Hey guys! I hope you like this story. In this, the girls stayed in touch while Aria was in Iceland after Ali's disappearance. And there is no A. I don't think there's a lot more to say about this, so dive right in and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1: It Happened One (Drunken) Night

The music filled all of the air in the club. Ezra nursed his drink, waiting for the night get interesting. As he drank, he had been scanning the crowd, looking for the girl who would be the focus of his night. There were many pretty girl there, obviously, but Ezra wanted there to be something special about the girl he chose. He wanted her to be more than just pretty. Maybe he was a bit of a romantic, but he didn't want a one night stand. He had nothing against taking the girl home, of course, but he didn't want that to be the end.

His attention was drawn to the entrance by the very loud of a blond girl who had obviously already had a little bit to drink before coming to the club. However, the blond girl had only temporarily caught his attention and he would've gone back to his drink after a second if he hadn't seen the blond girl's friend. The friend was obviously pretty. She was a brunette wearing a strapless tight red dress. Ezra could tell that she was short because in her tall black heels, she appeared be on the shorter side of average. But the girl's beauty was not what convinced him that she might be the one he wanted tonight. What he had noticed about the beautiful girl was that her nose was buried in a book, which was what the blond girl's loud talking seemed to be about. He couldn't make out any words, just general commotion, but the body language of the girls seemed to suggest that their conversation was about the book. Ezra could swear the brunette looked annoyed as she put the book into her purse and that made him smile.

Ezra watched the girl dance for a little with the blond and two other girls, but he knew that he hadn't drunken enough to talk to her yet. He was midway through another drink when he watched her slip away from the other girls and make her way over to the bar. She sat down at the far end of the bar, way too far away from his seat near the middle, and ordered something from the bartender. As soon as the bartender left, she reached into her purse and pulled out the book from earlier. Ezra could now see that the cover was terra cotta and mint, the same colors as the cover of his favorite novels: To Kill A Mockingbird. He wondered if that was what she was reading. She barely looked up from the book as a drink was set in front of her.

Ezra quickly finished his half-gone drink so that he could order another one before nervously making his way over to the far end of the bar. The girl was so absorbed in her book that she didn't even look up when he sat down on the stool next to hers. He finally got a good look and the cover and realized that he had been right: she was reading his favorite book.

"Not many people spend their time at a club reading," Ezra said, getting her attention. She looked up, a bit startled since she hadn't realized that Ezra was next to her until he had spoken.

"My friends told me the same thing," she responded. "But it's just too good to put down."

"I know," Ezra agreed. "It's one of my favorites."

The girl looked at him a bit skeptically. "Is it really?" She asked, skeptically. She was clever. He liked that.

"Yeah, it really is," Ezra told her. "I, uh, I actually came over here because I thought I recognized the cover." A small smile cracked her face and Ezra realized that she was trying not to laugh. Good job! She probably thinks you're a huge dork now, Ezra though to himself.

"How many times have you read it?" The girl asked, still trying not to laugh.

"Not an unreasonable amount," Ezra responded, trying to sound cool.

"Oh, of course. I too remember the covers of books that I've only read a reasonable number of times," she mocked him with a smile.

"Well when you finish it, you'll understand why I've read it so many times," Ezra countered.

"If I even get to finish it. People seem to keep interrupting me," she laughed. Ezra suddenly felt embarrassed and stupid for having interrupted her reading.

"Sorry," he nervously apologized before starting to get up. He knew now that he had no chances with the girl.

"I'm kidding," she quickly said when she saw how seriously he had taken her comment. "Please, stay," she asked him, grabbing his arm.

"Are you sure I'm not interrupting your time with the book?" Ezra teased, getting his confidence back.

"I can finish it later," she said, closing the book. "I'm Aria, by the way," she told him with a smile. Aria, he thought, what a perfect name for an angel.

He then realized that he had been staring at her for a bit too long and that she probably wanted to know his name too. "I'm, um... Ezra," he said, momentarily, forgetting his own name at the moment when he most needed to know it.

