Author's Note: Another Chapter! Things are getting interesting!

Aria

"No, Em, I know -"

"Hun, that's...you're acting crazy."

"I can't shake it though, Aria. I feel that somehow, somewhere, A is out there, back on the prowl, and is targeting Hanna first. That she/he/it has something to do with this, this tragedy. Then it's me... You... Spencer..."

Emily's voice carried through the phone, the petite tremors in such vocalizations showing her heightening fear, as Aria sighed with slight exasperation.

"Listen Em, you have to understand something: A, whoever it was, is not here anymore. They're gone. It's over."

There was a rustle and what sounded like a muffled cry on the other end of the line as Emily responded. "I don't know about that, Aria, I just don't know."

Emily was having trouble coming to terms with the termination of their adolescent stalker.

She failed to understand that A's vindictiveness has become languished, due to the people part of the so-called 'team' being put behind bars. Those hoodies were washed clean of their malice and are now piled high at a Goodwill, priced at five fifty each.

Aria had, unlike her friend, made peace with it, living life now, how it was meant to be lived. Only once, and to the fullest.

"Emily, I'm sorry, but I have to go. Jake's going to be home any minute."

After the fight concerning the Chinese food almost a week and a half ago, the couple have had many others since then, ranging from something as trivial as who won the board game, to the basis of their relationship: how Aria had just came onto Jake like some lustful wannabe. They have yet to make amends, struggling, even, to be in the same room as each other. It was sad. Aria, many times, found herself crying late at night, cramming her face into the pillow to mute the audio of her tears, as Jake slept heavily on the opposite side of the California King Bed.

Although today, this morning, was different. Despite the bombshell that was Hanna's miscarriage the day before, Aria was, for the first time in months, in good spirits. Jake had awoken hours before her, and made a gourmet breakfast of Belgium waffles and fresh fruit, complete with the blueberry drizzle she loved so much. He then talked briefly of some grand gesture he was planning, and before too long, he had finished his breakfast and was out the door.

But not without giving his girlfriend a chaste kiss on the lips: a sweet vestige of physical contact, something Aria thought had already disappeared completely from their relationship, before he abruptly pulled away.

"Mhm," Aria murmured, leaning into him and succumbing to her yearning. "I missed this."

"And I missed you," Jake responded with equal earnest.

She watched him go, loping down the hallway and into the elevator, feeling as though they had finally made up.

Aria listened to Emily's goodbye, and hung up the phone afterwards, one lingering thought remaining.

During their conversation, prior to the A stuff, Aria and Emily talked reminiscently, about the good times in their high school years. There were surprisingly more than a few, what with the A drama constantly circling them like a spike-tailed halo.

At one point, Ezra was offhandedly mentioned, in talk of the girls' past relationships. She wondered currently, what he was up to now.

Had he fulfilled his dream of becoming a New York Times best seller? Did he still live in Connecticut, the place where he moved after him and Aria had an unrepairable fight at her graduation? Was he seeing anyone? Jackie?

Aria shook her head, refusing to think of him and who he may or may not be seeing, any longer. She owed it to herself, to Jake, to finally move on. Had she though?

Before she could ponder much more on the subject, the dulcet slam of the door jumbled her precise thinking.

"I'm home!" Jake announced ostentatiously, coming to wrap his arms around his girlfriend.

"H-hey," Aria greeted sheepishly, as if Jake could tell what, or more specifically, who, she had been thinking about.

"Now, on to the surprise!" His excitement reminded her of a little girl's, something no woman wants their boyfriend to be compared to. Aria cringed at her choice of metaphor and Jake apparently noticed as he asked, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she snapped, her sudden hostility taking her by surprise. "Nothing's wrong, just... continue."

"Anyway," Jake hadn't seemed affected by her demeanor, moving forward with no sign of fluster.

"Aria, all my life, I've dreamed of a time were I could have a love just like the one of my parents. When you came along, I just knew. It was so sudden, so unexpected, but you, like I, took it in stride. We got along great in those early stages, even more so as we got to be more serious."

"Then you moved in. I was so excited to get all of your stuff taken from your old place into my apartment. By the time I was finished in less than an hour - record time if I say so myself - I was sweaty and out of breath. It was then, standing there, in the kitchen, that I realized something."

"Those few minutes after I'd set down the last box, I just watched you. You were laying on your stomach, legs draped over the arm of the couch, engrossed in yet another novel. This one was long, four hundred pages at least, and you were already a quarter way through."

"You were slow about the process, not overly eager about unpacking the ten large boxes that was your apartment. You had said to me that day, "we'll do it eventually, we have all the time in the world." And you were right. We do have all the time in the world."

"True to your word, we did get those boxes unpacked and have been living together for three years now and as a couple for five. And yet, we still, despite the large sum of time that has passed, have all the time in the world. Time I want to spend with you, Aria, as my wife."

Jake paused, panting, waiting for his breathing rate to return to a normalcy.

He whipped through his speech, one that seemed to have been rehearsed a numerous amount of times, and now that it was the real deal, in front of her, it was as if he couldn't get it out fast enough. Aria hadn't even had time to react to any of what he was saying at the time, and because he finally stopped talking, she was able. "Jake, I-"

"Aria," he began again, before she could say anything with substance.

He got down on his knee and Aria's breath caught as he bestowed upon her the a beautiful, princess cut, diamond ring.

"Will you marry me?"

There was a series of reactions flitting in quick succession across her face and with each transition, her features seemed to change.

Shock. Happiness. Guilt. Sadness. Anger. Love. Lust. Hate. Fear.

Through the opened window, fresh air came through; the wind's chilled fingertips pawing at her face, further opening the cracks fragmenting her bottom lip. Blood trickled down its length, its color property luminous in the setting sun.

"I-" The air picked up again as she paused, the word caught in her throat.

"Just say yes, Aria. It's one simple word."

The blood from her lip, that had started down her chin, was now stilled, a dried spot of red, much like the bold streak through the soft pink of dusk.

Jake raised his eyebrow as Aria took a deep breath. "Baby, are you okay?"

He reached out to rid her chin of the blood, moving his meaty finger across her chin.

"Yes!" Aria blurted, scaring Jake some as he pulled his finger back. "What?" He was momentarily confused, and she could see why, as she made him wait so long for an answer.

"Yes I'll marry you!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck as he picked her up and spun her around. "Really?"

The fact that he needed clarification made her suspicious, but she answered anyway. "Really!"

As he spun her around once again, Aria watched the room spin. It reminded her of when she used to do star tipping back in high school. It reminded her of Ezra, when she convinced him to do it and he fell right as he looked into the light, unable to keep himself upright for even a second.

Ezra.

She felt as though she had fallen down, the carpeting tickling her back, much like the grass had, when she looked to the stars. Now though, instead of the twinkling constellations, all she saw was Jake's concerned face.

"Aria, oh my god, are you okay?"

Apparently, she had fallen. At some point after he had placed her back on the ground, she had fell, and hadn't gotten back up.

"Did I -"

"You passed out. But only for a second. Probably from shock. This is a big step, are you...are you ready for it?"

Aria nodded robotically as Jake helped her up.

"What's Ezra going to think about this?"

Author's Note: What IS Ezra going to think about this?