Aria
6 years later
"We've arrived in New York sweetie, it's time to wake up." Aria whispered in her daughter, Summer Montgomery's, ear, as the cab they had taken arrived outside their new apartment in the city. At the sound of Arias voice, Summers eyes flickered open and she held out her hands for her mum to carry her. With a small smile, Aria paid the cab driver and climbed out with Summer in her arms, immediately spotting Spencer, Hanna and Emily all stood at the entrance. " Come on honey, it's time to see your aunties again." She whispered in Summers ears, hoping to wake her up fully.
"Aria! It's been too long we've missed you!" Hanna exclaimed, as Aria approached them with 4 year old Summer in her arms.
" I know, I don't think we've ever been apart for longer than a month! Never mind a year!" Aria replied, smiling broadly at her 3 best friends.
" Auntie Hanna, Auntie Spencer, Auntie Emily!" Summer shouted in delight, now fully waking up. Aria smiled as her daughter hugged each of her friends.
" Hey sweetie, wow look how much you've grown!" Spencer commented, picking Summer up and spinning her around, causing her to giggle happily.
" I know! Mummy had to buy me some new clothes since my old ones don't fit anymore!" Summer told her, showing off her brand new pink t-shirt.
" Well you're looking very pretty." Emily complimented, as Summer went over and hugged her. When all the greetings were completed, Aria led her best friends and daughter Summer up the stairs to her new two bedroom apartment. Already she'd been down in New York getting her apartment ready to move into. She'd been delighted when she received the job at Christopher Columbus high school, during the summer holidays. It had taken a while to move from Philadelphia to New York, but she was finally here with her four best friends. One by one her best friends had moved here over the years, and Aria had been desperate to see them. Now she could see them every day if she wanted.
" Wow. Mummy is this our new house?" Summer asked, as she ran into the large apartment, jumping onto the sofa with feather pillows. The room was very Aria-like, with mix and match furniture that fitted together perfectly. Her front room was an open plan living, dining room and kitchen, while there was two bedrooms at the far right, and a bathroom at the left.
" It is sweetie. This is where me and you are going to be living from now on." Aria replied, taking a seat on the sofa with her. Spencer, Hanna and Emily all followed her inside, looking around and taking in the apartment.
" Wow Aria, you did a nice job on this place. It looked a bit crappy before." Spencer commented, as she took a seat on the love seat that was to the right of the sofa Aria and Summer were sat on.
" Good, it took me ages to decorate it all! Although I had a bit of help, but not much." Aria responded, quite proud of her work on the place.
" Mummy where's my room?" Summer asked excitedly, on the journey here all she could talk about was the new house. She'd questioned Aria over and over again how she'd decorated her room. But Aria had wanted it to be a surprise, and didn't give it away.
" Do you want me to show you?" Aria asked with a smile, desperately hoping that her daughter would like it. She loved her daughter to pieces, and wanted her life to be perfect for her.
" Yes!Yes!Yes!" Summer answered in seconds, grabbing Arias hand and dragging her off of the sofa.
" Guys make yourself at home. I'll be back in a second. There's a kettle in the corner, coffees right next to it, and cups are in the top left draw, if you want a drink." Aria told them, before leading Summer to her bedroom. The bedroom was directly next to Arias new room, and was just as big. Inside the room was painted a bright pink, and had butterflies on the walls. The bed sat right next to the window, and had a canopy draping over it. A castle-shaped bookshelf stood in the left corner, while a built-in wardrobe was on the right. The doll's house she'd always wanted, sat next to her bed, with a box of Barbie dolls next to it.
" Do you like it?" Aria asked hopefully, as Summer looked around the room.
" Mummy this is the best room ever!" Summer said in delight, a cheerful smile planted upon her face. She ran up and hugged Aria tightly, before running over to the doll's house to start playing with it.
" If you need anything sweetie, me and your aunties will be in the living room. Have fun." Aria told her, before exiting the room with an even happier expression. Making her daughter happy, always made her happy. Aria had always wanted what was best for summer.
" I'm guessing she liked it." Hanna said, as Aria sat back down on the sofa.
" Thankfully she loved it. I don't know what I would have done if she didn't." Aria replied, not wanting to even imagine it. " So I was thinking we have a girly sleepover at my place, so we can catch up. You guys alright staying the night? I've missed you all so much!"
" Of course we will Aria! We need to catch up with you too." Emily told her.
" So first things first. Summer is looking more and more like Ezra." Hanna commented, and Aria looked down towards the floor at the sound of her ex's name. It had been 6 whole years, and despite her efforts Aria had still not fully gotten over Ezra Fitz. She still loved him, and knew she would never love anybody else like him again. Even though it hurt to know that he ran away from their problems, she still found herself wishing she could see him again.
" I know." Aria let out a soft sigh. Nobody but Aria knew why Summer looked a lot like Ezra, and Aria didn't yet have the courage to tell her best friends why. They still didn't know who the father of Summer was, and Aria didn't want to tell them yet. She had made a pretty big mistake, and didn't want to share it was anyone yet. It had been little over 4 years since it had happened and Aria still was ashamed.
" Are you ever going to tell us why?" Spencer asked with a concerned expression. Summer did resemble Ezra a lot, and she was like a living memory of him for Aria. Ezra and Summer both shared the same light blue eyes, kind smile and wavy hair. The only features that Summer shared with Aria was her chestnut hair colour, and petite nose. In a way she was a perfect split between Aria and Ezra.
