The next two weeks crawled by in agonizing slowness for Ezra. He had been trying to respect Aria's wishes to maintain some distance between them, but every day he saw her in class made it that much harder for him to treat her with the same detached reservation that he showed others. He wondered why it always seemed so easy for her to turn off her feelings and switch back to the student/teacher relationship. She barely made eye contact with him in class, refusing to speak to him unless he called on her directly to answer a question. Even then, her answers were abbreviated and to the point, as if she couldn't be bothered to carry on a lengthy conversation. He was frustrated and hurt by her aloofness. He knew deep down that it was probably just a facade she was using to help her cope with their new situation, but it didn't help ease the ache that clenched his chest every time his gaze swept over her.

Between classes he would see her often in the hallways laughing with her friends as they traveled from room to room. His piercing blue eyes roamed appreciatively over her hips and bare legs before he would catch what he was doing, and guiltily avert his gaze. Was this not hurting her as much as it was him?

For several days he made the conscious effort to be in the lunchroom at the same time that she would be there, just to be able to catch one more glimpse of her each day. She always appeared engrossed in whatever conversation she and her friends were having, gesturing with her hands to emphasize the she was attempting to make. The sound of her deep laugh flittered across the room, his heart rate increasing as the lyrical music captured his soul and weakened his resolve to leave her at peace.

Just when Ezra was beginning to convince himself that maybe Aria was moving on, that she had come to terms with their relationship and truly did consider it a thing of the past, there was an incident in his classroom that shattered that bitter illusion. Standing at the blackboard, in the midst of a heated discussion about the antagonist of their latest novel, he glanced over at Aria, as he had so often these past weeks, and caught sight of her as she straightened up from having retrieved something from her purse. As she sat up, the sleeve of her baby-doll emerald green shirt slipped off her shoulder. Without conscious effort, Ezra's eyes locked onto her exposed skin. It wasn't particularly scandalous. Girls at Rosewood High purposefully showed more skin on a daily basis than this small patch of shoulder and neck, and yet, Ezra couldn't tear his eyes away.

He knew her body so well, it was almost as if he could feel the soft texture of her silken skin beneath his hands. His fingers pressed against his creased pants as he eyes traveled from her shoulder to the nape of her neck, perfectly exposed with the upsweep hairdo that she was sporting today. Soft tendrils cascaded down, whispering against the sides of her face as they danced with her feather earrings in the slight breeze from the fan. He inhaled deeply, half expecting to smell the sweet vanilla scent from the shampoo that she used mixed with the soft aroma of the perfume he had bought for her last birthday.

What was almost his undoing however was when his gaze traveled from her sweet, full, pouty lips upward to her eyes...those expressive hazel eyes that were locked onto his. An electric current pulsed through his body. He immediately recognized the heavy, softly-lidded, darkened gaze that signified her own desire. She couldn't have denied it if she wanted to, he knew her body too well... she wanted him. His body responded immediately, aching to rush across the room, sweep her into his arms, and crush his lips down on hers. To hell with the class, to hell with the job, to hell with Jake. And then, just as suddenly, she looked away, breaking the spell, quickly readjusting her top so that her shoulder was covered once again.

Miraculously, throughout this exchange, Ezra had been able to maintain the momentum of the discussion. No one in the class was any the wiser as to what has transpired between the two of them. Truth be told, what had seemed to last an eternity to them, had occurred in a matter of seconds.

For the rest of the period, Aria refused to make eye contact with Ezra, looking down at her desk as if mesmerized by her note taking. He had glanced her way several times, almost as if to assure himself that he hadn't misread the situation, but Aria stubbornly maintained her downward pose. As soon as the bell rang, she scrambled out of her seat, practically dragging a surprised Emily out of the room with her.

As a result of that encounter, Ezra had come to the conclusion that the two of them needed to talk. It was ridiculous that they were maintaining this charade of indifference when it was clear to him that they both still loved each other and wanted to be together. If the two of them could just sit down and come up with a plan, he was convinced that there had to be some way they could still see each other and keep Jake from ruining the relationship.

Making the resolve to go against her expressed wishes, Ezra tried over and over to call Aria, but she refused to pick up her phone. He had sent multiple text messages and emailed her, but as of yet, all of them were unanswered. He tried to catch her between classes in the hallway, but she was doing her best to avoid him. Every time he saw her, she was surrounded by her friends. It was as if she had fortified herself with a wall of humanity.

