Ezra

Ezra sat in his office, going through his lesson plans for the lesson he was going to teach next. He'd been so caught up with paperwork that he'd stupidly left till now, that he hadn't had chance to actually go through what he was supposed to be doing.

It was now the third week of November, and yesterday had been a teachers day off. A lot had happened yesterday. Since Summer was at school still, and Aria and Ezra both had the day off, they'd obviously hung out for the whole day then picked Summer up from school and then drove back to Aria's house. For some reason Ezra had finally managed to pluck up the courage to do it. Somehow he'd managed to take another big step forward with his and Aria's relationship. It had come so out of the blue that Ezra had been scared that she was going to say no. But she didn't, and now after almost 3 months of knowing each other again and dating, Aria Montgomery was now officially his girlfriend again.

" Next time, remind me to get an ice cream tub rather than a cone." Aria giggled as she recalled Ezra swearing as the strawberry ice cream fell of his cone while he kissed her. They'd both decided to go to the Rockefeller center to go iceskating, and on the walk back from there they'd dared each other to each a full ice cream since it was freezing outside. The deal was that whoever managed to eat the ice cream first outside, would get a hot chocolate bought for them by the looser. During the dare, Aria had managed to get ice cream all over her lips and, romantically, Ezra had kissed it off. However, while he was kissing her the ice cream on his cone fell to the floor thus making him the looser.

" Just because you lost Ezra and I got the hot chocolate," Now they were back in Aria's apartment. Summer had already run off to her bedroom, to find barbies for her and Ezra to play with while Aria cooked dinner, leaving Ezra and Aria alone in the open plan living area.

" Hey, I am not a saw loser." Ezra stated firmly, a smile still on his face.

" You wouldn't even let me have cream on my hot chocolate!" Aria said with raised eyebrows.

" And you would have if I won?" Ezra asked, laughing disbelievingly.

" Of course I would have. Because I am a nice person and I understand that no hot chocolate is complete without cream and marshmallows!" Aria protested, crossing her arms over her chest. She was leaning against the kitchen counter waiting for the kettle to boil. Gradually, Ezra was taking steps closer towards her.

" You know, I think you did it all on purpose. I think you made sure you got ice cream everywhere, knowing that I would kiss you and they you purposefully made my ice cream fall off," Ezra teased, holding back a laugh to try and make it sound serious.

" How could I have possibly planned all of that? I'm not psychic," Aria replied.

" I don't know how you planned it, you were the one who did it," Aria burst out laughing.

" Okay, okay. It's my fault, I planned everything. I owe you a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. Happy now?"

" See, this is why you're the perfect girlfriend. You give in so easily," Ezra joked, not fully realizing what he was saying until after he'd said it. Girlfriend. That was a subject that neither of them had touched upon yet. There was nothing more than Ezra wanted than for Aria to be his girlfriend. His only worries were that it was too soon for Aria.

" Um," Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, Aria tried to think of something to say to make the situation less awkward. Meanwhile, Ezra mentally slapped himself.

" I'm sorry, I just blurted that out without thinking... I shouldn't have said it..." Ezra quickly apologised, wishing for Summer to burst back into the room at this moment. However, Summer was obviously struggling to find a barbie for Ezra.

" It's fine, it's fine." Aria said quickly.

" That is... unless you want to be my girlfriend, of course." Ezra had no idea what convinced him to say this, but it was worth a shot. He'd been wanting to ask her since the minute he'd began to fall in love with her again. Although Ezra had never stopped loving Aria, it had been 6 long years since the feeling had actually been present in his body. He'd practically forgotten what been in love felt like until she returned.

The pause from Aria only increased Ezra's worry. He'd stared up into her eyes, awaiting an answer. Always hopeful... he'd always been optimistic.

" I couldn't think of anything better," Aria admitted truthfully and as soon as Ezra heard these words, a large smile spread across his face.

" Well then, Miss Montgomery, you are officially my girlfriend." The same smile spread across Aria's face as he said this. Right when then were about to kiss, that's when Summer decided to re-enter the room.

" Ezra! Ezra!" Summer called, holding a naked male barbie doll in her hands. " This is your barbie since it looks like you," Both Aria and Ezra burst out laughing at this.

Ezra smiled happily at the memory, hoping he would get a chance to see Aria today before he went over to her apartment that night. Recently he'd been spending a few nights their a week. This had began when Aria had allowed him to stay over after they'd watched silent movies for hours. Like last nights occurrence, that night had also been a big step for the both. Their relationship was heading in the right direction, and Ezra was extremely happy again. Similar to before, 6 years ago.

A knock at the door interrupted Ezra from his thoughts. Aria. Maybe she'd decided to come and see him after all. " Come in," Ezra called to the knocker. What surprised him was that it wasn't his small and cute Aria who stepped through, but a confident, tall figure that he instantly recognized; Olivia.

" Hey Ezra," She greeted him with a, now that he paid closer attention, flirtatious grin. Girls like Olivia had never been his type since he'd broken things off with Jackie. Everything about Olivia screamed 'Jackie' at Ezra and he hated it. It was like they were practically twins; same eyes, same hair, same figure, same personality and the same grudge against his Aria.

