Here's a quick one-shot that's been in my head for the entire day yesterday and because it's sort of short, I decided I'd put away a couple of hours to typing it up. Note that Ezra hadn't told Aria the extent of his relationship with Alison, he's only told her that they knew each other. Please read and review!
Seeing her petite and shimmery silhouette stationed upon the edge of the protracted pier made Ezra Fitz hysterically nervous. Ahead of her was a captivating sight; the sunset descended from the multicolored skies as it broke the sea, transitioning from a subtle aqua to a piercing fuchsia. Ironically, the clouds made a half-heart, the other half fragmented and performing a dance that no one aside from Mother Nature herself could interpret. It was a sight to see.
However, he couldn't say that the painted image of dusk resembled such pulchritude quite like Aria Montgomery.
Ezra's neck grew taut. His breathing, although shallow, accelerated immensely and caused him to grow marginally lightheaded. Never had his pulse throbbed so hard; he felt as though his heart was going to materialize to the outside and indisputably swallow him whole. The mere aura of her presence influenced such an amount of emotion to outwardly concoct. She had that effect on him.
He knew Aria would be there, in their spot. It was a location they found in the outskirts of Rosewood just a while after A's return as an escape, a decampment where they could get away from chaotic life they bared. Within a weeks period of the initiation of their venue, it was literally all he could think about— in his class, at home, with and without Aria.
He looked over his shoulder, seeing his car parked in the manicured fields. Besides the granular road a quarter of a mile away, there wasn't a concreted area in sight, therefore the only place he was able to maneuver his car at. He could go back now. He could. She hadn't seen him yet. He could slip away and all the formation of positive thoughts he had been hammering into his thick skull to come and talk to the girl could be entirely avoided.
No. He wasn't going to abandon her. So much thought has gone into what he wanted to say to her. He was on the verge of insomnia, with only a maximum of three hours of sleep per day.
Concealing the book was his greatest mistake, howbeit the second mistake he made by keeping the extent of his admiration for Alison hidden was close enough on the pole to top that. What Aria didn't understand was that his feelings for Alison were absent. To his dismay, the bygones of their relationship had accumulated from the pits of the earth and traveled to the ears of none other than Aria herself.
If Alison hadn't been so conniving and power-hungry to have the other girls twisted around her finger, none of this would have happened. He wouldn't have opened his apartment door to see the shivering, dripping figure of Aria. He wouldn't have heard the words he cringe at, the ones that verified she knew every detail about his connection with Ali. And most importantly, he wouldn't have caught that sentence:
"I don't think we should see each other anymore. For good."
There was a saying Ezra heard of, a type of karma to an extent. He couldn't pinpoint the words precisely, but it had something to do with knowing that two people loved each other so much that no matter the amount of times they separated paths, the ends of the road would always lead back to each other. He had always based their relationship on that saying. They made it through such arduous times with the challenges of the teacher and student basis, Aria's parents, outside forces and their attempts to take over the love, and so on.
Now, as he stood there with a high percentage of passing out hysterically, he hadn't a clue how their destiny would go. He began to doubt the saying, not that he'd ever doubt the love he had for her. His numerous mistakes led to this breaking point, hence his neurotic behavior.
He took a step forward and observed the stillness of his shoes against the wooden pier. He decided it was for the best, whether he'd frighten her or not. He looked away from the ground and focused his eyes squarely on the silhouette of Aria. Her attention was now averted from the masterpiece of dusk. Her back was hunched forward and it appeared as if she had her face buried in her hands.
With his heart pounding like never before, Ezra swallowed his jitters and took his last steps to the end of the pier, only a foot away from her small frame. Just as he speculated, she was leaned over. Her legs dangled on the edge, swinging around with distance from her and the calm sea underneath. She didn't seem at peace with herself and it was when she turned her head to acknowledge his presence that Ezra saw the tears on the side of her face that the bursting sunset shone on.
"What are you doing here, E-Ezra?" she stammered within her heavy sob. His heart shattered into an abundance of small pieces and were thrown into the water. He absolutely despised it when he saw her so hurt that she had to shed tears. He wanted to lean over and embrace her as a solution to exterminate her worries. Per contra, he was well aware that it would be a step in the wrong direction.
"I came here for the same reason as you. To think." The falsity of his lie was to cover his bases. He didn't want her knowing he came to their spot for the sole reason of finding her. "May I join you?"
