Author's Notes:

PLEASE READ.

Hey guys! I just wanted to take the time to really thank all of you for sticking with this story.

The fact that it has 100+ reviews on just the first three chapters is absolutely breathtaking. Especially since I'm always so busy and take a while to update.

I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.

Here's the chapter you've been waiting for.

Chapter 4

Aria woke up feeling more warm and comfortable than she ever had before. She hummed, nuzzling her face closer into the source, breathing in the delicious scent before she paused. That scent was familiar, and most definitely her favorite. Peppermint breath-mints, old books, axe and a scent that belong singularly to one person. Ezra.

She lifted her head and opened her eyes, realizing her warm pillow was actually Ezra's chest. Holding her breath as if not to wake him, she looked down, seeing his arms wrapped securely around her waist. His head was tilted to the side, resting on the arm of the couch in the movie theatre, and his chest rose gently in deep, even breaths. Her eyes focused in on his lips which were parted slightly, and his hair was a curly mess on top of his head.

God, he's even gorgeous in his sleep.

Aria shook her head, slight panic flooding through her. She reached down to gently pry his arms from around her. He unconsciously resisted her efforts at first, making her heart beat heavily against her chest. She was almost nervous that he would be able to hear it.

Laying his arms by his sides, she slowly crawled over him and off of the couch and silently tip-toed to the door. She opened it carefully, glancing back at his sleeping form once more before stepping out of the room and reclosing the door behind her.

Rushing to her room, she flung the door open and closed it behind her, leaning back against it and threading her fingers through her hair, messing up the bun on her head.

"What am I doing?" She whispered to herself.

She heard rustling on the bed in front of her, and her eyes popped up to see Spencer sitting there with a mug of coffee in her hands.

"Are you okay?" She asked, a concerned look on her face.

Aria cleared her throat, nodding her head. "Y-yeah. Of course."

Spencer sat up straighter, patting the bed in front of her. "Come here."

Sighing, Aria complied, plopping down on the bed.

"Well, I don't believe you." Spencer started. "And by the fact that you never came back to this room last night, I'm going to guess it has something to do with Ezra."

When Aria didn't respond, Spencer raised her eyebrows. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"I don't know what to do, Spence. He makes me feel…" Aria whispered after a moment, playing with the comforter beneath her. "Special. Beautiful. Important. It's like… he knows me, better than I know myself."

Spencer smiled. "You make it sound like that's a bad thing."

"Because it is, isn't it?" Aria asked, looking up at her. "He deserves so much better than me. He deserves an older woman who can love him with everything she has in her."

Shaking her head before her friend was even finished speaking, Spencer pushed herself forward a bit, placing her hands on Aria's shoulders. "Hey, listen to me. Believe me, I know how what it's like to feel like you're not good enough for someone, and I know what it's like to have feelings for someone you know you shouldn't. But you of all people deserve to be happy, Aria. You're a good person."

Aria's stomach twisted uncomfortably, and her chest suddenly felt too tight. All she could think about was what Spencer would really say and think about her if she knew the truth.

She couldn't let anyone know about that though. It was too late to turn back. What's done is done.

So instead, she smiled at her friend. "Thanks, Spence. You're right."

Spencer laughed, leaning forward to give her a quick hug. "Of course, Ar."

Aria pulled back and took a deep breath, standing up from the bed. She started to walk towards the door, before Spencer stopped her.

"Wait." She smiled, pulling her into the bathroom. She handed Aria her tooth brush, instructing her to clean her teeth while she took care of her hair.

After Aria spit into the sink, she looked into the mirror to find her hair taken out of the messy bun it had been in, now laying in soft, brushed out waves down her shoulders and back. She thanked Spencer quickly, before exiting the room and walking back to the movie theater.

She entered the room, seeing Ezra still in the same position she had left him in. As she shut the door she took a deep breath, shaking her head at what she was doing.

Quietly approaching him, she climbed onto the couch gently, lying down by his side. She raised her hand to his face, brushing the hair back from his forehead.

"Ezra," She whispered softly to him. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

He groaned slightly, nuzzling his head further into the couch. Aria giggled, running her hand through his hair, gently scratching at his scalp. "Wakey, wakey."

Ezra slowly came into consciousness, humming in approval at the feeling of her ministrations in his hair. He opened his eyes, smiling at the beautiful girl in front of him, before yawning widely.

Aria giggled again. "Morning, handsome." She greeted him in a cute, babyish voice.

