02/11/2012

Hello kids! I haven't updated this story in centuries and to be honest, I hadn't planned on doing so. But at the request of Sarale, I shall. This one's for you, Sara!

The next morning was as gloomy as the last. Though the storm had left, it left remnants in the form of fallen branches and streets tinted with mud. Ezra, who hadn't slept a wink, had watched the progression of the storm through the window of the room he slept in with Aria. His student. No matter how hard he had tried, he could not stop thinking about the implications of his actions, which essentially amounted to breaking his promise to Jackie, his conniving ex. If she somehow found out about this, Aria would be ruined. And so, he came to a decision to leave by dawn unnoticed. This would prove much less difficult than he anticipated because in his arms, Aria felt the safest she had in ages and hence, slept like she was dead to the world. After gathering his dry clothes from the railing on which their host had hung them, he knocked softly on the man's door.

"I'm in the kitchen." A distant voice replied.

Ezra made his way downstairs, surprised to see the man up already. He looked up from his paper, taking a sip of coffee and motioning Ezra to sit down beside him.

Shaking his head, Ezra quickly walked over to collect his shoes from the hall and returned. "I'm afraid I've got to go. I have work in a couple hours and I've yet to take a shower." Ezra explained, sitting to tie his laces.

"Well, I've got a shower here. And I feel offended that you think I'd let you leave on an empty stomach, young man." The man replied gruffly.

Ezra smiled. "Thank you for your generous offer but I've really got to go. I don't have any suitable clothes here. And…I've got a cat to feed." The last part was an obvious lie, but Ezra was desperate to leave now. Before she woke up.

The man peered at him and finally nodded. "Alright. But some advice: If I were you, I'd take the day off. You don't look in any condition to work."

"I'll be fine." He ensured him, standing up. "I truly appreciate your hospitality. My…friend, is still asleep but I'm sure she will appreciate some breakfast. Tell her to take the day off, would you? Also…" He hesitated. "If she asks about me, could you maybe tell her that I was never here? That she came here all on her own and you took her in for the night?"

The man gave Ezra a questioning look, unsure of what to make of what he was being told.

"Please?" Ezra begged.

The man took in the pleading look in his eyes and nodded with a sigh. He knew there was more to the story but told himself it wasn't his place to pry.

"As long as you feed that cat." He answered with a smile.

Ezra laughed nervously and left with a wave, making a mental note to send the kind man a Thank You gift.

As the bell rang for first period, Ezra looked around his classroom. He breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed that Aria's seat remained unoccupied. The longer he had before he had to face her, the better. His behavior was pathetic, trying to hide from her like this and he knew that. But he couldn't help it.

"Good morning, everyone. I apologize for my disheveled state." He said, glancing at his slightly wrinkly shirt.

"Fun night, Mr. Fitz?" Noel Kahn called out, winking as the class snickered.

"Quite fun, Noel. Quite possibly more fun than you'll ever have." Ezra heard himself responding. The class laughed at his unexpected response while their ashamed teacher reprimanded himself.

Clearing his throat, he attempted to veer away from the conversation. "Alright, we'd better get started. I understand that a lot of you were unable to complete the assignment last night, on account of the storm. Taking that into consideration, I've decided to give you all an extension…to the end of class. You may begin now."

Groans took the place of cheers as the kids took out unfinished homework and began to work. Ezra hated being one of those teachers who simply dedicated entire periods to independent work as opposed to teaching and discussing. However, he really hadn't a choice this time around. The truth was, he didn't have a lesson plan for today.

Moments later, he heard footsteps leading into the room. He was almost afraid to look up, for he knew exactly who it was. It wasn't until he saw a shadow cast on his desk that he forced himself to look up.

"Hi." Aria said. Her face was unreadable.

"Hello, Aria. Are you…are you here to give me a late slip?" Ezra asked, twiddling his thumbs.

"I did. Although they gave me detention." She passed him the note, yet still remained standing there.

"The rest of the class is uh…working on the assignment from yesterday. I've given everyone an extension."

"Aren't you going to ask me why I'm late? Or do you already know?" Aria asked him, searching his eyes.

"I can't think what you mean." He replied, shaking his head. "As for why you're late, we can discuss that at another time. You had better get started on that assignment." He motioned to her desk.

