Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars

Author's note: Long author's note, I apologize, lol

First of all, I want to apologize for having such a late update. As some of you may know, there's a PLL convention in France at the end of this month and I will be attending. So I've been really busy trying to get everything in order. I do hope you'll think this chapter was worth the wait ;)

Second of all, someone reviewed saying I should start new paragraphs when a different person starts talking, because it can be confusing otherwise. So I did that in this chapter, so please let me know if this is better? (Btw, to the person who said that, I don't feel offended in any way. There's nothing wrong with positive criticism. I have a lot to learn, so don't hesitate to tell me these things.)

Last but not least, enjoy this chapter ;)

Dianne waited until her son was out of hearing range and said, "That's a lovely necklace you're wearing. A gift from my son, I presume?"

Aria instinctively touched her necklace and replied, "Yes, it was."

Dianne nodded and said, "It must be nice…"

Aria frowned questioningly and asked, "What is?"

Dianne shrugged and replied, "You know… You're a college student, probably living on a budget, surviving on ramen and what not. Then comes along my son, who for some reason seems to be completely smitten with you, and he showers you with all kinds of gifts."

Aria blinked a few times and asked, "What exactly are you implying here?"

Dianne gave Aria a big smile, knowing her son was probably watching them, and replied, "Don't start playing dumb now. I think you know exactly what I'm implying here."

Aria shook her head and said, "Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong. I genuinely love Ezra and I couldn't care less about his money."

Dianne laughed and replied, "I must hand it to you, you're a good liar. No wonder my son is falling for it, but listen to me when I say that I will not allow you to take advantage of my son in any way. This thing between you and him… it ends tonight."

Aria gasped in surprise and asked, "Excuse me?"

Dianne continued, ignoring Aria's reaction, "You'll tell my son that after tonight you've realized that you don't fit into this world, which you don't, in case you were wondering. You'll tell him this relationship will never work and then you never speak to him or see him again. If he makes contact with you, you'll ignore it."

Aria didn't quite understand what was going on here, was Dianne being serious!? Aria looked confused as she asked, "And exactly why would I do that?"

Dianne shrugged and replied, "Well, that depends on what you want. If it's money that you're after, then just name your price and I'll write you a check. Or perhaps I could help you career wise when you graduate, I do have many connections."

Aria looked disgusted as she said, "I don't want anything from you. There's absolutely nothing that will get me to walk away from Ezra."

Dianne sighed and replied, "Don't be a foolish girl. We both know this relationship isn't going to last. You might as well end it now and get something out of it."

Aria shook her head and said, "No. I love your son and he loves me. And if you weren't so bitter, then you might be able to see that your son is actually happy. Trust me when I say that I would do anything for your son, because his happiness is all that matters to me."

Dianne raised an eyebrow and replied, "My son's happiness is all that matters to me too. But at least I realize that he'll never be happy with you. My son has worked very hard to be where he is today and he doesn't need a gold-digging whore like you in his life to ruin all that. He needs to be with someone who knows that it takes hard work and determination to get somewhere in life. For example, someone who genuinely put his future above her own many years ago."

Aria looked confused, what was she talking about? Or more specifically, who? Aria saw Dianne looking in Ezra's direction and followed her gaze to see him talking to a beautiful young woman, who was wearing an elegant black lace dress. Aria's heart sank into her shoes as she realized who this woman was.

Ezra was surprised as he turned around and saw the beautiful woman in front of him. The woman that had once broken his heart. He stammered, "J-Jemma… W-What are you doing here?"

Jemma giggled and replied, "Nice to see you again too, Ezra."

Ezra shook his head trying to get himself together and apologized, "Sorry for my lack of manners. I meant that it's a surprise bumping into you here."

Jemma smiled and replied, "I know, It almost seems like fate, doesn't it? So…how have you been?"

Ezra felt slightly uncomfortable bumping into Jemma, knowing that Aria was in the exact same room. He cleared his throat in an attempt to calm himself and replied, "Me? I'm good…good… How are you?"

Jemma smiled and said in a flirting tone, "Better… now that I've bumped into you."

Ezra's eyes widened as he was taken aback by her answer. He didn't reply as he didn't know what to say to that.

Jemma noticed Ezra's discomfort and continued, "Look… I'm just going to take bumping into you tonight as a sign and tell you what I've been wanting to tell you for a long time now…"

Ezra looked at Jemma questioningly as he asked, "And that is?"

Jemma placed her hand on Ezra's arm as she admitted, "That I miss you… There hasn't been a day that has gone by that I don't regret leaving you… I never stopped loving you."