He grinned, raising his fingers to her cheek. "Morning, beautiful."

A light pink tinted Aria's cheeks, and she brought her bottom lip between her teeth to chew at it anxiously and cleared her throat. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

Ezra sighed, stretching out his body. "Well, we should probably start to head home around three, since your parents are coming back from their trip to that museum at four. Until then, we can use the pool, play some games; whatever you want."

Aria swallowed nervously, lowering her gaze. "Anything I want?"

He nodded. "Mhm."

She let out a deep breath, letting her fingers wonder slowly from the bottom of his stomach to the collar of his tee-shirt, toying with it teasingly. Ezra's eyes closed as he felt her grip his hair tighter between her fingers, and she moved dangerously close to him, brushing her nose softly against his.

"Good to know." She murmured.

Ezra breathed in the air she let out, and his mouth parted, fully prepared to take advantage of the situation. He tilted his head to close the distance between them, but she backed away before he could.

His eyes opened in confusion and he watched as she smirked and got off of the couch, walking towards the door.

"I'm gonna go get changed. I'll see you downstairs for breakfast?" She grinned, leaving the room and Ezra dazed on the couch.

He sat there for a few moments after she left, and for the first time, acknowledged the sexual frustration built inside of him. He finally let himself admit how much he wanted her. To hold her, to kiss her, to touch her, to pleasure her…

Ezra shook his head quickly and sat up. Now you're just getting ahead of yourself.

He knew she was purposely teasing him and trying to frustrate him as much as she did.

Well, He thought to himself. Two can play at that game.

xxx

Ezra was downstairs before Aria, and he was now sitting at the kitchen counter watching Spencer make eggs at the stove. He had showered and dressed in a pair of striped bathing suit trunks, knowing that they would all go swimming again today, and a dark maroon tee-shirt.

"I'd offer to help, but I even screw up cereal, sometimes." He told Spencer, feeling bad that she was doing all the cooking.

She laughed, turning to look at him. "That's actually pretty impressive; screwing up cereal." She responded, shaking her head. "You could attempt at the toast if you'd like?"

"Okay, but I just want to put it out there that I did warn you." He grinned, getting up and walking over to the toaster.

Spencer laughed again. "Duly noted."

Ezra popped two pieces of bread into the toaster and pushed down the lever. As he finished, he noticed Aria lean against the counter next to him. He smiled, moving to put one hand on either side of her waist against the marble. As he stepped closer to her, his eyes traveled down her body. She was wearing a pair of tiny shorts that revealed her slender legs, and a white tee-shirt that had a v-lined neck to where he could see a generous amount of her cleavage. By the blue strings tied around her shoulders, he could tell she had opted to wearing her bathing suit also.

"Hi." He breathed, smiling down at her.

"Hi there." She looked over at the toaster and raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure this is a smart idea? You're not exactly the best cook in the kitchen. Wouldn't want to burn your brother's house down."

He shook his head at her smirk. "Oh, you are so funny! Such a comedian. If you're so worried, then why don't you just help me."

"Help you make toast. Are you aware of how pathetic that sounds?"

"You know what? Why don't you go sit over there; make something of yourself besides being a pain in my ass."

Aria giggled as he pushed her away, towards one of the stools seated along the counter. She sat down, resting her chin on her hands as she watched him cook.

Spencer was finishing up the eggs, hiding her smile from the two of them. Ezra continued on with the toast, popping it up every ten seconds to check on it. Aria shook her head, unable to contain her laughter.

"Ezra, it's never going to cook if you keep doing that!"

"Shush."

Eventually, Hardy came downstairs and sat across from Aria. He slumped over, resting his head on the table, and Aria realized he was definitely not a morning person. She got up and made a batch of coffee, pouring it into four mugs that Ezra directed her to, and sat one down in front of him. He grunted a thank you, taking a sip from it.

A few minutes later, Spencer sat down a large plate with eggs and bacon in the middle of the table, while Ezra brought over a plate of toast. He bragged about how perfect they came out to Aria, making her roll her eyes at his cuteness.

"So," Hardy started after they finished eating. "I think we should go make use of that pool before we have to leave. Who's in?"

They all nodded in agreement and Ezra and Hardy headed to the pool, while Spencer told them she and Aria would be right back, pulling her confused friend upstairs with her.

They entered their room, and Spencer closed the door behind her. She dragged Aria into the bathroom and began to dig through her make up bag.

"What are you doing?" Aria asked curiously.

