This was initially based off a dream I had, and I woke up knowing I just had to write about it. So with the help of Emily (MustacheYouAQuestion) here it is. It's set towards the end of Aria's junior year, and she and Ezra have been dating for the most part of the year. Her parents are still in the dark about their relationship, but her friends do know. Anyway, I hope you like, and I apologize in advance for any typos. I'm ill with the flu so I know this may not be the best.
Enjoy.
Not so long ago, if you were to ask Ezra Fitz what he thought he'd be doing in exactly a year's time, chaperoning a high school camping trip would most likely result in him scrunching his face in disagreement and shivering in horror at the thought of spending 36 hours with a bunch of horny and emotionally confused teenagers.
But now here he was, standing in the hallway of Rosewood High School, an old backpack he'd found in a thrift store a week earlier hanging off his shoulder as he listened to Ella Montgomery lecture the junior class on exactly how not to behave on their excursion to the wilderness. The teenagers merely yawned in response, and Ezra knew that although Ella meant well, her disquisitions were only placing glorious images in their insubordinate minds.
Although taking joint responsibility for fifty teenagers was not typically how Ezra liked to spend his weekends, things had changed now in the sense that he wasn't just here to chaperone. In recent months, his tolerance for high school students had risen, which was ultimately what had led him to here, standing in the hallway wearing the camo shorts and hiking boots his mother had bought him many birthdays ago.
But then again, many birthdays ago he wasn't aquatinted with Aria Montgomery.
He watched her closely, his eyes roaming over her tiny body. Her knee popped as she shifted her weight to her left hip, shrugging her pale blue backpack into a comfier position. She wore a layering of camisoles, a plaid shirt tied around her waist covering the tiny garment which she claimed were jean shorts. Although Ezra wasn't complaining.
His eyes wandered down to her bare legs and he just managed to suppress a moan. Although it appeared he wasn't the only one who had heard his release of built up feelings, as he saw Aria's face beam red.
He smiled. She was blushing.
It had been her idea for him to come on this trip, and it had taken quite some time – along with a few too many of Aria's infamous pouts and puppy eyes – for him to agree. Deep down, he knew what he was doing was wrong. Their relationship was risky enough as it was, never mind blatantly putting the world's worst combination of people in a forest in the middle of nowhere. While Ezra was sure that he would get along with Byron Montgomery great on a normal day, somehow knowing that at any moment it could be exposed that he and his sixteen year old daughter were dating was not encouraging Ezra to warm up to Byron any time soon.
But when Aria had told him that it would mean a lot to her, that she had been feeling like there was a distance coming between them, Ezra knew that he had to abandon the rules and laws, and sign his name up to chaperone Rosewood High's annual AP English camping extravaganza weekend. Ezra wasn't sure he found the word 'extravaganza' very comforting, or camping itself for the matter, but he figured he was already breaking enough rules this weekend. What was a little embarrassment and lack of Boy Scout knowledge between friends...and fifty other teenagers?
"Alright. I think we're all set to get on the bus!" Ella's sudden adoption of enthusiasm brought Ezra back to the present, and his eyes found Aria's over the crowd of excited teenagers. He began to swerve through the students, trying as hard as possible not to catch the attention of Mrs Welch or Ella, or even better, Byron.
He allowed himself a breath when he made it over to the vending machine where Aria stood. He really needed to relax. Acting skittish like this would only draw more attention to him, and create a suspicious atmosphere between him and the rest of the chaperones. But his smile returned as soon as Aria appeared in front of him holding a can of soda in her hand. "Hey."
"Hey yourself," Aria replied, a grin spreading across her face.
"So, you're all set?" Ezra asked, looking around suspiciously.
Aria sighed. "Ezra, stop acting like my dad is going to shoot you or something. Nobody is going to know anything."
"I know, I'm sorry. It's just not exactly the most convenient arrangement with your parents here and all." He smiled sheepishly and let his fingers tangle with Aria's for a moment, enjoying their last private moment for they were sat on a packed-full bus for the next couple of hours.