He had even tried calling her from a phone other than his own, but when she picked up and heard his voice, she had immediately hung up. Frustrated, he was beginning to think, that out of desperation, he was going to have to stake out her house, wait until Mike and Byron left, and then slip in to see her. He could feel desperation creeping into his resolve. There had to be a way to convince her to see him, to talk to him, without her being afraid of the consequences.

With the school day over, Ezra continued to puzzle over the dilemma of how best to reach Aria. Today, once again, she had thwarted his efforts to catch her alone at the end of class. Turning in his desk chair, Ezra ran a frustrated hand through his thick wavy hair. He stared out the distant window, lost in thought. His gaze failed to see the students walking to their cars, those traveling in pairs as they laughed and joked on their way home or to the local coffee shop. His mind raced through various scenarios as he attempted over and over to solve the problem of Aria.

"Mr. Fitz?"

Ezra pivoted around, half expecting to see Aria standing silhouetted in his doorway, as if he had conjured her from his very thoughts. His eyes widened in surprise to see Hannah beside his desk, her long graceful legs teetering nervously from side to side in her stiletto Jimmy Chu heels. Her hands played on the edges of the books she was clutching to her chest as she stood there, waiting from him to speak. Tossing her flaxen, wavy hair over her shoulder, she smiled tentatively at him.

"Hannah," Ezra said softly, his gaze traveling briefly beyond her to the doorway which was presently deserted of students. "What can I do for you?" He smiled pleasantly as his gazed locked back on her large, blue eyes.

"I just wanted to say how sorry I was to hear about you and Aria."

"Hannah," Ezra quickly cut her off, his eyes once again traveling to the door. "I'm not sure that this is an appropriate place for this conversation."

"Oh, I know," she agreed, swinging her head back toward the door, giving in to the paranoia that his apparent nervousness was producing. "I've been meaning to say something sooner, but Aria..."

"Yes," Ezra eagerly prompted her, forgetting about his earlier warning. He couldn't pass up this opportunity for news about Aria... any news. "What about her?"

"She's been pretty... shattered by this whole thing. So I've been trying to spend a lot of time with her."

"Shattered," he whispered quietly to himself, rolling the word over his tongue as if trying to decipher a deeper meaning behind it.

Nodding her head, Hannah continued. "I know that it's killing her to have to stay away from you, but she keeps saying that she has no choice. She's doing it for you, you know... to keep you safe."

Laughing bitterly, Ezra abruptly stood and walked over to the window, his wooden chair cracking loudly into the wall behind his desk. He once again blindly gazed out toward the parking lot. "How ironic," he chucked without humor. "In her attempt to keep me safe, she's killing me." Turning slowly around toward Hannah, he shook his head sadly. "Her staying away from me, Hannah, is killing me." And then, as if embarrassed by his admission, he adverted his gaze.

Taking a step toward him, Hannah lowered her voice as she continued. "I'd like to help if I can. I still believe that the two of you are meant to be together. True love like yours shouldn't be apart."

Shaking his head vigorously, he walked around her, back toward his desk. "Thanks, but no thanks for the offer. Your help tends to backfire on me."

Hannah's tone shifted quickly from earnestness to a slightly defensive pitch. "How many times do I have to apologize for that? I didn't know that she was going to have that kind of reaction."

"Do you know how dangerous that plan was?" Ezra's gaze locked onto Hannah's wide-eyed expression. The fact that she had acted so recklessly, and the guilt he still felt for allowing it to happen, spurred him on further. "Who knows what might have happened if I hadn't walked into that classroom and interrupted the two of them," Ezra snapped, still clearly upset over the situation that had occurred at the dance.

Taking two steps to close the distance between them, Hannah's eyes flashed over to the doorway to make sure that they were still alone. "I told you before, I didn't know she'd react like that. Nobody even noticed when I slipped her a different flask than the one we were drinking from. The pills that I crushed into hers were my mom's. She had stopped taking because they upset her stomach. I thought it would do the same thing to Aria. She'd get sick and she'd end the date early. How was I to know that she'd turn into a walking zombie?"

