#ezreb

Caleb opens the door to Ezra’s car and gets into the passenger seat. Once he is inside, Ezra drives off towards his apartment. 

“I hope Aria is dealing with this better than Hanna is,” Caleb begins, “because all of our conversations end with her yelling at me.”

Ezra gently shakes his head, keeping his eyes focused on the road. “Nope. The last real conversation I managed to have with her, she snapped at me for trying to help. Since then, she’s been distant.”

Caleb isn’t surprised. Hanna has reacted the same, only she hasn’t been as distant. “It was stupid of me to think that once they escaped, they had escaped the torture and we could put this behind us. It’s only following them. Hanna hasn’t slept in days.”

“Post traumatic stress disorder at its finest,” Ezra adds, then nervously runs a hand across his stubble. With Aria in distress, he’s also turned into quite a mess himself. “I’m afraid I’ll never get the real Aria back.”

Silence lingers in the air as the car continues down the road. Both of them are consumed by the same fear. What if they never recover? What if Hanna can never sleep through the night? What if Aria is always so jumpy and distant?

“If I knew how to help Hanna, I would do it in a second. I don’t care what it would take. I would do it. I swear, if we ever figure out who did this to them, you better keep me far away from him so I don’t end up in jail when I try to kill him.”

Ezra nods, knowing he would do the same for Aria. “I lie awake at night thinking about how to make Aria feel safe again. It kills me that I’m not the one who can help her.”

“If we can’t help them, we will find out who can,” Caleb says. 

The car pulls up to Ezra’s apartment. They both exit the car before making their way to the entrance of the building. Once inside his apartment, they get comfortable on the couch with a couple of cold drinks.

“We’re going to get our girls back,” Ezra insisted, taking a sip of his beer. “I’m not going to give up until they’re safe and happy.”