A/N: Warning: M Rated fluff ahead!
Chapter 13
Wrapped In Your Arms, I'm Home (Part 2)
"You said I should just come in…" Ezra stood in the doorway nervously, his hand still on the door.
Aria popped up off her stool and rushed over to him. He chuckled as he hugged her and then kissed her chastely.
"Wow, Fitz. You clean up nice," Hanna said. She followed it up with a whistle of approval. He had on a black suit and a navy blue vest over a black dress shirt.
"Color coordination?" Spencer asked.
Aria pulled Ezra over to the table. He held a small envelope in his hand. He settled it down near the gifts that sat out on the table. She swung her legs up into his lap.
"I missed you," she said softly.
"I missed you too," he whispered back. He leaned over and kissed her.
"Alright, stop before I puke," Adriana insisted.
Everyone in the room chuckled. Spencer walked over to the fridge and opened it up. She pulled a quarter-sheet cake out and carried it over to the island. "Cake, anyone?"
"Marble, right?" Aria asked.
"Marble with butter cream frosting," Spencer confirmed. "Corner piece?"
"Yes please."
Spencer looked up at Ezra. "Ezra? Cake?" He nodded.
Spencer passed Aria a slice of cake on a clean plate and a clean fork.
"So are you going to tell me where you're whisking me away to?" Aria asked.
Ezra shook his head, smirking at her. "You're going to know soon enough. That should be enough."
Aria pouted, though she gave up defeat as he pushed a forkful of icing into her mouth. She scowled at him as she licked the icing off the prongs.
They all ate their cake while chatting mindlessly about different things. Eventually, they had all finished their cake, and Aria was antsy to find out what everyone had gotten her. She dove for the envelope Ezra had brought with him, only to have Adriana snatch it off the table.
"Hey!" She whined. "Last present," she insisted. Ezra chuckled in his seat.
Aria scowled at her and then grabbed one of the wrapped presents. It was a moderately sized box in white wrapping paper that had party hats and 'happy birthday' scrawled on it in fun scribbles.
"I bought that," Hanna said. "If you hate it, I'll give you the difference." Aria nodded as she pulled the wrapping paper off. Once she had it off, she pulled the cover off the box.
"Hey!" She cheered. "it's the Chanel sunglasses I wanted!"
Hanna smiled at her. "Don't ask how much I had to give the sales guy to hide them when you went into the store today."
"You did pay for those, right Han?" Spencer asked.
Hanna glared at her. "Of course I did!"
"My present next," Emily said cheerfully. She passed a large, flat box across the table. Aria took it and began tearing off the paper. When she had it off, she furrowed her brow. "A pizza box. Em, you got me pizza?" She pulled the lid open; the box had been unused. Inside rested what looked to be a finished scrapbook. Aria pulled it out and opened the first page. It was a photo of she and Alison from a few days before Alison had died.
"Aw, Em, this is so sweet," Aria murmured. She ran her fingers down the photo and gulped down a knot threatening to form in her throat. She got up out of her seat and walked around the table and hugged Emily tightly. Emily hugged her back.
"We all had photos," Emily insisted. "And my mom helped me. The last few pages probably aren't great. I finished them after she moved by my dad."
Aria shook her head as she pulled away from her. "It means everything, Em."
Spencer passed her a box when Aria had returned to her seat, which she had conveniently moved over a few inches so that she was closer to Ezra. He wrapped his arm around her, resting his hand on the base of her back as she opened Spencer's gift.
"Aww, a Hollis beanie!" Aria giggled as she pulled the small hat out of the box. As she did, a chain slid out of the inside of it. She picked it up; a locket was on it. The front of it was engraved with best friends. Aria looked up at Spencer and then opened up the locket. On one side was a photo of all the girls with Alison, and the other side was just a photo of the four of them. "Spencer!"
Spencer shrugged. "If it sucks-" "It doesn't suck!" Aria insisted. "I'm going to wear it tonight. Put it on for me?"
