This is my first Pretty Little Liars Fic I hope you like it :) It could be a one shot, but I do have ideas for this story so I may continue it!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Pretty Little Liars characters

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Wicked Games: Chapter One

'It's strange what desire will make foolish people do'

The streets of Rosewood were quiet. The eerie silence making the click of Aria's stilettos and the clunk of her suitcase wheels hitting the pavement almost deafening. It was almost three in the morning and it struck Aria how easily she manoeuvred through the dark streets; five years ago she would've been terrified to walk alone at night in Rosewood. But things are different now. With each click of her heel the thought of turning back became overwhelming. She hadn't seen him for a little over five years. She began to think she'd never see him again. After all Aria had no desire to return to Rosewood, she was quite happy with her new life. After finishing her English degree at the University of Savannah Aria got a job at a publishing house based in New York. That's where she met Liam, the only other man she'd ever loved and although she loves him dearly he can't quite compare to the first.

When Aria went away to College she tried not to think of him. At first it was because she wanted to be independent and enjoy living her life free of all the restrictions of Rosewood. Then after a couple of months she tried not to think of him because she realised what a terrible mistake she had made in leaving him. No matter how hard she tried to forget, he crept back into her mind each day. A few times she became dangerously close to searching for him, but she caught herself just in time. Despite that, she enjoyed her college experience. She had a few non serious boyfriends, and she kept in touch with the girls, but there was always something that was missing. When Aria learnt that she had got the job in New York she was ecstatic, she'd always loved the idea of living in a big city. It wasn't until she was unpacking her things in her new apartment that she realised New York was full of him. The theatre, the roof, the book shops, the plans they'd made late at night in his apartment to have adventures there.

She met Liam on her first day on the job. Like her he was fresh out of college and trying to work his way into the literary world. He was kind and funny and attractive and it was the first time in a long time she had felt anything close to the feelings she felt for him. When she first started working, she mainly did menial tasks like fetching coffee and photocopying, but her potential was quickly realised and for the past year she has worked as an editorial assistant chasing authors for new chapters and making sure deadlines are met. She was actually content with her life, for the first time in a long time. She had Liam, a great job and it was becoming easier to block him from her mind. That was until a few months ago.

She rushed into work as usual expecting to find a large pile of files on her desk for sorting. She was taken aback to find only one file sitting on her desk, it seemed to be taunting her as she hung up her coat and placed away her bag. She sat at her desk and peered over at it, the bright red urgent stamped all over it made her feel incredibly uneasy. Tentatively she reached out and picked up the file. She flicked over the cover and let out a long breath when she read the name at the top. It was him. Him who she spent the last five years getting over, him who she swore she would never speak to again, it was him. She shut her eyes and took a few deep breaths hoping that when she reopened them his name would be gone and it would all be in her imagination. However when she opened her eyes his name was still there slapping her right in the face. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she dropped the file like it was a hot coal in her hand. She turned round to see Liam, an apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry," He said kissing her on the cheek, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay." Aria said moving to stand in front of the file."

Liam eyed her suspiciously and reached behind her grabbing for the file. Aria's heart began to race a thousand miles per hour. She hadn't told Liam anything about him; all he knew was that she had a steady boyfriend in high school that she loved very much. She had no idea what that file contained, and though it was very unlikely that there would be anything about her in there she still wondered. Liam's eyes widened when he began reading the file.

"Oh they gave you his file; you must be good at your job." Liam smiled at her. Aria's brows knitted in confusion.

"You know about this file?" She asked, panic coursing through her veins.

"Yeah, this guy wrote this amazing best seller book a few years ago, and he's been working on the second one ever since but he can't seem to finish it that's why the file is urgent we want to publish it before people begin to lose interest in him." Liam explained. Aria's head swirled with mixed emotions. She was happy that he'd finally done what he'd always wanted, but she was also sad that she wasn't there to see it happen. Not only was a tidal wave of emotion running through Aria's head, there was also one burning question. She bit down on her tongue hard, trying to stop herself from asking, afraid of what the answer might be. She looked over at Liam and decided to grant herself this one little indulgence.

"What was the book about?" She asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Well it's about a teacher that falls in love with his student and how they tried to maintain their relationship without getting caught out. It sounds kind of crappy I know but it's actually really good I read it last summer. The guy that wrote it was actually a teacher, but I guess the book is like a hundred percent fiction or he'd like be in jail now or something."

Aria cringed at his words, and couldn't help feeling uncomfortable at how close Liam was to the truth. Liam flicked through the file some more.

