Aria

" Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Aria asked, her eyes lingering on her father's angry expression. He did not look happy at all and his eyes were locked on Ezra furiously. It was Ella who had her concentration on Aria. Mike was nowhere to be seen.

" We thought we'd surprise you for thanksgiving..." Ella explained. She sounded awkward now since the tension in the room was rising. " We're booked in at a hotel in the city and we're staying for Thanksgiving. We haven't had a thanksgiving together for too many years."

" You should have said on the phone, I would have-" Aria broke off and looked down. For some reason she felt guilty for keeping her parents out of the 'loop' for all these years. In many ways she'd probably needed them. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't understand how she'd managed without the support of her parents. The fear of telling them that she had a daughter had always been present. " Come in." Byron and Ella came into the house cautiously.

" Aria, what is that man doing here?" Byron questioned. Turning so that her eyes locked with Ezra for a moment, Aria stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

" Ezra and I work at the same school. We met again and now we're together again." Aria shrugged. She knew her father was angry and that the truth would be coming out soon, yet again. But she couldn't help but at least try and prevent it.

" Miss Montgomery... Mr Montgomery... It's great to see you again." Ezra stuttered nervously as Aria walked back to Ezra, taking her hand into his comfortingly. Byron glared at their hands.

" Ezra... I'm surprised to see you again." Ella narrowed her eyes at him. She spoke slowly and her eyes drifted over to Aria as she spoke. This caused Aria to wonder whether Ella knew anything about Byron's threat... Had Byron told her?

" Aria that man left you without even a goodbye. You left Rosewood because you hated it there after he left. Do I really need to point out anymore?" Anger rose within Aria as her father said this. Hadn't he already realized that Ezra had told Aria everything?

" I hated it in Rosewood because of Shauna. The reason why I left had nothing to do with Ezra. And now that you're talking about reasons... why don't we talk about the reason why Ezra left in the first place? Did you have anything to do with that dad?" Byron gulped at the accusation.

" Byron?" Ella frowned at him in confusion.

" Oh I can answer for you, don't worry dad. You threatened Ezra saying that if he didn't leave you'd tell the police about us ruining both of our lives. You offered him a job in New York and gave him no other choice. It's your fault he left. It's your fault I cried myself to sleep for months on end!" Aria snapped, taking a step towards her father. Squeezing her hand comfortingly to remind Aria that he was there, Ezra kept his eyes on Aria worriedly.

" Aria, what lies has this man being telling you?" This angered Aria even more and tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She'd always known when her father was lying and she'd always known when Ezra was lying. It had been a small talent of hers that usually came in handy. Right now, her father was lying and she hated him for it.

" Why can't you just admit to what you did!? It's bad enough that you never told me and now you're making it even worse by lying again!" Tears began to spill from Aria's eyes and she moved closer to Ezra for comfort. She hated that he couldn't wrap her in his arms or kiss her forehead right now, like he would whenever she was upset. Showing any PDA would just make Byron angrier.

" Byron did you do this?" Ella questioned, frowning deeply and looking very confused.

" It was for the best..." Byron whispered while his eyes lingered guiltily on Aria, who had tears running down her cheeks.

" Mommy! What's all that noise?" Aria squeezed her eyes tightly shut as Summer burst back into the living room, making her way over to her mother. When Aria reopened her eyes, she winced as she saw the shocked and angry expressions of her parents.

" Hey, sweetie. Did we disturb you? We're sorry." Aria crouched down by her daughters side, for the moment ignoring her parents. Summer looked confused and she touched one of Aria's tears, frowning.

" Mommy why are you crying?" Summer asked, curiously. " Who are those people?"

" Summer, they are my mommy and daddy. They're your grandma and grandpa," Aria explained softly. Summer turned to study her grandparents for her moment, shyly smiling back at Ella who was smiling at her. Byron, however, still looked angry and shocked.

" Why were you shouting?" She questioned further and Aria let out an inaudible sigh.

" Summer, mommy needs you to go back to your room and stay there for a while. Mommy will explain everything later, okay?" Summer looked even more confused and nodded at her mother worriedly.

" Okay, mommy." She took a final glance at Ella and Byron before she ran back to her room obediently.

