Glimmering daylight peered between Caleb's slightly drawn curtains and cast a faint shadow on his apartment walls. Spencer began to stir from the lustful slumber she had fallen into after she and Caleb slept together the previous night. She turned onto her side to reveal his shirtless body sprawled out beside her. She admired the subtle rise and fall of his chest with each breath he took. He was still sound asleep, so she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and shook him lightly.
"Caleb, wake up…" She spoke in such a hushed tone her voice was almost inaudible. Caleb's eyelids fluttered a few times before he fully woke and became aware of his surroundings. It was then that he realized there was a naked Spencer in his bed, and although their sex night before had been consensual, the memory left an oddly bitter taste in his mouth. Spencer was a beautiful woman, he wouldn't deny her that. But she would never be Hanna. Sleeping with her had almost felt like sleeping with a stranger, it lacked passion, fire, infatuation – every emotion one could possibly feel when they are truly in love with someone. He couldn't just pretend as if he never felt that pang of hurt surge through his veins the moment he saw Jordan. He has to face the fear that has been gnawing away at him ever since the girls came back into town for Charlotte's trial: he was still in love with Hanna Marin.
"That was fun, huh?" She leaned forward next to his right ear, whispering seductively.
He attempted to speak with a forced sincerity, but when he opened his mouth to respond the two were accompanied by nothing but silence.
The playful desire that was left lingering in Spencer's eyes suddenly vanished. "Wait, you don't regret it… do you?"
"What? N-no, of course not." Caleb managed to utter out, but he still stumbled upon his words. "I would never just use you like that."
"Then why are you acting like this?" She pushed further as she shook her head back and forth in confusion. "Last night it seemed like you wanted it just as much as I did. Maybe even more than I did."
"It's not that I didn't enjoy myself, it's just that – "
"I'm not Hanna." Spencer stated as a matter of fact, her head and shoulders slumping.
"Hanna?" Caleb sat up to meet her gaze. "What does Hanna have to do with any of this? We've hardly even spoken since we broke up the summer of our high school graduation."
"Caleb, please, five years or five days it makes no difference. I see the way you look at her."
"Oh, really? And how is that?" His eyebrows rose as he questioned her accusation.
"Like she's the only person in this world you'll ever want to give yourself to."
"Hanna and I – we just – we drifted apart. And even if I wanted to, which I don't, it would never work between us."
"Caleb, why are you here?" Spencer sighed deeply, cutting straight to the point even though she was almost positive she already knew the answer.
"What do you mean?"
"I think you know what I mean."
"Spencer, believe me when I say I have no idea what-"
"Why did you have sex with me last night?" She spoke lowly and through gritted teeth.
"It was what I wanted to at the moment." Caleb folded his arms across his chest and made his best effort to remain calm.
"At the moment. Meaning it's not what you want anymore."
"I never said that." He shot back without hesitation.
"Then what are you saying, Caleb?"
"I can't keep going around in circles with you like this, okay? I'm done with this conversation."
"So that's it?" She concluded angrily, "You just wanted to woo me for a night hoping you could get me in bed and then wake up the next morning and decide it was really Hanna you wanted the whole time?"
"I told you Hanna has NOTHING to do with it!" He was going to lose his temper any second now if she kept pushing him like this.
"If Hanna has nothing to do with it then why are you getting so defensive about it?!"
"Because you're accusing me of something I already told you isn't true!" He shouted as threw his hands up in utter frustration. "Hanna's engaged, Spencer! Engaged as in getting married in less than three months!"
"That doesn't mean you ever stopped loving her."
"I think I always will."
"See, this is what I'm talking about! Clearly you're not over her."
"I was in a relationship with her for over three years! What do you expect?"
"When we hung out in Madrid that summer, I thought we had a connection. I thought you liked me" she wavered, and Caleb could hear the hurt in her voice. He began to grow remorseful the more she carried on, and felt he had to redeem himself with his proceeding words.
"I do like you, Spencer! I do. But I don't think it's such a good idea that you and I have sex again."
"You know what? Forget it, Caleb. Forget all of this", she replied bitterly, her words edged with a cold frost. "I knew I was in way over my head when I believed you and I could actually happen."
