Please, be nice with me. This is my first PLL story. Let me know what you think.
They were used to receive the A messages, and also with how direct they were. But sometimes they got confused over what she (or he) actually meant, and this was one of those times.
It was the week after the failed surprise party that Hanna had planned in the lake for Caleb. When she was almost drowned by Lucas, who was still to be found. All of them were worried and scared. Once again, Hanna had almost hurt herself seriously. Besides, they didn't know if Lucas was still alive, or even if he really was on the A team. Spencer was really mad at him, to me honest. All of them, besides Hanna, were. But she was madder. All she could remember was the cold she felt in her stomach when she saw Hanna in the water and helped her out.
"I got you" she said, more to herself than Hanna. It was really scary. The last time Hanna was injured, they ended up in the hospital and she stayed there for more than a week. So, she could remember the way she hold on tight on Hanna that night, needing to be sure that she was okay.
For all they knew, it was all Lucas's fault. Once again, it was supposed to be a happy day, a celebration that Hanna had planned every detail and was excited about it. But he, or A, or both, ruined everything and they ended up in the Hasting's lake house alone, comforting their best friend. Calming her about Lucas – how come she could even care so much about him after everything? That's Hanna for you, the biggest heart they all know – and calming her about the lake water that she ended up drinking from her bottle of water.
So, the week after that, they were all worried about the blonde. She always tried to pull a strong face when she wasn't alright. But they, especially Caleb, could tell when something was wrong. And she was acting weird. All the girls, and Caleb, had arranged to not leave Hanna alone that week. Not just because they were worried about her, but because they were worried about Lucas coming back after her, or something.
And that's when they received the A message they didn't understand at first.
"there are more poisonous things than you bitches. good luck – A"
They all received the message Sunday morning. None of them understood what it meant, but they didn't like it one bit. Aria, Spencer and Emily went to the Marin's residence, as they had combined, to keep each other company and keep an eye on Hanna. Emily was the first to get there. She didn't even want to leave her friend after all that happened, but when they dropped her off at her house, she insisted she was fine and wanted to be alone for the night.
"Oh, hey Emily" Mrs. Marin said answering the door and letting the girl in
"Good morning Mrs. Marin. Is Hanna home?"
"Oh yes, I'm so glad you came! Maybe you are more successful to take her out of the bed, because I give up. She says she's not feeling very well, so I think she can use the company" the woman said with a smile and Emily nodded, heading upstairs.
She found her blonde friend in her bed, curled up under all her duvets, with her back turned against the door, so Emily couldn't see at first if she was sleeping. So, she entered the room and approached her calmly
"Hey, Han?" she said and had no answer. She sat on the bed beside her and stroked her arm gently, looking at her chosen sister, knowing she wasn't really okay, but in other ways that Ashley couldn't imagine. The blonde opened her eyes, to see Emily smiling at her, and felt grateful to have such amazing sisters/friends. She also felt like her head was going to explode and closed her eyes again, putting her arm over her face
"What time it is?" she said with a sleepy and raspy voice
"Almost 11am" Emily said "The rest of the girls should be here soon, so I think you should get up already" she said then, pushing Hanna playfully making the girl groan.
"Okay, alright, I'm awake" she said, opening her eyes again and sitting up.
"That's more how I like it!" Hanna looked at her best friend and smiled. Soon her mind reminded her about the events of the night prior and the smile vanished. Emily noticed this "What's wrong?" she asked. Hanna looked down, and then looked for her phone
"Do you know if they found Lucas yet?" she asked and Emily's agitation also vanished
"No, I don't know anything. I thought Caleb was helping the search?"
"Yeah, but he doesn't know anything either" she said, massaging her temples, after seeing the last text Caleb had sent her
"Nothing yet babe. But don't worry, okay? Try to rest a little please, I love you" it was what he said. Rest. Why did she have to rest, while he was out there helping? Sure, even though she had just awaked, she felt exhausted. But she didn't want to just sit and rest. She hated feeling powerless.
"Hey, hey, I see someone came to the party early" they heard Aria's voice entering the room.
