You guys are amazing! This is the most reviews I've ever had for one chapter. Thanks so much: SolitudeMyLove, McKayla, allthingstv242, sia023, iBreakTradition, .dreamers, gawjus, Bailey, Lisabeth, Sarah Anne, ebailz123, mikhaila, vampirekisses1901, Arianna, Kate, SammySam, Anonymous, Ezria4evers, Jack, Ria, ErnayyAlissa, Leah, AddictedtoFICS, ZoeyActress, NativeBeachGirl!

Made it to my trip destination fine. It was a 24 hour trip. With a four hour nap break and quite a few pit stops after a large Mocha Frappe from McDonald's! Hope you like this chapter. It's a longer one. Had some time on my hands with all the travel time lol...

She shrieked and her hands flew to cover her mouth. A few of the students in the library hurried over to see what had happened and Ezra finally saw Aria. He was afraid something was wrong until Mrs. Blackwell began shouting, "You won! Aria you won the scholarship!" Mrs. Blackwell was ecstatic and pulled Aria into a bear hug, which turned into a bizarre celebratory dance.

"I-I-I…" Aria couldn't come up with any words to portray how she felt. She just allowed herself to be swung around by the zany librarian.

Ezra stepped in seconds later as he noticed Aria getting wobbly and decided to intervene, "Congratulations Miss Montgomery."

"Thank you Mr. Fitz. I think I need to lie down." As soon as the words left her mouth, she fainted and fell into Ezra's arms.

He hoisted her up to cradle her in his arms, "Class, behave for Mrs. Blackwell. I'll be back shortly." He carried her all the way to the nurse and laid her down on one of the empty cots.

Ms. York hurried over, "What on earth happened here?"

"She fainted. She just got some exciting news about a scholarship and Mrs. Blackwell felt the need to swing her around. I think she's going to be okay." Ezra explained, trying to keep his emotions buried.

The nurse felt Aria's head, "She is a little clammy. Are you okay sitting with her for a few minutes so I can get a few things?"

Ezra nodded and the nurse exited the cubby area that the couple occupied. Ezra gently began stroking the side of Aria's face until she stirred, "Ezra?" He shushed her quietly and she looked around for the first time, "I'm sorry, Mr. Fitz. What happened?"

"You fainted." His voice was so gentle, but also contained a bit of humor.

Aria began to sit up, but instantly realized that was a mistake and slowly sank back onto the pillow, "I won the scholarship. I-wow."

"I know. I am so proud of you. I knew you could do it." Ezra whispered lovingly. He wanted nothing more than to pull Aria to him and show her how proud he was, but that was definitely against the rules.

Ms. York finally returned, breaking up the intense moment they were having, and giving them both a chance to breathe. "Thank you for helping me out. I can take it from here."

Giving Aria a final smile, he arose from her side and returned to his class. She turned to the nurse, "I'm very dizzy."

"It's ok. Just close your eyes and take some slow, deep breaths. I'm just going to put a cool washcloth on your forehead." Ms. York tended to her until she heard someone enter.

Aria could hear Spencer, Hanna, and Emily pleading with the nurse to see their friend. The nurse finally gave in, informing them if her patient got sick, they were cleaning it up. They approached Aria quietly, "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Very lightheaded." Aria mumbled.

Spencer could barely contain herself, "You got the scholarship to UC Berkeley, Aria. How exciting is that?"

Aria felt numb suddenly, "What do you mean Berkeley?"

"The scholarship committee awarded you the scholarship to UC Berkeley. You had the top essay, so they offered you the top scholarship." Spencer explained.

Aria was very confused, "I thought it was for any of the Top Ten English program schools."

"They decided to do something different this year. There were a lot of problems in the past with the way they handed out the scholarships so…"

"I have to call them. I can't go to Berkeley. I never even applied there or anything." Aria sat up slowly. She had stabilized some and walked out to the nurse, "I am feeling better. May I go back to class?"

The nurse chuckled, "You are definitely one of a kind Aria. Most kids would stay here as long as possible to get out of class."

"I have things I need to do." Aria stated simply.

Ms. York nodded, "Sure. You can go, but if you start feeling faint again, come back and lie down, okay?"

Aria agreed and the girls hurried to the library. Ezra's class had departed before they arrived so at least it was quiet. Aria hoped the website was still up on the computer so she didn't have to wait for it to load again. Fortunately Mrs. Blackwell left the page up and Aria read more thoroughly into the award. There was a special number to call that was only for the recipients and Aria was quick to dial it.

