"So am I the only one who sees some crazy chemistry between Noel and Aria?" Corrie commented conversationally as they packed up after rehearsal. It was now 5:20 and rehearsal had ended twenty minutes ago. Ezra was currently walking through the house, picking up any trash the students may have left in between the seats. Corrie was straightening up the director's table and her boyfriend Matt was out of the room, returning the piano back to the band room. They had finished a rough run through of singing the music for the entire show and Ezra and Corrie had been pleased with the outcome. Well, other than Noel kissing Aria, Ezra was pretty happy.

"You think they have chemistry?" Ezra asked cautiously. He tried to keep the jealousy out of his face that he was sure was there. He was never a huge fan of Noel Kahn, only because he was kind of a dick and always blew off Ezra's class, but after seeing him kiss Aria, he went from mild annoyance towards the guy to barely concealed hatred.

"Oh my god definitely," Corrie continued to gossip, "just the way he looks at her, it's so... lustful."

"Maybe he's just playing the part," Ezra snapped lightly. He wanted to stop talking about this. He didn't want to talk about other guys throwing his girlfriend wanton looks, especially when those other guys got to make out with Aria.

"No, I don't think he's that good of an actor," Corrie said joking. Ezra's hidden message behind his snappy reply apparently going deaf on her ears, "he's clearly into her. You can tell she likes him too."

"No, she doesn't," Ezra replied angrily. The reply was ripped from his throat before he had time to even process what he was saying. He saw Corrie gave him a strange look. Shit. He hadn't meant to lash out, "I just mean, I feel like she's not into that whole jock kind of guy. You know? She could probably do better than Noel, or I mean, he just doesn't seem like someone she'd be into," he rambled, trying to cover up the fact that what he said was extremely unprofessional and out of character for a teacher to say about a student.

"I don't know. She seems into him, but maybe you know her better than I do."

"Yeah, maybe," Ezra said ambiguously. Of course he knew Aria better. He wanted to let this issue go, but it kept eating at him, "do you really think they like each other? I-I just don't see it."

"I think there's something there," Corrie said honestly, he couldn't quite understand why, but hearing those words made him incredibly sad. He didn't want Aria to have a 'thing' for any other guy. He had to remind himself that this was only an opinion of one person and not how Aria actually felt. She made absolutely no indication that she was into Noel and had even pushed him away after the kiss. Clearly she wasn't interested, right?

"Her reaction to him kissing her was so dramatic. She's clearly fighting some feelings for him or something," Corrie continued nonchalantly.

She had only pushed him away. It's not like she had slapped him or thrown a fit. Still Ezra couldn't get the picture of Noel's lips pushed against Aria's and the way his hands had gripped her butt. That was really made him livid. He understood that Aria had to kiss Noel in the show. He was a bit upset at first, but then again, it was all for show, so it's not like it meant anything. He had prepared himself to see Aria kissing another guy. He had prepared himself for the quick flash of jealousy that came with it. What he had not prepared for, is watching Aria get assaulted and only being able to sit there and watch. Noel should have asked Aria if touching her butt would have been alright before they sang the song. Hell, Ezra, who was her own boyfriend, wouldn't even touch her like that without asking. Well, now that they had been dating for a while, he didn't always ask. But for the first couple months they were dating, Ezra had always asked, much to Aria's annoyance, if any touching he did was alright with her. This was until she snapped at him telling him if he asked 'you okay?' 'Is this okay?' 'Are you alright?' one more time that she would never make out with him ever again.

Ezra was about to respond to Corrie's comment when Matt walked in.

"Are you ready?" He asked annoyed, glaring at Corrie. Ezra looked up at him, alarmed by his negative attitude. Corrie however, seemed to be used to it as she quickly packed up her stuff without any reaction.

"Are you okay locking up Ezra?" she asked quickly. Not wanting to get in the middle of the couples fight, he simply nodded and watched as Matt angrily walked away, Corrie only a few steps behind him.

Ezra was a bit surprised with the interaction he just witnessed but he shook it off and started to lock up the auditorium. His wind wandered, as it usually did, to Aria. Taking out his phone, he quickly went to favorites and touched the contact belonging to her. He continued to turn off all the lights an check all the doors as the sound of her sweet voice came through the phone accompanied with a bunch of extra background noise.

"Hey babe, you're on speaker," she answered.

"Oh, um who are you with?" She was probably with the girls. She could tell by the background noise that she had answered him through her car's Bluetooth.

"Just the girls. Mike got a ride home with a friend, so we stopped and got coffee after rehearsal. I'm driving us back to school. Are you still there?"

Ezra finished checking the last door before replying, "yeah, I'm just locking up. I'm about to leave in a few minutes I just need to stop by my classroom and get a few things," Ezra wanted to ask how she was doing with the Noel thing, but he didn't want to bring it up with her friends listening. He had called her because he wanted to do something romantic tonight. Something spontaneous. He wanted to go out of town and rent a motel and both call in sick the next day. The idea of driving up to the Poconos with Aria and renting out a small cabin together do the rest of their lives drifted into his mind. He needed to get out of town with her, if only just for the night, but how was he supposed to ask that with her friends listening.

