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Aria's POV
"Han, can I borrow something to sleep in?" I continued flipping through the channels on the TV looking for something suitable to watch, before clicking the power button and shutting the TV off completely.
Hanna and I had ended up three hours away from Rosewood, and we were spending the night at a hotel. After seeing Jackie and Ezra, my mind had been so set on leaving the house that I had not even stopped to grab anything for the night.
I glanced at my phone as it rang for the sixty seventh time that night. Frustrated, I snatched the phone from the coffee table in front of me and answered the call.
"Aria!" Ezra's voice came through on the other end.
"Stop calling me." I said fiercely. "I don't want to talk to you."
"Aria, please, just let me explain!" He said quickly.
"Ezra! There is absolutely NO explanation you can give me to why you were kissing Jackie. Now stop calling me!" I yelled, before hanging up on him.
I tossed my phone beside me on the couch before bursting into tears again. Hanna came over to me with a tank top and shorts in her hand and set them down on the coffee table in front of us. She sat down beside me and wrapped an arm around me, comfortingly.
"Honey, I'm so sorry." She said soothingly.
My phone beeped again and Hanna picked it up.
"It's Ezra." She told me.
"Of course it is." I said bitterly.
I watched Hanna as she unlocked my iPhone and read the text he sent me.
I watched as her facial expression changed from that of anger to that of sorrow and compassion.
"Aria…" She said slowly. "Look at this." She handed the phone to me.
"I don't want to." I muttered.
"Aria, I think you should." She tried giving me the phone again. This time I took it.
I let out a sigh as another tear escaped my eyes. I looked at the message and started crying again after reading it.
"Aria, please, let me explain. You've got it all wrong. I know you saw Jackie and I kissing, but you have to believe me, that I didn't kiss her, she kissed me. I told her that it was completely over between us and that I loved you more than I ever loved her, but she wouldn't stop coming on to me. She kissed me, and as soon as it happened I stopped it! I really hope you're reading this, because I'm sorry. Aria I'm really truly sorry. I never meant for that to happen and you need to know, that I love you more than anyone or anything else in this world. I only love you. No one else. Please forgive me. Please."
"Aria, you have to go back. I mean, it was all Jackie's fault. You can't blame Ezra for what's happened."
I bit my lip as I pondered this. I got up from the couch and started pacing back and forth.
"But what if it happens again?" I cried. "Jackie has found a way to make sure that she's back in Ezra's life for good. Okay? Do you understand that Hanna? He has a daughter with her! And now, I'm pregnant, and I have to share him? What the hell is that about? What person should have to endure that misery? When my baby grows up, I'll have to somehow explain to them that they have a sister, from another mother! I'm only sixteen! I'm pregnant, I don't live with my parents anymore, and my boyfriend has a daughter with someone else!"
I collapsed back onto the couch as tears streamed down my face.
"And what if Ezra falls in love with Jackie again? Realizes how much he's missed her and how much better she is for him?" I sobbed. "I mean, they almost got married!"
"But he hadn't met you at that time." She told me.
"True." I agreed, as I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand.
"Aria," She paused. "I think that you two are meant to be together. You were able to stay together the whole time you were teacher and student, which says a lot."
I nodded, encouraging her to continue.
"I think you should go back there and let him explain. Don't forgive him immediately, but do it eventually. I hate it when you're hurting." She gave me a sympathetic look.
"I know..." I looked down at my lap. "I just..."
"You just nothing. Aria, I know how much you love Ezra, and I am not going to let you ruin your relationship with him because of your own stubbornness."
I gave her a small smile in response.
Suddenly, Hanna jumped up from the couch.
"Why are you still sitting? We're getting you home."
"Now?" I asked. "It's almost midnight!"
"Hun, after all that caffeine we had from Starbucks, I was going to be up all night anyway."
"And I completely believe you." I laughed as I got up from the couch.
Hanna ran around the hotel room as she gathered up the few belongings she had taken out of her bag.
Twenty minutes later, we were in the car once again driving down a lonely country road in the moonlight, singing along to the blasting radio.
"It's twisted, messed up! And the more I think about it, it's crazy, but so what! I may never understand it, I'm caught up and I'm hanging on, I'm gonna love you even if its wrong," we sang in synchronization. When the chorus of the song finished, Hanna lowered down the volume.
"That should be you and Ezra's theme song."
"Yeah, we can sing it at midnight every night and wake up the whole town!" I said sarcastically.
"No I'm being serious!" She raised the volume a little bit. "Listen to the words! 'It's twisted, messed up, it's crazy, but so what?' that's totally you and Ezra! Your love was twisted because you were student and teacher, but it was so right, cuz you're like, the hottest couple ever!" she exclaimed.
"Hanna, do me a favor, and just drive." I laughed, before raising the volume again.
Two and a half hours later, I found myself thanking Hanna for the drive back home as I walked up the stone path to the front door of me and Ezra's house. My phone said that the time was 3:07am. I stuffed my key into the lock, but right as I was about to turn it, I froze. What if Ezra's mad at me for running away? But that's not fair, because he kissed Jackie. I'm the one who should be mad! I shook my head before I turned the key into the lock. I slowly crept inside the abnormally quiet house. The normal hum of the dishwasher, blow of the air conditioning, and rumbling of the fridge making ice were absent from the atmosphere. I entered the living room and my heart sunk as I took in my surroundings. Ezra was sitting on the couch with his knees curled up to his chest. His head was buried in the crook of his knees. He was wearing an old tattered t-shirt and sweatpants and he was clenching his cell phone tightly in one hand.
As I started to approach him, he slowly lifted his head from his knees to reveal his tear stained face and glossy blue eyes.
Seeing him in such a vulnerable state caused all of the anger and rage I had on him earlier, vanish.
Seeing Ezra hurting like this made me realize how much I really meant to him.
The moment his eyes met mine, we started gravitating towards each other. However, we couldn't get to each other fast enough. Ezra leaped up from the couch and embraced me in his arms. Our lips met in a passionate kiss, full of longing and regret. My fingers were tangled in his hair as his hands gripped my waist, pulling me closer. There was no space between our bodies and I could feel him breathing heavily against me. I gave his prodding tongue entrance into my mouth, causing me moan against him. As Ezra traced the roof of my mouth with his tongue, I pulled his body closer to me. We broke apart after a moment to catch a breath. Gazing into his eyes, I saw the immense love for me reflected in them.
"I'm so sorry Aria." Ezra whispered to me.
"Shh." I told him, as I brought his face back to mine and kissed him again.
"I love you." I whispered against his lips.
"As I love you." He kissed me with more passion before. I finally broke away, as we both struggled to regain our breath.
"Ezra.." I whispered. "I just want to know... Why did she kiss you?" I asked, confusion laced throughout my voice.
"She wants me back. And she thinks that because of Maria, she'll get me back. But she won't. Because I'm already taken." He said simply, before crushing his lips to mine once again.