"Yes. Aria Montgomery. Thank you. I have a problem with my award. I didn't even apply to Berkeley so the scholarship won't really do much good. Really? Well that's great but I wasn't… Yes. All right. I will. Thank you." Aria hung up from the brief conversation with a blank look on her face.

Hanna grabbed Aria's hand, "What's wrong, Hun?"

"They told me that Berkeley would be in touch within the next few days about my automatic acceptance. The university is offering me a full ride. The woman I spoke with said I can take a few days to think it over. If I decide Berkeley isn't for me, I can call to go over other options. I'm not sure what to do. I mean Berkeley obviously has the best English program in the country, but California isn't my style. And Ezra and I haven't even considered that as an option." Aria wasn't sure if he'd be excited or not.

There were students shuffling through the hallway and the girls realized they hadn't heard the first bell. They all split up to go to their respective classes and Aria had to practically sprint to get to her Trigonometry class on time. Unlike her other classes, they started a new lesson and Aria's brain just couldn't concentrate on anything that was going on. Luckily, the teacher never called on her and she was able to block out the entire lesson. As she exited the classroom, she began to feel faint again and knew she should get something in her stomach.

She made it as far as the lunch table before needing to sit down. It wasn't long before the girls joined her, "Aren't you going to eat?"

"I'm too dizzy to get up right now." Aria didn't pick her head up off the table.

Doctor Spencer stepped in, "You need to eat something. I'll go get you some food for you." Spencer hopped up from the table and went to get her friend something substantial to eat.

She returned a few minutes later with a ham and cheese sandwich, an orange juice, and some celery and peanut butter. Aria lifted her head slightly, "That's an unusual lunch."

"Not if your blood sugar is low. You haven't eaten anything all day which isn't helping your dizziness any. Now eat." Since Spencer had started volunteering at the local clinic, the girls were always calling her Doctor Spencer because she seemed to have a medical opinion on everything.

Aria sat up very slowly and began sipping her juice. She was amazed that she did feel better fairly quickly. She ate the celery and peanut butter next, but paused at the sandwich, "I have to go get…"

"Mayo and regular chips? I was hoping you'd forget." Spencer handed Aria the mayonnaise packet and small bag of potato chips, prepared for Aria's reluctance to eat a plain sandwich.

After removing the top piece of bread, adding the condiment and chips, and replacing the bread, Aria took a crunchy, yet satisfying bite, "You know me too well Doc." She was pleased that the food did help and she was feeling normal by the end of lunch.

They made their way to the auditorium with the rest of the student body and settled into their usual seats, waiting for the assembly to start.

It was the same boring assembly that they always had, with the usual motivational speeches and the lack of attention from the students. No one cared because it meant no classes. Aria had been slouched in her seat, with her legs up over the back of the seat ahead of her, and writing in her notebook when she heard her name. She looked up as Principal Stevens was motioning her to the stage. She looked to her friends for a clue about what was going on, but didn't get anything more than a smile from any of them. She climbed the stairs to the stage and stood next to the principal as he made a speech about how proud he was of Aria's hard work and dedication. Aria spotted Ezra leaning against the back wall with a huge grin on his face and relaxed a little.

"So it is my honor to present a full ride scholarship for four years to the University of California at Berkeley." Principal Stevens handed her a computer generated certificate, she guessed as a prop for the assembly, and shook her hand. As Aria made her way off the stage, ignoring her standing ovation, she spotted Ezra again. He was no longer smiling and hadn't joined in with everyone else in their applause. He hadn't moved.

Aria was worried about what Ezra was thinking. After giving everything a minute to calm down, she turned back to look at him again, but he was gone. Aria told her friends she needed to go and quickly exited the auditorium. She didn't know where he had gone, but decided his classroom was the best place to look. She peeked in and saw Ezra with his feet propped up on his desk, leaning back in his chair, and tossing a ball into the air.

"Ezra." Aria whispered quietly as she entered.

He didn't throw the ball again, but he didn't look at her either, "Yes Miss Montgomery. How can I help you?"

She was stung by the formality in his voice. She closed the door and walked over to his desk, "What's wrong? Why did you leave?"

"Were you even going to tell me?" He finally met her eyes and she noticed they were wet. She'd never seen him cry, but she thought he might be about to.

"Tell you what?"

He set the ball down on his desk and moved his feet to the floor, "About Berkeley. When were you going to mention the scholarship was to Berkeley? After all of our talking about where to go after you graduate, and you never told me that you were considering Berkeley."

