On a frosty February afternoon, Aria Montgomery stood in line at a coffee stand in Central Park while on her lunch hour. The petite brunette had gone to order herself a hot drink to warm her hands on such a cold day, but being Aria - forever fascinated by her surroundings - she hadn't realised it was her turn to order and had blurted out an order for a Green Tea Frappe at the last moment, the barista had looked at her as if she were crazy.

As she watched her drink being swiftly prepared, Aria thought about how much her life had changed in the past five months. It hit her there, slap bang in the middle of Central Park, that this was where she felt at home. The dream to live in the big city she'd had since she was a young girl had finally come true. Well, almost.

Aria had moved to New York City from the quiet suburb of Rosewood, Pennsylvania in the fall after she graduated, and had planned to attend NYU. However, due to many unavoidable circumstances, Aria had been unable to attend the university and was forced to find work in the city to be able to keep up her small apartment's rent.

Aria tried for the most part to block out her childhood in Rosewood; although she had been by far better off than some families with her upbringing, it hadn't been the most stable. Aria was eager to escape Rosewood's (and her father's) tight grasp; due to the settlement's modest population, its residents knew everything about one and other - something that Aria was definitely not comfortable with.

When the end of her senior year approached, Aria had begun to realise that the only way to stay sane would be to leave Rosewood. It was the only way she could dodge the hands of her father, and his tendency to behave in ways which some people would call inappropriate. Aria had no idea where she would go at first; she had been applying to colleges all across the country, however in the perfect picture she'd created in her head, she'd always imagined herself living in a little apartment in New York City attending NYU and satisfying her need to write and create. It would be an idyllic situation, where she could manage to get herself into a good place again.

Three weeks before graduation Aria felt that finally she had taken her life into her own hands. She could almost map out her next few years to come. It felt good to be in control - something she had never really obsessed over at all before - but now that she had been given the luxury of planning her future, Aria didn't know what she'd do without the comfort of having something positive to focus on.

One thing Aria had been troubling herself over was the reaction of her father. She had been meaning to tell Byron, but she'd just never found the right time.

If you came across Byron Montgomery on a good day, you would assume he was a regular guy with a steady job as a professor at the local college. Aria knew her father well, and knew not to raise such a subject on him as moving so far away from home. But it had to be done. There could be no way around it.

Aria's mother, Ella, had taken to the idea quite nicely, giving positive comments and even offering to help Aria pick out an affordable apartment and gave advice on how to cope with living in the big city, although Aria couldn't ignore the sadness in her mother's eyes as she was telling her all this. It would be hard to leave her mother, but she had to do this; she had to get away.

Byron, as expected, stayed silent the whole time, his eyes boring into his daughter's with a look of hatred. Ella looked at Aria with sadness and told her daughter discretely that it'd be best if she arranged a sleepover at Spencer's that night, instead of being the victim of Byron's anger, once again.

With that, Aria's ideal future was torn from her, along with her sense of belonging in this world.

"Hello?" A strongly accented voice interrupted Aria's thought process.

"Your order, Miss."

Aria shook her head and handed over a five dollar bill and told the man to keep the change as she grabbed her icy, cold drink.

Aria wished that she hadn't unveiled such a painful memory right in the middle of the day; she normally saved this sort of "reminiscing" for night time when she was alone and curled up in her queen sized bed.

She looked around the park for a spare bench to sit on, and sipped at her drink as she checked her iPhone for messages. Popular today, she thought to herself as she scrolled through the six messages that she'd received. The first was from her friend Hanna Marin, a photograph of her newly adopted twin Maltipoos, Candy and Pebbles, playing inside a cardboard box. The text brought a smile to Aria's face, and almost made her feel a little better and fit to head back to work.

Just as she was about to start the walk back to the office she was working in - she was currently managing to survive each month's rent deadlines being employed as a receptionist for a local law firm - her phone let out a shrill beep, causing her to spill the half-drunk green iced tea Frappuccino across her expensive grey heels which had been a present from her mother last Christmas.

Aria cursed under her breath as she tried to wipe off the icy liquid with her hands, trying not to cause the shoes any more damage as she did so. Her phone still buzzed on the ground where it had fallen along with the drink. Aria let out a pent sigh as she leant over to quieten the device, but as she bent down, a pair of startlingly beautiful, blue eyes stared back up at her, causing her breath to catch. "Oh," she gasped, surprised.

The eyes belonged to a man who boasted a great handsomeness, topped off with adorable dark brown curls. A radiant smile beamed across his face as he spoke.

Aria was staring into his eyes when she realised that he was waiting for her to reply. "Sorry, what?" Aria fumbled with the napkin she was holding.

"I said, I think your shoes prefer that drink to you." He said with a half-smile.

Aria blushed, and tried to look anywhere but the man's eyes, which was ultimately bound to fail as they were completely and utterly mesmerising.

He chuckled, which made Aria start upright, almost dropping her cell phone again. Aria was sure he'd think she was a lame, clumsy teenager, who drooled over every guy she came across. She cursed herself for being so immature.

"I'm Ezra," the man smiled, reaching to shake her hand.

Aria was surprised to see that he genuinely seemed interested in her, and she accepted his invitation to shake hands. "Aria," she replied, returning the same warm smile he had given her.

The two managed to clean up the rest of the mess which had damaged Aria's shoes in a comfortable silence, but when Aria stood up and began to straighten out her coat, she felt Ezra's eyes on her. She suddenly felt extremely self-conscious, more so than she'd ever experienced. She dared not smile in fear of lipstick being smudged on her teeth, and she fussed over her long, dark brown hair which she'd thrown up in a rushed side braid while on her way to work this morning.

