Your heart's against my chest, lips pressed to my neck,
I've fallen for your eyes, but they don't know me yet.
Kiss Me- Ed Sheeran
Aria Montgomery was on the window seat of her two bedroom apartment on a lazy Saturday afternoon. She was curled up in a blanket with a book in her hands, but in all fairness, her mind was not focusing on Peeta and Katniss at that moment in time. She was too caught up in thinking about Ezra, her best friend. He had broken up with his girlfriend, Leah, almost two months ago and she wondered how he was holding up with it. They were only together for 5 months, so it wasn't getting too serious, but Ezra was a sensitive guy, and in Aria's eyes, he was special, and she only wants the best for him. Aria grabbed her phone lying on the table next to her and quickly typed a message saying 'Hey, do you want to come over for dinner later?' Aria then placed her phone back on the small table and then once again tried to engross herself into 'The Hunger Games'. Only a minute later however did her phone once again beep, to which Aria grabbed her phone and read the text that said 'Sure I'd love to, I'll see you later!' She smiled to herself, knowing that she could spend a night in with her best friend.
She untangled herself from the blankets and walked into her kitchen. It was a cream colour with brown cupboards, it was also very clean, which is probably why she always invited Ezra around. She told herself she'd rather make herself and him tea every night than him attempt to cook his own food and give himself food poisoning due to failure, but if she was being completely honest with herself it was because she liked having him around, having him being with her. It was so easy to talk to Ezra, and she loved him, possibly more than a friend. She always shrugged off these thoughts though, partly because he had just gone through a break up and partly because she thought he wouldn't feel the same.
She went to her kitchen and started to make some pasta. After the pasta was boiled she quickly ran into her bedroom to change from her old sweatpants and t-shirt to something nicer. She decided on a sleeveless cream blouse and some dark denim skinny jeans. After quickly curling her hair and making sure her usual dark eye makeup was okay, she went back into the kitchen and finished the pasta. She then pulled out two plates and scooped the pasta onto both plates when she heard a knock at the door. She raced towards the door and gave herself a once over in the mirror before opening the door. She unlocked the door and saw Ezra; he stood there, wearing a pair of dark jeans, a tight grey t-shirt and his black coat.
"Hey," he said smiling at her
"Hey," she replied back, he walked into her apartment and sat himself down on her brown leather sofa, while she walked into the kitchen area and pulled out 2 wine glasses. She then bent down to her cupboard and grabbed a bottle of wine. When she stood up she realised Ezra had got up from the sofa and had already walked over to her.
"Red wine?" Aria offered, holding up the bottle
"Yes please," Ezra replied, with no sense of hesitance in his voice
"So, how has your day been?" Aria asked
"Until you offered me dinner, it's basically sucked."
"How come?" Aria felt bad about prying but she couldn't help it, at the end of the day, he was her friend, and knowing his day was less than perfect made her feel sad aswell. But she was smiling slightly at knowing she made his day better.
Ezra popped open the bottle of wine and started pouring himself a glass.
"Leah came over, uninvited of course."
Aria froze, she never liked Leah, not because she was tall and blonde and back-stabbingly beautiful, but because she wasn't Ezra's type. She hated reading and coffee and using Saturdays to lounge about. Furthermore she was incredibly clingy; Aria honestly didn't know why Ezra had stayed with her for as long as he had, for she was such a pain. Hearing that she walked back into Ezra's apartment though hurt her. Why though? She had never thought of him as more than a friend, well, she would never admit to, so why was she feeling this way? I mean yes she would be the first to admit her best friend was clearly insanely handsome, with his natural jet black curls, perfect cheekbones and midnight blue eyes. Once again she shrugged off this remark with the excuse 'She just didn't want to see him get hurt again'. The excuse she was using was true, but it was far from the real truth that racked her brain night and day.
"What did she want now?" Aria said, taking the bottle from Ezra and pouring herself her own glass, before opening the cutlery drawer and handing a knife and fork to Ezra.
"She was just moaning as always, all the 'I'm so sorry,' 'I can fix this,' 'Take me back,' rubbish. I can't deal with her anymore, God why did I even date her in the first place," Ezra took a large sip of his wine, which he seriously deserved after a day like that.
