Safe Guarded: The Courtship
Chapter One: Asking Permission
Summary: Andrew cares deeply for Aria's well-being, even more so after her injury. So he asks for Byron's permission to court Aria.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars.
As Andrew pulled to a stop in front of Aria's house, he took a deep breath. He had liked Aria for a while, and they had gone out a couple times as friends and now he wanted to take their relationship to the next level. So despite the fact that he knew that Aria wasn't home- she was currently out with her friends- she wasn't who he was at her house to talk to. Letting out his breath, Andrew put his car in park and got out. He was nervous about what he was about to ask Aria's father, but he knew that it was necessary for him to take the next step with Aria. Walking up the front path, Andrew tried to remember the small speech that he had written, but his mind was blank. All he could think about was Aria. Her smile. Her personality. How she made him feel when they were together. And before he knew it, he was standing face to face with Aria's father.
"Andrew, Aria's not here." Byron said.
"I know that Sir, I'm actually here to talk to you." Andrew replied.
"Come on in then." Byron said as he stepped aside and allowed Andrew to come into the house. "Is this going to be a conversation where I can be standing, or should we sit down?" Byron asked.
"I know that I personally should be sitting down, since I'm already pretty nervous, but you can choose which ever position you prefer." Andrew said.
"Sitting it is then." Byron said as he indicated the living room.
"Sir, I know that you don't know me well, and that there might be other guys in Aria's life that you have already come to trust her being with, but I would like to know if I could have your permission to court your daughter." Andrew said hastily once both he and Byron were sitting comfortably.
"Excuse me?" Byron asked.
"Mr. Montgomery, may I have your permission to court your daughter? My father courted my mother for quite a few years after they were friends for a while, and it was only once they had been courting for those few years that he proposed to her, and he raised me to always have respect for women. I care deeply for Aria, and I would like the chance to get to know her as more than a friend, but only if I have your permission to do so. Aria has told me parts of what she and her friends have been going through, and I would appreciate it immensely if I could be someone that can help protect her." Andrew explained more slowly after having taken another deep breath.
"Did Aria put you up to this?" Byron asked.
"No Sir; Aria doesn't know that I'm here. I haven't mentioned this to her yet, because I wanted to know that I had your approval to take your daughter out on dates as more than friends before I asked her out on one." Andrew said.
"As you mentioned, I don't know you very well." Byron said.
"No Sir, you don't. And if you need some time to talk it over with Aria's mother, and to get to know me better before you give your approval, or disapproval, then I completely understand and I am willing to do whatever is needed for you and Mrs. Montgomery to make a decision on me, either way." Andrew said.
"Give me just a moment please." Byron said to which Andrew nodded. "Ella, can you come down here please?" He called from the bottom of the stairs.
Coming back into the living room while Ella came downstairs, Byron studied Andrew. The boy was definitely an improvement from Ezra, actually being the same age as Aria, rather than her teacher, but Byron didn't know him well. Ella at least taught at the high school, so she would have a better gauge on whether Andrew should have the approval that he was asking for.
"Yes Byron?" Ella asked.
"We have company here that has asked permission to date, I'm sorry, to court Aria." Byron explained.
"Andrew? Is this true?" Ella asked as she turned from her ex-husband to Andrew.
"Yes Ma'am, it is. I care deeply for Aria, and after having been her tutor for as long as I have been now, I have stronger feelings for her than I used to. However, with that said, I do not want to pursue any form of a relationship beyond friendship without first having permission from you and Mr. Montgomery." Andrew explained.
"I see." Ella said as she glanced over at Byron.
"He said that if we need time to discuss it and get to know him better, that he would be willing to do so." Byron said with a shrug.
"Does Aria know that you are asking for our permission?" Ella asked.
"No Ma'am, she does not. I was raised to ask permission from the parents, and receiving it, before asking the girl out." Andrew said.
