winter wonderland

chapter 6

It was about 9pm when Ezra and Aria had their Chinese take-out delivered. They sat on the small table in his apartment and ate their food, and were unsurprised when they discovered they had many of the same favourite Chinese dishes.

"Aria?" Ezra asked.

"Yeah?" Aria replied.

"How old are you?" He asked, nervous of the answer.

"I'm a high school senior" she laid her cards on the table, praying he'd be okay with her honesty.

"Okay" he responded with a smile. "And you're okay with me being 23?" he asked warily.

"Of course I am. It makes no difference," she replied with a smile before leaning across to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

Ezra grabbed her hand and lifted her from her seat, as he led them into his lounge room.

"What are you doing?" Aria questioned as Ezra pulled her in close to him. He placed his right hand on her back and his left hand in hers, holding their hands out to the side.

"Oh, hang on," Ezra said as he removed his hand from Aria's back, grasped the remote that was in his back pocket and pointed it towards the stereo.

Soft, beautiful music started to play as he put the remote back in his pocket, and his hand resumed its previous place on Arias back, holding her firmly.

Aria's eyes beamed at his as he stared down at her with a goofy smile on his face.

He knew this was what many would call 'cheesy', but he knew Aria would humour him.

"Wow," Aria breathed out as she stared into his eyes, their feet slowly rocking back and forth to the music. "You're quite the romantic, aren't you, Ezra Fitz?"

Ezra smiled at her and leaned his face closer to hers before slowly kissing her. She kissed him the same way, with care as they both then smiled into the kiss before breaking away, beaming at each other.

Aria rested the side of her head against Ezra's chest as the continued to dance.

"Have you ever been aware that your life was changing, when you were in that moment?" Aria asked with her cheek still pressed against his chest, and her body pressed completely against his.

Ezra nuzzled his face into her hair and inhaled the smell of her fragrant shampoo.

"Like when we met at the bookstore?" Ezra asked in a tone that made Aria smile, immediately knowing he understood.

"Exactly," Aria said as she broke her face away from Ezra's chest and smiled at him, her eyes were happy and glossy.

"Or like this moment right now," Aria said as they continued to rock back and forth, the music still playing, "I know right here, right now," she said as she bought their clasped hands from out at their sides, into their chests closer, "I know I never want you to let me go."

Ezra lent down and kissed her hair as she pressed her face into his chest. The hand that he had placed on her back was brought up to her head as he ran his hand through her hair. Aria knew he agreed with the sentiment behind what she had said; he didn't need to say anything in response.

They stayed there silent for a few moments, holding onto each other as they continued to dance.

Aria drew a tight breath "Ezra, I have to ask; when we first met, you spoke about the author, who I now know as you," she lifted her head and smiled at him tightly, and briefly, before continuing, "you spoke about the author being heartbroken."

Ezra removed his hands from Aria and placed them at his sides, the fingers on his hands moving against each other nervously, knowing where the conversation was heading. He took a step back from Aria.

"Ezra?" Aria asked as she slowly motioned toward him again with caution. She asked blank, "Are you still heartbroken? Am I just a rebound?" Her eyes were afraid of the answer, and the words cut into Ezra. She thought she was just a rebound, he thought as his eyes started to water.

"No," Ezra answered strongly, without hesitation, "I am not still harbouring feelings for someone else. Though, when I wrote that book, that was when I was at my lowest. It was a way for me to put it all behind me. I see now that my ex and I were not at all right for each other. Her breaking up with me was a blessing in disguise."

Aria stared at Ezra as he talked with fascination at his honesty, which she greatly appreciated. She hadn't known him for long, but she knows he would never lie to her.

"And no," Ezra said as Aria softly looked up at him, "you are not a rebound. You are the farthest thing from it" he said as he rested his fingertips softly on her cheeks.

"You are amazing, and I never want to let you go" he said staring deep into her eyes as his hands now fully cupped her cheeks. They kissed softly before Aria said "You, Ezra, are the most wonderful man I've ever known. And I'll never let you, let me go," and with that, Ezra picked Aria up as her arms fell around his neck. He lifted her to the couch and sat down so she was sitting with her legs across his lap. They continued their soft kisses. One of Ezra's arms was around her back, holding her close to him, his other hand was holding her face lovingly. Aria's hand was also on his face, softly caressing his cheek. Aria then rested her head against Ezra's chest.

"You better write a book about our story one day, Ezra," Aria said with a bright smile.

"Or you, my dear," Ezra responded, "could also write it."

She nodded and smiled before responding, "or we could write it together", before closing her eyes and falling asleep as Ezra held his arms around her.

Aria woke up in the middle of the night. Ezra's arms were still tight around her as he slept. She smiled at him and ran her index finger over his cheek in a circle. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and read that it was 1am. Ezra started to snore softly as she leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"Aria?" he asked sleepily, "what are you doing?"

"I need to go home; school tomorrow" she responded as she grabbed her bag from the table.

"Okay," Ezra responded understandingly, yet also sad. Aria shared these feelings, but knew she should head home.

"I'll see you later" she said as she opened his apartment door. Just then, Ezra grabbed her by the arm and swung her back around before placing a firm kiss on her lips.

I'll update the next chapter in a few days :) I hope you enjoyed it! ~St0ryTeller.