A/N: Hello everyone. I just wanted to thank everyone for their lovely reviews. And I was wondering whether you guys would like for me to use the authors note space to answer questions from the last chapter, or any questions really. I could answer everyone's questions here, however if it is long and you are longed in, I could send you a message :) So please let me know if you're up to that.

Also, i've recieved a review about Ezra/Aria not being together feeling a little bit dragged. I'm sorry if you guys feel that way, but, in order for the story to go the direction I want it to, I feel as though it is necessary. Once again, I'm sorry, and thank you for reviewing, whoever said that, as I am now aware of the possible changes I can make :)

I'm hoping everyone gets their Aria/Ezra fix this chapter :)


Serendipity

"I guess that I'm a little bit, a little bit, a little bit, in love with you," Aria hummed as she walked out of her bedroom, her headphones was in her ears, unaware of the people in the living room. She shook her hips, and bounced her head to the sound of the music. She spun around; eyes closed, and grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge. She turned around and saw Wesley, alongside a woman in her mid-fifties, a man who was perhaps just in his thirties. The woman looked disapprovingly whilst the man smiled, amused. Her eyes widened, she gulped audibly and pulled off her headphones, "Hi." She said, awkwardly.

Wesley chucked, "Mom, this is one of my best friends. Aria, this is my mother and my eldest brother, Micah." He announced and she watched as he introduced them. He looked awkward, scared even, but she couldn't really tell why. Then the realisation hit her, he never spoke to her about his family not even once. Even when Ezra, when he used to speak to her, spoke of his family as if it felt a bitter taste in his mouth when he did. She wished she knew more but she couldn't force them to tell her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms Fitz, and Micah." Aria said, with a smile, not realising her mistake despite look her friend sent her.

Teresa looked at her, something about her had piqued her interest, "It's Fitzgerald," She clarified, "But I see you know my boy, you know Ezra," She questioned, and Aria nodded, despite all the apparent hostility between them she could still say she knew him she supposed.

"Yes, I do," She replied,

"Well, you should join us for dinner then," Teresa stated, a smile formed on her face—which seemed fake, her face look as though a smile was always vacant. "And, you cannot say no I absolutely insist. You have to come. I would love to get to know you, considering you're friends with both my boys," She added,

Aria parted her lip, not knowing how to refuse, "Well – um, I" She stuttered, noticing as Micah chuckled in the background.

Wesley looked at her, "She will. She's completely free," He said, with a smile.

She furrowed her eyebrows and scrunched her nose in disappointment, "Um, Wes, can I speak to you for a minute?" He nodded and she walked into her bedroom with him following her. He closed the door behind her and she crossed her arms as she looked at him, "What the hell was that? I can't come to your family dinner, it'll just be weird."

He shook his head, his eyes pleading her, "You don't understand, I won't survive alone—you were just going to spend the day listening to Drake anyway," He said, "You have to come. I've done a lot for you and you owe me." He said, serious.

"Why are they here anyway? Do you no longer own an apartment?" Aria asked through narrowed eyes,

"Technically I won't in a few weeks," Wesley replied,

"What?"

"Noel and I have been speaking about –"

"Wait, so you moved in without even telling me?" Aria said, "Wow, what else do I not know? Are you and Noel considering surrogacy? Are you planning to get married? You might as well, and then you can have a joint wedding with your fucking brother,"

Wesley narrowed his eyes, "Wait, what did Ezra do? Why are you angry with him?" He asked,

"I don't owe you answers but since you're living here, you might as well do my share of washing the dishes and laundry this week and next," Aria said, "And then we have a deal," She couldn't suppress her smirk and he rolled his eyes.

"Wow, blackmail. I thought you were bigger than this," Wesley said, she shrugged, "Fine. Get dressed, wear something nice. We're probably going somewhere fancy," He said, walking towards the door, and then quickly turned around, "Oh, don't mention Ezra's engagement. Mother doesn't know,"

Aria furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but she couldn't ask any questions as he had left, she walked over to her closet and pulled out a black dress. She pulled her hair up into a low chignon and quickly put on some makeup. She threw on the dress and saw that it was low cut, she tried up it up but it still showed cleavage. She shrugged and threw on a pair of heels. She walked out of her bedroom and smiled at her dinner companions, and noticed the way Micah stared at her—it wasn't in a sleazy way, but rather an inquisitive way, but she shrugged it off blaming it on her overthinking.