"Okay, before we can make a decision, I would like you to come over for dinner tonight. We can start to get to know you a little bit more, and then we can go from there." Ella said before turning to Byron. "Does that work? This is your house." She added.
"Tonight doesn't work, but tomorrow night does." Byron said as he went back to studying Andrew.
"What time would you like me to be here tomorrow night?" Andrew asked.
"Why don't you get here around 6 o'clock, and we'll probably have dinner around 7 o'clock." Byron said.
"I will be here at 6 o'clock then." Andrew said with a smile.
"Would you like to tell Aria that we invited you over for dinner, or would you like us to ask you to come over?" Ella asked as Andrew stood up.
"As much as I don't want to lie to your daughter, I can tell her that I forgot that she was with her friends and when I stopped by, you invited me. If I end up getting your permission to date her, I will tell her the truth at that point. If after you've gotten to know me, and you feel like you cannot give me your permission, I will most likely still tell her the truth. However, no matter which way the two of you end up going with your decision, Aria will know the truth at some point and until then, please know that I will be feeling extremely guilty about having to lie to her." Andrew said after a couple minutes of thinking it over.
"I can accept that." Ella said with a nod.
"I guess we will see you tomorrow evening then Andrew." Byron added.
"Yes, I will see you tomorrow evening. Thank you both for taking the time to hear me out. I do apologize for just showing up out of the blue. I don't usually just show up unannounced." Andrew apologized.
"It's quite alright Andrew. Have a good evening." Ella said with a smile as she led Andrew to the front door.
"You too Mrs. Montgomery." Andrew said as he left and headed back to his car.
Once he reached his car, Andrew pulled his phone out of the center console and checked to see if he had missed any calls or texts. He didn't have any missed calls or voicemails, but he did have a text from Aria. With a smile, Andrew unlocked his phone to check the text.
Meet me at The Brew. – Aria
On my way. – Andrew
After hitting send, Andrew started his car and started towards the coffee shop. Despite not having gotten an answer from Aria's parents yet, Andrew couldn't wipe the smile from his face. He had managed to get through the daunting task of asking Aria's parents for permission to date their daughter, and they had agreed to think about it and to let him know once they had made their decision. And now he was going to meet the very girl that he was wanting to date. Pulling into a spot across the street from The Brew, Andrew turned off his car and got out. Spotting Aria with her friends and their significant others, Andrew smiled. While it wasn't exactly how he wanted to spend time with her, he was going to take any time that she gave him. Since her back was to him, Aria didn't know that he was there yet, but her friends spotted him and he put his finger to his lips, asking them to stay quiet. However, with a small shake of the head from Spencer, indicating to not sneak up on Aria, Andrew nodded and cleared his throat as he reached the group.
"Andrew, you're here." Aria said with a huge smile as she turned around.
"Just like you asked me to be. What are you all up to?" Andrew asked as he pulled Aria towards him and placed a light kiss to the top of her head before wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"We were thinking of heading upstairs to Toby's apartment and playing some games and hanging out for the evening." Aria replied with a hopeful smile.
"Sounds good to me. I have nothing else planned for tonight." Andrew said. "Lead the way." He added to Toby.
For the rest of the evening, Andrew enjoyed spending time with Aria and her friends. He reveled in how nice it felt to hold Aria in his arms whenever she would lean against him. If it wasn't for the consistent thought of which way her parents were going to go with their decision, Andrew would have let himself feel like they were already dating and that they were simply on a group date with her friends. It had been about half way through the evening when Aria received a text and Andrew felt her body go stiff.
"Is everything okay Aria?" Andrew asked as she checked the text and her body relaxed.
"Yeah, everything is okay. Would you like to come over to dinner tomorrow night at 6?" Aria asked.
"I would love to come over. With as often as I'm there tutoring you, and with as often as you and I are hanging out, I think it would be a good time to officially meet your parents so that they know who you are spending your time with." Andrew said with a smile.
