2016

For most people, the jingling sound made when they opened the door of The Brew meant they were one step closer to caffeine, and therefore one step closer to happiness. For 26-year-old Aria Montgomery, the jingling signified the start of a grueling 8 hour shift and served as a reminder of her lack of annual income.

As a teenager, Aria had loved coffee. She'd spent multiple hours of her life tucked away in the back corner of this homey café with a good book in one hand and a Frappuccino in the other. But as an adult, Aria had grown to resent it with everything in her. Spending her summers as a barista was not what Aria had planned on doing when she graduated from Hollis with her degree in elementary education, but apparently it is what life had planned for her. Going the three months allotted for summer without a paycheck as detrimental in her situation. So, she picked up shifts at the coffee shop in order to keep food on the table and medication in the cabinet. But working around the liquid energy for three months straight as a disgruntled adult had the same effect on Aria that working at a McDonald's has on some teen trying to make gas money. Over time, the drinks began to make her stomach churn. She now only drank coffee when it was absolutely necessary. And today, it was necessary.

The door to The Brew was already unlocked by the time Aria arrived, despite the fact that the sun had yet to rear its head over the tree line. Just as she was every time she worked the opening shift, Aria was surprised to find customers already inside, anxiously awaiting their morning cup of Joe. Being a teacher and having gotten accustomed to getting an entire summer away from work, she sometimes forgot that most people had jobs that kept them working 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, save maybe Christmas and Thanksgiving.

"Morning Aria," Her boss, owner of The Brew, and long time friend, Emily Fields, greeted quickly before turning her attention back to the customer in front of her and telling him his total.

Aria didn't bother responding. Instead, she just flashed her friend the world's fakest and fastest smile before pushing through the door that led into the kitchen. Small talk was the last thing on her mind. Coffee, ironically, was the first. She'd slept a total of an hour and a half the night before. If she didn't get some caffeine in her soon, she'd surely collapse from exhaustion.

With a chewed fingernail, Aria turned on the Keurig to let it warm up before turning her back and retrieving her small maroon apron from a row of hooks on the wall. This was her fourth summer working for Emily at The Brew and she'd still yet to ask why they wore the aprons to begin with. It wasn't like they'd kept anything in them aside from maybe a desert that they'd sneak from the display tray whenever they got hungry. It wasn't that Aria was complaining about wearing them. They were really the only form of a 'uniform' they were required to wear. She was just curious.

As she tied the string around her waist, the Keurig hissed and gurgled, letting Aria know it was ready for her use. She grabbed a freshly washed cup from the sink and chose a flavor for the cartridge without giving it too much thought. It didn't matter what the coffee tasted like, it just needed to do its job.

She leaned against the counter with closed eyes as the machine drizzled her drink into the mug. That simple action was enough to make Aria begin to sway side to side as if she were already falling into a dream-like state. And a part of her wished that she were. Last night had been absolute hell. She needed a sweet dream to forget reality for a little while.

"Are you planning on paying for that?" The seemingly sudden sound of Emily's voice startled Aria.

Her eyes flew open and her face flushed. "I…uh…"

"I'm kidding," Emily rolled her eyes, the slightest hint of a smile ghosting her lips. "Rough night last night?"

"Very," Aria sighed, turning to pick up her cup. Her eyes lagged as she watched Emily move around the kitchen gathering ingredients for a French Press.

"Was it Sophie or something else?" Emily quizzed gently, causing Aria to give a tired smile. One of the things she loved about Emily was her ability to make you believe she genuinely cared about whatever you were going through even if she was doing something else while you talked. There was just something about her that told you that she was always listening.

"Uh, Sophie," Aria licked her lips. "Yeah, she was up all night last night, so of course, I was right there with her. Nothing was calming her down. I tried everything. Her treatments, Vicks vapor rub. We sat in the bathroom for like 45 minutes with the shower turned on just breathing in the steam. Nothing worked. I was about to take her to the ER when she finally settled down and fell asleep."

