I enjoy reading all of your reviews. And I must say that I am shocked that this story has gotten this far. I never thought that this was going somewhere; but it is. And I owe it all to all of you! Thank you
So on another note, who here has watched the Halloween episode? I thought it was sad, it was nothing but a introduction towards Ravenswood. The way they (cast and producers) sounded on the episode I thought I would have at least yelled or scream at the screen. But I did nothing.
Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with Pretty Little Liars
Aria spun on her heel and looked the man that she wanted so desperately wanted to slap in the face for lying to her in the eyes. She wondered deeply how he could keep something as big as going off to war a secret for so long.
"You lied to me" Ezra stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded, "Why?"
He then looked at the floor and shrugged, "Because I didn't think it would have been the right choice for me to tell you something like that." Aria licked her lips and laughed harshly as she pushed past him and out of the nosey crowd "Where are you going?" Ezra asked bringing her back to him as he grabbed hold of her arm "We have to talk"
Aria froze in her tracks and pulled her arm away "Stay away from me Ezra." She turned only her head so she can look at him "I hate you so much right now" Ezra's heart sank as he moved in front of her "I don't' want to talk to you right now!" She closed her eyes, "As much as I love you I just think it would be best if we not talk to each other anymore." She turned down the hall towards her office and opened the door. She lent up against the wall for a few moments trying to hold herself together but got the shock of her life as Ezra stormed in the room and slammed the door shut. It was twice that very same day that someone came in so violently.
"You will listen to what I have to say Aria" Ezra bit out, "For years I have wondered what it would be like to have you in the exact same room as me. For years; I have lost myself in my own deepest thoughts because I was too heartbroken to find out the truth." He paused and paced in front of the door, "You think you're in love with my best friend you have another thing going." He laughed harshly, "How can you be so cold and blind as to see what you really love is right in front of you? Why are you pushing me away again? Why can't you for once in your life tell me the truth?" His voice started to raise as Aria walked over to her safe and unlocked it. She moved a few things aside and grabbed the box that she had hidden in the back. Ezra watched with intense eyes as Aria rose back up to her feet and turned around. She stuck out her hand as Ezra looked at the box in front of him, "Is that what I think it is?" Aria nodded, "You had it all this time?"
"Yes," She finally spoke, "I found it on the floor next to the door when you kicked me out of the house" She explain, "I wanted to give it back and I wanted you to forget me. It was for the best"
Ezra shook his head "But it's not." He looked back up at her "You keeping that ring is just another way to tell me that you are still deeply in love with me. That you made the right choice"
Aria let out a frustrated breath as she sat down in one of the chairs and rested her face in the palms of her hands. She didn't want to think about Ezra right now. Even though there are so many signs and signals telling her that he is right. That she should chose him; she just didn't know what to do at this point.
Ezra squatted down to her level and let the anger that he was feeling die down a little. He didn't want to scare her anymore. He wanted Aria to be truthful and open herself to all the possibilities that could happen.
Aria and Jay were together a lot longer than he and she was. But deep down the connection that they both share is there. That instant connection that sparked their relationship is just so eager to get out; fighting it's way to the top.
"Please tell me one thing" He pleaded desperately for her to come out of her shell. And when Aria looked him in the eyes he asked "Are you really happy with Jay? If-"he closed his eyes for a brief moment contemplating if he should ask her or not; but then went for it "If I hadn't known that you and my friend were together and he asked you to marry him would you have said yes?"
"That's not the reason I said no Ezra" Aria whispered
"Then why did you?"
Aria licked her lips and sat up straight "It's because I thought I had lost him once. Ezra this isn't the first time Jay had left for months at a time. When we first started to date- I think it was nine months in he went to Iraq." Aria sucked in a breath "Their convo had gotten ambushed and I thought he was gone."
"He never told me this." Ezra told her sitting back on the floor "Why haven't he told me this?"
Aria shrugged "He lost so many of his friends that day and doesn't like to talk about it. When he came back home he had gotten sent to Rosewood high and I thought it was the end of it. He told me that that was going to be his last deployment out." She shrugged again, "I believed him."
