Ezra

All he could think about was her- Aria. Ezra had read over the same paragraph of a students work around ten times now, and still he'd taken none of it in. His mind was swimming with thoughts of Aria. All he could think about was how beautiful she still looked, the same as he'd always remembered, and also how she hadn't changed at all.

The biggest disappointment he faced, was that she had a child – her own daughter. One that had just started school, meaning she was 4 years old. His mind had already done the simple maths, and the answer showed that Aria had managed to get over him in only a year, and had a child with someone. This upset Ezra a lot, but also showed that maybe he had done the right thing to leave. It showed how Aria hadn't truly loved him as much as he loved her. It meant that her father was right – she would eventually move on. All this time he had dreamed that he one day would meet Aria again, and she would still love him as much as he loved her. But now his dreams had been shattered.

Aria
" What's wrong mummy?" Summer asked her mum, as they both climbed into a cab together. Aria had managed to make it on time to pick up Summer; but only just. But her mind was still stuck on Ezra, and not on her daughter. All she could think about was him – how handsome he still was, how his personality was still the same, and how he still wore the tie she had bought him all those years ago.

" Nothing sweetie. I just met an old friend at the school I'm working at." Aria explained, forcing a smile to her daughter. Despite Summers young age, she was very smart. Summer had never had a dad, and had always been close to her mum. She knew when something was wrong.
" Oh." Was all Summer replied, even though she wasn't fully convinced.

" How has your day been at school? Did you have fun?" Aria asked, hoping that her daughter had, had a better day than she'd had.

" Yes! Miss Making is very nice, and she even let me play a game with her!" Summer exclaimed, her face brightening as she spoke. Arias smile widened as she heard this.

"Very good. So I take it you enjoyed it then? Did you make any friends?" Aria questioned further, growing more curious.

" Yes there's this girl called Bree and she's my new best friend!" Summer responded. For the rest of the journey, Summer explained her story of the day. This managed to take Arias mind off of Ezra for a while, but not fully. She'd have to tell Hanna, Spencer and Emily about this, so she could get there opinion. Hopefully they would know what to do, since Aria was too confused at the moment.

When Summer and Aria arrived back home, Spencer, Hanna and Emily were all waiting in the living room; they each had a spare key. As soon as Aria entered through the door, all of her friends eyes turned to her in wonder.

" Summer why don't you go play for a little while in your bedroom, and maybe draw a picture of you and your teacher to show your aunties?" Aria suggested quickly, as Summer dropped her bag on the ground by the door.

" Ok mummy, I'll make it very pretty!" Summer said, before hurrying off into her bedroom. The smile immediately dropped from Arias face as she left, and all of her friends held concerned expressions.

" Aria what happened?" Em asked her, as Aria took her seat in her usual place on the sofa. Aria didn't speak for a moment looking down towards the floor. Maybe her friends wouldn't understand…

" I saw Ezra again today." Aria said in a whisper, awaiting her friends reaction. A gasp escaped Hannas lips and a worried look replaced her concern.

" Oh my god, are you ok Aria? I know how much it hurt you when he left… it must have been so hard for you." Han babbled, and Aria didn't take her eyes off of the floor.

" Where did you see him?" Spence asked.

" He's the head of department I'm working in at my new job at the high school." Aria explained, tears welling up in her eyes, the ones she had been holding back all day. The overwhelming feeling of how much she had actually missed him was springing back to her. Also the feeling of betrayal was mixed in there too. She had mixed emotions on how to feel about Ezra, all of them added to her sadness.

" Oh Aria…" Em said, wrapping her arms around Aria in a comforting hug. Aria rarely cried, and her friends knew this. She only cried when something had really upset her – in fact the only times she had ever properly cried was when Ezra was involved.

"Weren't you happy to see him again?" Hanna asked, confused to how Aria felt about Ezra.

" Of course I was. But when I saw him I felt all the things I felt for him 6 years ago, mixed with the feelings I had when he left. I don't know what to do. Obviously I still love him, but I can't help but feel hurt by what he did." Aria explained, tears dribbling down her cheeks.

" Has he told you why he… left yet?" Spence said, not wanting to push Aria too far, but wanting to know enough so she could help her upset friend.

" No. He gave me his number, saying that we could meet up somewhere, and he'd tell me." Aria explained, her eyes glancing at her phone that was grasped in her hands. She wanted to hear his voice again, the voice she had missed for 6 years. But she was hurt, and if he was married then it would be best to keep away, for her own sake.

" Do you think that's a good idea?"

" I don't know. But I need answers, whether it hurts or not." Aria replied, curling up into her friends side and pulling a blanket over herself for comfort.

