Some of you are complaining about whiplash concerning Aria and Ezra's relationship, but I feel like that's one what happens in the series and I'm trying to mimic that. I promise it stabalizes from here on out. Please Review! Remember, reviews=motivation=updates.

Spencer felt the buzz of her cell phone before she was fully awake. Pulling out of her pocket, she mumbled, "Hello," pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Spencer?" asked a frantic voice. "It's Ezra. Is Aria with you?"

"Aria?" replied Spencer sleepily. "I don't know where she is. I saw her at the party last night talking to Ian."

"Can you please check to see if she's in her room?" Ezra begged. "She won't answer her phone, and I think she was upset when she left my apartment this morning."

Glancing at her digital alarm clock, Spencer saw that it read 7:24. Suddenly, she bolted up straight in bed. "Aria was at your apartment this morning?" she exclaimed. "Why was she there so early?"

Ezra sighed. "It's a long story. Will you check her dorm room, please?"

"I'll call you back in five," Spencer promised, hanging up the phone. Rolling out of bed, she realized that she was still dressed in the clothes she was wearing last night, jeans and a blouse, and her shoes were still on her feet. She groaned at the sight of herself in the mirror, remembering the frat party the night before, and quickly ran a brush through her hair before running down the flight of the stairs at the end of the hallway to Aria's room.

When nobody answered the door, Spencer knocked even more vigorously. Suddenly, a slightly frazzled, slightly annoyed looking Lucy opened the door. "What?" she asked shortly. "It's six a.m. on a Saturday."

"It's seven-thirty actually," corrected Spencer.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "And?" she questioned pointedly.

"Is Aria here?" asked Spencer. "It's important."

"She came, she changed, she left," grumbled Lucy. "I don't know where she went. Good night," she finished, closing the door on Spencer and stumbling back to bed.

Spencer walked back towards her room, and called Aria on her phone. When she got voicemail, she left Aria a message. Then, she texted her friend. When she failed to receive an answer, Spencer called Ezra back. "Hey, Ezra," began Spencer.

"Yes?" he answered anxiously.

"Her roommate said she came by the room but she's gone now. She's not answering any of my calls either."

Spencer heard Ezra sigh on the other end of the phone. "Thanks," he answered. "At least I know she's safe."

"Is there anything else I can do?" she asked, opening the door of her own room and walking in.

"Do you think you can come over?" asked Ezra. "I think I need to talk to someone who knows Aria."

Puzzled, Spencer answered, "Sure. I'm just going to change. See you in thirty minutes?"

"Do you know how to get to my apartment?" Ezra asked.

Spencer nodded her head vigorously as she looked at the clothes in her closet. "You only made me memorize it and recite it to you a dozen times."

"Okay, I'll see you in a few," he said, hanging up the phone.

Forty-five minutes later, Spencer knocked on what she was sure was Ezra's door. It was the only door on the floor for that matter, and looked around her curiously before Ezra answered.

"Hi," he said, half-smiling. "Come in."

Spencer walked in tentatively, shocked at her surroundings. Turning back she looked at Ezra. He looked like the same old Ezra from Rosewood but this apartment... "Wow," was as all she could muster. "Did they pay you in advance for that book or something?"Ezra laughed slightly, a good sign, Spencer thought, considering how worried he was when he had called.

He shook his head, "It's a long story. Why don't we go into the dining room and talk about it? I ordered some breakfast for you. I thought you might be hungry."

"All right," Spencer answered looking around as she followed him into the next room. "Don't get me wrong, but this doesn't seem like it's your taste."

Ezra offered her a seat at the large mahogany table before answering, "I think it's my uncle's."

"Oh," said Spencer, raising an eyebrow. She sat down. "So, what's for breakfast?" She watched as Ezra pulled out an assortment of food from several brown paper bags.

"Bagels, fruit, yoghurt," he recited. "Juice or coffee?" he asked.

"Coffee. Black, please," she answered.

"Coming right up," he said, walking back into the kitchen to get her a cup.

Spencer looked at the view of the New York skyline from the large windows in the dining room. She almost didn't notice as Ezra placed a cup of coffee in front of her. "So who's this uncle?" she asked, taking a sip.

"Wesley Fitzgerald," answered Ezra nonchalantly.

Spencer nearly choked on her coffee. "Fitzgerald?" she croaked. "As in Fitzgerald endowment for the arts? Fitzgerald preservation fund?"

"Yup," answered Ezra. "That Fitzgerald." Ezra took a sip of his own coffee as Spencer studied him carefully.

"You sure hide it well," she remarked, spreading cream cheese on a bagel.

"Hide what well?"

"The fact that you're a gazillionaire who's been spoon fed since birth. Why were you teaching high school in Rosewood?"

Ezra sighed. "It's a long story."

"Okay," she answered, nodding her head. "We'll get to that. Tell me about what happened with Aria."

"That's a long story," stated Ezra again.

"Well, what happened last night?" Spencer looked pointedly at him. He looked away sheepishly.

"Aria and I might have umm, yeah," he finished vaguely.

"So I guessed," answered Spencer. She took a bit of her bagel. She chewed thoughtfully before replying, "And Aria is upset about it?"

