Winter Wonderland just hit 24000 hits. You legends makin' me smile! ;)
And your reviews in response to the last chapter; wow! :D You're all amazing, and that's an understatement. Enjoy the next chapter! ~St0ryTeller
"You excited to start your masters next week?" Ezra asked a few minutes afterwards.
"I am," she said happily. "Though we'll all be very busy, we'll get through with the change of schedule. And Ella around to help will be wonderful," she said before turning and pressing her lips to his neck. His head reacted to hers and buried in against her, before she began biting his neck lovingly as his hand ran from the cheek of her bottom up the length of her back tenderly. They pulled apart when laughing came from the corridor; Megan and Mike's laughing.
Ezra and Aria's puzzled faces looked towards where the sound was coming from through their walls, trying to understand what was happening. The overwhelming laughter abruptly stopped and kissing sound could be heard. Ezra smiled down at Aria, who immediately returned the smile to him.
"Good on Mike, he did it on his own," Ezra said happily while his hand traced Aria's forearm.
"Or, she did it. Either way," Aria said happily before placing a brief kiss on Ezra's lips, before they snuggled in for the night.
"Oh God, stop this hell," Aria moaned 20 minutes later. Ezra laughed as Aria grabbed the spare pillow, smacked Ezra in the head, before placing her head in between it and the mattress. Ezra reached his hand to caress her still naked back, but Aria shot out from his grasp.
"Don't, just, don't touch me," she said disturbed. Ezra laughed, as that was his desired response. "We'll have to buy Lily a new bed," Aria grumbled from underneath her pillow-mattress sandwich she had created for her head. Mike and Megan hand been making all kinds of sounds for 20 minutes, the fever and volume of which had steadily increased to the point where Aria wondered why she had been born at all. Ezra watched the whole event affect his wife's face, laughing merrily as she was slowly tortured from the sounds. 10 minutes later, sounds of all varieties had ceased, and Aria was back in Ezra's arms.
"I'm glad they're happy. They both deserve happiness," she said, tracing her hand across Ezra's chest repeatedly.
"I think it's for the long haul too, don't you?" Ezra asked her happily. "That's the vibe I got from them both. Maybe they've finally found it, what we have," he said as he kissed her lips softly, before sleep took over their bodies.
Saying it had been a long night would have won awards for 'understatement of the year'. Aria trudged down stairs slowly, scraping her slippers against the floorboards; sounding like a monster in a horror movie. Hanna, Emily and Spencer were occupying the three seats of the island bar in the kitchen, and Alison was about to start pouring coffee into everyone's cups when Aria showed her face. She was exhausted, her eyes hanging out of her head, her face all round miserable. She gave a weak smile to the girls whose immediate response was to laugh at her.
"Oh honey, rough night?" Alison said suggestively before she went to the other side of the island bar to stand with the other girls.
"Yes and not for the reasons you're suggesting," she said pained before going to get herself her own cup of coffee.
"So what's up then?" Emily asked, all the girls oblivious to the new couple in the house.
"Well, uh…" Aria began.
"Wait, where's Mike, Megan and Ezra?" Spencer asked suddenly.
"Ezra's in the shower," Aria began.
"Is he really? Well I have to…" Hanna began as Alison also shifted to make their way upstairs to the bathroom.
"DON'T you dare," Aria shouted and they meekly retreated, realising subtlety wasn't their best character trait, and this is the only time they'd wish it different.
"Mike and Megan are," Aria began to continue with her previous point. A loud thud of a headboard upstairs though shifted everyone's attention to looking through the roof towards where the sound came from.
The girls pulled faces of shock, before each of their expressions blossomed into smiles while turning their attention straight to Aria. "Oh, my God!" Hanna squealed.
"You didn't get any sleep last night 'cause your brother's getting busy?" Spencer asked teasingly before everyone laughed.
"This isn't meant to happen when you're in your twenties, but yes, yes, that is right, yes. And if you could refrain from saying 'your brother's getting busy' again, that's be wonderful," Aria said with a scowl. She sighed before taking a sip of coffee while Spencer lowered her head, giggling slightly.
"So wait," Alison began "so it's been happening all night? And still now? Oh wow, Aria," she said laughing heartedly as Aria scowled at her. "You have fun with this situation," Alison teased purposely and Aria glared back at her with everything she had before shaking herself out of it.
"Look, I was planning on taking you all out today, but would you mind if we changed that to tomorrow? I need to sleep today, and eat, and sleep," Aria mumbled before looking weakly at the girls.
"Of course, yeah, we can do that," Emily said with a smile, Hanna also looking at Aria nodding understandingly before taking a quick sip of her drink, before lowering the cup again with equal enthusiasm.
"Can we take your girls out?" Hanna asked eagerly. "You're the only one of us with kids, and they're so precious, can I take them out? Maybe a few or all of us?" Hanna offered to the other girls at the island bar and they all smiled in excited agreement before wishfully looking to Aria for approval.
Aria gave a soft smile to her four best friends, before nodding in agreement. "Yes, fine, okay. But only one treat to eat. Like McDonalds or ice cream or popcorn, don't give them too much," she said, attempting to quickly educate her friends on the point of children's nutrition.
"I promise, we'll look after them," Spencer said genuinely before going and kissing Aria on the cheek as goodbye. Aria smiled satisfied with what Spencer had said, before grabbing a note card and pen from the side of the island bar to write down something for the girls.
"This," she said still writing, "Is Ella's address. They'd all be awake by now," she said with a smile, giving Spencer the paper. "Thank you," Aria said and Spencer briefly grasped Aria's hand in reply with a soft smile.
The girls all left to go and collect Olivia and Lily from Ella's, then Aria let out a huge sigh and lent against the kitchen counter. She was happy for both of them, Mike and Megan, she just prayed both of their heads and hearts were in the same place.
