A/N: so originally this story started out as an epilogue to What Happened To Us? and in a way it still kind of is... in my heart its still part of that story despite being set after the rooftop, i just changed the context of how she got the necklace and some flashbacks so this story could stand on its own. a new chapter for our new beginning will be up hopefully by tonight and ive still got a brand new story to share with you guys. like always thank you for your continued support, please review! you can let me know what you think here, my twitter (ezriab26) or my tumblr (ezrafitzgerld)

Aria smiled nostalgically as she stared into the mirror, her eyes fixed on the skull necklace hanging around her neck. She almost laughed at the sight of it. Out of context, the necklace wasn't something one would usually wear to attend a service. But then again, Aria never dressed as most people usually would. Still she decided that maybe it would be best if she went for something more neutral and a little less morbid. The only person who could appreciate or understand the daring choice wouldn't be there to see it.

"Do you like it?" Ezra asked as he stood behind her and fastened the necklace around her neck.

Her eyes beamed in admiration for both the gift and her boyfriend as her fingers mindlessly played with the skull pendant on the end of the chain. "I love it," she said, turning to face Ezra. "I love you."

He grinned and gave her a small peck on the lips before resting his forehead against hers. "I know this doesn't even begin to make up for everything I've done, but it's a start. I don't care if I'll be making it up to you for the rest of my life. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. Please, no matter what happens in the future... Remember that. Remember that I love you more than anything."

She felt herself begin to cry, choking back the tears as Ezra ran his thumb across her cheek. She'd been having her doubts about being with Ezra again after the whole Maggie fiasco and him finding out that Malcolm wasn't his son but in this moment every single one of those worries was completely erased from her mind. This was going to be their fresh start. She could feel it.

Aria reached behind her neck and there was a sudden chill in the air. Her hands were stopped before they could find the chain as a warm voice whispered into her ear. Aria's breath caught in her throat as she swore she could hear his voice. She could see him standing behind her but only when she looked in the mirror, and although he was right by her ear, his voice sounded like it was a million miles away.

"No, don't," Ezra said, smiling at their reflection in the mirror—or more specifically, her reflection.

Aria lowered her arms and stared at him curiously. He brushed all of her hair to one side and kissed her shoulder, causing Aria to shiver.

"Why?"

He shrugged and put her hair back into its original place. "It's more... you. I think it's what I would have wanted. Actually, I know it is."

And just like that he was gone, ripped away from her once again. Before she could fall into yet another tear fest Aria turned her head at the sound of someone knocking on her bedroom door.

"You look beautiful," Ella said, offering a sad smile as she looked at her daughter.

There were certain times when Ella felt rather useless as a parent. This was one of them. She didn't know how to comfort her eighteen-year-old daughter about the loss of her first love. There wasn't anything she could say or do to even begin to understand the amount of pain that burdened Aria. She admired the strength that Aria possessed, and although she wished she could take the credit for raising such a strong daughter she knew that it was a result of all the hardships Aria had learned to overcome herself.

"We should get going..." Ella said quietly.

Aria took one last look in the mirror, hoping that maybe he would appear again. She still found herself waking up every morning reaching out for his warm body, still holding on to the hope that the entire thing was just a horrible nightmare she refused to wake up from, and every morning she was met with a cold emptiness, the same cold emptiness she felt as she watched the last breaths of life leave the only man she'd ever loved.

"Ezra why? Why did you do this?" she cried as she sat beside his hospital bed. He took a bullet for her. He actually took a bullet for her.

A boyish smile crossed his lips. "Because I wanted to. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you," he repeated.

Aria always knew that he meant it when he said that, but she never imagined for it to go this far. She continued to cry, holding on to his hand tightly and refusing to accept this as goodbye.

"If it hadn't been me, it could've been you," Ezra explained, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Aria looked at him, her vision blurry from her tears. "How are you okay with this, Ezra? How can you be this calm about... dying?" She said the words as if they were poison, spitting them out of her mouth.

He smiled again. "Well not to brag... But I'd say dying to protect Aria Montgomery is about as good as it gets when it comes to death."

Aria remained silent; the only sound in the room came from her stifled sobs. Eventually after a long pause Ezra spoke again.

"Hey... Look at me," he whispered, tilting her chin up with his forefinger. "I wouldn't take back anything I've done for you. I would die a million times if it meant giving you the life you deserve. I was a complete asshole when we met, Aria. If there's one thing I regret about any of this it's that stupid book. You deserve so much more than that and I'm sorry. You have to believe me when I say everything I've ever felt for you has been real."

Aria stared at him in awe. "How can you not hate me for what I've put you through?"

He pulled her closer to him. "I could never hate you. You are worth more than anything in the world. I will never regret what I've done for you. I will always love you," he whispered into her ear.

