Going to keep this brief…

I would like to thank Lyndsey for giving me the inspiration to write this oneshot. I wasn't even planning on writing it, yet here I am. I just thought that this could be my first Ezria oneshot and hopefully all of you like it! Slight note: I will be totally disregarding as to the fact that Maggie and Malcolm exist. I hate that storyline, so I will not be including them in this story.

Please sound off in the reviews and give me in some feedback. They'll be very much appreciated. Please constructive criticism and no burning!

Happy Ezria Sex Anniversary!

Disclaimer: "Wicked Game" belongs to Chris Isaak respectively (I used Phillip Phillips's cover of it for the lyrics. Listen to it if you haven't already). Ezra and Aria belong to ABCFamily of which I did not work for and probably never will blah blah blah you know the drill.

The World Was on Fire

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do
I'd never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you

The eight days before the first day of spring in the month of March were a striking craze in the small town of Rosewood. They were a sign of rebirth and a signal that winter was spitting out its last embers before its fiery coals finally died down. Birds began to return home to their nestlings in the almost flowering oak trees of the village park. The snow had turned into slush underneath the tires of the automobiles that raveled the two way streets of the seven thousand populous city limits that ran for an estimated sixteen miles. The icicles were leaving trails of their tears in puddles, dripping and leaving waves in their wake. The fading winter sun left untouched shadows as it began to disappear from the sky.

With birth also came death. Nothing on Earth was immortal, nothing was everlasting; not even the relationship that had been through so much in its durability through eighteen months of heartache and trauma mixed with unconditional desire and a connection that almost seemed to be as unbreakable as the chains that had once attempted to bind it to its prison wall. Because there, in an apartment third from the ground and second from the creaky three flights of stairs, there the two people sat across from each other with no touch and no movement. No words came from either set of their trembling lips. They stared hard at the table between them. Their statures were shaking as if they were cold, when, in reality, they were waiting for the inventible future to come crashing onto them. And that future sat between them on that slab of glass.

It wasn't anything but an envelope. It sat as a cloak in the dim lighting of the loft, just lying there on the living room table. It wasn't opened; the seal was unbroken and the paper was still white with three stamps. It teased the couple who continued to glare at it with two sets of narrowed eyes; one was smoldering lava of a deep ocean indigo while their counterparts were a creamy tint of hazel with a dimmer tone of ashy chocolate ashes around the pupils. What should have been a happy event was the exact opposite as a sense of dread set in the atmosphere of the one-roomed loft. The results that lied within that package would tell them the fate that they were now not so anxious to learn.

After a few blinks, the blue-eyed man with the slight curls to his dark auburn hair made a movement, the length of his jawbone tightening with a strain. It was clear that he was battling the reality of the one in his head and the one that sat right in front of him in the shield of the almost vacant packet. He slowly slid it over to his girlfriend who was on the other side of the stand that sat between their knees. He cleared his throat and gestured to the envelope, the words catching before they finally tumbled put from their place on his tongue, "Well, you might as well open it, Aria." He pushed himself to his feet and trudged over to the kitchen, with his hands in the pockets of his slim straight Levis. He was stressed. Every fiber of his being spewed out embers of homeostasis and he could practically feel his blood boil as he took a swig of scotch. The alcohol numbed the reality of the possibilities that were lying out in front of him and his relationship that seemed to get through everything. This time, however, wasn't as simple.

Aria rubbed the tabs of her fingers against the bare skin of the tiny legs beneath her on the leather sofa, apprehension entering her bloodstream. She knew that this day was coming months ago when she applied, but in that moment, she was hesistantly waiting to open it. She knew that she and her boyfriend of over a year would have to make adjustments to their relationship. That was what scared her the most. What if while she was away, he found someone else? What if she found someone who suited her better? Though she highly doubted that that the second hypothetical question would turn out to be matter-of-fact, she was not even eighteen yet and she had hardly ever left Rosewood, apart from the eleven months she had lived in Iceland. She had so much of the world to see that was more than this one room apartment that she had called her home since she came home from Europe the summer before last. Aria loved this man with all her heart and she knew that he knew that, especially with everything that they had gone through since their coming to be together eighteen months before.

