A/N: I tend to ramble in my author's notes, so I'm going to try and be sane :P This is a little something that I worked on in school because I didn't feel like doing any work(:
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. All rights belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family.
She hated the woods.
They brought back so many unfond memories, but she didn't have the strength to tell him that they should find a different meeting place. She didn't mind being hauled up in his apartment all night, especially when dinner was finished and mindless kissing took place. But she somehow found herself driving out to the middle of nowhere; the things she would do for him...
Why did he want to meet in the woods anyway? She was pretty sure he had no problem with their activities in his apartment either, so why the sudden change?
Her thoughts continued as she drove down the winding dirt road. The wind blew furiously through the trees surrounding her, giving the night an eerie appearance. The headlights shone through the dark, soon bringing another car at a dead end into view. His lights were completely off in order to hide his face, but she knew he was there.
She cut the ignition of her now parked car and stepped out, slamming the door behind her. Cautiously looking around into the trees, she practically ran to his car, not even sure what she was afraid of.
She entered his car wordlessly, and then threw her oversized purse into the backseat. They continued to sit in silence, neither one knowing where to begin. Slowly, he moved his hand to hers and intertwined their fingers. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in, and gave a slight smile. "Hey."
He returned, "Hey," in a low, husky, whisper. "Thanks for coming."
"No problem... I wanted to see you, but I wasn't expecting to meet here," she inquired, turning her gaze to the window.
He chuckled quietly. "Sorry... I just wanted to change things up a little."
"I can see that," she replied with a giggle. "Why the woods, though?"
"People don't come out here this late," he answered casually.
She rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, normal people don't, but we do."
"Last time I checked, Aria, we aren't normal." He squeezed her hand lightly, causing her to look at his face. The only light to use was of the moon as it shone in the sky. It wasn't much, but she didn't mind; Aria only cared that he caught her gaze at the exact moment.
Their eyes seemed to say the same thing, so both inched in slowly to meet in the middle, letting the rest of the world dissolve away for a few moments. His lips moved gently against hers as Aria caressed his cheek lovingly. Then she pulled back, much to his disappointment, and whispered, "Ezra..."
He reclaimed her lips quickly to silence her, afraid that she might try to end it. The thought left Ezra as soon as he felt Aria respond positively to the kiss. She moved her hand from his cheek to run it through his curly, black hair. Ezra groaned into the kiss with pleasure, making Aria smile against his mouth.
It was Ezra who pulled away next, saying, "As much as I love doing this, there is a reason I wanted to come out here tonight. Come on," he said, unlocking the car doors to exit. Aria did the same, and followed him to the trunk of the car, where Ezra was picking up a large basket and blanket. After grabbing a flashlight and pushing the hood back down, he turned to her and asked, "Ready?"
Aria smiled, taking the flashlight then blanket from his hands and placing it over her shoulder. She grasped his free hand into hers, then said, "Lead the way, Mr. Fitz."
With the flashlight guiding them, Ezra began walking straight into the trees, just as Aria feared. The deeper he took her, the creepier the surroundings became, and every little sound caused Aria to jump. She clinged herself to Ezra's side, making sure that there was no space between them and immediately felt relief rush through her body.
"Careful, Babe, we're coming in a lot of rocks," Ezra warned, gripping his hand tighter around her much smaller one. "I don't want you to trip and fall."
"Thanks," Aria muttered, still somewhat freaked out by the darkness. The pair made their way down the steep hill, stepping over each rock on the way. When they reached the bottom, Aria gasped at the scenery before her. She stood hand-in-hand with her boyfriend at the top of a grassy cliff, looking over the edge to see the city lights gleam below. "Oh my God... How did you find this place?"
Ezra shrugged. "I use to come up here during college to write. It's deserted and gave me a lot of inspiration."
"Did you ever bring Jackie here?" Aria spat, but immediately regretted it. She looked over to Ezra, whose eyes were closed in frustration. "I-I'm sorry; I shouldn't have asked that."
He opened his eyes quickly. "No, I've kept this place for myself. You're the first person that I have brought here with me," Ezra answered.
"Oh."
Ezra cleared his throat. "Yeah."
"Well, nonetheless, this place is beautiful," Aria stated, hoping to lighten the mood.
"Not as beautiful as you," Ezra added, bringing out a giggle from his girlfriend. He laughed along with her, "That was pretty cheesy, wasn't it?"
Aria nodded as she giggled some more. "Yes, but I still love hearing you say it..."