Spencer nodded. She walked over to Aria and took the locket from her. She opened the clasp and then placed it around Aria's neck and re-clasped it. Aria looked down at it happily. Then she looked up at Ezra. "Present?"
He looked over at Adriana.
She handed over a small bag. "Open this first." "Who's this from?" Aria asked as she looked back and forth between them. "Me," Adriana said. Aria pulled out several pieces of tissue paper and settled them aside. Inside was a necklace with sisters hanging from it. Aria smiled at it.
"Someday soon," Adriana said. Aria nodded, letting Ezra look it as she got up and walked over to Adriana. She hugged her.
"It's beautiful. Thank you." "One more," Hanna said as she picked up a bag up from the floor. She passed it to Aria.
Aria pulled out more tissue paper and tossed it gleefully up into the air. Everyone chuckled at her.
She reached into the box and pulled out a small box. She removed the cover and moved around the layer of cotton inside of it until she found what was inside. She pulled it out. It was a charm bracelet. Among the different charms dangled a guitar, the letters to her first name, an E, F, H, and a S. There was also a charm that said In loving memory, a charm with a mockingbird, a charm with a pink heart on it, and a charm with a piano on it, among others.
Aria slipped it onto her wrist. She reached back into the bag and pulled something out wrapped up in tissue paper. She pulled off the tissue paper to reveal a photo of all four of the girls with Alison. They in Alison's back yard, the day she had been killed. She was in the middle as usual, and looked incredibly tan next to them. Aria was on her left with Hanna next to her on the end, while Emily was on Ali's other side and Spencer stood next to her.
"Its from all of us," Spencer said. "I found it on an old memory card the other day."
Aria hugged each of her friends individually and thanked them all again before returning to her seat, and asking Adriana to put on the necklace she'd gotten for her as well; she wanted to wear both. Once she had it clasped, Aria put all of her presents away except for the scrapbook. Everyone gathered around to look at the pictures as she flipped through the pages.
"She's the girl who went missing two years ago, right?" Adriana asked as she stared at a photo of Aria and Alison.
Aria nodded, staring at a photo of she, Spencer, and Emily from middle school. They had been painting a set for the spring play, and Aria was covered in paint from a spill she'd had earlier that day.
"This is cute," Ezra chuckled.
"We were all friends with her," Aria explained. "She kind of brought us all together."
She turned the page and Hanna cringed. "Freshman semi-formal, oh my gosh. Em, how could you put that picture in there?"
Aria chuckled, though she couldn't help but cringe as well. Her pink streak was quite bright, and matched well with the hot pink dress she'd worn. It had been something Ella had picked out.
"Pink hair?" Ezra said. "How did I not know about this?"
Aria shrugged, looking up at him. "It's a time I try not to think of too much?"
Aria stood and walked over to her bags from the mall and pulled out a black clutch. She walked back over to the table and dug out the necessary things she would need for the night; at least the things she knew she needed. She stuffed them into the clutch.
Adriana looked down at her watch. "You should open that last present of yours. You two have to get going pretty quickly."
Aria looked up at the envelope resting on the table. She'd completely forgotten about it when she had opened the gift from all the girls. Ezra picked it up and handed it to her. She looked at him curiously for a moment before ripping open the seal of the envelope. She pulled out the tickets. Her jaw dropped. "W-we're going to see To Kill A Mockingbird?"
Ezra nodded. He looked over at the time on the microwave. "And Dre is right. We're going to miss the train if we don't go."
Aria pushed up out of her seat and grabbed her shoes from the pile of bags on the floor. She quickly put them on and then grabbed her sweater from the bags and removed the tags before removing the bathrobe and pulling on the sweater as well. Ezra stared at her for a long moment, taking in the sight of her in the dress.
"What?" She asked. "Do I look bad?" Ezra shook his head, forcing a large gulp down his throat. "Hardly."
