Hey! I'm back a little earlier than I expected so I thought I'd upload this not rather than waiting. Not a lot of Ezria in here, but they'll be some cute scenes (hopefully) in the next chapter... Oh and 70ish days till 2B! Who's excited? MEEE.

I'm sorry if there's any grammatical/spelling errors. I've been typing it on my phone and sometimes when I put it on my computer I miss out a couple of mistakes. Anyway, it's a long one (kinda) so I'm gonna let you go read it... Andddd GO.

It's dark in here. I can barely make out the outline of the only other person in this place. They've been stood there for a while now, with their back towards me. I shout and call for their attention but they don't respond; it's as if all my words and exclamations are vanishing into thin air, being absorbed by the stuffy atmosphere around me. I run up to them and try to turn them to face me, but it seems that their form is like smoke, I cannot touch it, I cannot hold it in my hands. Then they start to run, slowly at first, and then quicker. It appears that they are running from someone. From me. I attempt to follow them but they are moving too fast for me to catch up. The scene around me is starting to change from its dark nothingness to a misty fog. If I squint I can see shadows through the grey swarm but I can't determine what they are. Just then the person before me comes to an abrupt stop, causing me to carelessly walk straight into them. They turn around and I catch a glimpse of their piercing blue eyes through the darkness. "Careful, bitch, I hold the cards here." It's not just a regular voice, it's one that I have been longing to hear for over a year now; the softness of it reminds me of flowers dancing in the wind on a cool summers day, it reminds me of all the years feeling like I was finally being accepted. It is Ali.

I opened my eyes slowly, adjusting to the light of the plane. I had been having dreams like that for the past few weeks, always just hearing Ali, never seeing her blonde curls falling over her shoulders perfectly or the smile that could be both reassuring and threatening at the same time. She always told me some cryptic message, one that made me analyse everything I had done even down to how much cereal I put in my bowl the morning previous. A real Alison was bad enough; a non-existent one was just terrible.

"Hey, sleepyhead," I look up and see Ezra with his arm around me, fingers playing with a strand of my hair, wrapping it slowly around each finger before dropping it and repeating. It was a soothing gesture and reminded me of being a young child, safe and secure in the arms of my parents.

"How long was I out?" I ask, my recollection of the flight was limited so I must have been asleep for some time.

"Most of the flight, we should be landing soon. Are you okay? You seem a little flustered."

"I'm fine. Just a dream, you know."

"Want to tell me about it? I promise not to be mad if you were having steamy dreams about Freddie Stroma, or Alex Pettyfer, or whoever else you teens fantasize about these days."

"Trust me, it was far from it. It was just a little freaky. Alison was in it, and we were in a place without light, I couldn't see a thing. Then she started to run, and I tried to keep up but I couldn't, and then I saw all these shadows and, and-" my heart was beating faster than it ever had, I anticipated that any moment it was going to come surging out from my chest filled with anxiety and panic. I felt Ezra press a kiss into my head and hold me closer to him.

"Shh...You're safe. I'm right here." He whispered softly into my hair.

"I know...it's just, it's a recurring dream. I've been having it every time I close my eyes and it scares me, I don't know why she's telling me things like she is."

"Okay, well how about we leave that behind in Rosewood? My parents should be meeting us at the airport." He smiled and I sat up, my body once again feeling tense with anxiety.

"Ezra, what if... What if they don't like me?"

"What do you mean? Of course they'll like you. I promise, you have nothing to worry about."

"Okay but, hypothetically speaking, what would you do, if they didn't approve of me?"

"Well I'd think fine, my parents don't approve of who I'm with but that doesn't change how I feel. Aria, even if you were some axe murderer who everyone hated with a passion, I would still love and care for you the way I do now."

That made me laugh a little, I grasped his hands in my own and met my lips to his. As we were kissing, it was like everything around us disappeared, it was just Ezra and I. He pulled back slowly and rested our foreheads together looking directly into my eyes, and there we stayed just chatting until our flight landed.

I checked the time: 11:30am. Ezra and I were walking to meet his parents whilst lugging around our suitcases in tow; the airport was packed full of people, all waiting in anticipation for the moment that their loved one would enter the room. In the middle of the room stood a couple, each probably in their fifties with huge smiles plastered on their faces aimed right at us. It was then that I realised these were Ezra's parents. As we approached them, I took in their appearance. The woman was wearing chocolate brown coloured trousers with a mocha sweater; her mousy brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of her neck and she was wearing an evident base of makeup. The man stood next to her looked very serious, just like the business men you see on The Apprentice or the type you would expect to spend his days at the office, typing up an important invoice to send to god-knows-where. The sudden feeling of terror overwhelmed me. Ezra hadn't prepared me, I was not expecting this- I was expecting to see an elderly couple, whom you would expect for her to make cinnamon cookies and bake bread in her spare time. I was anticipating a man like Ezra, easy-going and quietly confident, not the hard-faced business man lurking before me. They came over to meet us and the woman automatically wrapped Ezra in a huge embrace, smiling as she did so.

