A/N: So, this is another story. I've been wanting to upload this for a while, but I really didn't want to start another story without finishing the others. I am definitely planning to finish them because having incomplete stories makes me feel like a failure. It just that I've been writing and nothing is seeming to flow right, where as this story is. So, I thought I'd upload this in the meantime whilst I plan on updating my other stories. I don't want to rush the other FanFictions because rushed work just comes out sloppy and I've not been entirely happy with my recent updates. I do hope you enjoy this one though and I promise to update my other stories as soon as I am pleased with what I've written. Thank you all for the support.

Btw, the italics are future/present and the normal text is past/present. Either way, the italic writing occurred after the normal.

Chapter 1

Her Happiness

"I fucking hate you." Aria spat at Ezra before storming into their room and slamming the door behind her.

Ezra stood frozen as his mind reeled over the words Aria had just said. His pain quickly transformed into rage as the tension built in his upper body, his fist clenching and unclenching at his side whilst his jaw did the same. In the spur of the moment, he stormed after her, his tight fist banging harshly on the wooden door. When his efforts did not prevail, he barged himself against the door, but once again it was no use as there proved to be something preventing his entry. His anger grew as he heard Aria ranting from the other side, her words barely comprehendible, the fact he was unable to defend himself made his frustration grow. After a few more attempts to barge through the door, he finally entered, the chest of drawers that blocked his way moving enough for him to slide in through the gap.

Once he entered he was instantly attacked with an onslaught of punches from Aria's petite hands that clumsily, though determinedly, collided with his chest. Her exertions to pain him didn't succeed, however, the fact that she wanted to hurt him so much definitely had an effect on him emotionally rather than physically. Ezra raised his hands and Aria gasped as her wide fearful eyes gazed up at the threatening hand, they were no threat to her though, but to himself as he began furiously slapping his own face. Her futile attacks came to a sudden halt as she stepped back and watched as Ezra's hands continued to collide with his face, the sound of his harsh slaps making Aria wince. She suddenly gripped his wrists-surprised at her own actions- prying his hands away from his face and stationing them at his side. She let go of him and immediately wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her head burying into the crook of his neck.

Ezra remained still for a while until, eventually, his arms ascended to her waist where they wrapped themselves. Aria let out a breath of relief at his response to her desperate need to calm him, showing her true affections towards him. She took this as a good sign and gripped him a little tighter, tip toeing slightly to reach his cheek where she placed a tender kiss. His jaw relaxing at her touch.

"I'm sorry. Please don't leave me." She pleadingly whispered through her sniffles and hiccups.

"I love you so much." he responded, hoping his words would comfort her and reassure her in the fact that he had no plan on ever leaving her.

He loved her too much to allow a few fights to get in the way of their relationship, the fact that she was so insecure that she believed that one fight would make their relationship crumble definitely saddened him. Why she never believed his promises bemused him.

"I love you too." She huffed, something about his reply didn't settle her in the way she hoped it would.

Just because you loved someone didn't mean that you wouldn't leave them.

"I think we did a good job." Ezra proudly stated as he pretended to dust of his hands before placing them on his hips.

Aria didn't respond and instead sat on the hard wooden floor, beside the bed they had just made, fighting for breath. She threw her fatigued body against the floor, her head colliding with the ground and creating a loud thud. She pretended that she didn't feel the pain, even though her head pounded from the impact. She heard as Ezra stifled a laugh and shot him an angered look before closing her eyes to try suppressing the pain.

"You're so darn cute." Ezra teasingly cooed as he lowered himself to the ground beside her, marvelling at his beautiful girlfriend even in her sweaty, exhausted state.

"I'm not cute, I'm sexy." Aria corrected, not bothering to spare him a look as she continued to rest her heavy eyelids, content on sleeping on the floor since the bed was yet to support a mattress.

"You can be both." Ezra hot breath fanned her ear, his closeness surprising her.

Her eyes shot open and she realised that Ezra was now lying beside her, that sultry look in his eyes told her exactly what was on his mid. His hand then caressed her stomach before becoming stationary on her waist, riding up her top so he could feel her warm skin against his hand.

"Right now I am too tired to partake in what you've got on your mind." Aria playfully warned as a smirk grew on her lips, her eyes closing once again.

"I don't know what you could possibly be referring to." He said, feigning his innocence though the feeling of his lips against the sensitive skin of her neck proved that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

She couldn't oppress the pleasurable moan that hummed in her throat, mentally cursing herself for being so easily persuaded by his magical ministration that sent her body into paralysed bliss. She refused to succumb to his advances though, not allowing her teenage hormones to rule her decisions.