"I understand. But this will be fun, I'm sure we'll have a great time making campfires. I guess in a way this is almost like our first trip away together. As a couple, I mean."
Ezra smiled, and in that moment knew he had made the right decision, whether things ended badly or not. He knew now just how much this really meant to her, and he was just happy that he could be the cause of her happiness. "Yes, I guess so. And I cannot wait to see how you cope with the bugs."
Aria scoffed, nudging him in the arm. "The bugs and I are great friends, I'll have you know, thanks to this." She pulled out a can of insect repellent from her backpack and waved it mockingly in front of his face.
"If you say so," Ezra said, shaking his head teasingly towards Aria, before they both followed the rest of the group out of the hallway and into the parking lot. They were sure in for one memory filled weekend.
After entering the yellow bus with a somewhat optimistic attitude and warm smile following her brief moment alone with Ezra, Aria's mouth formed into a hard line when she discovered that almost every seat was taken on the bus. Her friends were sitting with each of their respectful others, and the only two spots available were beside Mrs Welch and her father.
Obviously, this left only one option. She knew how on edge Ezra was about her parents being here, and Aria didn't want to make him any more uncomfortable than he already was. She started the narrow walkway down the bus, and pulled herself into the bench beside Byron. Although she wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of sitting in such close proximity to the man who had tested their family one too many times, she'd just have to settle for it.
But apparently Byron had other ideas, too. "Oh, Aria. I was thinking Mr Fitz and I could sit together. You know, have some male chaperone bonding time for the bus ride?"
Aria swore her face drained of all colour, and her eyes almost popped out of her head at the irony of the situation. "Um, Dad, I think-"
"Of course, Byron," Ezra interrupted, his voice wavering slightly. Aria gave him an apologetic look and slipped out of the seat, pulling her bag in tow.
"Why don't you sit by Mrs Welch, Aria? Ezra and I have a lot to discuss about this weekend," Byron chuckled, thumping Ezra on the back as if they were old friends.
Oh if only he knew, she thought to herself as her eyes squinted, dreading having to spend the next two and a half hours hearing Mrs Welch not so discreetly mention how charming Ezra was. Not to mention cringing in despair just thinking of the interrogation Ezra was about to receive about each of the twenty five years of his life from her father.
So far, her utopian expectation for this weekend was not starting off well.
After an hour of infrequent, occasional grunting, Aria had closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep, quite literally to refrain herself from lashing out in frustration to the fervent teacher who sat to her left, not quite anticipating that she actually would slip into sub consciousness.
She woke up to the sound of the rickety bus' screeching breaks, and the stentorian verse of voices cheering, rubbing her eyes sleepily and stretching her crumpled body.
She looked around her, students now a little less enthusiastic to get off the bus as they took in their surroundings. When Ella had pitched the trip to the junior class last month, she certainly hadn't been down playing the place.
Of course it was beautiful. They were deep in the middle of the wilderness and Aria would be lying if she said that the way the sunlight bounced off the greenery didn't fascinate her. She just hadn't really faced the fact that they were actually going to be sleeping outdoors until now; where there were all sorts of critters and wild animals wandering around.
She made her way off the bus and over to the body of confused students, all of whom we're complaining anxiously about how their current location didn't look how it did in the PowerPoint presentation shown last week.
Aria squinted her eyes against the strong sun, and spotted her friends standing in a huddle by the far side of the bus. Each of their faces were more unimpressed then the other, and Aria could tell Hanna was freaked out by the absence of Louboutin's on her feet and the all new presence of clumpy hiking boots, regardless of the whole outdoors thing.
"So," Aria said as she reached the group. "How are we enjoying the wilderness so far?"
She received a response of grunts and moans, as expected, and Aria had begun to adopt her classmate's dampened attitude, too. Spencer sighed, bending over to tie her shoe lace. Emily paced around, as if looking for a way to get back onto the bus. And Hanna pulled her cell phone out, going to extreme lengths to try and find reception.
