Hold Me Close: An Ezria Story

Safe

Please please pleeaaasseeee comment any ideas you have. It would mean the world to me cause I'm having major writers block💜

Ezra's POV:

"What is he doing here?" Mike asked Aria's parents icily as he shuffled to the corner of the room, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Aria wanted him here Mike." Ella said sighing. "And thanks to him we were able to get a couple hours of sleep." She shot me a slight smile.

"I thought only family was allowed." Mike shot back, his gaze darting to each of Aria's friends and then back to me.

"The doctor let Ezra come back because he had been waiting so long. But he said her friends could come see her after she woke up from surgery." Aria's mom said tiredly.

The truth was, I had barely slept all night, except for dozing off when I would lay in bed with Aria. I didn't want to risk falling asleep and not being there when she needed me.

I looked over to see Aria's friends all nervously looking at me and each other. Aria's parents quickly caught on.

"Is...there something wrong?" Ella asked slowly, as she looked at the girls.

"Um... No. Nothing's wrong. We just... Um..." Emily stuttered.

"We came to see Aria, and we ran into Ez... Umm... Mr. Fitz." Spencer finished Emily's sentence, even though it didn't sound convincing.

Ella and Byron gave them a questioning look. Aria was still sound asleep in my arms.

"We were actually just leaving." Hanna said as she stood up, slinging her purse over her shoulder. Spencer and Emily followed suit.

"Actually, if you girls wanna stay, we can take Mike to get some breakfast." Aria's dad gestured to Mike, who was still sulking in the corner.

Spencer looked at the other two, eyebrows raised, as if asking for permission. Emily shrugged and Hanna gave her a slight nod.

Then she looked at me. She was so terrified. Emily and Hanna had the same scared expressions on their faces.

"I'll stay with them." I piped in. Ella immediately relaxed. Was she actually excepting this? But Byron looked at me sternly. I knew he would take a while to come around.

"Thank you Ezra." Ella smiled at me, and Byron looked at her with disbelief.

Ella grabbed his hand before he could protest and marched him out of the room, Mike stomping behind them.

Just before he walked out the door, Mike shot me a piercing glare.
What was his issue?

"You guys really have to stick together. This... -A person obviously means business, and any one of you could get hurt." I said as soon as the coast was clear. We didn't need Aria's parents knowing what was really going on.

"We probably shouldn't go to the food drive at school." Emily said. "-A could be there."

Spencer nodded in agreement. "I think we should just stay here." She said.

I agreed, even though I still didn't really want them here, after they gave Aria that panic attack. But they would be safe here. At least I think they will.

The text message bounced around in my head. How could someone do this to her and then say they will do it again if she doesn't keep quiet?

Aria shifted under my arm, and her eyes flew open. She gasped as she shot up from my grasp. She let out a slight groan as she held her stomach, and her breathing started to become very uneven.

"Aria, what happened? Are you okay?" I asked worriedly as she whipped her head around the room, eyes wide.

She started breathing heavily and was frantically looking around, then she started to cry. I knew what was wrong, it had happened before. She had a nightmare.

"Aria, it's okay. It was just a dream baby. You're safe. I'm here and you're friends are here and your parents are here. You're safe baby." I soothed as I rubbed her back.

The color slowly came back to her face and she looked at me, her hazel eyes sparkling with tears.

"I-I'm sorry.. I didn't..." She said.

"Shh. You don't have to be sorry for anything. Just lay down. You're okay." I said to her as she slowly eased back into my arms. I ran my hand up and down her arm to calm her down.

"My parents are here?" Aria finally spoke up.

"Yeah. They're in the cafeteria with Mike. We can get them if you want me to." Hanna said.

"Thanks Han." Aria said with a tiny nod.

Hanna, Emily, and Spencer stood from their chairs and shuffled out of the room.

"I'm sorry about the... the nightmare..." Aria said softly, not looking into my eyes.

"Hey..." I said lightly tipping her chin so she was looking at me. "You have nothing to be sorry about. We all get them. It's okay." I reassured her.

She looked back down at her hands folded in her lap.

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt you again Aria. There's nothing to be scared of." I said, pulling her into me.

"I'm not scared for me Ezra. I'm scared for you!" She said, her eyes brimming with tears. "-A said he was going to hurt you and I don't think he was kidding. I can't lose you..." She cried into her hands.

"You're not gonna lose me baby. I promise." I intertwined my fingers with hers and kissed her temple. "We're safe."