Previously:

"You don't mean that. You can't possibly mean that." Todd said.

"I do. I don't want you in my life and I haven't for years. So please, just do us all a favour and leave!" Ezra said.

Todd's face grew red with rage and his grip on the gun tightened. He pulled the trigger.

Chapter 19:

Some screamed. The body slowly crumpled to the ground but nobody moved. They were all too shocked, staring at the unmoving corpse. Nobody moved to call an ambulance, knowing that their was no point. The wound was right in the head and the grass had turned crimson from all the blood.

Ezra was the first to move, and he ran to the nearest bush, throwing up. He was bent over, heaving, retching sounds coming out of him. After a brief moment, Aria moved towards him. Her eyes never left the corpse as she bent over him, rubbing his back.

"You okay?" she asked, and as soon as she said it she regretted it. Of course he wasn't okay. How could anyone be okay after seeing someone, let alone their parent, die before their eyes.

He nodded slightly, trying to gather himself. Finally, he stopped, gulping in deep breaths of air as he slowly lowered himself onto the grass, bringing his knees to his chest. A shadow fell over him but he didn't look up. He felt a hand on his shoulder as Dianne sat down next to him. He still didn't move for a long moment but then he buried himself in his mother's embrace, crying. He didn't care that Aria and Spencer were watching him, he couldn't stop himself.

"I was so scared that he would hurt you," he cried to his mother.

"I know, I know." Dianne said, running her hands through his hair as he continued to sob. "It's all going to be okay, I promise."

"I-I killed him." Ezra said, lifting his head and looking back at Todd's corpse.

"No, you didn't. He killed himself, you couldn't have stopped him." Dianne assured him. "Someone was going to end up dying today, whether it was him or one of us. You couldn't have prevented that."

This didn't make Ezra feel any better but he didn't say anything. He just sat there, staring at the grass but not really seeing anything. Finally, he said "I was beginning to trust him."

"I was too." Dianne admitted. "That's why I agreed to meet him this morning. I thought he had changed after all these years and actually wanted to be a part of yours and your brother's lives."

"He was so convincing." Ezra said bitterly. "I can't believe he fooled us. I let him meet Daisy in the hospital." he said, shuddering at the thought of what could have happened if he'd left Todd alone with his daughters or Aria.

"He was your father, it's not your fault." Aria said, speaking up as she leaned over him. "To be honest, when I met him that day in the hospital, I thought you were being kind of hard on him. He seemed so sincere."

"Holy shit!"

They all looked up to see Wes standing a few feet away from Todd's corpse, Hanna and Emily behind him. In the moment, they had all forgotten about them as well as Spencer, who had been standing there, still somewhat in shock. At the sound of Wes' voice, she seemed to focus a little, staring at Wes, then Emily and Hanna, before resting her gaze on Aria's.

"Wes." Dianne said, standing up and going to her younger son.

"W-...How...?" Wes stammered, not even sure what to say. As Dianne started to explain what happened, how Todd had held her at gunpoint before switching the gun to his own head and pressing the trigger, Ezra tuned him out. He felt Aria wrap her small arms around him.

"Hey, it's going to be okay, I promise." Aria said. Ezra leaned his head on her shoulder and Aria tightened her hold on him.

Much later, everyone was sitting in Aria and Ezra's house. They had called the police and, after hours of questioning, they had all been released. It was currently 1am and everyone was exhausted, although there was no way anyone was going to be sleeping that night.

Daisy and Sophia were still at their grandmother's house and would stay there for at least another day, until Ezra and Aria had recovered enough from the traumatic events of that day.

When everyone finally left, with the exception of Wes and Dianne, who would be staying in the guest rooms, the couple went upstairs to their bedroom. Aria went to get ready for bed and returned ten minutes later to see that Ezra was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the dresser but Aria could tell that he wasn't really seeing anything. She cautiously walked over to him and placed a hand on his arm. He looked up at her, slightly unfocused.

"Ezra?" she said, trying to get his attention. He didn't respond so she placed her palms on his cheeks and forced him to look at her, really look at her.

"Ezra." she said more firmly.

"Huh?" he said.

"Talk to me. What are you thinking?" she asked.

Ezra was quiet for a moment before he shrugged. "I don't know, I just...I can't believe it's over."

Aria nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"I guess I don't know how to feel. I mean, he was my father and I loved him for a big part of my childhood. But at the same time, I was so angry at him, and he could have hurt my mom."

"That's okay." Aria said, running her hand up and down his arms. "You just went through something traumatic and it's okay to feel upset even if you didn't like him. He was part of your life and, whether you like it or not, he was your family. That counts for something."

"I guess you're right. I just, I feel like I should feel worse about this...or better...I don't know."

"You can't help how you feel, it's not in your control. Don't worry, at least it's all over." Aria said.

"It's over." Ezra echoed, looking into Aria's eyes. She placed her palm on his cheek and he leaned into her touch. She wrapped her arms around him and he buried his face in her shoulder as tears welled up in his eyes. Whether they were tears of relief or grief, he didn't know. Maybe both. But, although part of him wished that Todd had lived, most of him was just glad that he could live his life with his family without worrying about the threat of him harming them. He was safe, and so was his family.

Okay, this is it. This is the final chapter of Healed Heart. I just want to thank everyone again for keeping up with this story even though I wasn't the greatest with updates. I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this and I hope to have another story up sometime. For now, I think I'll take a break, maybe write some one-shots in my spare time but I don't think I'll be starting a new story until the summer (who knows, maybe sooner).

Anyway, don't forget to leave a review, I love hearing from each and every one of you.

-xox Sobia :)