"I'm too tired and hungry." She light-heartedly groaned, but made no effort to stop him as his lips began ascending from her neck to her lips. His lips pressed against hers with vigour, but she didn't kiss back, instead she tried to worm away from him. "Ezra." she warned as she pushed him away from her. "Get off of me."

Ezra did as he was told, noticing as her tone was humourless and actually serious in her protests.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she marched out of the room. He wasn't sure why she was being this way with him, they used to always play around like this and if she didn't want to do anything then he certainly wouldn't try anything, he just wanted to have some harmless fun with his girlfriend.

Sometimes he wondered if they had moved this all too fast. Since Aria got accepted into UPenn, they had both decided to move to Philadelphia to be closer to the college since Ezra didn't mind doing the 40 minute drive back to Rosewood High if it meant he could be close to Aria. He didn't expect it to be like this though. He thought now that they were living together it would be easier, no more hiding, no more secrecy, but something in Aria had changed and it wasn't for the better.

They had been living there for a week and Ezra was beginning to wonder if it was the right thing to do. She had been distant from him for the past week, they hadn't had sex in three days, and it wasn't because they had been sleeping on the couch- it was starting to take a toll on Ezra. He missed their intimacy, they had only been together for two years, but their distance would suggest that they had been married for years. Their spark wasn't supposed to die out so soon.

He was so unsure how to approach her anymore, it had been a week of this and Ezra pretended as if her attitude hadn't been affecting him as greatly as it truly had. He decided that now he was going to be upfront and asking her what the problem was rather than beating around the bush.

"Aria, what's going on?" Ezra asked, clearly exhausted as he began approaching her whilst she sat at the breakfast bar, focusing completely on the granola bar in her hand.

"Nothing." She shrugged, acting as if his questioning was unjustified and absurd.

"If this is about our anniversary tomorrow, I haven't forgotten, you know?" Ezra explained, hoping he had found the problem himself since she certainly wasn't going to open up to him about it.

"It's nothing." She groaned, rolling her eyes in annoyance before continuing to pick at her granola bar, giving it more attention than she had been giving Ezra the past week.

Ezra opened his mouth to argue back, but decided against it. He instead ran a frustrated hand through his hair, watching her intently as she seemed to be completely unfazed by their recent bicker. Ezra hated when she made him seem stupid and over-dramatic. He knew this wasn't all him, maybe he was a little frustrated, but he knew her distance wasn't all in his mind.

He rose from the stool and took a seat on the couch, preoccupying himself with the television in a hope to calm him. He flicked through the channels and settled on watching 'Suits,' his favourite programme, which was certain to restore a part of his happiness for a while. He then heard the ringing of Aria's phone from behind him where she sat. He tried to ignore it by focusing solely on the show, but he couldn't help but become intrigued by her conversation, alluring him into eavesdropping.

"Yeah, it's still on for tonight." She told the person on the other end of the phone call that Ezra was unable to hear, the conversation was too vague for him to work out who it could be, but he just hoped it was Spencer.

Regardless of his hope, his jealousy, that was certainly becoming a problem in their relationship rather than a quirk, had gotten the better of him causing him to listen intently in an attempt to decipher what the discussion could be about.

"I can't talk about that right now." Aria whispered into the receiver, it was obvious that she believed the conversation was inaudible, but he had heard her loud and clear. This only grew his jealousy further and his body tensed.

Ezra felt tempted to ask her what is such a big secret that he was allowed to hear it. He held his tongue though; the interrogation would have to wait until her phone call had ended. Aria's phone call finished shortly after and she made her way to sit, with a considerable amount of distance, beside Ezra on the couch. She began watching the television, acting as if nothing had just occurred. Ezra was livid, though he tried his best to seem calm.

"Who was that?" Ezra casually asked as if he were just making conversation with his girlfriend.

"Spencer." She responded in the same nonchalant tone as she focused on the television, she was just as invested in 'Suits' as he was. It was one of their Netflix couple shows, as well as 'Orange Is the New Black' and 'House of Cards.'

Ezra muted the television and readjusted himself so that he was facing Aria, who looked at him with utter perplexity, "So, you and Spencer are keeping secrets now?" Ezra sarkily questioned, some part of him didn't believe that it was Spencer on the other end of that call.

Aria used to always tell Ezra about Spencer's problems since it wasn't like he was planning on telling anyone, the change in her was beginning to worry him to the point of complete paranoia.

