You're the One, You Always Have Been

Chapter Fifteen

"Aria... Aria, babe - you need to wake up." These were the first words I heard as my eyelids began to flutter open. Ezra was gently rubbing my forehead with his thumb, staring sweetly into my eyes.

"Hi babe," I said propping myself upright, "what time is it?"

"Six thirty, I woke up a little earlier than usual, because I thought I would make a celebratory breakfast to celebrate my first day at Hollis, new beginnings and all of that," Ezra said grinning widely. He was literally the cutest oh my.

"Oh my gosh, Ezra! You didn't have to, if anything I should have got up earlier to make you breakfast!" I gasped.

"No no, you always do the cooking! Besides, I owe it to you anyway, after the little show you gave me last night," Ezra said with a wink and a goofy grin. All I could do was laugh, thinking about my little strip performance last night and Ezra's reaction to it all was very entertaining!

"Come on then, you better get up because you have to be at school in less than two hours!" Ezra said helping me out of bed.

"Oh, I totally forgot about school! I will message the girls now and ask if one of them can pick me up on their way today," I said whilst grabbing the spare PJs I keep here, "I better get into some clothes too!"

After I got into the PJS, I sat down to enjoy Ezra's special breakfast he had so kindly prepared. Although Ezra was far from a gourmet chef, I always enjoyed eating his home made meals (on the rare occasion that he made them) because he always put in so much effort and I just appreciated how much time he put into making them as perfect as he could for me.

"Here you go," Ezra said placing my breakfast in front of me. I squealed with excitement when I saw he had made home made pancakes with fresh blueberries and whipped cream as they were one of my favourite foods that Ezra could actually make!

"Thank you, love, they look amazing!" I said with wide eyes, licking my lips slightly.

As soon as I had eaten, Ezra and I began to get ready for our busy day ahead. I went to the bathroom and got changed into the outfit I wore yesterday (as they were the only clothes I had there currently) and Ezra went back into his room to get changed. I brushed through my hair and I began to apply make up just as Ezra walked into the room. "Do you like?" He said leaning against the doorway gesturing his hands at the suit he was wearing,  "And how many times do I have to tell you, you don't need make up, babe!"

He walked up behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. As I lifted my eyes up I could see Ezra standing behind me and he looked so hot. He was wearing the black suit I loved and I could smell the cologne I bought for him a few weeks ago which he had obviously just applied. He looked and smelt amazing.

"I love... You look great, Ezra," I said turning round to face him, "And trust me, I need this make up!" I stood up, placing my arms around his neck.

"Well, I think you look just as beautiful without it," he said as he placed a soft kiss on my lips. His lips lingered on mine for a few seconds, until we broke apart and smiled at one and other.

"I will be ready in about ten minutes, oh and I forgot to tell you that Emily said she would pick me up!" I said sitting back down in front of the mirror.

"Okay, I will leave you to it then," he said with a smile walking out of the room.

Despite Ezra's comments, I continued to apply the make up anyway because although I'm perfect in Ezra's eyes, I'm certainly not in my own!

Once I was ready, I stepped out of the room to say goodbye to Ezra and wish him luck for his first day at Hollis.

"You're gonna do great today, Ezra. You're such a good teacher, everyone's gonna love you!" I said pulling him in closer to me.

"I hope so!" Ezra said, laughing a little.

"Oh I know so. You're so hard not to love," I said with a smile, looking deeply into his eyes.

"I love you. Have a good day at school, Aria. I might not be home before you, so if that's the case you have a spare set of keys. Just let yourself in and I'm sure I won't be that long, I'll text you." Ezra said opening the door.

"Okay sure thing, I love you more, Ezra. I hope today goes smoothly for you, drop me a text during Lunch to let me know how things are going!" I said as I walked out of his apartment.

"Will do," he said, giving me a short kiss before we said our goodbyes. I headed out of his apartment, nervous for what today would bring.

***

"So, how did things go with your mom and dad yesterday?" Emily said whilst the other girls looked at me expectantly, waiting for my answer.

"Good, well, I only spoke to my mom and she took the news better than I expected. I couldn't face my dad just quite yet so my mom is going to tell him for me later tonight I think," I sighed.

"Well at least your mom's supportive. And you always have us and Ezra, even if your dad totally flips out," Hanna said with a smile.

"Thanks Han, I know. I love you guys," I said smiling back at them.

"We love you too, Aria," Spencer said as we all made our way over to our different lessons and prepared ourselves for the school day ahead.

***

Half way through second period, I heard my phone vibrate in my pocket. I quickly checked it whilst my Math teacher was distracted helping one of the other students. It was from Ezra.

You told me to contact you during Lunch, but I can't wait until then. Aria, it's about your dad. He knows about everything, I don't know how but he does and I saw a side of him today that I don't think I've ever seen before, it was horrible. I can't say everything I need to say over text, I need to see you. We need to talk. -Ezra

Oh no. My dad knows. He knows about Ezra and I. He knows about our baby. All I wanted was for Ezra's first day to run smoothly - he was so looking forward to it. I wanted to go find him and talk to him and tell him we would sort things out but it was only second period, we still had the next four periods to go. I can't bear to imagine how crushed Ezra must be, he left his first job for me and has probably just been kicked out of his second because of me. This was all my fault, I needed to make things right.

Oh no. Are you okay? Are we okay? I will be straight over after school, I promise. Just a few more hours. I love you, Ezra - Aria

After the message had sent, I quickly switched off my phone and placed it back into my pocket before my teacher saw me.

I looked around the classroom for a while, so I could observe each and every student closely. Everybody was so focused, so concentrated on their work. Meanwhile, my mind was all over the place, I couldn't seem to focus on anything other than the text Ezra had just sent to me. What did my dad say to him? What did Ezra need to talk to me about? I think I already knew the answers to those questions, but they still played around in my mind for the rest of the day and prevented me from focusing in anything, even English.

I just wanted to leave, and talk to Ezra. He was the only thing I truly cared about, and although he would never admit it, everything that's happened to him, to us, is my fault. By being pregnant with his baby, I could have potentially screwed up his career as a teacher, and for good this time.