An: Wow thanks for the reviews everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 2

As soon as Aria hit send, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." She announced and rushed for the door without giving her mother a chance to respond.

When she pulled it open, she found Ezra standing on the other side, grinning from ear to ear.

"Surprise." He was obviously proud of himself for making Aria's wish come true and being able to come to the party after all.

Aria wished that she could have enjoyed this moment, but she knew she had to warn him. She looked around, gave him a quick kiss and then pulled away, "I love you for this, but my mom is setting you up with her friend."

"What?" Before Ezra could process her warning, Ella and Sara emerged from the kitchen.

"Ezra! I'm so glad you could make it." Ella greeted him with a hug, "I would love for you to meet my good friend, Sara. Sara, this is Ezra Fitz."

"Ezra. It's great to finally meet you. Ella has been telling me all about you." Sara extended her hand gracefully to accept his handshake and held it there for much longer than she had with Aria.

Ezra looked uncomfortable. It was an odd feeling to be meeting your blind date right in front of your girlfriend. "All good things I hope."

"Great, actually."

"No bad things to tell." Ella interjected, "Ezra is a great guy."

Aria cleared her throat, "Unless you believe those rumors that were going around school last year."

"Aria." Ella narrowed her eyes, confused by her daughter's comment. As far as she was concerned, Mr. Fitz had been Aria's favorite teacher.

"What's that Ezra?" Sara asked, pointing to a small, rectangular object wrapped in newspaper.

"Oh. It's for Aria." He held up the gift, "You're Dad told me it's your birthday, so I got you a little something."

Ella smiled with delight, as Aria accepted the present, "That is so sweet." She complimented, "I told you he's great."

Ezra stared down into Aria's eyes, "I'm sorry I didn't have time to get real wrapping paper. I just found out yesterday…"

Aria smirked at his cover up. He had purposely wrapped the present in newspaper to make it seem like it was an afterthought.

"Thank you. I'll open it later." She wanted to wait until they were together.

Ella interrupted their gaze, oblivious to the underlying intimacy of the interaction. "Aria, you should go upstairs and finish getting ready. You're friends will be here any minute." Ella motioned for Ezra and Sara to follow her back into the kitchen, "Don't worry the adults will keep to themselves."

Aria bit her lip tentatively as they walked away. Before disappearing into the kitchen, Ezra looked back and gave her a reassuring smile, but it didn't help

Aria didn't waste any time getting ready. She was never the type of girl to take hours to get ready, but tonight was a record. She got dressed, did her hair, threw on some make-up and was downstairs in less than ten minutes.

She didn't want to miss the match making scheme that her mother had planned for Ezra and Sara.

Aria entered the kitchen to find that Ella had already 'conveniently' left the room to give the happy couple some alone time.

"You have to try this. It's amazing." Sara told Ezra as she held up of Ella's many appetizers for Ezra to take a bite of.

"Oh umm thanks." Ezra struggled; awkwardly taking the food out of her hands and taking a bite. Sara stared at him intently waiting for his reaction as if he was a food critic and she was the chef. "Very good." He nodded.

Sara laughed. "You've got a crumb." She reached over and wiped it from his chin.

Ezra wiped it again, even though she already had. "I hate when that happens."

"It's okay. It was cute."

Aria cleared her throat to announce her presence and Ezra immediately straightened, afraid that he would somehow indicate an interest in Sara if he were relaxed around her.

"Hope I didn't interrupt anything." Aria apologized.

"No. Nothing." Ezra stammered watching his girlfriend cross the room and grab a cracker from the tray in front of him. "You look amazing." He complimented, losing himself for a moment.

"Thank you." She smiled warmly, taking a bite of the cracker and looking over at Sara who seemed confused.

"I mean…you're the birthday girl, so you should…look amazing." He quickly added, but not so smoothly.

"I get it, Mr. Fitz."

"Right." He looked down at the display of food. "Hey, look, barbeque chips."

"Sorry about that. I just had to get that other bag of ice." Ella lied as she entered the room and frowned to find Aria had interrupted their alone time.

"Ice is important. I love the cold." Sara commented. "Skiing is probably one of my favorite things to do. I take a vacation to Vermont every winter with my family. Do you ski Ezra?"

Aria did her best to hold back her laughter. Had she really just associate ice cubes with skiing in order to talk about herself?

"I've never been." Ezra shook his head politely, but Aria could tell he was also laughing inside.

Sara placed her hand on his wrist, "I'll have to teach you."

"Didn't you say in class one time that you hate the snow, Mr. Fitz?" Aria interjected, eyeing Sara's hand on her boyfriend and willing it to move.

"That is true. Winter is not really my season." He nodded.

"Oh. Well, we can find something else to do then."

"Aria, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ella requested.

"Of course". Aria agreed, following her mother out into the living room.

"Can you ease up a little? Sara just got out of a really rough break up and she trying to move on. That is a tough thing to do and you're not making it any easier."

"I'm sorry. I was just joking." Aria shrugged, trying to seem innocent.

"Well, cut it out." She warned as the doorbell rang. "There are your first guests. I'm going to get your Dad from upstairs so that we can get Ezra and Sara out of your way."

Aria sighed. Why did her life have to be so complicated?