Since 2008, Aria had been learning to deal with all of the big curve balls that little Sophie Juliette Callahan had thrown at her. The small girl who was a mirror image of her mother, with the exception of her bright blue eyes that most definitely came from her father, made a grand entrance into the world 8 years ago and hadn't stopped causing commotion since. As if becoming a mother at 18 wasn't hard enough, not only did Aria have to learn how to care for another human being when she barely knew how to care for herself, but she had to learn how to care for another human being with a medical condition when she barely knew how many Tylenols to take when she got a migraine. She loved that little girl more than anything, but there was no denying that she had made Aria's life a hell of a lot more difficult.

"Aria, why are you here?" Emily folded her arm over her chest and pivoted to stare directly at the girl she'd known for years. "Go home. Sophie's sick and needs you."

"She's fine," Aria waved a hand dismissively. Things like this happened all the time. Every time the weather shifted, Sophie's lungs would spasm like crazy. Although normally, Aria could get it under control within an hour or so. "She's with my mom who knows to call me if anything goes wrong. But it won't, because like I said, she's fine. It's just this weather. Those storms that rolled in last week have given her hell."

"Aria," Emily lowered her eyes.

"Seriously, Em," Aria shook her head. "She's fine. I'm doing a lot more for her by being here and earning extra money than I am sitting on the couch with her watching 'KC Undercover'."

Emily bit her lip and moved closer to Aria, her breathing becoming exaggerated as if she was unsure of what she was about to say. "I know you want to be home with her. If Matt were still…"

"He isn't, Emily," Aria cut her off, not wanting to get into the 'Matt' conversation for the millionth time. "He isn't here. And he won't ever be here, so please don't offer that up like some solution to the problem. Matt's not here. I am. I have to make money so that Sophie can eat and have her medicine so she can, you know, breathe." Aria didn't notice that her shoulders had practically crept up to her ears and her eyes had opened as wide as possible until she stopped talking. 5 years later and the subject of her late husband, Sophie's father, still set her nerves on edge. "I'm sorry," Aria whispered, trying to relax her posture again.

"No, I'm sorry," Emily put her hands up in faux-surrender. "I know that you don't like to talk about him. I shouldn't have mentioned it. You're right, he's not a solution to this problem."

Aria nodded. She cast her gaze on the cooling liquid in her cup before bringing the ceramic mug to her lips and taking a long, much-needed sip. Once she swallowed, she pointedly glanced to the French Press that sat ready on the counter opposite them. "I think someone's waiting on that."

"Right," Emily visibly bit the inside of her cheek before returning to the job she's started moments earlier and leaving Aria alone in the kitchen once again.

Line Break

When the clock struck 3 o'clock on a Monday afternoon, The Brew fell silent. Every Monday it was the same. The baristas knew that there'd be no tips, no jingling bells, and no coffee to brew for at least an hour if not longer. Every Monday, the little café looked to be closed for a short period of time and its workers took advantage of it.

Emily shut herself in her office to do God knows what. She said it was work related paper work, but Aria was pretty sure that paper work didn't involve incessant giggling and another voice being relayed over a speaker. If her hunch was correct, Emily definitely had a new girlfriend that she was keeping all to herself for the time being. Aria didn't want to pry, so she didn't ask. Instead she just speculated within the confines of her own brain and dropped little hints here and there that she'd overheard their conversations. Emily never seemed to pick up on them.

The other two girls who worked the day shift with Aria were still in high school and spent their "break" gossiping and Facetiming their boyfriends. It was all petty talk that Aria found stupid, until she realized that she'd been just like that when she was their age. All she cared about back then were boys, partying, and making it to graduation day. Maybe that's why she'd gotten knocked up her senior year . Her head was in the clouds instead of on the ground, focusing on what really mattered. In a lot of ways, Sophie had been her wake up call and she was extremely grateful for the reality check. But in other ways, Aria wished that those two teenage girls saw Aria as an example of what not to do. She'd told them her story…well the parts she wanted to say aloud…many times during these long breaks. They'd asked questions and nearly fainted at the answers. So Aria could only hope that they were taking her stories to heart and consciously trying not to end up like she had. Aria loved her daughter. But that didn't mean she loved her life. She wished she could give Sophie more. But being 18 when she had a kid hadn't allowed her to do that. At least not yet.

As for Aria, when she wasn't eavesdropping on her coworkers' lives during her downtime, she was usually curled up on the couch, sleeping, reading, or on the phone with Sophie after she'd had a particularly interesting day. Today, Aria was choosing to sleep.

