Aria woke up the next morning in a daze, unsure of her surroundings and how she'd gotten there. She squinted her eyes against the bright light, and sat up in bed realising it wasn't her own she was in. She heard a faint giggle next to her, and turned to see Ezra snoring softly, releasing a chuckle every now and then. She smiled, wondering what he was dreaming about. But then it suddenly hit her that she was in Ezra's bed and not in her own apartment, and the past nights events flooded back to her.

After the train had arrived back in New York City, Ezra had shaken Aria awake softly, and much to her reluctance, she had composed herself for the walk back to her apartment. But Ezra had seen that she was basically a dead man walking, her brain still fuzzed from the small amount of rest she'd just had, and he had hailed a cab as soon as they'd exited the train station. She'd struggled to keep her eyes open on the journey home, and Ezra suggested that she just spend the night at his apartment since it was a shorter journey. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, when Aria's mind was clouded with lucidity and the weight of the long day she'd had was draining her physically and emotionally. But now, Aria felt not only self-conscious that she had shared a bed with Ezra without really knowing what she was doing – Aria had always been one to have extremely vivid dreams, and she did not want to scare Ezra by off having a nonchalant, non-cognizant conversation with herself about some unimportant issue which was lingering at the back of her sleepy mind – but careless that she hadn't thought about the consequences would be from spending the night at Ezra's place when she woke up in the morning.

She pushed the duvet back off of her jean clad legs, and stepped out of the bed. Aria scanned the room, looking for her purse which she eventually saw was sitting on the kitchen counter. She gnawed at her lip nervously, her head pounding with stress; it was a Tuesday morning, and despite the late night she'd had yesterday, Aria still had to go to work today. As she pulled out her cell phone, she noticed an abundance of text messages and missed calls, all from either Spencer, Hanna or Emily. She knew she'd have to contact them eventually, but she was hurt by Hanna's words and at the girl's ignorance to Ezra's presence at the table when they'd sprawled her secrets. But she didn't have time to think about any of this, it was 7:30am and she had to be at work by 8:30, and currently she was not in a fit state to serve her duties.

Aria glanced back over to Ezra, who was beginning to stir as she moved around his apartment. She smiled in awe as his face crumpled in despair when he stretched out his cramped, stiff limbs. "You're awake," Aria said, walking over to his bedside.

"I am," Ezra replied, stifling a yawn. He rubbed his eyes with his hands before stepping out of the bed and stumbling over to the kitchen. "Do you want coffee?"

Aria did really want coffee, in fact she craved it so much, her senses became hyper aware. But there was barely any time as it was for her to get home, shower and make her way to work on time, so coffee would have to wait until later. "I can't," She groaned, wishing more than anything that she and Ezra could curl up on his couch and drink coffee together whilst watching morning talk shows. "I've got to head home and shower, then get to work."

Ezra poured himself a cup of the steaming liquid and took a sip. "Oh yeah. Wait, will you be able to get back on time? Do you want me to call you a cab?"

"No!" Aria practically shouted, and giggled at her sudden outburst. She'd taken more cabs in the past few days with Ezra than she had in her whole life, and she still insisted that walking was the way to live the city life.

"Do you have something against cabs? Because you always seem to protest when I hail one off the street," Ezra asked, a curious smile playing at his lips.

"Why take an expensive cab if you can walk for free? Besides, with the business of the streets here, you would probably save time walking," Aria answered before gathering her things.

"If you say so," Ezra chuckled, downing the rest of his coffee. He placed the cup in the sink to rinse out later. "Can I see you again today?"

She returned to his side, stretching up on her tiptoes to kiss him softly on the lips. "Of course. Meet me outside the office at six. We can get dinner together."

Ezra tucked strand of Aria's sleep dishevelled hair behind her ear, and took her pretty face delicately in his hands. "I can't wait," He purred, kissing her gently again. She couldn't wait either, and began to deepen the kiss to satisfy both of their needs. He chewed on her pink, full lips as she pulled on his bed head of hair. Soon enough, Ezra's hands began to encircle her petite waste, and that was when Aria knew if they didn't stop there, she wouldn't be going to work today.

"Ezra, I can't. I have to go to work," she moaned, her voice whiny like a child. Ezra giggled at the absurdness of the situation, and Aria joined in, picking up on his thoughts. It was rather funny that she was whining like a kid about having to work, when the reality of it all was that she wanted to stay home to kiss the older guy she was dating. She was so mature in many ways, but still a child deep down, which only really showed in unfair and frustrating scenarios like this.

