Chapter 11:

Ezra:

Ezra sat in his apartment, marking papers. Aria had taken Malcolm to the park after school so Ezra could work without any distraction. He kind of wished they were there at the moment because he definitely needed a break. He got up to make a fresh pot of coffee and rummaged through the fridge for something to eat. As Ezra pulled out some bread and bologna he noticed a sandwich sitting on the counter. He went over to it and saw a note on the edge of the plate.

In case you get hungry while marking, here's a little something to make sure you don't burn the apartment down. ;) -xox Aria

Ezra chuckled to himself. Aria really did think of everything. He was so lucky to have her in his life, and he really hoped that she knew how much she meant to him. Ezra walked over to his night table and stuck his hand under everything else until his fingers closed around a small velvet box. He opened it up and looked at the diamond ring nestled inside. He planned to propose to Aria the day she graduated, but that was still a few months away. He hated the waiting, but for Aria he was willing to wait a million years. He just hoped that she would say yes.

Ezra's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He quickly hid the little velvet box back in the drawer and went to answer the door. Standing outside was Maggie.

"Hey, am I too early to pick up Malcolm?" she asked.

"It's okay, Aria took him to the park so I could take care of some marking." Ezra gestured to the stack of papers. "They should be back soon, I'll just text Aria and-"

"No, it's okay. I don't mind waiting." Maggie replied.

"Okay. Come on in, have a seat." Ezra gestured to the couch. "Do you want some coffee?" he asked.

"Sure." Maggie replied, smiling.

Ezra grabbed two mugs and filled them with the dark liquid, adding cream and sugar. He handed one to Maggie.

"You still remember how I take my coffee." Maggie observed with a laugh.

Ezra shrugged and laughed."Force of habit I guess. If I remember correctly, you were the one that forced me to try iced cappuccinos when we went on that trip to Canada in high school. I still love those." Ezra laughed.

Maggie laughed. "Those have always been my favourite. Too bad, they're mostly in Canada." she said. "Oh, and do you remember on that trip, how you and Hardy made a bet that he couldn't handle the roller coaster's at Canada's Wonderland after eating three hotdogs?" she laughed.

"Yeah! And he threw up all over some random guy's shoes! That was hillarious. I still make fun of him about that sometimes." Ezra laughed.

Maggie sighed happily. "We had some great memories in high school. Do you remember that time you read me a poem? You tried to do a remake of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, but then you fell out of my tree and broke your arm. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard." Maggie said.

Ezra blushed. "I wasn't very co-ordinated in high school. But I remember parts of the poem. Wasn't it the one we were doing in English class in senior year?" Ezra recited a few lines from the poem with a small smiling curling at the edge of his lips.

"Yeah, that was it. I used to read that poem every night afterwards." Maggie replied, looking up at him. Before Ezra knew what was going on, Maggie kissed him. And, to make matters worse, Aria walked in just then, Malcolm a few steps away.

"What the hell?!" she said, just before Ezra was able to push Maggie off of him.

"Aria, it's not what-"

"How could you!" Aria said, angrily, before storming out of the apartment.

Ezra stared at her helplessly. He didn't fully understand what had just happened. Did Maggie really just kiss him. He turned to her. "What just...? Did you...? How did...?"

Maggie looked helplessly at him. " I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking."

Ezra just shook his head and ran after Aria. He saw her running to her car, and called after her. She ran even faster and drove away before Ezra could catch up to her. He pulled out his phone.

It's not what you think. Please let me explain. -E.F.

Aria:

"What the hell?!" I heard myself say as I walked into Ezra's apartment and saw him and Maggie sitting on his couch, kissing. What was going on here?! I ran out of Ezra's apartment, nearly knocking Malcolm over in my haste to get out of there. I ran down the three flights of stairs and was almost at my car when I heard Ezra calling my name. I considered stopping, but I was definitely not in the mood to hear Ezra try to explain what just happened. I just needed to get away from there so I pushed my legs even faster and drove away from there as fast as I could, ignoring my vibrating phone that would most likely be Ezra. Now, here I was, recounting the story to Hanna, while eat what was probably my tenth brownie.

"Hmm, that sounds pretty messed up. But before you dump him or do something huge, hear him out. Maybe there's more to the story." Hanna said. "I mean, have you seen the way he looks at you? I don't think I've ever seen a man as hopelessly in love as Fitzy is." she said, and Aria rolled her eyes at her friend's nickname for him.

"I don't think I'm ready to hear his side of the story yet. At least not tonight." Aria said, finally pulling out her phone to see what he'd written.

It's not what you think. Please let me explain. -E.F.

Aria stared at the text, internally arguing with herself over whether or not she should call him. She decided to wait until tomorrow. She was too angry to think clearly and wanted to give him a fair chance when he explained.

"I think I'm just going to sleep. Is it cool if I crash here for the night?" Aria asked.

"As if I'd let you leave." Hanna said, tossing a blanket and a pillow at Aria.

Hope you liked the chapter. Don't forget to review :)