Chapter Twenty-Six
All's Well That Ends Well

Ezra

It felt surreal as Aria and I pulled off the familiar exit on the highway. With everything that had happened this year, it almost felt too good to be true. We were finally here. In Rosewood. And we were getting married in two months. There had been a time not so long ago when it seemed like this wasn't going to happen at all.

Aria reached over and put her hand on my shoulder.

"You look like you're deep in thought," she said. "Care to share?"

I sighed. "I keep trying to convince myself that we're actually here. That I'm not going to wake up and be back in that hospital begging and pleading with you to wake up."

"I'd pinch you to prove that you're awake, but I would prefer not to get into a car accident," she teased.

I chuckled a little. "I appreciate that."

"Do you think you might crack a smile at some point? You do remember we're here to get married, right? You look like you're going to a funeral."

I tried to smile, but it didn't really work.

Aria sighed. "Look, Ezra, I can't even begin to imagine what you went through for those couple of weeks. I know it had to be hell on earth. And as much as I wish I could, I know there's nothing I can say or do to take the memory of that time away from you. But it's over now. I'm here. I'm awake. And I'm not permanently brain-damaged. Or maybe I am. The jury's still out on that."

That did make me smile.

She chuckled. "Seriously, though. This is supposed to be a happy time. We're supposed to be excited about doing last-minute wedding planning and dreading what our attendants are planning for our bachelor and bachelorette parties."

I laughed. "I'm sure I don't even want to know what Wes has up his sleeve."

"See, that's the stuff you should be thinking about right now," Aria said. "Not dwelling on the past. I know it's not easy, but can you at least try?"

I sighed as I pulled into the hotel parking lot. She was right. This was no way to be acting when we were here to do last minute wedding planning and getting married in less than two months. As soon as I parked the car, I turned and kissed her.

"I love you," I told her.

"I love you too," Aria said. "Now, will you promise me you'll try not to act like you're still in my hospital room for the next couple of months?"

I smiled. "I'll try. And if I do start to go back to that place, it's your job to bring me back. Deal?"

"Deal. Okay, let's go get checked in. I need a shower. Bad."

"That makes two of us. God, I hate this drive."

"You know, it's not completely necessary to drive straight through. That was your boneheaded idea. It's not like hotel rooms cost that much."

"You're right," I told her. "When we go back, we'll split it up."

"And here's a thought. You could actually let me drive some of the way," Aria teased. "Do you have any idea how boring it is to sit in the passenger seat for twelve hours?"

I laughed as we got out of the car. We got ourselves checked in to the hotel within no time and then made three trips getting everything out of the car. Unfortunately, being here for two months meant having enough clothes for that time. Yes, we had access to a washing machine at her parents' house, which we would be taking advantage of, but we still needed a fair amount of clothing (especially since we were leaving for Italy the day after the wedding). And we had Aria's wedding dress and accessories in tow too, since those were purchased in Savannah. Thankfully, I was renting a tuxedo here, so we didn't have to worry about two garment bags.

As soon as we got everything into the room and shut the door behind us for the last time, I went to shut the curtains. And Aria walked up behind me and pinched my arm. Hard.

"Ow!" I said as I turned to face her. "What was that for?"

"Now are you convinced this is for real?" she giggled.

"I'm sure the mark that's going to leave will serve as a reminder," I chuckled.

"You are such a wimp. It wasn't that hard."

That did it. Payback was in order. If only because I wanted her to keep laughing and this was guaranteed to accomplish that goal.

"Am I?" I teased, tickling her in the ribs.

"Ezra!" she protested, giggling, as she backed up.

"I'm the wimp? That didn't even hurt," I laughed as I followed her until she fell backwards on the bed.

I sat down next to her and, as soon as I saw she was okay, went for her ribs again. That brought on a new round of giggling, and I couldn't help but laugh with her. The thought crossed my mind that she must have really wanted to see me smile, because normally she would have put an end to this by now. Like most normal girls, she hated when I did this. Though I liked it because I loved hearing her laugh. After a few minutes, though, she did grab my hands to stop me.

