A/N: Just one of my many ideas of what I hope will happen in the time jump. Please read and let me know what you think. This will be a two part.

Disclaimer: Don't own nada.

It felt weird being back in Rosewood. It felt unusual walking past her old High School knowing she no longer was that eighteen year old who'd said goodbye five years ago, but instead a twenty-three year old woman. The memories flooded her mind as she stared at the building in front of her.

High School had been both the best and worst time of her life. Although she stored so many good memories in her heart, she would never be able to forget the two miserable years she and her friends had to face due to A and his doings. But the past was the past. She was glad A had since been caught, and now, all of them lived peaceful and happy lives.

Which was why she was back in Rosewood.

She had some very important news to share with her family, and although she could do it over text or Skype, she'd chosen to fly back to Rosewood. It'd been almost two years since she'd last visited, and to be honest, she missed her family.

Hanna had also told her she'd be in Rosewood that summer, and last she'd seen her had been at her and Caleb's wedding, almost a year ago. It was the perfect time to come back.

As she walked towards The Brew—that's where she and Hanna had decided to meet—the thought of Ezra still working there gave her an unsettling feeling in her stomach. Last she'd spoken to him was the summer before her senior year of college, if that even counted. Their friendship had already slowly dwindled down to fewer and fewer texts each day, until disappearing altogether. No longer did they have their nightly face time chats or early morning phone calls. Their occasional meet ups also vanished after that.

Looking back, she couldn't pinpoint what had driven them both to that. She blamed it on both of their busy schedules, but maybe it was something more. Maybe it was painful for the both of them to be so far away from one another, that they chose to cut off ties to not have to experience the feeling of missing.

Maybe it was for the best. After all, it'd lead her to where she was today.

She'd just made it to the door of the small coffee shop when she heard Hanna's voice call behind her. She opened her arms in a welcoming embrace, and the two best friends hugged, tears of joy falling freely from their faces, not caring if people stared.

"I've missed you so much, Han."

"Me too!" She replied, hugging her friend once more. "We have a lot to catch up on."

As they made their way in, Aria's stomach filled with butterflies. Why was she feeling like this? She shouldn't. But it was inevitable. It had been two years without a word from him, and she was curious.

Her heart dropped as she spotted him behind the counter. He stood leaning on the counter, his eyes furrowed in concentration as he instructed a teenage girl on how to work the cash register.

"Still as hot as before, isn't he?" Hanna joked.

Aria stood speechless. Was it okay to agree? Should she just remain quiet? Luckily, Hanna didn't give her the time to respond.

"I was only kidding." She smiled. "Relax. It can't be that weird."

Aria shrugged, following her to the counter.

He hadn't noticed her. He was so focused on teaching the new employee, Amy, that he hadn't paid much attention to the customers around him.

"I'll be back. I'm going to get more scones." He whispered to Amy.

"Hi, what can I get started for you two?" She asked.

Once they reached the front of the line, Ezra had disappeared. Aria let out a sigh of relief.

"See, you had nothing to worry about." Hanna whispered to her.

Aria simply nodded, before smiling at the girl. "I'll take a soy vanilla latte,"

Ezra, who had been unloading the scones, stood still. Had he heard right? That voice was familiar. Could it be? It'd been so long since he'd last spoken to her.

"What are you going to want, Han?"

This time, her voice was clearer. It was her. Her melodic voice was pinned in his head since the day he met her. Suddenly, his nose filled with a very familiar scent, one that caused his heart to beat rapidly against his ribcage. It was really her.

Almost instantly, he walked rapidly up to the counter. He noticed that Aria's smile had disappeared from her face, replaced with shock. Seconds later, her smile returned.

"Aria." He simply said, a goofy smile painted on his lips.

"Ezra." She smiled nervously. "Good to see you. How are you?"

In the moment, she was dying to throw her arms around him, tears were threatening to fall from her eyes as she looked at her ex lover. Instead, she stood awkwardly quiet in front of him.

"I've been good." He replied. Was he really, though?

"Uhmm." Hanna coughed, smirking at Ezra.

"Hanna, good to see you."

"You too, Ezra."

There was a brief silence among them but Ezra was quick to break it.

"Did you two order already?" He asked.

Aria nodded. "Yeah." She pulled out a ten dollar bill from her wallet. "Here."

