"This place is huge!" Hanna remarked upon entering the beach house. They all piled in, dropping their bags on the tile floor, and looked around. Opposite the massive curved staircase immediately to their right was the living room with a huge fireplace in the corner and a bay window which overlooked the wide driveway.

"Yep," Spencer said. "There's plenty of space for all of us. You guys can all head upstairs and pick a room. Except the blue room on the third floor, that's mine." She won it fair and square in a game of jacks with Melissa about 7 years ago.

"Race you," Hanna challenged Emily and charged up the stairs, Emily in tow, but not for long. She passed Hanna almost right away. Caleb and Paige followed close behind. Their footsteps echoed around the large room.

Hanna picked the room with the pink throw pillows and Emily chose the one with two beds. Both were on the second floor and offered incredible views of the ocean.

"Do you want me to bring your bags upstairs?" Toby asked Spencer.

"Sure, thanks," she said and wandered off into the kitchen to the left.

Ezra craned his neck to get a good view of the wooden beams and light fixture on the vaulted ceiling three stories above them. "Wow, this place is nice. I didn't realize 'beach house' was code for 'mansion.'" It wasn't actually a mansion, but after living in tiny dorm rooms and a studio apartment, anything with more than 4 walls felt like a mansion to Ezra.

"I don't think Spencer's family owns anything but mansions," Aria said, poking her head around a corner. "Let's see what's down here."

They headed down a darkish hallway behind the staircase. When they reached the end, Aria flung open a set of double doors to reveal the master suite. A California King pillow-top mattress covered in a plush gold comforter sat in the centre of the room. Behind it, a wall full of glass with a sliding door which opened up onto a private patio. The room was warm and inviting, with a minimalistic flair to it - not too many knick knacks lying around.

Hanna came running up behind them. "Damn, this is way bette-"

Aria cut her off. "Dibs."

.

Everyone gathered in the foyer and Spencer explained the day's agenda. "There's no food in the house, so I'm gonna do a shopping in town. Any special requests - write them down on this pad." Spencer placed a pen and pad on the side table beneath the staircase. "I'll also pick up lunch and later we can go swimming." Hanna got to scribbling. Aria yawned.

"I'll go with you," Ezra offered. "Why don't you take a nap?" he directed at Aria.

"You don't.. have to tell me twice," Aria yawned again.

Ezra brought their bags into the bedroom. "I'll put my stuff in this one," Aria said, pointing to the dark wood dresser on the wall to the left. Ezra set her bag down on top then placed his on the taller bureau they had passed by when they walked in.

While unpacking, Ezra asked, "Toby is Jenna's brother right?"

"Uh huh," she said, unzipping her bag.

"How did he and Spencer wind up together?" He was understandably curious.

They fell in love investigating whether Jenna was A and/or framing them both for murder. More or less. "It's a loooong story."

"Got it. How long have they been together?"

Aria pulled open the top drawer and placed a stack of folded clothes in the empty space. "Uhh 6ish months I think, I forget. They just got back together recently."

"Oh, cuz I was gonna ask… that guy we ran into at the hospital." If they had dated prior to 6 months ago... then it'd be the exact same thing he did with Aria. He had no right to be scandalized by the idea.

She placed another, messier, stack beside the first and said, "Another long story." She started dating him after A made her break up with Toby. Actually, not that long of a story.

"I see." Ezra finished unpacking and leaned against the piece of furniture that probably cost more than all of his furniture at home combined. "Well, Toby seems like a nice guy. Good taste in music at least. I never met him at school, but always got a weird sort of vibe from him."

Aria placed two folded beach towels in the next drawer and said, "Trust me, we all used to get that vibe from him. Spencer more than anyone. It was pretty crazy to watch him go from the person she trusted least in the world, to the person she trusted most." She took the bag from the wooden surface and started walking around the bed toward the bathroom on the opposite wall.

"Is it weird being friends with him, being Jenna's brother, and him being accused of, you know, killing your other friend?" Ezra broached this subject gently, knowing Aria didn't like to talk about it.

"Not so weird," Aria shrugged as she passed him. Long gone were the days of them thinking Toby was the enemy. She put the bag on the counter inside the doorway, deciding to unpack the rest later, and turned to face Ezra. She rested against the wall there and said, "He's Jenna's step-brother, by the way. They… are not on good terms."

"No?"

"No. Jenna's… not really a good person. She… It's not really my place to say, but she used to hurt Toby…" Aria screwed up her face in a brief moment of indecision, then said, "She used to blackmail him into sleeping with her." Aria hadn't mentioned this when she told Ezra about the Jenna thing. She knew, but hadn't yet seen the video proof, which was probably irreversibly burned into Spencer and Emily's collective memory. Aria had told him that Alison had something on Toby and that's why he took the blame for their prank gone wrong.

"Oh. Jeez." That is so fucked up. "To tell the truth, I always got weird vibes from her too." Working with her on the play was an odd experience to say the least. He was intrigued by her story, and her writing, and even her music, but never entirely comfortable in her presence.

"Yeah. No kidding."

"Your lives are so complicated. My high school years… not quite so…" Ezra didn't know how to finish that sentence without possibly offending her. She didn't exactly ask for her best friend to get killed before her 16th birthday or invite any of the other crap she'd had to deal with in her life.

You don't know the half of it, she thought and yawned.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry," he said, stepping forward.

Aria did the same, looking at him when she said, "No, I want to tell you things. It's just that certain things are not my secrets to share."

He gave her a half-smile of understanding.

Aria sat on the edge of the enormous bed, looking tiny in comparison, and kicked off her shoes. Ezra drew the shades, dramatically darkening the space, then sat next to her.

"You good?"

"Mmmhmm," she answered. He pulled her to his chest, and kissed her head, then silently left the room. Aria curled up hugging a pillow and fell fast asleep.


[I feel like I could draw up blueprints of this house the way I see it so clearly in my head.

Thanks again to my readers and commenters. It makes me seriously happy to read new comments. :) ]