"There's the smile I was looking for," she chuckled.

"You must have been really desperate to see a smile if you let that happen," I laughed.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," she said as she sat up.

"Apparently. It's good to hear you laugh though. I'm not the only one who hasn't been smiling enough lately," I told her.

"Because I'm worried about you. I can't smile if I'm spending all my time worried that you're having flashbacks."

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "I'm not going to lie, sometimes I expect to wake up and be back in that hospital room talking to you and begging you to wake up."

"You're not dreaming," she promised me. "This is for real. We're here in Rosewood. My brother is graduating tomorrow. And we're getting married in two months. I know it seemed pretty hopeless for a while, but it's going to take a lot more than duct tape to take me away from you."

"Do you have any idea how much it scares me that that was all it took?"

"I know. Believe me. I know. But we're not going to dwell on it. Or think about it at all. Right now, we are going to take a much-needed shower and try to get some sleep so we're not zombies at Mike's graduation tomorrow."

I smiled. "You definitely won't hear me object to that."

Aria chuckled. "At least it's easy enough to distract you when you get lost in your own head."

Aria's parents seemed like they were having a hard time believing she was really here when we got to their house the next day. They had their own scars and memories from her being in the hospital, just like I did. But she reminded them quickly that today wasn't about her. It was about her brother, who emerged from his bedroom in his graduation gown a few minutes after we got there.

"Aria!" he exclaimed, clearly thrilled to see his sister.

"Hey, Mike," she laughed as he picked her up off the floor in a hug. "A little bird told me someone's graduating today."

"Yeah. Luckily they excused the time I took to come down and see you in the hospital."

"We're not thinking about that today," Aria said. "Today is all about you, not me."

"Right. There's another day coming up in a couple months that's all about you," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I seem to remember something about that," she giggled. "Something about a white dress and actually getting you to wear a tuxedo."

"Under extreme duress," Mike chuckled. "Hey, so do you mind if I bring a date?"

"Mona?"

"I know she's not your favorite person," he said. "And it's your wedding, so if you say you don't want her there, I'll respect that."

"And, whether or not I like it, she's your girlfriend," Aria sighed as she sat down on the couch; I sat down next to her. "So if she wants to come, she's welcome there. As long as she's on good behavior."

Almost on cue, there was a knock at the door.

"Well, you can tell her that yourself," he chuckled.

"Speak of the devil," Aria muttered under her breath as soon as he was out of earshot.

I chuckled and kissed her head, smiling. I loved that she was willing to bury the hatchet with Mona for her brother's sake. There was so much history there and they had every reason to hate each other, but it seemed that Mike was more important to both of them than their grudges against each other.

"Aria," Mona said as she walked into the living room. "You're here."

"Where else would I be?" Aria asked, a little hostile, but still civil. "Mike's graduating today."

"I just…I heard what happened. I didn't know if you'd…well, if you'd be able to make it."

"I appreciate your concern, Mona, but I'm fine," Aria said. "The doctors gave me the all clear last week. So Ezra and I are here for most of the summer. We just got in last night."

"I'm sorry if that was insensitive," Mona said. "I really was worried. I wanted to come down to Georgia with Mike, but I didn't think you'd want me there."

Aria smiled uncomfortably. "I think Mike could have used the moral support. But I appreciate you being respectful and keeping your distance."

Mona sat down in a chair across from the couch and sighed.

"Look, Mike asked me to come to your wedding as his date. And I really would like to be there. But I wanted to ask you first. I understand if you don't want me there," she said.

"You're not planning on sending me any anonymous threats or trying to kill me on my wedding day, right?" Aria asked. I honestly couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or serious.

Mona chuckled. "No, those days are behind me. I want to come as a friend. Or if not a friend, at least someone who cares about you and only wants the best for you now."