" She looks a lot like you. A lot like both of you." Byron stated, glaring hatefully at Ezra again. Aria hesitated and didn't really know what to say. Turning to her mother, Aria pleaded in her mind for her not to be as angry as Byron was.

" When's her birthday?" Ella asked a seemingly normal question. For the moment, Aria was happy that her mother was acting calmly and asking much simpler questions.

" December 10th." Aria replied nervously.

" How old is she?"

" She's 4 going on 5." Aria replied, fully understanding why her mother was asking now; so that Ella could understand when Aria had conceived Summer and when she'd given birth. It annoyed Aria that she hadn't realised this sooner. The tears from her eyes still hadn't ceased and they were full of fear and anger.

" Why didn't you tell us?" Ella asked, shaking her head as she avoided her daughters eyes.

" You were supposed to stay away from my daughter! Not knock her up as soon as she left Rosewood!" Byron was shouting now and he'd taken a step closer towards Ezra. Ella made no move to stop him and Aria began to worry what he was actually going to do.

" Mr Montgomery I didn't-" Ezra began but Byron interrupted him.

Byron took another step forward. " Don't you dare lie anymore! We had a deal! You worthless piece of shit!" With his fist raced, Byron lunged forward angrily - exactly like Mike had done when he'd first found out about Ezra and Aria's relationship all those years ago.

" Dad, no!"

" Byron!"

Aria didn't know what convinced her to do it but, for some reason, she pushed Ezra away from Byron's blow and put herself in his place instead. Letting out a cry of pain, Aria stumbled to the floor as Byron's fist collided with her jaw. More tears spilled from her eyes and Byron looked down at his daughter in shock. Ella gasped in shock and looked horrified as she stared at Byron, disgusted.

" Aria, I'm sor-" Byron began.

" I can't believe you just did that... I can't believe you just-" Aria shook her head angrily as she touched her now throbbing jaw. Worriedly, Ezra crouched down behind her and gently helped her up from the floor, this time keeping his arms protectively around her. Now, Ezra's eyes were set on Byron angrily instead of the other way round.

" I think it's time for you to leave." Ezra stated quickly, no longer nervous anymore. Aria breathed a sigh of relief as he said this and she avoided her father's eyes.

" No! You don't get to tell me what to do." Byron snapped back angrily, but this time Ella caught onto his arm.

" Byron, it is time for us to leave," Ella voiced Ezra's words and, this time, Byron looked down at his wife guiltily.

" Okay." Byron and Ella headed for the door and Aria watched as they left, moving herself even further into Ezra's arms.

" For the record... Ezra isn't Summer's father. I met Ezra again at work, not 5 years ago." Aria stated through tears. This caused Byron to look even more guilty and Ella to become more confused. Without another word, they both left. As soon as they were gone, Aria turned her head into Ezra's chest and cried into it.

" They hate me... They hate you..." Aria gasped through tears, ignoring the pain in her jaw.

" They don't hate you... It's okay. Everything's going to be okay," Ezra soothed comfortingly, kissing the top of Aria's head. " Is your jaw okay?"

" No... my dad punched me... I can't decide whether he knew I was there or not..." Aria wrapped her own arms around his torso.

" I can assure you, Aria, he didn't know you were there. You jumped in front of me fast. I don't care how angry he was, he didn't mean to hurt you. I could see it in his expression after he hit you..." Ezra said, frowning down at Aria.

" He lied to me... Why does he have to hate you so much!?" Aria pulled away from Ezra slightly to look up at him.

" Hey, Aria, listen to me," Ezra told her. " It doesn't matter that he hates me... it doesn't change anything. You and Byron will make things up with each other and you and Ella use to be so close, she'll understand. I promise you..." Leaning down, Ezra placed a peck on Aria's waiting lips.

" Thank you..." Aria whispered. " I'm so sorry about today."

" It's fine. It was always going to happen at some point. You can't avoid your family forever,"

" I need to go speak to Summer, I think I worried her when I told her to go back to her room..." Aria said, attempting to pull away from Ezra but he didn't let go of her.

" You can't go talk to her like this, it will just scare her more. You're still crying and there's a mark where Byron hit you..." Ezra said. " I'll talk to her. Just tell me what you want me to say."