About 30 minutes into her cat nap, the jingling of the bells pulled her awake. Her eyes fluttered open, revealing to her the image of her long time best friend, Spencer Hastings, walking directly towards her. Slowly, Aria sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Hey, Spence."

"Ezra Fitz is getting a divorce." No 'hi'. No 'how are you'. Just right to the point. If Aria could describe Spencer in one phrase, that would be it. Right to the point. Always. Maybe that was the lawyer side in her. Maybe it was just her personality. Either way, she never felt the need to dwindle on small talk. Whenever she spoke, she had something to say. Aria just wasn't expecting that to come out of her mouth.

Aria furrowed her brow, unsure of how to react. Was she supposed to be sorry? Was she supposed to start spewing off questions about what happened, because honestly, she didn't care, so why pretend like she did? She hadn't said a word to that man in a little over 8 years. She avoided him like it was her job. So why one earth would she care that he was getting a divorce. She didn't even know his wife's name despite seeing the countless pictures he tagged her in on Facebook. "Good afternoon, Spencer," Aria decided to totally ignore her friend's statement all together.

"Afternoon. Ezra Fitz is getting a divorce," Spencer repeated, more aggressively this time.

"Okay?" Aria raised an eyebrow.

Rosewood was a small town and unfortunately, neither her nor Ezra had escaped it as adults. Word travels fast. Surely she would've heard about it sooner rather than later. So Aria couldn't wrap her head around Spencer's reasoning for telling her in such a hurried manner.

"I saw him and Nicole walking out of divorce court today," Spencer went on, oblivious to the fact that Aria didn't care. "I tried to get his lawyer to tell me what was going on, but as expected, he wouldn't say a word."

"Spencer, no offense, but I couldn't care less about who Ezra is or isn't married to," Aria rose to her feet and straightened out her apron.

"He looked awful," Spencer continued as if Aria hadn't just voiced her opinion on the subject. "He had really dark circles underneath his eyes, his clothes were all wrinkled. I bet Nicole kicked him out, that's why he looks so shitty. Aria, his hair is turning gray already. Well, the sides are."

"That's great, Spence," Aria rolled her eyes as she padded over to a mirror mounted on the wall above a couch adjacent to where she had previously been standing.

"It's not great. It's sad," Spencer chuckled despite the apparent tone of the situation she was presenting. "I mean, did you ever imagine back in high school that heart-throb Fitz was going to end up divorced and graying at 26? He seemed like he had his life together."

Aria shook her head and fluffed her brunette locks with her hand, her eyes fixated on themselves in the mirror. In them, she saw an undeniable sadness, something that made her stomach churn with guilt. Truthfully, she hadn't imagined any of the events that had taken place over the last 8 years to happen back in high school. If someone had asked her at 16 what her life would be like in 10 years, she would've said she'd be a newly wed, working at a publishing company in New York, and living in a high end apartment with two small dogs that served as placeholder children until her and her husband were ready for the real thing. She would've said that she'd still talk to Ezra Fitz every day, no matter where in the world he lived. She would've said she'd be perfectly content with her life. Aria would have never thought that at 26, she'd be widowed, the mother of an 8-year-old, working as an elementary school teacher slash barista, and living in the shittiest apartment building in Rosewood. Aria would've never guessed that she and Ezra Fitz wouldn't be on speaking terms. And she could've never dreamed that in 10 years, the only thing that got her out of bed every day was a little girl who was half her and half the former high school Lacrosse team captain rather than the genuine will to live. It just didn't seem right, but it was all she had.

"I guess not, says the girl who got pregnant at 18," Aria joked her pain away.

"Oh, I didn't…I didn't mean it like that," Spencer's nostalgic grimace fell from her face and morphed into a frown.

"It's fine," Aria shrugged. "I was kidding anyway."

Spencer nodded slowly as her expression changed again, this time into one of eagerness. "Speaking of pregnant at 18, when do I get to see my goddaughter? We live 10 minutes from each other, you'd think I'd see her more than I do."

"Well that's your fault," Aria smirked. "If you weren't always working…"

"Someone's got to make the money. I thought you of all people would understand that," Spencer's giggles took away from the weight of her sentence, something Aria was grateful for.

