"No, nope, no way. What the hell is he doing here?!" Aria almost screamed out. How did Byron even know where they were?
"Will you calm down, just act like you haven't seen him." Ezra ordered, dragging her gaze towards him. "Look at me, okay? Just ignore him."
"Well he isn't here to see your mother, is he?" She said with a scoff, folding her arms over her chest. "Maybe I should do over there..." With that she began walking towards her father, only to be dragged back by Ezra.
"No." He said sternly, pointing a finger at her. "He is not ruining this."
"Then what am I supposed to do? Hide from him for the rest of the day? No, Ezra." This time Ezra was too slow, and Aria was storming in the direction of her Father, fists clenched at her sides.
"Aria, stop." She heard Ezra say from behind her, placing an arm around her waist to whisper in her ear. "There's no point in causing a scene." This stopped Aria. She knew that she wouldn't be able to keep her voice down. This was her chance to yell and scream at her father. Make him feel bad for what he had done. Aria was tired of having to wake up an hour earlier so that she could put four layers of make up on so that no one would see what he had done, whilst trying to make it look like she wasn't wearing any make up at all. Tired of trying to pretend that it hadn't effected her at in the slightest. It had; It had torn her apart inside. Her own father had hit her, and it wasn't an accident. "Dance with me." Ezra continued to speak in whisper, prying her away from Byron. Luckily, he hadn't spotted them yet, and was deep in conversation with Diane. As much as Aria wanted to have it out with Byron, she had to admit it wasn't the best place to do it. She just nodded, spinning in Ezra's arms to face him.
"Okay."
Ezra pulled her towards where the quiet music was being played, placing a hand on her waist to intertwine their other hands. Aria blew out a shaky breath, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You okay?" Ezra said, picking up on Aria's quietness. She just seemed to stare at nothing, not blinking or moving.
"No." Aria admitted, moving her head to rest her cheek on his shoulder. "Not really."
"Do you want to go home?"
She shrugged, not wanting to talk at all.
"Just be quiet, for five minutes." Aria said in a soft tone, burying her face in Ezra's shoulder. Ezra obeyed her request, swaying them both back and forth to the music.

-
Those five minutes turned into a few hours, and even though it was getting dark, barely anyone had left. None had spoken, just stayed in time with the music and swayed along with it, giving each other's hand a reassuring squeeze every now and then.
"Aria, I've been looking everywhere for you!" Diane said enthusiastically, pulling the two apart. "Your father wants to speak to you."
"Not now." Ezra said in harsh tone, not allowing their hands to be parted for a second. "Me and Aria are actually going to head home." Aria stayed silent throughout it all, staying as close to Ezra as she possibly could.
"Byron explained what happened, and I understand why you lost it with him, Aria." Both stared at Diane in complete confused, brows raised. "You know, when she hit him."
"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Aria spat out, ripping her hand from Ezra's to storm towards her father, and the only thing she saw was red.
Ezra tried to stop her, only just managing to catch up as she stopped in front of her father.
"I hit /you?/" She said with a venomous tone, shoving at her fathers chest. "Do you have any idea how much I hate you?"
Byron tried to mask his hurt, emitting a soft sigh.
"Aria, you have to let me explain..." He pleaded, trying to act unphased by her words. "I wasn't myself."
"Spare me the details. You must of been a completely different person for you to hit your daughter in the face."
"Maybe this isn't the best idea, especially out here." Ezra interrupted, settling a hand on Aria's hip, only for her to shrug it off.
"Why don't you mind your own business?" Byron spat, glaring at the former teacher before him. "This has nothing to do with you, so back off." Ezra stayed still, folding his arms across his chest. "I said, go." Byron repeated, shoving at Ezra's chest.
"Stop!" Aria yelled a little too loudly, everyone within a few hundred feet turning around to watch the whole thing. "Leave him alone."
"This is exactly why I should've done what I was going to do. We could've been past this by now." Aria's brows shot up, curious as to what Byron meant.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know /exactly/ what I'm talking about. Gotten rid of him right there and then." They seemed to notice the crowd of people staring then, just as Aria raised her hand to slap her father.
Only, it didn't reach Byron. He managed to grasp Aria's wrist in a tight grip, shaking his head. It's then that Ezra stepped forward, shooting Byron a warning look.
"Byron, let her go. You're causing a scene." Ezra said in a murmured tone, wanting to keep this between them. "Let. Go. Of. Her." He reluctantly let go, after hearing Aria let out a whimper. Ezra managed to push Aria behind him, making sure that she couldn't pass him. "You should go."
"Thanks, but this really isn't any of your business." Byron snapped, his right hand connecting with Ezra's jaw.
Gasps filled the entire place, as Ezra stumbled, before regaining his stance. He launched forward, Aria tugging at him arm.
"Stop." Ezra did as told, moving to walk away from Byron, until he heard him speak again.
"Pervert." With that Ezra spun around, punching Byron in the nose. "Now you're going to leave her alone." And then he was pulling Aria away from the scene, ignoring the prying eyes. "We're going home."
Aria didn't say anything, nodding as she clung tightly to his hand.