Aria kissed his cheek once more before making a quick exit out of his apartment and taking the elevator down to the ground floor. The air outside was crisp, with the same hints of spring breaking through as there had been the day before. She walked quickly along the busy streets in the direction of her own apartment, feeling at a loss because no matter how enjoyable things had been last night with Ezra, she'd left her friendship with the girls in a bad way. She was annoyed at what they had done, but Aria couldn't let such a small issue jeopardize their friendship. It seemed like such a small, petty reason to be fighting when the four had been through so much together, and in actual fact, their actions had only made her relationship with Ezra stronger.

Aria pulled out her cell phone and searched through her contacts until she came across Spencer. Her hand hesitated before pressing the call icon. How was she supposed to pace this? Before she could think anymore, the button was pressed, and she pulled the phone to her ear, anxiety washing over her in anticipation of the events that were to follow. The monotonous dial tone beeped, and soon the line clicked as the phone was picked up on the other end of the line. "Hello," Spencer mumbled, her throat ragged as if she'd just woken up.

"Um. Hey Spence," Aria replied, awkwardly. She fumbled with the ends of her hair as she rounded a corner onto a not so busy side street.

"Aria!" Spencer was awake now, her tone was alert and Aria could tell her friend was about to interrogate her.

"Hi."

"Where did you go? Did you get home okay? Did you find Ezra? What was wrong with him an-"

"Spencer, slow down," Aria laughed. Spencer could be really intense sometimes.

"Sorry, I was just worried about you. You could have called to inform us you were still alive." Now it was Spencer's turn to give her the cold shoulder.

"Look, I'm sorry. I admit that I didn't handle things with you guys in the most mature way, but after what Hanna said I just had to get out of there. Plus, you aren't exactly innocent. When I trust you guys with my private life, I don't exactly expect to come back and find you practically discussing it in front of my boy…the guy I'm dating." Aria hoped Spencer hadn't picked up that she'd almost said boyfriend. She didn't know where that had come from, after all, Ezra and Aria hadn't really put a label on their relationship as of yet. But it struck Aria that she wanted Ezra to be her boyfriend, and the need to take this next step now was all that filled her busy mind. She wanted to feel part of something, she needed to belong with someone, and Aria knew Ezra was the right person to fulfil her needs.

"Aria, I'm really sorry that Ezra heard that. I know it doesn't help, but we honestly didn't mean for anyone else to be listening in. It was stupid; we didn't think. I hope you can forgive us." Spencer sounded genuinely upset at the tension between her and Aria, and perhaps this was another reason why Aria softened up so easily.

"Of course I can forgive you, Spence. You're my best friend, and I shouldn't have let a guy, or some stupid disagreement get in the way of what we have. I guess my emotions were just on high alert because I haven't been back to Rosewood for a while, and bringing Ezra so soon probably wasn't the smartest idea in the first place."

"I understand, Aria. Don't worry, we all go through those stages. I just hate seeing you upset, and we got worried when we didn't hear from you all night. What happened?"

There was obviously no way Aria was going to be able to dodge this question, and it had been the one she'd feared answering before even dialling Spencer's number. "I met up with Ezra. We talked, and then caught the train back to the city," Aria answered. It was brief, and she hoped Spencer would accept it as her final answer.

"So you're walking to work now?"

"No. I'm headed back to my apartment."

Spencer made a squealing sound on the other end of the phone, but Aria could hear it clear enough from here and she felt slightly deafened by the time Spencer had controlled herself again. "You stayed over at his apartment last night, didn't you?"

"Spencer!" Aria scolded, unsure whether she was ready to disclose such information about her relationship yet.

"Is he good?" To Spencer, it seemed they were just having a general conversation, but Aria was blushing as if she'd just walked into class with no pants on.

"We haven't had sex yet. And even if we had, I'm sure I wouldn't be telling you while I'm winding my way through the streets of New York City," Aria responded, tittering at her friend's forwardness.

"What made you think that I was talking about that? I could have been asking if he was good at…baking, or playing the piano," Spencer joked, making Aria smile. She really did wish she'd had more of a chance to spend time with her friend's last night. Now she missed them more than ever.

"Because I know you, and your need to know every single detail about everyone else's relationships." Aria shook her head in mock disbelief at Spencer.

"I guess you're right. But in all honesty, can I tell you something?"

"Sure, go ahead," Aria replied, taken aback by the sudden serious tone Spencer had adopted.

"He seems like a really nice guy, Aria. I don't know why he left when he heard…what we said…but up until then, he showed me something that Noel didn't: true admiration. He watched you the whole time we were at the Grille. He didn't take his eyes off you once, and he was so lost when you left the table. Ezra definitely passes my judgement test."

A wash of emotion hit Aria, and she felt a lump in her throat begin to form. That had been exactly what Aria needed to here right then; reassurance. She couldn't help but feel the past few days that she was imagining all the little sweet things Ezra had done for her, but what Spencer had said proved that her judgement hadn't been clouded. Ezra really was the guy for her. "Thank you for saying that, Spencer. It means so much, you don't even know."