" Are you sure? I can do it, I'll be fine... I just need to tell her the truth..." Aria insisted, trying to pull away again. This time, Ezra lead Aria to the sofa and placed her down onto it.

" No, I'll be fine. She likes me? Remember?" Ezra attempted to make her smile and achieved. A small smile spread across Aria's face as Ezra placed a blanket over her. " Let me just get you some ice, then I'll go speak to Summer. You wait right here." Ezra placed a small kiss on Aria's nose before going to get some ice.

Ezra

Once Aria was snuggled into the blanket with ice on her jaw, Ezra headed - slightly nervously- into Summer's room. It was the first time he'd been in Summer's room and his first impressions of it were great; in the right corner of the room was a white bed with butterfly covers, a matching wadrobe and dresser sat on the left side and a chair and a set of draws filled with toys was in the bottom right corner. The room was perfect for a little girl like Summer and Ezra believed that Aria had done a great job with decorating it.

" Ezra? Where's my mommy?" Summer asked from where she was sat on her bed, cuddling with a large teddy of hers. She looked scared and worried and Ezra cringed as he saw this. Summer had obviously understood more than she let on.

" Your mommy is still in the living room... she's just very upset right now and she didn't want to scare you." Ezra told her softly, taking a seat next to her on her small bed.

" Why was grandpa shouting at mommy? Does he not like me?" Summer asked with a sad expression. Ezra hated this, but he knew he had to do it for Aria.

" No that's not why... it's because Grandma and Grandpa didn't know who you were... so they were a little angry with mommy." Ezra explained as carefully as he could, trying not too say the wrong thing.

" Why?"

" Because they care about mommy very much." Ezra answered.

" Is my mommy okay? Can I go see her now?" This had been easier than Ezra had first thought. Summer was much more mature than she let on sometimes.

" Mommy will be okay soon and I'm sure she'd love to see you. She loves you very much." Summer beamed up at Ezra and leaped off of the bed, heading towards the door. Just before she was about to open, she turned back to Ezra, with a slightly confused expression.

" Ezra?" Summer sounded so sweet and innocent when she said his name. It was too cute.

" Yes?"

" Are you my daddy?" Summer asked, her eyes filled with hope. Ezra sighed as she said this and looked away. This he didn't know how to explain. He couldn't lie and say yes, but he couldn't tell Summer who her father actually was. That was for Aria to explain.

" No... I'm sorry, Summer, I'm not... I wish I was though, because you would make the perfect daughter." Ezra smiled and Summer beamed at his compliment, her eyes brightening like Aria's did.

" Are you and mommy going to get married like on the Disney films?" Ezra chuckled at her and smiled. The thought of Aria being his wife pleased him but it was way too soon. It had been three months. Though Ezra knew that he loved Aria and would never stop, he knew she needed more time. If he was honest with himself, he knew he needed more time too. They needed to fix all of their problems first before they even considered marriage. Their problems would only ruin their marriage.

" I don't know... I hope so one day, but not just yet." Ezra answered.

" Because that would make you my daddy? Right?" Sighing, Ezra hesitated for a moment.

" I guess it kind of would... we'd need to sign a bit of paperwork first before it was official, though."

" I hope you and my mommy do get married." Summer rushed over to Ezra, jumped on the bed and threw her arms around his neck. Ezra was surprised bny the gesture, but he instantly hugged her back. The fact that summer liked him was another big step forward. It seemed that she actually wanted Ezra to be her father... The only problem was Summer's actual father. Ezra had hated Will for a long time now, even though he was his twin brother. Ezra hoped that Summer never had the chance to meet him as he knew that Summer would only be hurt and disappointed by him...

Another drama filled chapter with a cute ending ;) I love writing the Ezra and Summer scenes since I've tried to make Summer as much like Aria as possible. So Byron ended up punching Aria by accident... what are your thoughts on that? Plus, did you like Ezra's protective side when he told her parents to leave? Please review and tell me what you liked and disliked! :)

Thank you for reading and thank you for all of the continued support!

Also, what did everyone think of the PLL fatal finale? Personally, it was predictable but I still enjoyed it like other PLL episodes... I had already worked out who was going to die and who was going to get arrested before I saw it though. The Ezria moments were cute 3

-DareToDream