"Alright. I suppose I can tell you in detention." She appraised him, adding quietly, "Or you can tell me."

Detention. Ezra groaned inwardly as he realized he'd be presiding over detention today. Hearing a knock on his door, Ezra got up to answer it. He felt a chill pass through his body as he saw a steely-faced Jackie through its window. Judging from her expression, she had seen Aria at his desk. But surely she wouldn't hold this against him? He was Aria's teacher after all, they had to have some communication. Though knowing how jealous Jackie could be, told him she would. He recalled one instance during their dating days when he'd merely glanced at another woman and Jackie had snapped at him.

He opened the door for her and surprisingly enough, didn't receive a blow in the face.

"I need to talk to you, Ezra. Now." He looked back at his class, skipping over the one student he knew was sure to be staring at them. Closing the door behind them, Ezra ushered her into the hall.

"What is it, Jackie? I'm in the middle of class." He snapped.

"No need to be so hostile, my God. I didn't even yell at you for breaking the rules just now, did I? It's pathetic, really. How you can't seem to keep yourself away from her."

Ezra sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Jackie, she's my student. What do you expect me to do?"

"Nevermind that. I'm pregnant."

Ezra's ears nearly exploded at her calm words. Pregnant? But, they hadn't been intimate in years. Suddenly, it dawned on him.

"Whose baby is it?"

"Well, that's just the thing. We're going to tell everyone it's your baby." Jackie replied, smiling as she straightened his tie.

"We will do no such thing!" He spat, brushing her hands away from his body.

"We will. Or else your little girl toy is finished." She said, enunciating each word.

Yet, this time Ezra remained poised. "So, does Principal Cole know about this baby?"

Jackie looked at him with a stunned expression.

"What? Why…why would he know?" She cleared her throat. "That's a preposterous suggestion, Mr. Fitz. One that could get you into a lot of trouble." She warned.

"Really?" He asked, giving her a cool smile. "Because that's not the way I see it. You see, the way I see it, it could get him into a lot of trouble. Enough trouble, that he would go through great lengths to ensure your false accusations about Aria and I, are unheard so as to avoid this trouble from coming to light."

"Ezra, if you tell him, he will ensure that this child is never born. I have known him long enough to know that is what would happen. You would kill a potential baby to save your girlfriend from shame?" Her accusatory tone was completely overdone, but she struck a chord all the same. Ezra realized he was in a tight bind.

"Listen," She took his hand. "If you don't pretend to be the father, he'll know that it's his. And then this baby is over. Gone."

Breaking away, he shook his head in irritation. "Stop talking like that, will you?" He paced the hallway, and realized there was no way around it. No way to save both Aria and the baby. Until of course, a thought occurred to him.

"How do I know that you're actually pregnant? I mean, you could be fabricating this whole thing!" He cried, almost relieved as he realized he could very well be right. "I certainly wouldn't put it past you."

Jackie rummaged through her purse and pulled out the pregnancy test she had taken. "Do you see that? Positive. And if you don't believe me, I have a dozen more in here. All positive. We can even go to the washroom right now and check again, if you makes you happy. But I can assure you, it will always be positive."

Ezra closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead. He knew she wasn't lying.

"Fine." Recognizing how very hopeless he was, he finally gave in.

He turned his back on her and made his way into his classroom, only to find that she had followed him in.

The class looked up as she coughed deliberately.

"We just wanted to announce to you all-"

"Ms. Molina, what are you-" Ezra began, fearing the worst.

And then his worst fears came true before he could stop her.

"that Mr. Fitz and I are pregnant!" She lovingly placed a frozen Ezra's hand on her tummy.

Ezra's students looked at each other in confusion before someone began clapping and everyone else joined in. Everyone except Aria.

"I'll see you later, babe." Jackie kissed Ezra's cheek and leaned in to whisper. "You'll remember to stay away from her next time." With that, she left the class to their dying applause.

He heard the scraping of a chair and saw Aria rush out of the room with her hands on her stomach. Spencer got up worriedly. "I'll go see what's wrong with her. Congratulations, Mr. Fitz."