"Ezra, I wanted to talk to you about this. It just…" Aria began but Ezra cut her off.

"We've been so open with each other about everything and this one very important detail you decided to leave out. I'm not prepared to go to California. I've been researching jobs near the colleges we originally talked about. I'm not cut out for California." Ezra continued his rant, his voice increasing in volume every few sentences until he was practically yelling.

Aria stood up from the desktop where she had been perched and was getting ready to walk out. She didn't need this from him.

"Where are you going? We're trying to have a conversation and you're just going to walk out? That's mature." Ezra almost immediately regretted the last words out of his mouth. He regretted saying them even more when Aria's palm met his cheek with a great deal of velocity.

He rubbed it and was sure she had left a handprint, "Mr. Fitz," she spat, "I was planning on having a conversation with you after school, but I refuse to be your verbal punching bag. And for your information, I didn't know about Berkeley until an hour ago."

She threw the door open and marched into the hall. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she broke into a run and didn't stop until she reached her car. By the time she had gotten safely away from the school, she only made it another mile before she was crying so hard she could barely see. She knew that she would need to have another conversation with Ezra if they were going to fix things, so she calmed herself enough to make it to Ezra's apartment.

She let herself in and flopped down on the couch. The dizziness from earlier was returning so she decided the couch was where she would stay. It seemed like only moments later she was being shaken awake. "Aria. Honey, you fell asleep."

Aria slowly opened her eyes to look at Ezra, "What time is it?"

"It's almost five." He sat down next to her as she carefully pulled herself to a sitting position.

"Where have you been for two hours?" She rubbed her eyes as she woke up fully, thankful she was no longer dizzy.

Ezra stroked Aria's cheek and brushed a lock of hair from her face, "I've been looking for you."

"Why? So you could yell at me again?" Aria was still a little hurt from their encounter earlier.

He shook his head, "No. I wanted to apologize. I was just surprised about Berkeley and I was hurt by the possibility of you keeping secrets from me. We've always been honest with each other and I guess I felt a little betrayed. I know this is no excuse, but I'm just a bundle of emotion this week and I say stupid shit."

Aria sighed, "Mr. Fitz, you have a handprint on your face."

"Yeah, I do." He ran his fingers over the welt, "I was a real jerk and my fiancé slapped me."

She smiled, "Looks like it hurts. Let me help." Aria leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

He smiled, "It's miracle. I'm healed." He kissed Aria softly, "I'm so sorry Aria. Will you forgive me?"

"Of course. I was just upset that you called me immature."

He sighed, "I know. I didn't mean to say that. You are very mature for your age. Hell, you're very mature in general."

"I'm not going to Berkeley." Aria changed the subject.

Ezra put his arm around her, "We can discuss this. If you want to go to Berkeley, I'll stand behind you. Whatever you decide, I will support and be there every step of the way."

"I don't know. I'm not cut out for California either, but it's also the number one English program in the country. It would only be for a few years if I did go there. I'm just not sure." Aria sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder.

He kissed her temple, "It's ok. You don't have to make a decision today. Just put it on the back burner until Monday and we can decide then."

"Sounds good. When do we have to meet the Pastor?" Aria glanced at the clock.

He stood and pulled her to her feet, "We probably should be leaving. We'll grab dinner on the way. We're supposed to meet him at 6:30 to have our counseling session. I figure that will give us forty five minutes to eat and half an hour to get there, with a little extra time to play with."

"Ok." Aria went to her bag and pulled out three envelopes. She handed them to Ezra, "Here are the invitations for your mom, Jason, and Connor."

He smiled, "Great." He slid them into his bag, which he shouldered, and led Aria out of the apartment.

They stopped at a small diner halfway to the church and enjoyed burgers and fries while listening to old country western music. Aria went into the bathroom and was glad she did because her face was a mess from crying. She grabbed a paper towel, wiped off her remaining makeup, and decided she didn't have time to reapply her makeup. She came back out as Ezra was paying the bill, "Why didn't you tell me my makeup was all over?"

"Because you are more beautiful without it. I would have pointed it out before you met my mother." He took Aria by the hand and they exited the restaurant together.

She half-smiled and replied with a hint of sarcasm, "Gee, thanks so much."

They arrived at the end of the sermon and waited quietly in the back for the congregation to break up. Once the crowd had filed out, Ezra approached his mother, who had been waiting for them to arrive, "Mom. I'd like you to meet Aria. Aria, this is my mom Sheila."