Ezra's eyes narrowed as they bore into Hannah. "As I told you before, it was dangerous. When you had said that you wanted to help, I had no idea what you intended to do."

Clearly irritated, Hannah swept her hair behind her ear as she pivoted around and stomped a few feet away. Setting her feet, she swiveled toward him, jutting her hip out to the side. "Why do we keep going over this? What's done is done. I can still be of help to you and Aria."

"Like you were at the Brew?"

"Okay, that wasn't my fault!" Hannah replied defensively.

Ezra's eyes opened wide in disbelief at her audacious comment. "Not your fault? You're the one that sent the message telling Jake to go there that night."

"How was I to know that you and Aria would be having a grope fest behind the Brew? I saw the two of you together talking in the hallway, and I thought it was a perfect opportunity for Jake to see the two of you together and decide that Aria wasn't that over you. He'd break it off with her, and leave the field wide open for you. If anything, it's your fault," she said, pointing at his chest, "for taking things too far that night. I mean, really, an alley?" Hannah wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought of the dirty, dank space behind the coffee shop.

Embarrassed and flustered by Hannah's obvious distaste, he impulsively retaliated. " If it wasn't for you," he responded through gritted teeth, "Jake would never have been in the position to take those pictures, never have threatened to go to the school board, and Aria and I would still be together. Do you really still wonder why I don't want your help?"

Hannah cocked her head to the side, her blond hair cascading down her shoulder. "Exactly," she purred confidently, as if Ezra had just proven her point.

Looking at her as if she had two heads, Ezra's eyes widened in surprised before shaking his head as if attempting to rid himself of her inane argument.

"Exactly what?"

"That's why you should give me a chance to fix things. If I, inadvertently, might I add, had a hand in creating this current situation, then the least I can do is try to help you two get out of it."

Sighing in resignation, Ezra realized the futility in attempting any further reasoning with her. "No."

Hannah opened her mouth to continue arguing her case, but Ezra abruptly cut her off.

"No, Hannah. I appreciate the offer. I know your heart's in the right place, but my answer is no."

Staring at him in frustration for several more seconds, she finally nodded her head slightly, acknowledging his decision. Reluctantly, she walked slowly toward the door, her heels clicking against the polished floor in the otherwise quiet room. Standing at the threshold, she turned one last time, looking back at Ezra who was resting his hands against his desk, his head bowed low.

"I am sorry, Mr. Fitz," she said softly as she turned and sauntered down the hall.

Ezra stood there for several minutes, long after the sound of Hannah's retreating footsteps had faded and disappeared, staring morosely down at his desk, lost in thought. He knew that he had done the right thing in rejecting Hannah's help. That's what he should have done in the first place when she came to him with her crazy plan to help put some distance between Aria and Jake. But he had been so blinded by jealousy that he had accepted it without much question. Now he was faced with the dilemma of how to win Aria back, to assure her that it was safe for them to be together. He grunted in frustration, running a weary hand through his hair. He felt like he had come full circle. Wasn't it just a few months ago that he was thinking the same thing... how to convince Aria that they could be together again without fear of discovery?

His musing was interrupted with the shrill whistle signifying an incoming text. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Ezra stared down at the blocked number. Dread crept up his spine as he remembered the last time he had received a message from an unknown number. With a slight tremor in his finger, he opened the message.

Poor Mr. Fitz. You didn't really think it would be that easy did you?

My help always comes at a price. You don't get to keep your freedom

and have the girl too. Choices have to be made... and all choices

have consequences. Kisses... A

Staring at his phone, reading and rereading the message, Ezra growled deep in his throat. Clenching his hand tightly around the phone he reared back and threw it across the room as he screamed in frustration and anger. With a sharp crack, it hit the wall, shattering into a multitude of pieces before settling to the floor. He'd be damned if he'd let some unknown person decide the fate of him and Aria. All this message did was solidify his resolve to do whatever was necessary to win Aria back.

** I didn't want to put it at the beginning of the chapter, but this marks the end of this particular story. I left it hopeful that Aria and Ezra can maybe find their way back to each other, but this is always where I saw the story ending. Maybe, if I get feedback saying you guys want it, I'll do a continuation of this story. I hope you guys have enjoyed it! On to new storylines!