However, life had a chance of throwing in curveballs; they'd both seen it. Even though they were used to dodging them, perhaps this one would be too large for them to handle. And that was the terrifying fact that they both had to face.

She looked up at her companion who was making his way back to the living room, his glass of scotch still on the counter of the kitchen. He didn't return to his place on the soft-cushioned loveseat that sat on the side opposite of her. Instead, he sat beside her, his arm coming around her shoulders, resting on the leather sofa. It was a gesture that both of them had grown used to and she instinctively moved to encompass him, curling up closer to the heat radiating off of his body. She peered over at him, finding no surprise to finding his mysterious oceanic gaze locking with her hazel one, "Ezra, even if I did get in, which is highly unlikely since it's one of the top schools in Southern California, not to mention all of the United States, it's not going to change anything between us. It doesn't necessarily mean that I'll even go there. I've already been accepted to two of the ones ten miles away from Philly, not to mention Hollis. Just because I get accepted to California State University on the Long Beach campus, I may not go and-"

Ezra shook his head at her, his lips pursed. He felt as though he was about to break down and shed tears at the thought of losing her again. He knew that when she was ready to go to college that there was a chance that he would face the inevitable chance of her leaving him behind, off to find bigger and better things as she grew up and got to experience the world. He had already had his share and that was one of the things that he hated: the seven year age difference that sat between them.

He had already been to college, he had travelled by bike across Europe as an undergrad and he had the experience that his girlfriend was left to gain as soon as she received her high school diploma in two and a half months and threw her hat in the air with her friends and classmates. She would have her graduation celebration and then she would be preparing to go to university. He had thought of tagging along with her, just to make sure that he wouldn't lose the only woman who seemed to understand him. He didn't have any reason to stay in Rosewood after Aria left; she was the only reason he had stuck around after losing his placement at Hollis. Although he liked the rural town, he didn't see himself staying there if Aria decided to leave.

The twenty-four year old knew, however, that if he really did love her and if she did accepted into that school in California, he would have to let her go. He couldn't hold her down by telling her that she had to go to college in Pennsylvania just because he was terrified of the fact that he may lose her. And he couldn't just go with her, even though he would in a heartbeat if she asked him to. She had to make a choice that completely her own and he would go along with it because that's what was she wanted and even if he didn't like it, Ezra would let her go and wait for her every day until she came back, his numb arms waiting for her searing embrace to enter them again and make his chilled bones warm. He loved her more than anything else in the world and he had to prove it by letting her do what her mind told her, even if it broke his heart into shattered fragments in the process.

"Do you hear yourself talking right now? You're really willing to give up your future for me? Do you know how naïve and stupid that makes you sound" He replied, his fists tightening in frustration. He had not intended for it to come out so harsh, but if she wanted him to be honest, then he would have to do it. He would have to hurt her feelings, which had a rebound period of about five seconds. Maybe if they took a longer time to recover, it would make it easier for her to leave and not turn down this opportunity in California because of him. He knew that she wouldn't back down with an intense argument that they would later regret. These words needed to be said, though.

"What did you just call me?" She pulled away from him, her hazel eyes filling with fury, "Did you really just call me stupid?"

"Think about it, Aria!" The veins in Ezra's neck stiffened against the surface of his skin as his face reddened, "You're saying that you want to take little classes per semester at a local college in the town that you have been in for your entire life to be with a man that you are so determined to stay with instead of going to your dream school that you haven't stopped talking about since I met you last fall!"

"If you're here, then I don't want to go anywhere else. I love you, Ezra! Why are you still so determined to push away anyone who may care about you? We've been with each other over a year now and you're still willing to let me slip away because it may make me happy. When will you get it through that thick skull of yours that the only way of my being happy is by being with you! And I know you well enough to say you feel the same about me as I do you!"

He rolled his eyes, pulling his arm away from behind her shoulders, his eyes avoiding hers, "I love you, too, Aria. You know that I would give up everything and anything to be with you for the rest of forever." The words caught in his throat before he set his jaw stubbornly, feeling the tension between the two of them began to extend between all the walls of the apartment, "And it's because I love you that I have to let you go and explore the world. I don't want you to give up on your dreams because of me. It would be selfish of me to do that to you. I need to let you go and let you explore the world without you towing your former high school English teacher along with you."