Once they left the apartment there was a black car waiting for them, the driver got out of the car and opened the door for them. Aria looked over at Wesley, confused, but he simply sighed and entered the car before her. The restaurant was twenty five minutes away, in spite of the fact there were several nice restaurants minutes away from their apartment but she supposed they weren't to the level Teresa Fitzgerald wanted them. The car ride was filled with silence, no one spoke, and she didn't dare too knowing if she did she would probably say something incredibly stupid.

For some reason she couldn't believe this was how Ezra's family was, she imagined them to be kind like he was – not as he was recently, as was apparent – but it was nothing like that. They all sat in silence, hoping that no one spoke so they wouldn't have to communicate. She took out her phone and clicked onto recent calls, she had called him eight times in the last week yet he hadn't replied. It hurt, she didn't know why. Was it because of what she had accidently said? That she hadn't moved on. She didn't want him to know how, in spite of the years, she felt like she was seventeen again whenever she saw him.

And she couldn't help but wish it was her, not Hayley, he was getting married to.

"Why are you getting up?"

Hayley asked whilst her naked body was only covered by the thin sheet. He didn't reply and got dressed, as of late he had spending more time at hers then he did his place. He supposed he should get used to it, considering soon enough they would be living together. It was now April, only three months left until she become Ms Fitz, or kept her last name. It wasn't something they had discussed, whenever she spoke to him about getting married, it was about the wedding – the colour of the flowers, the location, whether there would be table pieces – but never about the actual marriage. Hayley was just excited about the wedding, and she had a right to be, but it made him almost feel sick knowing that he didn't have similar feelings.

"I have to go to work," He replied, "I have a lot of things that need doing,"

"It's Saturday, babe."

He nodded, "I know but I require my students to do work on Saturday, it would be hypocritical if I didn't put myself through those same standards, now wouldn't it?" He said, she smiled, and he leaned down to kiss her on the lips before leaving the apartment. He sighed as he left the apartment, feeling horribly guilty. Last week he had told Hayley he would speak to Aria, but he went back on his word. Whenever she would call he would let it go to voicemail. With every message he heard her grow frustrated, soon enough she would give up and stop calling. He was waiting for that, the last thing he needed was to see her again before the wedding. The less he spoke to her, the better.

Yesterday he had received a message from his older brother, Micah, who needed a place to crash. And of course he agreed to it, years ago after Rosewood Micah let him into his home for months. His wife, Leah, looked after him and helped him through his rough period so he knew about Aria, bits and pieces. He knew the circumstances around their relationship; he knew her name, and who she was. Micah and Leah helped Ezra when he was beaten down and for that he would never be able to repay them. Right now, Micah and Wesley were probably having dinner with their mother. Something he didn't miss. He wouldn't how long they would last before they made up an excuse to leave.

Ezra caught a cab to Vassar, and he got out of the car after paying. Once he got into his office, he took a seat and for a moment, he just sat whilst not doing anything – just enjoying the quiet, before he took out papers and started to mark, his eyes growing tiresome after reading word after word. The door opened, and someone walked in. He looked up seeing Hanna Marin, confused he didn't say anything hoping she would be the first one to speak.

"Hi," Hanna greeted, "Mr Fitz. I was wondering whether I could speak to you,"

"How did you know I was here?" He asked, looking around.

"Well, I called Spencer to call Hayley to ask whether you were at your apartment. I said my friend needed a job, and was fresh out of college with an English degree so you don't have to worry," She replied, reassuring, "So I need to speak to you."

He nodded, "Yes, of course. Is everything okay? Is Aria okay?" Not knowing why but seeing Hanna somewhat frightened him, the only real link the two of them had was Aria so he presumed that she was here to talk about her.