"I do understand. All to well unfortunately," Aria said as she began gathering her hair and pulling it into a pony tail on top of her head. "But I swear you put in more hours than I do."

"Who's on the clock right now and who isn't?" Spencer raised an eyebrow.

"Touché," Aria narrowed her eyes, twisting an elastic band in around her hair to secure the up do she'd just created. "But in all seriousness and your work schedule aside, you wouldn't want to see Soph today. We were up all night. Her coughing was insane. My mom was going to take her to the zoo today, but I think they just stayed home so Sophie could sleep. Poor baby looked like an adorable zombie this morning."

"Should you take her to the doctor?" Spencer crossed her arms over her chest.

"For what? All they'll tell me to do is to keep doing exactly what I've been doing and then they'll charge me $60. No thank you. I've done that dance too many times before," Aria let out a loud puff of air to exaggerate her annoyance.

Spencer offered a sympathetic smile, "I'm sorry you have to deal with stuff like that. That really sucks."

"Yes it does," Aria sighed. "It's all so frustrating. I swear, these doctors and Sophie's medical bill will be what causes me to snap one day. I mean it. It won't be too much longer before my hair starts graying from stress." She smirked, "Huh, then Ezra and I will have something in common again."

"Shall I buy you a bottle of hair dye now or later?" Spencer laughed.

Aria buried her face in her hands and giggled, only to be interrupted by the jingling of the bells above the front doors. The Brew had a customer. And when Aria looked up, she realized that that customer was Ezra Fitz.

Her body tensed, though she wasn't shocked by his sudden appearance. He came in almost daily for his usual dry cappuccino and blueberry muffin. However, Aria usually did a good job of synchronizing his entrance with a bathroom break or the sudden urge to reorganize the mugs in the kitchen. Usually Aria made sure she was doing whatever it took to evade an interaction with Ezra. Usually.

"The usual?" Aria didn't waste her breath on pleasantries as she made her way behind the register. Instead, she pulled a Spencer a got right to the point.

She gave Ezra a once over as she walked towards him, mentally comparing what Spencer had told her to what she was presently seeing. Her friend hadn't uttered a single lie. He truly looked like shit. Gray shit.

"Yeah," Ezra stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked everywhere at everything that wasn't Aria.

The awkwardness was almost palpable, just like it always was whenever the two were in close proximity to one another. Aria swore it was so thick that she could choke on it. It weighed heavily on her chest so heavily that she could barely breathe and caused her brain to be hyper-aware, resulting in two feelings Aria hated more than anything.

As quickly as humanly possible, Aria fixed him his coffee, took his money and waved him out the door. She could only hold her breath for so long.

The instant the door closed, Spencer barked out a laugh, "Huh, talking about speaking of the devil. Didn't I tell you that he looked terrible?"

Aria nodded without really hearing her friend. Her brain was still reeling from the encounter that would've been so effortless 8 years ago.

"I hope he's not going through this alone," Spencer continued. "I hope he's got someone helping him through this. I mean, I know you two are on the worst of terms, but you have to want that too right?"

Again, Aria nodded without really hearing what was said. Although, had she heard it, she would've agreed. Yes, they had a horrible falling out, but that didn't mean she wished the worst for him. He was still human. He deserved love and compassion just like everyone else did. That love and compassion just wouldn't be coming from her. It would have 8 years ago. But not now. And not ever again.

A/N: So I want to start by saying, thank you so so much for the amazing reviews on my last chapter. I was certainly not expecting to get that many reviews, favorites, or follows after just posting the first chapter. I am so overwhelmed. Thank you guys so much. I hope you enjoyed chapter two. You got to see into Aria's new life a bit. Were you surprised by what you found out? Also, what do you think happened between Aria and Ezra that drove them apart? Let me know your thoughts by reviewing! I've said it before and I'll say it again, reviews are my biggest motivators. The more reviews I get, the more inclined I am to post quickly.

And like I said in the author's note in chapter 1, this story will alternate between their adulthood and childhood, so in the next chapter, they'll be kids again. For those of you worried about the time jumps, I promise the childhood chapters will wind up being just as important as the adulthood chapters.

Once again, thanks for reading and don't forget to review!

-Erin xoxo