"It's not my secret to tell." She huffed, taking the remote from his hold and unmuting the television as she diverted her gaze to the screen. Ezra grudgingly dropped the subject and moodily focused on the show.

Ezra was spending his Tuesday night alone, on the couch, reading novellas and listening to indie folk songs that he and Aria loved. Aria had gone out for the night on one of her endeavours that Ezra didn't have the choice of accompanying her on. That was another, among a plethora of things that concerned him about her sudden change. The fact that she no longer invited him anywhere, albeit he never usually wanted to join her and her girl-friends on their night outs since he would feel somewhat of a chaperone, but the offer was always a nice sentiment.

They hadn't spoken since their minor debacle earlier and Aria had left without a goodbye, they always said some form of goodbye no matter how heated their argument would be. He felt as if she was slipping through the cracks of his fingers and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He was brought out of his doubtful thoughts by the shout of his urgently ringing phone, he glanced down to where it sat on the coffee table and furrowed his brows in confusion as he read 'Spencer Hastings' flashing on the screen. His stomach tied in knots and he immediately paused his music before answering the phone call.

"Ezra! Aria's in trouble, you need to help her!" Spencer hurriedly shouted down the phone, her urgency made Ezra jump from his seat and rush over to the kitchen counter where his keys rested.

"I'm on my way, text me the address." He firmly instructed Spencer before ending the call and rushing to his car.

Once he was in the car he zoomed off as soon as possible, the text came threw to his phone. He glanced down at it, musing over why it rang so familiar to him before typing it into his GPS and speeding swiftly through traffic in his manic efforts to get to her at lightning speed. He was worried to say the least. He had no idea what trouble she could have gotten herself into, if it were to do with drink, he assumed that she may have said something stupid to someone which had gotten her into a predicament. She never seemed to have a filter when she was drunk, saying everything that came into her mind.

As he continued to drive, he entered Rosewood; he didn't know why she felt the need to return here to drink with her friends when the night life was mainly situated in Philly, where they lived now. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind since his main priority was finding her.

He soon neared the address, the area becoming more familiar to him as he got closer to the location. It then hit him as to where she was. She was at Snookers, the bar he used to drink when he attended Hollis, but most importantly, in the bar where he first met Aria. He was consumed with fear as he wondered if maybe she had travelled all this way to meet someone, as in a man. He hoped to god that she wouldn't do such a thing to him. He hoped all this sneaking around was just a misunderstanding. He wasn't sure what he would do if he found out she was cheating on him, let alone in a place that was so sacred to the both of them or so he thought.

He entered the Snooker's parking lot that was surprisingly empty. As he approached the door to the bar his palms began to sweat, his head began to reel, his heart raced, and his stomach tied in knots. He was in an extreme state of anxiety, warily entering the bar. He was stunned when he realised that the bar was completely empty, the only source of light there was a Jukebox- a very familiar Jukebox. At the realisation that this isn't a Drunken Aria or fidelity problem, he began to panic that this was the works of –A, his girlfriend's ex-stalker.

His narrowed eyes scanned the bar once more before approaching the Jukebox; he saw a small note stuck to it that read 'Play me.' His suspicion that this may be the workings of –A grew and his heart beat fastened. He knew that either way, he was planning on playing one song, their song- B-26. He pressed the code into the machine as vinyls that were covered by the glass case began manoeuvring around until the 'Happiness' single was shown. Ezra's eyes widened once he caught sight of something shinning in the corner of his eye. On second glance he noticed a gold ring resting on a small, silk cushion with the word 'Happiness' engraved into it. His breath caught in his throat. Just after he pieced it together, he heard a noise from behind him.

The sound of heels clanking against the old wooden floor causing him to face the direction of the bathroom, where a beautiful brunette appeared from. He was almost breathless at the sight of Aria as she coyly wandered out with her finger intertwined in front of her, a light shade of pink coating her cheeks as she bit into her lip. She was wearing a tight-fitted black dress that came to half-way down her thigh, her extravagant self-made jewellery accessorised the look, and her hair was the same perfectly teased curls. Tears brimmed in Ezra's eyes as he admired his beautiful girlfriend, mentally noting how lucky he was. All his stresses and fears were put to rest in the best way he could possibly imagine.

"In this very bar, I met this handsome man exactly 2 years ago." Aria informed Ezra, jutting her head towards the clock that rested on the wall above his head. Ezra turned to look at the clock that read '12:15' and smiled to himself before turning to Aria who took a few steps closer to him. "He was smart, he'd travelled, had great taste in music." She smiled as she gestured to the intangible sound that surrounded them. "I wanted to get to know more about him."