" Miss Clarke," Ezra kept things formal. " What can I do for you?" He'd picked up the many papers from his desk to try and indicate that he was busy. Both of his efforts were ignored by Olivia. Before speaking, she walked casually up to his desk and sat down at the chair in front.

" Oh, stop been so formal," Olivia playful scolded, crossing her legs and staring brightly at him with cat like eyes. " I was going to ask you whether you wanted to go out tonight. Seeing as you were busy yesterday, I thought tonight would be perfect. I thought maybe dinner and then a movie or something? There's this great guys movie called Dawn of The Planet Of The Apes that's just come out, surely you're wanting to see it,"

Truthfully, Ezra hated movies like that. In fact he much preferred the classics, silent movies or murder mysteries. He'd always hated the type of action movies where everyone is fighting for a cliche reason and the film has a cliche ending. So far he'd hated all of the other films in the same series as the movie Olivia was suggesting, meaning he was positive he would dislike this one too.

" Actually, Olivia, I'm not free tonight." Ezra watched as Olivia's eyes narrowed in determination. Her grin spread further across her face, and she batted her eyelashes at him. How had he never noticed this before?

" Oh, don't be a bore Ezra. Work can wait until tomorrow if that's the reason," Olivia teased playfully. Ezra was beginning to feel awkward and he was now searching for a way to get Olivia out of his office.

" It's not. I'm spending the night with my girlfriend," Girlfriend. He could finally introduce Aria as that again. Olivia's lips tightened and her eyes dulled. She'd obviously been thrown by the answer.

" Girlfriend? And who might that lucky lady be?" Her tone was sharper now, not the same soft and flirtatious one she'd used before.

" Um, actually it's Aria." Ezra answered, visibly seeing Olivia tense as he answered. Aria was right about Olivia after all...

" Dating a colleague? Wow, Ezra, I never thought I'd see the day," What was that supposed to mean? Ezra frowned. " Anyway, I best go. I'm busy, busy today. Say hi to Aria from me,"

" Oh, Olivia?" Olivia turned and looked at him with hopeful eyes. Now Ezra had turned down Olivia he might as well try and help Mark.

" You should ask Mark to go see that movie with you... He's been waiting to see it since the other one came out," Ezra told her. Olivia forced a smile to her face, clearly not liking the idea.

" Sure," She agreed. " I'll see you late Ezra."

" Bye," Ezra let out a sigh of relief as the door closed and he eagerly went back to his work. Seeing the time, he only had 10 minutes left to memorize what he was actually going to teach.

Ezra walked into Aria's house, arriving at around 17:15. Unfortunately he'd been stuck at work longer than he'd planned, meaning that Aria had left work without him and, after picking up Summer from school, she'd decided to spend some time with Hanna. Cheerfully, Ezra could hear Summer loudly playing with her dolls on the floor. Taking off his coat, Ezra placed it on the coat rack before turning to Aria.

" God, I have had such a long day," Ezra complained, heading over to the couch where Aria was sat. She didn't look up at Ezra or even greet him as he approached, and instead just stared at the TV.

" Mm," Was all she replied, clearly wishing to ignore him. Something was wrong and Ezra panicked instantly. What had happened to make Aria upset? Was she mad at him? Had he done something wrong already? Maybe she was having second thoughts about there relationship...

" Aria?" Ezra frowned, looking down at her while he stood at the side of the couch. " What's wrong?"

" Summer, will you please go and find the barbie doll that you always give to mommy? I want to play," Again, Aria ignored him.

" But mommy it's at the bottom of the box in my room, can't you just use this one?" Summer complained.

" No because I like the other one. Go on, be quick."

" Okay." Summer beamed at the fact that her mother was going to play with her, and hurried off to her room leaving Aria and Ezra alone. After a few moments of silence, Aria finally stood up and faced Ezra. Now that Ezra could fully see her, he knew she wasn't upset but mad.

" You said you'd told me everything." Aria stated, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him hard, demanding. Ezra panicked. What hadn't he told her?

" Everything about what?" Ezra questioned warily, not quite sure what Aria was talking about.

" About when you left." The anger in Aria's expression was growing. Ezra's eyes widened. Not this again. He never wanted to have this conversation with Aria again. It hurt them both too much. " Do I really have to spell it out for you?"

" Aria, whatever it is that I haven't told you then I'm sorry. But I'm not quite sure what it actually is..." Ezra fumbled around in his mind to think of what he hadn't told Aria. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind.

" Oh, yeah? Then why don't you call Hanna and ask her, considering you have her phone number even though you haven't seen each other since the day you left," Shit. The fact that Ezra had been in contact with Hanna until Aria had gone of to college had slipped his mind completely. He hadn't explained any of this to Aria and, if he was honest, he never planned to.