After a good ten minutes of the chaperones quietly discussing something over the front of the bus, Caleb finally spoke up. "I just don't understand why we got off the bus here if we're clearly not camping out in the middle of a dust road."
"What are you suggesting?" Aria asked, catching the attention of the other girls and Toby.
Caleb shrugged, before folding his arms across his chest. "They're obviously planning on making us walk, or something. It's typical summer camp tradition."
"But this isn't summer camp, Caleb," Hanna protested, linking her arms through Caleb's and pulling him into an embrace.
"Well, it was Mrs Welch and Aria's mom who organised this. Who knows what we could be up against?" Toby laughed, causing the rest of her friends to join in with his infectious humour.
But as much as Aria liked a joke, she wasn't sure she wanted her friends judging her mom just yet. "Oh relax, I'm sure it's not going to be that bad," Aria added, her tone slightly more defensive than she'd intended. Luckily, Ella called the students to gather round before anyone had a chance to comment.
"Okay, so from what we've picked up, quite a few of you are a little puzzled about why we've stopped here. But we figured that since not all of us are familiar with each other, that we should do some team bonding exercises."
This only received an unpleasant wave of moans from her classmates, and Aria felt her heart sink inside, too. How on earth was she supposed to spend alone time with Ezra when she was on a team? She wanted to strangle her mother for raising this idea, and she was pretty sure all everybody else wanted to do was get to camp and settle down for the day.
"You react like this now, but I assure you, this is going to be the most fun you've had in ages," Ella continued, before proceeding to explain how the activities were going to play out.
Aria caught Ezra's eye, looking towards him almost desperately and he shrugged awkwardly in response. She began to feel foolish for even having the slightest bit of hope that they would be able to spend time together on this trip as a couple.
Twenty minutes later, the students had been split into four groups, each led by one of the chaperones. Aria had been placed into a group with twelve of her peers, the closest person she had to a friend being Mona Vanderwaal, who was becoming more of a frenemy as the seconds ticked by. And to make matters worse, they had been awarded the delightful Mr Fitz as their team leader.
After a brutal three and a half hour walk through the forest, Aria was more than thankful to see the area of open water ahead of them. The sweltering sun had made her crankier than ever, but Mona's purposely, poorly disguised flirting with Ezra made her on the verge of cutting a bitch. Literally, she had a Stanley knife for emergencies and she wasn't afraid to use it.
One second it was sucking up to him, asking about his favourite books and authors (which was their thing - not his and Mona's) and the next, Mona was curled on the ground, shrieking in pain claiming she'd twisted her ankle and leaving no choice for Mr Fitz to carry her the rest of the way home.
Aria was fuming, and the few times she and Ezra had made eye contact, she had almost broken in half with the urge to push him against a pine tree and kiss him senseless. But of course, she couldn't. He was too busy being Prince Charming to Mona.
One thing that did reassure Aria was that Ezra had made it clear of his distaste for Mona's impetuous flirting and hurtful bashing of the student body as she gossiped with one of the other girls on the team.
As they'd wandered directionless through the forest, they had been set the challenge to find clues attached to various trees or checkpoints throughout the forest. But soon, they'd abandoned this plan after getting lost due to Ezra's poor sense of direction.
They had shared a moment, then. The two of them both silently remembering the time they drove to her parent's disused cabin in the woods...except they had never actually managed to get there. Ezra had gotten them lost somewhere between Rosewood and Philadelphia, but Aria didn't care - any time she got to spend alone with him was good enough for her.
But now, all traces of Aria's happiness had diminished. She couldn't wait to peel off her sweaty clothes and drop her heavy bag, and she most definitely could not wait to be as far away from Mona Vanderwaal as the wilderness would allow.