"Are you freaking serious, Ezra? You still only see yourself as my English teacher?" She raised her voice at him, feeling anguish mixed with rage as she fought to keep calm, which was hard to do when her boyfriend was pretty much telling her that he was giving up on them so if, or when, she left, it would be easier for the two of them to bear without each other. Hadn't they already proven that their ability of staying away for the good of their lives has a very treacherous record of failing?

"You need to go to Cali without the ball and chain that I am to you at the time being. You need to forget about me! Experience the world and have adventures before you make a decision about this, about us. This is a wicked game that we both need to stop playing and put the pieces away!"

That comment stung Aria as if it were peroxide meeting a wound on her skin. She had been so sure about their feelings for each other that she had never even thought of the idea if Ezra loving her so much that was willing to give up on them because he thought it would make her happy to be free of any burdens when she went to college. She knew it would make her the exact opposite because to her Ezra was nowhere near being a burden to her, "This is a game I never planned on playing when we first met and now it's like Monopoly. Us against the world and we may be broke and can't borrow from the bank, but we still manage with handle the pieces with care. I never thought I would fall in love with somebody like you, but then again I never thought I would lose somebody like you, either!"

She had been sure of her strong passion for her romance with him for eighteen months and there they were having the almost exact argument that they had had over a year prior. Aria knew that he loathed the idea of them being apart for so long. The seventeen year old knew him all too well, well enough to know when he was displeased with a certain situation. He thought that she didn't note the patterns that overtook him when he was upset, that she wouldn't notice the darker shade of indigo in his eyes mixed with angry tears, the way his jaw was set in a tense line of hardened bone, the very hint of his fingertips trembling with anxiety.

"Monopoly has to have a winner, Aria." Ezra muttered through gritted teeth, his firsts tight with rage, "Otherwise this world is going to break our hearts and steal all that we have built."

"So, what you're saying is that you want me to pick up and leave you for a school that is forty hours away from you while you stay here in Rosewood for an entirety of four months?" Aria huffed and pushed herself up to her feet, on the usual path around the right end of the edge of the sofa to sit on the bed behind the sofa, wanting to space out the distance between them. After all, if she got into this university in deep Southern California, it was something that they would have to get used to, "I would give up everything to be with you! I thought you wanted that, too!"

She never had the chance to sit down because soon Ezra stood as well, following her with the envelope in hand. He was angry, hurt and confused and they were soon in each other's faces, their panting heavy and infuriating, "If you think that I want you to leave, then you don't know me at all. I would like nothing more for you to open this letter and you not be accepted, but do you know how selfish that would make me? That would be like you saying that I'm not allowed to teach anymore here in Rosewood High." He stared at the ceiling, angry at himself and at Aria and pretty much the entire world, "If pushing you away is what it takes you to realize how much I love you by making you go to California to your dream school, then so be it!"

"I think you put up a good front, Fitz, but you're not as convincing as you make yourself out to be. Don't push me away and then say you're doing this for me. You have always been a hard-headed bastard that won't accept the fact that this, that we are built to last. We've made it through so much and now you sound like everything you ever said to me about spending our lives together for rest of forever was just something that sounded good at the time!"

Ezra moved closer to her, where his hot breath was right on the scarlet surface of her face, his voice lowering into a furious murmur, "Do you honestly believe that I don't want to spend the rest of my life with you?" He pointed at the package in his grasp, tears threatening to spill over and around his eyelids. He didn't cry though; his girlfriend had never seen him weep before and he didn't plan on letting her be exposed to that right then, not when it was mainly out him being terrified of her leaving him behind. He was shaking and he couldn't seem to stop, "This college isn't our future. It's yours. I don't want you to give to give up on California State because of us. I won't let you!"

"Then what I am I still doing here having this argument with you if you really want me to leave so much?" She screamed in his face, finally letting out all of her emotions that she had bottled up for the entire conversation.