"It says he taught in Pennsylvania, do you recognise his name?" Liam asked,

Aria tried to keep her expression neutral and her voice level, "Pennsylvania's a big place." She said, it wasn't a lie technically, but it wasn't the truth either. "Can I have that?" She asked reaching for the file. He gave it to her and as she scanned the pages she felt herself becoming numb. He wrote it about her, about them. She had to hold back her tears as she recognised pieces of her life; lazy Saturdays in his apartment, the trip to the museum, the kiss in the rain. All of her most cherished and sacred memories right there on the pages and Liam had unknowingly read all about them. She felt strangely violated at the thought of hundreds of thousands of strangers also sharing in her most favourite moments.

Liam left to go to his own desk and Aria slumped down in her chair staring at the file. If she chased up these chapters it could mean coming into contact with him, which she definitely didn't want. But if she asked to swap with someone it would arouse suspicion and make her boss start asking awkward questions.

After mulling it over for an hour or so she decided to chase up the chapters. She may not even have to talk to him after all the only contact information in the file was for his assistant. She sent him a quick email and fidgeted whilst awaiting a reply. A few minutes later her laptop pinged signalling a new email had been received. Quickly, Aria opened it up; relived when the assistant assured her the new chapters would be on their way soon.

A week passed and no new chapters arrived. Reluctantly, Aria emailed the assistant again and she got a similar reply back, 'the chapters were almost finished they'd be there soon'. This cycle continued for weeks until Aria's boss had had enough. It was the Friday morning meeting and like usual Aria zoned out of the conversation, she was engrossed with running her finger around the edge of her coffee mug when she was vaguely aware of her name being called. She looked up to find her boss looking at her expectantly,

"Pardon?" Aria asked flushing red from the embarrassment of being caught not listening.

Her Boss offered her a small sympathetic smile, "How are those chapter's coming along, we can't wait much longer."

"They'll be here I've been assured they're almost finished."

"Well if they're not here by next week we'll drop it, we can't wait for ever."

Aria's heart turned cold at her words. Her mind began to race, as much as she'd like to pretend otherwise he was always in her thoughts and he was a huge part of her life he always would be. She was overcome with the need to help him. This isn't your problem the little voice inside Aria's head started screaming. You have a great life here, he isn't your problem anymore it bellowed but she was already thinking of what she could do for him. She knew what she needed to do and against her better judgement she knew that she was going to do it. As soon as the meeting let out she shot an email to his assistant and started to plan what she was going to tell Liam.

The day moved at an achingly slow pace and more often than not Aria found her eyes wondering to the various clocks around the office. Liam would often come to check on her and each time she would smile gratefully and tell him she was fine, when in reality her insides were doing what seemed like a million somersaults per minute.

Eventually her colleagues began to clear out of the office and she hastily packed away her things. She turned to find Liam waiting for her as he usually would so they could walk back to their apartment together.

As they started to walk home Aria rehearsed the lie she was going to tell him over and over until she was confident she could tell it without messing up. Lying used to be second nature to her, but not anymore. It was only when they reached their apartment did she feel confident enough to speak.

"Oh Liam I forgot, I got an email from my mom today asking if I could spend this weekend with her she has some stuff to sort out and she needs my help." She said as pulled her travel case out from under her bed.

"This weekend as in tomorrow and Sunday?" He asks.

"Yeah, I'm sorry it's such short notice, I may be back earlier though." She called from the bathroom. She quickly hopped in the shower to freshen up and once dry she re applied her make-up. When finished, she chucked her make-up and toiletries into a bag.

"Well if your mom needs you, she needs you." Liam said, as she emerged from the bathroom. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Oh no, it'll be boring for you, just stay here invite the guys over." She said as smoothly as she could. Liam nodded and helped her to fit the last of her essentials into her travel case. She gave Liam a quick kiss goodbye before hurrying to catch the last train to Philly.

That was how Aria found herself back in Rosewood in the middle of the night, alone. The email that his assistant sent her earlier in the day told her he'd be at The Radley. Aria thought it was rather insensitive to build a hotel and bar where the sanatorium once stood and use the same name, but she supposed it had to be better than the original Radley. She reached the entrance to the Hotel and took a deep breath. He doesn't know you're coming the little voice screamed, you could turn back now it persisted but she pushed it aside, she needed to do this. However as she approached the large revolving doors she was unsure as to whether she was really doing this for him as she was telling herself, or was she doing this for her own gain.