"I heard the front door," Ezra said as he came down to the kitchen, hair still damp from his shower, and dressed in a dark blue dressing down. Aria gave an unashamed smile at the sight, staring at the portion of his chest that was uncovered and she sighed.
"Uhhh, yeah, the girls went to take out Olivia and Lily," she said deliriously, her eyes still focused on that piece of his skin.
Ezra smiled and walked towards her. He wrapped his arms around her and the side of her face fell against the v of bare skin central to the sides of the dressing gown.
"You didn't sleep well, did you love," he said gently, his hand tracing her back.
"No, I didn't," she replied slowly, gently. She closed her eyes and snuggled against his body. They remained there for a few minutes before Ezra spoke up.
"Come on," he said as he grabbed her hand, and led her up to their room. He crawled in the bed on his side and motioned for her to join him. Aria stared at his kind face for a few moments, seeing he didn't need to sleep at all, was purely offering to comfort her. She smiled at him before following his suggestion. She crawled in by his side and wrapped her arms around his torso on his side of the bed, immediately breathing in deeply and smelling his scent, closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep.
Around lunch, Aria began to wake; the sleep she'd had wasn't enough, but it was enough to barely get herself through the rest of the day. She quickly registered her surroundings while Ezra's hand ran adoringly across her cheek, "morning Aria," he said soothingly, before placing his hand on the side of her neck and giving her nose a quick kiss. "Mike and Megan I think just got up too, well, they…" Ezra began.
"Right yes, okay, thank you," she said quickly before he said anything more in that area. "I need to go and talk to them, I can't stand the idea of either of them getting hurt. And Megan only just breaking up with Ryan after so many years," she paused and sighed before continuing, "I just want to make sure they're on the same page," she said softly, and wearily. "Thank you," Aria said warmly as she placed her hand on Ezra's chest, her lips against his with enthusiasm before she got out of bed and went to get ready for the day.
Aria and Ezra came down the stairs, dressed and ready at 1pm for their day. They found Megan and Mike in the kitchen, Megan's medium length blonde hair trailing behind her as her and Mike scurried around the kitchen, clearly attempting to make pancakes.
"Morning," Ezra said with a smile, placing his hand on Aria's lower back.
"Hey you two, how's everything going?" Aria asked with a smile, observing Mike and Megan's interactions with each other.
"Hey sis, everything's great thanks. You want some pancakes?" he asked kindly.
"Sure," Aria replied as she sat a seat at the island bar, Ezra assuming the seat next to her.
"Me too please, Mike. Pile them up," he said enthusiastically as Aria raised an eye brow.
"We didn't wake you last night, did we?" Megan asked, immediately mortified. Clearly, the external world outside of that bedroom last night hadn't been on their minds at all. That was good, Aria though.
"Oh no, slept like a baby," she said kindly, as Ezra placed his hand on her knee to comfort. Megan turned back to Mike who flipped the series of pancakes that had just been cooked onto two plates, and she brought them forward to Ezra and Aria.
"Actually, Megan; can I talk to you for a sec, in the library? Aria asked suddenly, making Megan's eyes shoot open in panic.
"Oh, yeah, sure," she fumbled out as she and Aria walked towards the library. Aria locked the door behind them and turned around.
"Just so I know, you're replacing Lily's mattress, right?" Aria asked boldly, before Megan crumbled onto the couch.
"Oh, God," she cried, realising all events had been overheard by the house. "I'm so sorry," she began.
"I don't care about me! Are you over Ryan? Are you using Mike?" Aria asked in a shout standing over Megan, whose face turned hurt immediately. Aria looked in her eye and realised she's stuffed up her choice of words dramatically; she'd hurt the woman in front of her.
"I love you, you know that," Aria began as she sat down next to Megan. "I support this if you're both on the same page. I just wanted to make sure you weren't rebounding. I wish I'd said it better," she said sadly. "But I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," she said with a smile, winking a little at her friend. Megan gave a soft laugh through her few tears, choosing to move on as Aria had.
"I feel like I'm falling, Aria, in the best, most magical way. I feel alive, invincible, God he makes me feel," she said before pausing to find her words. "I feel like I've found a piece I've been missing," she concluded warmly.
"That piece is Mike," Aria stated as if to confirm, and Megan smiled and lowered her head while she smiled.
"It is," she said before looking into Aria's eyes again. Aria knew those eyes, Megan meant every word that she had said. Aria knew she was falling hard for Mike, and all she could do now was wrap her arms around Megan warmly, telling her she understood the feeling.
GilmoreGirls945 Wow, I want to hug you right now! You're so kind, thank you! Seriously, thank you! :) And your stories deserve the reviews! People check out her stories! Xox
NotinyourlifetimehoneyLol ;) They were indeed cockblocked. I could continue with this area, but I'm working with a T rating here! :P And Mike and Megan; oh yeah! ;)
HaleyJamesScottNathanScottThanks for your ideas! :) I'll see where the story goes!
PrettyLittleFanHaha I'm glad you like Megan and Mike! I wasn't planning on going there, but it seems to work, doesn't it? ;) And oh yeah, Lily's a rockstar! And thank you! :)
Caligirl28Wow, so many compliments! Thank you! :) I've been trying to work out a name for Megan and Mike since I read your review; with no luck yet! Let us know if you think of one! :)
OnceAWildcatAlwaysAWildcat Thank you! :) I'm proud of the little cutie too!
HarrylovesGinny09Thank you! :)
msbookworm93Haha someone had to help Mike out ;) I'm glad it was Lily! And thank you so much! :D
WWKMDbraceletsHaha ;) Thank you! :)
amberanokaOh gosh, oh wow! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I'm so glad you're the story so much! :D