I don't know why I can never update at a certain day.. Sorry about that. Thanks to Marcia794 for helping me improve this story. I hope you like this chapter; it actually has Ezria *goggles eyes the way Lucy does*

I don't own PLL.

Chapter 8 - Never Giving Up

Aria's POV

"People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them." - Veronica Roth, Insurgent

Another night was spent at Spencer's house but unfortunately it was time for school. We hadn't got much sleep though; Ali's appearance was too fresh, we still couldn't believe that we actually saw her, talked to her. And we couldn't wait to do it again. Maybe I could talk to Ezra and ask him about what's going on with Ali, beg him to let her be safe... But I didn't know if I could talk to him yet. And there was my English class coming soon..

When I got back home my dad's car was parked outside. Now that Mom wasn't here things were a little weird, but we were all working on it. I opened the door and heard his and Mike's laughter coming from the kitchen. At least the rest of my family had a peaceful weekend.

"Good morning!" I walked in the kitchen just to find them setting the table for breakfast.

"Hello, Aria!" I was greeted with smiles.

"Did you guys have a good time at the cabin?" I hugged them both and tried to act normal, like my whole life wasn't on the verge of being destroyed.

"We did actually!" Mike seemed so excited. My baby, he's been so hurt about our parents' divorce, it feels good to finally see him smiling in our house again. "It was so cool, you should have seen Dad trying to beat me in Pro Evolution."

I had to laugh now. "Dad playing video games? I've got to see this!"

"Stop messing with me kids because breakfast is IN my hands! And all the other meals." He tried to joke but he couldn't hide the sadness in his voice. He wasn't even close to accepting the fact that Mom was in Europe with her new boyfriend, but he was trying hard. He knew he was the one to blame for their divorce anyway.

"How was your weekend, Aria?" Here we go. Bring the liar out.

"It was fun, Dad!" I avoided his eyes. "We just stayed at Spencer's, watching movies and stuff."

"Oh? I thought you stayed at Emily's." Well done, Aria. My brother threw me a suspicious look.

"Actually yeah, we did but only on Saturday. Yesterday we went at Spencer's." God. Byron had a curious look on his face but said nothing. "Um, I should go change now or I'll be late for school." If I stayed there another minute things would be revealed and nobody wanted this.

I went upstairs and quickly changed, ignoring my heavy dress that was laying on the floor since Saturday night. I wanted to delete all the events of that night from my mind. I wish it was just a nightmare I would soon wake up from.. No such luck. After almost twenty minutes I was ready but I didn't even want to leave my room. I couldn't face him. I should have been scared for my Math class, but Spencer's private lessons had us all ready. Instead, I was scared for my English class, my favourite class. With my favourite teacher. Scratch that - with my favourite person. Why was it so hard? It shouldn't be this hard..

Closing my house's door behind me, I turned to leave when I noticed someone sitting on our porch.

"Caleb?" I smiled curiously at him and approached him, when it hit me. "Is Hanna okay?" I was running now but he stopped me.

"She's fine, calm down." He flashed me a beautiful smile. "Can I walk you to school?"

"Sure." I nodded. Why was he here? And how could Hanna talk to him? Or did he and Toby find anything new about A that proved that -

"Hanna told me that you're worried about.." He didn't finish and looked at me. I shook my head and tried to stay calm. "Maybe Alison is wrong."

"She told you about Ali?" I whispered furiously.

"I won't say anything, Aria." He paused. "But if it will make you feel better, we haven't found anything suspicious about Ezra."

"Do you think Toby would know about him, you know.. If they were both members of the A-team?" He nodded.

"Most likely."

"Well, that is something." I meant it as a joke but it came out more serious than what I expected. He stopped walking and turned to me.

"Everything will be okay. Nobody's breaking up here, okay?" He emphasized his last words and I laughed. But I didn't reply. Bacause if I said that I was okay with that, it would probably be a lie.

For the rest of our walk we just talked about random stuff, including his research with Toby and what we saw in A's lair in Ravenswood. Caleb also found some creepy stuff in that town, while helping a Miranda he met on the bus and he might be going back there soon. As for his and Toby's research, they really had no idea who is Ali afraid of, she is the only one who can answer this. I hope that person is not him..