Dianne noticed the look on Aria's face and said, "You see, I never approved of her and she always knew that. So when I offered her money to leave my son, so that he could have the future that was meant for him, she took it without hesitation. When I called her a few days ago, I had just wanted to use her to get between my son and you. But then I found out that she actually used that money to make something more of herself and to earn my approval. She so happens to be a very wealthy and well renowned lawyer now, which I very much approve of for my son. We both know that she's the one that got away and that you just don't stand a chance against her. So trust me when I say that you should take the money and your dignity, and get the hell out."

Aria saw Ezra interact with the woman standing in front of him and saw that she put her hand on his arm. When Ezra didn't do anything to remove the woman's hand, Aria frowned, then turned around and walked away.

Ezra was taken aback by Jemma's confession and didn't know how to act. After not saying anything for a minute or so, he finally managed to say, "I'm with someone."

Jemma nodded sadly as she removed her hand and replied, "Of course you are… I mean, why wouldn't you be? It was stupid of me to even think we could somehow start over or pick up where we left of…"

Ezra wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the bartender who put his order on the bar, saying, "Your drinks, sir."

Ezra looked at the drinks, then over to where his mother and Aria were, but noticed that Aria was missing from the picture. He frowned, excused himself and left Jemma to go to his mother. When he got there, his mother was talking to someone else, so he interrupted them by asking, "Where is she?"

Dianne smiled at her friend as she said, "Excuse my son for his lack of manners", then turned to her son and replied, "I don't know, she just turned around and left after she saw you and your ex over there."

Ezra shook his head in disappointment as he said, "And I'm one hundred percent sure that you assured her that nothing was going on there, am I right!?" Before Dianne could say anything, Ezra turned around and headed for the exit.

After seeing Ezra walk away from his mother, Jemma walked over to Dianne and asked sadly, "He just went after her, didn't he?"

Dianne smirked and replied, "Don't worry, it worked. He thinks she left because she's jealous, because she doesn't trust him. Our next step will be to make him jealous and make her believe he doesn't trust her. What's a relationship without trust, right? They'll fight, break up and then you'll be his shoulder to cry on. Trust me, everything will work out for the two of you."

Jemma nodded and the hope of rekindling things with Ezra put a smile onto her face.

When Ezra walked outside, he started heading down the stairs, when he heard someone call out his name. He turned around and his face lit up as he saw Aria sitting at the foot of one of the giant marble pedestals of the building. Aria got up as Ezra walked over to her. When he was standing in front of her, he smiled and said, "You stayed."

Aria lifted her hand to caress his cheek and replied, "Of course I did. Why would I leave? I just needed to get away from your mother, she's…heinous."

Ezra put his hand onto hers and then brought it to his lips to kiss it. Then he sighed and said, "I'm so sorry. What did she say?"

Aria shook her head and replied, "It doesn't matter what she said, I don't believe any of it."

Ezra smiled and said, "Good… I knew you were smart enough not to fall for her schemes."

Aria replied, "Being smart doesn't have anything to do with this. The reason why I didn't fall for it, is because I love you and I trust you completely."

When Ezra heard those words, he couldn't help but grin widely and he said, "Do you have any idea what it does to me to hear you say that?" Then Ezra put Aria's face between both of his hands and kissed her with a fiery passion.

When Ezra released her, Aria blinked a few times, then cleared her throat and replied, "Yup, got a pretty good idea now!"

Ezra kissed Aria on the forehead and asked, "So what do you want to do now? Do you want to go back inside, go somewhere else or go home?"

Aria put her arms around Ezra's neck and said in a flirting tone, "I do believe a certain promise was made about sneaking off to a secluded area to have some fun…"

Ezra smirked and replied, "That is very true, Miss Montgomery. But perhaps we should go and do that somewhere else…Somewhere where my mother isn't present." Ezra noticed a look on Aria's face he couldn't describe and asked, "What's wrong?"

Aria shook her head and replied, "It's nothing. Let's get out of here."

Ezra frowned and said, "No. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what that look just now meant."

Aria sighed and admitted, "When I made you that promise, you knew your mother was going to be here and it didn't seem to bother you then."

Ezra realized where Aria was going with this and asked, "So you think this isn't about my mother, but about Jemma?"

Aria raised an eyebrow and replied, "So that's her name, huh?"

Ezra sighed and said, "Yes, it is." Ezra took Aria's hands into his and continued, "You've got nothing to worry about here. Besides, didn't you just tell me you trust me completely? Where's this coming from all of a sudden?"