"I love you, Ezra Fitz. Forever. I was going to spend the rest of my life with you."

He shook his head and laughed. "I'll be with you everyday..." he paused and smirked. "Remember that when you meet some hot football player in college," Ezra joked, causing Aria to laugh for the first time since she stepped into his room.

"Please... Hold on for me, Ezra," Aria pleaded, her voice cracking.

Ezra looked at her sadly and dropped his gaze. "I can't hold on forever, Aria. This is it, we both know it. I've done all I can do for you, and you've given me more out of life than I ever thought was possible. It's okay, Aria. I'm okay. I'm done here, I'm happy. This is where we have to let go..."

"I'll miss you," Aria choked out before erupted into sobs. Finally the full weight of their reality hit her at once. This was really it.

"I'll be seeing you..." Ezra said, his voice now low and raspy. She couldn't hold back the tears as they flooded her eyes and took over her body. The next few moments were a complete blur; the only thing Aria could be sure of was that he was gone.

Aria took a deep breath before stepping through the doorway of the church. She looked around, purposefully avoiding the horrible black coffin that was set up in the front. Her gaze moved to the right and her eyes met Spencer's, who was sitting beside to Hanna, Emily and Alison. Spencer mumbled something to the other girls and all four of them turned to look at Aria, offering her sympathetic smiles as she slowly made her way forward. On the left she saw Ella and Zack with Mike sitting beside them. Mona sat next to Mike, her hand held tightly in his. At first when Aria learned that Mike and Mona were back together she was angry, but she quickly learned to accept that maybe Mona was different with her little brother. After all, he seemed really happy with her and Aria had learned the hard way that life was too short to be stubborn. Byron was awkwardly sitting beside them, clearly uncomfortable. Despite everything that had gone down between him and his family, it meant a lot to Aria that he showed up, and had the decency to leave Meredith at home. Standing a few pews in front of Aria's family were Ezra's mom and brother, hugging each other for comfort. Hardy, whose eyes were red and puffy, stood alone in the back corner.

The room was fairly empty at Aria's request. She couldn't bear the thought of people who had previously called Ezra a pervert because of his relationship standing in the same room as her to mourn his death. Ezra deserved people who knew just how special he was. Ezra deserved people who understood that he was so much more than just "that young English teacher". He was a hero. At least, he was to Aria. Aria's pace became slower as she neared the front. She wasn't ready to face what was right in front of her. She wasn't ready for closure. This was one thing she wanted to leave open-ended. She wanted to stay in her bubble of hope.

When she was within twenty feet of her lover's open casket she suddenly stopped. She could feel the questioning stares from everyone in the room but she didn't care. Aria's breath began to quicken in pace and her head began to spin as she caught the first sight of his face. No. No, this was all wrong. When the time came for Aria to see Ezra Fitz waiting for her at the end of the aisle she was supposed to be wearing white not black. He was supposed to be looking at her with tear-filled eyes as if she was his entire world, not lying on his back staring into the darkness of his eyelids for eternity. She was supposed to have a smile glued onto her face. They were supposed to be happy. This was all wrong.

Ezra ran his fingers through Aria's hair, gazing into her sleepy eyes as her hand rested comfortably against his bare chest. She gave him a dazed smile, which he returned, once again in awe at her indescribable beauty.

"Do you think we'll ever get married, Ezra?" Aria asked quietly. Neither of them had talked about it much before, but it was never a question of whether or not they wanted to be together in the future.

"Someday... When you're out of college and I'm a best-selling author," he answered.

"Ezra... I'm serious."

"So am I," he said, smirking. She shot him a disapproving glare in return. "Okay, maybe not the author part."

She giggled and shifted closer to him.

"When do you want to get married?" he asked her.

She chewed on her bottom lip before answering. "I guess sometime after college. It's not that I don't want to be with you for the rest of my life, because I do. It's just... I don't know. Marriage sometimes feels like it could be a burden."

He laughed. "Well to be fair, our families don't have the best track record with this stuff."

She smiled and glanced at his chest. "So you don't mind that I want it to be sometime in the far future?"

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I don't need a certificate to tell me that I am madly in love with you. But one day... When we're both ready and the time comes, I'll be waiting for you at the end of that aisle."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Aria didn't even realize it when she collapsed onto her knees. She made no effort to get up and simply brought her hands to her face as she cried into them. After being strong for everyone, she was finally breaking down. She could hear the gasps from the people around her and the shuffles as multiple people got up to help her. She didn't want help. She was done being strong. She was done pretending like she could handle it. She couldn't. She was broken inside and there was no way to fix her. Aria barely noticed when a hand gently grabbed her shoulder in a sad attempt to comfort her.

"Aria?! Aria, talk to me!" It was Spencer's voice.

