'Ezra what do I have to do?' Aria asked worried. She was in Ezra's apartment. Leaning her elbows on the kitchen counter, her face covered in her hands. Ezra was standing next to her. He grabbed her hand. Aria looked in his eyes, begging for an answer which she knew he couldn't give to her. 'Aria.. maybe you should go to the police..' he said genuinely. Aria sighed. 'But what if A is going to torture them or worse if I do that?' she said worried, tearing up again. 'That's not going to happen' Ezra said, trying to comfort her. 'Ezra, I don't want to be responsible for my friends' death..' Aria was crying. Ezra was tearing up, he couldn't stand Aria crying, nor what she was crying about. He hugged her and held her tight, she could feel his heartbeat. 'You won't be..' he said. A tear was rolling down his face. Aria looked up to him; 'How can you be so sure?' she asked. Ezra looked into her hazel eyes, he quickly wiped his tear away. He cupped her face in his hands 'I am not' and he pressed his lips against hers. For a second Aria dared to think that it was all going to be okay and -A couldn't hurt her with Ezra protecting her. But she knew damn well that if -A couldn't hurt her, -A would hurt her loved ones. Her phone bleeped. A shock went through her body. From her toes to her head. Her eyes widened. Ezra broke the kiss. He looked at her frightened. Aria slowly got her phone out of her pocket and looked at her screen.
Say my name, and your friends is where I'll aim. -A
Aria's eyes widened, her knees were trembling. 'I.. I need to sit down for a second' she said and she walked towards the couch. Ezra kept standing at his kitchen counter. He felt horrible, because this person was threatening his girlfriend and there was nothing he could do about it. At the same time he knew he could help Aria, he couldn't stop this person but he could help Aria. He was smart, and this person didn't know that. 'Aria, Spencer's parents are out of the country right?' he asked. Aria nodded. 'yeah why?' 'you can text their moms and your mom that you are at spencer's and sleeping over, and that you'll all get ready for the wedding there. in the mean time we could try to contact this A, ask them what he/she wants.. and save your friends' he said carefully. Aria nodded. She couldn't think clearly so it was a pleasure someone was doing it for her. She looked at him and gave him a little smile. 'let's do it' she said.
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'Ezra it is not working..' Aria said, like she was already defeated. and maybe she was. They had been trying to reach out to -A, texting Emily's, Hanna's and Spencer's phone with messages asking what they wanted and that Aria was determined to get her friends back. The last one wasn't a lie. They even tried just randomly shouting: '-A ARE YOU THERE? I WANT TO TALK' because -A was always watching. but nobody answered, not even a single text message. 'Aria, don't give up, that's what this person wants.' Ezra said. He knew he could only help her by supporting everything she did right now. 'I thought that was what your plan was, giving in to this person' Aria said, looking down at the floor. Ezra sighed. If he only knew who it could be.. 'Aria, did you and your friends ever.. get really close to who this person is?' he asked carefully. Aria looked up to him. 'No, we uhm, had our suspicions obviously but we were never really certain.' she answered. Ezra nodded. He looked at her pink lips, he wanted to kiss them so badly, but he knew the timing wasn't right. They needed to stay focused. Aria, who do you think it is?' he asked with a concerned parent look on his face. Aria felt she was tired. 'Let's not do this right now' she said, and she walked towards the bathroom. Ezra grabbed her arm, turned her around and kissed her passionately. Aria kissed him back. Ezra was already unbuttoning his shirt when Aria pulled away. 'Let's not do this right now' she said. and she walked towards the bathroom to get ready for bed.
