Chapter Text
A Year and a few weeks ago, somewhere in Austria, Europe.
Aria was lost in the old streets of Vienna. With all the stories she heard about this place thanks to her mother, she couldn’t not stop in Austria on her journey through Europe. She had already visited some beautiful sites in the North of Europe with her parents back in her teenage years, but she wanted to see more and captured the essence of each town, each country she was visiting. Tonight, she had one particular place in mind: The Castle of Schönbrunn. She had heard a lot about it by her mother but also by Spencer. She promised her friend that she would try to bring back in her luggage a beautiful shot of the castle for her. After talking with some locals and fellow photographer, apparently at night, you could get beautiful pictures of the place without too many people around.
So here she was, kneeling in front of the castle trying to catch the best moment for the picture. Some locals, going home from work or out to party, were passing and then nothing. No one. It was the moment. She did the focus, right in the middle. Everything is perfect. She took a breath. Smile and took the shot. Even before she looked at the picture, she knew it would be perfect, she could feel it in her bones. When she looked at her camera, she felt her heart racing in her ribcage. It couldn’t be. She zoomed and yes. Here, in the middle of her picture, right where she focused her attention, was sitting on the ground, a smiling Spencer Hastings. When she looked up, her friend was already walking toward her.
“Spence? What are you…”
“You really think that you were going to visit Sissi’s Castle without me? I’m the best tour guide in the world.” Spencer exaggerated, hugging her friend like there was no tomorrow.
“Wait, wait, Aria. How did Spencer find you in Austria? I know it’s smaller than the USA but…”
“Even on the other side of the ocean, I couldn’t pass a day without telling where I was or what I was doing. She just had to check on me to know where I was going to be when she arrived.”
“Ok, ok, we want to know. When did you guys kiss? Who kissed who first?” The romantic in Emily couldn’t wait to know the entire story.
“It wasn’t until the day after,” Aria said, dreaming.
Aria was happy to see her best friend, even if she knew that Spencer was hiding the real reason for her visit. She would know soon enough. With the young Hasting, you just had to wait for her to be the right moment, and she would spill her guts out as if she was trapped by Wonder Woman lasso of truth.
They visited Schönbrunn. Enjoy a walk on the river banks and eat some expensive chocolate cake because Spencer said it was mandatory or they wouldn’t truly enjoy all the beauty and secret of the city. At night, Spencer out of the blue offered to invite Aria in a small restaurant. It was an intimate and warm restaurant in the old part of Vienna. Not a lot of people knew about it, but the reputation stood for romance and privacy.
Aria knew it was the time. She had to get ready to face Storm Spencer. The young Hastings was wearing one of her beautiful shirt-tie-vest combos that she got the secret. She was proudly smiling all the way down the restaurant, rambling about anecdotes, here and there. Aria was listening avidly, enjoying the sound of her best friend voice rolling between English, German, and French.
The young Montgomery could feel that the closer they get to the end of their meal, tenser Spencer was. She tried to comfort her friend without success. They once again fought to pay the bill, but Spencer ended up winning their little war with a proud smile on her face.
“Would you like to take a walk with me along the Danube? You could make beautiful pictures.” Spencer asked with a little bit of fear in her eyes and voice.
Aria didn’t say a word. She just took her friend’s hand in hers and took the direction of the Danube. Their fingers staid intertwined the entire time. Time to time Spencer’s thumb was caressing Aria’s hand, looking for the little of courage, she needed to open her heart to her friend. In the end, it was Aria, herself who gave her the last drop of courage.
“You know you can tell me anything, Spence? No one, here, can judge you. It’s just you and me tonight.”
“I know, it’s just…”
Aria pulled Spencer’s hand, inviting her to sit down on the bank of the river. Their feet were flirting with the water. Aria was looking to the sky while her friend was lost in the beauty of the instant.