Aria continued to cry into her palms as she shifted to the side to take the weight off of her knees.

"Aria!" This time it was a chorus of concerned voices. She could make out all of the girl's voices but the rest became a blur as Aria slipped deeper and deeper into the cracks of her heart.

Her sobs echoed throughout the chapel, sending chills through every single guest. Ella couldn't help but break down at the sight of her baby girl so hurt and she cried into Zack's shoulder. Aria couldn't stop the sounds that left her mouth, ones of total pain and misery that ripped through her body and left her in pieces. She was lost. There was no way back from this she was sure of it. This pain would never go away.

"Aria, please!" It was Spencer again and she pleaded for Aria to talk to her.

"THIS IS WRONG!" Aria cried, though it was more of a shriek. "This isn't how it's supposed to be! This isn't happening!" she cried out again, desperately breathing in air between her sobs.

"Give her space!" Zack shouted to the mob of people crowding Aria. She silently thanked him for it as the group backed up and let her breath. Even Spencer left her side and soon it was just Aria alone on the floor as everyone watched in horror as Aria crumbled before them. She looked up to see blank faces staring down at her, eventually fading completely out as Aria felt her head come in contact with the floor.

Aria woke up in her own bed, squinting around the room before sitting up and taking a deep breath. Maybe she should have been embarrassed about what went down at Ezra's funeral but she was sick of being ashamed of how she felt. She noticed a glass of water beside her bed that her mom must have left and drank the whole thing, chugging it and letting the still cold liquid run down her throat. She set the glass back down on the bedside table and heard a familiar chuckle. She snapped her head to see Ezra sitting at the foot of her bed, a smirk on his face.

"Now I know you can be a drama queen but stealing the spotlight at my own funeral?" he said, still smirking at her.

"Hey!" she said, laughing. She grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it towards him, watching as he caught it and placed it on the floor directly behind him.

He shook his head. "And violent too."

She continued to laugh for what felt like the first time in forever. She missed this feeling, knowing that it could be gone at anytime. "What are you doing here, Ezra?"

His face fell and he looked at her sadly. "I came to say goodbye. For good. The burial is rescheduled for tomorrow and I just thought we should talk to each other at least one last time."

Aria looked down but quickly looked back at him, not willing to let him out of her sight so that he could disappear again. "So I won't ever see you again?"

He nodded. "Well, maybe in your dreams..." he added, winking at her.

She smiled and bit her bottom lip. "I'm not ready to say goodbye to you. I wasn't ready at the hospital and I'm not ready now."

"You have to be."

She shook her head. "But I can't. I'm sorry."

Ezra slowly got up and flattened out where he'd sat on the bed before walking over to Aria. His fingertips brushed over her cheek and she shivered again at his touch. "You never have to be sorry, Aria. This is goodbye for now, but I love you. Maybe one day..." he trailed off, forcing his teary eyes to meet hers.

She smiled as a few tears trickled down her cheek. "I'll being seeing you..." she said in barely a whisper, her voice cracking as she forced the words out of her mouth.

Someone knocked on her door and Aria looked away from Ezra for a moment. "Come in."

Ella entered the room and Aria quickly looked back to where he was standing seconds ago, but to her sad expectation, Ezra was gone again. Ella walked over to the bed and sat down.

"I'm sorry about today, Aria. I know this is so hard for you and we should have been better about being there for you. The burial is rescheduled for tomorrow but if you don't want to come—"

Aria shook her head and smiled. "No, mom. Of course I'm going. I can do this."

Ella nodded her head and stared at her daughter. "I'm so proud of you, Aria. Your dad is too even though he may not show it. I wish I could be there for you but I can't and I'm sorry. You're so strong, I know that Ezra is proud of you too."

Aria dropped her eyes and began fiddling with her fingers. "He made me strong..."

"I know he did. He made all of us stronger. If it hadn't been for him I would never have gotten to meet Zack. He was a great man, Aria. He was so good to you. He was truly something special, and I wish I could have seen that sooner."

Aria's heart swelled at her mother's confession. She fell into her mother's arms and let herself cry again, though she was still drained from earlier that day. She would never get over this, she knew that. But at some point she would be okay again. She didn't know whether or not it would take her six months or six years, but it would happen. She would find reasons to smile again. She would find people that could make her laugh until she cried. She would never truly move on, she understood that the moment Ezra died he'd forever taken a piece of Aria's heart with him, but she would be happy again, knowing that somewhere out there Ezra was laughing at her stupid joke, or making some sarcastic comment, or just listening to her if she ever needed to break down. Somewhere out there Ezra was waiting for her at the end of the aisle. That's what she had to believe. She had to believe that maybe one day they could see each other again. One day they would have their happy ending.