A/N: So, this was supposed to be posted on Valentine's Day. That is all.

Of Roses, Ice Rinks, and Sleepovers

On the morning of February 14, 2014, Aria rolled over in her unusually cold bed and felt a soft, light object flutter down her cheek. Jerking up, she practically fell right off the mattress, but was able to stabilize herself and grab the tiny something off of her pillow and study it without a single scream.

She didn't have to stare at it for long, though, to recognize that it was a red rose petal. It also didn't take long for Aria to realize that the entire bed was covered with them, and that there was a path leading out of the apartment bedroom and into the kitchen. Eyes narrowing, Aria cautiously pulled the covers aside, spilling some petals onto the floor, and got out of the bed. It wasn't every day that she woke up sprinkled with dismembered flowers.

While padding into the kitchen, she smoothed out her tattered shorts that had been ruffled by a night of peaceful slumber and pulled down the oversized shirt she'd stolen from Ezra's drawer. At first she didn't notice the new decorations either, because she had been rubbing her eyes to test if the entire thing was a dream or not, but when she did she gasped in surprise.

Once the initial shock wore off, Aria crossed her arms and sunk onto one hip, smirking at the man at the stove. "Let me guess," she said, picking up the lighter and illuminating the three candles held by a fancy candelabrum on the small dining room table. "It's Valentine's Day."

"What makes you think that?" Ezra played along, flipping a half-cooked chocolate chip pancake.

"The petals, the candles… The only difference is that you're not wearing your cheesy boxers. Plus it's only the morning."

"Last year it was at lunch, the year before it was at dinner... I decided to do even better this year."

Aria padded over to the counter and jumped on top of it, ruffling Ezra's hair. With her new height it was easier to access the top of his head. "Yeah, I could have choked inhaling one of those deadly things. What a date that would be."

"But you didn't," Ezra pointed out while transferring the last pancake to the steaming stack on the plate. "And what are you doing on the counter?" There was a mischievous smile on his face.

Wrinkling her nose in fake disgust, Aria playfully pushed his shoulder. "What, I'm not allowed to sit on the counter without insinuating something? I just wanted to be taller than you for once."

Ezra came closer to her so that his hand bumped her knee, and with his other hand he measured their height difference. "Unfortunately for you, I'm still taller."

Aria lightly kicked his leg with her foot, noticing that his hand was running up her thigh. Smirking, she grabbed it and pushed it back down to her knee. "Nice try," she said as she pounced off the counter and took the plate of pancakes to the dining table.

"Aw, come on!" Ezra whined. "It's Valentine's Day!"

"Exactly," Aria stated while sitting down. "It's Valentine's Day, not Let's Start Off the Morning with a Bang Day."

Stabbing a pancake with his fork, Ezra avoided eye contact. "Is that a real day?" he mumbled into a hot bite of pancake, which burned his tongue much to his chagrin.

However, Aria heard with clarity what he said, and again she kicked his shin. "No, it's not." Then, just to play along, she muttered, "But it's not like you need to make that a holiday."

Meanwhile, Spencer was just waking up in her own Pennsylvanian apartment. Stretching out her limbs, she reached for the cell phone on her nightstand but instead touched something smooth and hard. With a groan she peeled open her eyes and studied the mysterious object she'd touched. It was a Scrabble board.

Of course, it wasn't like Spencer to forget Valentine's Day, but she'd been so busy lately she wasn't surprised that Toby had to leave her a message. "Happy Valentine's Day," the letters spelled out, followed by a detailed drawing of a heart. A single rose laid across the board, and Spencer picked it up and inhaled the sweet scent, trying not to smile too hard.

The moment was broken, however, by the ringing of her phone. Grabbing it, Spencer's stomach flipped when she saw it was Aria. "Hey," Spencer said excitedly. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Stop it, Spence, we're never going to work out," Aria joked, probably to traumatize Ezra on the other end.

"Okay, not where I was going with that greeting," Spencer laughed while lying back down on her pillow. "I was going to say, are we still up for later?"

"Of course!" Aria replied. "Why would we cancel? I love watching Ezra slip and fall twenty times a second."

"Aria, sweetie, give the guy a break," Spencer scolded her lightly. "That's the second time you've humiliated him in two minutes."

"I know, but he tried to kill me this morning with this crazy rose petal idea."

Spencer's interest had never been so piqued. Did she want to know? "Um…what?" By what came out of her mouth, apparently she did, even if it meant being mentally scarred for life.

"Oh, I don't know if I should tell you," Aria lowered her voice and whispered. "It might embarrass Ezra."

Again, did Spencer want to know? "A third time won't kill him." Yes, she still did.