Ezra nodded, hoping no one could read through him. The class hadn't noticed Aria's exit as everyone had begun socializing. Thankfully, he was saved by the bell. He ensured that Hanna and Emily grabbed their friends' belongings on the way out, because he really couldn't face Aria coming back now. Not when he was in the state he was in. He needed time to recollect himself and think about what he would tell her. By the final bell indicating detention period, he had made up his mind.

As each student strolled in, he told them that he would have to reschedule detention due to a family emergency. Just as he anticipated, Aria was the last to arrive. Walking into the room, she noticed it was empty and made for the door.

"Aria, wait! Please." He ran after her, grabbing her arm lightly. She stopped just before the door but didn't turn around.

"I sent them all away. So I could talk to you." Ezra told her back, taking a deep breath. "I have a lot of explaining to do, and I understand that you really don't want to see me right now-" He lowered his voice as Ms. Welsch walked by. "But I can't bear the idea of you hating me. And I need to make things right."

"I don't see any way that you could make this right." She told him, her voice trembling.

"Aria, please give me a chance. I promise you will change your mind."

She inhaled slowly and bit her lip, still with her back towards him.

"Alright. Only because I don't believe what that man told me." She turned to face him. "The one whose house we stayed at." He didn't reply. She knew that he knew what she was talking about. "He told me that I dreamt that you'd saved me and that we'd stayed at his house together. That you weren't even there. But I don't believe him, and if you saved my life last night like I think you did, then I owe you this."

Ezra didn't try to deny any of it. He looked around the hallways before whispering in her ear.

"It's not safe to talk here. I'll take my car a block away from the school. Can you meet me on Downton Boulevard?"

She nodded and he walked out to his car, driving to Downton. Within five minutes, a breathless Aria hopped in beside him.

Ezra knew Jackie was at an appointment, so he wasn't really worried about anyone seeing Aria get in. But he asked her anyways, as they drove further away from the school.

"Did anyone see you?"

Aria shook her head. "I had on a wig." She gestured to her hand, where lo and behold, a blond wig lay. For the first time that day, Ezra felt like laughing.

"If it's a long story, Ezra, you'd better start now." She told him in a serious tone, buckling herself in.

And so, Ezra told her everything. From his relationship to Jackie to the night of the storm, to his forced relationship with Jackie before finishing off with the baby that did not belong to him. Aria remained silent throughout. When he was done, she still remained silent.

"Can you please say something Aria?"

"I'm sorry, I just…this is a lot to take in. But I think you need to stop the car." Ezra's heart sank but he did as he was told. He unlocked her door, expecting her to get out. To his dismay, she leaned in and kissed him hard on the lips. Soon enough, he got over his dismay and kissed her back. In this very moment, Jackie and the law could go to hell. He was kissing the woman he loved.

Aria was the first to break away from the kiss, much to Ezra's disappointment.

She smiled at him caressing his hair as tears took over her eyes. "Thank you for loving me, Ezra."

He wiped her eyes with a sad smile.

Her smile grew bigger. "I know you think that this is the end, but it's not. I refuse to let her ruin this. And that baby has a right to know its real father. So, I have a solution for both." She laughed gaily.

"You didn't think of this because you're a guy, but we don't have to tell Principal Cole about his illegitimate baby. We can tell his wife. Or at least, you can."

Ezra raised his eyebrow. "What will that accomplish besides ending their marriage?"

"Well, I think it's only right that she knows what Jackie is claiming. She'll probably get him to do a paternity test and it'll prove he's the father. But she won't divorce him because here in Rosewood, no one gets divorced. These families live for reputation, Ezra. She will get him to deal with the baby, don't you worry. She is a mother herself. He'll likely pay Jackie to raise the baby on her own and more importantly for him, move to another school so that there is no sudden revelation."

Ezra simply looked at her in awe. "You are genius."

Aria kissed him. "I think you should do it now. The sooner the better. Before Jackie comes up with another baby."

Ezra laughed. "I guess I have to do this alone, huh?"

"Well, unless you want Mrs. Cole to realize you're dating your student." Aria replied with a smile.

Ezra nodded with a smile. "You're right."

He knew where the principal lived and that he was definitely still at school. After driving Aria to her empty house, he went on his way to meet with Mrs. Cole.