The corners of her mouth lifted up into a small smile, "She's fine. Um, I just wanted to speak to you about her actually," She said, she sat down on the chair opposite him. He looked confused, rightfully so. She would be too if he had done something like this, "You know that I know about the two of you, right." He nodded, "Well, seven years ago, when you left I was there when she found out you were gone. We went to your apartment and she read the letter. She was heartbroken, absolutely broken to pieces, but Aria's strong. She built herself up again and I never heard your name leave her mouth after that. It was like she pretended you never existed, but I-I knew she was still hurting so you two became friends I was wary of you. Now when Jake came into her life I was happy," She shook her head in disbelief, "I thought he was a good guy, I thought finally she is with someone she deserves. Then the incident occurred, and I realised that I was defending her from the wrong guy."

"What exactly are you trying to say, Hanna?" He asked, sighing.

"Do you still love her?"

"I'm engaged,"

Hanna nodded, "I'm not asking that. I'm asking whether you are still in love with my best friend," She spoke slowly, and looked at him, and observed his discomfort. He sat awkwardly in his chair, his glance constantly directed towards the picture of him and Hayley on his desk.

Ezra licked his bottom lip, nervously, "Can I ask you something?" He looked at her, she nodded, "That day – when you found out about the two of us – and stormed into my classroom, why didn't you tell anyone about I was doing? Why didn't you tell the principal?"

"I tried to believe that you were taking advantage of her – that was the only thing that made sense to me. But she begged me to not tell anyone, she assured me that it was consensual and I believed her. I wasn't happy with what was happening but I knew I couldn't lie. Whatever it was that you two had, it was enough to make her risk everything for you and vice versa, so I knew it couldn't be something wrong. You cared about her, I saw it in your eyes, and you still do."

He looked down at his hands, "I never told her I loved her. I left before I got the chance,"

"Why?"

"Because I was afraid of what it would mean," He sighed, "It was wrong, I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't tell no matter how pure, and raw, that feeling was because if I did then I would have to stay, and she didn't deserve that. She deserved a normal life and if leaving meant she would get one then I had to do it." Ezra said,

"It's not too late. You can still tell her, the timing's not wrong this time," Hanna stated, getting up, "Life doesn't always give you a second chance but when it does, you should grab it, otherwise you're an idiot," She said, looking at him, "I trust you to do the right thing, Ezra."

He looked up at her, "You shouldn't trust me so much." He mumbled, after she left.

Aria tapped her feet impatiently on the floor, as she sat awaiting her main course. She hadn't ordered, before she said anything that would make her look like a fool in Teresa's eyes, Wesley did the honours. Currently, she was on her third glass of champagne. She resisted the urge to use her phone and occasionally glared at Wesley, who laughed awkwardly. Right now, Micah was speaking to his mother about his law firm. It was somewhat amusing how different the Fitzgerald brothers were – Micah, the lawyer. Ezra, the writer and Wesley, the undeclared – she could hardly imagine how Christmas at their house was like but one thing she was absolutely positive about, it must be an ordeal.

"So, Aria, what is it that you do?" Teresa asked and her tone although not intentional judgemental came across that way.

"I'm an editorial assistant," Aria replied, she smiled as the staff placed her food in front of her. She almost let out a laugh as she saw her plate, it was pasta, but on the menu it sounded like some exotic meal. Wesley winked at her; she shook her head in disbelief.

Teresa nodded, "And what exactly does that entail?"

"Uh, I support editorial staff in activities that lead up to publication sometimes. I summarise written material, proof read content and edit. Often I read through all manuscripts that come through, making recommendations to senior editorial staff." She said,

"So you read for a living," The older woman commented,

Aria let out a hesitant laugh, "Yes, I suppose I do."

Wesley didn't want the conversation to be diverted to his direction, but he didn't want his mother harshly judging his friend either, so he looked at his eldest brother begging him, through his eyes, to change the conversation. Micah shook his head, wide eyed, but then sighed, giving in.

"Have you always lived here? In New york, that is," Micah questioned, picking up his champagne glass.