"Oh yeah, I just woke up ages ago and didn't want to wait anymore"
"I see" the short girl said, taking a cushion and throwing at Emily playfully, and then she looked at Hanna, who was still sitting at the edge of her bed, massaging her temples. She had heard Aria arrive, but it didn't register in her brain "Good morning for you too Han" Aria said in a joking tone, trying to hide her worry. She knew that Hanna could get really annoyed when people were hovering over her. Hanna looked up and smiled at her friend
"Hey Ari, good morning" she said before getting up to choose an outfit for the day.
"Wow, that's a great fake smile Han!" Aria provoked
"Haha, funny" the blonde said pushing her a little and making the others laugh. It was good to see that Hanna was at least being herself, just even a little.
"So" Emily said, while Aria took a seat at her side "What about Spencer?"
"I don't know, she should be here by now" Aria said, looking at her phone. There was a text from Spencer:
"Sorry I'm late, but I'm coming" she read.
"She says she's coming" she shrugged.
"Okay, so what you want to do today Han? It's your choice" Emily said, bringing the attention back to the blonde. She was getting dressed in her sweatshirt, and that was another clue that she wasn't alright.
"I don't know. Anything?" she said with a shrug. Emily and Aria exchanged worried glances and Emily got up, waking towards the window
"Okay, so we'll start by opening this window and letting the sun come in" she said opening the window, illuminating the room, and smiled "much better, hã?!"
"Hanna?" her mom appeared on the doorway "Honey, is everything okay?" she asked when she saw her daughter's sweatshirt, and her make up free, pale face.
"Yeah, fine" she said "I'm just sleepy, since you let these people in here, to disturb my sleep" she said with a grin and Aria throw another cushion on her.
"Oh, I see" Ashley said smiling. She loved the friendship between those girls and her baby girl. "So, I really wanted to stay here with you today, but I couldn't put off that businesses lunch I had scheduled today"
"Go mom, don't worry. Seriously, I'm fine"
"Are you sure? I can cook something for you girls before I go. And you can call me if you need anything" she said, worried. She knew it wasn't nice to leave her daughter on a Sunday by herself, let alone after what happened with Lucas – that as far as she knows, was missing. But it was a very important client from the bank and it was he's last day in town. She needed to go.
"Yes, I'm sure. Really" Hanna said with that face she always did, when trying to convince her mom of something. With a slight smirk in her eyes.
"Actually, Mrs. Marin, I think we could cook something ourselves" Aria chimed in. "It would be fun" she said looking at the girls and Emily smiled
"Yeah, I like that" she said
"Like what?" They heard Spencer "Oh, sorry Mrs. Marin, I think no one heard me knocking, so I used the back door" Ashley smiled
"Oh please, you girls are family. Don't worry" Spencer smiled and entered Hanna's room
"So, what would you like Em?" she asked
"Mrs. Marin has to attend an event from work, and Aria suggested we could cook something for lunch. Something fun" she said
"Oh, that's a great idea. And I also passed by that donut store you love Han, to get you your favorite. I thought a treat would do you good. So, we already have dessert!"
"Oh, that's why Spencer, the queen of punctuality, was late" Hanna said, and the girls laughed
"Oh, you're very welcome" Spencer said with a smile "I left it in the kitchen, but if you don't want, I can take it away" she provoked
"Oh, stop it" Hanna said with a smile, forgetting about everything else for a while.
"Okay, I see you girls are settled. So, I'm gonna go, alright?" Ashley said, entering the room and giving Hanna a kiss "If you need anything, anything at all, call me, ok? Promise?"
"I promise" she said
"Okay then. Have fun girls, take care" she said, leaving.
"So, now that Spencer is here, have you guys received the text this morning too?" Aria said, after Hanna's mom exited.
"Yeah" the other three said in unison.
"But I didn't get it though" said Emily "It didn't make much sense"
"A is a crazy bitch. What has to make sense about that?" Hanna said, remembering again about all the drama, she just wanted to get away from.
