Author's Note: I was so pleased with the response to the first chapter of this story. Thank you all very much! I'd love to turn this into a series of one-shots, so if you have any ideas, please leave them in a review or send me a PM. I'd be more than happy to hear suggestions, and I'd give you credit if I used yours. Thanks again!

They really should have been leaving. Instead, they were curled up on Ezra's couch, spending some quality time together.

"Ezra, we have to go," Aria said, gently but firmly. "Spencer and Toby are expecting us."

"Five more minutes," Ezra murmured, pulling Aria closer to him for a kiss.

"That's what you said five minutes ago," Aria reminded him. She lifted Ezra's arms off of her and stood up to put on her coat. "And Spencer hates tardiness," she added.

"You're telling me," Ezra said as he started to put on his shoes. "Most days when I was at Rosewood High, she'd be ready to start class before me." He got to his feet and went to grab his own jacket. "So, Scrabble and a movie tonight at Toby's place, huh?"

"That's what I was told," Aria said.

"Are you any good at Scrabble?" Ezra asked.

"To be honest, I haven't played in a while. No one in my family really likes it, and the other girls and I decided to stop playing with Spencer because she always won. As far as I know, Toby is the only person who's ever managed to beat her."

"They may have an impressive record, but they have yet to face a truly challenging opponent: the formidable Ezra Fitz!" Ezra said. He struck a Superman-like pose, eliciting a giggle from Aria.

"Please don't do that in front of Spencer and Toby. They'll never take you seriously," she said.

"Ah, but that's part of my strategy, Aria!" Ezra said earnestly. "I'll fool them into thinking I'm a clueless amateur, and then I'll knock them dead. They won't know what hit them. Just wait and see."

"If you're so confident in your abilities, then we'd better get going," Aria said. "Otherwise Spencer will kill us for being late before we get a chance to kill them at Scrabble."

"That's true," Ezra agreed. "Let's go!"

The couple drove to Toby's loft above the Brew and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Spencer flung it open. "There you are!" she cried.

"We were starting to think we'd scared you off," Toby said with a smirk, coming up behind his girlfriend.

"As if!" Ezra scoffed.

"We lost track of the time," Aria explained.

"Well, at least you're here now," Toby said. "Welcome to my humble abode!" He gestured for Aria and Ezra to enter the loft, which they did so gladly.

"So what made you lose track of time, anyway?" Spencer wanted to know. "Were you mentally preparing for your imminent demise?"

"On the contrary, Miss Hastings, we were planning a victory party," Ezra replied.

"For us? How nice of you!" Spencer said.

Aria turned to Toby and rolled her eyes. "This is going to be a long night," she said.

Toby nodded. "I'm all for a bit of friendly competition, but this is a little ridiculous. Who knew Ezra had a competitive side?"

"Believe me, this is news to me, too," Aria said, shaking her head. "All right, you two," she added to Spencer and Ezra. "Are we actually going to play the game, or are you just going to spend all night trash talking each other?"

"Trash talking?" Ezra repeated indignantly. He put an arm around Aria's waist as they went to sit down at the table. "I'm offended that you think we'd sink to such levels! We're merely expressing our passion for the game."

"That's not what it sounded like to us," Toby said, taking his seat. The Scrabble board had already been laid out, so the pairs chose their tiles and prepared to begin the game.

"Wait," Spencer said. "Before we start, we should make a bet. The winning couple gets to choose what we do on our next date."

"That's assuming we have another date," Ezra said. "You might be so ashamed after your defeat that you –"

"Enough!" Aria cried, giving Ezra a light shove. "I'm in if you guys are."

"Sure," Toby said. "Let's do it!"

Aria and Ezra went first. After a short period of deliberation, they laid out the word 'sheet.'

"It's not great, but it's not bad for a first word," Ezra said approvingly. "I bet we're going to –"

"Your turn," Spencer said smugly, and the words died on Ezra's lips. Spencer and Toby had already placed their letters, building off of the 's' to spell 'sanctify.' "That's a fifty point bonus for us."

Ezra turned to Aria, a look of disbelief on his face. "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought it was."