"So" he pondered a little, "You said no because you are afraid of losing him?"
Aria nodded, "In a way yes." Aria stood up and walked over to her desk, "I don't regret seeing you again Ezra," she told him as he stood up to his feet, "I don't regret ever meeting you that first day in the bar."
"Then what?" he pushed, "Am I supposed to be happy that the woman I love is in fact in love with my best friend?"
"I don't know."
"You never answered my question" He told her after a few seconds of silence "Would you have said yes?"
"No," she admitted truthfully, "Because my heart was always with you." She smiled genuinely, "I do love you! I just hated the way you pushed me off"
Ezra smiled and nodded, "I want to know the whole truth from you. I want to know everything that happened when I asked you to marry me."
Aria opened her mouth to speak but then was interrupted with the sound of a quick knock on the door and then it opened, "I'm sorry Ms Montgomery" Connie smiled, "But there is a Mrs Jackson out in the front lobby demanding that you get out of your office and give her the time of day. I think she's with the wedding-"
"Thank you!" Aria cut her off, "Can you tell her that I will be right there and I will show her the room?"
"Yes," Connie smiled once again and then looked at Ezra as she left the room
"Duty calls" Aria announced picking up her planning booklet and a few pens, "I have a wedding room to show and she wants to argue with me about putting in a different stage."
Ezra nodded, "Can we at least have dinner? Just the two of us and we can talk" he licked his lips, "I just want to talk. No fighting what-so-ever!"
Aria tilted her head towards the door for him to follow, "How about tomorrow? I want to talk to Jay tonight and get things cleared before he leaves."
"Tomorrows fine" he agreed, "How about I pick you up here at seven?"
Aria stopped at the front desk, "Why don't we just have dinner here? And then maybe a walk in the garden?"
"Only if I can pay?" Ezra told her, "I loved the free meals you gave me over the week for helping Toby; but this is different."
"That's fine"
"Ms Montgomery?" Mrs Jackson yelled, "I have been waiting here for the last half hour waiting for you to come out of your cave!"
Aria placed on her business smile and turned to face her, "I am completely sorry for running a little behind. But I would be more than happy to show you the Ballroom and then the rooftop dining area? I know you had your heart set on building a new stage. But I think if you looked at our newly renovated rooms you would see things differently"
Mrs Jackson nodded, "Alright then let's go!" She walked ahead
"I will call you tomorrow!" Aria mouthed to Ezra as he watched her work on Mrs Jackson
"Bye Aria," Ezra chuckled watching as she walked up to Mrs Jackson.
LINE BREAK
Aria knocked on Jay's door unsure if she should just walk right in or not. But when he didn't answer she just turned the knob and quietly took the first few steps through the threshold. She closed the door behind her and walked further into the house holding her breath and waiting for another explosion
It seems like this was another day to mark on her calendar of mistakes. She regrets just blurted out the parental of her only daughter. She regrets telling Jay the way that she did under all the other things that's going on in his life.
"What are you doing here? I would have thought you'd at least wait till I left to retrieve your things" Jay stuttered as he raised his beer up to his lips
Aria bit her inner cheek and nodded, "I think we need to talk before you leave." She stated calmly and sat down next to him on the couch, "I'm sorry"
Jay nodded and sipped his bottle once more before leaning forward and placing it on the coffee table, "Do you love him?"
Aria looked down at her lap and shrugged, "I was always in love with him Jay"
He nodded once again, "But you love me too?"
Aria looked up to see Jay looking at her with worried eyes that was full of held back tears, "Of course I love you. But what Ezra and I share is different from what you and I have. Jay-"
"Please don't go into detail" he cut her off and stood up to pace the floor "I-I knew something was up but I refuse to believe it because I didn't want to know the truth. The way he just voluntarily wanted to help out with the hotel; the way he just asks random questions about Lacy." He paused and lent up against the window looking out at the night sky "The way he looks at you when you aren't looking, the way that he would make small gestures" Jay let out a tear "I don't want to believe that he was the one you left. Or you were the one that ran"
"I didn't run Jay," Aria told him "I was pushed away" she sighed, "There are things that you don't understand. There are things that happened way before you and I can't explain it."