"That does make sense. And I would like you to meet my parents." Aria said with a smile of her own before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Hey, what kind of pizza would you two like?" Toby asked.
"I'm good with whatever you guys are ordering." Andrew said.
"Vegetarian please. Just no onions." Aria replied.
"And drinks?" Spencer asked.
"Sprite." Aria and Andrew said together.
"Isn't that just adorable?" Hanna said with a smirk. "They're talking in unison." She finished.
"Ha-ha, very funny Hanna." Aria said with a roll of her eyes as she moved onto Andrew's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Okay, so the pizzas should be here in about an hour, so what game would everyone like to play while we wait?" Spencer asked.
"Trivial Pursuit?" Aria suggested.
"That would be an unfair advantage for you and Toby… you are both with two of the smartest people in school. What about the rest of us?" Hanna asked with a pout.
"How about we play girls versus guys?" Andrew offered.
"Then the teams would be uneven." Emily pointed out.
"I don't think that we would mind much." Caleb said with a shrug.
"Not at all. And this way, the girls have Spence and we have Drew." Toby added before turning to Andrew. "Do you mind being called Drew?" He asked.
"It's better than Andy." Andrew replied with a small shudder.
"You know that I'm going to start calling you Andy now, right?" Aria asked under her breath.
"I can deal with it if it's coming from you." Andrew replied in a low voice of his own. "Is it settled that it's the girls versus the guys?" He added in a normal voice.
"It's the best option that we have to try to even things out." Spencer said with a nod.
As Toby went to the cupboard to get the game and put the previous game away, Andrew stared at Aria. She was so beautiful and he couldn't imagine what he would do if her parents came back to him with a negative response to him dating her. He was beyond just liking her. He was infatuated with her and he just couldn't get her out of his head. Her smile; her eyes; her laugh; her body; everything about her occupied every thought in his head, and just the thought of how she would react to certain things, impacted and influenced every decision he had made since they had started spending time together.
"You're staring at her dude." Caleb said bringing Andrew out of his thoughts.
"I know… I can't stop staring at her when she's in my presence. I really like her." Andrew admitted.
"Ask her out then. We've got a bet going on when you two will officially call yourselves a real couple." Caleb said.
"It's not that simple for me." Andrew replied.
"What can be simpler than asking the girl that you like to go out on a date with you?" Caleb asked.
"It would be simple, if I had her parents' permission, but they haven't given it yet." Andrew said.
"You went old school and asked for Byron and Ella's permission to date Aria?" Caleb asked.
"Yeah, this afternoon. They said that they would think about it and let me know." Andrew replied.
"That can score major brownie points with the other girls. And with Aria. Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily have been through a lot. Toby, Paige and I have been through a lot with them. And while Aria's ex had been through even more than me, Toby and Paige to be with Aria, he wasn't right for her, and he hurt her too many times. She deserves to be with someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that all aspects of her life that he can be a part of are happy aspects." Caleb explained.
"What have they all been through? Aria won't tell me." Andrew questioned.
"That's not my place to say. Give her some time to warm up to the idea of having you there once you are her boyfriend. It took all of the girls quite a while to tell each of their significant others about what was going on. And we have all been there for them as best as we could since then. But keep in mind that with Aria, you do get the rest of the girls, and the rest of us as well." Caleb said.
"Duly noted." Andrew said with a nod. "It's a step in the right direction to have the support from you, Toby and Paige." He added.
"Well, you have me and Toby in your corner. I'm not sure about Paige right now. She can be a hard one to read." Caleb said with a shrug.
"Well, I am being as patient as I possibly can to make sure that I get Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery's permission. Hopefully by the time I get their permission, I will have Paige in my corner as well. I know that I have the other girls." Andrew said.
"It'll work out in the end Drew. Don't worry too much over it. Just enjoy the time that you get to spend with her. Whether it's just with Aria, or with all of us." Caleb said before he walked over to Hanna and slid into the spot behind her.
"I'm trying not to worry." Andrew muttered to himself.