Spencer pulled out a few make up accessories out of her bag and set them on the counter. "Making sure Fitz won't be able to keep his eyes off of you."

Aria shook her head, smiling slightly. It won't matter anyways. It's all going to wash off once I get into the water."

Opening a tube of mascara, Spencer smirked and said one word that answered all her prayers. "Waterproof."

xxx

Ezra and Hardy were lounging on the chairs at the poolside, waiting for the girls to come down to the pool. Hardy laid flat, eyes closed and still, while Ezra screwed around with a few games on his iPhone.

"So," Hardy started, not opening his eyes. "How are things going with you and Aria?"

Ezra sighed as he swiped the wrong way during Temple Run, falling into the water and effectively ending his game. "Fine."

"Still haven't screwed her?"

He groaned and curled up as he felt Ezra's hard punch to his stomach. "Shut up."

"Come on man," Hardy managed to choke out. "I know you want her. And it's clear as fucking day that she would do anything to be with you, too. She hangs on your every word. Not that you're much different."

Ezra sighed, locking his phone and laying his head back. "I'm working on it, okay?"

"How so?"

"Just stay out of it for now. I'll let you know when and if something happens."

Hardy laughed. "Whatever you say, Ez."

Ezra rolled his eyes, before clearing his throat as the girls came through the glass doors to the pool, giggling over something. His eyes focused in on Aria and the gentle curls that were falling down her back, and her eyes that were framed by thick, dark lashes.

Her and Spencer had stopped by the side of the pool, continuing to laugh slightly to themselves. Spencer leaned down to her ear, whispering something to her before giggling again, while Aria looked over at Ezra and smirked. He smiled back, tilting his head to the side. She whispered something back to Spencer, before walking over to him.

"Hey." She smiled, sitting down on the end of his lounge chair.

Hardy cleared his throat, standing up from his own chair and excusing himself. He entered his iPhone into the main sound system at the other end of the room, playing one of the playlists in his music. Aria and Ezra both watched as he stripped off his shirt, jumping into the pool and making a large splash, covering Spencer in water. She squealed, shying away from the water and laughing.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"Bring it." He challenged, grinning at her.

She laughed again, pulling off her wet tee-shirt and shorts, revealing her deep blue bikini, before jumping in after him.

Aria laughed and Ezra shook his head, sitting up next to her.

"I like you bathing suit." She whispered, cautiously resting her hand on his leg and running her fingers along the red and blue stripes.

Holy shit. Ezra gulped slightly, eyes locked on her hand. "Thanks."

His breath caught as her fingers slowly trialed farther up his thigh, and he knew that if she got any closer to his hips, she'd definitely start to stir up quite the situation.

"You ready to go for a swim?" She asked, biting her lip to hide her smile. Her fingers rose another inch causing him to clear his throat. She watched him in amusement, fully aware of what she was doing and loving how much it affected him.

When he didn't answer her, she dipped her head, trying to lock her eyes with his again. "Ezra?"

His gaze snapped up from her fingers to her brown orbs, finding the hidden deviousness in them immediately, causing him to catch on to her actions.

What a little minx. Ezra grinned down at her, slipping her hand off his leg as he stood up. "Absolutely. Let's go." He stood in front of her, reaching down to the hem of his shirt and pulling it up over his head and tossing it onto the chair where he had been sitting.

Aria's eyes fell to his stomach that was directly in front of her, and her mouth dropped slightly as she looked along the lines of his defined abs. She did everything in her power to remind herself not to drool as her gaze lingered on the v-lines of his hips that led down to her treasure.

What the hell? Not my treasure. His treasure. Not even a treasure! His… holy crap…

Aria closed her eyes and shook her head quickly, before returning her eyes to his. She blushed scarlet at the smug smirk covering his face, and her breathing hitched as he leaned down, his face inches from hers.

Her eyes closed once more as their noses touched, and he hummed, rubbing his along hers. He trailed it along her cheek and jaw, before finally resting at her ear.

"Meet you in the pool, sweetheart." He whispered, causing her to shiver and her head to fall back slightly. Ezra grinned in response.

Aria's eyes fluttered open again slowly, watching dumbfounded as he walked to the side of the pool before jumping into the deep end.

Ezra came back up for air, shaking out his hair quickly. He swam over to the end of the pool and sat on one of the in-water ledges. Spencer and Hardy were at the other end of the pool; Hardy being his normal idiotic self and Spencer laughing hysterically at him.

