Mere Chance: An Ezria Fanfiction

VIII. Last Kiss

As I walked out the door, I practically walked right into Spencer and the girls. They stood there, waiting for me, with the most concerned looks on their faces. I am so glad that Ezra had decided to pull the shade down on his small window above the door to his classroom today. If he hadn't, the girls would've seen our tender moment, the picture and probably heard our conversation as well. My life would've been over.

"That took forever." Spencer said, her arms crossed at her chest. She looked like she was going to interrogate me for a crime. I had never seen that look on her face, and that began to scare me.

"What do you mean?" I replied. My voice was wavering and it there was a noticeable difference in the pitch as well. If Alison was still alive and standing with the girls before me, she would've been shaking her head in shame to have created such a bad liar.

"Did Fitz get on you about something?" Hanna asked while stepping in front of the others. "Because your face is all red and puffy."

Crap. Leave it to Hanna to notice my one fatal makeup malfunction. Truth be told, I hadn't cried since this morning, so these tear marks weren't fresh. And the only reason I cried in the first place was because my long-time boyfriend had just proposed to me after I told him that I was carrying his child. I think I deserve a break.

"Of course not! I was crying this morning and I guess I forgot to reapply my makeup." I said, my voice being more confident. I think this is because I was no longer having to lie about one area in my life. And, although it was a minor one, it made a major positive impression on my mood and anxiety levels to have that lifted off my shoulders.

"Okay. But what's up with your outfit?" Emily replied with an inquisitive look on her face. As much as I adored Emily, I think Spencer has been rubbing off on her, thereby making Em adopt her inquisitive nature.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked. I knew exactly what she was trying to point out; my shirt was larger than usual (it was my camp T-shirt from a mission trip when I lived in Iceland that my mom bought two sizes too big), my leggings were torn and my usual pumps were now replaced with some flats. In our small group, at least according to Ali, wearing flats was treason and was "punishable by death".

"Do we really need to answer that?" Hanna replied for Emily.

"No, I think I get the point." I said, beginning to laugh. My hormones were already out of whack, and my pregnancy was only just beginning. I got a few strange looks from the girls before we all parted ways to head to our lockers.

.,.

"ARIA!" I heard Hanna yelling as I exited the building.

I already had my keys in hand and was looking forward to heading home to see Mike and my mom. I had stopped caring for my dad after he put me through hell by forcing me to keep one of his dirtiest secrets. I still loved him, but I also disliked him almost as much as I didn't like Meredith, the she-devil who ruined my family.

I quickly turned around to face Hanna and I saw that the other girls were trailing behind her. They were running, so when they stopped, they had to catch their breaths. I was going to laugh, but then I remembered that I got winded walking up the stairs. And it was only going to get worse for me.

"What's wrong?" I said with a worried tone in my voice.

"Nothing's wrong!" Spencer said, flashing a smile. "We were just wondering if you'd like to stay over at Emily's place tonight."

"That sounds awesome!" I replied. "I literally slept in my car last night, and sleeping at home is like trying to sleep through fight club."

"Jesus, Aria. I'm sorry." Hanna said while putting her hand gently on my shoulder. She was usually very unsympathetic, but she could be a very good friend when you needed her most.

"It's fine. I'm just an emotional mess right now." I replied. I didn't mean to say that, but I'm still glad I did.

"Girl troubles?" Emily said, laughing.

"You could say that," I began. There was an obvious nervous crack in my voice after that statement."but I really could use some girl time."

"Awesome!" Hanna said while jumping up and down."We'll see you at eight. No sooner, no later!"

Then, they all hugged me and walked to their own lockers. I remembered that I had forgotten a book in my own, so I headed back down the hallway. When I opened my locker, however, I had to hold my hand over my mouth to stop myself from screaming.

There, written in a red crayon on the door of my locker, was this exact message:

"My sweet Aria, Fitz can only keep his mouth shut for so long. Either you tell the girls tonight, OR I WILL.

Kisses - A"

What really surprised me though wasn't just the message. Underneath the threat written in crimson wax was a picture. It wasn't just any picture, though. It was a picture from my ultrasound. I grabbed it and shoved it into my bag. I pulled out my folder which held the pictures and I found ten pictures remaining there. I had given two to Ezra and kept one for myself so far. Where did "A" get this one?

I knew I had to tell the girls tonight, and the message just made that even more clear to me. But how?

.,.

As I finished packing my bag and grabbed my car keys to head to Emily's house for our girls' night, I noticed a small package on my bureau. It was addressed to me, and was from a craft store. Puzzled, I began to tear the box open. Then, I began to cry.

As I pulled the gorgeous mahogany picture frame out of the packaging, I saw a note fall out from inside the frame itself. It read:

"For you, Aria. I haven't loved anyone as much as I love you...the both of you.

Love,

Ezra F."

Then, I really began to cry even harder. How did I get so lucky to have a man in my life that loves me this much? I looked down at my engagement ring and took it off, so that the engraving on the inside of the ring was visible from the angle I was viewing it. It shone so beautifully in the sunlight. This was the tangible symbol of Ezra's and my love.

My unborn child meant the world to both of us, and Ezra made that quite clear with the picture frame he had purchased for our baby's photograph. There, carefully engraved in the wood on the frame, was this message:

"Love at first sight is very real, young one, for I knew I loved you when I saw this first picture of you."

I quickly fumbled through my bag until I found my folder with my baby's pictures. I delicately took one out and slid it into the frame. I then held the frame in my hands and cried again. I slid down onto my carpeted floor and buried the photograph into my chest.

I didn't move for at least five minutes, and I would've stayed there even longer. That is, if my phone didn't start buzzing. I picked it up and I saw a text flashing on the screen. It read:

"Do you like it?"

It was Ezra. I started to smile uncontrollably once again.

"Like it?! I LOVE it!" I replied, my fingers shaking as I typed.

Then, it hit me. That was the same frame that I saw sitting on Ezra's desk earlier today. God, I loved him so much. I looked at the time, and it was time to go. I grabbed my bag, folder and picture frame (I couldn't leave it at home, as my parents always liked to snoop in my room when I was away) and tossed them into the back seat of my car as I backed out of the driveway.

As usual, I looked over my shoulder as the car drove in reverse. That's the way my dad always drove, at least.

I didn't see any cars, so I began to drive down the street. What I didn't know was a car, one that looked a lot like my dad's, was speeding towards me. The driver definitely saw me, but I think he was doing this...on purpose. The last thing I heard was metal screeching together, car sirens, the opening of the airbag, glass shattering and my own breaths fading away.