She wanted this weekend to be over with. It hadn't gone her way so far, and something was telling her things weren't suddenly going to turn around now. She hated to admit it, but Ezra was right. This was turning into a disaster. A heat stroked, swollen ankled, Mona infested disaster.
"Finally!" She heard Ezra call from upfront, as they rounded the small, forest path and broke out into a clearing. The sun was setting in the sky over the lake, and Aria took a moment to admire the amazing scenery as the rest of the group walked ahead to join the others who had begun setting up camp.
"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" Ezra said. She felt his hot breath on her neck, and his hands snake around her waist.
"It is," Aria agreed, leaning into his embrace. "This is nice, too. Us, I mean. I'm glad you've finally been able to escape from Mona."
"Tell me about it. She is definitely something, I'll tell you that. God, how have you survived being in the same class as her until now she's just so..."
"Evil?" Aria offered, twisting her head so she could see his blue eyes.
"I was going along the lines of obnoxious, but I guess that works too." Ezra smirked, chucking silently at Aria's remark.
"Aria? Are you out here?"
Aria's heart beat fast, adrenalin pumped through her veins as she leapt away from Ezra and ducked to the floor. The sound of her mom's voice had startled her, and reminded her exactly just how extra careful she and Ezra had to be when they were around each other this weekend.
"Just coming, Mom!" She called, standing up and walking over to where she saw the faint outline of Ella waiting. Ezra followed close behind, and Aria held her breath, trying hard not to appear suspicious.
"Oh hey, honey. Is everything okay?" Ella asked, her eyes widening when she spied Ezra behind her daughter.
"Yeah, yeah," Aria stammered, acting as if she had nothing to hide. "Mr Fitz was just helping me with the strap on my backpack."
"Well, we're just about to hand out some cold drinks from the cooler and I didn't want you to miss them. Mona mentioned how you looked as if you were taking it pretty hard," Ella breezed, beginning to head back towards camp.
"Damn you, Mona," Aria said to herself as she followed Ella into the clearing. She heard Ezra's hushed chortle behind her, and couldn't help but smile in response. Maybe things would get better as the night went on, after all.
By eight thirty, they'd had the chance to set up their tents and sort out sleeping arrangements. Much to a large number of the student's protests, Mrs Welch was quick to inform the class that there was a strict policy of single sexed tents, however, Aria was somewhat pleased that the girls wouldn't be sharing with their partners. She didn't want to wind up sleeping in the same vicinity as Mona, which, knowing Aria's luck, would end up happening.
After a few more team building games, the teachers dismissed the students, and they split into their friendship groups. Aria had to admit that after the not so great start, things were beginning to look up. She and her friends had been having a really great time, roasting marshmallows on the campfire and reminiscing about times when they'd hung out like this as kids. Aria's eyes had strayed across the camp many times, it wasn't impossible for her to make out what was going on at the adult's campfire, but she was even less likely to be able to hear what kinds of conversations were happening between the four.
It felt strange in a way that Aria's parents were hanging out with her boyfriend without them being aware of how things were between them. She worried that Ezra was feeling uncomfortable, and pressured to hang out with her parents so things didn't look suspicious. But her worries subsided when she saw Ezra's head fall back in laughter with the rest of the group, and she secretly wished she could be over there too.
She watched as Spencer sat in Toby's lap, his hands playing with her hair in an intimate, personal gesture that he knew she loved. She watched as Caleb and Hanna shared frequent kisses, and Emily and Paige sat closely, hands intertwined. And as much as she hated to admit, Aria suddenly became extremely jealous that she couldn't do that with Ezra.
She brushed it off, though. Moping about it wasn't going to change anything - especially not on this camping trip.
But soon enough, all of her pathetic depression soon fizzed away and was instead replaced with frustration.
"How about a game of Truth or Dare?" Mona chimed as she waltzed into the group, two girls on her arm that Aria recognised from class.
Just the tone of Mona's voice was beginning to irritate her, and Aria stood to leave. She figured she'd go for a walk to get some space, but Mona thought otherwise.