He smirked and shook his head at the two of them, before looking over at Aria again. The sight literally took all the air out of his lungs, and he was no longer aware of any of his surroundings except for her.

She was literally stripping in front of him. Of course, she was just taking off the clothes covering her bathing suit, but the appearance of the situation still caused certain emotions to swell up inside of Ezra's chest, twist his stomach, and awaken things that should stay at bay. He watched as she pulled the white tee-shirt up and over her head, his eyes lingering on each piece of newly revealed skin. She then popped the button on her shorts, shimmering them down her legs and showing the top of her creamy thighs.

He had seen her like this yesterday when they had gone swimming, but he hadn't taken the opportunity to fully take in her appearance.

And damn, was it a good one.

Unconsciously leaning closer towards the end of the pool where she was, he took in her choice in bathing suit. It was a blue bikini that was spotted with red and yellow vintage flowers. The bottoms were shaped like the smallest shorts he ever thought possible to be made, and the top pushed up and brought together he breasts perfectly, and as his eyes lingered on the voluminous tops of them, he felt himself begin to stir in his shorts.

Before he could react, he felt something slam into his chest hard, causing him to groan. He looked down, finding a football floating in the water, and looked up to see Hardy smirking at him from across the pool; Spencer trying to hide her smile behind her hand.

"Heads up." He shouted sarcastically, before adding, "Consider that me returning the favor you paid me earlier."

Ezra chucked the ball back at him, but Hardy easily caught it, knowing it was coming. He laughed, and quickly glanced over in Aria's direction, before looking back and winking at Ezra.

Ezra flicked him off, causing Hardy to chuckle again before turning back to Spencer.

Movement caught Ezra's attention again, and he looked to see Aria lowering herself to sit on the side of the pool and dangle her legs in.

"It's a lot warmer today than it was last night." She commented.

He nodded, before swimming over to her. He brought up his arms and crossed them over her thighs, resting against her. "Are you coming in?"

She nodded, reaching up her hand to brush the wet hair away from his forehead and run her fingers through his messy hair. He sighed in contentment, closing his eyes and resting his head on his arms in her lap.

Aria continued her ministrations for a few moments, before he lifted his head up and brought his hands to her hips. He gripped them gently, lifting her up slightly and lowering her into the pool.

The four of them made good use of the pool for a few hours, playing a lot of water games or throwing around the football. Ezra would grab Aria around the waist whenever she tried to catch the ball and spin her away, resulting in her jumping on his back and pretending to drown him every time. Three hours later, they finally decided the get out of the pool for lunch.

Aria and Spencer cooked, grilling up chicken with some noodles on the side. They all sat and talked while they ate, and Ezra continuously kept picking food off of Aria's plate. When she asked him about it, he insisted that hers tasted better even though they had the exact same type of food and proportion, causing her to roll her eyes and Spencer and Hardy to give each other knowing looks.

After finishing up, Spencer and Hardy went upstairs to start packing while Aria and Ezra washed the dishes.

Reminded of the first night he met her, Ezra teasingly splashed her with a little bit of the soapy water. She turned and gave him a pointed look. "Really? You're going to start this again?"

He laughed. "Well, we didn't get to finish what we started last time."

Aria looked away, hiding her slight blush. She wondered if he was talking about their water fight, or if he remembered the almost kiss they had.

She hummed in response, continuing to clean up the dishes.

Setting down the last plate on the counter, Aria wiped off her hands before turning around and catching Ezra staring at her. His gaze was intense, and she fidgeted nervously.

"What?" She asked. "Do I have soap on my face?"

He smiled softly, shaking his head. "No." He told her, taking a step closer to her. "You're perfect."

Her blush deepened, and she looked down. "I wouldn't say perfect."

"I would."

Aria's gaze shot back up to his, seeing the honesty in his eyes. She knew the truth though, and how absolutely wrong his words were. She was the farthest thing from perfect. She knew what she really was, and that he deserved so much better than her, and that she would never live up to being what he needed. But that didn't stop her from wanting him. Her heart pounded, and she shook her head.

God help me.

She slowly brought her hands up to his neck, rising up on her toes as she felt his hands come to rest on her waist. They both tilted their heads at the same time, feeling their breaths mingle and span across each other's faces. Ezra moved to close the final space separating them.

They should have expected it by now, seeing as how every other time they tried to go for an actual, non-teasing kiss, they would get interrupted. Why should this time be any different?

It wasn't.