They both shared a light laugh as they vividly remembered the words he had said on the first day they met.

"I never thought that one day I would know him better than anyone else in the world. I never thought that man would be the love of my life; my happiness. So, when Spencer told you that I was in trouble, she wasn't lying, because if I ever lose you that will be the worst trouble I could ever get myself into. Without you my life is nothing. You are the key to my happiness, Ezra. I know this thing isn't conventional, but nothing about us is and I think that is part of what makes us, well, us. I hope to be yours for the rest of forever. If you promise to be mine."

Tears of happiness fled from both of their eyes as they closed the gap between them. The knots in Ezra's stomach had disappeared and transformed into butterflies and his heart no longer raced in fear, but instead in excitement as he waited for her to say those 4 words. She took a key from her pocket and unlocked the Jukebox, lifting the glass case so that she was able to retrieve the golden ring.

"Ezra, will you marry me?" She asked, with complete confidence.

"Of course!" Ezra enthusiastically shouted.

Aria's smile grew as she placed the ring on his finger. He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her from the ground, spinning her around whilst kissing every inch of her face.

"Ezra." She giggled as she playfully squirmed away from the loving assault his lips were giving her face.

He then placed her down and gazed directly into her hazel eyes with the most love and adoration that he could muster. He shook his head and bit down on his bottom lip as he thought about the woman before him being his forever. Without any more thought, he placed his lips to hers again with such passion that it made Aria gasp before returning the kiss. His arms wrapped around her body once again as he began guiding her backwards.

"I think I know where this is head." She smiled against his lips.

"It's only right that celebrate this occasion in the place that we started this." He said with a teasing smirk causing Aria to chuckle before reattaching her lips to his and retreating into the bathroom.

Aria lay in Ezra's arms as they basked in the afterglow of their love-making. Her head was nestled into his chest as his hand caressed her arm, his fingertips dancing from freckle to freckle to the sound of her rhythmic heartbeat. The comfortableness made it hard for Aria to keep her heavy eyelids open, but she was determined not to let this beautiful night end just yet.

"I can't believe you're my fiancée." Ezra audibly mused, a smile forming on his lips at the concept.

Aria nudged into him slight, "Well you better because soon I will be your wife." She light-heartedly scolded to which Ezra chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"Mrs Fitz." Ezra stated, loving how the name fit so perfectly to the woman in his arms and how she was the only girl in the world that he wanted to give his name to. "Aria Fitz." He added.

Aria hummed in delight at the sound as she hugged him a little tighter, her way of expressing her fondness towards the thought of someday becoming 'Aria Fitz.' The thought of being his wife was like a dream, a dream that was one step closer to becoming reality.

"You know, I thought you were cheating on me." He nonchalantly informed Aria, now finding the entire concept to be completely absurd and rather humorous.

Aria, however, frowned at this words. She felt disappointed that Ezra distrusted her so much that he would think she would ever deceive him like that, but she had no reason to be annoyed since it was part of the plan. A small part of her hoped that maybe he had faith in her, faith that she rightfully deserved.

"I would never cheat on you." She strongly convicted, a lump forming in her throat as she did so. She could never hurt him in such a way. She had kissed a few other boys whilst dating him, all admitted mistakes, but to have an actual affair wasn't her. She was repelled by the thought of ever loving any man other than Ezra.

"I know that now." He softly assured her with a gentle squeeze. "I know you would never intentionally hurt me, but I guess I assumed the worst." He shrugged, his voice portraying hurt. She couldn't bear to imagine the state she had put him through the past couple hours before they met, she hoped it was worth it.

"I love you so much." she whispered as she adjusted herself to look up into his blue eyes that were clouded with tears.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, "I love you too." He smiled before placing a kiss on her lips.

"Please don't ever leave me." Aria voice quivered as she looked pleadingly into his deep blue eyes that frowned at her words. He knew he could never leave her, and he wished she believed it when he told her.

"Never." He promised with a comforting smile before kissing her once more. Aria then smiled at his words, content with his promise, before nuzzling back into his chest. "As long as I have this ring on my finger, I will make sure to always bring you happiness." He told her as he brushed his fingers through her hair.

That was enough for Aria to allow sleep to take over her where she was once again consumed by the thought of Ezra- her happiness.

I did not realise how cringe-worthy this chapter was until just now. I apologise but, like most of my stories, it's going to be filled with drama after this. And, just for future reference, Spencer is with Hardy not Toby in this. Sorry to the Spoby shippers, but I kind of needed to do that so that the story ties in better. Thanks for reading!

- Tasha x