"Well, no actually I moved here after graduation. I lived in Pennsylvania, a small town called Rosewood. You probably haven't heard of it," Aria said, biting her lower lip. But Teresa looked at the girl, wondering how she was linked to her two sons in various ways.

"We have. Ezra used to teach there I believe, did he teach you? Is that how you know him?" Teresa asked.

"No need to interrogate her, mother." Wesley said, finally speaking up.

Teresa looked at her son and then back at Aria, "I am simply asking questions. I want to get to know your friend, am I wrong Aria?"

She narrowed her eyes in confusion, not necessarily understanding how she was right, "No," She said, hesitantly, "Yes, he did teach me. Only for a short while though, a couple of months before he resigned, as I spent a year abroad in Iceland." A forced smile was etched on her face.

Micah's eyes glistened, "Iceland? My wife, Leah, went a year abroad there during the early stages of our relationship. It was tough."

"You're married," Aria questioned, he nodded, she couldn't help but wonder why his wife wasn't here. She tried not to let her imagination get the best of her; she was always curious however that could be sometimes mistaken for poking and prying.

"I am. To the most beautiful woman in the world," He grinned, his mother rolled her eyes, "You're a close second, though," Micah said, winking at her. And there it is, Aria thought, the good old Fitzgerald charm. Her cheeks felt warm and she smiled, genuinely, wishing that Ezra was here right now. She wished to see him with his brothers, to see how he was with them. But she realised she probably never would, she wasn't Hayley she wouldn't be there all the time. She was just a friend, actually right now, she wasn't even that.

Wesley laughed, "Wow. Just wow. Why do both of my brothers hit on my best friend?" He said, nonchalantly. She coughed. It was probably a bad time to drink the champagne, she stared at him. As did rest of the people on the table, it took Wesley a minute to realise the impact of what he had said had caused. "What? They do."

Aria shook her head, "No. I mean Ezra hasn't," It was a lie, technically he had, but that wasn't not now.

"He has, trust me. Of course he means nothing by it, like Micah. You probably didn't notice because his flirting is far more subtle than Mike's here." Wesley said. Aria nodded, she gulped up all the champagne unaware of Micah's watchful stare. He had seen her expression when Wesley had said Ezra's name, he had noticed the way her body stiffened, and her shoulders arched back. Her eyes softened albeit widening. And he knew just then that she was the girl.

Micah caught her gaze, she smiled softly. It was her smile that made his younger brother to fall for her, surely. He had to speak to Ezra and he would when he returned to the apartment tonight. He wondered how her reappearance had affected Ezra's decision to propose. He returned the smile and wondered what the hell Ezra was planning.

No one was home. He had waited for the last thirty minutes, but no one opened the door or came home. The last thing he wanted to do was call her, knowing that upon hearing her voice he may change his decision. He had to speak to her tonight before he talked himself out of it. To his surprise, Hayley hadn't called or texted. He sent her a message letting her know he was spending the night over at his apartment. He could hear the sound of high heels; he turned to that direction and saw her walking towards him. Her face epitomised the shock she was feeling. Ezra looked at her, her hair was in a loose bun and a few strands had escaped. Her black dress was danced as she walked and she looked absolutely beautiful.

"So, have you decided to speak to me?" Aria asked, somewhat angry but mostly amused.

He nodded, "Yes. We need to talk, don't we?" He said,

Aria took her keys out of her bag and opened the door, "I just had dinner with your family." She stated.

"Wow, why? There's no reason you should be exposed to that, you're not even related to us," Ezra said, confused.

"The reason I went, nay was forced to go was because of Wesley," Annoyance etched her every word; he followed her in watching as she opened her hair allowing it to fall down her shoulders. "You know I would've never guessed she was your mother if I ever saw her walking down the street, or in a coffee shop,"

"Ah, there's your first mistake. Mother would never walk down the street, she had a chauffeur who drops her directly outside wherever she needs to be," Ezra commented. She laughed, and he smiled remembering how it felt to be in her presence once again.

Ezra licked his lower lip, "I want to apologise for ignoring your calls, and being a jerk,"

She looked at him, pursing her lips together, "Apology accepted. Is that the only reason you're here?" She asked, curiously.

