Ezra
Ezra sat alone on his sofa, feeling worse than he had when he'd first left Aria. Now, even though he was still hopelessly in love with her, she didn't love him back like she use to. He was more alone than he had been when he first left, as now he knew he'd blown his chances with her, at least before he could imagine that she still felt the same way she had before he left. Leaving had all been one stupid mistake.
However, there were a few bright sides to him leaving. Aria had attended college, received a degree and had a stable, reasonably payed job teaching english. Her life had turned out pretty great, except her life didn't include him, and this upset Ezra very much.
As he sat on his dark blue sofa, not even paying attention to the channel playing on the tv, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud ringing come from his phone. After jumping, startled by the noise, he quickly picked it up in hope that it would be Aria calling. Wrong. It was Hanna again, but Ezra wasn't so disappointed as no doubt the conversation would be about Aria.
" Hanna?" Ezra greeted her in a questioning manner, wanting to know why she was calling him.
" Hey, how did yours and Arias date go? Did you get back together?" Hanna asked eagerly, sending a wave of pain through Ezra.
" Shouldn't you be ringing Aria about this?" Ezra said, attempting to hide the hurt in his voice.
" She's not picking up, me, Emily and Spencer have all tried ringing her but she hasn't answered. Even when Spencer left her a message saying that Summer wanted to speak to her and was crying about missing her." Hanna explained in a worried tone.
" Her phone might have died." Ezra suggested, despite feeling anxious to why Aria wasn't picking up her phone.
" Arias phone is a Nokia, those things never lose charge!" Hanna exclaimed, the worry more audible in her voice. Hearing that Aria had a Nokia phone was quite strange to Ezra as Aria hated having bad phones, then again now she could probably only afford that since Summer must cost a lot of money.
" I'll trying calling her but she left in tears after telling me that she couldn't be with me, so I really doubt she'd pick up the phone for me. But I'll try." He promised.
" She said no to getting back together with you? But she obviously still has feelings for you." Hanna stated.
" She was very upset though considering I'd just told her it was her father that broke up our relationship, but i really doubt she does have feelings for me anymore Hanna. But I've got to go, so bye." Ezra said, before the conversation about him and Aria could progress any further, he didnt feel like talking about it anymore since he just wanted to forget.
Keeping his promise, though, after hanging up on Hanna he clicked to ring Aria. Despite knowing that Aria was never going to answer, he could only hope, and he had promised Hanna he would. If she did answer it would at least satisfy the painful feeling of worry that he was now feeling. Why wasn't Aria answering when her best friends rang? After a few rings, however, she answered.
" Ezra?" She asked down the phone frantically, sounding as if she was crying.
" Its me, Aria are you ok? Why aren't you answering your phone when Hanna, Emily, or Spencer called?" He asked, feeling even more worried now.
" Ezra I need you to come help me please, I'm sorry its a lot to ask after what happened, but im so scared and lost." Aria cried down the phone, something Ezra remembered she rarely did. She also sounded terrified, what had happened to her?
" Its fine, I'm here. Tell me where you are and I'll come find you. What happened?" Ezra told her, grabbing his keys quickly from the hanger by the door and rushing out the door towards the road where his car was parked.
" I dont know, in an alley way by my apartment." She anwered in the same panicked voice, and Ezra could tell she was growing more frightened by the minute.
" Ok, Aria try and stay calm, I'll be there as soon as I can. I just need you to tell me where you live." Ezra spoke to her calmly, even though he was feeling very anxious too. Arias safety was at risk and he didnt even know what had happened to her to make her so scared and lost.
" Its 5 streets down from the school we work at." Aria replied, her voice very shaky and quiet this time.
" Ok, I'll be there as soon as possible. Ring me if anything else happens." Ezra ordered, starting his car and speeding off in towards Arias apartment way over the speed limit. An endless amount of cars beeped him on his way, as he swerved in an out of each line trying to move as fast as possible. Of course traffic lights slowed him down, but he would always go just before the lights turned green. Usually he was a careful driver, always wary of keeping to the speed and not driving dangerously, he'd always been scared of being in a car crash. Today was an exception, it was Aria who was in danger, the woman he loved more than anything on earth, and he needed to help her.