"Okay, so…" Aria paused and checked to see if Ezra was eavesdropping, but he was just washing the plates in his lonesome humming some love song. "I wake up this morning and it's like a rose petal jungle everywhere. I'm talking about something guys would do when they take their dates home—you know, those really sappy awkward movies?—except I woke up to one. But then I saw that he set the table with some candles and made my favorite breakfast, and all those thoughts of choking on a petal disappeared."

"He's such a goofball." Spencer snorted, secretly relieved that it hadn't been anything crude. God knew what Aria had shared in the past.

"Sadly, he's my goofball," Aria kidded with a sigh. "But a goofball who cleans the dishes. What more can I ask for?"

"Speaking of goofballs, where is mine?" Spencer sat back up on the bed and called out, "Toby?"

"What, is Toby not there?"

Spencer shook her head even though Aria couldn't see her. "No, I don't think so. I'll call you back."

Right when Spencer entered the kitchen, the front door opened and in stepped Toby with a bag in his hand. A smile grew on his face the moment he saw Spencer. "Hey, you," he greeted her, and Spencer warmly accepted a short kiss. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"I got your message," Spencer said, raising an eyebrow. "A Scrabble board, huh?"

"I thought it would be romantic," Toby admitted. "It's a thing for us."

"Well, I loved it," Spencer said softly before kissing him again.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Aria shrieked when Ezra pointed the camera lens at her. "I look terrible."

"You look fine," Ezra protested and brought the camera up to his eye. "Now stop moving."

"No," Aria groaned, covering her face with her hands. After Ezra had finished up the dishes, he'd taken a few unsuspecting photos while Aria was talking to Spencer just to rile the tiny woman up.

"Aria," Ezra sighed and moved the camera away from his eye. "Look at me." From behind spread fingers Aria peeked at him. "No one else is going to see these pictures. They're just for fun," he told her reassuringly. "And who cares if someone does? I think you're beautiful."

"Even right now?" Aria mumbled, blinking her eyes innocently.

"Especially right now," Ezra told her, a whisper of a smile on his face. "Now look at me."

Dropping her hands, Aria crossed her leg over her knee and cocked her head to the side. "What exactly are we doing?" It wasn't their first impromptu photoshoot, but asking was better than an awkward silence.

"No idea," Ezra said while snapping a picture. "Just go with it. We're young and in love and this is our way of having appropriate fun."

"Well, that's not what I was expecting to hear at all!" But Aria did exactly what he said and began to pose, and eventually they took turns snapping pictures, even trying to take photos together by holding the camera away from them, and then the camera was forgotten.

"So, what's in the bag?" Spencer peeped inside, but Toby yanked it away.

"Your favorite breakfast, of course," Toby explained after a moment of anticipating silence.

"Wow," Spencer said in disbelief. "Ezra did the same thing."

"Wait, Ezra got you breakfast?" Toby joked, faking shock. "Spence, how could you?"

"Not for me, idiot, for Aria!" Spencer giggled while gently shoving Toby in the shoulder.

"I know, I know!" Toby caved in and set the food from Panera in front of her. "Now let's eat. We've got a long day ahead of us."

"Oh yeah," Spencer said in a mildly joking tone while digging into the oatmeal. "We're going ice-skating."

"Yeah!" Toby exclaimed with forced enthusiasm "Ice-skating! That's so great!"

Giggling, Spencer patted Toby's shoulder. "I appreciate your faked excitement."

"I mean, who doesn't love ice-skating on Valentine's Day? The cold, the ice…"

"…give us a perfect excuse to cuddle next to a fire, as cliché as that sounds," Spencer finished for him.

"Spence, there is no fire at an ice rink."

"I know," Spencer said. "But someone had to generate some real excitement."

"What? I am excited!" Spencer gave Toby "the look," and he crumbled. "Okay, so ice-skating isn't really my thing, but I'm letting you and Aria drag me and Ezra there. Isn't that enough convincing that I love you and our friends?"

Inside, Spencer knew that Toby was right. But she only gave him a look and went back to eating her breakfast, teasing him, and leaving the poor guy to wonder if he'd said something wrong.

…

Outside it was chilly yet sunny, a perfect day to go ice skating. Spencer breathed in the crisp air and smiled widely; everything was just perfect. In one hand she had her well-worn skates, and in the other she was holding Toby's hand, which she assumed was sweating profusely under its glove.

"I can't believe we're going ice skating!" Spencer exclaimed as she tugged Toby behind her, wanting to get to the upcoming rink faster. "Aria and I went last year with Hanna and Emily. We had a blast!" Sighing, Spencer managed to keep her cool and slow down a bit. "Too bad Emily and Hanna are out of state for the winter. But we have Aria and Ezra!"