I met the girls at the school yard and after we waited for a few minutes so Hanna and Caleb could have some moments for themselves, we headed to our class. First period we had Math and of course out test went great because we had the best teacher tutoring us the previous night. Second class was English.

"Um, you guys go to your class. I'm not feeling well, I think I'll go home." The three of them gave me the dead look.

"Move your ass, Aria. Now!" Spencer scolded me. She actually said those words out loud in the middle of the corridor. I gave her a surprised look.

"No. I will leave." I crossed my arms and pursed my lips in a stubborn way. Hanna closed her locker with such force that it made us gasp.

"Stop acting like a child!" Why couldn't they understand me?

"Let's go." Emily said and they all followed her without looking at my direction. I went after them with a huge pout on my face.

He was sitting behind his desk, his attention drawn to something he was reading. Athough I was the fourth in the row as the girls and I entered the classroom, he looked up just when I was passing in front of him, as if sensing my presence. We locked eyes for the briefest of moments and I quickly averted my gaze because the pain in his eyes was too much to bear. He seemed tired, like he hadn't got any sleep. I caught Spencer's eye across the room and she was looking at me with a sad look; it was obvious that he wasn't in a good condition.

The last student entered the classroom and Ezra stood up and closed the door. He didn't give us a smile, didn't even say good morning. I couldn't be the reason he was such a mess, I didn't want to be.

"Take out a paper, I want a small essay on our last novel." The Great Gatsby. Of course he would make us write a test. Everyone whined but he just turned to the blackboard to write down the questions. He couldn't even address his class?

Needless to say that my paper was basically blank. I couldn't concentrate, my mind wasn't working and this was serious because this novel was one of my favourites, like it was one of his favourites. But I couldn't, because the only things in my mind related to that book at the moment were the night we watched the movie at the cinema, cuddled up with a huge cart of popcorn between us. And last Halloween, when I dressed up as Daisy and was excited that we would spend the night together, having fun like a normal couple, but well, the night turned out to be a little more complicated.

"Time's up." The bell rang and one by one people around me got up and left their papers on our teacher's desk. I reluctantly grabbed my bag and approached him, always looking at the floor. Emily noticed my blank paper and looked at me with a disapproving look. I didn't really care. I left my paper and turning around I almost let out a breath of relief when I heard his voice.

"Miss Montgomery, can I talk to you for a minute?" This question. I had heard him saying it a thousand times but it kept making my heart flutter. Out of all his students, he wanted me to stay behind. Out of every woman he knows, he wanted me to appear at his apartment later at night. And out of all the women he's ever met, he wanted me to stay in his life forever. Or that's what he always told me.

I looked up and found his eyes piercing mine, begging me. The girls were behind me and I nodded for them to leave. I bit my lip awkwardly and approached him once again. I didn't want this to feel awkward, why did it feel awkward to be alone with him?

"You never answered my texts." He stated.

"That's what you needed me for?" If I was sarcastic maybe he would be mad at me. I preferred this over him being broken because of me.

"Why is your test blank?" I looked at him with wide eyes.

"Seriously?" I kind of shouted. "You're being the teacher who's concerned about my education now?"

"I was always your teacher and I was always concerned about your education." His tone was harsh, close to mad. I mentally high-fived myself.

"I just wasn't in the mood for a test. Can I go now?" I nodded towards the door, never leaving his eyes and trying not to break in front of him. He didn't say a word but instead he stood up and came closer to me. I was suddenly out of breath. He stopped walking only an inch away from me and my hand itched to touch him. I had missed him so fucking much.

"I miss you." He whispered, and my eyes welled up with tears. How could I ignore this connection we had? How could I give up on us? I had promised.. I had promised myself that no matter what happened I would still fight for us, because it was worth it.

A tear rolled down my cheek and he wiped it away with his thumb. "Can we talk? Please, Aria." I knew he had me. I couldn't do this anymore, he had me the moment he touched my skin and even more when he said my name that way. Who was I to judge him about lies and secrets after all? I really wanted to give him a chance, I needed to let him explain. I thought that it was about time I trusted him. But I couldn't promise what would happen once I learned the truth.