"Do you have a lot of homework tonight?" He blurted out over the phone. He could just imagine the strange look she would be giving him at this moment if they were together. Ezra quickly grabbed his satchel and headed out of the auditorium, towards his class room.

"Umm... No, not really," she answered slowly. Ezra could've sworn he heard laughter from one of the girls.

"Good. I want to take you into Philly tonight," he said firmly. After collecting the papers from his classroom he quickly locked his door and exited the building, anxiously waiting for Aria's reply. The car seemed to go quiet.

"Really? Why?" She seemed excited. That was good.

"Because I love you," Ezra paused as he heard the girls loudly react to what he said. He distinctly heard an 'aw' from Hanna, and I noise that sounded like barging coming from one of the other girls, "and I'm a hopeless romantic... And I really want to be able to kiss you outside of my apartment."

"Yeah, of course I'll go. Do I need a dress or anything?" Aria asked happily. She was clearly surprised by Ezra's spontaneous behavior, but she didn't seem put off by it.

"No, you shouldn't. I just want to go out to dinner. Maybe go ice skating... I don't know. I just- I just want to see you. Outside of my apartment," Ezra finished, his cheeks reddening slightly. This is nothing that he wouldn't usually tell Aria, but the knowledge that three of his high school students were listening too made him a little embarrassed.

"Hey Fitzy, you really don't have to go through all this work. Aria would sleep with you regardless!" Ezra heard Hanna yell through the phone.

"Hanna!" Spencer scolded loudly. Ezra, unsure of how to react, just listened to the girls yelling at each other.

"So, um, do you want me to stay and wait for you, babe?" Ezra asked above the noise in the car.

"You don't need to. If you could pick me up from Emily's that would be amazing, I just want to leave my car there incase my mom drives by," he heard Aria answer over the noise.

"Yeah I can do that. Just text me the address and I'll see you in a few."

"Okay, thanks. Oh, and I got you a chocolate chip muffin and coffee from the Brew, so don't go buying any snacks."

Ezra chuckled at her demand, "Okay I won't. Thank you for the food. See you in a few. Love ya."

"Love ya too. I'll get Emily to text you her address.

LINEBREAK

Emily handed Aria her phone back after texting Ezra her address.

"Damn, Mr. Fitz deserves some boyfriend points for that," Spencer commented. All her friends were a bit shocked by the conversation they had just overheard.

"Yeah, how often does he just whisk you away to Philly?" Emily asked from the backseat.

"I don't know, we try and do something like once a month, but he just does little things like this a lot," Aria answered with a happy little smile plastered on her face. She knew Ezra was a hopeless romantic and took every opportunity he could to spoil her, but she was always happily surprised when he did.

"I wish Paige and I did things like that," Emily said enviously.

"Well it helps when the person your dating is like twenty-eight and has their own job and their own apartment and doesn't have to be home by 10:30" Spencer answered, referring to Toby's 10:30 curfew his parents insisted on.

"Jesus, Spence! He's only twenty-three. Don't make it sound like something creepy," Aria complained as she turned into the school parking lot. She saw Emily, Spencer's and Hanna's cars grouped together in the parking lot and Ezra's a little closer to the building in the teacher's lot. He was still here. Her smiled widened as she saw him walk out the building. He was holding a stack of papers in one hand and fumbling with his keys in the other. Aria laughed to herself when she saw him drop his keys and have to lean over to pick them up. Hanna, who was sitting next to Aria in the passenger seat, leaned over the center console and honked the horn. Ezra looked up startled and spotted Aria's car driving by.

"Looking good, Mr. Fitz!" Hanna called out the window. Aria quickly rolled up Hanna's window embarrassed and speed up towards the girl's cars. Hanna convulsed in a fit of laughter and the front seat and Emily and Spencer joined in.

"Okay you guys are here get out," Aria said in mock anger.

The girls got out of Aria's car and exchanged their goodbyes, planning on seeing each other tomorrow.

LINEBREAK

They ate dinner at a little Italian restaurant just out of the heart of Philadelphia. They had decided against doing anything extravagant and settled for a quiet intimate dinner in the city. The couple had gone back to Ezra's to change and put their stuff down. Ezra was now wearing jeans and a gray, v-neck long sleeved shirt and Aria was dressed in a short printed skirt, purple tights, and one of Ezra's sweatshirts. They were sitting in the back of the restaurant at a small booth for two. Aria had kicked off her shoe and was running her bare foot up and down the length of his calf, smiling flirtatiously up at him. Ezra had immediately began playing along.

"So, I didn't want to ask you with your friends listening," Ezra began, Aria looked at him listening intently. Ezra noted it was nice to see her outside the dim lighting of his apartment, "would you want to maybe rent a motel room tonight. I don't know what you have first period, but maybe we can come in late tomorrow?" As he said this he dragged his foot up and down her leg up to the sensitive underside of her knee.