"Ezra..." she said, dragging it out of her mouth and through her pink lips. "What does it mean?"

"Um..." he thought for a moment, scanning his brain hard. "I don't actually know," he laughed. "What does Aria mean?"

"It's like a song," she said.

"Your voice is like a song," he responded without thinking. Aria giggled and blushed in the cutest way. "Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to say that."

"Don't be," she said as she looked back at him. There was silence for a moment before Ezra decided to say something, fearing that the silence would go on for too long as well as wanting to hear her beautiful voice again.

"So, are you from around here?" He asked. He knew that it was a bit of a stupid question, but it was the first thing he thought of. Although, after reprimanding himself, he realized that it wasn't as stupid as he thought since a lot of students from Hollis came here. And Hollis students could be from anywhere.

"Originally," she responded. "Although I'm still re-adjusting a bit after being in Iceland for the past year."

"I studied abroad in Rekjavik," Ezra said excitedly.

"What did you study?" Aria asked.

"English," Ezra responded.

"I should've guessed," Aria said with a laugh.

"I'm surprised you didn't," Ezra teased. Their faces were very close now and Ezra desperately wanted them to be closer. He was so attracted to Aria. She drew him in like a perfect siren. Slowly, he leaned closer and he touched his lips to hers. He was more than glad when she pulled him closer and put her tongue against his lips, trying to find her way into his mouth. He gladly obliged, parting his lips for her and letting his tongue touch hers.

The night went by in a bit of a blur. The only clear point was Aria. He remembered dancing with her, kissing her even more, and talking over more drinks.

It was during a particularly heavy make out that he knew he had to take her home. He had to have Aria.

"Lemme take you home?" He asked when her lips left his for a second. The second she took to think about it felt like an eternity of nervousness to Ezra. But Ezra knew that he had had nothing to worry about when she eagerly nodded.

"I just have to tell my friends," she said. Ezra missed the warmth of her body when she left him and went over to the group of girls that she had entered the club with. He watched all the girls quickly glance in his direction before turning their attention back to Aria. It was only a few seconds before she was leaving the group again and heading back over to Ezra.

He woke up the next morning next to the naked brunette angel. Her red dress lay on the floor along with his clothes. Her head rested on his chest, which he realized he really liked. Unable to resist, he ran his fingers through her hair as he watched her continue to sleep. He didn't know how long it was before she woke up. He watched her open her beautiful eyes. He watched the slight confusion they held in the first few seconds after she woke.

"Morning, beautiful," he said, his hand still in her brown locks.

"Morning," she shyly responded as she slowly sat up. Ezra's eyes subconsciously fell to her chest as the sheet fell away from her body. "See something you like?" Aria teased, leaning closer. Oh man, was she teasing him.

"Very much," Ezra said, not moving his eyes. He held his breath as Aria's body brushed his as she climbed over him and out of her bed. He briefly got a view of her full naked body before she began to cover it again with her clothes.

"You don't have to leave," Ezra said, coming out of his mini trance and throwing back the covers. "I-I can make breakfast. Stay please?" He couldn't let her leave. He had promised himself that she would not just be a one-night stand.

"I wish I could, but it's a bit late," she said, once again glancing towards the clock above his bed. Why had he been stupid enough to put a clock there?

"It's only... 10:43," he said, looking at the clock. He had not expected it to be that late.

"I'm sorry," she said, as she finished re-zipping her dress and grabbed her purse from his couch.

"Wait," he pleaded. "Can I at least have your number first?"

"I wouldn't leave without giving it to you," She said, coming back over to the side of Ezra's bed. Ezra quickly unlocked his phone and handed it to her. She quickly typed in her number before handing him his phone back. "Text me," she said as she headed towards the door. She exited his apartment and Ezra stood there, completely naked and smiling like an idiot. Aria couldn't have been more than a few feet away from his door when he started a new text.

To: Aria

I'm the luckiest guy who was in that club last night. Because I got to be the one to take you home. -Ezra

Thanks for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed. Hope to see you in chapter 2!