A/N: Hi guys! I just wanted to say thank you for your loving reviews on the previous one-shot i wrote (Just as a Friend)- you really can't understand how much it meant to me that you liked it! all the followers, favorites, anything at all- I appriciate you so much!
So, I got an ask (on tumblr) a while ago asking me to write about Aria on Dating in the Dark, and i thought- 'oh my god this is such a great idea!' and so I wrote this! I really hope you'll like it :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars or any of the charecters. I wish I would, but I don't.
Although Dating in the dark was not really her thing, Aria decided to give it a chance after Spencer singed her up and practically forced her to go. Since when was she into crappy dating reality shows anyways? And so, Aria found herself stumbling through the entrance of a completely dark room, the door shut behind her (which by the way, her claustrophobic side did not like), and prepared herself to spending 3 hours with a complete stranger.
"Um, is someone there?" She walked forward and bumped into what she assumed was a large sofa.
"Ho-ly crap" said a familiar voice.
Ohhh no. This is not happening. It can't be. 4 years. 4 fucking years of her life took her to get over him. And still, hearing the sound of his voice made her feel some butterflies. Okay, now is not the time to panic. Just calm down, take a breath…
"I cannot believe this." Aria finally said. She thanked god he couldn't see the expression on her face.
"Neither can I." he answered. He sounded so surprised. It might've actually been funny under other circumstances.
"I guess that ruins the whole 'not knowing how your date look' concept." She said sarcastically. He let out a small laugh.
"God I'm gonna kill Hardy when we get out of here." Ezra said.
"Wait, Hardy signed you up for this?" she asked, feeling both amused and angry at the same time.
"Yup, he said I become a cranky old man when I'm alone" he laughed a little bit.
"Spencer was the one who signed me up. You thinking what I'm thinking?" Aria asked.
"They planned this. Those bastards. we are so not gonna fall for it." Ezra said.
"We're too smart for you guys!" Aria half-shouted to where she thought was the camera. They laughed a bit. Maybe this won't be as bad as she thought it would be. She hesitated for a second then asked "Do you want some wine?" what could possibly go wrong?
"Yeah, sure." He said.
She groped for the table, reaching for the bottle and two glasses sitting on it. Then she opened it and poured two glasses of wine (which is apparently a very difficult task when you can't see).
"So, what were you up to all this time? You stopped calling, you stopped answering my emails… 3 years ago.." Ezra said, he sounded embarrassed.
It was when Aria finished her second month in college she realized what a terrible mistake she made leaving him. At the first year she kept in touch with him, but then it just became too painful for her. She needed to move on, and so did he. So she stopped answering his calls and emails, and 3 years later, she finally stopped thinking about him every night. She had a few non-serious boyfriends and from the little she had heard he dated for a while as well. But I guess that's over now, otherwise they wouldn't be sitting there in the dark. Of course she couldn't tell him all of that, so she just went with the simple
"I was busy…" she handed him a glass, "I finished my degree last year, and I've been working as a photographer for the past 2 years so… yeah.." that excuse did not sound as satisfying as it sounded in her head. "What about you?" she tried to change the subject.
"Well, I still own the Brew. And, one of my books got published earlier this year.. yet, it didn't really became a best-seller. So I guess things just stayed pretty much the same." He answered.
They talked and catched up for a pretty long time. She didn't even noticed it passing by. She forgot how easy it was to talk to him. She missed the sound his voice. She missed his smell. his eyes. Playing with his hair. Coming to his apartment after a really long day and find comfort in his arms. Talking to him about everything, and nothing, and he always listened like it was the most important thing in the world. She missed HIM.
And so they talked and drank wine. The conversation (unlike what went on in Aria's head) was actually really light and easy-going. It was in the fourth glass of wine when they started to bring up memories from the time they were together:
"Do you remember the time when we were making out on my couch and your dad called and asked me out for a beer?" Ezra burst out laughing.
"Oh my god I do! 'Do you want an egg roll?'" She did her best Ezra imitation. "We had some good times though. Sneaking around in rosewood, taking every single opportunity we had to spend time together, watching old movies all day.." Aria said.
"And our first date in Philly, I still remember the way you asked me out on that one. Considering what we went through, hiding out relationship was one of the easiest things we had to deal with.." he said.
"Still the best date I've ever had, hands down. I swear to god we were crazy. You could've been sent to jail so many times." She said.