"Just because I don't want to have sex again doesn't mean that I don't have feelings for you!"
"Wait, you two slept together? Since when the hell are you guys a thing?!" Aria's bewildered voice caused the both of them to snap their heads around and in the direction of the doorway.
"Aria…" Spencer faltered as a wave of panic washed over her.
"How long have you been sneaking around like this?!" She hissed under her breath with dark eyes full of shock and disapproval.
"We're not sneaking around Aria", Spencer retaliated despite her obvious discomfort.
"Then how do you explain any of this?"
"Caleb and I ran into each other last summer when we were in Madrid. We spent some time together hanging out and ended up having more of a connection than we thought." Spencer sped through her sentence as she frantically tried to undermine what's really been going on between her and Caleb.
"How could you guys do this to Hanna? Do you have any idea how heartbroken she's going to be when she finds out that you've been getting busy in the back seat and never even considered how it would make her feel?"
"Getting busy in the back seat?" Spencer snorted into her hand and attempted to shield her laughter.
"You think this is funny?" Aria came face to face with Spencer, her eyes narrowing. "Right, cause I'm sure it'll be absolutely hilarious when Hanna's locked in her hotel room all night crying her eyes out."
"Please don't tell her Aria." Caleb begged helplessly. He already regretted his decision enough as it is, the last thing he needs is for Hanna to find out about this.
"Since you've clearly forgotten she's ENGAGED, and she and Caleb have been broken up for years. So why should I feel guilty about this?" Spencer whined as she flopped down onto the chair beside her.
"Because you're one of her best friends! Don't you even care about whose feelings you'd be hurting?"
"What am I supposed to be abiding to the girl code or something?"
"More like the I'm-not-a-jerk-who-goes-behind-my-best-friend's-back-and-sleeps-with-her-ex-boyfriend code. And what about Toby?" Aria added, wondering why she hasn't heard anything about the two since they came back to Rosewood.
"Toby broke up with me. You know that." Spencer's gaze fell to her hands that were folded tightly in her lap.
"And you decided it'd be best to conceal your emotions by hooking up with the guy who broke your best friend's heart?"
"Look, I'm sorry okay? I didn't think it would end up being this big of a problem." Spencer seemed to be holding up her guiltless act rather well, although she was beginning to feel as if she'd made one of the biggest mistakes of her life.
"Someone has to tell her what's been going on." Aria insisted while pointing a small finger at the two of them.
"Aria, please." Caleb pleaded with her once more to keep quiet about the situation.
"She deserves to know the truth Caleb."
"I know. I'll tell her myself", he promised, but just the mere idea of having that conversation with Hanna this close to her marriage made him sick to his stomach.
"Are you sure you wanna do that?"
"It's better she hears it from me then from someone else."
"Fine", she exhaled uneasily. "But no backing out. If you don't tell her, you know who she's going to end up hearing it from."
"And what about me? Don't I get any say in this?" Spencer intervened, her words dripping with agitation.
"Once she finds out that you slept with Caleb, I guarantee you'll be getting a lot of say in that matter. Look, I've gotta go meet Ezra but I'll see you for dinner later tonight with the others."
"Bye." Caleb and Spencer mumbled in unison.
"You're not actually going to tell Hanna about us are you?"
"You heard her. If I don't tell her she's going to go through even more pain when Aria does."
Suddenly Spencer's tone changed and it appeared as if she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. "Even though we're older now and we've all moved onto separate lives, Hanna's still my best friend. I don't wanna lose her. Especially with what we're going through right now when we need each other the most."
"I'm sure she'll forgive you for your mistake eventually, it'll just take time. You girls have been through too much together to just shut each other out completely."
"My mistake? You mean our mistake? Caleb – I can't just pretend that I don't like you anymore. Those kinds of feelings don't just go away."
"Well, they have to." He demanded as he headed towards the doorway, motioning for Spencer to leave.
She shook her head, "You can't ask me to do that."
"I can, and I am. At least until after we talk to Hanna about what's already happened between us. Please."
Regardless of her feelings of rejection, she nodded in agreement. "When are you gonna tell her?"
"Tonight at dinner. I just have to make sure I get to her before Aria does."