Finally, Ezra had to admit that Spencer and Toby were a very talented team. He and Aria did their best, but they just couldn't match the other two. Spencer had an extensive vocabulary and was able to come up with long, obscure words (they had to consult a dictionary more than once to be sure she wasn't making things up). Toby, on the other hand, was good at figuring out where to place their tiles to maximize their points.

"Well, I have to be honest," Spencer said once the game had concluded. "You guys lost by a lot." She held up the score sheet as proof of her and Toby's victory.

"Yeah, yeah, you creamed us. Congratulations. Can we move on to something else, please?" Ezra grumbled.

"How about Spence and I pop some popcorn while you pick out a movie as a consolation prize?" Toby suggested. He took Spencer's hand, and they went over to the pantry to grab the popcorn kernels.

As the popcorn machine warmed up, Toby pulled Spencer closer to him. "You know that was supposed to be a friendly game of Scrabble."

"I'm a Hastings. Competitiveness is in my blood," Spencer said.

"You couldn't have toned it down a bit?"

"Oh, please," Spencer scoffed. "Don't tell me you weren't trying to win just as much as I was."

Neither confirming nor denying Spencer's accusations, Toby smiled and stepped away to get bowls for the popcorn. They walked over to the couch, where Aria and Ezra had already chosen a movie (a classic black and white film, naturally) and cuddled up under a blanket.

"Mmm, smells great," Aria said, reaching for a bowl of popcorn. Toby settled down with the other bowl while Spencer got another blanket. They made themselves comfortable on the couch, started the movie, and half an hour later, almost simultaneously fell asleep.

Aria awoke a little while later to find her head resting on Ezra's chest and her hand buried in the half-eaten bowl of popcorn. She pulled it out, wiped her buttery fingers on her leggings, and looked around. Ezra was still asleep, as was Spencer; Toby was looking at her affectionately as he twisted a lock of her hair around his finger.

"Good morning," Toby said jokingly when he saw that Aria was awake.

"Did that movie put us all to sleep?" Aria asked.

"Nah, we were just worn out from that intense Scrabble game," Toby said, causing Aria to smile. "So," Toby went on, "are you going as crazy about college as Spencer is?"

"Well, maybe not that crazy, but I'm working on it," Aria said.

"Have you started looking at any schools in particular?" Toby asked.

"I'm definitely considering Hollis. I've looked at a few colleges that are farther away, too, but I don't know if I'd truly want to go to any of them." Her glance at Ezra, though subtle, did not go unnoticed by Toby.

"Ezra will support you no matter what you choose to do," he said.

"I know, but it's hard. Part of me doesn't want to leave him, but part of me wants to get far away from all the bad memories I have of Rosewood. And the school I decide to go to will be where I spend the next four years of my life after graduation. A lot can happen in just a year – imagine what will happen in four. Then after that… Who knows?" Aria shook her head. "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to hear this."

"No, I completely understand," Toby said sincerely. "Well, actually, I guess I really don't since I'm not going to college. Still, every once in a while I think about what it would've been like if I had stayed in school. Don't get me wrong, I love where I am now, but sometimes I can't help wondering."

Just then, Spencer began to stir. Her eyes opened and she looked up at Toby, startled. "Did I fall asleep?" she said in surprise.

"Don't worry about it. We all did. This one's still out," Aria said, nudging Ezra with her elbow. "Hey, sleepyhead, it's time to go!"

"Do we have to?" Ezra mumbled, starting to wake up reluctantly.

"Yeah, I'm sure Spencer and Toby want us to get out of their hair, but they're too polite to say anything," Aria said. "Besides, it's getting late. Don't you want to sleep in your own bed?"

"Fine," Ezra said with a sigh. He got to his feet and stretched, followed by the other three.

"Thanks for having us over," Aria said as she and Ezra went to get their coats on.

"Anytime," Toby replied.

"We'll be sure to work on the plans for our victory date," Spencer added.

"And we'll work on our revenge," Ezra said. "Bye, guys."

"Bye!" Spencer and Toby chorused, and with that, Aria and Ezra left the loft.