After finally driving onto the street Aria had told him, he slowed the car right down and looked carefully into each alleyway. Through the street there were very few, but after an agonising five minutes, Ezra finally found the right one. In a heap on the floor sat Arias petite body. The darkness masked the majority of her face, but he could see that her arms were around her legs and she was rocking back and forth. Hurriedly, he parked his car and climbed out into the street towards her. Immediately, her head shot up in panic, calming down once she knew it was Ezra.
"Aria?" Ezra called, running over to her. Small raindrops began to fall from the sky as he approached her, as he did her face became clearer and clearer. Her eyes were swollen and red, like they had been when he'd last saw her, but instead of a sad expression she looked terrified and very shaky. Her body trembled from cold and fright and a single two centimetre gash pierced the top left hand side of her forehead.
" Ezra thank God you're here!" She cried, tears running down her cheeks. Sitting down beside her, Ezra wrapped her in a tight comforting hug. Only then did he feel how cold she actually was. Pulling away from the hug he took the jacket he was wearing and placed it around her shoulders, and she buried her body into it.
" What happened to you?" He asked worriedly, taking a seat beside her and wrapping a protective arm around her.
" M-My bag, it was stolen." Aria cried, stuttering as a single shiver ran through her body.
" Someone mugged you?" He asked angrily, hating the fact that someone had taken advantage of such a sweet and innocent girl.
" Yeh, they grabbed me once the taxi had drove off and dragged me into this alley way by my- by my hair and t-threw my head against the wall so i was k-knocked out. Then they took my bag." Aria whispered, her eyes widening in fear as she recalled the memory.
" You need to call the police then go to hospital, you have a cut across your forehead." He suggested, holding her more tightly against his body protectively. The story angered him a lot, and hopefully Aria felt safer with him.
" I'm f-fine I just need to get home... W-where's Summer?" She asked, panicking more as she thought about her daughter.
" Summer's with Spencer since you dropped her off there to meet me, they've all been trying to call you but you never answered, Summer was apparently crying since you wouldnt answer." Ezra informed her, watching the worry fade from her face as he told her.
" Good she's safe. I should call her-" Aria began but Ezra quickly interrupted her.
" Not tonight, she'll be scared and worried about you if you ring in the state you're in now. I'll ring Spencer and explain what happened once we get you home. But first we need to call the police so they can find the scumbag who hurt you." Ezra's voice was calm, and Aria listened to him, nodding her head. As Ezra pulled his phone out, Aria buried her head into his chest and cried a little more. Holding her tightly, he dialed 911.
After explaining to 911 what had happened they set off immediately to the scene of the crime. Everything from there was a whirlwind for both Aria and Ezra. While Aria was interviewed about what happened, and a paramedic came to clean her wound and discuss whether she had concussion or any brain or head injuries, Ezra too answered questions to the police about how he'd found her and when she'd called. Throughtout the whole time Aria seemed extremelly nervous, and Ezra couldn't quite discover why. His first thought was that it was because of Summer, and she was just worried about her. But somehow he could tell that it was more than that. Just in case, however, while he had a moment to spare, he dialled Spencers number after reading it from Arias phone. The phone rang for only a few moments, before Spencer answered.
" Hello?" Spencer tiredly answered, confused to who was calling her at this time of night. The police questioning had taken so long that it was now just about to reach 11:00pm.
" Spencer its Ezra, Ezra Fitz." Ezra told her, but this still confused Spencer.
" Mr Fit- Ezra? How did you get my number and why are you calling?" She questioned.
" I'm calling for Aria. She rang me after she was mugged and knocked out by someone she doesn't know, I came and picked her up and called the police. She told me she was worried about Summer and that you had her and she just wanted me to ring to check up on everything since she missed your call earlier." Ezra explained quickly, feeling Arias eyes on him as he spoke down the phone.
" She got mugged? Is she ok?" Spencer asked, slightly frantically. The worry she felt for her best friend was plainly obvious in her voice.