"Oh Sweetheart, it is so lovely to meet you." Sheila wrapped Aria in a big hug, "I've known about you for so long it's so good to finally meet you." Aria was stunned that he had told his mother, but she quickly added, "Well I didn't know about you specifically, but I could sense he had someone that was making him happy."

Aria smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Fitz."

"Please call me Sheila. You are the only daughter I'm getting after all." The older woman winked at her future daughter-in-law and Aria couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

Ezra hugged his mother quickly, "Well I'm sorry for the short introduction, but Pastor Harris is expecting us."

"Oh, of course. Well I guess I will see you on Saturday then. Ezra, will you walk me out?" She extended her arm and Ezra took it, promising Aria he would be right back.

Aria sat down on the front pew, surveying the room. It was quaint and she always envisioned getting married in a place like this. The stained glass windows were older, but still held strong and there wasn't a lot of extra details. Aria jumped when a man's voice interrupted her thoughts, "Hello there miss. Can I help you?"

She stood and extended her hand, "Pastor Harris, I'm Aria Montgomery. My fiancé and I have a meeting with you."

"Miss Montgomery, it's a pleasure to meet you." He shook her hand and looked around, "Where is Ezra?"

She motioned toward the door, "He was just walking his mother to her car. I have a feeling she wanted a word with him."

"Of course. Well, why don't I start with you then. Let's go into my office. I'm just going to have a chat with you, ask you some questions about your life and your relationship, and about your hopes for the future. I'll do the same with him and then speak with you both together. Follow me please." Pastor Harris led Aria through a door at the front of the room and down a short hallway to his office. They were in there for a half an hour when she returned to find Ezra waiting patiently.

She smiled and pointed toward the door, "Your turn. He wants to speak with you then he'll send you out here to get me so we can all talk."

Ezra was only in the office half the time as Aria when he returned for her, "Ready?"

"Sure."

The pastor gave them a speech about life in general, children and making sure they were ready for them, and a few other things before he was satisfied, "I can tell you are both in love. It's apparent on your faces and with your body language. You are very in-tune with each other. I just want you to take the next few days to think things over and make sure you are both ready for this commitment. I have married couples that have been living together happily for years, only to have their marriage fail because they lacked the understanding that when you get married, you are taking on an entirely new identity, and some people can't handle the transition." He talked for a few more minutes before excusing them, "I will see you Friday at 4:30 for rehearsal, right?"

"Yes. Thank you so much Pastor Harris." They both shook his hand and exited the church, happy to be one step closer to the wedding.

It had started to sprinkle by the time they returned to Ezra's apartment and they sat at the table in his apartment, sipping on coffee, "Well that went well. I feel more certain now that I want to marry you than I was before and I was a hundred percent certain before."

She smiled but there were so many things they still hadn't discussed. With her wedding only days away, there was one in particular that she wanted and answer to, "Can I ask you something? It's not an easy question, or one that really has any impact on the future, but it's one I'd like an answer to, if you don't mind."

"Aria, you can ask me anything. I have nothing to hide from you." Ezra replied sweetly.

She took a deep breath, "Were there other girls before me?"

He wasn't sure what she was looking for, "We've gone over this before. I have girlfriends before. I was intimate with someone before you. But you know all this so I'm not sure what you are asking."

"I mean have you ever been this serious about a girl?" Aria clarified.

"No," he replied in an instant, "you are the only woman I have ever even considered marrying, unless you count Gail Thomas, a girl I knew I'd be with forever. That is until she broke my fishing pole in the first grade. It just wasn't meant to be. But in all seriousness, you are the only woman I have ever loved. Those other girls meant nothing compared to what you mean to me."

She seemed to be satisfied with his answer, but continued her questions, "So you've really only 'been with' one girl?"

"Yes. Once. I had gotten drunk after my friend George's funeral and she had been a friend to me for so many years, harboring feelings for me that I was oblivious to. I don't remember what happened that night, but I woke up in her house and we were in bed together. I didn't stay to talk to her. I just hurried out the door. I may not have done anything with her, but after that I promised myself that when I had sex, it would only be with the right person." Ezra went into a little more detail than Aria was prepared for.

She composed herself quickly though, pushing her hurt feelings aside, knowing he needed to know the truth about her past as well, "I have to tell you something, and you may not like it." When he didn't respond she continued, "I've been with guys before. I've never had sex, but I've done pretty much everything but that. I guess, foreplay is a good word to describe it. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before."

