The week passed by quicker than Aria had expected, and soon it came to Friday. Already she'd managed to settle in at school, and she knew the names of the majority of her students, and she'd gotten use to teaching rather quickly. After finishing work at 4:00, she went to go pick Summer up from school, who now went to an after school club every night since Aria couldn't pick her up on time.
" How was your day today sweetie?" Aria questioned with a bright smile, as she collected Summer from school.
" It was good, mummy. My teacher gave me a pink sticker!" Summer replied excitedly, showing Aria the sticker that was stuck on the t-shirt she wore.
" Very good honey. Are you excited to see Auntie Spencer and Uncle Toby tonight?" Aria questioned, and Summer nodded her head eagerly and began to list what she was going to take and do at Spencers house. Since Aria was going to the café tonight with Ezra, Spencer had offered to look after Summer for the night. Aria already had her night bag ready, and they were heading to Spencers house.
" Thank you so much Spencer for doing this. You're a life saver." Aria told Spencer, as Spencer came to answer the door. Her and Toby lived in an apartment a few blocks away from Aria,
" No problem Aria. I hope you're going to be alright tonight with Ezra." Spence told her, as Summer ran up to Spencer and hugged her legs.
" Auntie Spencer!" Summer exclaimed in delight.
" Hiya sweetie. Have you got all your things for tonight?" Spencer asked kindly, picking her up into her arms.
" Yep, my mummy packed them for me." Summer answered.
" Here are all her things, if there's anything missing that she needs, or if there's anything wrong just ring me. I'll pick her up at 9" Aria told Spencer, slightly worried. This was the first time that Aria had left Summer in the hands of someone else. Aria had raised Summer all on her own, and she'd had to become independent very quickly. She'd never bothered with a babysitter, mostly because she hadn't been out properly in a long time.
" Sure will Aria, I'll see you at 9. Have fun," Spencer told her, as Aria kissed Summer on the forehead before beginning to walk back to her apartment.
" Bye mummy!" Summer shouted once Aria had done waving to them, and had almost gone round the corner.
Once Aria was home, she changed swiftly into a floral loose dress, a knitted cardigan, and large, wedged sandals. She applied a little more make-up, then tied her hair into a side pony tail, leaving bit of her fringe to cover the side of her face. Clipping in her favourite, flower earrings, she picked up her phone and headed out the door. A cab was already waiting for her outside, just like she had asked, and she climbed in telling him to head to a new café near central park.
When she arrived, Aria climbed out the car and entered the café. The café was called ' Central Cofee Café' and it was very modernised. All of the chairs and tables were styled, and the room had a brown, red, cream colour scheme. It only took her a few seconds to spot Ezra, sat at a two seater table by the window. He waved her over, with a broad but slightly anxious smile.
" Hey." Aria greeted him, butterflies erupting in her stomach. Tonights events were unpredictable. She didn't know whether she was going to end up crying, or whether her and Ezra could be mutual friends.
" Hi. I've already got you your drink, it's your favourite – or it use to be." Ezra said, his voice sounding quite shaky. Aria found it cute that he was nervous himself. As she sat down, Ezra handed her a mug of hot chocolate, with a few swirls of whip cream that had chocolate sprinkles in the shape of a heart on top, and a single marshmallow in the centre. He remembered. Aria thought to herself.
" Thanks, and it's still my favourite." She said with a small smile, taking the marshmallow from the top and eating it. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds, and Ezra merely gazed at Aria, taking in her beautiful appearance.
" You look beautiful, by the way." He complimented, smiling as she blushed.
" Thanks." Was all she replied, while looking down at her drink.
" So how have you been Aria? And what have you being doing over the past 6 years?" Ezra asked slightly awkwardly, not wanting to hurt Aria in any way tonight. But he could no longer avoid asking in the question, he needed to know. At the question, Aria looked down towards her hot chocolate nervously.
" Well… I-I went to college and got a major in English, then I moved to Philadelphia for a while to teach. Then I moved here." Aria answered quickly, missing out large details.
" Didn't you say you had a daughter?" Ezra questioned with a slight frown.
" Um yeh. Her names Summer and she's 4." Aria responded. Ezra stayed quiet for a moment before forcing himself to ask one of the questions he'd been dreading most.
" Are you married to the father 0r-" His voice trailed off, and Ezra noticed Arias nerves as he mentioned this.
" No. I'm not married, in fact I'm single and have been for a while." Aria responded and silently Ezra breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't married and was single. The only problem with that was that she'd had to look after Summer on her own, which no doubt will have been hard.
" Oh." A few seconds of silence followed yet again, and they both simultaneously took a sip of their drink.
" So… How have you been?" Aria asked, not ready to ask the question she desperately wanted the answer to yet. Her instincts were already telling her that she wouldn't like the answer to that question.
" Um, fine I guess." Ezra answered, taking another sip of his coffee.
" What have you been doing since you… er… left." Aria looked down as she spoke again, not willing to look him in the eye. This conversation was more awkward than she could have predicted.
