A/N: This is an AU story about Ezra and Aria. Aria and her family move back after being in Iceland for 3 years. Aria finds out her new neighbor is none other than Ezra Fitz. They're soul mates, so it's just about time before they get pulled to each other. I will probably make this a multi-fic, if anyone reads it of course. I hope you enjoy my random idea :)

The Montgomery's had finally returned from Iceland. They were supposed to be gone for a year, but had been away for 3 years. Aria changed a lot during those three years, she ditched the pink highlights and swapped it for a more mature looking brown color . Her clothes still had an edge to it, she was an artistic girl after all and that wasn't going to change. The last time she was in Rosewood, Ali had gone missing and everything changed.

She had lost contact with Emily, Hanna and Spencer. She blamed the distance between them for that, but she knew that after Ali disappeared their friendships had changed. She was sure Spencer was off at UPenn like she had always dreamed of. Emily had to be at some college with a scholarship for swimming and she imagined Hanna would be somewhere in New York studying fashion. They were all doing amazing things and she was here about to enroll into Hollis College, in their hometown.

Her life didn't exactly follow her original plan. She wanted to go to NYU, but there had been a mix up with her transcript from the English high school she attended in Iceland and that didn't happen. It disappointed her greatly, but she would just have to figure things out. She was staying with her parents because they had come back a day too late for Aria to live on campus. Once again it wasn't part of her original plan.

"Aria, can you go get my Starbucks drink from the car?" Ella asked as she stood in front of a myriad of boxes that had taken up space in their living room.

"I'm on my way."

She didn't know why her mother would leave her Frappucino in the car, but she decided to be a nice daughter and help her out. The guilt of keeping the Meredith secret from her mother for 3 years made things difficult, but she always found herself trying to help her mother out.

Aria was wearing a purple dress paired with a black leather jacket and she had black high heeled boots on. She opened the front door and made her way to the car.

That was when she noticed a young man taking something out of the trunk of his car. He was about 5'11 with black hair and he had the perfect form. She bit down on her lip, she didn't remember having a neighbor like that 3 years ago. He had to have been new.

He turned around almost as if he noticed Aria staring at him. She quickly opened the door of Ella's car and retrieved the frappucino. She got out of the car and instinctively turned her head around to face the handsome guy who was now staring at her. They stayed like that for a few seconds. Aria shut the door and blushed slightly. She quickly turned on her heel, making her way back into the house. She shut the door and stood against it. Smooth, Aria, real smooth.

Ella walked over to where Aria was standing and looked at her daughter curiously.

"What happened to you?"

Aria shrugged as she strolled past Ella and handed her the drink, "Nothing? I just got your drink."

Ella arched an eyebrow. "You're blushing."

She laughed and shook her head. "It's really hot out there, I wasn't blushing. Uh did you know that somebody else moved into the Jefferson's place?"

"Yes, your father saw him this morning. It seems like a lot has changed in Rosewood."

"Do you know who he is?" She asked.

"I know that he's too old for you.."

Aria rolled her eyes at her mother. "I was just asking a question.."

"I'm sure you were. Now why don't you help me with lunch?"

Ezra noticed that the empty house opposite of his was not so empty anymore. He had seen the moving van pull up in the driveway yesterday before he left to teach at Hollis College. He heard that they were the Montgomery family who had just returned from Iceland. The one thing he wasn't expecting was the girl he saw earlier. She was tiny, brunette and very pretty. He shook his head thinking about her, she was probably in high school, or worse middle school. What was his problem? Loneliness was getting to him. Jackie was to blame for that. He blamed Jackie for everything. He bought the big house in a family friendly neighborhood thinking that he was preparing for a future that had Jackie in it. He was 25, but had been with Jackie since freshmen year of college.

"I'm sorry this didn't work out, Ezra." She said casually like she was sorry she had to cancel a date, not that she had given up on their future together. He was sure she wasn't sorry about that.

He stood by the kitchen counter and poured himself a glass of scotch.

"Just get your things and leave," he said coldly.

"Ezra, don't be that way. You'll find someone who wants the same things as you."

He took a sip of the scotch and let it burn his throat. He didn't want to have this conversation with her, not when he was convinced she had wanted the same things as him. He laughed bitterly and didn't respond.

He watched as she took the last of her things, packed them into a box and made her way to the door.

"Goodbye," Ezra said.

"Bye Z," she said softly, calling him by his old nickname and then walked out of the door.

He was a hopeless romantic, but he was realizing that things never worked out the way he wanted them to. First it was Maggie and now Jackie was gone. He was seeing a pattern, one where he ended up alone with alcohol for comfort.

One month later

To Aria's surprise, Hanna was still in Rosewood. They had a class together at Hollis and started talking again. Their friendship was slowly being restored. Hanna had lost a lot of weight and she looked amazing. Aria was glad to have at least one friend nearby. Halloween was fast approaching and the two girls decided to go shopping for costumes.

Aria and Hanna decided to take Hanna's niece, Ariel, trick or treating in Aria's neighborhood. They were going to a party later, but Hanna wanted to do something special for her niece and Aria decided it was a good way to kill time before the party.