Aria sighed. "We'll never be friends, Mona. You had a shot at that, but you blew it when you tortured me and my friends for months. I know we were all trapped together in the dollhouse, but that doesn't erase what you did. Nothing can ever make that go away. It's for my brother's sake that I'm saying you can come. I want to make that very clear. And if you try anything, anything at all, to ruin my wedding day, I will have you bodily removed. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, I understand," Mona told her. "That's more than I was expecting."

"Good. I'll put you down as Mike's plus one, then," Aria said very matter-of-factly. As if she hadn't just laid down some very strict terms for agreeing to it.

I squeezed Aria's shoulder and kissed her head, and Mona smiled. It seemed to be a genuine smile. Like she really was happy for Aria and glad to be invited to the wedding.

"You two really are great together," Mona said. "I mean it. I'm really happy for you guys."

That got an actual smile out of Aria. Clearly that was a remark she didn't mind. She rested her head on my shoulder, but didn't say anything.

"Thanks, Mona," I said quietly as I put an arm around Aria, pulling her close.

"You're welcome, Mr. Fi—Ezra," she said, chuckling. "It's weird calling you by your first name."

Everyone chuckled a little.

"If it makes you feel better, it's weird hearing you call me by my first name," I said.

"Weirder than hearing my friends call you by your first name?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, a little," I told her. "I don't just see them as my former students. They're my fiancée's best friends. I get the feeling they're always going to be a part of my life."

Aria chuckled.

"I hate to break this up, but we need to get going," Byron told us. "We have to be at the school in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, let's go," Mike said, clearly grateful for the escape from this awkward conversation.

Mike and Mona rode with Byron and Ella to the school, and Aria and I took my car. As soon as we got in, I turned to look at her.

"You know, it was amazing how well you handled the situation with Mona," I told her. "I know that wasn't easy for you."

"No, it wasn't," she agreed. "But it was the right thing to do. Mike loves her. You should have seen how devastated he was when he thought she was dead. It was heartbreaking. I'm not going to be the one to come between them, regardless of my history with her. If he says she's turned over a new leaf, I'll believe him unless she does something to make me think otherwise."

"So who exactly are you going to have remove her if she does try anything?"

"I'm pretty sure Toby and Caleb would be only too happy to oblige. Especially Caleb. Regardless of how mad it would make Hanna."

"Well, let's just pray she doesn't try anything," I chuckled. "Otherwise I'm getting visions of a ton of domestic brawls happening at our wedding."

Aria laughed. "No joke. So, you ready to go look your former colleagues in the eye after our public display of affection at last year's graduation?"

I laughed too. That would definitely be interesting. At the time, I hadn't thought I was ever going to have to see any of them again. At least not in a school setting. I'd forgotten about Mike graduating this year.

"Yeah, let's go get this over with," I said as I backed out of the driveway.

What I wasn't expecting when we got there was to see Alison DiLaurentis walking up to the auditorium too. She had no reason to be here that I knew of. But at least one person was happy to see her.

"Ali!" Aria exclaimed, letting go of my hand to run over and greet her friend.

"Aria!" Alison said, giving Aria a big hug. "Oh, my God. You have no idea how good it is to see you alive and well. We were so worried."

"I know," Aria sighed. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Just tell me they got the guys."

"They did," I said as I walked up to them. "They all pled down to lesser charges, but their parole officers haven't even been born yet. And it didn't go to trial, which means Aria didn't have to testify. So it's a win all around."

"Is it true Noel Kahn's uncle was part of it?" Alison asked.

"Yeah, it's true," Aria sighed. "That's how he found out about threatening us as A."

"God, that's scary," Alison said. "Well, at least you're in one piece now. And the rest of the girls are getting here next week to start with the wedding stuff."

"I can't believe it's only two months away," Aria told her. "It seems like just yesterday that we were here for Christmas and setting a date."

"It does," I agreed. "Babe, we should get inside before we lose your parents."

"Yeah, we should. I'll see you soon, Ali," Aria said.

"See you soon, guys," Alison told us.