"Not playing, are we Aria? I'll be sure to go easy on you," Mona said mockingly.
It took every strength Aria had not to spit a series of foul profanities in Mona's direction, but she would only appear more immature if she tried to spite her peer. "You know what, why not? I'm in," Aria finally said, sitting back down on the wooden log.
"Well, since you're so eager, why don't we start with you?" Mona suggested, causing Aria's mouth to fill with metal tasting saliva. She had challenged Mona, and that wasn't going to go unnoticed.
Aria nodded, taking a breath. Spencer gave her a hopeful look, and Hanna appeared as if she was going to cut Mona off at any moment.
The few moments of Mona's decision making silence caused a bead of sweat to roll down Aria's forehead, but she swiped it away immediately, determined to show Mona she wasn't intimidated by her presence.
"I dare you...to steal Mr Fitz's pants by the time we go home tomorrow," Mona sneered, obviously satisfied that this was substantial enough for Aria to chicken out.
The rest of the group sat open mouthed, but before any of them could interject, Aria spoke up. "Done."
"What?!" The group cried in unison, each of them looking towards Aria in astonishment.
"You heard me," Aria replied, suddenly unsure of why she'd said such a ridiculous thing.
"Aria, are you insane?" Emily shrieked, looking horrified.
Aria felt her hands clam up and her eyes begin to water. She needed to get away from the group; she needed to be on her own. She stood up, taking her soda can with her, and walked out of the campground and into the wood. She ignored her friend's calls, but thankfully they didn't come after her and understood her wishes.
She wandered around for a while. The sky was now black and the stars were brighter out here than she'd seen in her entire life, and she was awed at the pure beauty of the landscape she was in. There was no light pollution, no littering, no stress, work or complications. It was perfect.
Eventually, she wound her way back down to the lake, and slipped her chunky hiking boots off her tired feet, before dipping them into the cool, soothing water. She sighed in relief, wishing more than anything she could slip farther in to cool her tense body. She needed it.
Just as she was considering slipping off her shirt, she heard a rustling sound, and for a moment, she remembered that this perfect clearing, this perfect, peaceful forest was also home to bears and raccoons. She shivered at the thought, and pearled around her once more before beginning to pull her shirt over her head.
"Boo!"
She screamed, instantly covering her mouth when she recognised Ezra's smooth, cool voice and his musky, pine scent. "You asshole," she teased, smiling wildly towards him.
"Well, hello to you too," he replied, placing his hand on Aria's jawbone, his sudden course of affection surprising Aria. "You look beautiful tonight, by the way."
Aria's heart swelled inside of her chest, and she placed a long, smooth kiss on his lips. "You're not so bad yourself," she complimented, breaking from the kiss.
"What brought you all the way out here?" Ezra asked, his brow furrowed slightly as he took in their surroundings.
She sighed. "I just can't...be over there any longer," Aria finally revealed. "I can't take seeing them all huddled up like proper couples and acting like stupid campfire games are more significant than third world problems. I just-"
"Aria," he interrupted, taking a step closer to her, sensing her desire for comfort.
"Don't Ezra. This was a mistake. Everything has gone wrong today. We came on this trip so we'd be able to spend more time with each other, but so far, I've been the last thing on your mind, and I have too many bug bites to count. It's a disaster." Aria balled her hands up into fists. All she wanted to do was scream into the pillow in her bedroom at home and wallow in self-pity.
"Aria, you know that's not true. You're always on my mind, every second of the day. And especially now that I'm hearing your childhood secrets from your parents back over there." Ezra winked as Aria cringed in embarrassment. She'd have to find out exactly what Ezra knew and in how much detail later. "And you're certainly not the last thing on my mind now with the situation that's going on over here..." Ezra grinned, gesturing towards Aria's underwear-clad upper half.