"Toss me your keys," Spencer ordered. "I'll get your car and your things back to your place."
Aria reached into her clutch and pulled out her keys. She tossed them over to Adriana. "My purse is over there, too." "Don't worry," Spencer insisted. "I'll get it."
Aria and Ezra proceeded to share goodbyes with everyone and then headed out of Spencer's house. Ezra gripped Aria's forearm with a moderate tightness as they walked across the gravel driveway so that she didn't fall, and walked her around the car. He opened the door for her and then closed it once she'd gotten inside, and then walked around the car and got into the driver's seat.
He started up the car and then pulled out of the driveway and they headed off towards the train station.
"So how was your day?" Aria asked curiously.
Ezra shrugged, slipping his fingers between hers as they drove. "Slept late, got the tickets and finished planning the rest of the night." "So we are having dinner after this?" Aria asked.
Ezra looked over at her and smirked. "You're just going to have to wait and see."
"Okay, I demand dinner after this," Aria said.
Ezra just laughed as they continued driving.
They pulled into the train station a few moments later. Ezra parked and then they both got out of the car and headed into the station, hand in hand. Ezra purchased two tickets for the next train to Philadelphia and they made a mad dash across the station. A few minutes later, they were settled inside one of the train cars, waiting for it to take off.
"Did you have fun with your friends today?" Ezra asked her.
Aria nodded, brushing her thumb over the back of his hand in slow circles. "I did. They were great. I'm glad Adriana was with us." Conversation dwindled as the train raced towards Philadelphia, and they filled up the silence by making up for the lack of time they'd had together in the previous twenty-four hours by engaging in a war of tonsil hockey. They only broke apart when the train came to a stop and announced they were at the station in Philadelphia.
Once they were out of the train and then out of the station, Ezra hailed a cab for them and they headed towards the playhouse. Yet again the ride was silent, only filled up by the static and music that came from the radio, and the occasional kiss shared between them.
They arrived at the playhouse with little more than ten minutes to show time, and headed straight for their seats. The room was already quite full, and a few Hollis students spotted Ezra and waved to him as they took their seats. Regardless, he was only watching the gleeful look on Aria's face when the lights finally dimmed down, noting the start of the show….
-
I really wanna remember this night
You know my words never came out right
-
Two hours later, Ezra stood outside of the women's bathroom, bouncing his leg impatiently. The show had ended at nine fourty, and the last train was set to leave at nine fifty-five. If they wanted to make it, they'd have to run the eight blocks to the station. The luck of catching a cab seemed unlikely.
As he stood there, his phone rang in his pocket.
"I promise we are never going down
We'll never go, we'll never go
We will never go down-"
Ezra pulled his phone out of his pocket. He opened the new text message. It revealed a mess of rose petals covering most of the sitting room floor, along with candles everywhere, that had yet to be lit.
"Lighting candles now. Good?" -Hardy
Ezra typed out an affirmative reply and then stuffed his phone into his pocket as Aria came out of the bathroom. She had her shoes in her hands.
"Never wearing these again," she said as she took Ezra's hand.
"Good, because we're going to have to rush to catch that train."
They walked out of the playhouse and were met with an onslaught of gusting winds and rain. Aria shuddered; her sweater didn't do much to keep her warm.
Ezra slipped his suit jacket off and took her shoes so that she could slip her arms into it before he grabbed her hand, and the two of them made a run for it. Aria insisted on ducking into a wallgreens on the next block, where she ran into the first aisle and snatched a pair of boot slippers and tossed a ten dollar bill on the counter along with the price tag. Once the cashier had rung the up, she dashed back out of store. The slippers didn't actually do much in the ways of stopping her feet from getting wet, but they helped with the cobblestones and kept her from stepping on anything sharp.