As she held out the money, the shiny rock resting on her finger didn't go unnoticed, and neither did Ezra's disappointment.

"U-um. It's on the house. Don't worry." He offered.

"We can't take it."

"It's fine." He assured.

Aria smiled. "Thank you. So I'll see you around."

"Are you going to be here for a while?"

"Yeah, the whole summer."

"Alright then. I'll see you two around."

They nodded as they took their coffees.

"Oh, Aria." He called out.

"Yeah?"

"Congratulations."

Aria furrowed her eyebrow in confusion.

"On your engagement." He clarified. "I'm happy for you."

She stared blankly at him. Engagement? She was engaged? Right! Alex. She was engaged to him. How had she been able to easily forget about him? After all, that was the reason she was in Rosewood. He'd proposed to her just a month ago, and she was telling her parents tonight.

All these old feelings were resurfacing, and they had left her so unsettled.

There shouldn't be any old feelings. Alex was wonderful and she loved him. It'd been a little over a year and a half since they'd first started to date, and now they were engaged. She had to go back to thinking about her engagement. About how she was going to be Mrs. Aria Smith in just a few short months.

"Thank you." She breathed out.

As they walked out, Hanna gave her a knowing look.

"What?" Aria asked puzzled.

"Well, that was awkward, wasn't it?" She asked with a smile.

She let out a chuckle. "You can say that again."

"So, did any old feelings return? I mean, the whole Brew could feel the tension between you two."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Hanna, I'm engaged to Alex. I love him. I won't lie, seeing Ezra again felt," she paused. "I don't know, weird. But that's normal. No old feelings." She assured.

"Hm. Maybe not on your part, but you should've seen that look of disappointment when he saw your ring. Maybe he still loves you."

"It's been a while. And there was no disappointment. He was just shocked, maybe." She shrugged her shoulders carelessly.

"There's shocked and there's disappointment. And I'm pretty sure he wasn't just shocked."

Aria remained silent. Was Hanna right? Could he still have feelings for her? She shook her head. It didn't matter. She had Alex now. She was happy.

"If you say so." She simply told Hanna. "Come on, I need to go shopping for tonight."

It was nearing eleven when Ezra walked into his apartment. In the past years, he'd managed to upgrade from his studio apartment to a one bedroom. This apartment was much more spacious, and was located just outside Rosewood. Moving out of 3B had been rough for him. It was where his life had changed. Where he'd created and stored so many memories of him and Aria.

Aria.

He still couldn't believe she was back. Seeing her had left him so unsettled. It'd been far too long since he'd last spoken to her, even longer since he'd last seen her. Sometimes he wished their friendship had never faded.

"I miss you already." Aria confessed.

Ezra chuckled into the camera. "I just left six hours ago."

She pouted. "I know. But that doesn't mean I can't miss you. I wish you could stay here all the time."

"I know."

Aria had just started her third year at Savannah, and Ezra surprised her that weekend. The times they got to see each other were becoming rare, so the time spent together was special to the both of them. Even if they weren't a couple, they were still best friends. Best friends with a few slips the last two years.

"How many more days until winter break?" Aria asked, resting her face on her hands.

"83."

"I'll be counting each one." She replied with a small smile.

"Goodnight."

"Night."

Her visit to Rosewood had been wonderful for them both, but after that was when their relationship faded. The video chats became less and less each week. Every time they talked, their conversations seemed rushed, lacking the excitement they once held.

It was finally summer. She could kiss her finals and assignments goodbye. And as happy as this made her, this was also the first summer she wouldn't be able to return to Rosewood. She'd gotten a great internship over the summer, and as much as it hurt her not to go back, this wasn't an opportunity to let go.

Her phone vibrated against her nightstand.

"Hello?" She spoke into the phone as she packed her bag, getting ready to head out.

"Hey." Ezra's gentle voice spoke. "Ready to kick ass today?"

Aria sighed. "I'm so nervous."

"Don't be. You'll do great. They'll love you."

Aria remained silent, chewing at her bottom lip nervously.

"Aria. Please believe in yourself. I believe in you. Now go out there and show them how amazing you are."

"Thank you, Ezra. You don't know how much I needed to hear that."

"That's what I'm here for. Now go on before you're late."