She smiled seductively, understanding exactly what he was getting at. "Is it hot, or is it just me?" Aria said, flustered, as she unbuttoned her shorts and shimmied them off her hips.
Ezra gulped, his grin widening to an expression of pleasure. "No, I feel it too, actually."
"Why don't we take a dip to cool down a little?" Aria's voice was husky as she waded into the water, her exposed body teasing Ezra mischievously as she twisted this way and that.
Ezra shed his clothes faster than he ever had before, and almost tripped over his own feet as he stumbled into the lake. Aria giggled in response, swimming deeper into the water and taunting Ezra to come after her.
He caught up with her eventually, pulling her into his arms as she laughed happily. "I love you," he breathed, pressing his lips to hers, their kiss fumbly in the darkness. Aria wrapped her legs around his torso as Ezra waded farther into the lake, too deep for Aria to stand. She kissed him again, her hunger and desire causing her to become out of breath quickly.
"I love you too," she replied eventually, before wriggling from Ezra's grip and diving beneath the cool water. Seconds later, she returned to the surface, her hair slicked back. She pursed her lips and a fountain of water came pouring out, taking Ezra by surprise as it splashed him in the face.
"Oh, you're on," Ezra replied, cupping handfuls of water in his hands and throwing them in Aria's direction. She squealed and laughed childishly as they continued to splash each other, and soon enough they were both completely soaked.
Their fun and games continued underwater until they were disrupted by rustling in the bushes, and the pair stood frozen. Aria came down from her high of being with Ezra, and remembered where they were and exactly who they were with. They were only just around the corner from the clearing where the rest of the campers were probably getting ready to hit the sheets, and anyone could be out at this end of the forest looking for firewood.
Aria's breath hitched in her throat as Ezra pulled her onto his back before swimming back to the shore. She quickly untangled from him, and fumbled to get her dusty clothes on her wet body. The silence between them was so painful, Aria almost considered walking into one of the thick pine tree trunks. Once again, she had proven to Ezra how much of a careless teenager she was by luring him into a lake where there was a worryingly large chance they'd get caught.
She crossed her fingers, as her shaky hands finished tying up her hiking boots, pleading that no one had seen them. "Ezra."
"You're sure you didn't see anyone?" His face was as white as a sheet, and it wasn't just because of the dark night sky.
"I heard what you did. It was probably just a raccoon. Everything will be fine," she said, realising she was reassuring herself more so than him. She pressed her hand on his strong bicep, watching as he looked around them anxiously.
"You're right. It'll be fine," Ezra said. "Now you should go back first, get some sleep. You're mom has a long day planned for us tomorrow before we head back to Rosewood."
Aria sighed, holding her head back in despair. Like she needed a replay of today's team building activities. "I think you should start making the plans from now on, don't you?" She suggested, placing a soft kiss on his shoulder. "I think they'd be a lot more fun."
Ezra released a moan, reading between the lines of Aria's words. She smiled wickedly before walking ahead of him, having both agreed that they should return back to camp separately to avoid any suspicion.
It was around eleven when Mrs Welch finally announced that everyone should pack up and head to bed, and Ezra couldn't have been more thankful. His day had been a long one, and needless to say tiring. But after his amazing half hour with Aria this evening, he was more than satisfied that this camping trip had to be worth all of the irritations and awkward run-ins with Byron Montgomery.
She had completely taken over his mind; her slender curves and perfect face just calling him to attack her with kisses. Not to mention, her luring voice led Ezra to believe that she had, for once, taken the pants in their relationship. Quite literally, actually, because Ezra's shorts were nowhere to be seen after Aria left the lake.
He shook his head at how foolish and dangerous their actions had been tonight, but Ezra wouldn't have missed it for the world. He was head over heels in love with Aria Montgomery, and he was more than thankful that she had bribed him to come on this trip.
Just as Ezra had settled into his sleeping bag – a bargain he'd sat up almost all night bidding for on eBay – he heard footsteps crunching in the gravel around his tent. At first, his heard sped. Was it a squirrel? A bear? He'd heard that there had been unusual bear sightings in this part of the country not long ago, actually.