In all honesty, Toby couldn't wait to pull Ezra aside and complain about how their girlfriends were tagging them along to ice skate of all things. Why not play Scrabble or watch a movie, something simple yet pleasant? Of course, Spencer had an excuse ready for that response: "We've done both of those things before. I think it's time we try something other than lettered tiles and Casablanca. And don't get me started on that It Happened One Night movie!" In the meantime, Aria had told Ezra the same thing. "We play Scrabble and watch movies all the time. And do we really need to get worked up over Spencer and Toby's mad Scrabble skills some more? I mean, it's like we're writers who can't come up with scary-long words and it worries me."

As Spencer approached the rink, she immediately spotted Aria and Ezra already on the ice. Aria was attempting to maneuver an off-balanced Ezra around, her elegant glides not enough to keep the wobbly man up. When Ezra slipped and fell, Aria came down with him, and Spencer poked Toby in the rib while they tumbled to the ground.

"See that?" Spencer said, pointing to a hysterical Aria and Ezra cracking up on the ice, probably freezing their legs off. "That woman is me and that man is you."

"Hey," Toby protested, but he couldn't help smiling slightly. "I'm not as bad as that guy."

"We'll see about that." Spencer raised her hand in the air and waved. "Hey, Aria! Ezra!" The two looked up and instantly flushed red. "Don't be embarrassed," Spencer told them after they got up and skated towards them. "We saw everything."

"Oh no," Aria huffed while brushing her hair out of her face and encasing Spencer in a hug over the rink's side. "And after that conversation we had this morning about embarrassing Ezra."

Spencer waved her hand and sat down on the nearest bench, prying her boots off. "Psh. We're all going to humiliate ourselves because Toby and Ezra are going to bring us down with them."

"Hey," the guys mumbled in protest, though there wasn't really much they could say without the girls ganging up on them.

Once Spencer had her laces tied up, she stood up and put her hands on her hips. Coughing awkwardly, Toby glanced at Aria and Ezra for help, but Ezra had tried to skate off on his own and it didn't look like it was going well. "Toby," Spencer finally said.

Toby pursed his lips and avoided eye contact. "What?"

"Why aren't your skates on?" She started tapping her foot impatiently and raised an eyebrow questionably.

"Um…erm…," he stammered. "Because, uh…they don't fit me?"

"Nonsense!" Spencer exclaimed, grabbing the skates out of his hands. "They fit you yesterday!"

Defeated, Toby plopped down on the bench with a long, drawn-out sigh and accepted his skates from a smiling Spencer. He looked up and watched as Aria took Ezra's hands and spun them around. In fact, he didn't slip and break his dignity on the ice. Maybe I can do this, Toby thought and stood up proudly and determined. Spencer had her arm hooked through his and was making her first step on the ice. However, Ezra chose that moment to slip and fall on his back, again pulling Aria down on top of him—painfully. "Oh!" Aria exclaimed while scooting off him, sitting back on her knees, and clasping her hands over mouth. "Are you okay?"

Toby's confidence was shattered. "Wai—," began, but time was up. He was on the ice. His back was stiff and he didn't feel any comfort whatsoever, but he was on the ice. "Look at you!" Spencer squealed, almost letting go of him until she realized he didn't know what he was doing. "Ah, I wish I brought my camera."

Spencer and Toby approached a fallen Ezra, who was being slowly pulled up by Aria, who was tiny and struggling not to collapse. "Here, let me," Spencer said, let go of Toby, and aided in getting Ezra on his feet. "Phew!" she huffed as soon as he was up and moving again. "That was much harder than it looked."

"Um, Spencer?" Toby stood stiffly with his knees shaking. "Hold me please?"

"Oh, sorry," she apologized, and then began to teach Toby the basics.

Fifteen minutes later Aria came up behind Spencer and asked if she wanted to take a spin with her. "Sure!" chimed Spencer. "But first…" Unexpectedly, and with a roguish glint in her eyes, she grabbed onto Ezra's hands and began spinning them in a circle.

Aria caught the hint and clasped onto Toby's gloved hands. "Wait, what are we—" Again, he couldn't finish his sentence because Aria sent them in a twirling circle.

"Aria, switch!" Spencer screamed and Aria let go of Toby and grasped to Ezra. "Isn't this great?" she squealed as Ezra's face turned green. "Let's do it again!"

This time Spencer took Aria's hands and they spun the fastest (since they were both experienced skaters) out of the three switches. It took a moment for Toby and Ezra to realize they were holdings hands and whirling around without the girls' help, and they both wrinkled their noses. "Yeah, this is, um, awkward," they mumbled over each other.

Eventually Spencer and Aria let go and they went slipping on the ice. "Oomph!" they exclaimed before bursting into laughter. "Oh my God!" Aria giggled. "We haven't done that in years!"