"The crazy part is what I always loved about us. I mean, we were so dramatic- stopping the traffic and kissing in the rain, everything that happened right after we told you parents about us, you running across the parking lot when I left rosewood high. What happened on the roof in new york. We had love that was just like in the books. So in love we couldn't let anyone from the outside ruin what we had. People could say whatever you wanted about the age gap, about how it was illegal, and wrong. But it was never wrong for us. Nothing they say won't change the fact we were great together." Ezra said.
"We were." Aria said quietly. she suddenly felt the air becoming more and more heavy on her small body. There was silent between them for a few seconds.
"We should get back together." Ezra said. His words slicing their way through the darkness like knives, straight into Aria's heart.
"Wh-what?" She finally broke the silent.
He grabbed her hand tight and said "I'm serious Aria. I never stopped loving you. No matter how hard I tried. I still love you and I want you back. I want US back."
Aria didn't say anything. She couldn't. She was numb.
"Do you still love me?" He asked. His voice cracked.
"Yes." She whispered.
She leaned towards him and so he did he. They were so close she could feel his breath on her face. Her heart was pounding hard. It was as if they were both afraid to make a move. And then, within a moment, they both crashed into each others lips with the most passionate kiss they ever sheared, which quickly turned into a makeout session. Aria felt like she was 18 again, the feeling of his lips on hers, his toung dancing with hers, brought back all the memories she tried to repress so hard. He put his hands on her back, rubbing up and down. she placed one hand on his knee and the other on the back of his neck. Instinctively, her hand went up to his head and started playing with his curly hair. Oh, how much she had dreamed about this moment. She couldn't stop the grin that came across her face and broke their kiss.
"What?" Ezra asked. His voice filled with joy.
"We're still crazy." She answered. "And I still love you." She added.
He placed another small kiss on her lips and said "God, I missed you."
She repositioned herself and rested her head on his shoulder, just like they used to sit when she was in high school and they were curled up in his little apartment.
"I can't believe I survived 5 years without this" She said.
Ezra let out a snort and said "I can't believe we actually fell for Hardy's and Spencer's stupid plan." He held Aria's hand tight, almost like he's afraid she'll run away and leave him.
"Yeah. I guess we aren't too smart them." She said, but she obviously didn't give a damn about them right now. The only person she cared about right now was right there, holding her tight.
Then, in the most annoying timing ever, two doors opened- one in each side of the room. They knew their time is up. Frowning, they got up and stood close for about a minute.
"I don't ever want to leave you again." Aria said. She came even closer to him.
"I know. Me too." he planted a small kiss on the forehead. "But it's just for now." he gave her another one. "We'll meet again in a few hours." this time he kissed her on the lips.
she didn't want it to end. she knew she was going to meet him again soon, she knew it. she couldn't wait to see him in the real world, don't get me wrong, she wanted it so badly. But she just didn't want this moment to end. Standing there in the dark, it was like Saturdays at his apartment. Nobody knew they were there. No one could judge or say anything bad about the age gap, about the fact he was her former teacher, no one could say a single bad thing about them. It was just them two, just two deeply in love people standing in a dark room. it was just pure love.
She hugged him and asked "Can we just stay here for another moment?"
he wrapped his arms around her small body, and held her. They were just standing there, hugging for a few moments, and then she let go. "Goodbye. For now." Aria said. they were still holding one hand.
"Goodbye." Ezra answered. she could feel that goofy grin coming across his face.
She let go of his hand and let him walk out of the door first. As she saw his figure getting out of the door (which was the only place you could really see shadows and dark figures) she let out a sigh of relieve, and a smile found his way to her face. She groped for the table once again, this time looking for the cork of the wine bottle, and put it in her pocket. she walked out of the door, with the biggest grin on her face.
The moment she got home, she walked straight to her closet. She needed a stool to get there, but on top was sitting a dusty old shoe box. she took it, sat down on her bed, and opened it. Most people would consider its contents trash. I mean- plastic teaspoon, a dart, chopsticks, coffee holder- basically, things most people would call garbage. But to her these were the most precious things in the world. The teaspoon wasn't just a teaspoon, it was their first coffee together, the dart was the reading of his short story, the coffee holder was the first coffee they ordered from the brew after he bought it. She took the cork out of her pocket and placed it on top. She closed the box, cleaned it a little bit and placed it back in her closet. A part of her wanted to drive to Spencer's apartment (which wasn't very far from hers) and beat the crap out of her for tricking her, even though it all came out pretty amazing eventually. But she had a much more important thing to do- instead, she packed a small suitcase and prepared herself for a long drive to Rosewood.
And so it ends! hope you liked it :) please leave a review!