“I had all these words ready, an entire speech that I wrote and wrote again on the plane, but it is like everything had flown away in the immensity of the landscape around us. I’m speechless whenever I am next to you. My brain fries and my heart runs a marathon. I… Aria, I don’t know what it truly means, but I know that I can’t leave another day without you in it. I think I love you. I have been trying so hard to just mash it down and ignore it and not say it. Ezra was a right guy and Toby, god was amazing, and he liked me, you know, but it was never going to work out because… Damn, yes! I love you. I’m so in love with you, I can’t think about anything or anybody, and I can’t sleep, I can’t breathe, I can’t eat, and I love you. I just love you all the time, every minute of every day. God! Lexie is right, it feels so good to just say that!” Spencer said, jumping on her feet ready to run away.
“Did you just quote Grey’s Anatomy? You, Spencer quoting something that isn’t in black and white? Who are you? What did you do with my best friend?” Aria whispered, getting closer to her friend.
“I… The show was running on the plane to come here. I… If you continue to come closer, I won’t be able to stop myself from kissing you.”
Aria came a little bit closer. Her eyes lost in Spencer’s, daring her to move. She took her hand and let their fingers interlaced again. They danced to the music of their heart beating in unison. Spencer let her free hand playing in Aria’s hair. She couldn’t wait any longer. She filled the space between them and let her lips stole a shy but full of feelings kiss. Aria forbad her to break it and kissed her back like there was no tomorrow.
“How long do you keep that for yourself?”
“How long did “A” bring us back together?”
“What? This long? Why didn’t you say anything?” Aria said, shocked.
“You had Ezra and then someone else, each time. Plus with “A” who was trying to break our heart and destroy our lives at every step, I couldn’t do that to you. I swear myself to always protect you no matter what. I failed you so many times that when “A” was gone for good, I couldn’t take you away from your happiness with Ezra. You were so happy.”
“I was happier when you were around. When you left with Toby, I realised that you took a piece of my heart with you. I felt empty, and Ezra had this obsession of having a family reminding me every time that I was failing him. So, when Nicole came back again in our lives, I knew it was time for me to leave, for good this time. I needed to put space between me and all the drama of Rosewood.”
Spencer hugged her, and together they cried in silence. Letting years of pains and secrets disappeared in their rivers of tears. For the first time in a long time, they felt free of a burden that was crushing their heart for years now.
“Please stay with me.”
“But Ruth replied: “Don’t urge me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” Forever.” Spencer whispered in Aria’s ear with love and softness.
“Fuck, Spencer! I never thought you were the romantic of the group. Sorry Em’, but she stole your crown!” Hanna said, trying to hide her tears behind her jokes. “So, a year? Around Europe without us knowing?”
“And yet, we didn’t hide that much. I was even in a few of Aria’s picture on Instagram.”
“What? No way?” Alison said, already checking on Aria’s profile. “Where?”
“Santorini. The girl on the rock.”
“I love this one, it was so beautiful with the sunset behind.” Emily intervened, dreamy.
“Shit, that’s you! We can’t see your face, but it’s clearly you.”
“So, the friend in Paris. That was Aria?” Emily asked.
“No, it wasn’t. I went to Paris from Firenze, I had to stop to Montreal before coming here. To avoid arriving on the same plane as Aria. I didn’t want you to realise we were together before I was truly ready. I had to see some people in Montreal that why I only arrived this morning.”
“Wait? Aren’t Aria’s parents in Montreal for their wedding anniversary?” Hanna said, lost in the plot twist of Rosewood: Team Sparia – The Show.
“Maybe?” Spencer answered with a proud smile.
“You…”
“What? I couldn’t ask you to marry me without your parents’ blessing. So, I went to Canada to ask them before asking you.”
Aria kissed her lover without warning. She knew she was lucky to have found true love again, but she can’t help to feel luckier every day. Spencer was succeeding to surprise her at every step of their story. The road had been rocky and hilly, but they knew that the sun will continue to shine along their journey. No more impossible storm and uncontrollable fire, together they would be able to face everything.
Love can move mountains… Theirs can cross oceans and reach the starry sky…
THE END...