History Always Repeats Itself

Chapter 8

Sunlight poured into Ezra's apartment and forced my heavy eyelids open. I sat up, carefully untangling myself from his arms so as not to wake him. Ezra stirred in his sleep as I removed my weight from the couch, a small chuckle escaping his lips.

"Aria..." he murmured, still fast asleep.

I smiled for a moment as the familiar feeling of waking up next to Ezra on a Saturday morning rushed over me. Reality struck me when I felt a sudden pounding in my head. I dragged myself into the bathroom hoping Ezra kept everything in the same place as I left the light off, my eyes already aching from the daylight. I rinsed my face before digging out the Advil in his top drawer and popping two of the small pills. The pounding intensified and I quickly slipped another pill into my mouth before putting the bottle back. I rested my hands on either side of the sink and stared at the mess of a girl reflected back at me. My hair was in a hopeless knot and mascara was smeared around my eyes. Instinctively I opened the bottom drawer, surprised to see that all of my belongings were still in their usual place. Not giving much thought as to why Ezra had kept all of my things, I wiped my face clean of the makeup that had stained my face and unsuccessfully tried to brush the tangles from my hair. As I set the brush on the counter, giving up on the birds nest on top of my head, I rubbed my forehead, doing my best to recall the events from last night. From what I remembered the only major slip-up was confessing that I still loved Ezra, but who didn't see that one coming. I fell asleep in his arms and that was it. It wasn't the most ideal situation but under the circumstances it could have been a lot worse.

"I guess you found everything okay." Ezra said as he leaned against the door frame, hinting towards the brush and open drawer.

I jumped at his presence, slightly embarrassed, "Sorry... I don't mean to intrude, I-"

He shook his head, "No it's fine. After you left I guess I just never got around to getting rid of that stuff," he shrugged and turned out the door, "Take whatever you want, it's yours."

I followed him to the kitchen, wondering what other belongings of mine he forgot to throw out. I looked at Ezra standing before me wearing only plaid pajama pants, realizing he must have changed while I was in the bathroom and that I was still wearing my dress from last night.

"Do you mind?" I asked, walking towards his dresser.

"Go ahead."

I pulled out his Hollis t-shirt, my old favorite, along with a pair of boyshorts of mine that I was once again too tired to question why they were still in his dresser. I went to the bathroom and closed the door behind me, turning on the light this time as the Advil seemed to had been doing its job. I stepped out of my dress and slipped the shirt on letting it swallow my body as I brought it up to my nose, the familiar scent filling my head.

I climbed out of his bed and pulled the t-shirt he had been wearing over my head, the fabric clinging to the thin layer of sweat covering my naked body.

"You are so beautiful," Ezra said, quickly pulling on his pants and laying back down, "and I am the luckiest man in the world."

I crawled in beside him and gave him a kiss before turning around so my back was pressed against his chest, "That was so worth the wait."

He wrapped his arms around me and whispered into my ear, "I would've waited forever for you." His lips grazed my ear and he leaned his chin on my shoulder as he continued to spread kisses around my neck.

"You were the one who wanted to wait, don't you remember?" I teased, thinking back to all the times he had stopped us from ever going too far.

"No sleeping with a student. I have to follow at least one rule, considering we've broken everything else," he smiled against my skin, "But believe me... I wanted to. Someone had to be the responsible one."