Aria said nothing as she turned her head and looked ahead at the sparkling water, wiping her tear stained cheeks in the process. Taking that as a satisfying indication, he sat next to her. Keeping in mind that she was just as upset with him as she was merely ten minutes ago, he kept his seating distance farther than he would have liked.
It was a start, and a good one at that. She didn't storm off or tell him to leave or anything vulgar. Sitting with nothing albeit the sound of the harmonious waves calmed his panic-striken nerves.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" Aria spoke aloud, interjecting the silence amongst the two. Ezra jerked his head to the right, sighting her distressed eyes. Her voice almost cracked midway.
"Because I'm an idiot," Ezra wheezed with a nod of the head. "I actually thought that you would be mad at me and I didn't want you hating me and..."
He trailed off in hopes that she'd interpose his pitiful apology speech. She persevered her stringent stare, discharging sharp daggers with her hazel-green eyes which soon produced a new batch of tears. Boy, she was vexed. To know that Ezra was the one that established such harsh and negative emotion upon her caused him to feel pathetic. He was pathetic.
Bringing his tongue out from between the midpoint of his teeth, he whispered, "I didn't want you hating me. Please don't be mad. What I had with Alison was a short infatuation. She doesn't hold a candle to what we have— had."
Aria's eyebrows met. It appeared to be news to her. "Flying her out of the state, being intimate in bed, writing a book about her; tell me how in the world I'm supposed to believe that she doesn't come close to our relationship."
It was Ezra's turn to be blown away. "Is that what she told you?"
Aria's piqued expression wavered. She ran over his entire figure from the knotted mess of dark hair all the way down to the welts of his slip-on dress shoes before settling for his eyes. "It's the truth, isn't it?"
The scoff that Ezra held in had bellowed out. History struck again. Alison was always one to embellish and amplify all of her tales. If she went to Florida to have smoothies with her aunt, in Alison's mind, it meant to go to Paris and have champagne with the country's ambassador. It was a trait that captivated him to Ali, but now, he truly wish he hadn't looked her way at that pub. On the other hand, if he hadn't met the blonde, he would have never met Aria. And he didn't care if he had to go through five different Alison's to reach the love of his life— he'd do it without hesitation.
"It's far from it," Ezra updated. "We never flew out of the state, we've never gone further than a few kisses and a make-out session, and I can't say I regret writing that crime book because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet you. I would have roamed this earth without a chance of knowing who Aria Montgomery was and how she'd change my life for the better."
What did Alison get out of lying? Ezra wanted to know why she had to go to an extent to shoot down the girl who was helping her from this anonymous, masked figure that attacked her in her own home not one month ago. Aria was nothing but a precious jewel and for Ali to bring a single to her tear to her eye, let alone a mass of them, was heartbreaking. It unveiled just how conspiring she was. She wasn't to be trusted.
If Ezra hadn't known any better, he would have thought Aria was smirking. He would have thought his eyes were undoubtedly playing tricks on him, had Aria not said a stunningly comedic phrase,
"You're so theatrical."
A heavy weight lifted off Ezra's shoulders as Aria's smirk grew into a reserved grin, giving him the implication that he could laugh along. What she said wasn't a lie. He was a bit of a drama king, but only when it came to his extreme love and admiration for her.
"So, do you believe me?" Ezra asked with a much lighter tone, but tentative nonetheless. His racing heartbeat lessened, but his eyes screamed 'forgive me.' Even if he wasn't pardoned from his mistake, he just hoped that she would settle as pier-buddies and spend time with their eyes on the setting sunset and basking in a silent ambiance as the water crashed beneath them.
"Would this answer your question?" Aria countered. For a moment, Ezra became confused. Although, when the brunette scooted forward and located her hand against the side of his cheek, he received the memo. He shuddered under her gentle touch. Before his eyes gradually shut, he brought his arm around her waist as a hold.
He felt like like it was the first time all over again when they kissed. His hands grew clammy and every shift they made ignited a sensation to erupt, causing him to shiver in between breaths. The kiss wasn't long, but it was beyond satisfying.
As Aria pulled away and gave him an affectionate look, she leaned her head on his shoulder and stared at the sky. The sun was present no more, only the residuals of the painted maroon and amber sky.
He was happy again. They were happy again. She accepted what he had to offer, and although he would have scurried to the ends of the earth for her, she found it in her heart to take him back.
What was a relationship without a couple of bumps in the road? They always rode it out and Ezra was committed to riding it out until the very end of that road, where the golden gates would await them to serve them happiness. There much more to come, and as long as she was up for it, he was as well.