"Of course. There is one last thing though, then I'll let you go." Aria became wary yet again of Spencer's tone, but she stayed silent, edging her friend to carry on. "I was just concerned for the fact that he clearly left the Grille with no intentions of coming back. I mean, surely after us talking about your father, it would draw him to stay, not leave."

Aria debated whether to lie, but she knew Spencer would find out somehow anyway. Besides, she didn't want to create another calumny that could hurt their friendship. Bracing herself for a lecture, Aria told Spencer the truth. "He didn't know I was only eighteen."

"What? Well how old did he think you were, then?" Spencer said, more calmly than Aria had expected.

"I'm not really sure. Over twenty one for sure. He bought me wine at a restaurant once, so definitely of legal drinking age. He knows I didn't go to college, and to be honest that's probably the night that I realised he was the most decent guy I've ever met." Aria smiled, recalling to just a few nights ago when the two had awkwardly, but comfortably discussed a clouded version of their pasts.

"Well how old is he?" Spencer cried, now alert to the fact that her best friend was dating an older guy.

"Twenty three." Aria whispered, sweating up at the suspenseful situation. Spencer was quiet for a moment, and Aria wondered if her friend had disconnected the call.

"I guess if you guys are happy then I'm happy. I trust that he's a good guy. You seemed happy yesterday, and I hope we're going to see more of that because you really wear happy well."

Aria's smile grew wide at the other girl's kind words. She was glad Spencer accepted them as a couple, because she knew so many people would think that with their age gap, Ezra and Aria's relationship was just a silly little fling. But that was not the case. "Thank you, Spence. I love you, and tell the others I love them too. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

After another round of goodbyes, the call ended and Aria couldn't have been happier that Spencer was behind her. In a way, Aria kind of relied on Spencer's judgement like she would her mother's, and since Aria rarely saw Ella it was a good thing to have Spencer's almost unconditional support.

Soon, Aria was letting herself into her small apartment, and she dodged past the humongous pile of clothes which lay in the middle of her bedroom floor and into the bathroom. She showered quickly, getting soap in her eye various times due to the quick scrubbing she was giving her hair. After drying her slender body, she dressed in work appropriate clothes and dried her hair quickly. She had exactly twenty minutes to get to work, and at least twelve of them would be used to walk there. Normally her mornings were rushed – being a teenager who did still love her bed – but this took it to a whole new level. Aria was sure she was going to be late, and after the catastrophe that had been caused yesterday, she couldn't let it happen again. "Where the hell is my shoe?!" Aria cried to herself as she hopped around the apartment trying to apply a coat of mascara to her already full lashes, whilst searching for the other suede back pump which matched the one her left foot possessed.

Finally finding it after a good four minutes of searching, Aria made her way out the door and began the speed-walk to the law firm which was just a few blocks away. After everything that had happened with Ezra over the past twenty four hours, she had almost completely forgotten the situation she'd left behind at work. Things were tense there, and anxiety crawled up Aria's skin as she neared the door of the office. She took a deep breath. She was an adult now, who had made adult choices, and she had to learn to face difficult situations like this without feeling so nervous and vulnerable. People were going to be mean and unpleasant, but unlike in high school, they weren't doing it to deliberately make her personally feel victimized, they were doing it simply because the career ladder was much like natural selection in the theory of biological beings: survival of the fittest. The career ladder was a tough one, and Aria had to remind herself that everyone was fighting to come out on top.

Luckily, Aria wasn't interested in being on top. All she was interested in was surviving, period. She needed this job to pay the rent to her apartment, to feed her each night, and to keep her warm in the winter. Of course, she didn't want to live the rest of her life like this, but for now this was the best option she had. And now Ezra was around, things were starting to look up for her socially again. No longer did she have to be a hermit who hid away in her own house each night of the week.

Aria sighed as she looked at the rather large stack of files which lay piled up on her workstation, and decided to get down to business while her attention span was still sharp. Once they were over with, she'd grant herself a texting break with Ezra. Just as she was about to log into the computer system, a woman appeared at the front desk, her face an open book. Aria could almost smell the nerves coming off of the woman, and raised from her place to see what she needed. "Is everything okay?"

The woman seemed surprised to see Aria for a moment, but soon ran her hands through her light brown, pixy style haircut. "I'm here for the interview?" She asked, her voice more composed than she looked.

"They're sure quick to replace you here," Aria mumbled to herself. Jennifer really was gone, and it was all Aria's fault.

"Sorry?" The woman questioned from over the desk.