Aria looked down and replied, "I do…I do trust you completely. I just…I don't trust her." Aria looked up into Ezra's eyes and explained, "She's only here because your mother called her."

Ezra frowned and asked, "How do you know that?"

Aria shrugged and replied, "Your mother told me, among other things. She called her to break us up and apparently Jemma would make an ideal wife for you."

Ezra rubbed his forehead because he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He theorized out loud, "So that's why she was saying all that stuff about regretting she left me and wanting me back. I should've known…"

Aria felt a jab of pain in her stomach as she heard that. She asked, with a hint of despair in her voice, "She said that?"

Ezra nodded and reassured Aria, "She did, but it doesn't matter because I have you. Now I just don't have to feel guilty about turning her down, knowing that she didn't mean it anyways."

Aria bit her bottom lip nervously and said, "Well, maybe she did mean it. I don't know how to tell you this, but… the reason why Jemma left you was because your mother offered her money to do that… Your mother also did the same with me just a few moments ago."

Ezra blinked a few times, not fully understanding what had happened back then or what was happening right now. He scratched his hair and said, "I need to sit down for a second", and went to sit where Aria had sat a few minutes ago.

Aria swallowed hard, and fearing his response, she said, "If this changes things between us, I'll understand…"

Ezra looked at Aria in confusion and asked, "What do you mean? Why would this change anything between us? I knew my mother was capable of a lot of things and even though I didn't expect this, I'm not going to shoot the messenger. It's not your fault she did these things."

Aria shook her head and replied, "That's not what I meant. I just thought that now that you knew the truth about what happened back then…"

Ezra finished her sentence by asking, "That I'd go back to Jemma? Why would I do that? Yes, my mom offered her money to leave me, but she didn't have to take her up on it… You didn't."

Aria said, "Yeah, but…"

Ezra got back up, put his hands on Aria's shoulders, looked her in the eyes and said, "But nothing. When will you finally get it through your thick skull that all I want is you?"

Aria smiled shyly and replied, "I hear you."

Ezra looked a bit sad as he said more silently, "But I don't think you're really listening." Just then, Ezra noticed Tristan pulling over the car at the bottom of the stairs and continued, "Come on, let's go. I called Tristan on my way out, when I thought you'd left." Ezra took Aria's hand and they walked down the stairs over to the car.

Aria frowned internally at Ezra's remark, what did he mean by that? Of course she listened to him, of course she knew he wanted her. But maybe he still wanted Jemma too, it wasn't that unthinkable… After all, his mother was right, she was the one that got away.

When they got to the car, Ezra opened the car door for Aria and pulled her out of her train of thought by saying, "Stop."

Aria looked up at Ezra confused and asked , "What?"

Ezra sighed and replied, "Stop thinking about this. Don't think about it, don't overthink it and please don't jump to conclusions in your head."

Aria shook her head as she lied, "I wasn't."

Ezra raised an eyebrow at her lie and said, "Yes, you were. You have a very distinct look on your face when you're doing it, so I can tell."

Aria felt busted and replied, "Fine, I'll stop."

Ezra frowned and said, "I'm sorry, I don't want to tell you what to do… I'm just scared you'll start getting ideas in your head and that it will come between us."

Aria placed her hand on Ezra's cheek as she reassured him, "It won't." Then to lighten the mood between them, she added, "Not even a restraining order could keep me away from you."

Ezra chuckled and replied, "That's, uhm, really creepy… but oh so sexy coming from you." He kissed Aria on the forehead and said, "Now get in the car."

Aria raised an eyebrow playfully and asked, "I thought you didn't want to tell me what to do?"

Ezra smirked and replied, "Well, sometimes I do", and smacked her on the ass.

Aria giggled and then they both got into the car. Ezra looked at Aria and asked, "So, where do you want to go now?"

Without thinking, Aria replied, "Home."

Ezra tried to fight his disappointment as he said, "Okay." Then he pressed the button of the intercom, because the sliding window was up, and said, "Tristan, Miss Montgomery's house, please."

Aria frowned and said, "No, I meant your place."

Ezra nodded with a contemplating look on his face as he corrected himself, "I'm sorry Tristan, looks like we'll be going back to the apartment after all." Ezra let go of the intercom button and said, "You said home, so I assumed you meant your place…"

Aria's eyes widened as she realized what she had just said. Feeling a bit awkward, she replied, "I'm sorry…"

Ezra shook his head and said, "What for? I'd love nothing more for it to be our home… what's mine is yours."