"I know!" Spencer agreed enthusiastically, then lifted her arms in the air and summoned Toby over to help her up. "You know what we have to do next?" she asked mischievously after Toby and Ezra actually did something useful and helped them up.

Aria returned the smirk. "Hot chocolate at The Brew?"

The two chattering couples stopped at The Brew, as planned by Spencer and Aria's childhood tradition, and each ordered a hot chocolate, sipping and burning their tongues for a few minutes at a table before deciding to head to Aria and Ezra's place to—yes—watch a movie. (The decision was mostly based on the fact that Aria and Ezra had a fireplace.)

As Ezra and Spencer debated over what movie to watch, Aria asked Toby if he could grab the stack of blankets while she made some popcorn. "Look what I found," Aria piped up in singsong as she returned from the kitchen. In one hand was the steaming bowl of popcorn and in the other was a plate of brownies; under her arm was a can of whipped cream. "Ezra and I were saving this for later, but I thought it'd be better sharing it with friends."

"Aww," Spencer said, touched. She put a hand over her heart. "You're so cheesy and I love you."

"Ha ha," Aria teased and set the bowl, plate, and can on the coffee table next to their half-drunken hot chocolates. The four then decided to jump on the couch at the same time, and it turned out to be a disaster: Spencer knocked Aria's head with her elbow, Toby almost got stabbed with a pillow zipper, and Aria fell on top of Ezra in an almost delicate spot. After a minute of yelling over each other and trying to get comfortable, they were about to start the movie when Aria realized the fireplace hadn't been started. Groaning, the four of them readjusted so that Ezra could squeeze out and set the dang thing, and they had to squish back together so that he could get back in. "We good?" Spencer said once it seemed like everything was in shape.

A chorus of affirmations and hums sounded off the walls and Spencer hit play; they'd all agreed on Love Actually. Cuddling deeper into the couch, she playfully kicked Aria in the foot—Aria returned the action—and snuggled her head on Toby's shoulder, not realizing that Aria had already melted into Ezra's side in the same position. Halfway through the film Aria was the first to drift off, then Toby; Spencer and Ezra eventually paused it because they knew how it ended anyway and chatted about casual things. At midnight Ezra offered the guest room, but Spencer had a different idea: an old-style sleepover on the floor in front of the fireplace.

While Spencer and Ezra pushed the coffee table aside and debated over who got to sit the closest to the fire, Aria woke up and sat up sleepily. "What's going on?" she mumbled and rubbed her eyes.

"Come sleep here," Ezra said, gesturing to the makeshift bed of blankets and a rolled-out sleeping bag that was the nearest to the flames.

"No!" Spencer whined. "Maybe I want to sleep there."

"This is my apartment and my Valentine's Day, therefore I give up this luxury to Aria as an act of selflessness."

"Don't pull that English teacher philosophy or whatever on me," Spencer snapped sassily. "And in case you weren't caught up in national history, Valentine's Day is a national American holiday, so technically it can't just be yours."

"Ha, thank you, Spencer," Ezra said in monotone. "I wasn't trying to be romantic or anything."

"What's going on?" interrupted Toby, who woke up, too.

"Come join the party," Aria muttered, followed by a yawn. She curled up over the spot Ezra had verbally fought for her, and Ezra gave Spencer a victorious smirk.

"That's not fair!" Spencer protested and Toby joined her on the ground. "You know I can't resist Aria's cute sleeping face." It was true: If Ezra had been the one to take the spot, Spencer would have rolled and shoved him off and locked him in the closet.

While Toby huddled under the nearest blanket, Ezra continued to aggravate Spencer by pointing his index finger at her and laughing at her silently. "You going to sleep?" Toby asked her, wondering why she wasn't burrowing next to him.

"Yes," Spencer said through gritted teeth, tempted to flick off Ezra but knowing, deep down, that they were just having a playful argument. "Good night everyone."

The next morning they all woke up to a burned-out fire and blankets strewn everywhere. Spencer's first comment was "Wow, we're terrible sleepers," but Aria was the one who gushed, "Gosh, what if one of them flew into the fire or something? We'd all be dead!"

But none of them really wanted to get up that morning, so they ate a breakfast of leftover popcorn and brownies and cold remnants of hot chocolate, and remained glued to their exploded makeshift bed on the hard floor. Overall, they joked about yesterday and how great of a time they had, and how they were definitely going to have to do something crazier next year.

To Spencer, "crazier" meant sky diving in a snowstorm or skinny dipping in an ice-cold lake. At first the other three laughed it off, but then after their chatter calmed down Aria dared to ask what the others weren't expressing out loud.

"So, which lake are we going to next year?"