Ezra hung up, smiling as he thought back to their conversation. It was the first one in a while that had given him all those forgotten feelings. In that moment, all he wanted was to run to Aria, hold her and promise her everything would be okay. But he couldn't do that. He was miles away, and he'd only comforted her through the phone. This was getting harder. Maybe this internship would help her. It would help them both.

And it had. Once she started her internship, she was far too busy, and their already limited phone calls, became nonexistent, the only texts shared between them being only on their birthdays, until it went down to no communication between them whatsoever. When they did try to speak, well, their day to day experiences were so different that they barely had anything to talk about. What had led to that point? He'd never know.

He'd wanted to catch up with her, he was close to asking her to meet up for coffee, but then he noticed her ring. She'd been able to happily move on. Why couldn't he be completely happy for her?

He knew why.

It was because deep down, he still had feelings for her. Seeing her today had set off an alarm in his heart reminding him of those forgotten feelings. Sure, he'd been in several relationships after Aria, his most recent and serious one ending just a few months ago, but none of them had given him the sparks and passion he'd experienced with Aria.

But she moved on. He should as well, should forget her completely.

Could he do so? He knew the answer. So why not just rekindle their friendship? It didn't have to be anything more. He'd found Aria again, and he didn't want to let her go this time.

A week later, Aria was once again walking into the Brew. She'd purposely avoided it, but figured could no longer do so. She was spending two months in Rosewood. Seeing Ezra was something she needed to get used to. As she stepped inside, that same queasy feeling returned.

After ordering and getting her drink, she made her way to the back of the small coffee shop. As a teenager she enjoyed that spot as it gave her peace and quiet as she sipped on her drink and read a book.

A few minutes into reading, her heart stopped as she heard his voice just inches away from her.

"Refill?" He offered, the corners of his lips turning up into a smile.

She nodded. "Thank you." She thanked his as he filled her cup with new coffee.

"May I?" He gestured toward the seat beside her.

"Yeah. Of course."

His palms were sweating as he sat next to her. There was an awkward silence between the two. Aria nervously picked at her nails, as he counted the specks of dirt on the floor, both of them not knowing how to start a conversation. But the silence had to be broken.

"So." Ezra hesitantly started. "How are you?"

Aria let out a small laugh. "I'm good. I see you're doing great with the Brew."

"Yeah."He replied, wiping his hands on his jean. "Who knew I'd go from teaching students to making them coffee every morning." He joked. "But I love running this place."

"Have you thought about teaching again?"

"I have, but between running the Brew and getting ready to publish my book-"

Aria's eyes widened, turning to face him completely. "You're getting published?" She asked in disbelief, a huge smile on her face.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh my god, Ezra. That's amazing. Congratulations." Without realizing, she wrapped her arms around him and he found himself doing the same.

As soon as the warm feeling flooded through her, it was gone. She felt hot, sick and stupid as she realized exactly who she was with, and most importantly, how wrong it was to have felt that way.

Aria pulled back instantly, scooting a few inches further from him. "Anyway, when does it come out?" She asked, not acknowledging what had happened just seconds ago.

The same happened with him. He felt those same sparks he had always felt when their bodies touched, and he berated himself mentally as he remembered that he wasn't allowed to feel that way. She was engaged, for goodness sake. He had to remind himself constantly.

He cleared his throat. "In a few months, hopefully by the end of summer."

"That's great! I always knew you had it in you." She confessed. "Can't wait to read it."

Again, a silence fell among them.

"What happened to us?" Aria finally asked the question that'd been killing her since the day they stopped talking. "Why did we fall apart?"

He let out a sigh, slouching against the couch. "I wish I could tell you, but I don't know either."

"Well, we're both here now." She smiled. "And I'd like us to be friends again."

Ezra smiled. "Me too. We have a lot to catch up on."

And just like that, the friendship between the former lovers began once again. They would meet up every morning at the Brew, chat over breakfast, and sometimes Aria would even help him out. Ezra learned that Aria had met her fiancé, Alex, during her final year of college, and Aria had found out that Ezra had just broken up with his girlfriend. To say it wasn't awkward to talk about their love lives, would be a lie. Both had seemed far too uncomfortable speaking about it to the other, but it was part of their catching up.

Their 'coffee chats' eventually turned into him going over to the Montgomery's for dinner, or Aria going over to his. Before they knew it, they were back to how they once were. Of course, minus all the cuddling and kisses they would share when they were together, but they were back to being best friends. And it felt so right to have that back.

