, what's your-"

"My friend was just shot!" Emily cut the receiver off, quickly telling her the address. No one cared about getting caught now, all they cared about was getting Ezra an ambulance.

A few minutes later, they heard sirens wailing, and saw lights flashing. Paramedics then opened the doors to the roof they were on, a stretcher at hand. They rushed towards Ezra and Aria, trying to pry her from his side.

"No! No, let me come with him! Please!" She shouted, watching the paramedics get him onto the stretcher, Emily holding her back. Spencer was covering her mouth with her hand, and Hanna was being comforted by Ali. The medics finally obliged, and everyone watched as they rode the ambulance to the hospital. Everyone followed in Spencer's car, but they blocked Ali from view, just in case 'A' was watching. They knew by now that 'A' was always watching. The Liars now knew that 'A' wasn't afraid to kill. They had known it all along, but now they were positive.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Hanna asked, still being comforted by Ali.

"I hope so, Hanna. Did you see Aria?" Emily replied.

Spencer looked at them in the rear-view mirror, tears streaming down her face, but nonetheless, incredulous. "Guys, do you know what this means? Ezra took a bullet for us! He fought off 'A' for us. He's got to be on our side! We were wrong all along, Ezra is innocent!" She said, turning into the hospital parking lot behind the ambulance.

Everyone thought over what Spencer had just said, and they all agreed. Another person checked off their 'A' suspect list.

Back in the ambulance, Aria was a mess. She was sobbing into her left hand, her right clasped tightly around Ezra's. After all he's done, she's still in love with him. And it shows. The paramedics had put a breathing mask over top his mouth and nose, and had put a neck brace on his neck to help stabilize him, just in case the bullet had reached his spinal cord somehow.

Once they had reached the hospital, Ezra was swept away by various doctors and nurses, leaving Aria to wait in the waiting room. A few minutes later, Hanna rushed to her side, followed by Ali, Spencer and Emily.

"Ali, why are you still here? What about you-know-who?" She asked in between sobs.

"I can manage a little time to help my friends in need," Ali replied, rubbing Aria's back. Hanna hugged her side, and Aria buried her head in Hanna's neck, her body wracking with harsh sobs. Then, she started coughing. And coughing. Like she couldn't get any air, but she could, in a way. Her face started turning red.

"Guys, she's having a panic attack!" Spencer yelled. "Aria, calm down, breathe, okay?" Aria couldn't calm down.

Eventually, Emily had to run and get a nurse to help. The nurse took her to a vacant room, and gave her an oxygen mask to hold to her face, to see if it would help. It didn't. She kept crying and coughing. The nurse took the mask.

"Aria, you need to take deep breaths, or I'm going to have to sedate you for a little bit, okay? Take a deep breath, okay, good, sit up, and keep breathing. In through your mouth, now out," she instructed. Eventually, Aria had calmed down to just tears. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" The nurse asked Aria. She nodded. "Why don't you go into the bathroom and wash your face to cool yourself down?" Aria nodded again, coughed once more, then went into the bathroom and splashed some water onto her face, looking into the mirror.

Is my face really that red right now? She thought. She shrugged he shoulders, then went back out to see everyone was still in the room. She walked up to the nurse. "Thanks for helping me," she started. The nurse nodded. "Hey, um, my boyfriend was the victim of a bullet, named Ezra Fitz, he was admitted about half an hour ago. Do you know when he'll be where I can visit him?" She asked, saying that Ezra was her boyfriend, even though they had broken up. If he had gone so far as to take a bullet for all of them, why wouldn't she want him back? Aria does love him, after all.

"Yes, I believe he just got out of surgery. I think he was in room 105.." The nurse replied. Aria nodded her thanks, then ran out into the hall, looking for room 105. When she got there, the first person she saw was a doctor looking over what appeared to be his notes on Ezra. Aria then shifted her eyes to the patient in front of the doctor, and almost screamed.

Ezra was in a hospital gown, and had a breathing mask on his face. He also had various wires attached to where he was shot, and it was so bad, they had him on life support. That was when the doctor noticed her.

"Oh, hello! Are you here to see Mr. Fitz?" Everyone nodded. "Well, he's a very lucky man. The bullet didn't reach anything too vital, other than his kidney, but it didn't do too much damage to the organ itself. He should wake up anytime now. He did lose a lot of blood, though. I'll just give you all some time alone," He said. He then exited the room, leaving Aria, Ali, Spencer, Hanna and Emily alone in the room.

"Oh my God, Ezra!" Aria rushed to his side, and grasped his almost lifeless hand in hers. She started heavily sobbing into their hands, wishing she could go back and take that bullet for him instead. She buried her head in his chest, wishing he was awake so he could comfort her. But he wasn't. At least he would be awake soon enough. Ali ran up beside her, and wrapped her arms around her back in attempt to help calm her down so that she didn't have another panic attack.

"He'll be okay, Aria, calm down, it's okay." Emily told her, walking up beside Ali and kneeling down next to them. Spencer looked at them.

"Guys, that's the thing, it's not okay. 'A' is still out there; who's saying that it's ever going to be okay again? Ezra got hit with a damn bullet! We need to find out who 'A' is, quickly. Ali, you already missed your flight, so that gives us a little more time to figure out who it is. But, Aria, one thing's for certain, Ezra still loves you, and you don't have to be in question anymore." She said. Aria nodded through her tears.

"I know.. I told you all, but you didn't li - listen!" She said, fisting Ezra's hospital gown in her hands, hating how her life was turning out. She wished she could just live in a world where her and Ezra could date without question, Ali was safe in Rosewood, and there was no 'A.' But sadly, that wouldn't happen. Because this was real life, not a fantasy where your special fairy godmother comes and grants you your heart's desires. Spencer came forward and rubbed Aria's back.

"Look, Aria, Ezra will be alright. The doctor said that he'd wake up any minute now, and he'd hate to see you like this. We're sorry we didn't listen, but right now, you need to calm down, and wash up. You can use the room's shower first; we'll keep an eye on Ezra for you, okay?" She said to her, leading her over to the small bathroom that sat in the corner of the room.

Aria nodded, then walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She wiped her eyes with the back of her left hand - a bloody hand - and turned the shower on, stripping off her clothes, setting them in the sink. She would have to put them back on, since she didn't have a different outfit on-hand.

Aria stepped into the shower, using the soap that the hospital provided to wash herself. She watched the dried blood on her body run down her legs, and into the shower drain. That was Ezra's blood. The man she's in love with. The man who took a damn bullet for her and her friends. It just wasn't right.

The situation hit her like a ton of bricks, causing her to slowly slide down the shower wall, and put her head in her hands, sobbing yet again. She just couldn't take it. It just wasn't fair.

What did she ever do to deserve this?

Author's Note:

Well, that was the official first chapter! I was going to wait a while to update, but then I saw that I got follows, and reviews within 24 hours, requesting more! I didn't know that my story would be viewed so quickly! Thank you all so much!

-Haley xx