"Yeah, I was never a Leah fan" Aria said, two plates in her hands and walking over to the living room coffee table.
"I honestly wish I never wasted my time on her, she's such a whiny child." Ezra complained, he felt so good to have said that, but even better to have a friend who felt the same way. Parts of Ezra wished he could find a girl just like Aria to fall deeply and madly in love with. With the same luscious brown locks and petite physique, he would swoon over a girl like her. Part of him hated when he felt that way towards Aria, she was beautiful and smart and way out of his league, but he couldn't help it, he thought she would never feel the same way, but whenever he was with her, neither of them cared about anything or anyone else, they could just sit and talk from everything to nothing. From what they were feeling about the books they were reading to what was happening in the news, it was always so easy to talk to Aria. She made him feel happy on his worst days, and that's why he loved her, in more than the friendship way.
Aria laughed in agreement to the statement, and placed both of the plates on the coffee table, and then walked back to the kitchen area to grab her glass of wine, and the wine bottle, she had a feeling she might want a bit more later on.
"Dinner is served" Aria said, trying not to sound too cliché.
Ezra chuckled and then tucked into his pasta, they talked more for a while, about what they thought about The Hunger Games, how the weather was supposed to be unseasonably warm this weekend, just random, unimportant, little things that no one but them would care about. Moments like that, for Ezra was something that was special and couldn't be replaced. He wouldn't be able to live without these little conversations with Aria. He would never admit it, but he couldn't live without Aria. He dearly cared about her, in every single way.
"Thank you, I can't tell you how good it is to eat a meal that's not burned, inedible or has been cooked in the microwave" Ezra said graciously when he finished eating his pasta
Aria smiled over Ezra's perfect use of manners "Well, you're very welcome, the pleasure is all mine".
Aria poured herself another glass of wine before passing the TV remote to Ezra. She then took both the empty plates and placed them on the kitchen worktop before opening the dishwasher and emptying it.
"Hey, do you want some help with that?" Ezra asked, turning his head around from the TV screen
"No I'm fine, If you want anything else to eat there's some ice-cream in the freezer" Aria said whilst placing some mugs back into their rightful place in the top cupboard, he was always so polite and kind, he was really perfect in every single way. It was sad how somewhere she would always want to be with someone like him, but in her mind, he would never think the same about her.
After Aria finished emptying the dishwasher she placed the dirty plates back into the dishwasher and went back down to sit on the sofa with Ezra. She had a relatively large brown leather corner sofa considering she lived alone and she sat on one end of the sofa whilst he sat on the other. She then saw what he'd chosen to put on the TV. 'New Girl' was playing lightly in the background of the room whilst Aria threw a large faux-fur blanket over her and Ezra's legs.
About five minutes later whilst Aria was sipping her wine that it hit her. Ezra drove over here.
"Oh crap. Ezra, you're going to have to stay over tonight" Aria said, feeling guilty and slightly awkward asking her best guy friend to stay the night.
"Why- oh God, sorry, I shouldn't have had anything to drink. I'm honestly so stupid at times, I'm so sorry!" He continued to ramble on and on, about how he should have remembered he drove his car over here, how he should have got a cab to take him. He rambled to the point where Aria suddenly started to giggle hysterically at him.
Ezra chucked at the fact she was giggling at him, for no apparent reason, and then said, in disbelief, "Aria, why are you laughing?"
"You're so silly, you think it's such a huge deal that I asked you to stay over, honestly, I feel so sorry for you sometimes, you're too adorable" Aria replied, still giggling to herself.
Ezra shook his head and sighed in disbelief at Aria; it was times like these were ones that he thought truly showed the best of Aria, her naturally cheerful, bubbly self. Yes, he had been there for her through rough times, like when her mother passed away, but seeing her in such bliss and happiness never failed to make him smile.
He had a boyish smile, which could make anyone weak at the knees; he was just so charming and handsome, it was a wonder as to why he hadn't found the girl he was looking for, Aria thought.