As we walked inside, I saw a handful of my old colleagues, all of whom did a double take when they saw Aria and I walking inside together, arm in arm. I saw Aria chuckle and roll her eyes a little.

"You have to love small towns," I said when we finally sat down.

"I hate to point this out, Ezra, but I think you'd be pretty memorable even if this wasn't a small town," Ella chuckled. "It's not every day a teacher resigns from teaching at a high school so he can move a thousand miles away to be closer to one of his former students."

"Who he asked to marry him the day after she graduated," Aria giggled. "Face it, babe. You're infamous now."

"As long as the end result is getting to keep you, I don't care what I am," I chuckled, kissing Aria's head.

After the ceremony and about half an hour taking pictures, Byron and Ella took us all to the Rosewood Grill for dinner. I'd thought it would be packed because it was one of three restaurants in this town, but it was surprisingly quiet. People must have elected to go to New Hope or even Philadelphia for dinner tonight. We had a pleasant dinner and Mike thoroughly enjoyed his gifts, most of which were cash and checks. But Aria and I had been a tad more creative. Okay, it had been her idea, but I'd thought it was brilliant and just piggybacked off of it. We'd put together a "survival kit" for his first year of college. Yes, we'd included some cash. But we'd also gotten him a bag of laundry soap tabs and a couple rolls of quarters for doing laundry, a Starbucks gift card and some instant coffee, Tide To Go markers, a small sewing kit, a dry erase board and markers, extra pens and pencils, scissors, a First Aid kit, a small tool set, some daytime and nighttime cold medicine, cough drops, a cheap pair of plastic sandals for the showers, a few oversized towels, some healthy (and not-so-healthy) snack foods, and a box of condoms as a gag. And we'd put it all in a huge laundry basket so he'd have one of those as well.

"So, Mike, the trick is to make those last the whole year," Byron teased as he pulled the condoms out.

Mike turned beet red; everyone else started laughing.

"I'm going to kill you, Aria," he chuckled.

"Hey, you'll be grateful in a couple of months," she laughed. "For most of it, at least. The condoms were Ezra's idea."

"Great, throw me under the bus when I'm trying to stay on your parents' good side," I teased, kissing her head.

"No, actually, that keeps you on our good side," Ella chuckled. "I'm way too young to be a grandmother. Something you two would do well to remember too."

"You don't have to worry about that for at least a few years," Aria told her.

That was true. She'd told me that a while back, and I'd agreed with her. She didn't need to be trying to care for a baby while going to school full-time. Of course, if something unplanned happened, we would roll with the punches, but if all went according to plan, no kids were in our foreseeable future for at least a little while.

It wasn't until we were almost done with the evening that I remembered where we were. In the place where Aria and I had first met. As fortune would have it, I had a few quarters in my pocket. Once everyone else left, I quietly walked over to the jukebox. And surprisingly, the song selection hadn't changed. I played B26 and walked over to sit at the bar.

"Are you going to tell me what in the hell you're doing at some point?" Aria chuckled as she walked up and sat next to me.

"Don't you know where we are?" I asked.

She was silent for a minute. And then, right as "Happiness" started playing, she laughed.

"Oh, my God," she giggled. "I can't believe I didn't realize it."

I turned and gave her a kiss.

"Thank God I decided to have that last beer," I said.

"Thank God I decided to come in here and grab lunch while I was waiting for Mike to get done with lacrosse practice," she said, kissing me again.

As soon as the song was over, I hesitated for a split second before deciding to re-create the end of our first "date." Maybe it was ridiculous and over-the-top. Possibly even dumb and impulsive. But after everything we'd been through this year, a little bit of impulsiveness was in order as far I was concerned. We'd earned it.

"Come with me," I said, grabbing her hand.

She laughed. "Really? Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious," I chuckled. "Come on."

She giggled as she let me lead her into the bathroom. As luck would have it, no one else was there. And I found a broom that someone had left in the hall and used the handle to block the door from the inside so no one would come in. Then I picked her up and sat her on the counter.