Ezra squatted slightly to get down to her height to look at her straight in the eyes with his hands coming beside his temples, his fingers twining fiercely into the waves of his dark brown hair, "I don't know! Why don't you get a head start and just leave already? That's what you're going to end up doing anyway! You're going to leave and forget about me and all of the times that we've had together, for that I can be certain of!" His words got stuck in the clot forming in the inside walls of his throat, "You're going to go to California, graduate from college, marry a great guy who you haven't had to hide your relationship before going public after six months, and have kids that become athletes and academic honors students." He stared down at her, his breathing caught with the catches in his throat, "You're going to forget about me! So, just leave already!"

"You're an idiot! If you're afraid that I can forget about everything that we've been through together, you're stupider than I ever have been. I may be three thousand miles away, but I will never forget about my first love because you're going to be my only love! Do you hear me, you crazy son of a bitch? You're going to be my first and last love!"

That was when their lips crashed in a heated and passionate craze. They were fuming with embers of rage and that only made them crazier for each other. Ezra threw the envelope down onto the night stand in order to give himself the ability to rip the blouse apart from Aria's body, breaking the buttons from it to where it easily slipped off her body, leaving her in a spaghetti strap shirt. She tore his t-shirt over his head, her hands sliding up the surface of his stomach. He began digging his fingers into her waist to lift her up to where her legs twined around his waist, supporting her weight with the vivid strength of his arms. Aria moaned as his lips moved and met her neck, biting and sucking on the thin surface of her gradually growing sweaty skin.

Ezra tackled his girlfriend onto the bed, sliding her skirt down her legs and tossing it to the floor, his smoldering eyes spewing out indigo lava full of lust. He began to kiss the inside of her thigh, teasing her as she wiggled and moaned in pleasure, feeling butterflies in her stomach. While he made himself busy, Aria unbuckled Ezra's belt of his faded wash jeans and undid the button, feeling him shake. Both of them were trembling profusely and they couldn't stop.

Their intense movements must have bumped the record player on the second shelf of his book ledge because the soft voice of Chris Isaak started to sing, the audio perfect on the spin of the venal against the needle of the player. The two didn't notice through their moans and cries of lust and love as they prepared for what they knew what was about to happen.

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do
No, I'd never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you
And I'd never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you

Ezra moved his lips back up her body to where his mouth met hers again in a sexually driven obsession, biting and pulling at her lips just as she was. He kicked his jeans off of his legs so they could join Aria's skirt on the carpet below before helping her get rid of the spaghetti strap shirt, leaving her in just a bra as he was only in his boxer briefs that clung to his abdomen rather nicely, Aria noted yet again. He threw her shirt behind his shoulder before planting another kiss to her moist mouth. Meanwhile, she ran her hands up and down the contour lines of her boyfriend's stomach, having a sense of thrill going through her as she felt every muscle of his body flex automatically to the excitement that was brought with her inflicting her touch onto him.

Her lips were rushed and harsh against his, their tongues fighting for dominance. Her fingers ran up Ezra's body to furiously twine into his hair. Her body was crushed against his large one which was moving rhythmically on top of hers, no remaining space; only heat, passion, lust, and tension. His arms crushed against her back and around her waist with his long and trembling fingers tightly digging in the skin that lied in both locations. Ezra could feel Aria's fingernails dig into his back and he could hear the pant of her breathing.

What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way
What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you
What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way
What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you

He pulled back and looked at his girlfriend below him, seeing her face and receiving a sense of comfort from the twinkle in the hazel depths of her eyes as he reached over and pulled a package from his nightstand drawer, knowing that they were going to need it later in the coming chilly winter night. Aria glanced up at him with a seductive smile pulling at the corners of her lips, "It's like Déjà vu." She reached up and stroked his scruffy cheek with her hand, remembering at last on how this night was one that was important enough to have a huge argument about the future on, "It's been one year since we first made this sacred ground."

He grinned at the nickname that she had made for their bed. He would have to start calling it that as well because he knew how true it was. He kissed her sweaty forehead, his mouth lingering on the salty skin before breathing heavily against it, his left arm balancing his weight to keep him from crushing her completely, "Happy Anniversary to our sacred ground."