Ezra couldn't lie and say that as the summer went by, his feelings toward her didn't grow. They did. But he would never jeopardize her relationship and engagement. His feelings had to remain strictly platonic no matter how hard it was. He didn't want to lose his friendship with her, so his feelings had to be kept in check.

It was nearing the end of August, and both were already dreading the last day they would get to spend together. She had two weeks left in Rosewood before she had to return to New York, back to Alex, and back to planning her wedding.

Aria sat on the window sill of Ezra's apartment, staring absentmindedly at the falling raindrops. Ezra had gone out to get food for them, after their plans of going to the amusement park with Hanna and Caleb were ruined by this rain storm.

"I'm back. Food is hot and ready."

Aria smiled up at him as she uncrossed her legs and walked to the dining table. "Smells delicious. Seems like this rain isn't wanting to stop?"

Ezra shook his head as he took the containers out of the paper sack. "Not at all."

"Well, dig in." He offered as he took out the last box.

A few hours later, they sat on his couch as reruns of Full House played. The brownies they had put in the oven 30 minutes ago were ready to be eaten as soon as the oven beeped. Ten minutes later, the pan lay on his coffee table, cooling off as they both stared at it impatiently.

"Do you think they're cool enough to eat now?" Aria asked.

"They better be." Ezra replied as he placed a slice on each of their plates. "Whipped cream?" He offered.

"Extra whipped cream."

Half of the pan of brownies was gone within ten minutes, and they both were slumped against the couch.

"I'm so full."

"Me too. I never thought your brownies would taste better than mine." Aria joked. "I see your cooking has improved."

"Well, I don't like to brag, but-"

Aria laughed, turning to face him. When she did, she regretted it. Resting on his upper lip was a dab of whipped cream. She had the sudden urge to lean over and kiss it right off. Why was she feeling like this? Why was that forgotten passion and desire returning now? It was wrong. It was so, so wrong. Her brain was yelling at her, telling her to look away, yet she couldn't find the strength to do so.

He noticed her staring, furrowing his eyebrow as he asked, "What?"

She swallowed hard, and suddenly, not being able to take it anymore, she leaned over, pressing her lips softly against his. As soon as their lips touched, that same warm feeling coursed through the veins. They both pulled back almost instantly, but as soon as their eyes met, their lips reconnected once again, and all around them was forgotten.

Aria's lips moved rhythmically against Ezra's as he cradled her face in his hands. She scooted closer to him, playing with the small hairs at the nape of his neck as she fisted his shirt, urging him closer to her. The fireworks between them didn't seem to stop, instead only increasing. The passion between them returned with ease as if it hadn't ever disappeared.

She needed more. She hadn't realized until now how much she missed that passion only she and Ezra shared. In a swift movement, she swung her leg over him, straddling him as they continued their very heated makeout session.

But as soon as Aria's small hands pulled on the hem of his t-shirt, a cold bucket of realization of what was happening was dumped onto Ezra.

"Aria stop." He panted, pulling away and desperately trying to catch his breath. "We can't."

Aria stared at him in confusement. They clearly both wanted this.

"You're engaged, Aria." He said in a defeated tone. "I won't let myself ruin that for you."

He gently pushed her off of him, walking around the room to try to calm himself down and get rid of his problem down below.

Aria sat speechless. He was right. She was engaged. When she was with Ezra, nothing else seemed to matter, especially not during that moment they had just shared. But she was engaged. Aria closed her eyes as she realized what she'd just done.

"I'm sorry, but I think it would be better if you left."

Aria agreed, grabbing her bag, whispering a quick goodbye as she headed out. Reaching her car, her phone rang. As she looked at the caller ID, a huge wave of guilt ran through her, but also, a wave of annoyance. The past month, she'd barely talked to Alex, only finding it inconvenient whenever he called.

She swiped her finger over "Decline" and drove back home.

No one would ever know about this. She'd push her flight to Sunday, instead of waiting two weeks, go back to New York, and Alex, and hopefully these strong feelings she was having for Ezra would disappear as soon as she got back.

She couldn't still love him, could she? She shook her head. Of course not. This was just the result of not seeing someone you once were connected with for two years, and seeing them again. Nothing more.

In just two days she'd be gone and Ezra would once again be long forgotten.

A/N: Part two is already written. I will post that next week when I get back from my camping trip. Please review! :)