"You're insane," Aria laughed.

"Possibly certifiable," I teased.

She giggled again and kissed me, winding her legs around my waist. As our kisses deepened and continued, I realized there was a marked difference between this time and the first time. This time, there was no hesitation. Neither of us stopping for a second every couple of minutes to think about how insane this was. This time, it was just two people who loved each other more than anything else in the world reminiscing about how they met. And after about twenty minutes, I pulled back for a second to look at her.

"I love you," I said quietly.

"I love you too," she said, giving me another kiss.

"Ready to get out of here?" I asked. Being honest, this was getting to the point where we (or at least I) needed to get out of here and take the activities back to our hotel room.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "Let's go."

As we were lying in bed, completely spent but happier than we'd been in a long time, a couple of hours later, Aria was the one to break the comfortable silence.

"I just realized something," she said. "We haven't talked about what we want to do for a reading during our wedding ceremony."

She was right; we hadn't. And it was kind of an important subject.

"I assume you're bringing this up because you have a thought about it?" I prodded.

"Actually, I was hoping you did," she said. "I can't think of who I would want to do it. Literally all of our friends are involved in the wedding in some capacity. So I can't think of anyone we could ask to do it."

"Well, you could always ask Mona," I teased.

She chuckled. "I think I'll pass."

And then inspiration hit me.

"What if we have our attendants do it?" I asked. "So they're actually involved in the ceremony instead of just standing there like statues?"

"That's different," she said slowly.

"You hate it," I chuckled.

"No, actually. I love it," she said. "So what are we going to have them read?"

"That's easy," I said. "We'll each pick out a sentence or two from books or plays for our attendants. No Bible passages. That's too easy."

"And not us," she agreed. "Literature is much more our speed. I love that idea."

Two months flew by, and before we knew it, we were at our ceremony rehearsal. I'd never gotten the point of this. We just said "I do" when the minister asked the all-important question, read our vows, and that was it. Why did we need to practice Aria and her bridesmaids walking down the aisle and go over every step of the ceremony to make sure we had it down? But from the start, Pastor Ted actually made it fun, cracking jokes and agreeing with us about how ridiculous this was.

"Marriage. Marriage is what brings us together today," he began, trying to impersonate the character from Princess Bride. And doing a horrible job of it.

Everyone in the room laughed.

"I couldn't resist," Pastor Ted chuckled. "So, anyway, I'll do my greeting first. And then someone's going to object."

We both chuckled.

"And then Aria's dad is going to give her away. Or refuse to," he continued.

"God, I hope not," Aria chuckled.

"And then the reading," Pastor Ted continued. "Which I understand the attendants wanted to practice now."

"Wait, guys, we're not actually doing that until tomorrow," Aria said. "Neither of us wants to know what the other person's attendants are reading."

"Oh, come on," Alison said. "What's the big deal? It's just some random literature passages. What if we trip over the readings tomorrow because you didn't let us have a dry run?"

Aria and I looked at each other and shrugged.

"I honestly don't care that much," I told her.

"Okay, fine," Aria said. "Go for it."

"Thank you," Wes said. "Okay, Alison, you're up."

Alison mock cleared her throat; we all chuckled.

"J.D. Salinger wrote, 'I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot,'" she said.

Aria started cracking up, and I couldn't help but laugh with her. I immediately realized their game. They'd all come up with different, completely random, passages to read tonight. And of course Alison had picked a passage from my least favorite required reading novel, The Catcher in the Rye.

"Did you know about this?" I asked Aria, still laughing.

"No," she giggled. "But this ought to be good."

Spencer chuckled. "Dr. Seuss wrote, 'From there to here and here to there, funny things are everywhere.'"

Aria and I laughed again.

Hanna giggled. "Stephenie Meyer wrote, 'About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him—and I didn't know how potent that part might be—that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.'"