He shook his head, "No," He sighed, "I thought we should talk. About well everything, get it all out in the open. You can ask me anything and I will be a hundred per cent honest"

"So … like Rosewood," Aria said, a gulp escaping her mouth. He nodded, scratching the back of her head. She walked over to the counter and, whilst on her tip toes, she took out shot glasses and a bottle of vodka. She placed the glasses on the table. He looked at her, confused. "You don't expect me to talk about the past completely sober, do you?"

Amused, he shrugged, "Well, yes that would be crazy of me to think," Sarcasm etching his voice.

Aria sat down and poured the alcohol into each glass, "Come on Fitz. Three each before we begin to talk," She said, he nodded and sat in front of her. He picked up his glass, "Look into my eyes or we'll have seven years of bad sex," It was a bad choice of words, but she hadn't realised, and they clinked their glasses maintaining eye contact. After the third shot was done he sat in front of her, waiting for her to say something. To begin but she didn't.

He looked at her, and she looked at him. "How'd you propose?"

"Really," He questioned, "You could ask me anything and you choose to ask me this,"

She nodded, grinning, "Hey, I'm a hopeless romantic. What can I say? I woke up at four in the morning to watch the royal wedding, four in the morning,"

Ezra shrugged, "I went down on one knee and I asked her to marry me,"

"What? No speech? Nothing,"

"Well, I told her how happy she made me," She rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry to disappoint, Aria." He said, amused. Aria poured herself another shot, and looked at Ezra who nodded before she poured him one too. "So you're going out with someone now, what's his name?"

Aria smiled, "I thought I was the one asking question. And Will, his name is Will."

"Do you like him?"

"I do."

"Good."

They shared a smile. A smile that spoke more than they could ever say to each other through words, it said they supported each other. That they were happy for each other, and that, despite their history, they would continue to be friends because both of them didn't want to live a life where the other wasn't a part of it. She laughed, shaking her head. "God, seven years back, would you have ever thought that this would be us? Friends, in New York city,"

Ezra grinned, "Our story is sitcom material." He chuckled, "If you ever want to make some money we should definitely consider it,"

"I forgot how easy it was to talk to you." Aria was honest with him, for the first time, "On our first date I just spilled everything out, like an idiot, I just told you everything."

He shook his head, "You weren't an idiot. I wanted to hear everything you had to say, I was already so head over heels for you."

"I was too. You were the first guy who treated me well, the first guy who didn't just sex," Aria said, "But you never told me anything. Nothing about your fam—" She frowned, looking at him.

He sighed, "I didn't want to burden you with my family history. I didn't want you to run away scared." He replied. He looked at her, observing her confusion, "The first time I fell in love I was fifteen. Her name was Maggie Cutler. She was everything to me. Just before graduation we found out she was pregnant, I didn't what to do. I was eighteen, I was scared. She wanted to keep the baby and I supported her decision. I decided to go to a community college, I told my mother of my plans – she seemed supportive, caring – and the next week Maggie didn't come to school. Her family had moved, apparently, and she left me a letter explaining she had an abortion and that she wanted to break up." He sighed, pouring himself another shot, "A couple of years later, when I was teaching, I ran into her and found out my mother threatened her, she forced her to have an abortion. Maggie was heartbroken when she told me. My mother cared so much about appearances that she forced my first love to abort a child she wanted to have."

Aria's eyes widened, she gulped and got up, walking over towards him. She sat next to him and wrapped her arms around him, his head was resting on her shoulder and she felt tears dampen her dress ever so slightly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She said.

"She was three months along. We had already started to speak about the baby as more than just a thing, we had names and –" His voice broke, "Maybe Maggie and I wouldn't have lasted but we would have had a baby. A little baby that we could call ours,"

She leaned down and kissed his head, "Nothing I can say will make what happened any better, I wish I could say something that did, something that will help you." He pulled away from her, his eyes were red. He had never let his guard down like this before. He had never told anyone this the way he did her.

He shook his head in disbelief, "Thank you for listening." He said, "That's all that I need."