" Well whatever happens we'll be here for you, right guys?" Em said, a reassuring smile forming on her face.

" Right." Han and Spence said in unison.

" Thanks guys. This means a lot."

" That's what friends are for. Now lets find a romantic comedy to put on, I think this calls for a girls night!" Spencer exclaimed, allowing Emily to choose a film from the stack in the corner.

" I'll be back in a sec guys. I just need to call Lucas to say I'm going to be home late. You can start the movie without me." Hanna told them all, exiting the room. The movie started, and Aria found herself actually managing to concentrate on its cheesy plot line. But of course she couldn't forget her problems, she never would forget Ezra.

Ezra
He'd finally made it home, after spending hours on grading students papers. But still his mind was filed with thoughts of Aria. Once he arrived back, he changed into some more comfier clothes, and laid down on the sofa, picking up the book ' To Kill a Mockingbird'. Ezra had read this book so many times over the period he had been without Aria, mostly because it reminded him of her so much. In fact, he was pretty sure Aria still had his original copy of the book.

After around 10 minutes of reading the book from the beginning, he was already up to page 100. But he was soon interrupted by the vibrating of his phone. Immediately he picked it up, hoping that it would be Aria texting him. However, a frown formed on his face as Hannas name flashed across the screen. Placing a bookmark in his book, he answered the call.

" Hanna?" Ezra said in a confused voice down the phone.

" Hey Mr Fi- Ezra. Look I need to talk to you." Hanna told him, and Ezra could hear the worry in her tone. Hanna had managed to keep her promise not to tell Aria that she had his number, but she had also called him constantly over the years after he had left, that was until she left to come to New York. She had always called whenever Aria was crying, and had always given him updates about her, and sometimes she had practically begged him to call her or even come back. But each time Ezra had refused, giving her the same reason. Although, he hadn't spoken to Ezra in a year, so why would she be calling now?

" Ok… what's up?" Ezra asked.

" Its Aria." Ezra immediately perked up, and was suddenly interested in the conversation.

" What's happened? Is she ok?" He asked worriedly. Today had been the first time he'd seen her in 6 years, was it possible that she was now in danger? Of course, Ezra was thinking of the worst that could have happened. But he hoped that they weren't true.

" Not really. She's been crying for the past hour, even Summer knew something was wrong. You know Aria, she never cries… What happened today?" Ezra let out a small sigh. Why hadn't it crossed his mind that she didn't want to see him after all of these years? Of course she would be upset when she saw him, he'd left without a proper goodbye and no explanation.

" Summer?" He avoided the subject that Hanna had brought up by asking who the name was that Ezra was unfamiliar with.

" Arias daughter." Of course, he had forgotten. Aria had a daughter – her own family. She didn't need him anymore.

" Oh. Look Hanna hardly anything happened today, she saw me again, I had to show her around. We talked and laughed with each other for the whole day, then everything went awkward again. She wants an explanation to why I left, and I said if she met me somewhere I'd explain."

" Do you still love her?" Hanna immediately asked as he finished answering.

" Yes, of course I do." He replied instantly, without a thought of doubt in his mind.

" Then why the hell did you leave!?" Hanna practically shouted down the phone, just like she use to when he had first left.

" Look Hanna I can't tell you before I tell Aria, it would be wrong." Ezra responded calmly.

" Then text her right now saying you want to meet up soon, otherwise she's just going to be as upset as she was for over a year. She needs an explanation Ezra, you owe her one." Hanna ordered firmly.

" I know she does, and I will. But I don't think she wants to see me Hanna, I bet she hates me." Why wouldn't she hate him? She had every reason to.

" No she doesn't. Just text her and please sort things out with her, I can't stand to see her upset any longer."

" I will Hanna, I will do tomorrow." Ezra promised. " Thank you for everything by the way, I owe you."

" Aria will kill me when she finds out." Was all she replied with.

" I'll tell her I forced you to or something. She can't stay mad at you Hanna, I know her too well to know that."

" No you don't know her anymore. You haven't spoken to her in 6 years. Which is why you need to talk to her again. Bye Ezra." And with that Hanna hung up. Ezras eyes stared at his phone scree for a few moments, before he began a new text to Aria on his phone. For a couple of minutes, he thought about what he could say. There was a million things that he wanted to say to her, but couldn't in a text.

' Hey Aria. I really owe you an explanation, and I was hoping you'd keep your promise of meeting up with me at that café you were talking about? I'll tell you everything you want to know. Please know that I'm sorry. Love Ezra xx' He typed into his phone. After reading three times over the message, he placed him phone down on the side table, and relaxed back into the sofa. He'd send the message to Aria in the morning.