Hanna, Spencer and Emily came running into the room. I put the picture face down on the table beside me. Ezra released my hand from his grasp and I hugged all of them. They then slowly backed away from me when they saw that their high school English teacher was there with me. I don't think Spencer cared as much about that as the other girls, as she immediately began questioning me about my wellbeing.

"What the hell happened?! Are you okay? What happened to your face? Why are you bleeding? Aria, I-" Spencer said until I cut her off. Hanna began to snicker as she sat down. Spencer gave her the famous Hastings death glare and she immediately stopped laughing.

"Well, first I was hit by a car. Next, I woke up here." I said, pointing to the bed in which I lay. "And before you came here, Byron slapped me. Any more questions?" As I finished talking, my friends all became wide-eyed and their jaws all dropped.

"Byron as in your dad? Why would he do that?" Emily asked.

"I'll get there." I replied, squeezing her hand. She hugged me again and sat down.

"Do they know who hit you? With the car?" Hanna asked.

"They might not have earlier, but I knew who it was as soon as I woke up." I replied.

"Was it 'A'?" Emily asked. Spencer had definitely been rubbing off on her, as Emily was usually the observer. That meaning that she never usually asked that many questions. I still loved all my friends the same, though.

"No." I replied, looking down at my hands. "At least, I don't think so. If I know him well enough, he doesn't have nearly enough skill to be what we know 'A' is."

"Well, who the heck is it?!" Hanna asked. "I mean, it's not like it could possibly be...oh my God..." When I heard her trail off like that, I knew that she had begun to put the pieces together.

"Han, who was it?" Emily asked a now hyperventilating Hanna who was now remembering all those times that she had greeted my father when she came over or waved to him in town.

"Em," I replied for Hanna,"it was my dad."

There was a deafening silence that filled the room, and I think the girls forgot the Ezra was even in the room. Everyone's jaws dropped to the floor (except Ezra's and my own, of course) and my friends just stared at me with a look of astonishment on their faces.

"Why would he do something like that?!" Spencer asked me as she got closer to my bed.

"Spence-" I had to stop to choke back tears. My left arm was hanging off the bed where Ezra sat, and I felt him squeeze my hand. I inhaled weakly and continued. "Spence, he was wearing a black hoodie."

Nobody said anything for a solid minute. The silence that followed my statement was so thick, you couldn't even hear your own thoughts. Finally, I heard Hanna ask me something. I turned my head towards her.

"Did he say anything that could possibly link him to...you-know-who?" Hanna asked, trying not to say 'A', as she knew that it'd upset me. She was correct in thinking that.

"Han, I practically caught him in a confession. He admitted to working for A." I said. I wanted so badly to hold Ezra's hand, but this was awkward enough as it was.

"So, is that why he slapped you? Because you accused him rightly of being who he didn't want you to figure out he was?" As Emily asked this question, I saw Hanna do a slight wave at Ezra. He smiled and waved back.

"Yes." I replied. "He slapped me and was ready to do it again, until my mom stepped in. He threw her against a wall and-" I was crying now, and had to stop talking. I finally got the courage to continue speaking. "And he would've done it again. If he hadn't been stopped."

"Who stopped him? From hurting you again?" Spencer asked. As she finished her question, I think she saw me look at Ezra with a smile. She then began to put the pieces together. Luckily for her, the puzzle was just beginning. Spencer adored puzzles.

"Mr. Fitz?" She asked, backing away slowly. I don't think she did this out of fear, but astonishment. She didn't think that Ezra and I even knew each other outside of school, and us having a secret relationship for the last couple months was out of the question. That is, until this very moment.

"Okay. I'm sorry, Aria, but I have to ask. How long has this been going on?" Hanna asked as she pointed to Ezra and I. I got a bit red in the face, but I understood her need to ask that question. This was a lot to take in, even for me sometimes.

"We met at a bar last summer after Aria came back from Iceland." Ezra replied for me. Thank god. I seriously thought he had gone mute after not speaking for that long.

"That would explain your weird reaction to seeing her in your class." Spencer mumbled from the corner of the room as she was observing our conversation. I had never seen Spencer be this antisocial and introverted. That, however, was very short lived.

"I'm sorry Mr. Fitz, but why didn't you break up with her after figuring out that she was in your class?" Spencer asked as she approached the huddle and raised her voice a bit.

"Trust me, he tried." I replied for Ezra. "I was a stubborn ass." My saying that made Ezra laugh a little and I looked at him and smiled.