There was no need for an answer as their lips met again in a fiery heat of passion and anger that had been stored up for so long. They knew that the future was on their shoulders and the fate of their relationship was over their heads. But as they slowly fell into the sounds of their moans and cries of fervor, echoing throughout the apartment, their hands twined on top of the pillows below Aria's head, they couldn't care less. They were going to make love the only way that they knew how to, which was when agony, anguish, trauma, and tears were involved.

They wouldn't have it any other way.

No, I don't wanna fall in love, no
No, I don't wanna fall in love
This world will break your heart
Nobody's falling in love

After their evening adventures in their own personal Disneyworld and a short nap, the couple lied together on the bed, or sacred ground, covered from a wrinkled sheet and a misshapen bedspread that hid them from vulnerability, wearing nothing but the company of one another. Aria had her head against her boyfriend's bare chest while it rose and fell rhythmically in the pattern of his breath as he fought the urge of sleep, his fingers twirling around little strands of her hair.

"Ezra?" She asked as she traced a tab of one of her fingers up and around the contour lines of his abdomen, seeing the faint lines of his abs that he didn't particularly like to flaunt.

"Hm?" He breathed in response, a bit of his eyes peering open.

She picked her head up and pulled away to look over at him, her hand finding his underneath the covers and Ezra soon sat up along with her, their backs resting against the shelf behind them, the cobalt depths of the orbs of his eyes curious of what she had to say. She didn't want to cause another huge fight such as the one they had had hours before they made up in the hottest way, "Did you really think that I was going to forget about everything that we've been through together if I got into California State?"

He shook his head, biting his bottom lip as he peered shyly at his girlfriend beside him. This was a sensitive subject for him to discuss, "I honestly don't know. I like to think that you wouldn't, but California is full of men that can do things with you that neither of you had ever done before. I've been through college, Aria. I've seen what it's like and how the boys act. And that was just at a little college of this one-horse town in suburban Pennsylvania. I can't imagine the ones in Southern Cali."

He swallowed hard and he could feel her hazel gaze on his face, watching his every move and facial expression as he furthered his response, "I said all of those things because I want you to feel like you can experience those things without the ball and chain that I am to you sometimes. And don't deny that. There were a lot of firsts that we won't be able to have together because I've already had them."

Aria shook her head, a dark smile forming on her face, "So, what makes you think that I wouldn't want to experience those things with you because it would be my first time doing them. Like studying abroad in Europe, the Caribbean, or Asia. Or going to a frat party on a Saturday night to do keg stands. I don't want to get drunk with a stranger who would only take advantage of me; I want to get drunk with you." She ruffled his hair and he shook it playfully and leaned over and kissed her temple, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

She continued as she stared at him with a tender and affectionate gaze, "I want to experience these firsts with you, even if it's not your first time doing them. I don't want to head off to another state, which also happens to be across the country, without someone I love at my side. Thus the reason I considered not taking the offer if I even made it in. If you don't want to follow me around like some groupie, then I am going to stay here to be with you because there isn't anyone else I rather spend my post high school education with. Whether if makes me stupid or not, I'm not leaving your side, Ezra Fitz." She played with his fingers as if they were Tarzan and Jane meeting for the first time on the old Disney move.

And in the some way, it was if they were meeting again in that old pub in downtown Rosewood, just off of the Hollis campus.

Ezra reached with shaking and tentative fingers to brush a loose lock of her hair away from the soft tenderness of her face back into place behind the shield of her ear, his thumb making tiny circles in the pattern of her rosy right cheek. He peered at her, his breath leaving chilled goose-bumps on her skin, "Babe, this is your dream school. You've been talking about nothing else for over a year." He swallowed hard, using his free hand to wipe forming drops of salt water from the corners of his eyes. She knew that these words pained for him to say, "I know it's forty hours and almost three thousand miles away, but if you got in and turn it down to take quarterly classes at Hollis because otherwise we'd be apart, you would hate me forever." As Aria began to protest, he cut her off, "Part of you will always regret not taking the chance of going to school in Long Beach and I know at this very moment that you're going to take out some of that on me, if, God willing, we're still together."