Aria smiled, kicked off her shoes and snuggled up to Ezra on the backseat. Ezra put his arms around her, kissed the top of her head and smiled in contentment at this feeling of closeness.

When they got to the apartment, they reluctantly got out of the car and went inside. When they entered Ezra's apartment, Aria said, "I'm going to go put on something more comfortable. Why don't you order us some take-out? Anything you want, it's all fine by me."

Ezra nodded at her suggestion, but then said, "Wait", as he pulled her back to him. He kissed her deeply and then said, "Now you can go."

Aria had a goofy grin on her face as she headed for the bedroom. Did she love this man or what? She walked over to the dresser and removed her earrings. She stroked her necklace as she grinned into the mirror. She shook her head at herself for feeling so giddy. She kicked off her shoes and then she removed her dress and hung it over the chair. She looked into her bag on the dresser, but couldn't find anything she wanted to wear, so she walked over to Ezra's closet and got out one of his shirts.

As she was buttoning up the last button, Ezra walked in with two take-out menus and said, "So, I can't decide between Thai or Indian, what do you think?"

When Aria turned around, she noticed the look on Ezra's face and asked bemused, "What?"

Ezra smirked and replied, "I'm just… enjoying the view."

Aria smirked and playfully asked, "Are you now?", as she teasingly stretched herself so her panties were showing.

Ezra threw the take-out menus in the air and strode over to Aria. He pulled her to him by putting his hand on her lower back and then cupped one side of her face with his other hand. He hungrily kissed her and Aria deepened it by pulling Ezra closer with his tie. Ezra backed up Aria against the closet and moved down to her neck, which made Aria whimper as she closed her eyes in pleasure. She started to remove Ezra's suit jacket and he shrugged it off and threw it on the floor next to them.

Aria loosened Ezra's tie and discarded it too, before unbuttoning Ezra's shirt. When it was totally unbuttoned, she pushed it off his shoulders and they let it drop onto the floor. Aria put her arms around Ezra's neck and he lifted her off the floor, so she could put her legs around his waist. He walked over to the bed and laid her down onto it. Ezra kissed down Aria's neck and undid a button of her shirt so he could kiss her breasts. Aria pushed her heels against Ezra's behind, urging his erection closer to her pussy. Aria moaned in pleasure as Ezra groaned in frustration. Ezra stopped and said, "Okay, time-out." Aria looked confused as she removed her legs from around his waist. Ezra got up and started pacing a bit.

Aria frowned and asked, "Ezra, what's wrong?"

Ezra admitted, "I'm a bit too turned on right now, so I'm going to need a minute."

Aria got off the bed, seductively walked over to Ezra and suggested lustfully, "Maybe I can help with that", as she dropped down on her knees in front of Ezra and motioned to undo his belt.

Ezra pulled Aria back up and said, "You're making it worse. What you do to me… I'm at war with myself here and it just gets harder and harder every day, no pun intended."

Aria couldn't help but chuckle at his comment and replied, "Ezra, it's okay. There's no need to be at war with yourself. Just do what feels right…"

Ezra brushed a strand of hair out of Aria's face and said, "Do you have any idea how much I love you? I couldn't care less about other women. I'd give away everything I own, if that's what I had to do. You are all I want, all I need. We've only known each other a week, which is not a long time, but in that week you've changed my life for the better. Remember how closed off from love I was? I never imagined being in love again and I especially never ever imagined wanting to get married or have kids. But you changed all that. Aria, I want to marry you… And right now, I really, really want to make love to you."

Aria took Ezra's hand and replied, "And I really, really want you to."

Ezra ran his hand through his hair and said, "I know, but I can't."

Aria shrugged and asked, "Why not?"

Ezra explained, "Because you made a promise to yourself a long time ago and I don't want you to give up on that."

Aria placed her hand on Ezra's cheek and stroked it with her thumb as she said, "I made that promise when I was young… And up until now, I had never met anyone who made me question that decision, let alone someone for who I was willing to forgo it altogether. We love each other, so it really doesn't matter if we sleep together now or if we wait until we're married."

Ezra's eyes widened at Aria's second slip of the night. First calling this apartment her home, now talking about getting married. Ezra's heart ached with love for this woman, how could he not give her everything she wanted? He carefully asked, "Are you sure? Once you do this, you can't go back."

Aria looked Ezra in the eyes and truthfully replied, "Trust me. I've never been more sure about anything in my life."

Ezra nodded and kissed Aria with all the love he felt for her. When they broke their kiss, Ezra kissed Aria on the nose and said, "I love you, princess."

