Hold Me Close: An Ezria Story

You Thought Wrong

Ezra's POV:

I woke up to Aria's warm body snuggled into mine. I didn't even know what time it was. I looked around for a clock. 1:30 AM. It felt like it had been a lot longer than that. Aria went missing around 7:00 PM and they found her about an hour later. She had been in surgery until midnight.

I slipped out of the bed careful not to wake up Aria. We had only been asleep for about half an hour, and she needed all the rest she could get.

As I walked to the door to grab a coffee from the cafeteria, I heard Aria's parents outside the room. I stopped and tried to listen. They were fighting.

"I do not want him near our daughter Ella." Byron said angrily.

"Well neither do I. But I'm saying that all we need to focus on right now is Aria getting better. If Ezra is the thing that's helping her heal, then I think we should try and accept their relationship... For now" Ella said.

I cringed at the last part. For now. They must've seen us asleep together on Aria's hospital bed. I got a little closer to the door. I could tell by his silence that Byron was hesitating.

"Oh... Oh all right." Byron said, flustered.

Then I heard the click of the door and ran over to the chair by Aria's bed. I sat in it right as Byron walked back in with Ella behind him. Aria's eyes fluttered open.

"Dad?" Aria said groggily. Byron walked to the other side of the bed.

"Hi honey." Aria's dad said as he knelt down beside her. "Aria, if Ezra makes you happy, and if you think he will help you get better, then your mom and I will try to accept your.." He paused. "Your relationship." He finished quietly. Aria looked at him with teary eyes. I grabbed her hand and held it tight.

"Thank you..." She whispered letting a tear fall down her check. Aria's dad kissed her forehead and stood up. Then Byron and Ella left the room shutting the door behind them.

I sat next to Aria until she fell asleep. I let myself drift off for a bit too. It had been a long night.

I slowly opened my eyes as I felt someone shaking me awake. I looked up to see it was Spencer. Hanna and Emily were standing closely behind her. I looked over to see that Aria was awake and propped up on a pillow.

"We came to see Aria before we left, we have this school fundraiser in like 6 hours." Spencer said. I could tell this was the hint to give them their girl time. So I got up and kissed the top of Aria's head.

"I'm gonna go get a coffee. I'll be back in a little bit. I love you." I said as I started walking to the door.

"Ezra you're going to the cafeteria, not Pakistan." Aria smirked as I turned to face her. I just smiled at her. She sighed. "I love you too." She said jokingly as I walked out the door.

Aria's POV:

"So how are things with Fitz?" Hanna asked me with a smirk.

"Good... Great actually. My parents said they were going to try and give us a chance." I said smiling. "Oh, and the fact that he tells me he loves me like every five minutes." I said laughing. I gasped. It hurt to laugh, but I think I played it off.

"He was just worried about you. He didn't sleep at all while you were in surgery. He was pacing around the waiting room the whole time. He's just grateful that you're alive and safe." Emily said.

"We all are." Spencer added reassuringly as she smiled.

Then Ezra came back in with my parents right behind him. Spencer, Emily, and Hanna stood up.

"Why don't you girls head home. It's really late." My mom said as she walked over to the side of my bed.

"Yeah, we were just heading out." Hanna said.

"We'll be by tomorrow morning before the thing for school." Spencer added.

"See you Aria." Emily said as they all gave me a hug and walked out the door. My parents followed them out.

As soon as they were gone Ezra walked over and kissed me. I started to deepen the kiss as he sat on the bed next to me. I kissed him passionately as I laid down with him on top of me. I ran my fingers through his soft hair and he held my face with both hands. Then, my dad threw the door open.

"Get off of her!" He yelled as Ezra got up off the bed. "She's injured! You should be mature enough to know you could hurt her by doing something like that!" My dad yelled as my mom walked in.

I cowered into the sheets. Ezra just stood next to my bed, not saying a word. I couldn't read his expression.

"Byron..." My mom said as she put her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her off and walked towards Ezra. He pointed at him.

"I want you to leave." My dad said angrily. "Now! And don't bother coming back. We've got things under control here." He said glaring at him with clenched teeth. Ezra looked back at me with sorry eyes. I was already starting to cry.

"Dad...please let him stay. It won't happen again. I promise." I said as tears started to cascade down my cheeks. My dad turned his glare from Ezra to me.

"I don't want to hear it Aria. He doesn't love you. If he did he wouldn't be careless enough to risk you getting hurt again." My dad said as he stepped closer to Ezra.

Now I was sobbing. Like gut wrenching, silent sobs, making my body shake. How dare my dad say Ezra didn't love me. Right now it seemed like Ezra loved me more than my dad did. Just an hour ago he was saying he was trying to accept our relationship. I looked to Ezra and he could see the pain in my eyes. He gave me a frightened, worried expression and stepped towards me, but my dad stood in front of him.

"Get. Out." My dad breathed out.

"Dad... Please stop... Just please let him stay..." I managed between sobbing.

My dad shoved Ezra backwards and he stumbled, almost falling over. My mom started shouting at him but I couldn't hear her. I had this tremendous ringing in my ears. All of a sudden I felt a pain in my stomach. It felt like I was being torn apart from the inside. I couldn't even scream. The only noise I could manage was a gasp/groan. The pain was getting stronger and stronger. I couldn't do anything. "Ezra..." I whispered as I felt another pain ripping me in pieces.

Ezra's POV:

Aria whispered my name while her parents were busy shouting at each other. I looked over at her to see her clutching her side and curled up on the bed. I could see the pain on her face along with the tears rolling down her cheeks. I ran over to her as the beeping on the monitor began to speed up. Her parents became silent. I ran out of the room.

"Help! Somebody we need a doctor in here! Please!" I yelled as a few nurses came running down the hallway.

All I could do was watch as they started to wheel the love of my life out of the room, Aria lying there helpless and in pain. And I couldn't make it better this time.