Title - Ezria in LA.
Characters - Aria and Ezra
Story Summery - Following the adventures of Ezrias life as the years passed by. Starts 10 years after Arias High School Graduation. Ezria is married and they live in a big house in Los Angeles, California. Ezra is a teacher at LAs most known private school and Aria is a singer still struggling to become famous. Can they balance their relationship and a family or will their marriage fall apart when Aria gets offered an opportunity of a lifetime? Ezria's Relationship and Family Life is tested. A mix of Ezria and Jaria. Read and Review or PM with thoughts, and story line ideas.
Author Notes: I know some readers were not happy with some of the story lines I have chosen to write. I am reminding you that this is my story and I can write it the way I want it to. Please be nice in the reviews. I don't like reading "You are ruining your story" or "I hate this story". A better review would be "I think your story would be better if you did this ..." or "I think this should happen ... instead of this ...". Please give this story more of a chance as it only can get better.
I am still fairly new at writing and I can only improve with each chapter. For those of you that wanted Riley biological father to be Ezra, I think you will be happy in the end. Like I mentioned in a previous chapter. "DNA doesn't make a family, Love does." This quote was taken from another ABC Family show "The Fosters".
I made this choice to make Jason the biological father of Riley because I wanted Jason to be a important part of this story. I still want and plan to keep Ezria together even though there will be some bumps along the road with their marriage and other things that might happen to them in the future.
Just a little clue on what might happen in upcoming chapters or later on in the story: Ezria might get into another fight that causes Aria to maybe make a decision she regrets which Ezra may find out about. Ezras mom comes into town for about a month to celebrate Christmas and the New Years holiday with her son and granddaughters that may cause another strain on Ezrias relationship. Old feelings between two characters might resurface but they won't last very long. Aria may think she is pregnant but it might just be a false alarm. Aria will get a offer for a tour but will she take it? Jason offers to manage this tour for her but Aria and Ezra have different opinions about what that means.
What has Happened to Us?
Arias POV
The next morning I woke up in Rileys twin bed. It took me a few minutes to remember why I slept in my daughters bed last night and not the room that Ezra and I share. I don't really count last night as a fight between Ezra and I. It was more like a discussion between two adults. I'm not really mad at Ezra but I just don't understand why he can be so stubborn sometimes. I got out of bed and walked out of Rileys room and down the hall where our master bedroom was. Ezra was still sleeping and I didn't want to wake him up. It was still fairly early in the morning so I got into our bed being careful not to wake Ezra up. The sun was just starting to rise and the sunlight was shining in through the window. Ezra woke up less then an hour later anyway.
"The sun is sure bright today" I said trying to make conversation
"When did you come back in here? I must have fallen asleep last night before you came back into our room." Ezra said
"Actually I slept in Rileys bed last night. I came in here about 30 minutes ago and noticed you were still sleeping." I said
"How mad were you at me last night? If you were mad enough to sleep in another bedroom then you must have been really upset with me." Ezra said
"To be honest I was more surprised then mad at you. I understand where you are coming from but our life is different now and I think you should step up and take responsibility." I said
"I just don't want to further complicate our already complicated marriage. I don't want to lose you over some stupid argument." Ezra said
"You are not going to lose me." I said
"But you think I made a bad choice 11 years ago when I signed abandonment papers for Malcolm. I regret never meeting him but I don't regret signing those papers. Where would we be today if I had decided to tell you about Malcolm and I was involved in his life?" Ezra asked
"Well for sure things would be different. Who knows if you and I would have ever gotten married and stared a family on our own." I said
"Aria if you still regret this marriage then maybe we should spend some time apart." Ezra said
"I don't want to spend anymore time apart. I think we need to communicate better and in order to do that we may need to see a couples councilor. We've both made mistakes and that's okay to admit to each other but in order to move past our mistakes we need to be completely honest with each other." I said
"So if we are being completely honest with each other I've thought about telling you about Malcolm several times in the last several years." Ezra said
"I'm just glad you told me the truth last night. I'm sorry about the way I acted when I found out last night. Now it's my turn telling you the truth. Last week when I spent that one night away from home I wasn't at a girlfriends house instead I spent the night at Jasons apartment." I said
"Aria." Ezra said, he clearly wasn't to happy about it.