" Well I originally had your job before, then a year ago I was promoted and the teacher that took my place moved somewhere and quit. I have an apartment in the city, not far from here actually… and that's about it." Ezra explained in little detail.
" Who do you live with?" Aria asked, not daring to ask ' do you have a wife or girlfriend?'.
" Nobody actually, I'm single as well."
" Right." Silence, again. " Ezra…" Aria began again, holding back the tears in her eyes. She couldn't cry – she wouldn't. " Why?" Was all she asked in the end, keeping her voice strong.
" Why what?" Ezra asked with a slight frown, oblivious to what Aria was trying to ask.
" Why did you leave, after everything we went through?" Her voice was quieter this time, a lot more angelic than usual. Ezra let out a small sigh.
" Aria you're not going to like the answer." Ezra was right, she wasn't and somehow Aria knew this herself.
" I don't care, I've waited long enough." Aria said, a single tear running down her cheek. Swiftly, she wiped it away. Ezra paused before speaking again, as if trying to think of a way to explain it without hurting her.
" I left because I had to Aria, for your sake. Otherwise your reputation would have gone down the drain, and you would never of had a normal life. We would have been sneaking around all the time still, and you were going to go to college soon anyway. I had to leave." Ezra tried to explain it without including Byron as he knew this would hurt her the most.
" That didn't mean that you had to leave! How did you even get the job in New York in the first place? Were you looking? Had you planned to leave all along? Did our relationship mean anything to you!?" Aria couldn't contain her anger and hurt anymore, so she exploded with questions. Ezra sighed again, this time in despair. He had to tell her, he couldn't lie any longer.
" I wasn't planning on leaving, I didn't look for the job myself it was given to me." Ezra explained.
" By who?" Arias voice was quieter this time but she still sounded as fierce.
" Your father." Silence fell, for what felt like the hundredth time. More tears welled up in Arias eyes, and Ezra could tell it was taking all of her strength not to burst into tears.
" No." She said, shaking her head in denial.
" Look Aria, I'm sorry but it's true."
" No." She repeated, but this time she didn't sound as sure.
" A few days after we told your parents about our relationship Byron turned up at my apartment and threatened me. He said if I didn't take the job in New York then he would tell the police about everything, which would put you in danger as well as me. Nobody would ever forget what had happened and you would constantly be scrutinized for it. I thought that if I did leave you could have a normal life, you'd forget about me, go to college, get a job of your own, and be happy. Byron convinced me to leave, and he made me promise that I'd never see or speak to you again… I guess I'm breaking that promise now." Aria stayed speechless, and the tears she had tried to hold back were now streaming down her cheeks.
" Why would he do that to me…" She whispered, shaking her head.
" Aria I thought it was best for you…" Ezra repeated again.
" Well it wasn't best for me! You left without any explanation! I wasn't myself for a whole year after you left! And it all turned out to be my dad… He lied to me…" Her voice trailed off at the end.
" Aria…" Ezra reached for her hand across the table, and squeezed it comfortingly. " I'm so sorry. I wish I'd never had to leave. Our relationship meant everything to me and if I'd had a choice I would have stayed… I loved you, and I still do." He admitted in a soft tone, and Aria stared at him for a moment, tears still running down her flushed cheeks.
" I can't do this." Aria said shaking her head. " I have to go." Moving her hand out of his, she stood up and headed toward the door. Jumping up from his chair, Ezra hurried after her.
" Aria wait!" He called, she stopped and turned for a moment, turning to face him. Her eyes were now puffy and red from crying. Each step he now took towards her was more hesitant, and as he reached her, he outstretched his hands to cup her face. As he leaned in towards her, she froze, closing her eyes tightly shut. Pressing his lips onto hers, he delicately held her face in his hands. Fire seemed to blaze in his stomach as she began to kiss him back, the feeling he was no getting he hadn't felt in so long. They kissed softly for a few moments, before Aria pulled away to take a breath. Staring at each other for a moment, Ezra used his thumbs to wipe away her tears, not letting go of her face. However, then Aria began to shake her head again, and she pulled away from his grasp, looking down towards the floor.
" I can't do this." She announced to him, causing Ezras heart to break slightly. " Thank you for the drink, and thank you for telling me everything. I have to go." Ezra nodded his head, holding back the hurt emotion he was now feeling.
" Bye Aria." He said quietly, as she climbed into a cab pulled up on the curb. Why had he kissed her in the first place? He knew that she would never like him in that way again after he left, so why had he done it? That question ran through Ezras mind as he climbed into his own car. But one thing he couldn't help but cherish, was the feeling of her lips on his. Only now had he realised how much he had actually missed her.
They kissed! Hope you guys liked this chapter! Originally I hadn't planned them to kiss at all and just have Aria run away, but I thought it would be nice to have them finally kiss! Next chapter will be coming soon, so stay tuned! Please review and tell me what you think! And thankyou for all the grea\t reviews already!:)
Disclaimer- I don't own anything of PLL just Summer Montgomery.