"Nothing. I think Melanie is in her office just down the hall. Here, let me come round and walk you there," Aria said, hurrying out the back exit of the reception office and into the foyer of the law firm. "I'm Aria, pleased to meet you." She offered the woman her hand, eager to make a good first impression. If she got the job, the two would be spending a lot of time in a tiny office together.

"Maggie," the woman said, taking Aria's tiny hand with a nervous smile on her face.

"Well, I'll wish you luck on your interview. This place is actually pretty friendly once you get past all the strict attitudes most of the lawyers have. And they really value their workers," Aria said as she led Maggie down the hall and stopped outside her manager's door. "Here we are. Just relax, I'm sure you'll do great."

"Thank you, Aria. For being so sweet." Maggie entered the office, and Aria turned to walk back to the reception desk. Maggie seemed nice, and Aria definitely would be thankful to have another person to share the workload with again.

*Ezra's POV*

Ezra had spent the rest of his morning lying in bed, rereading one of his favourite books, To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout's naïve look on life never failed to make him chuckle, and her stubbornness kind of reminded him of Aria. He remembered the first time he'd read the story in his junior year of high school and wondered if Aria had read such a prized piece of literature, too. Maybe the curriculum had changed since he was that age, but Ezra couldn't help himself from imagining the passion and power that Aria's analysing essay no doubt had. Although Aria was yet to agree to let Ezra read some of her work, he could tell that she was a writer of high standard just by the way she spoke. The teacher in him came out whenever he heard her use of metaphorical language, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't get excited when she spoke in mock Shakespearian.

Around lunchtime, Ezra decided that thinking about Aria was just not enough. How an eighteen year old girl had so much power over him, he didn't know, but hearing her voice actually made his knees quiver slightly. She was so grown up and mature, but still so young, fragile and inexperienced, and that was exactly how Ezra liked her. He picked up his cell phone and called Aria's number, unsure of what he was actually calling for. They had agreed to meet after Aria finished work, so did he seem needy and desperate by disturbing her during the middle of the day? He severely hoped not, as the line clicked with Aria answering the phone.

"Hey!" Aria answered, her voice like a song.

"How are you this morning?" Ezra asked, imagining Aria to be walking through Central Park drinking coffee or perched on a bench somewhere reading during her lunch break.

"I miss you," She whined, much like she had this morning. "But I'm alright. Actually, I'm at lunch with my new co-worker."

"Oh. Well, I can call you afterwards then?" Ezra said, although disappointed, he didn't want to interrupt Aria's lunch if she was with someone.

"No, it's okay. She's at the bathroom at the moment," Aria replied, a chirp in her voice. She seemed happy, and Ezra smiled wishing he could see her face.

"What are you eating?" Ezra asked, picturing Aria licking her pink, full lips. This was driving him crazy. He had to see her before he injured himself.

"Sweet potato fries. They're good." He could hear her crunching down on one at that moment, and his taste buds went wild. Not only was he hungry for the taste of Aria, but his stomach began to grumble like an angry volcano. He hadn't eaten anything since last night in Rosewood. "Oh. Hey, Ezra? Maggie's back so I've got to go," Aria said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Maggie. The name stung Ezra slightly, having known a Maggie once in his life many years ago. "I'll see you at six?" Ezra asked, desperate for the time to pass quickly.

"I can't wait. See you soon!" Aria called, before disconnecting the call.

Ezra and Aria deliberately hadn't made any set plans for their date tonight, as recently any kind of organization the two had made seemed to get overwritten. Nonetheless, Ezra was more excited than ever to go pick up Aria from her work, and he almost drooled at the anticipation of kissing her precious lips. Something had changed after last night, and even though it should have been for the worst, it actually appeared to be for the better. Although the couple still had many boundaries to cross, they were definitely closer than ever, and words seemed to flow easily and freely between them, never forced or awkward. Sure, they still had to learn a whole lot about each other, but Ezra knew it wouldn't be long until the two were completely comfortable with each other. For now, he was happy with how their relationship was progressing and couldn't wait to caress her small hand in his tonight. He just had to find something to occupy him for the remaining hours until their date, which was sure to be a hard task because all he could think about was the feel of Aria's lips on his, and most of all, the joyful sound of her laugh in his ears.

Hello! Thank you so much for reading. I'm sorry I've not been able to update sooner, you can go and thank my teachers for that. This chapter was kind of a filler, and I hope it didn't disappoint…but big things are coming in the near future. I'd also like to acknowledge all of the wonderful reviews you guys gave the last chapter! Some of your words were so kind, and it really meant the world to me! I really hope you're enjoying this so far, and I really do appreciate feedback and responses; it motivates me to write faster! Thanks again for all your support! – Kate xoxo

(P.S. I hope your date went well, Emily.)