" Not just yet. I'm sorry guys… I just can't." Aria told them, shaking her head, not wanting to recall the memory of it all.
" She is really beautiful though, and so cute. Is she starting kindergarten soon?" Emily questioned, and Aria smiled knowing that her daughter was perfect in every way.
" Yeh, she starts when I go to work." Aria responded, curling her feet up against her body on the sofa. " So tell me guys, relationships? Who's everyone with?"
" Well I'm still with Caleb of course. I love him so much, and he's just got a job at this big technology company. We've finally moved into together! And he bought me this pretty charm bracelet the other day." Hanna replied excitedly, showing off her bracelet. It was silver and had a diamond heart charm hanging from it.
" Wow, that must have cost him a lot. I'm glad you guys are happy." Aria said, smiling as she knew that Hanna and Caleb would always be in love with each other.
" Me and Toby are back together, since he managed to get himself a good renovating job in New York. He came back a few weeks ago. I've missed him so much!" Spencer answered, while pulling her phone out of her pocket and texting someone.
" I'm still going out with Maya, and we're really happy together." Emily said simply, with a small shrug. It was nice to know that Emily was still happy with being herself, Aria thought.
" Awh I'm so happy for you guys. You've all still got the same jobs right?" Aria spoke to them with a smile.
" Yeh, I'm still designing clothes. I've got a pretty big fashion show next week where all of the big time stores are coming to see my creations. I really hope they like them!" Hanna said.
" That's so cool Han! Make sure to get me and Summer tickets. You still swimming Em?"
" Yeh, but I also got a job in a restaurant as well so I can make money while I'm not swimming. I'm going for the Olympics next year."
" I'll have to get tickets to that as well then. Summers always wanted to see you swim." Aria told her.
" Yeh we'll all have to get tickets to that! I still work at the hospital down town as a doctor. I saw Wren the other day as well which was weird." Spencer explained.
" That's great you guys, I'm happy for you all." Aria told them. It was strange hearing this since a year ago, they'd all slowly moved away to New York, not even having the jobs they have now. Aria still remembered when Hanna was only a waitress. Hanna had complained about stroppy customers for ages.
" Now it's your turn to talk Aria. Are you with anyone? What job do you have?" Hanna questioned eagerly. Aria rarely spoke about her love life anymore, mostly since she hadn't had one in 4 years. Summer had mostly put a stop to that, but she didn't mind. Aria didn't really feel like dating anyone at the moment. She still had some moving on to do.
" Well I'm still an English teacher, and I've got a permanent job at Christopher Columbus high school in the city, and that's about it really. I quit my old job in Philadelphia since I didn't like it as much there, and I've found a great school for Summer to go to. I've always wanted to move to New York since you guys came down here." Aria answered truthfully, skipping out the love life part.
" We've missed you too Aria." Emily told her, and Arias smile widened.
" So is there anyone special your seeing at the moment?" Hanna asked. It was always Hanna who had been interested in Arias love life, Hanna always loved a bit of good gossip. It was too bad that Aria didn't have any.
" Nope. I haven't dated anyone in four years." Aria answered, hoping her friends would ask her the question she knew they would.
" Your still not over him are you?" Spencer asked, they all turned to Aria with concerned expressions.
" No. I don't know if I ever will be." Aria replied, glancing over at the small photo frame In the corner which behind the photo of her and summer, held a photo of her and Ezra together 6 years ago.
" Oh honey. We need to get you out dating again. Any guy would be lucky to have you!" Hanna exclaimed.
" Thanks guys but I don't think I can date at the moment. I've got my new job and Summer to worry about still, and I don't want to bring a guy into Summers life for it to all end badly. She's never had a father and dating will just get in the way of everything. I only want a relationship that's permanent." Aria made up a good excuse quickly, hoping her friends would believe her. If she told them that she was truthfully hoping to find Ezra again, then they would think she was crazy. But she was, even though she knew herself it was dumb.
" Fine, but I swear in the next few years we need to find you the perfect guy. We can't have you turning out to be a crazy old cat lady!" Hanna said causing us all to laugh at the thought.
For the rest of the evening, Aria talked with her 3 best friends, and they caught up on literally everything that had happened in the year they had been apart. Once it reached 8:30, though, Aria disappeared for half an hour to put Summer to bed. Every night Aria would read summer a story to put her to sleep, and usually it turned out to be a Disney Princess story. Tonight, Aria read her the story of Sleeping Beauty, and after around half an hour Summer had dropped peacefully into a deep sleep.
After exiting her daughters room quietly, Aria grabbed a bunch of pillows and blankets so that her and the girls could sleep over in the living room. When she came back to her friends, they set up their beds together and watched 'The Notebook', a cheesy romance film they'd all loved to watch back when they were teenagers. It was a little after midnight when they all decided to go to sleep, and Aria was once again happy. She had all of her best friends back. Now she was only missing one person in her life…
I had another chapter wrote so I decided to post it! Just because I thought I would be nice today;) Usually though I will only update once a week:) So the new Aria has been introduced, and I gave a little bit of an insight to how I wanted Hanna, Emily, and Spencer to end up being like. Hope you liked it and please review to tell me if you like it so far or not;) Next chapter Aria will meet Ezra again!:)
Disclaimer- I don't own any of the charecters but Summer Montgomery