Never Ending Love (Ezria)

Graduation

Aria stared in the mirror, and happy as humanly possible, with her graduation dress on. Today was the day that she was finally going to leave high school. There was nothing that she wanted or needed more than this. Most people would be sad to leave something that consumed there lives for such a long amount of time, but not Aria or her friends. They were excited to leave something that caused so much fear in them, and move on to something new. Sure, there was no more -A, and CeCe Drake was locked up in an unknown location, but the PTSD would live on for longer than imaginable, and staying in high school definitely wouldn't help that at all.

"Aria, we are going to be late," Ella called impatiently. She had driven to the house earlier that day so she could go to Aria's graduation with her family. She was secretly thrilled that Aria could finally leave her nightmares and go and begin a new journey. She was going to Savannah, and though the mother would miss her daughter desperately, she knew that her daughter needed to be out Rosewood, or even Pennsylvania for that matter.

Aria rushed out of her room after snapping out of her short lived daze. She finally finished with high school, and she could freely be with her declared soulmate, without anything stopping either one of them. Nothing could break her mood. Now that she could legally be with Ezra, she could legally be happy. Ezra was her love and love was her happiness.

Ella swooped in, pushing her daughter to the family car, and got into the passengers seat, next to her ex-husband. Those two didn't agree on everything, but they were both genuinely happy for their baby girl sitting in the seat behind them.

They drove in silence, trying to hold the tears back. This was undoubtedly an extremely emotional day, and Aria had three more months before heading off to college, and the whole Montgomery family was determined to make the very best of it.

Aria stared out of the window, checking to make sure that this was all real. It sure didn't seem like it. Most people thought that leaving high school was bittersweet, but not more the girl who had formerly died her hair with pink streaks. High school wasn't an easy time for any of the five girls, but Aria might have had it the worst. Early on in her freshman year, she caught her father making out with another women, Meredith, in the back of his car. This took the happiness buried within her out. Right before sophomore year, Alison went missing and it was devastating for her. Alison was the girl who she talked to about everything. Her whole family packed up, and moved to Iceland for a whole year. Although this was healing for the family, it isolated Aria in ways that she couldn't figure out.

Junior and senior years were a million times worse. Everything just seemed to be falling apart. Her family, friends, herself, and her love. Nothing seemed to be right. First, they found her best friend dead, and someone relentlessly stalked her. Her mom found out about Byron's affair and their relationship began to fall apart. Mike had so much trouble in these years, and Aria felt hopeless. Sure, she had her three best friends, but they couldn't change what was happening. Getting those petrifying texts had become inevitable.

In between all of this though, Aria Montgomery fell in love.

The family arrived to the destination of Aria's high school graduation, and leapt out of the car. Aria went to the rest of her class, while her family went to their seats. Currently, Ezra was standing with the teachers, but everyone knew that as soon as the ceremony started, he wouldn't be there as a teacher; he would be there as support for his only love.

As the ceremony progressed slowly, Aria stole quick glances of her family looking proudly at the stage. Because their last names both began with M's, Hanna and Aria sat right beside each other. They would look at each other, too. When they did, they would shake their heads in amazement. The best friends couldn't believe that they were actually graduating from high school. After everything Aria, Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Alison were forced to push through, they could close this part of their personal books. High school was over and now it was time to move on, at last.

No one had had experienced something as seemingly endless as that one ceremony. Aria watched as the principal called "Alison Dilaurentis," followed by, "Emily Fields," "Spencer Hastings," and "Hanna Marin,". It was almost time. The applause was going on continuously before Aria smoothed out her gown in an attempt to prepare for this moment. "Aria Montgomery," the speaker called with a dull proudness in his principal-like voice. Aria stood up and stepped one foot in front of the other, towards him to reach for the proof that she had graduated from high school.

As Aria walked an ambiguous distance, she saw Ezra's head in the audience win a profound smile on his face. They both knew that the bigger symbolic part of this ceremony for the two of them was true love. Over one seat was Ella Montgomery with a tissue in her hand. Aria was satisfied in knowing that her mother was proud of her. Mike sat there, as well, and he grinned at his big (or little, as he liked to say) sister. Byron, to Aria's surprise, looked just as proud as Ella, and if Aria's eyes were working, she saw him give a quick smile to Ezra.

The minute that Aria finally approached the podium, she quickly took the diploma and walked back to her seat next to Hanna. They patted each other's legs and looked at each other in disbelief.

"We actually did it," Hanna mouthed, finding her mom in the expanded audience. Aria didn't reply; she didn't need to. Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields, Alison DiLaurentis, and Spencer Hastings shared a bond like no other friends would, should, or could.

After the ceremony, Aria walked to her parents, friends, and their parents for pictures. She stood proudly next to her four best friends, as they looked brightly at the various flashing cameras. Aria, then, took pictures with her family. It wasn't an easy task, but at the very least, they got their upcoming Christmas card. The final picture that was taken that day was the most perfect one, but wasn't even meant to be one. Ezra had walked over to Aria and leaned down, signaling that Aria should put her head up. As her lips pressed against his, Byron turned away, and Ella looked on and smiled, before returning to her view of the pictures. Ezra pulled away from the kiss, and they kept their arms wrapped snuggly around each other. The two of them were still looking directly at each other, and heard a click. Ella accidentally snapped a picture of the moment, and neither of them were mad. It was a beautiful picture.

When the photography portion of the special day came to a close, Ella and Byron decided to take Aria, Mike, and Ezra out for dinner. Ezra had been becoming for comfortable spending time with the Montgomery family, and the Montgomery's were becoming increasingly more fond of Ezra. He was a good guy, and age didn't matter to them anymore. Aria decided to go in Ezra's car, and meet her family at the restaurant in Rosewood. The recent high school graduate wanted to yell to everyone that she had a boyfriend, and that her boyfriend was Ezra Fitz.

As Ezra pulled into the parking lot, he kissed Aria lightly on the lips and pushed the car door wide open. Aria did the same on the other side, and their hands met in the middle. The now-legal lovebirds waltzed into the restaurant and spotted Aria's family. They walked towards them and sat on the two empty seats.

Maybe being together wouldn't be quite as hard as they thought it would be. They'd have to get over the gossip and rumors, but it would all be worth it in the future. Now that Aria and Ezra had the Montgomery family on their sides, they would breath just a bit more easily. It was like a sliver of hope in the passionately picturesque town of Rosewood.

A/N: Thank you for reading this chapter. Sorry it is so short and took me so long to post. Tell me what you think! Share with your friends! The next free chapters will all take place in the summer, and they will consist of some juicy drama and serious fluff. Remember, I'm Ezria all the way though.