" Look, Aria. I don't know what Hanna's told you, but the only reason why I stayed in contact with her was because I was worried about you. I didn't even want to leave in the first place. 'A' had only just been caught and after I'd left, I told Hanna to contact me if 'A' ever came back... and she did." Ezra said. He remembered back to all the research he'd done to try and find out who 'A' was after he'd left Aria. In the end, it had been him who'd caught the culprit. Shauna.

" You were spying on me, when you had no right too! Hanna told me that she told you what I was like and what I was doing for weeks after you left!" Aria protested.

" Yes, because I wanted to know that you were okay, and that you were getting on with your life."

" And obviously she told you that I was in bits and I was like a ghost for months! Great, that's exactly what I wanted you to know. I trusted Hanna, I trust all of my best friends. And that whole time I just wanted to see you again... she was still in contact with you!"

" Aria, I know you're mad. But please just hear this. Would you have really wanted to speak to me again after I left? It would have only hurt you more, which is why I practically demanded that Hanna didn't tell you. When Hanna started to get annoyed at me for making her keep this secret, I told her that it was probably best for her not to contact me again unless 'A' came back,"

" Great, so you were worried about me. You know, if you were really that worried then you should have come back! 'A' did a lot of things after you left, and they were all much worse than what she did when you were there," Aria didn't shout, so not to alert Summer. But Ezra could tell that her anger was only growing. It worried him.

" I know, Aria." Ezra admitted. He knew everything that 'A' had done to the girl, he'd researched and researched and he'd been the one to find the answers. The only reason he had is because he'd been well out of the way of 'A', and 'A' had no idea that Ezra was researching. " Look, there's something that I haven't told anyone but it's something that you need to know,"

" Oh so there's something else that you haven't told me?" Aria snapped, but Ezra ignored this comment, quickly continuing.

" Do you remember the night you found out that Alison was alive in New York?" Aria's eyes widened in slight panic at the memories.

" Of course I do... but how do you?" Her voice was just higher than a whisper now.

" Do you remember being on the roof? Where 'A' had a gun and a guy, that you couldn't see the face of, attacked 'A' before she could hurt you and told you all to run, revealing to you that it was Shauna who was 'A'?" Ezra questioned. Confusion now filled Aria's expression.

" How do you know all of this?" Aria asked softly, her eyes wide and frightened. Those memories were obviously ones she never wanted to recall.

" Because I was that guy on the roof." Ezra revealed, causing Aria to gasp in shock. " After all of you ran, Shauna managed to shoot me but I somehow managed to get the gun off of her and I kept her there until the police officers, who I'd earlier called, arrived and arrested her. I was then sent to hospital and I refused to give the police my identity so I wasn't all over the news,"

" You..." Aria whispered, looking as if she was about to cry but holding it back. " You did that?"

" I did. And it was all for you, Aria. I felt so guilty after leaving you that I needed to do something to help you. It turned out it was easier to find out who 'A' was when 'A' had no idea that I was researching her." Gradually, Aria approached Ezra and threw her arms around him, burying her head into his chest. Gladly, he hugged back and kissed the top of her head.

" I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been mad. I should be thanking you," Aria began, holding him tighter. " All the 'A' business stopped after that since Shauna was jailed for the murder of Bethany Young in Alisons grave and for tormenting us for so long... And that's all because of you,"

" It was the least I could do..." Ezra said. Aria pulled away slightly so she could look up into his eyes. With a smile spreading across her face, she stayed silent for a moment.

" I really do love you..." She whispered, going up onto her tiptoes to place a light kiss on his lips.

" And I love you too," Ezra replied, delighted with Aria's words. Her saying that was music to his ears.

" Mommy! I can't find it!" Summer called to Aria from her bedroom, snapping her and Ezra out of their small moment.

" Keep looking, I'll be there soon." Aria said back, her gaze never leaving Ezra's. However they were both forced to pull away as a knock at the door interrupted them. Ezra watched with a small frown as Aria confusedly went to open the door. Only to find two people standing there who Ezra hadn't seen in 6 years.

" Mom, dad..." Aria said, her eyes widening in worry as she spotted that her dad's eyes instantly flickered over to Ezra. The anger that overcame Byron's expression immediately was intense. " What are you doing here?"

" Surprise..." Ella said, not sounding happy at all as her eyes were too locked on Ezra. Staring at Aria with wide eyes, Ezra froze in his place.

" Holy crap..." He whispered to himself. This was not how he planned there night to turn out...

So I updated! And it was a big update too, but sorry about the cliffhanger!

Yay! Ezra and Aria are finally properly together and Olivia doesn't seem too please about that... I really hope you like the explanation of what ended up happening with the whole 'A' business and how Ezra was actually involved. It's only recently that I came up with this in my mind. Ever since I began this story I'd been thinking up ideas on who 'A' ended up to be, but then I really wanted to include the bit where Ezra literally took a bullet for the girls.

So please comment and tell me what you think of that, and how you think Byron and Ella are going to react to Ezra and Summer!

More updates will come soon and thank you for the continued support

- DareToDream

Disclaimer: The only characters that are my original ideas in this story ( unfortunately) are Summer Montgomery and William Fitzgerald.