Chapter 18:

"So if you go two months without harming yourself, you can stay out of Radley?" Hanna asked.

Aria nodded.

"You can do this. In fact, we're going to help make sure that you can go a lot longer than two months." Emily said, encouragingly. "You know we're here for you, right?"

Aria smiled gratefully. "You guys are honestly the best friends a girl could have." she said, wrapping an arm around each girl and pulling them in for a group hug.

"We know." Hanna said, laughing when they pulled apart.

Aria rolled her eyes at her friend. "Hey Han, I almost forgot, I need a favour from you."

"Ask away." Hanna replied.

"I was thinking of getting a job as an assistant photographer and my interview's today and I need something to wear." Aria explained and smiled as Hanna's face lit up. She jumped off her bed and went straight to the closet, mumbling to herself. Aria and Emily exchanged an amused look as they watched their friend do what she loves.

After a few minutes of rummaging around, Hanna dropped a pile of clothes on her bed and started sorting them out. When she was finished, she held up four different outfits that looked professional yet unique. Aria looked carefully at all four, picking each one up and examining it.

"This one..." she said, holding up a white blouse with a black pencil skirt and a big golden necklace "or this one" she held up another outfit with a light blue blouse, black blazer and a pencil skirt.

Emily and Hanna looked between the two outfits for a moment before agreeing on the first one.

"Okay, this one it is." Aria said, happily as she moved the other outfits from the bed before plopping down onto it, Emily and Hanna joining her a few seconds later. In that moment, Aria truly felt like a teenager. With everything that had happened throughout her teenage years, with A, and her relationship with Ezra, she hadn't really been able to experience the things that most teenage girls were able to. The only times she'd really felt this way was with her friends, and when she'd lost Spencer, she thought she'd never feel the happiness of being immature and carefree. Aria couldn't even begin to explain the amount of happiness she felt, realizing that she could still have this feeling with just Hanna and Emily.

'I love you guys." Aria said, grabbing each of their hands and squeezing.

"We love you too." Hanna said, kissing her short friend's cheek.

"And we're here for you no matter what." Emily added.

"Hey babe." Ezra said, shutting the door before he came and collapsed on the couch.

"Long day?" Aria asked, loosening his tie.

Ezra nodded. "I spent my break marking essays that I'm fairly certain were written in one day, and I still have about 15 more to go. It's going to be a long night." he said, tiredly.

Aria rubbed his back sympathetically. "How does a nice cup of coffee sound?"

Ezra smiled. "Like heaven." he said, kissing her forehead.

Aria stood up and went to the coffeemaker, before turning back. "Hungry?"

Ezra nodded. "Starved."

Aria grabbed a plate from the cabinet and scooped some pasta out of a steaming pot while Ezra went and changed into a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Aria handed him the plate as he came back.

"What would I do without you?" he asked, smiling gratefully at her.

"You're never going to have to find out because I'm not going anywhere." Aria replied, leaning forward to give him a kiss on the lips.

Ezra smiled as he tucked a stray lock of hair out of her face. He stared into Aria's eyes, happy but looking as though there was something he wanted to say.

"What?" Aria asked.

Ezra shook his head. "Nothing...you just seem...is everything okay?"

Aria nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"You just seem...I don't know...just really happy." Ezra said, trying to find the right words.

Aria shrugged, smiling. "I am happy. I'm happier than I've been in a while."

"Why's that?" Ezra asked curiously.

"I don't know exactly. Everything just seems...I don't know, better. I mean, I know that I've been really down lately, but I think Deb's deal is going to be really easy to do. I just feel like, now that I have a goal, I have something to live for, you know?"

Ezra absorbed this for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I think I do. I'm glad that you're happy, you have the most beautiful smile I've ever seen and it should be a crime to deprive me of it for so long." he teased.

Aria laughed. "Well, hopefully I'll be able to make up for it. But for now, you have work to do." she said, gesturing to Ezra's satchel, papers sticking out of it.

Ezra sighed, but reluctantly got up and grabbed his bag, going to sit at his desk to start marking. Aria put away the leftovers of the pasta she'd made and gave Ezra his coffee. She then went to change into one of his shirts and a pair of shorts before curling up on the couch with a copy of The Great Gatsby.

An hour and a half later, Aria's eyes were beginning to close when she heard a faint laugh. She looked up and smiled at the sight of Ezra slumped in his chair, his face flat against the desk, his eyes closed as his chest rose and fell steadily. Aria got up and slowly went over to him, taking the papers from around him and putting them into his satchel so he wouldn't be scrambling to get organized in the morning. When his stuff was packed, Aria gently bent over Ezra's sleeping figure and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Ezra?" she said gently.

Ezra stirred and moaned quietly.

"Babe, come on, let's get you to bed." Aria said, coaxing him out of his chair. Ezra stood up groggily and Aria took his hand, leading him to the bed. Ezra followed along, half asleep and he fell onto his bed, almost immediately falling back asleep. Aria pulled the blanket over him and stared down at him as he slept peacefully. She slowly climbed into the bed, careful not to wake him. As she settled her in bed, Aria felt Ezra's arms wrap around her body and she cuddled into his chest.

"I love you." Ezra mumbled sleepily.

"I love you too." Aria replied, as she fell into a peaceful slumber.

Hey y'all. So I feel like this chapter was kind of pointless but I really wanted to update because I hate making you wait. The thing is, I'm kind of stuck with this story. I'm having trouble deciding where to go from here. So if any of you have any ideas, even if you think it's a stupid idea, please PM me or let me know in the reviews. No idea is a bad idea. Thanks!

- xox Sobia

P.S. Don't forget to review :)