Their lips barely touched before they heard footsteps enter the kitchen, causing them to jump apart quickly. They turned to see Spencer and Hardy walk in, setting their bags onto the counter.

Aria cleared her throat, moving past them to head upstairs and pack her own bag. Ezra followed shortly after her to do the same.

xxx

After they were all ready to leave, they put their bags into the trunk of Ezra's car. He locked the front door to the house before they all set off back home. The hour went by quickly, and Ezra dropped off both Hardy and Spencer at their respective destinations, receiving large thank you's, from mostly Spencer, for being invited to come for the weekend.

Lastly, but for sure not the least, Ezra made his last stop, parking in front of the Montgomery's house to drop off Aria.

"I guess they aren't back yet." Aria murmured, seeing the empty driveway.

Ezra nodded and got out of the car quickly, moving around to the passenger side to open her door for her. She smiled at him, watching as he grabbed her bag out of the trunk and hand it to her. She slung it over her shoulder, before turning to him again.

"Thank you for inviting me." She told him. "This was the most fun I've had in… probably over a year." She laughed sadly.

Ezra reached out to touch her cheek, tilting his head as he looked at her. "Of course." He frowned at the sad expression on her face. "You know, you deserve to be happy, Aria."

She closed her eyes, feeling the pain swell up inside of her from hearing those words for the second time that day. They were so deeply false, that she was almost mad that people kept telling her them when they weren't even remotely true, but she knew it wasn't anyone's fault.

They didn't know what she did.

She sighed, shoving away the emotions before looking up at him again. "Thanks, again."

Hesitantly, she stood up on her toes to press a gentle kiss to his cheek, before slowly pulling away and settling down on her feet again. "I'll see you…"

"Tomorrow." He finished for her, smiling. "If you'd like."

She giggled, nodding her head. "I'd love to."

"Great."

Aria bit her lip and gave him a small wave. She took one last look at him to last her through until the next time her eyes would lay on him, before turning and walking towards her house. When she reached her porch, she set her bag down and reached into her pocket, fumbling for her keys.

Ezra watched her walk up to her door, feeling the inner debate inside of him.

This is the best chance you're going to get.

He ran his fingers through his hair nervously as he watched her put her bag down and reach into her pocket, breathing out nervously.

You better fucking take it.

He took a hesitant step forward before stopping again, his nerves getting in the way.

GO! NOW.

Huffing slightly, Ezra shook his head and mumbled nonsense to himself, before taking a deep breath. "Aria!"

She turned around, watching as he began to walk along her front sidewalk, noticing the determined look in his eyes.

"Before something else gets in the way, like something usually does," He started, keeping his eyes locked on hers. She shifted anxiously, feeling her stomach begin to twist.

"I just really need to do something." He finished as he ran up the stairs to her porch and immediately walked to her, his hands reaching up to cup her face as he quickly lowered his mouth to hers.

Aria gasped as his lips met hers, and she automatically wrapped one arm around his neck, the other tucking under his shoulder. One of his hands knotted into her dark hair, while the other ran down her back, pulling her body tightly against his as their lips moved easily and perfectly against each other's.

Ezra slowly sucked on her bottom lip as he kissed her tenderly, loving how her body melted to form against his. His tongue gently slid across her lip, silently asking for permission which she eagerly granted to him. He pushed his tongue into her mouth, finding hers and sliding over it. Their tongues began to battle as their kisses turned more passionate, and they both stumbled backwards until Aria's back hit her front door. Ezra pushed her up against it, causing them both to moan at the feeling of their bodies moving against one another's. They continued to kiss hungrily, pulling at each other and trying to get as close as humanly possible.

Aria's fingers tangled into his dark locks as she pulled herself up, propping herself against him as she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. He groaned, unable to stop himself from pushing his hips against hers, causing her to moan in response.

The need to breath was quickly becoming evident for both of them, and they reluctantly pulled away from each other to gasp down air. Their eyes found each other's, and they both remembered where they were. Ezra set her back down onto the ground. Aria continued to rest against the door, unable to feel anything but the fire sensation burning through her body.

They continued to stare at each other, still trying to catch their breath.

Though through his ragged breathing, Ezra was able to make out two words.

"Holy crap."

Author's Notes:

Yay chapter four! I hope you guys liked it; please review and let me know what you thought!

I'm going to try to get the next chapter up really soon. The writing for it has already been started, so hopefully you'll see it within the next week.

I love all of you so much, and thanks again for all the support! : )