Once she was checked in she made her way over to the bar. She saw him as soon as she stepped in and the familiar sense of déjà vu set in. Suddenly it was six years ago again. She had just come back from Iceland wanting to be someone else and he was the bookish boy at the bar nursing a scotch. Slowly, she walked over and sat three stools down from him. He didn't look over at her straight away which gave her some time to assess him. He still had the same short chestnut hair, but instead of being clean shaven he had a layer of stubble; Aria couldn't tell whether this was an aesthetic choice or born from laziness. He wore a rumpled suit, but the jacket was strewn on the stool beside him and a crinkled shirt with the tie that she bought him once upon a time ago. His eyes, though still the same brilliant blue carried a sadness to them that she'd never seen in them before. The bartender approached her and she ordered a Vodka and Lemonade. He looked up, like she'd anticipated, at the sound of her voice.

"Aria." He said in his gravelly voice that she knew and loved. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for you, Ezra, I need the last chapters of your next book." She said softly trying to keep it together, the very sight of him threatening to bring her to tears.

He looked at her and let out a rueful laugh, "And here I was thinking you'd come back for me."

Aria had played out how this situation could go all day in her head and although his response was one that had crossed her mind, now that she was sitting in front of him she didn't know how to respond.

"Ezra please," She begged, "I just need the chapters then I can leave and we can pretend this didn't happen."

"I'm still working on them." He replied taking another sip of his scotch.

"Ezra if I don't get them tonight they're going to drop you and you won't get published!" She hissed. To her surprise Ezra just smiled.

"Why now Aria?" He asked, "Why you, why now?"

"I work for the publishing house you're signed too, it's my job to make sure chapters are received and deadlines are met, I was given your file and told to chase up your last chapters."

He looked over at her and downed the rest of his scotch.

"Have you read it?" He asked, changing the topic again. Aria knew by it he meant his book, the book about them.

"No," She admitted, "I didn't even know it existed until a month ago."

"You sound angry." He said as he moved two stools down so that he was sitting directly next to her. He was close enough now for her to smell his familiar scent.

"Of course I'm angry, you wrote about me without my consent, you shared all our most precious moments with the world." She seethed.

"If you haven't read it how do you know it contains all our most precious moments?" He taunted.

"My boyfriend has read it." She snapped and she could see him wince at the word boyfriend. They sat in silence for a few moments, neither one of them knowing quite what to say.

"I'm guessing he doesn't know you're the girl?" Ezra asked,

"No, he doesn't." Aria replied matter of factly. A silence fell between them again. Ezra looked down at her, like he was peering right into her soul, in a way only he could.

"Do you love him?" Ezra broke the silence, never being one to beat around the bush.

"Yes." Aria replied.

"Do you love me?" He asked looking into her eyes, sending shivers down her spine. She considered him for a moment. She was tired of lying to herself and she was tired of lying to him. After five long years it was time to tell the truth.

"Yes." She whispered. They both began to lean in and their lips brushed just as Aria remembered herself.

"Not here." She murmured, getting up and gesturing him to follow her. They walked to the elevator and rode it in silence up to Aria's room. The tension was becoming unbearable and they couldn't stand it much longer.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind them they kissed fiercely making up for all the lost years. Ezra picked her up with ease and she wrapped her legs around his waist. She fumbled with his tie, while he tried to unzip her skirt. Once the tie was free she began unbuttoning his shirt, placing kisses on his chest as she went. Moments later his shirt was off and she was tugging off her own revealing her pink lacy bra. Ezra placed soft kisses along her collar bone and down onto her breasts.

Carefully he moved towards the bed and placed Aria down. She raised her hips and he pulled off her skirt, exposing her matching lace knickers. Annoyed that she was the only one in her underwear, Aria took it upon herself to unbuckle his belt und unzip his trousers. Ezra kicked them off and moved back up to greet her eager kisses. His hands began to wander and with one fluid motion her bra was off and flung across the room.

He planted hot kisses along her neck, down her breasts across her stomach and along the line of her underwear. Her breathing sped up in anticipation for what was about to happen. Of course she'd slept with other men in the five years they'd been apart but it'd never felt as good as it had with him. Not even Liam could compare to Ezra's passionate love. He looked up at her and she nodded as he removed her last article of clothing, leaving her naked before him. He ran his hands over all her curves, whispering "You're beautiful." to her over and over.

"Ezra, now." She panted ready for every inch of him. He removed his boxers and she gasped as they were one once more.

When Aria woke the next morning the bed was cold against her naked skin. She rolled over expecting to find warmth in Ezra but he was gone and in his place there was a folder with a note attached.

I finished the story.

I love you always.

- Ezra.

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I hoped you liked that, I had fun writing it! If you want more of this let me know in the reviews :)