The credits of New Girl began to roll, and becoming bored with TV, Aria pulled out a DVD from the cabinet and shoved it in the player. She didn't realise what she'd even chosen before 'Pretty Woman' started to roll across the screen. Her giggles had calmed down by now, and considering Ezra was staying the night anyway, she raced across the living room to the kitchen area to grab the lone beer that was in her refrigerator for Ezra. She rarely drunk beer so it was probably one Ezra brought over in a huge pack one day, and just never got drunk up.
An hour into the film, Ezra and Aria were both still watching Pretty Woman. Sometimes Aria would catch Ezra staring off into space, when really he was looking at her. Her gorgeous flowing brown hair, her hazel eyes transfixed on the screen, her creamy porcelain skin. She was a beauty and it made Ezra sad to think that she would never feel the same way about him.
"Don't you just wish you could have your own Edward?" Aria blurted out in the middle of a peaceful silence "I mean obviously you would want a Vivienne or your female version of Edward as a matter of fact, but don't you just wish you could have someone to come and sweep you off your feet? When everything was turning into nothing and everything seemed to be falling apart, don't you just wish you could have that happy ending?" After Aria said this, she got her glass and took a long hard gulp of it.
"Believe me, I always wish for that" Ezra said, and like Aria, he then took the chance to take a sip of his beer.
"I always feel like there's someone in the world waiting for me but I just don't know where they are, what they're doing, I don't know anything about them and it's killing me. " Aria said, sighing over the fact she just literally said to someone what her dream was, she never tended to do this, and if she did, only with Ezra.
Ezra took a deep, long breath and thought about what he was about to say. He loved Aria. He has admitted it to himself many, many times before and he thought now was his moment to proclaim his love to her.
"Maybe you already have?" Ezra said, sounding very coy.
"Okay Ezra if you're talking about Leah I swear it is not going to be a great idea honestly just-" Ezra stopped her by moving across the sofa to put his hand over her mouth. He closed his eyes for a second and took another deep breath, making sure he was completely adamant over what he was going to say now, and that it was the right thing to say.
"Maybe I've met you?" Ezra said softly and sincerely, with no trace of doubt or regret in his voice, just honesty, admiration and love. That was all you could hear come out of his mouth at that moment.
Ezra removed his hand from her mouth. Aria's face broke out into a wide smile. Ezra smiled back at her.
"How long have you felt this way?" Aria asked him, with the smile still on her face
"Far too long, Aria" Ezra replied.
Aria thought about everything. How was this happening, why didn't he tell her earlier? All of these thoughts and doubts were running through her mind at what felt like 100 miles per hour, but at that moment she honestly didn't care. She didn't care about the fact he'd got out of a relationship just only 2 months prior, she didn't care about what would happen if a relationship went wrong, hell, she didn't even care about the fact she was 5 feet 2 inches tall.
It might have been the fact that she was slightly tipsy, but Aria gently put her hands on the sides of his face, and looked into his deep blue eyes, she then moved so she was kneeling on the sofa, and leaned forward to him and gave him a tender, loving kiss on the lips.
The kiss was exhilarating, it was as if a firework had been set off in her body and it was igniting every vein she had. It was magical; she moved her hands and threw her arms around his neck whilst he moved his hands to the small of her back. His breath smelt of peppermint and the stubble on his face only made him even more attractive. Ezra was the one to break the kiss, both of them breathless, and yet speechless at the sparks they just encountered running through them.
"I love you," Aria said softly to Ezra "I always have."
Ezra smiled in content of what Aria just said to him, and then gave her a kiss on her forehead before giving her small butterfly kisses all over her face, until he was an inch from her lips.
"I love you too, dear" he whispered. To which Aria replied by kissing him passionately, which, effectively ended their conversation for the night.
A/N: My second fanfic! But first if you don't include the one-shot I did. I just want to thank everyone who commented on my first fanfic, the one-shot called 'Good Morning' as you were all very kind and gracious and I was literally blown away by some of your comments! (: I'm planning on expanding this to a full length story, and if you have any suggestions feel free to run them by me in a review, or tweet me even! Thank you so much for reading, please review! Rosalind (: xxxxx