She had always taken great pride in her appearance, not so much to make her vain, but enough to make her feel 'good' about herself. But ever since Aria had made the move to the city, things like that didn't seem to matter as much to her anymore. She hadn't really thought about it until today, but since she arrived in NYC she hadn't had anyone to keep up appearances for, and it all it had taken for her to snap back into part of her old self was meeting Ezra.

It was then that Aria realised she wouldn't be doing side braids on her way to work ever again, not only because she had decided that she was going to make more time for her appearance (starting now), but also because she was likely to lose her job if her 'lunch break' lasted any longer.

"I have to go," Aria whispered, almost so quiet she wasn't sure Ezra had heard, but by the way his face crumpled, she realised he had. She softened. Seeing his confusion and disappointment kind of made him seem like a child. "If I'm not back to work by," Aria paused, glancing at the time on her cell phone, suddenly anxious "now, I won't have a job tomorrow."

Ezra suddenly relaxed, and Aria could almost see the look of relief that washed over his face. "Well, I don't want to be the reason you lose your job!"

Aria giggled. "No, it's anything but you!" she said, beaming at the pretty sight before her. Suddenly she realised that her comment must have sounded better in her head than it had out loud, as she watched Ezra stare at her, a confused and slightly amused look on his handsome face. Aria could feel her face burning with embarrassment, and quickly fumbled for something else to say. "I mean, if I wasn't so clumsy then I wouldn't have had to make you take time out of your day to help me clean up this mess."

Ezra smiled and gently rested his hand on Aria's arm. Even though she was wearing a thick jersey coat, she could still feel the warmth of his touch and her heart beat faster than ever. "Aria, my plans are non-existent. I was more than happy to help a citizen in need, especially a beautiful young woman like yourself."

Aria was taken aback by his use of charm. This guy really knows how to impress the ladies, she thought. Just as she was about to speak, her cell phone – yet again – released its signal that she had a text message, reminding her that she wasn't on a leisurely stroll in Central Park and that she did, in fact, have a job to get back to. She glanced at the screen to see a capitalized text message from her work colleague, Jennifer, informing her that she couldn't cover for Aria much longer. "I really have to get back to work, now but…" Aria quietened herself. She wasn't really sure what she wanted to say, but she knew it definitely wasn't goodbye.

"But…" Ezra mimicked, gesturing her to continue.

She practically shook her next words out of her mouth, and instantly doubted herself once she said them. "…I'd like to know more about you." Stupid, stupid, STUPID! She cursed herself. Why had she said that, the guy probably had a girlfriend, for all she knew he could be married with five kids. This was what not socializing properly for a year did to you; it made you assume that every guy who looks at you wants to be with you.

Ezra could sense the internal argument going on inside Aria's head and decided it was best to solve all her worries. "I'd like to know more about you, too," he said, giving Aria a warm, reassuring smile.

Aria relaxed instantly and returned Ezra's smile. He wanted to know more about her? Aria Montgomery, eighteen year old college failure, who hadn't even bothered to apply lipstick this morning. She felt truly honoured. And anxious that she was going to lose any chance of a career.

"Would you like to come to dinner with me tonight?" Ezra suddenly asked, realising that it was now or never.

Aria couldn't help but smile knowing that he genuinely was interested in her. She was overjoyed to be asked to dinner, but was it safe to be going out with a substantially older man whom she had just met? This was her fist chance to let loose in a long while, and she'd feel bad saying no after Ezra had come to her rescue after she had spilt her drink, earlier. "I'd love to," she finally said, making the decision for herself.

"Great! Well, I know this great place not far from here, actually. How about we meet here at seven?" Ezra said, hoping Aria was comfortable with being taken to an unknown location.

"It's a date, then!" Aria replied enthusiastically, smiling so hard her cheeks were beginning to hurt.

With that, the two parted and Aria walked at a furious pace to get back to the office. She felt like a bag of nerves returning twenty minutes late after her lunch break was due to end, but mostly she was smitten about her chance meeting with Ezra Fitz and the date she was going on later. This was her first real date since high school when she'd been in a patchy relationship with Noel Khan back in Rosewood, and Aria was determined that her date with Ezra would be nothing like the typical teen date nights she had been accustomed to in High School. Was she making a mistake going out of her usual strict comfort zone and letting this man take her somewhere she had never heard of? No, she didn't think so. Ezra seemed like a genuine nice guy, who Aria would love to get to know more about. He seemed like the kind of man she could trust with her life, and without a lead supporting male to fill that role in her complicated life, Ezra seemed like a valid contestant. Plus, he wasn't exactly hard to look at, either.

With a grin on her face which she just couldn't bear to wipe off, Aria set foot into the office she'd grown used to working in the past few months, determined that whatever punishment she was about to receive would not burst her bubble of happy thoughts of her date tonight. Only time would tell, but Aria had a distinct feeling that Ezra would be the kind of person she would want to be going on another date with, and she couldn't wait to get the rest of the day's workload over to find out if her proposal was true.

Hello! Thank you for reading! I plan for this to be a multi-chapter story, and I have a good idea of how it's going to turn out. I know this first chapter wasn't too exciting, but I promise it will get better and there will no doubt be a lot of Ezria fluff, and – as I'm a sucker for scandal – some drama! I would love to hear your feedback, and by reviewing, you'll encourage me to update sooner! Thanks again, Kate. :)