"Aria, I am not at all upset by that. You are a young girl. I would have been a fool to think that I was the first guy you kissed or did any of that stuff with, and I'm not upset we haven't gone that far yet. I love you, and as much as I might really want you sometimes, I would never want you to do something you didn't want to do. So that being said, I'm going to say something and I don't want you to look any more into it than it's just something I have to say. If you aren't 100% ready to marry me, I am okay waiting. I'd wait for you forever. Aria I want to marry you and start are lives together, but only if you are sure that's what you want. I know you want to marry me, but if this is all too fast, it's ok." Ezra went through his speech quickly so he didn't lose his never to say what he needed to say. He went to reach for her hand.

She pushed his hand away from her, "What are you saying?"

"That I just want you to be certain of this." Ezra didn't quite understand the sudden anger in her voice.

Aria jumped off the couch and began to pace around the living room, venting the whole time, "Everyone is so worried about me. We just want you to know what you're getting yourself into. You don't have to do this, he'll understand. You're so young. What if he turns out like your father and has an affair. I was fine. You asked me to marry you and I was fine. Then everyone, including my friends, the principal, my family, and even you had to put all these ideas and negative thoughts in my head. I understand them, but why would you say these things to me unless you weren't sure about marrying me either. I have loved you since day one, and until recently I wasn't sure we could be together through everything. But one day everything seemed to fall into place and it was perfect for a day. One day when I didn't have to worry. But then the world decided to pull the rug out from under me, 'Oh look, there's Aria and she looks happy. Everyone needs to tell her she's making a mistake. We can't let her be happy you know," Aria continued spouting off, mainly to herself but it was a lot that she needed to get off of her chest.

When it seemed like she was running out of steam, Ezra stepped in, "Aria. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to talk you out of it, I just want to…"

"I just want to be sure you are sure," she mocked. "You don't think I'm sure. Ezra I have given up a lot just to be with you. I've sacrificed where normal girls wouldn't have bothered. I'm not complaining. It was my choice. I'm just saying that you, of all people, shouldn't be asking me if I'm sure. You should be able to look into my eyes and see that I have always been sure. Just like I can look in your eyes and see in this moment, that you aren't ready." With that, Aria grabbed her purse and ran out into the rain.

She could hear Ezra shouting behind her, but she couldn't turn around and face him. She jumped in her car, turned the ignition, and slammed the car into reverse. She sped out of the parking lot and headed for the highway. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she needed to get away. Away from Rosewood and everyone in it. She kept driving until the car was almost on 'E' and finally pulled off the highway to find a gas station.

After filling the car and using the bathroom, Aria decided she didn't want her parents to worry. She sent her mother a text message, 'I need a day away by myself to think. I promise you I am fine. I will let you know when I will be home. Please don't be mad. Love you.' She then called Emily because she needed to talk to someone,

"Hey Em."

'Where are you?'

"I'm in… God I don't know where I am."

'What's going on?'

"I ran away."

'Aria , are you ok? Do you need me to come get you?'

"No. I need to be away for a while."

'What about Saturday? You are supposed to get married.'

"So that's what I'm supposed to do?"

'What happened Aria?'

"I just got so fed up with everyone saying that I should be certain about marrying Ezra. It's not like I just met him."

'Aria, listen, I was just trying to let you know I was there for you and that you did have a place to stay if you wanted. I never thought for a second you'd want to stay with me instead of Fitz, but I was just trying to be a good friend and I offered.'

"I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about my parents. I'm talking about him."

'What did he say?'

"I can't talk about it right now. Just please let everyone know I'm safe and I will see you soon."

'Ok Aria.'

"And Em, weighing on the side of optimism, will you remind Ezra they need to get their tuxedos tomorrow?"

'Sure. I'll take care of it. We love you, you know.'

"I love you guys too."

Aria hung up the phone and turned the device completely off. She didn't want to be a part of that world tonight. She jumped back on the highway and continued driving until she found a sign for a motel that had vacancy. She didn't have any clothes or anything with her. She even had left her coat at Ezra's in her hurry to get away. Luckily for her, a gentle looking woman at the front desk took pity on her and provided her with a toothbrush, a comb, and an old t-shirt to sleep in. She drove to the parking spot in front of her room, quickly running to the inside to avoid getting any more rain-soaked. She turned the television on for some white noise and ran a hot shower. Once she was warm, she dried herself off and ran the plastic comb through her hair. Deciding nothing was getting accomplished by watching mindless reruns, she flipped the television off and buried herself under the covers, letting sleep overtake her.

Thanks everyone for reading! Please review! Will update as soon as I can!