He continued after leaning forward and clasping the sealed white envelope on the floor beside the bed underneath the pile of clothes that they left in their wake. He turned it over lightly in the tender movements of his fingers, "And although I am going to hate being apart from you for so long, I know that you're going to do fantastic when you're out there. It has one of the best liberal arts programs in all of America. Please don't miss out on this amazing opportunity by waiting to open this envelope." He handed it to Aria, his motions expressing every description that meant hesitant, "We'll figure this out. We always do."

She leaned up and brushed her mouth against his, tasting the tension on the moisture of his lips wash away as hers met them. The kiss lasted for a few moments before she pulled away and Ezra gave her a tentative flash of her favorite smile, gesturing to the envelope that was in her grasp, "We'll open it together. Whether you made it in or not, I'm always here for you." She watched as his jaw tightened even more and she moved in closer to him, laying the side of her head on his shoulder for a moment, finding his shoulders beginning to unwind as her touch met his.

"Thank you, Ezra. I can't imagine opening this with anyone else." She tightened her grip on his hand, "I love you." She whispered underneath her breath.

She could hear the smile in his voice as he murmured in response, his thumb making a circular pattern on the side of hers, "I love you, too." She felt his lips in her hair, his mouth giving each individual strand a kiss.

Her gaze lowered from his as she cast a glance at it, running her tentative fingers over the Arial font on the front, encasing her name in the thin material with the tabs of her fingers, feeling the first wave of excitement wash over her. Usually these sorts of things were celebrated with friends and family, but to Aria, Ezra was both of those and she couldn't see herself opening the package that would decide the resulting factor of their relationship once and for all. This wasn't just about her; it was about them.

She took a deep breath and gathering comfort from the squeeze of her boyfriend's hand on her bare leg underneath the thin material of the sheet that covered them, she broke the seal of the envelope and sliced it the flap open, careful not to give herself a paper cut. With a tiny prayer, her eyes squeezed shut, she reached into the envelope and pulled out the single piece of letter that lied inside it. With a reassuring rub on the small of her back from Ezra, she slowly opened the letter and began to read it:

Dear Aria Montgomery,

Congratulations on your acceptance to California State University Long Beach to attend the 2012-2013 fall semester with your fellow classmates here on the Long Beach campus in September.

You are now challenged with making the very important decision of selecting which college or university you are going to attend. We know that this can often be an extremely difficult decision for the young man or woman about to enter college.

We, at California State University Long Beach, recognize the importance of your decision and the commitment it entails to learn and develop by means of association with an outstanding center of learning. As awesome as it may sound, this decision may very well have an impact on the quality of your life.

We encourage you to visit our campus if you can. If you have not made a commitment as to where you will attend college next fall, I hope you will carefully evaluate the information contained in this letter and seriously consider our university.

My very best wishes to you for a successful collegiate experience, and I sincerely hope you will be joining us here at California State University Long Beach in the fall.

Both of the people on the messy bed froze and as soon as they were able to find the will power to look away from the acceptance later, they looked over at each other. Their gazes locked and Ezra was the first to speak, "Aria." All he said was that one word because they both knew what was going to happen. However, instead of worrying about the future that they could not control, they just lied down and turned off the light and sat in dark. His arm came around Aria as she placed the letter on the nightstand on the other side of Ezra and cuddled up on the contour shape of his body, entangling her nakedness with his.

They both began to cry, either tears of joy or sadness, neither of them knew. They didn't want to express as to why tears were rolling down both of their cheeks. They felt perfectly fine in pure silence that soon filled the apartment. All they heard were cars driving sluggishly down the roads that were covered in slushy melted snow and ice mixed with gravel and charcoal pavement grease.

They would never know just how beautiful they were to each other, but they were just in love. They weren't guilty of anything else, but the craze and fervor that they felt for one another, especially at moments like this when they lied there in complete peace, with her head cradled on his chest while his chin found it's normal spot on top of her head. Their heartbeats were even with each other's in each passing pump that sent blood through their veins.

"Ezra…" She choked out through a sob in her throat and she felt Ezra instinctively hold her closer, murmuring comforting words into her ear as if to congratulate her or because he was enjoying the moment that they together in the vulnerability of that moment of just lying together in a heap of skin and sheets.

He rubbed her arms in a steady rhythm, "What is it, Aria?" His own voice was scratched, rough, and choked up from tears.

"I got in."