"I want to wear something sexy," Aria mused as she looked at the costumes on the rack. Sexy Nurse, Catwoman, Sexy Witch - it was all so cliche.

"Ooh Aria who are you trying to impress?" Hanna teased as she eyed a Marilyn Monroe costume.

Aria smirked a little as she came across a Daisy Buchanan costume, "we need to take Ariel to this one guy's house.." She said mysteriously.

"Aria, what guy?" Hanna questioned, she was curious now.

"I don't know if you noticed, but the guy who lives opposite of me is really hot." She said, glad she could finally admit that to someone.

It wasn't just that he was hot, but Aria felt like she needed to know him. It was like a magnetic pull and she was just going along with it.

"I might have seen him once. He's cute. Okay so you need to dress up very sexy and talk to him. You have to do it Aria. I mean I haven't heard you talk about any other guys other than that Iceland guy and he's like a zillion miles away."

Aria stopped looking at the costumes and looked at Hanna. "He broke my heart, let's not go there. That's my plan, but he seems like an intellectual type, so nothing like that," she said pointing at the Marilyn Monroe costume that was now in her hands.

"He's a guy Aria, sex appeal turns them on, but how about you use that dress with a push up bra," she said pointing at the Daisy Buchanan costume that consisted of a greenish colored flapper dress and a head piece.

The Great Gatsby was one of Aria's favorite books. She eyed the costume and smiled. "I think you're right Han, that one will be perfect."

Aria was sitting outside on the porch. She had a blanket wrapped around her and she was reading "The Great Gatsby". She heard a car pull up into the driveway and realized it was him. He got of of his silver car and turned to look at who was sitting outside on the porch. It looked like the daughter of the family who moved back from Iceland. He had seen her around a lot lately, taking walks around the neighborhood, sitting and reading on the porch until she would shiver and then he'd watch her go back in. He was definitely intrigued by her, but he wouldn't act upon it because she was clearly underage and he didn't want to lose his job, or get arrested.

"Hey!" He heard a voice call out to him.

"Uh hey." He responded and gave her a shy, grin.

He turned around to lock his car. When he looked back he noticed that the girl was gone and he was disappointed. Stop was all he could tell himself, but then again he always wrestled between doing what he wanted and the right thing. Sometimes what he wanted overtook reason.

Aria walked up to her room, she had a smile on her face as she sat down at her laptop and quickly sent Hanna a message on Facebook.

Han, I finally said hi to him. He was all cute about it and he smiled. I can't wait to put my plan into action.

As she was scrolling through the newsfeed on Facebook, she saw a picture of the guy in Iceland who she really liked and dated for like 5 minutes with his new girlfriend. He never wanted to be serious with Aria, but from what she had heard before she left, he was madly in love with his new girl. Of course he would move on. Would she ever be anyone's first choice? Would anyone want the same things she wanted? It was then that she realized life wasn't always romantic and it was unfortunate because she was a hopeless romantic. If only there was someone who was similar to her in that aspect.

Halloween arrived, it was safe to say that Aria was excited. Maybe even more excited than little 3 year old Ariel who was dressed up like Cinderella. Hanna was dressed up as Marilyn Monroe, she looked beautiful as she stood on Aria's porch, looking around.

"Aria, let's get going?" She gave Aria a nudge as she craned her neck towards the handsome guy's house.

Aria laughed a little and felt her heart race.

"How about we start on this side and then work our way over there?"

"Coward." Hanna teased.

"I want candy!" Ariel shouted.

Hanna took her hand and the three of them walked around the neighborhood watching Ariel get candy from everyone. There were kids dressed up as superheroes, vampires, zombies and princesses. Finally they ended up on the side of the street Aria was nervously waiting for. She felt chilled to the bone in her flapper dress, but she was determined to get to know him.

"Good luck," Hanna whispered to Aria.

She nodded her head as she held Ariel's hand and walked up the steps. Ariel rang the doorbell and Aria felt like she was in some fantasy world. You can do this. Her hair was pinned back and she had used a decent amount of make up. She looked breathtaking.

He opened the door, his eyes opened wide, he took a step back and then quickly regained his composure.

"Trick or treat!" Ariel said cutely.

He took out a bowl of candy and held it in front of Ariel.

"Are you a princess?" He asked, trying to look at Ariel while his eyes kept wandering over to Aria.

"Yes!" She took a handful of candy.

"Do you want some?" He asked Aria.

She looked up into his blue eyes. He had beautiful eyes.

"I think I'm too old for that, but sure."

He thinks I'm a child..

He looked at her curiously when she said that and Aria took a piece of candy from him.

"What's your name?" She asked him.

"Ezra and yours?"

"Aria, my name is Aria."

He looked at her and gave her a smile. He had the most handsome smile she had ever seen.

"It's nice to meet you Aria." He said sweetly.

"It's nice to meet you too, Ezra."

A/N: Keep in mind Ezra thinks Aria is a lot younger than she really is, but once he finds out .. well you get the point ;)