As they ran into the train station a few minutes later, Ezra had to grab Aria by both arms to keep her from falling on her butt. She pulled off the boots and walked over to a trash and wrung them out as best she could before Ezra walked over to her and pulled her through the double doors that led out to the trains. They just barely made it to the train as the conductor was getting ready close the doors.
Ezra was persistent though. He pounded on the doors and begged that they be let in. The conductor only gave them an exasperated look before letting them on. They took the first available seats, and Aria sat breathlessly in Ezra's lap as she shivered from the cold of the rain. He brushed her wet hair out of her face and nuzzled her neck.
"I really hope that rain hasn't hit Rosewood yet," she murmured as they sat there. Ezra ran his hands up and down her legs and back, doing his best to warm her, though it wasn't very effective. His clothes were pretty much as soaked through as Aria's.
"Did you enjoy the play?" He asked her.
Aria nodded, brushing her fingers through his soaked hair. All product washed out, the curls were going mad, causing his hair to hang all over the place. "It was great. I'm glad we went."
When they reached the Rosewood station, most of the lights were off. They walked through the building and headed out towards the parking structure. The rain wasn't as bad, and they didn't have to walk nearly as far to get to Ezra's car.
Once they were inside of it and he had the car started, he turned on the heat full blast. The drive was quiet as their teeth chattered from their cold, wet clothes. It seemed they were only finally warming up, when he pulled up into the parking space outside their apartment. Aria released her seatbelt as she looked up at one of the windows outside of the apartment. "Someone left a light on?" Ezra kept his face emotionless as they both got out of the car. They both charged up to the door, and he flipped hastily through his keys until he found the right one. He unlocked the door and then pushed it open and gently pushed Aria in the small apartment in front of him. She ran her hands up and down her upper arms as she looked around.
Candles were strewn everywhere, lit and flickering back and forth, leading from the doorway all the way around the sitting room and towards the bedroom.
"Ezra…" He shut the door behind him and kicked his shoes off. "We can enjoy this in a few minutes. Shower?" Aria nodded, pulling his coat and her sweater off at the same time. They both walked towards the bathroom. By the time they were actually standing inside the bathroom and the shower was running, Ezra had already stripped completely. Aria was still fussing with the pins in her hair and still had her dress on.
Ezra pulled the zipper on her dress down and kissed her left shoulder as she pulled several more pins out of her hair.
"Stop," he told her softly. "I'll get the pins. You get out of these clothes before you catch your death."
Aria sighed and set a handful of bobby pins on the counter before she pulled her dress off her shoulders and let it slump to the ground. She then reached behind herself and unclasped the bra and then let that fall as well. She finally pushed her panties and tights off her hips as Ezra was unclasping both of her necklaces.
"How'd you do that so fast," she asked, looking at him in the mirror. She pulled her bracelet off and sat it down on the vanity as Ezra placed the necklaces there.
"Because I can see all of them," he told her. He pushed her gently towards the shower, and followed after her. Once they were under the spray, Aria snuggled against him and rested her head against his chest. Neither of them necessarily needed to actually wash up, so instead they stood under the spray of the water for a while.
When Ezra was warm enough, he stepped out of the shower and went in search of pajamas for the both of them. Aria waited until he had returned with clothes for her to get out. He passed off used towel to her and then stepped out of the bathroom. Aria dried herself off and then pulled on the booty shorts that he'd brought in for her. They were black and lacy. He had also brought her one of his shirts. From what she could tell, it was a fake vintage shirt for a baseball team.
She opened up the door and walked out into the sitting room. Ezra was settling plates on the coffee table for them. Aria spotted her dress draped over the back of one of the chairs at the table.
She walked over to the couch and sat down next to him. Ezra handed her a plate. It was filled with egg rolls and dirty rice from their favorite Chinese restaurant. Aria picked up an egg roll and bit into it. She smiled as she chewed it.
"This is good. Thank you."
He smiled at her as he reached a hand up to brush her hair out of her face. He pushed it behind her ear. "I'm glad you had a good day," he told her.