Aria smiled and replied, "I love you too", and then she softly kissed him on the lips. Then she kissed him again, but deeper this time. Ezra's tongue dipped into Aria's mouth and found hers. As their tongues were doing a sensual dance, Aria's hands found Ezra's belt and she unbuckled it. She unbuttoned his pants and then undid the zipper. She pushed his pants down with her hands and after kicking off his shoes, Ezra wriggled out of his pants. He removed his socks and then he picked up Aria and laid her onto the bed.

Ezra joined Aria on the bed and went to sit on his knees between her parted legs. He slowly started unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing from the bottom to the top, kissing the skin underneath it each time he loosened a button. When the shirt was completely unbuttoned, he kissed along her clavicle, smiling at the fact that she was still wearing the necklace he had given her. Aria lifted her upper body so Ezra could remove her shirt, which he did. Then Ezra kissed his way back down, all the way to her panties. Ezra slowly removed them and then tossed them aside.

After he moved back up and kissed Aria passionately, he ran a finger along her opening and started rubbing her clit. Aria moaned into Ezra's mouth and bucked up against his hand. Ezra stopped rubbing her clit and inserted a finger inside of her, but decided she wasn't wet enough yet. Ezra moved back down to her pussy and parted her labia with his fingers. He started circling her clit with his tongue whilst moving in and out of her with two fingers of his other hand. Aria arched her back off the bed in reaction to his touch. Ezra felt her starting to constrict around his fingers, so he started flicking her clit with his tongue at a faster rate to make her come for him. Aria let out a cry as she climaxed.

Ezra felt how wet Aria was now and said, "Now you're ready for me."

Aria smirked and replied, "Aren't I always?"

Ezra smirked back and started sucking at her neck, which made Aria throw her head back in pleasure. Aria started pulling Ezra's boxers off and he removed them altogether. When he leaned over to reach for the bedside table drawer to get a condom, Aria stopped him saying, "You don't have to wear one, I'm on birth control." Ezra was about to say something, but was interrupted as Aria continued, "I want to feel as close to you as I possibly can." Ezra nodded in understanding and then kissed her forehead.

Ezra took his cock into his hand and placed his tip at her wet entrance. Aria bit her bottom lip as he gently pushed a few inches of himself inside of her. Ezra stopped to let her adjust to his size and asked, "Are you okay?" Aria looked into his eyes as she nodded and never losing eye contact, Ezra pushed inside her completely. Aria gasped at the fullness she was feeling and sighed in pleasure as Ezra slowly started moving in and out of her. Aria put her legs around his waist to take him in deeper and she moaned loudly because of the delicious feeling. Ezra started moving a bit faster and Aria urged him on by bucking up against him.

Ezra started moving in and out of Aria at a normal pace now and with each thrust her breathing started becoming more and more ragged. Aria clawed at the sheets beneath her as she felt herself getting closer and closer to her orgasm. Aria's back arched off the bed as her body begged for release. Ezra kissed Aria deeply as he thrust into her a bit harder, catching her cry with his mouth. After thrusting into her harder a few times, Ezra felt she was getting really close so he started moving in and out of her more quickly. They looked each other in the eyes when Aria screamed out Ezra's name as she came hard. Ezra kept moving inside of her, letting her ride out her orgasm and the tightening of her inner muscles around him sent him over the edge, milking all of his juices from him.

They laid there for minutes, him still inside of her, leaning their foreheads against each other as they both tried to catch their breath. Ezra finally pulled out of her and Aria was surprised at what she was feeling. She had never expected to feel this kind of loss, even though he was still here with her. The closeness and intimacy they had just experienced, it was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Yes, the sex itself was amazing, but the feelings behind it…

Ezra pulled Aria close to him, then put the covers over her and himself. He kissed her on the forehead and asked, "How do you feel?"

Aria snuggled up to Ezra and replied, "Happy."

Ezra started stroking Aria's naked back and said, "That makes two of us then."

Aria sighed in contentment, then kissed Ezra's chest and replied, "I just want us to lay here like this forever." Then Aria closed her eyes for a second and because she felt so safe and secure in that moment, she fell asleep.

Aria had already drifted asleep, so she didn't hear Ezra anymore when he said, "Anything for you, princess… Anything."

So? What did you think? Was it worth the wait?

I was really struggling with myself on when I should let them sleep together, because there's the whole waiting until marriage thing. But when I was writing this chapter, it just felt like the right time to me, so I just went with it. What do you guys think?

I hope to update soon, but as I mentioned before, I'm leaving for the PLL convention in about 2 weeks, so I don't know if I'll be able to update before then, but I'll try!

Please review!