Chapter 2: To Ezria
"Good thing Fitz got a reservation…" Hanna said, surveying the room.
Gianni's was packed. The restaurant had been built over a year ago, but it still never failed to fill up completely on Friday nights.
"No kidding." Spencer replied. The two girls were standing in the doorway, peering around for any sign of Ezra and Aria – or 'Ezria' as Hanna affectionately referred to them as.
"Hey, there they are." Caleb approached them from behind a booth in the corner.
"Hey." Hanna smiled. Caleb leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Spence." He wrapped his arm around Spencer's shoulders and gave her a sideways hug.
"Hi." Spencer smiled.
"Just in time. Ezra and – "
"Hey!" A girly shrill drowned out whatever Caleb was about to say. Spencer turned to see Aria rising from the same booth in the corner, and hurrying down the aisle in her midnight blue pumps and black empire-waist dress.
"Hey." Spencer smiled as Aria pulled her into a hug.
"There's my favorite wedding planner!" Aria trilled. Ezra rose from the booth as well, followed by Harvey – still his best friend from Hollis – and his fiancée, Vienna. The two of them had become a regular addition to the 'group' that they had – Ezra and Aria, Spencer and Toby, Hanna and Caleb, and now Harvey and Vienna – which no one really minded, surprisingly.
Ezra stepped in behind her and held his arms out for Spencer. She dutifully hugged him, before pulling away and letting him move on to Hanna.
"You'll have to tell me everything about your plans so far – I'm sure they are absolutely flawless!" Aria said, her dark brown eyes filled with excitement.
Spencer snorted. "Alright." She nodded.
"Now where's your carpenter in shining toolbelt?" Aria asked, peering over Spencer's shoulder as if Toby might be hiding.
"He's probably on his way. Knowing him, he's probably stuck in traffic or trying to help some lost puppy or something." Spencer teased, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, just because I helped Fido find his way back home last month, doesn't mean I'm Rosewood's new animal control." A familiar voice said from behind her, and Spencer turned.
Toby stood behind her, fashionably late as usual, and dressed in a deep blue button-up and dark jeans. His hair was darkened from the slight rain that fell outside, and his soft blue eyes addressed her like they always did – mellow and soothing.
He immediately pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. "So how about you and me sneak out early to play that game of Scrabble you were talking about…?" He murmured in her ear, making her giggle.
"We'll see, Romeo. Tonight…" She smiled and sighed. "We have an engagement to celebrate."
"So, Aria, tell me again how he proposed." Vienna asked Aria over the rim of her chardonnay. Being barely over twenty-two, Vienna fit in pretty well with the rest of the girls. The first time they had met her, she had been sporting a pair of Betsy Johnson heels, making Hanna love her immediately.
An enormous grin broke out on Aria's face as she all-too-willingly plunged into the story she had recited countless times. Spencer, although happy for her, had learned to just kind of tune her out. She took a sip of her water, a little sheepish that she was one of the only people left at the table who wasn't yet at a legal drinking age. Of course, it didn't stop her from downing various scotches at Toby's apartment, but she tended to play by the rules while in public.
Hanna – also still only twenty – seemed perfectly fine with stealing sips from Caleb's Guinness, while listening to Aria explain her story.
Toby sat between them, his hand holding Spencer's beneath the table. He seemed a bit distant tonight, as if there was a lot on his mind. Spencer arched as eyebrow as she watched him carefully. When Aria's story drew to a close, Ezra leaned in a kissed her cheek, a smile on his face.
"So, he really recited Shakespeare?" Vienna asked dreamily. "How romantic!"
It was such a Fitz-y move to borrow lines from poetry, but at the same time, it was still romantic to all get out, Spencer had to admit.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her lap.
Shakespeare? Been there, done that. ;)
Spencer quietly peered over at Toby, who sat motionless, his eyes trained on Ezra, who was talking some nonsense about something that happened back in Phili.
Her eyes fell to the light beneath the table where, no doubt, Toby's phone was, poised to reply.
Myrtle Beach, February of junior year. They had pretty much lived the entire tragedy that was Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Well, minus the suicide thing, thankfully.
She bit her lip to keep from laughing and typed back.
Hey, not everyone can steal poetry at such a young age, like you.
"It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." See? I still got it. ;)
Spencer giggled softly and put her phone away. Thankfully, the rest of the group was so engrossed in Aria and Ezra's story that they didn't notice.
"Oh look!" Hanna burst out abruptly. "It's a text from Em! 'Sorry I can't be there, tell the happy couple congrats and that I wish them the best – E.' Aww."
"Reply that we miss her!" Aria said.
Hanna nodded and replied hastily before sliding her phone back into her purse.
"Okay, I think that a toast is in order." Hanna said, matter-of-factly. "For the newly engaged, and for everything else in our lives that is worth celebrating. To Ezria!" Hanna proclaimed, holding her glass of Coke in the air.
"To my lovely girlfriend. Even if she does clean out my wallet on a regular basis." Caleb smiled, raising his glass in the air.
"To the great October weather!" Vienna added, holding up her chardonnay.
"To my beautiful fiancée." Ezra lifted up his scotch.
"To Tiffany engagement rings!" Aria raised her glass of water, flicking her left ring finger to show off the proof.
"To Shakespeare." Harvey smiled.
"To spending every day with the person you love." Toby said next to Spencer. She peered over at him and he gave her a knowing look as they both put their glasses in the air.
Then, she realized it; in the long run, life as a whole didn't matter. Who got the promotion at work didn't matter. What major you got didn't really matter. How much money you made didn't really matter. Times like this mattered. The little things, like planning your best friend's wedding, sharing drinks with friends, being in a devoted relationship with the one person you want to spend the rest of your life with.
So, with a cheerful heart, Spencer held up her glass higher and said. "To Ezra and Aria. Let them have the most beautiful life together, filled with many great moments and friends to help them along the way."
"To Ezra and Aria!" The group repeated.
"Cheers!" Hanna grinned as the eight friends tapped glasses. They downed a gulp of whatever they were drinking, and the group delved back into deep conversation and giggles as they set their glasses down.
"Now it's Toby – 108, Spencer – 41." Spencer said in a low voice to him.
"Hmm?"
"Our score. I just got a point."
"We're keeping score? For what?"
"For doing romantic things. I'd say that that toast I just gave was pretty damn romantic."
"Alright, I'll give you that." Toby smiled, and kissed her cheek. "Gotta hand it to you, Juliet. You're doing well."
"That's because I have a Romeo to teach me."