Aria finished her egg rolls and then ate some of her rice before she ultimately set her plate aside. Ezra did as well and then stood and walked into the bedroom. He returned a few moments later with a small wrapped box and sat down next to Aria. He handed it to her.
She looked up at him, confused. "I thought- I thought the play…" "It was supposed to be," he confessed. "But somehow it just felt cheep, taking free tickets from Hardy. After I thought about it, it occurred to me that you might like this more." Aria looked down at the box and unwrapped it. Her stomach churned nervously. Adriana said there wouldn't be a proposal, so what exactly had he gotten her?
She pulled the last of the wrapping paper off, and then opened the small jewelry box. Inside the small hole that held it in place, rested a ring. It was silver and plain. Aria looked up at him with her mouth slightly agape.
"Ezra…" He shook his head, pulling the ring from the confines of the small box. "It's not a proposal," he promised. "It's a promise, that regardless of what happens, I'm never going to leave you, or make you feel that you don't have me to reach out to. I know all of this has been tough for you these last few weeks, and I want you to know that you're not alone. I'm always here." Aria's features softened, and she smiled at him. She let him slip the ring on her middle finger and then she climbed into his lap and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pushed his tongue into her mouth, brushing his tongue over her mouth teasingly.
After a few minutes, they parted, and Aria moved off of his lap, though only so she could lie down. She rested her head on his legs, and they sat in silence for a while, enjoying the ambiance of the room. Ezra brushed his fingers gently through her hair.
"Are you tired?" He asked after a while.
Aria pushed herself up off the couch. "No, but I wouldn't mind moving to the bedroom." Ezra nodded, pushing her hair out of her face again. "I'll get this cleaned up and then meet you in there." He kissed her forehead and then pushed up off the couch and grabbed the plates off the coffee table and walked them into the kitchen while Aria went into the bedroom.
Thanks to hardwood flooring, he was able to sweep up most of the flower petals, though he left them in a bowl of water incase Aria wanted to keep one and have it pressed. He only bothered blowing out the candles that were bigger than the hundred or so tiny inch-thick ones scattered about the room. More than half of them had already died from the paraffin wax melting and leaving nothing to hold a flame. The few that were still were still flickering were struggling at best to stay lit.
He grabbed just one, and carried it into the bedroom with him, where Aria was fussing with her iPod while she hovered in front of its base. He walked around to his side of the bed and settled the candle there.
"Having an issue?" He asked.
Aria shrugged. "Just looking for a song…Found it! Finally!" She clicked on it and then settled it on her base and set the volume to a moderate volume so that it wasn't loud, but not too soft to be heard either.
Ezra furrowed his brow at her as the song played.
"Is this the whole picture?
Or is it just the start?
Is this the way you love me?
You're capturing my heart…"
"Mood music?" He asked.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Mood lighting," she asked, referring to the candle.
He chuckled as she slipped into the blankets next to him and pulled her over so that she was resting in the middle of the bed next to him. They greeted each other with an open-mouthed kiss. Ezra bit down gently on Aria's bottom lip as he slipped his hand under the shirt she was wearing and brushed his fingers across her back. Aria cupped her hand around his cheek and pressed her body up against his, wrapping one of her legs over his.
Ezra hungrily pushed her shirt up her body until he had it all the way up to under arms. Aria detached her lips from his long enough to lift her arms and roll onto him, straddling his hips. She pulled him up as the shirt was tossed aside, and pulled the t-shirt he was wearing off of him as well.
Ezra rolled them back over and pinned Aria down against the bed with a gentle grip on her wrists as his eyes took in every inch of her skin. Each time they had made love before, he had taken the time after to notice how beautiful she was, but never like this.
Suddenly a vulnerability fired up inside Aria and she gulped, feeling like she was under a microscope. She gulped as she watched him. After a few minutes, Ezra looked up at her and came up closer to her face, brushing his pelvis against hers. "Gorgeous."