"I didn't force her to do anything," said Ezra quickly.

"Calm down," said Spencer, "I know her. I assume she pounced on you?" Ezra nodded. "But you guys don't have that kind of relationship. Do you?"

"Not yet," said Ezra.

"And she left without saying good-bye?"

"Hmm-mm," he answered.

"What did you say to her?" asked Spencer, taking another bite of her bagel.

"I might have told her that I knew better than to sleep with her."

"Ezra," Spencer cried out. She leaned back into her chair and scowled. "No wonder she was upset. Boys can be so dense."

"What did I do?" asked Ezra worriedly.

Spencer was silent for a moment, considering. "You've known Aria for a long time. Does she like to be told what to do?"

"No," answered Ezra.

"Does she do what she wants without anyone caring what anyone thinks?"

"Yes."

"Who's the one person in the world she cares about more than anyone in the world?" Spencer finished.

"Me," answered Ezra without hesitation, "although her family and friends aren't far behind."

"Well, considering that she wasn't having sex with any of us," Spencer continued even though she saw Ezra flinch, "means that it's something you did. Aria does what she wants without caring about the consequences, but the one person whose opinion does matter, didn't think that what she wanted most in the world was a good idea."

"But she said we shouldn't have done it," exclaimed Ezra.

"She was looking for a contradiction not a confirmation," said Spencer simply. She watched as understanding dawned in his eyes.

"But," sputtered Ezra. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment, opening them he said, "I need to find her."

"She doesn't want to be found right now," Spencer answered. "And you're staying right where you are. There are six more bagels in the bag, and you have something you need to tell me, so spill it."

"Which part?" Ezra groaned.

"All of it," answered Spencer. She grabbed another bagel and spread cream cheese on it. "From the beginning, please," she prompted, taking a bite of the bagel.

Spencer was waiting in Aria's room for her when Aria decided to go back hours later. Lucy made no protests as Spencer camped out on Aria's bed. She couldn't. She had left to spend the rest of the weekend with some friends in Jersey.

"What are you doing here?" asked Aria, throwing her bag into the corner. Sitting her desk chair, she started going through her textbooks, mostly as a way to avoid her friend.

"I talked to Ezra today," stated Spencer.

"Oh?" asked Aria. "What did he say?"

"He told me everything," said Spencer, staring at her friend.

"What do you mean 'everything'?" asked Aria as she rifled through her history book.

"I mean, I know about the Springers, the Fitzgeralds, the sex," she finished carelessly.

Aria's gaze met Spencer's. "He told you all that?"

"I might have forced him," Spencer admitted. She took the book out of Aria's hands and laid it on the book next to her. Aria shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I know that sometimes I haven't been supportive of this thing that you and Ezra have going on," began Spencer. "I might even have been creeped out by it a few times." Aria glared at her friend, "But," Spencer continued, emphasizing the word. "If there's anything I've learned today, it's that he loves you very much."

"Sometimes I'm not sure anymore," whispered Aria. "He feels so far away sometimes. And he spoils me like I'm some pet that needs to be taken care of. Do you know what he gave met this morning?" Not waiting for an answer, Aria grabbed her jewelry box off her desk and went through it. Spencer gasped when she saw the earrings.

"Those must be worth…" Spencer let the thought hang.

"That was just this year," explained Aria, "Last year, he got me this," she thrust the bracelet to her friend.

"Wow," said Spencer, "Just wow." She let out a deep breath. "Why is this a bad thing again? Receiving jewelry from a man who loves you?"

"Because," responded Aria, "it makes me feel so insignificant. Like I'm some kind of object he can decorate."

"I think it's the opposite," replied Spencer. "I think by giving you these things he's showing you how much he loves you, how much he values you."

"Maybe," replied Aria, unconvinced.

Spencer sighed. "He's been the guy next door for so long even when you guys really were together that I think you don't understand how he's change, and how you've changed his life."

"What do you mean?" asked Aria.

"He's not looking at you as the girl next door anymore, Aria," said Spencer. "He looks at you as the woman he's going to spend the rest of his life with."

Aria contemplated this for a moment and looked her friend in the eye, "How did you become so perceptive?"

"Ezra and I talked. Talked," repeated Spencer. "No journal writing, no letter giving, no talking through other people and stories. Talked face to face. That's what you two need to do."

"Not right now," Aria shook her head. "I don't think I can face him."

"Yes, right now," said Spencer, getting up from the bed. "You're supposed to meet him for dinner in an hour."

"No," answered Aria defiantly. "I'm not going. He's going to take me to a fancy restaurant that'll make me feel uncomfortable."

Spencer grabbed an item out of Aria's closet and threw it towards her friend. "He said you could wear jeans."

"Really?" asked Aria, doubtful.

"Trust me," said Spencer. "Trust him."

Hesitating for a moment, Aria got off her desk chair and pulled on the jeans Spencer had thrown towards her. "Which top do you think?" she asked.

"This one," Spencer smiled, handing Aria a red blouse she knew was one of her favorites.

It was September 15, 2013, Aria's nineteenth birthday, and both Aria and Ezra's journals marked the day as the beginning of their new adult relationship where she wasn't the girl the next door, and he wasn't the neighbor that lived next to her.