"I'm glad she kept on trying at me, though." Ezra said as he grabbed my left hand with his. I knew what he was about ready to do, and I began a two-second mental preparation in my head. "Because if she didn't, this wouldn't have happened and I wouldn't be as happy as I am right now." He moved our linked hands onto the bed where they were visible to the girls. My engagement ring was also quite visible, and it took my friends longer than I had previously expected to realize that.

"Wait..." Spencer began as she turned this thought over and over in her head. Then, I practically saw a lightbulb go off. "Oh my god, you're engaged." Spencer said as she inspected my hand from a distance. The girls all looked at her and then they noticed for themselves. They were all slightly paler than before, but I had kind of expected that.

"Surprise." I said as I looked at them. They all kept their stern faces and I began to lose hope. Then, Hanna cracked a huge smile at us.

"Congratulations, guys. Can I be in the wedding?!" Hanna said as she walked over to hug me. When she had done that, she began to grow excited and had to contain herself from jumping in circles. No matter what the situation, Hanna was always the hopeless romantic. She couldn't get enough of weddings or proposals or even promposals.

"Of course, Hanna." Ezra replied as he smiled at her. She smiled back. Okay. One friend down, two to go. The more okay they are with Ezra and I being engaged, the better they will hopefully take the news of my pregnancy. Hopefully.

"Spencer? Emily?" I asked. Hanna looked at them whilst trying to recreate Spencer's death glare. It didn't work, but it made Spencer laugh.

"Absolutely!" Spencer and Emily replied in absolute unison. That made Hanna laugh at them, and they laughed at themselves. I smiled at them and then at Ezra, who managed to sneak a kiss while the girls were having a laughing fit. I smirked at him and kissed him back. I don't think he was expecting me to do that, so he hesitated, as he had never kissed me with my friends in the room.

"Okay." I began. Ezra looked at me with anticipation in his eyes. He did, however, manage to smile. "There is one more thing that you should know about." I said as I asked Ezra for the picture. He smiled and handed it to me. I handed it to the girls and the began to look at it. As they were inspecting it, Ezra laid his hand on my stomach. I smiled and kissed him. I think Emily was the first to figure out what the picture meant, as she immediately handed it over to Spencer and covered her mouth with her hand. Hanna realized the meaning of the photograph next, and walked over to my bed, where she saw Ezra's hand on my stomach.

"Oh my god..." Hanna said as she looked at me. She was the first of the girls to speak, which surprised me in itself. "You're pregnant?" She asked softly as Emily approached me.

"Surprise." Ezra said before he kissed me again. Spencer heard this and set the picture down on a table near the door.

"How far along are you?" Hanna asked as she looked at the picture again.

"Almost three months." I replied.

"Does your mom know?" Spencer asked. Then, she realized that she came off as harsh, and quickly apologized. "And congratulations, by the way." She added, cracking a smile.

"If she did," I began,"I wouldn't be alive to tell you. And thank you, Spence."

"If I were you, I'd wait to tell her. I mean, you did almost die in a car crash." Hanna said.

"HANNA!" Emily and Spencer said in unison as they looked in horror at Hanna, who just rolled her eyes per usual.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, Aria. Congratulations on the baby." She said slowly, as she was still trying to get used to my pregnancy and my engagement to my English teacher. I don't blame her, though. This is a lot to take in all at once. Emily handed me my picture and I set it down on the table.

"Thanks, Han." I replied, smiling. I loved these girls. Sometimes I wish Ali was still here, but she'd be the first person to tell everyone at Rosewood High. Just then, Emily's phone beeped. She looked at it and sighed.

"It's my mom. I have to go, but I'll visit you at home tomorrow. Congratulations, guys." Emily said as she got up and walked out the door. She waited in the hallway for the girls as they said goodbye to me and Ezra, as Mrs. Fields was their ride as well. I hugged all of them and waved. Then, Ezra and I were alone again.

"That went significantly better than I thought it would." I said as I kissed him. He kissed me back. The aura of the room had changed since our confessions from a melancholy and gloomy one to a more cheery and light feeling. It also made smiling and breathing easier, as we both felt like at that moment in time, we had nothing to fear.

"I told you that they'd understand." I told him.

"Aria, I love you so much." He said, holding my hand. He then took our linked hands and set them on my belly.

"And I love you, too." He added as he kissed my stomach. I knew that the road was going to be rocky and the path wasn't going to be straight, but with Ezra by my side, I felt like I could finally live happily ever after with my perfect family.

However, I also knew that 'A' was going to do anything in his or her power to prevent my happiness. No matter what it took.