It hadn't taken Ezra long to lock the door, and move towards his girlfriend as she sat helplessly on the floor holding her cheek.
"Let me see it.." Ezra began, trying to get Aria to look at him. She wouldn't. She just sat with her back to him, a hand placed on her cheek.
She was purposely doing it, she didn't want Ezra's pity right now. With a small sniffle, Aria began to walk towards the bed.
"You know, I'm really tired. I think I'm going to go to bed. Night." She said simply, but her tone of voice told Ezra that she was only seconds away from crumbling and completely breaking down. Ezra had been expecting her to crack for weeks, this was the final straw.
"Aria..."
"Goodnight." Ezra let out a sigh, opening the freezer to pull out an ice pack, and made his way in her direction, climbing onto the bed to sit beside her. It took a few tries, but he managed to turn her to face him, a small sigh emitting through his lips as he saw her cheek. It looked terrible.
The usual rosy colouring had gone, and was replaced with a dark shade of purple.
Ezra whispered his words, setting the ice pack beside him. "I'm sure your Dad'll he back in a moment, apologising for what he did." Both knew that this wouldn't happen, but he hated seeing Aria like this. It killed him on the inside and out.
Aria's bottom lip began to quiver, a sure sign that the tears were bound to flow, but she managed to hold then in. "Hey..." He whispered soothingly, as he ran a hand along her cheek, causing Aria to let out a small yelp at the pain. He instantly pulled his hand away as the noise slipped through her lips, muttering out continuous apologies.
"Why did he do it?" Aria whimpered under her breath, feeling her cheek beginning to throb. She couldn't believe how much it stung, the constant pain stopping her from being able to concentrate on anything. Luckily, she managed to hold in her tears, not wanting to come off as weak.
But then, her Dad had actually hit her... Whacked her straight across the face and knocked her down to the floor. Left her cheek feeling the size of the balloon. She didn't regret standing in the way of Ezra, that's for sure. More damage could've been done if Ezra would've gone for Byron. Shots would've been fired, and Ezra might not have been here right now.
"I'm sorry, I should've pushed you out of the way, I shouldn't have let you stand in the way of me." He brushed the small locks of hair from her face, careful not to touch her cheek in case he had to hear her yelp again. He couldn't.
"I wasn't going to stand there and let him hurt you. He had a gun, Ezra." The memory of it all came rushing back, and she turned on her side again, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm going to take a nap, can you turn off the light?" Ezra stared at Aria for a moment, not wanting to push her too far at this point. She was too weak and vulnerable. So instead he nodded, switching off the lights before climbing back towards the bed and taking his seat beside her again.

-
It took at least an hour, but Aria managed to drop off, her eyes feeling heavy from the tears that were held in. Ezra however refused to sleep, instead running his fingertips through her hair in a soothing manner. Whenever he would accidentally touch her cheek, Aria would stir slightly, wincing in her sleep. It gave him time to think, he supposed.
The reason Aria had gotten hurt was because of Ezra, because she tried to protect him.
Maybe a few days away from Ezra would help her. Maybe she could go and stay with Ella, just for a little while whilst Ezra uncovered what the heck was going on. It would keep Aria occupied, to see her family again.
But then, if Aria wouldn't part from Ezra, they could always go and stay at one of Ezra's mothers houses for a day or two. What was the harm in that?
It was then that Ezra heard the faint sniffles coming from his girlfriend as she turned and tossed in her sleep. He didn't say anything, he just grasped at her chin, tilting it up to face him as he tried to get her attention. She didn't wake up, instead let out small cries every few seconds, struggling to catch her breath as she sprung up, almost head-butting Ezra straight in the face, he managed to pull back just in time.
Aria began hyperventilating then, acting completely oblivious to the fact that Ezra was right in front of her, trying to hold down her hands as they wafted in the air.
"Aria."
Nothing happened, she just continued to try and suck in breaths.
In Aria's head, this couldn't of been anyway. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think straight at all. She could barely remember her dream, but what she did remember had panicked her.
Ezra wasn't with her, she was alone and left with Byron.
That was enough to terrify her for life.
"ARIA." He snapped, yelling at his girlfriend to get his attention. The moment her vision came into vision, she jumped at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. He ignored the pain of her cheek, squeezing his shirt between her fingers as tightly as possible. Ezra said nothing, only wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
"Don't you ever leave me, don't you dare." Aria said harshly, her grip tightening around him.
"I'm not going anywhere.." Ezra had barely got his words out, before Aria replied.
"/Don't./"
Ezra just nodded, staying silent before he asked Aria a question that he knew wouldn't go down well.
"I think we should go stay with my mother, just for a day or two." To Ezra's surprise, Aria nodded once, pulling back to glance up at him. "Let me put some ice on that cheek, the swelling will go down."
"Okay." Aria said in a soft tone, brushing the tears delicately from beneath her eyes. "Okay let's go."