He slipped his tongue into her mouth as he kissed her, only break away a few moments later. He trailed kisses down her neck to the valley between her breasts, and even further down nibbling near her navel as he reached it. He finally released her arms as he brought his hands down to her hips. His fingers curled inside of the waistband of her panties, and he gently pulled them down. He pushed up onto his knees as Aria pulled her waist up, and then her legs. Ezra tossed them carelessly over his shoulder after they were removed from her body and laid back down on the bed. Aria shuddered. They had never done this before.
He gripped her hips and rubbed gentle circles around them as he placed kisses along her pelvic bone. He trailed them down to her vaginal lips and then curiously slipped his tongue inside, brushing it up against Aria's clitoris.
She convulsed and gripped the bed sheets in both of her hands as she let out a quick, heavy breath.
"Something wrong," Ezra teased huskily as he looked up at her.
Aria looked down at him. "N-no. Do it again."
He smiled and leaned his head back down. He pushed his tongue back into her and this time took her clitoris into his mouth and sucked on it gently.
Aria screamed, rising her hips up off the bed against him. Ezra moved one of his hands off her hips and moved it down under him. He slipped two fingers inside of her and thrust them upwards, causing Aria to yelp out a slew of curse words. Within minutes, her hands were gripping the back of his head as she struggled to meet the thrusts of his fingers.
Ezra could tell she was getting close, so he removed his fingers from inside of her and moved up off the bed to remove his pants and boxers.
Not willing to wait, Aria moved one of her hands down to her folds and finished the job.
Ezra stared at her with a slightly insulted look as his clothes hit the floor. "That wasn't very fair."
Aria looked up at him as her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. "Not very fair?"
He shook his head.
Aria yanked him down onto the bed and made sure he was flat on his back with his own arms pinned down. "I'll show you not very fair." She leaned down and kissed him before leading her own trail of kisses down his chest and stomach until she reached his semi-erect penis. She wrapped her hand around it and began to stroke it as she leaned down and brushed her tongue over the tip. Ezra grunted. A moment later, she took his entire length into her mouth and then bobbed her head up and down as she brushed her tongue around him. She used her hand to massage his balls, while her other hand was between her folds, stroking her clitoris.
"Fuck, Aria!" Watching her suck on him while she fingered herself was too much for him to handle. Once he was fully engorged, he pulled her head up off of him and grabbed a condom from the nightstand drawer and applied it. He yanked her up to him and grabbed her hips, centering her over him.
They stared at each other for more than a minute, unmoving as they sat there. Aria reached a hand up and brushed it down his cheek. She rested her head against his as she finally lowered down onto him. They both exhaled shaky breaths and then Ezra moved one hand to her head and the other to the base of her back as he turned them over into missionary. He thrust languidly in and out of her as she tangled her legs within his and rubbed her hands up and down his back while Ezra kept his hands on her hips.
Their lovemaking was slow, and, probably for the first time, unrushed. Eventually, Aria tangled her fingers into Ezra's hair, and argued for dominance with his tongue as he slowly started to pick up speed. Aria squirmed beneath him, and he could feel her tightening around him. She reached her climax before he did, digging her fingers into his scalp as her walls clamed down on him and pulled him back inside of her. That was enough for him, and he thrust into her several more times before he reached his own orgasm.
Once Aria had her bearings, he slowly removed himself from her and grabbed a tissue off the nightstand. He wrapped the used condom in it and then tossed it into the small trash under the bedside table and blew out the candle.
He settled back on the bed just as Aria was turning off her iPod base. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his face in the side of her neck, placing gentle kisses along her jaw line and down to her collar bone.
"I love you, Aria. More than anything else in this world."
Aria looked over her shoulder at him. Their eyes told more to each other than even words could convey. She pulled his lips down to hers and kissed him quickly.
"And I love you, Ezra Fitz. More than I'll ever love anything else, ever."