He sat up, holding the faith that his small, one man tent would protect him if it was, in fact, a bear. But when he heard the zipper open, his heart relaxed. Unless bears were clever enough these days to unzip tents before they ate their victims.
However, his eyes widened when he saw Aria's face poke through the unzipped section of the tent. "Is everything okay?" He asked, instantly thinking the worst of the situation.
"Nothing's wrong, Ezra," Aria said as she slipped into the small tent. "I've been dispossessed of my tent by Hanna and Caleb, that's all."
Ezra's mouth widened, suddenly realising that the ban Ella had placed on girls and boys sharing tents was a goner from the start. But who was he to stop them, after all, this led to the perfect opportunity for him and Aria to share the night together.
"Scoot over," she said, nudging Ezra in the side, before pulling her sleeping bag in and re-zipping the tent.
Ezra obeyed, and began to help Aria unroll the navy blue quilted bag, their hands brushing as they became aware of their close proximity.
"Well this is cosy," she said, her large, hazel eyes looking wildly into his.
Ezra froze as he spotted something crawl across the outside of the sleeping bag, and squinted his eye to get a closer look. He peered inside, pulling open the zip, only to discover an infestation of tiny, black bugs making a home out of the fabric. "And I think things are about to get a little cosier."
"What is it?" Aria said worriedly, picking up that something was wrong. She looked towards Ezra, and he shut the bag quickly, not wanting Aria to see in fear she'd become squeamish.
He rolled the sleeping bag back up, and placed it outside the tent, it wanting to risk the bugs escaping and burrowing their way into his own sleeping bag, too. "Just some bugs, that's all," Ezra said calmly, although he was beginning to feel a little paranoid and itchy himself.
"What?!" Aria cried, looking around in discomfort.
Her face twisted with fear, and Ezra couldn't help but laugh at her response.
"Hey!" She pouted, causing Ezra to chuckle again. "It's not funny!"
"As I recall, you said earlier 'The bugs and I are great friends'. What happened to that, huh? Did you have a falling out?"
Aria shook her head, amused by Ezra's humour. "I think we had some trust issues. It was for the best that we went our separate ways. After all, now we get to spend the night sharing your sleeping bag."
Ezra grinned mischievously, and leaned over to cup Aria's face him his hands. "Thank god for the bugs." He kissed her softly his hands tickling her shoulders. "Are you tired?" Ezra asked, beginning to shuffle down into the sheets.
"Not really," Aria replied, shifting herself so she laid atop of him. As much as they were tight for space, Ezra was sure that there was enough room for Aria to lay on her side of the air bed, but he wasn't complaining.
"Me neither." Ezra kissed her neck, letting his hands trail down her body and stripping her of her tiny pyjama shorts and camisole. She moaned softly as his lips found her sweet spot, and gripped his short hair lustfully in her tiny hands.
His hands soon found themselves inside her panties, and he had to stop himself when he realised what he was doing.
"Don't stop," Aria panted, crushing her mouth against Ezra's like her life depended on it. "Please."
Ezra sighed. This was wrong, wrong on so many levels. Her parents were there, and half of the junior year group, but it still didn't stop him from satisfying both his and Aria's pleasures, and causing Aria to release sounds he'd never imagined to hear outside of the bedroom.
But that had been what this trip was all about, right? Exploring places they'd never been before, getting back to nature...breaking rules. All of which Aria and Ezra had covered in just a few simple hours, inside a one man tent.
The next morning Aria awoke to the irritating sound of chirping birds, and the sound of Ezra's faint giggles in her ear. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was laughing at her, but she had witnessed Ezra's sleep-laughing on more than one occasion, and it amused her more and more each time.
It took her a moment to remember the events that had led to her limbs being awkwardly twisted in Ezra's on this nature filled morning, and she sat up so fast, if was surprising the tent didn't collapse with the force of her panic.
