Chapter 20: Final Chapter

Aria POV

The sound of buzzing made Aria take in a deep breath and calm her nerves. Why was she here? What did she hope to gain by coming here? The door in front of her opened. Blue eyes gazed at her from the doorway. The officer pushed him inside and made him sit in the chair on the opposite side of the table than Aria. The officer backed off but didn't leave the room. Aria stared into the deep blue eyes.

"I didn't think you'd talk to me," he whispered after a few moments. Aria shrugged.

"You asked me to come," she stated back. She waited for him to speak. He looked down at the table and sighed in defeat.

"Aria, I-I'm sorry. I know that's not enough but I hope it's a start."

"What do you want from me, Clark?" Aria interrupted. Clark looked up at her and sighed. Aria shook her head. "You're not at all who I thought you were. The police told me about your past. All the things you have done."

Clark leaned forward and put his cuffed hands on the table. He looked into her eyes pleadingly, "That's not who I am anymore!"

"You kidnapped me! How is that not the same?" Aria questioned incredulously.

"That's all I did, though! I kidnapped you and took the pictures. That's it. I had no part in the rest of it." Aria stared at him for a while. Clark's eyes never wavered from hers.

"When I ended up in the hospital the first time…Did-Did you put me in there? Did you kidnap me?" Aria whispered.

Clark nodded. " Yeah, I did. You hit your head on the crowbar in the trunk of my car. When I opened the trunk, I saw the blood on the crowbar and then the wound on your head and I panicked. I never wanted to harm you."

Aria bit her lip to hide the pain that still loomed in her heart. "Was it all a lie? The way you said you felt about me? I slept with you!" Tears slid down her cheeks silently.

Clark shook his head quickly. "No! I didn't lie about my feelings. Look, Maria and I knew each other from…" Clark trailed off.

"From the mental institution?" Aria finished for him. Clark's eyes went wide. "I told you, the police told me all about your past. You killed your father. You bludgeoned him to death. You were believed to have brief psychotic disorder. What is that anyway?"

Clark licked his lips and looked at his hands. "I had a sudden break, I guess. My father came home and I don't remember what he did but it pissed me off. I…snapped. I don't remember killing him. All I remember was my mother walking in and I was covered in his blood. The disorder is brief hence the name. My insanity only lasted a day."

"Whose idea was it to break out of the institution?" Aria mumbled after a few silent moments.

"Maria's. She met that guy, Nathan, online. We were allowed to have connections to the outside world through the internet. Anyway, she met him online and the fell in love. She used to tell me about him but she never gave me his name. I didn't know his name until my attorney told me."

Aria nodded. "When was she raped?"

Clark furrowed his brow. "She wasn't raped." Suddenly, realization donned on him. "The baby is mine," he informed her. Aria's eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped. Clark sighed, "Look, when you're locked away in a mental asylum, it can get lonely. You get comfort wherever you can. I got my comfort from Maria." Clark shrugged. Aria shook her head and let out a breath.

Aria reached up and lightly touched the scars that were on her face. "If I knew he was going to hurt you like that, I never would have done it." Clark motioned to her scars. Aria looked away from him.

"Why did you call me here? It's been a month since that…incident. Why now?" Aria asked.

"I wanted to see you. I wanted to contact you sooner but my lawyer advised me not to." Aria nodded. Clark opened his mouth slightly. "I'm going to plead guilty. I need help."

Aria furrowed her brow. "You're not going to get the help you need in a prison. You need to plead not guilty due to insanity."

Clark smiled softly and tilted his head. "Why do you care?"

Aria looked at the table. "People make mistakes. It's going to take me a while to forgive you but I'm going to try." Clark smiled. "One more thing, my mother's accident…"

"Maria got impatient with me. She wanted me to kidnap you sooner but I couldn't bring myself to do it. She thought hurting your mother would somehow get me to do it." Clark shrugged. "She's crazy."

Aria nodded. "I should go." She stood up and turned around to walk out.

"Aria?" Clark called. She turned around and raised her eyebrows. "Are you and Mr. Fitz…still…you know?" Aria smiled softly and nodded.

"We've been helping each other through this. Plus, his former sister-in-law moved to town so, we've all been dealing with it in our own way, I guess." Clark nodded.

"I'm glad you're okay, Aria," he stated sincerely. Aria nodded.

"Be safe in there, Clark." Clark smiled at her and nodded. He watched as she left him behind.

Ezra POV

Ezra was leaning against his car when she came out. He stood straighter and beamed at her as she walked up to him. She stopped right in front of him. He peered down at her through his dark sunglasses. Aria reached up and brushed the hair out of her face.

"How did it go?" he asked.

Aria smiled and nodded. "Good. We both got what we needed. Did you end up going in to talk to Nathan?" The smile fell from Ezra's lips quickly.

"Aria…We talked about this." Ezra clenched his jaw. He hadn't spoken to Nathan since that day. There was no way he was going to be able to sit across from him in that small room and be amicable. He wanted to do nothing but strangle the guy.

Aria nodded. "Uncle Ez! Aunt Awia! Hurry up!" Ezra turned to the backseat of his car. Aria smiled down at the little boy. He beamed up at them.

"We're coming, Little Man," Aria said. Ezra turned back to Aria and grinned.

"I was going to tell you tonight but I think now is a good time." Aria tilted her head in wonder. Ezra smiled down at her. "Hollis offered me the job. I start on Monday." Aria smiled up at him.

"That's fantastic!" Aria jumped into his arms. Ezra laughed and held her flush against him and twirled her around. Finally, he sat her down but kept her in his arms.

"I love you," he whispered. Aria beaming smile turned into a genuine one.

"I love you, too," she whispered back. Ezra leaned down and softly pressed his lips to hers.

"Uncle Ez and Aunt Awia, get in the car!" Ezra closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against Aria's. Aria chuckled and pulled away.

"We're telling your parents about us tonight, right?" Ezra asked as he opened her door for her. Aria smiled at him.

"Definitely." She pressed one more kiss to his lips before getting in the vehicle.

A/N: So, that's it(= I figured this would be a perfect way to end this story. I would like to thank everyone for reviewing. Your wonderful reviews really do make me want to keep writing. I already have my next Ezria fic planned out so, I should get started on it soon and then post it on here. Thank you again for reviewing!