Ezra smiled. "Why don't we set down all of our stuff, now?" He released Aria's hand as she began spreading the blanket across the grass. Ezra placed the basket on the blanket as he and Aria sat down as well. "Let's see what we have here..."
He opened the basket to reveal Chinese takeout cartons, and Aria shook her head. "What a surprise... Did you bring a TV and some classic movies, too?"
"No, I didn't," Ezra chuckled, handing her the food and chopsticks. As she began eating, he watched her carefully, not exactly sure what to say. "Aria..."
She looked up with a curious expression. "Yeah?"
Ezra let out a slow breath. "You're about to be eighteen soon."
Aria nodded in agreement. "True, and?"
He didn't know where to go with this. It was suppose to be all romantic and perfect, but he just felt himself screwing it all up. Ezra suddenly felt his hands become sweaty, so he rubbed them on his jeans. Another deep breath escaped his lips before he reached into his jacket pocket. "You're about to be eighteen soon, which means, we can go public with us."
Aria raised an eyebrow. "I thought we weren't going public until I graduated...just to be safe, remember?"
Ezra huffed in annoyance. "Yes, but what I'm trying to say is-" he took the carton from her and set it down beside him, then took her hands in his. "-is that, you'll be of the legal age soon. Even though we will be in 'hiding' for a while longer, it won't be completely wrong."
Aria shook her head quickly. "Ezra, we've been over this; we may be a lot more wrong than we are right, but it feels good. And I-"
He cut her off. "Marry me, Aria."
"W-what?" she stammered in complete shock.
"Aria Montgomery, will you marry me?" Ezra repeated slowly, making sure she processed the very important question.
Aria's mouth continued to hang open. "Marry you?"
"I love you, more than anything or anyone in this world. We've been through hell and back, Aria, and look how we are still together. We have fights, we almost get caught way too often, but you're right... Age is just a number, and we don't even notice it when we're together. You're about to be eighteen, graduate, then we could begin our lives with each other with no worries!" Ezra rambled excitingly.
"What will people say when I graduate and am suddenly engaged to my English teacher?" Aria asked incredulously. "What do we tell them?"
"I-I don't know; I've only been worried about your answer lately... I haven't exactly gotten that far," Ezra answered, a lot more calm than before.
Aria giggled. "Ezra Fitz," she took his face gently in her hands, bringing their eyes at level with one another. "I don't know what everyone else will say in the future, but I do know that my future will have you in it. I love you and sure, our relationship is one massive rollercoaster, but you are right as well. We are here now, happy, and willing to stick together to make this work. So, I would be honored to one day be known as Aria Fitz."
"So... Is that a yes?" Ezra questioned hopefully.
"Yes, Mr. Fitz, I will marry you!" Aria exclaimed before crushing her lips to his in a heated and passionate kiss. They let their tongues explore each other's mouths in pure pleasure, taking in the moment of being a newly engaged couple.
Soon, Ezra pulled back and said, "I have a ring." He pulled the velvet box from his pocket, opening it to reveal a simple, one diamond ring. "I think it's careful enough for you to wear to school without too many questions..."
Aria held out her left hand so Ezra could slip the band around her third finger. "It's perfect; I could always just say it was passed down in my family."
"But one day, surely soon, you can walk around and proudly show off a real wedding ring without anyone judging you." He pulled her into his arms, and Aria placed her head against his chest, sighing in content.
"You know, I think the woods aren't such a bad place anymore," she announced, relaxing into her fiancée's embrace. "But rather..."
"...one that we can always come back to and remember this moment?" Ezra finished.
Aria smiled up at him. "Exactly." She then leaned up and kissed his lips lightly. "I love you."
"And I love you," he responded lovingly. "But you know what I just realized?"
"What's that?" she asked, repositioning herself closer to him.
"Your dad is going to kick the shit out me when we tell him," Ezra answered with a chuckle.
Aria laughed loudly at his words."Yup, pretty much!"
A/N: I'm not too fond of the ending, but it will have to do because I'm tired. Haha :P I want to thank LunarMist (I go to school with her, but she's on this site) for giving me the word "Woods" to use for this story. Then my other friend, BRob (nickname used for safety reasons) for giving me the random word of "Rock" because she wanted to be IN the story, but I couldn't throw her in there 'cause it's Ezria :P So, I took a word from her as well. Then my other friend wanted to be in it too, so when I told her to give me a word for to use, she said 'explosion of purple hearts'... My answer: "What? Uh, NO!" XD
Anyhoo, please review!
Thanks so much!
XxLadyStrengthxX