"Ezzy, I'm so glad you're here!" She released him from her grasp, "and I'm guessing you're Aria, am I right?"

"That's right, Mrs Fitz. It's a pleasure to meet you." I smiled and held my hand out to shake hers, why was I being so formal all of a sudden?

"Hey, we'll have none of that. You can call me Christine," ignoring my outheld hand, she wrapped her arms around me and held me to her. It felt strangely comforting, and I realised that there was no need to be scared. Ezra's parents were normal and very pleasant people.

When I was free, I turned to Ezra's father and smiled again politely. I introduced myself and he told me to call him by his first name, Mike. Instantly, my thoughts drifted off to Rosewood where, luckily for me, my family thought I was off camping with the girls somewhere in the forest. Soon enough we were making our way out of the airport and into the parking lot.

"I sure hope you two are hungry, Rachel is preparing her speciality for us back home," Ezra and I had arranged to stay in a hotel on the promenade for the duration of our stay, but we were going for dinner at his parents' place first. Probably due to his lack of talking about his family, I had never once heard him mention the latter name.

"Rachel?" I looked between the three faces, confused.

"Rachel is our daughter. She just graduated from Oxford University so she and her husband and daughter are staying with us till they can get a place around the coast." Christine gushed. Mind you, from what I've heard, Oxford is one of the best schools in the country so she had a right to be proud, I guess.

As we got out of the car, it dawned on me how huge their house was. It was at least three storeys high with lots of windows visible from the front. There were three cars parked outside, one with a child's car seat in the back. My thoughts returned to what Christine had said; Rachel, her daughter and her husband were staying with them. I hadn't always been a lover of children; they shout too much, they eat messily and to repay you for your caring nature, they leave you an unpleasant gift in their diaper. I had babysat twice in my life; both times I had been on the verge of walking out.

Entering the Fitz household, the smell of delicious food hit me. Whatever Rachel was making, it smelt yummy.

"Christine, is that you?" A deep voice came from a room to my right.

"Yes dear, it's us," Christine looked over at me and sent a warm and affectionate smile my way. "Come on, Aria. I'll introduce you to James and Aimee."

I followed her into the living room and was greeted by a young man, probably in his mid-twenties, and a delightful baby girl. It surprised me at first, Aimee's eyes were just like Ezra's- large, mysterious brown framed with long, dark lashes- then I realised that it must run in the Fitz family. That got me wondering what a child of mine and Ezra would look like. Hopefully, it would have those same Fitz eyes, the same square jaw that they all have, the rich brown hair that Ezra has...heck, I want an Ezra junior!

After our first dinner together, the clock soon reached 4pm and Ezra and I decided to get a taxi over to our hotel on the seafront.

"Ez, use my car if you like. James and I won't be going anywhere really, so just take it for the week," Rachel offered as we got ready to leave.

"Thanks, Rach." Ezra replied whilst hugging his mother goodbye for the night.

I followed suit and went to hug Rachel, "Thank you, Rachel. Oh and the dinner was lovely, you're a great chef!"

She laughed and flipped her dark chestnut hair over her shoulder, "aw, you're so sweet. I'm glad Ez has finally found you," For me, this was a huge compliment. Not the sweet part, but the fact that I was better than any other girl he had found; I was better than Jackie.

"Ezra, why haven't you ever told me about your family before?" We were on our way to the hotel now and I was curious. They all seemed so nice, I couldn't understand why Ezra was so distant about them.

"When I was 14, I decided that I wanted to go to the US. My whole family have been bought up here, but I wanted to visit the states and go to an American high school, American college, even from a younger age I had always been deeply intrigued by other cultures and society. I had grandparents over in Philly so I thought they would let me stay with them for my high school years, then move into a dorm for College. When I told my parents about my idea, they didn't like it. They believed that I would be better off with them, in this not-so-perfect English paradise. But then my grandma visited and convinced them to let me go, so hence why I met you," he turned to face me for a second and flashed that boyish smile I love. "And then, well, you know the rest. My parents and I get on, but we're not as close as we used to be. Rachel and I are quite close though, when she was at Oxford she used to call me sometimes and we'd chat until nightfall. And of course, she had little Aimee. She's adorable, don't you think?"

"Yeah, she's pretty cute." I hesitated before speaking again, "Ezra, do you ever wonder what our babies would look like?" I then explained my past thoughts, mentioning the standard Fitz eyes, everything.

"You know what, I wouldn't care if it didn't look like me at all, because as long as you're it's mother I'm sure it would be absolutely beautiful."

"Thank you."

"For the compliment?"

I reached out and took his spare hand in mine. "No, for bringing me here. We have a whole week to ourselves; it's going to be amazing." I looked out the windscreen and admired the sea, deep blue and wonderful, as we drove silently along the seafront.

Was it bad? Good? I liked the beginning but I wasn't too sure about the last half or so. Review for me please! =)

xo, Bethany.