"I swear nothing happened that night. I slept in his extra bedroom." I lied
"I want to believe you Aria, I really do but with all the lies we have told each other recently I don't know what's the difference between the truth and lies anymore."Ezra said
"I'm telling the truth, Ezra" I lied
"Aria, If nothing happened between you and Jason that night then you would have told me the truth from the beginning instead of lying about it at first." Ezra said
"God what has happened to us? I feel like our relationship was better before we were married." I said
"What do you mean by that?" Ezra asked
"We were happy, we almost never fought, we may have had a hard time financially when Riley was born and before you took the teaching job here in LA but we made it work." I said
"We can still have that happiness. We just have to try a little harder now that we are married and have two kids." Ezra said
"That's why I love you so much. You know things will work out between us." I said
"Aria, you and our kids mean everything to me." Ezra said
Ezra got out of bed and went into our master bathroom. While he was in the shower I woke up Lucy and helped her get ready for the day. Ezra and Lucy went to church and I stayed home because Jason was supposed to bring back Riley back here this morning. Church was more of his thing anyway. I didn't mind going almost every Sunday but sometimes it was nice to take a break from going. I was expecting Jason to drop Riley off soon when I got a text from Ezra.
"Lucy and I are going out to lunch after church, you and Riley can join us if you like." Ezra texted
"I'll ask Riley and text you back in a little while." I texted back
Jason dropped Riley off around 11 AM.
"Sorry, I know you were expecting me almost an hour ago. Riley slept late and I lost track of time." Jason said
"That's fine, Riley did you have fun with Jason yesterday?" I asked
"I guess." Riley answered
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked
"I had fun but I really don't want to admit it because then dad will be upset." Riley said
"I understand. Riley your dad wants to know if we would like to meet him and Lucy for lunch after church. I really don't feel like going but if you want to go then we can." I said
"No, I really don't want to. I have homework and studying that I need to do since I didn't do any yesterday." Riley said
"In that case then do you want to stay for lunch Jason?" I asked
"Sure." Jason said
I texted Ezra to let him know that Riley and I would be eating lunch here.
"Thanks for the offer but Riley said she has homework to do and she ate a late breakfast at Jasons house so we will see you when you get home." I texted Ezra
"Alright maybe another time." Ezra had texted back.
I made lunch for Jason and I. Riley wasn't hungry so she started her homework while Jason and I ate.
"Do you need help with that?" I asked Riley
"Yes but I want dad to help me later." Riley said
"Why can't I help you after I finish lunch?" I asked
"Dad has a college degree therefor he is more qualified to help me." Riley said
"Riley, I was raising you that's why I never went to college but that doesn't mean I can't help you with 6th grade work." I said
"Your mom is right Riley, I would even be glad to help you with your homework sometime." Jason said
"Do you have a college degree?" Riley asked
"Yes, in Business and Management." Jason said
"But dad has a degree in education so I still want him to help me." Riley said
"Can you give me or Jason a chance to help? Just one time and then if you want to go back to your dad next time for help you can." I said
"Fine, Then I want Jason to help me." Riley said
Jason and I cleared our lunch dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Then Jason helped Riley with her homework. I tried to help but Riley didn't want me to help. Ezra had texted me saying that him and Lucy were going to be running some errands after lunch so they wouldn't be home until later. After Riley was done with her homework Jason and I talked.
"Thanks for helping Riley with her homework." I told Jason.
"No problem, I enjoyed spending some extra time with Riley. She's a great kid." Jason said
"For the most part she is, so Riley had no behavior problems with you yesterday?" I asked
"No, she was the perfect 11 year old." Jason said
"I thought about what you said yesterday. I do want to give you a second chance and I think you managing my singing career could work. I looked your old business up online and I noticed how much experience you had managing singers before the business closed." I said
Things went from good to bad when Jason and I gave each other mixed signals and he kissed me. I pushed him away but it was to late.
"We can't do this." I said to Jason
Jason walked out and I didn't know what to say to Ezra who had just seen the kiss. Lucy had run right upstairs because she didn't want to witness the fight that her parents were about to have.