"Yeah, of course she's crazy, but she never says something without a meaning to it. So, it is important to figure her craziness out, before anything bad happens" Spencer said and at that, Hanna just got up and walked towards the door
"Hey where you going?" Aria asked
"To the restroom, may I?" Hanna said a little annoyed, and left. The girls looked at each other concerned. Everything was a mess, and the true was that none of them could take it anymore. It was just too much. And it hit them harder, when A managed to pull their bubbliest and merrier friend down. Hanna was always the one to make all of them laugh, even if she didn't mean too. She was always like a light and cheered everyone up. When even her light was fading, the entire group felt it hard.
Hanna was tired. At first that's all she felt, tiredness. But when she found herself alone in the bathroom, she realized she felt sick. Since the night before, she felt fuzzy. Nauseous, a little dizzy, and without energy. But she thought it was because of all the stress, and the cold she felt after getting out of that water. So, she just went to bed, was all she could manage to do: sleep. Now she was awake, and alone for the first time since she had woken up. She looked herself in the mirror, and saw how pale she was. She thought about putting up some makeup, but the thought was soon invaded by the memories of the night before. Her mind wandered to Lucas. He had to be alive, he had to. He was her friend, and she was certain that it had all been a misunderstanding. She was about to brush her teeth and wash her face, when a strong wave of nausea hit her. She got even paler for a second, and felt a disturbing cold in her entire body. When she realized, she was throwing up in the toilet. Her hands were shaking and she was freezing cold.
The girls kept talking, while waiting for Hanna to return. She was taking a while, but none of them wanted to voice their concern.
"Any news about Lucas?" Spencer was the one to ask
"No. Caleb said he doesn't know anything either" Emily said. They sighed, it was an uncomfortable situation. But, then again, they had to deal with situations like that almost every day since Ali's funeral. "Do you guys think we made the right thing by leaving her alone last night? I don't know, I wish we would've insisted and slept here, either she wanted or not"
"Yeah, I feel you Em. But you know Hanna, she can be stubborn when she put something in her mind" Spencer said "I'm just glad she's okay for now. I was really scared last night"
"No kidding, me too" Emily agreed
"So, today we have to try and have fun" Aria said "I don't think we should be talking about those things, or A related subjects for today. She needs, hell we all need, some break from it all, right?"
"Right, you're right" Emily agreed
"But we still have to talk about it. She really believes Lucas is innocent, and if we don't have this talk with her, she will never change her mind. What leaves her even more vulnerable, because you know how she is, she sees the best in people. I don't doubt she would give him another chance, if he showed up after her"
"Spence, we know that. But as you said, she's stubborn as hell when she wants. She won't change her mind just because we said so" Emily said
"Yeah, I agree. So, I say we should let it drop, just for today" Aria opined and Spencer was the overdue vote. And she wasn't happy about it. She wanted to find the boy herself and kill him. Hanna was her sister, more than that, she had been like her little sister, since when they were kids. Even though they were just months apart, Spencer always protected Hanna from everything and everyone like a big sister would do. And it just killed her to see the blonde caring about someone who just hurt her. She loved her friend's kind and loving heart, but she hated how it caused her to suffer.
"Hey guys, why is she taking so long?" Emily asked. She was also very protective of the blonde, in a different way. They were very close, since they could remember. Hanna always fought for Emily, defended her from anyone, and Emily always took care of the blonde. Always being affectionate with her, and knowing when something was wrong, when she was lying about something, and things like that.
"I don't know, but I'll find out" Spencer said getting up
"No, just let her be for a second" Aria stopped her. The two of them were extremally close to each other, but always had divergence of opinions about things, in situations like that one.
"But"
"No Spence, she needs some time to herself. Emily was here before she had even woken up. We can wait, while we look in the kitchen for what we could prepare" Aria said. She was an easy-going person, but when it was about one of her friend's well-being, she could be very opinionated and strong headed.
"Alright, you go first. I'll just knock on the door and warn Hanna that we're waiting downstairs" Spencer said and walked out of the room, before Aria could stop her. The other two just complied and made their way to the kitchen. Because Spencer could talk all about Hanna's stubbornness, but she was worse.