"I will come over tonight." He nodded and smiled at me. I pursed my lips to keep the tears from falling when I saw his smile. I had agreed to let him talk to me and his whole face lit up. I didn't want to be the reason he wan't smiling, I wanted to be the one who always made him happy. Would we ever find any peace? I sighed and wished that we would.

Without another word, I turned around and walked out the classroom. The corridor was empty, it seemed like our next class had started. But I couldn't do this right now, I needed to be on my own and think. I left school and started walking, having no idea where I was going.

My mind was full of thoughts; thoughts about him, about Alison, about our lives' mess. When would all this be over? And if it was over, would our lives be the same? No, the answer was no. Nothing would ever be the same, we had all changed and nothing would bring us back. I didn't know if this was totally bad though; there were things that had happened in my life the last two years that I would never change.

Like meeting Ezra.

Without realising it, I had been walking for half an hour and now I was only one block away from his apartment. When I left Rosewood High, I didn't know where I wanted to go. But I did now. I wanted to go home. And apartment 3B was my only home. Because there is where I felt whole, there is where I had everything I needed with me. I only needed him.

I arrived at his apartment and used the spare key he hid under the doormat to get inside. I didn't feel the same emptiness like the last time I came here neither I felt the same loss and heartbreak like the last time I walked outside his door.

It was Monday, so he only had two more classes until he finished his job. Having nothing else to do, I layed on his bed and waited.

Hours or minutes could have passed; I lost track of time. I was wondering what he would tell me after he got here. How would I feel after he told me that he had done bad things.. Would I forgive him? Even if he had hidden important stuff from me? Probably I would. I felt pain away from him, I didn't want to go through this anymore, even if he had betrayed me. Even if he had lied to me, I couldn't leave him.

A few days ago, when I came here so I could give him a 'thank you' note for what he did about Mike, he had looked me in the eyes and said 'You know there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you, right?'. And it was true, he had done so much for me. He left the job that he loved, he never even thought about leaving me in order to have a family with Maggie and Malcolm. All for me, he risked his reputation, his life even. But it was my turn to save him now, to pull him out of danger and keep A away.

Turning over I hugged his pillow and breathed in his scent, but something got my attention. I reached under the pillow just to find a photo of me. There I was, smiling at the camera and I remembered that it was taken a few months ago here in his apartment, from the camera Ezra gave me as a gift. I looked so happy. I was so happy.

I had no idea why he kept this under his pillow. I hoped it was because he couldn't sleep without seeing my face, just like I did. How the past two months I stayed awake for hours on my bed, pressing 'End Call' just a moment after I had decided that I needed to hear his voice. I sat there for a few minutes, looking at the photograph and realising that he was the only one who could make feel happy; I hadn't smiled like this in weeks. I hadn't smiled like this since we broke up to be honest.

The door opened and I was startled; I had gotten used to the quiet room by then. Ezra walked in and he didn't see me at first, but I noticed that his face was troubled. Then he turned around and the moment he laid eyes on me a smile played across his lips, one he tried to hide without success. We locked eyes and nobody talked, until I slowly stood up and finally broke the silence.

"Why do you keep this under your pillow?" He hadn't looked away from my eyes so he seemed confused for a moment and I nodded towards the photo in my hand.

"Oh, that." Suddenly there was something so interesting on the floor and he wouldn't look at me; it felt awkward again. And this wan't right. I stood up and took a few steps closer to him.

"I need to know." My tone was pleading, barely a whisper. I needed him to tell me that he kept it because he missed me, I needed to hear that we weren't over.

He slowly looked up and I could see the battle in his eyes; was he debating between what he wanted to say and what he had to say? I closed my eyes for a tiny moment and prayed that he would tell me what I wanted him to say; being sure that it was what he wanted, too.

Thanks for reading and please review, I need to know what you think about my story so far.

I'm not in the mood to write these days because life is being a bitch plus all this ezria-is-being-destroyed crap is getting on my nerves. But I'll try to update soon.

xox