Ezras POV
"I don't even want to talk to you right now Aria." I Yelled
"Ezra, Its not what you think. I pushed Jason away, he's the one that made the move on me." Aria said
"That's not how I saw it. You both made the move for each other." I said
"It was mixed signals, We were talking and one thing lead to another. It was only a kiss and it didn't mean anything. I promise nothing like that will ever happen between Jason and I again." Aria said
"It better not because if I find out that something is going on between you and Jason this marriage will be over." I yelled
"It won't happen again." Aria said
"What was Jason doing here anyway? I thought he was just dropping Riley off." I said
"He was but then I invited him to stay for lunch." Aria said
"So that's why you turned my lunch invitation down. You wanted to have lunch with Jason." I Yelled
"Its not like that. I asked Riley if she wanted to go out for lunch and she said no. Then I asked Jason to stay for lunch and he even helped Riley with her homework." Aria said
"You could have helped Riley." I said
"I know but Riley wanted help from you and I told her that either Jason or I could help her so she chose Jason." Aria said
"She's replacing me already. I knew this would happen." I said
"Riley still loves you. She is just getting to know Jason." Aria said
"Bringing Jason in to this family is making things a lot more complicated then they need to be. I don't know why you couldn't have just called Spencer to help us win a custody case against Jason." I said
"Who do you think she would have sided with? Jason's her half brother, I'm just the best friend." Aria said
"Sorry, I didn't think about that." I said
"Ezra, I made an honest mistake." Aria said
"Are you talking about the kiss or something else?" I asked
"Last week when I spent the night at Jasons apartment something happened between us." Aria said
"I can't believe you lied to me this morning." I yelled
"I was drunk, I didn't mean for it to happen. Both of us had a little to much to drink that night." Aria said
"You don't normally drink Aria. You slept with him because you wanted to not because both of you were drunk." I yelled
"I know I don't usually drink, Besides last week I haven't had a drink since our wedding night. We had a fight and I was upset. I messed up big time and I'm sorry for that but it was a mistake Ezra." Aria said
"Every time we have a fight it always leads you back to Jason." I yelled
"I wasn't thinking clearly. I regret what I did, Just forgive me please." Aria said
"I can't forgive you right now, Maybe someday but not now." I yelled
"Can we at least stop fighting." Aria said
"We can stop fighting if you leave." I said
"What's that supposed to mean?" Aria asked
"We need some time apart, All this fighting isn't good for the kids plus I have some things I need to think about." I said
"Ezra, I'm not going to walk out on this family. If you want to go right ahead but I'm not leaving." Aria said
"Whose income pays the mortgage every month?" I asked
"Yours" Aria responded.
"Exactly, meaning I own this house and you are just living in it." I said
"The papers that we signed when we bought this house say otherwise because we both signed them." Aria said
"The only chance we have at saving this marriage is if one of us leaves and I think that should be you since you messed it up in the first place." I said
"Fine, I'll leave but I'm taking Riley with me." Aria said
General POV
Aria went upstairs and packed a suitcase. She told Riley to do the same thing.
"Where are we going mom?" Riley asked
"Jason's apartment, you and I are going to stay there." Aria said
"How long?" Riley asked
"Hopefully for a short time only." Aria said
"Why?" Riley asked
"Your dad wants some separate time from me. I told him I would leave but I was taking you with me." Aria said
Aria had one suitcase full of cloths and her purse. Riley had one suitcase with cloths and her backpack with school things. Aria knew that she could always come back while Ezra was at work to get more things. They left the house in silence. Aria didn't even bother saying goodbye to Lucy. Aria got into her car and Riley got into the backseat of the car. They were on their way to Jasons apartment when Aria broke down in tears. She didn't deserve this and neither did her kids.
In the blink of an eye everything changed when another car sped through a red light and crashed into the drivers side of Arias car. A witness to the crash called 911. Ambulances are on the way but will they be able to save Aria and Riley?
Discussion Questions
What do you think of this chapter and the cliffhanger at the end of the chapter?
What do you think about Jason and Riley bonding?
Will Ezra and Riley be able to bond like father/daughter or will things be different now?
Will Ezria ever be the same again?
Thanks you so much for reading and please review. Reviewing helps me write this story. Also PM me if you would like.
What I would like from you readers is a few other characters that I can use in this story. They can be adults or children of any age. I am planning on using other PLL characters in this story but they will have minor parts compared to Aria and Ezra. Submit your character by either a review or by private message.
I also would like ideas for this story. You can submit those ideas either by a review or private message. I would love it if my readers can help me write the story along the way.
Also the title might be changed. So any title ideas can be submitted in a review or by private message.