More laughter. I was ashamed to admit I knew that was from Twilight. Because I'd actually read the entire series to find out what every single girl in every one of my classes was so obsessed with. And the fact that they were so infatuated with a fictional character who was borderline abusive to the girl he claimed to love disturbed me greatly. Not to mention the writing was…godawful. Aria had poked fun at me to no end when I was complaining about how terrible it was.

"Do you understand how much I hate that book?" I said when I'd finally caught my breath.

"Me…too," Aria gasped.

"F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, 'I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool,'" Emily read, as straight-faced as she could be.

By this point, Aria and I were doubled over and laughing uncontrollably. We couldn't even catch our breath. And our attendants, photographers, and videographer were all laughing with us. At least that was from The Great Gatsby, a worthwhile piece of literature, though completely inappropriate for the occasion.

Becca seemed like she was willing herself to catch her breath so she could read her passage. She took a couple of deep breaths and composed herself.

"Margaret Mitchell wrote, 'Well, my dear, take heart. Some day, I will kiss you and you will like it. But not now, so I beg you not to be too impatient,'" she said.

That brought on a whole new round of laughter. Of course our token Southern belle would pick a quote from Gone With the Wind. But, again, a quote that was entirely inappropriate for a wedding.

My brother was chuckling to himself, waiting for us to compose ourselves before reading whatever he'd come up with. Which frightened me, because that meant he wanted to make sure we heard it. This was bound to be interesting.

"E.L. James wrote, 'Suppose he returns with a cane, or some weird kinky implement?'" Wesley recited, completely straight faced.

"I'm going to get you for that, Wes," I told him when I'd caught my breath from my latest fit of laughter.

I didn't know for sure, but I was almost positive he'd pulled a quote from the ridiculously popular smut women were actually reading in public, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Mike was taking deep breaths to compose himself.

"J.K. Rowling wrote, 'Turn to page three-hundred and ninety-four,'" he said, completely dead-pan, doing his best Alan Rickman impression.

"Of course someone had to throw a Harry Potter quote in the mix," Aria giggled.

"I was waiting for that too," I laughed.

"William Shakespeare wrote, 'Villain, I have done thy mother!'" Caleb continued.

I actually had to grab the podium to keep my balance, I was laughing so hard at that one. One thing was for sure, Shakespeare was a genius. He'd written some of the most beautiful and romantic passages in history. But on the flip side of the coin, no one could throw out an insult like he could.

Toby was waiting patiently for his turn. And when I'd somewhat composed myself, he began.

"Tennessee Williams wrote…" he started, pausing for dramatic effect. "'STELLA!'"

I was glad I was still gripping the podium, because I nearly fell over in another fit of laughter.

Mr. White was the last person to read, and since he'd also been an English teacher, I was extremely curious to see what he'd come up with for this hilarious prank.

"Walt Whitman wrote, 'I went to the woods because I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow out of life!" he recited.

Now it was Aria's turn to grab the podium to keep her balance.

"Oh, my God," she gasped between giggles. "Leaves of Grass. Of course."

It took us at least five minutes to stop laughing. I'd been dreading today because I'd thought it would be incredibly boring and pointless, but thanks to someone's brilliant idea, it had turned into a day full of fun and laughter with memories I would treasure for the rest of my life.

"Okay, I have to know," I said when I could talk again. "Who was the mastermind behind that?"

"Guilty," Spencer chuckled.

"That was hilarious," Aria laughed.

"It was," I agreed.

"I told her you'd either die laughing or want to kill us all," Wesley chuckled.

"I think the jury's still out on you, Wes," Mike laughed. "Quoting Fifty Shades of Grey. At least the rest of us have a little class."

(Author's note: So, I thought I was done with this story. But then in a sleep-deprived daze while I was re-reading the wedding chapter a few days ago, I suddenly had a thought about how funny it would be if during the rehearsal, all of the attendants came up with completely random and senseless quotes and read them as a prank. And I decided I had to write it. My boyfriend thought I had lost my mind because I was cracking myself up trying to figure out what quotes to have the attendants read. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. This really is it. I think.)