Jay turned around to look at her and sucked in a deep breath "About your dad?" Aria looked at him in shock and confusion "A lot of people talk around here and I heard a few things."
"What did you hear?"
Jay shrugged, "That you had an affair with a teacher and that your father once had an affair with his student. That the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Jay stopped and scratched his nose, "That you and your friends had been in trouble with the law more than a couple of times."
"Right and when were you going to come out and ask me if any of this was true?"
"Because I never believed it Aria," Jay yelled matching her tone, "You think I care about what had happened when you were in High School? You think I care that you had some trouble with the law? Of course not. I don't care about some stupid rumor. I don't care that you went out with a teacher when you were in High School. What I care about is you and what I care about is Lacy. You and Lacy are the only two people I really care about and I don't give a rat's ass about what people think and say. You are the one person that I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last before I went to bed. You, Aria, are the only person that I felt that could take my breath away"
"Jay" Aria cried, "I was being stalked by an unknown person all of my high school years. My father found out that Ezra-high school affair and I had sex while he was my teacher and threaten me to leave and never talk to Ezra again. You think my high school rumors are something to not care about?" She asked confused, "Well it's most certainly something to think about. Do you really want to be with someone who comes with more baggage than you take on a vacation? Do you really think you can live with me for the rest of your life knowing this person can come back and hurt us? This person killed before and now that I am in Rosewood again you think this person can't strike back once again?"
"Is this the dark secret that you've wanted to tell me?" Aria nodded, "You know I would do anything in my power to keep you safe Aria, why are you acting as if I don't love you? As if I wouldn't be here to support you in any way that I can?"
Aria licked her lips, "That's beside the point Jay, your leaving. When were you planning on telling me that you were leaving?"
Jay closed his eyes, "I wanted to tell you but then you upped and stayed at the hotel and I just chickened out. I couldn't tell you, not after what happened last time." He sat down next to Aria and took her hands in his, "I love you so much and it kills me that you're in love with my best friend."
As anger subsided Aria looked down at her feet with her hands in her lap. She didn't want to think about Jay leaving because as much as she loved Ezra; Jay will always have a part of her life and hearing him in defeat is just something that Aria couldn't bear with.
She let out a frustrated breath and looked up at Jay as he started to pace back and forth in front of her waiting for her to say something. But the truth is she didn't know what to say. What would she say to someone who has been there for her when she was the very one pushing him away in the beginning? What would she say to the person that she had shared a bed with for the last few years? What would happen to Lacy's heart when she finds out the reason for her mother's and Jay's break-up was because her mother was in-fact in love with her biologically father?
So many thoughts and concerns came out through all of this revealing process that Aria hasn't even thought everything through. "I don't know what to say anymore" She whispered, "I'm sorry for everything that I have done and all the pain that I've caused you!"
"I'm leaving tomorrow Aria" Jay stated as he tried to let the temper he was throwing fade out, "If I can't have you as my wife I would still love to be a part of your life. I want to be friends with both you and Lacy. I am not Ezra, just because you said no I am most diffidently not going to push you away." He gave her a genuine smile "I love you too much for that"
Aria looked him in the eyes as tears came pouring down her face "I would love for us to be friends and stay in contact with one another. I love you and if it wasn't for you, being here, and keeping me sane. I would have gone crazy a long time ago"
Jay laughed and sat back down next to Aria and gave her a full loving kiss to the lips, "I hate to burst your bubble babe. But you were insane and crazy when I met you!" He joked causing Aria to push him back a little, "I know this is the end for us," He looked deeply into her eyes, "But I want you to know that no matter what I do love you. I will be here to support you; it doesn't matter if I'm hundreds of miles away, or if were out of reach. I will always love you"
Aria smiled with tears in her eyes, "I will always love you too!"
I wanted them to end on a good note. Now what's going to happen next? Ezria?
Once again Thank you to my Reviewers/ Ghost Readers.