She was entitled to be frazzled, though, as she was pretty sure when her mom and Mrs Welch came round to wake everyone up for the day that they would be a little shocked to find Aria tangled up in their colleague's sleeping bag.
She fumbled awkwardly for her underwear and pyjamas, and quickly slipped out of the tent, going unnoticed by Ezra. Thankfully, there was no one to be seen around the camp, which made Aria's naked rush for the bushes considerably easier, and she wanted to hit herself at how dangerous her hook up with Ezra had been last night. If anyone had heard them – which she would be surprised if they hadn't – then they were done for. But a part of her smiled at herself for having the guts to even go to his tent in the first place, and she was beyond satisfied with how the trip had turned out.
After she'd changed back into yesterday's clothes, Aria tiptoed back to the tent she had been planning to share with Hanna. She slipped inside. Hanna was asleep, alone, just as she'd left her the night before. She felt a twinge of guilt about lying to Ezra, but what harm had it done? And Hanna was an awful snorer, anyway.
Aria pulled out some fresh clothes from her backpack, and smirked as she found the pair of shorts she'd stolen from Ezra at the lake. She was going to get Mona once and for all.
Later on, after a day of many childish activities, the group walked through the forest back to the bus. Where the journey had taken Aria and Ezra's team over three hours yesterday, now as a class they had covered half the distance in just an hour.
She had to admit that today, despite how agonizing she had imagined Ella's idea of games to be, she'd had a lot of fun with her friends, goofing out as if they were kids again, without any of the technology and stress distracting them from their sister-like bond. It had been a good reminder of how things used to be between them, and they all agreed they needed to hang out more on a less serious level.
With Ezra having been in charge of many of the day's activities, Aria hadn't seen him alone once, but her thoughts of the night before were still alive in her mind. She found herself smiling at how madly in love she was with him, and exactly how much she'd risked for their risqué activities.
"What's on your mind, Aria? You've certainly changed your tune since last night."
Aria's smile faded, and she turned around to see Mona behind her.
"I believe you still have a dare you need to complete," Mona prompted, folding her arms across her chest.
With the fun she'd been having today, Aria had almost forgotten about last night's game, and her success. She knew it was risky showing Mona the shorts that she'd stolen from Ezra, but she just couldn't help but want to see the look on her peer's face when she waved those camo coloured pants in the air.
Aria unclasped her backpack, and riffled though, pulling out Ezra's shorts. A look of disbelief crossed Mona's face and she shook her head. "I didn't think you'd pull it off. Nice one."
"Well, maybe Mr Fitz should be a little more careful about where he hangs his pants out to dry," Aria replied, smirking. She was glad she had been able to challenge Mona, and her friends appeared to think the same.
"Maybe you should be a little more careful at how loud you shriek the next time the two of you are together in a campsite," Spencer warned, her tone serious.
Aria's face flushed red, before she joined in with her friends humour. "Just be thankful that it wasn't on your grandmother's couch," Aria replied, tapping Hanna on the shoulder before making her way towards the yellow bus where students had already begun to pile on.
She felt a sense of déjà vu as her eyes wandered the packed bus. Her friends pushed past her to the back, but today, Aria felt like sitting up front. Just as the bus began to move, Aria felt a hand slip into hers, and pull her down onto a bench.
She peered up through her hair to see Ezra's blue eyes looking down at her. A smile played at the corner of his lips, as he placed their intertwined hands down on the cool leather for no one but them to see, his fingers tracing circles on her smooth skin.
Their whispered conversations looked like nothing more than a student and teacher discussing a homework assignment in the quiet of a sleeping bus packed with teenagers, but to them, it was a symbol of their undeniable love for one and other. To them, this trip had been a safe place where they could almost act like a real couple, filled with memories they'd take to their death beds.
The memory that they'd made a one man tent work for two.
Thanks for reading. Please review. xoxo - Kate.