"Don't you have class?" She asked confused.

"It's my senior writing class and seniors have an assembly in the morning or something," Ezra answered. He reached over the table and held her hand in his. He wanted to attach his lips to the delicate skin of her wrist but decided against it. That would come later.

"I think I have a test in Psych. Let me text Spencer, she'd know," Aria pulled her hand away from his and pulled out her phone, "is there something wrong with your apartment?"

"No, I just thought it would be fun to stay in the city. Find a place with a hut tub maybe... Order room service. Some champagne," Ezra trailed off. He was watching Aria in front of him. She was looking at him with a wry smile on her face.

"You know Hanna's right, you really don't have to do all this to get me to sleep with you," Aria answered with a smile.

"Yeah, but I want to do this," Ezra said honestly, "you know, try something a little different."

Aria could tell by the glint in his eyes that when he said, 'try something different' he wasn't just talking about food. She winked at Ezra and he smiled his boyish grin back at her and went to take a sip of his water.

"Is the sex boring you already?" Aria asked with fake innocence. Ezra choked on the water he was drinking and looked at her alarmed.

"No! No, no, no, not at all," he assured, "I'm just... You know... Always up for something new." He explained quickly. Aria nodded, a small smile on her face

"I can think of something for us to do," Aria said with a wry smile. She let her foot under the drag all the way up his leg and dangerously close to his crotch before resting both her feet on his lap.

"Are you okay with what happened with Noel today?" Ezra asked delicately. He pulled her hand into his again.

"I mean I'm not okay with it, I don't want him to do it again. But I'm fine," Ezra opened his mouth to protest, "Ezra, really, he's just some pervy boy. Nothing I can't handle," Aria answered with a sense of finality.

"Aria I don't want you to have to handle anything at all."

"It didn't mean anything to me, if that's what your worried about," Aria reassured. When Ezra didn't meet her glance she continued, "I know you got jealous, I could see it in your face-"

"I wasn't jealous!" Ezra snapped. Aria, annoyed, moved her feet from his lap and pulled her hand away. Ezra looked up at her alarmed, "I'm sorry, babe. Aria I'm sorry," Ezra urged apologetically. Aria didn't return her feet to his lap, or reach back for his hand, but her glare at him softened slightly.

"Whatever, Ezra. Let's-let's just forget the whole thing."

"No, we should talk about it. I want to make sure you're okay."

"Ezra, I'm fine," Aria said again, angry this time, "I was caught off guard, that's all. It's a stage kiss and. It. Meant. Nothing," Aria hissed putting emphasis on the last few words, "so stop asking if I'm okay, so that you can check in and make sure I haven't changed my feelings as I'm not gonna ditch you for Noel," Aria said angrily.

"I am not-" Ezra paused. He had been jealous. He knew he had been jealous. Even Corrie mentioning the two of them together had made him jealous. But that's not why he was asking if she was okay. He honestly cared if she was okay. Right? That was why he was asking her, wasn't it? He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. She had twisted his words and his intentions and was making them into something shallow and petty. But he did want to make sure that nothing was going on between her and Noel, he reminded himself. Ezra felt himself get angrier. And now, Aria was confusing his own thoughts, "that's not why I asked if you were okay. Believe it or not I actually care how you feel," Ezra spat out.

Aria looked at him. He could see the disbelief in his eyes and made him furious. "Then drop it, Ezra. I told you I don't like Noel-"

"That's not what I'm asking!" Ezra said raising his voice slightly. Aria could see other patrons in the restaurant giving them looks. She quickly put her hand on Ezra's and cut off what he was about to say.

"Ezra, be quiet!" She whispered urgently. Ezra complied and lowered his voice, but not by much.

"I want to know if you're okay. Why do you keep bringing up Noel, Aria? I hardly even mentioned him. Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" Ezra didn't know why he asked the last part. He was just tired of being on the defense as Aria accused him of things. He knew it was stupid but when he saw the look on her face when she said it, it made him think what he accused her of wasn't so far fetched.

"Ezra, shut up. That's not-"

"That's it! Isn't it, Aria?" Ezra asked. She looked at him, seething. She quickly grabbed her purse from next to her, threw a five on the table and started to get up.

"Come on, Ezra. Get your jacket we're leaving." Ezra looked at her incredulously.

"We didn't even order food yet!" He complained. He started to pull his jacket on and get out of the booth anyway, following after Aria.

"I don't care. You're taking me home, right now," Aria said angrily, as she left the restaurant. She was so embarrassed by what had happened in the restaurant and was beyond pissed at Ezra for thinking so lowly of her. She stomped over to his car as she heard his heavy footsteps follow behind her. She wasn't sure where she wanted to sleep tonight, but she had plenty of time to decide on the deadly silent car ride that awaited her on her way back to Rosewood.