" She's fine now, she's shaken up of course but she's calmed down. The police are questioning her about it now. She has a cut across her forehead but no head injuries according to the paramedic, she just needs rest." Ezra explained calmly, even though he felt so much worry for Aria after everything that had happened. How he had managed to stay calm after everything was a mystery to him.
" I'm glad she's ok. Tell her Summers fine and I managed to get her to stop crying, she's fast asleep safe and sound but eager to see her." Spencer told Ezra, her voice sounding slightly less tired. " I'm guessing your date went well since she called you out of all of us first?" Spencer said. Instantly, Ezra hesitated. No their date hadn't gone well at all, it couldn't have gone worse. Ezra had been left convinced that Aria didn't feel anything for him anymore. But why did she call him first out of all of her friends?
" I'll get Aria to ring you in the morning. Bye Spencer." Ezra quickly said, hanging up the phone before Spencer could ask anymore questions. Right now he didn't want to think about that, he had Arias safety to worry about.
Once the police had left, making sure Aria could get home safely, Aria sank onto the floor again with panicked tears forming in her eyes.
" Aria we need to get you home." Ezra told her softly, his face filling with worry.
" I can't - I can't go home." She cried into her hands, folding her knees up to her chest and resting her head on them. " The guy... He has a key to my house! He could come find me again!" She exclaimed anxiously, her body shaking from fear. An idea immediately crossed Ezras mind.
" I'll stay with you the night, to keep you safe. I don't want you hurt again." Ezra told her, and somehow her eyes seemed to brighten a little, but the scared expression didn't leave her face.
" I've already put you through - "
" I want to, Aria. I still love you, remember?" Ezra stated, his voice now a whisper as he admitted his love for her for the second time. She stared up at him for a second before turning away and crying into her arms again. With a small sigh, he approached her and scooped her up into his arms, cradling her against his chest. Enjoying the warmth radiating from him, Aria hugged closer to his body feeling on add sense of protection. Not struggling at all with her weight - as Aria was very small and weighed only 115 pounds - Ezra carried her all the way to her appartment, making sure his car was locked in the process.
After unlocking the door with the house key that was hiden under the dormat outside the appartment on the 2nd floor, Ezra entered with Aria still crying and shivering in his arms. Taking one look around the appartment Ezra could tell it was immediately Arias, there was just something about all the mix and match furniture that made it seem very Aria like. He liked it. Figuring that she didn't really need to change, he began to carry her towards her bedroom.
" Don't go to the bedroom... it's messy. I'll - I'll sleep on the couch." Aria told him hesitantly, in a very quite voice. Her arms were still gripped around Ezras torso. Laying her down on the three seater sofa, he took the blanket that layed on the single chair beside it and wrapped it around her fragile frame. Just as he did she grabbed his arm before he could find a place to sleep himself.
" Stay with me, please." She muttered sleepily, tugging him towards her on the sofa. Carefully, he sat down on the space beside her head, making sure not to sit on her. As soon as he was sat down and comfy, she hesitantly moved closer towards him until she was finally resting her head on his shoulder, and her body was sprawled across his. Ezra didn't mind the closeness at all, in fact he loved feeling her petite body in his arms once again. While wrapping both arms tightly around her protectively, he leaned his head on hers, using it as a pillow to rest. It was extremelly comfy. Closing his eyes, he attempted to sleep and tried not to worry anymore about Aria. She was safe now, with him and he wouldn't let anything happenen her. Just before he was about to fall asleep, Aria spoke groggily in a whisper so low that Ezra could barely hear her.
" I still love you too." Ezra instantly looked down at her, only to see that she was now fast asleep in his arms. While his heart fluttered gleefully in his chest, he rested his head back on Arias and fell into a blissful deep sleep.
So sorry its been so long since I updated! But I wrote the majority of this chapter while on a plane to New York for my christams holidays, and now since I have a better feel of what New York is like so I can now write about it a lot better. So more chapters should be coming soon, and hopefully less errors about the geography side of it! Hope you enjoyed all the Ezra+Aria moments, I certainly enjoyed writing them! Review and tell me what you thank, another update coming soon :)