"During college, I, uh, on my spring break went to Iceland. I wanted to visit my dad, give him a second chance and all, but when I arrived at his house he was completely drunk. He let me in but he told me that I was an ungrateful bitch and that everything I am is because of him. That he did so much for me and I ruined his marriage. He said he was glad that Alison was dead, he said she deserved it and he hoped I would never be happy because a slut like me didn't deserve it," Aria breathed heavily, her eyes welling up, "And that is why I haven't spoken to him for eight years. Because he doesn't deserve me, and your mom doesn't deserve a second chance either."

Ezra wrapped his arms around Aria after pouring vodka into both glasses, "Here's to shitty parents,"

"To shitty parents," Aria repeated and gulped it up in one sip. She rested her head on his shoulder.

Noel and Wesley walked down the street, hand in hand. Wesley looked at this boyfriend, it had all happened so fast, and he wondered, whether if Aria hadn't introduced them, would they have found their way to each other? He hoped so. Due to his past relationships and his parents which he had observed growing, he hadn't necessarily believed in love. The type of love he felt for Noel, that is. Sometimes he felt guilty, surely not everyone on the planet could feel this way, and perhaps it was the reason for all the turmoil and the wars. Had the people felt the way he did, they wouldn't dare to go around hurting people.

"Are you going to miss your apartment?" Noel asked, as they walked through the apartment complex, and up the stairs.

Wesley shook his head, "No, I'm not, plus I'm going to be living with my best friends." He said, with a grin.

"Oh, Aria will begin to annoy you,"

"How?"

Noel sighed, "She isn't the tidiest person, but then again neither are you, so I guess she won't." They were now on their floor, his eyes widened when he saw Ezra leave the apartment, dishevelled. He froze, and Wesley then saw him too, the door opened once again leading Ezra to stop in his tracks, revealing Aria who was in her oversized t-shirt, just like him she too looked tired. "Quickly, get back," He needed to hear this conversation, in order to disprove his suspicions. It was possible, surely. Both of them were in relationships, happily so.

"Hey," Aria said, sheepishly, her cheeks were red.

"Hey," He replied with a grin, "I thought you were asleep,"

She nodded, "I was but then your phone rang," She said, holding it up and he took it off her. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Ezra chuckled, "Because you were sound asleep, you were even snoring. I forget that you were a light sleeper,"

Wesley breathed heavily, "Why would he know?" He muttered, but Noel hushed him by holding his finger to his mouth.

"Did I kick you? I've been known to do that in my sleep," Aria said, frowning.

He shook his head, "No, you didn't." He said, with a smile. "Well, I should get going," She nodded and he hugged her, whilst she was on her tiptoes.

"Thank you for last night. I really needed it, and, well, it was nice." She said, he nodded, and let go of her.

"Yes, it was." Ezra said, they both shared a laugh, and he left. Aria watched him go, unaware that her two friends were watching from the other side of the hall, and she let out a content sigh before going back inside her apartment.

Noel and Wesley looked at each other, "Okay, what the hell happened between the two of them? How does he know how she sleeps? What was nice?" Wesley asked, wide eyed.

"Relax Wes, we're probably overreacting, I mean just cause they both had sex hair, and I – oh god, Aria's sleeping with an engaged man." Noel said, trying to keep calm.

"She's sleeping with his former teacher. My brother is sleeping with my best friend. Okay, what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Forget,"

"Forget," Wesley repeated, questioningly.

Noel nodded, "We won't say anything unless they say it to us, first."

Wesley sighed, "Fine."

Meanwhile, inside the apartment, Aria sat by her window with a freshly brewed cup of coffee in her hand, she cradled it and she could see Ezra's figure become more and more distant. She smiled, last night she had spent most of it awake with him, drunk, and they talked – about everything – she felt so light, so free. Like she could do anything now, without the weight of her secrets crushing her, and she closed her eyes breathing in and out. The strangest thing was that, last night, she hadn't thought about him in that way. She thought of him as a friend, she bit her lower lip, ecstatic.

Perhaps this was what moving on felt like.


So? Let me know what you guys think and about whether you would like me to answer your questions at the beginning of every chapter.

XO TC