A/N: First chapter of story! Please Enjoy!

Summary: While Spencer is ignoring Hanna for sending that text to A.D, Hanna gets them into a bit of trouble that leads to an argument...that leads to someone confessing. And what happens when someone else's feelings get hurt in the mix. Read to find out.

Hanna sighs in relief at seeing Spencer walking towards her.

The bell rings, but their teacher still hadn't shown yet— giving the blonde the perfect opportunity to talk to the brunette after last nights dreadful events.

Leaning over her desk, she waves her hand to get the brown-eyed beauties attention. "Spenc...er..." She trails off as the tall girl continues sauntering passed her desk, not even acknowledging her presence, and sits down a couple of desk rows behind her.

She frowns.

"Still not talking to you, huh?" A light, and soothing voice speaks up from beside her.

Groaning, Hanna turns her head to the side. "No...and this is getting ridiculous, I mean why is it so hard to understand that this is how it has to be." She pouts up at the taller figure seated beside her.

Emily sighs, giving the blonde a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Han...just-give her time, I'm ninety percent sure she'll come around." She gives a small smirk.

Hanna looks up at her in an exasperated manner. "Seriously, Emily? Can't you just take this one thing seriously? This whole situation is...ugh!" The blonde ceases her glaring at the swimmer, in order to bang her head down on the hard surface of her desk and stay there. "I feel...my heart...I don't know what it is— but I just can't stand this." She confesses, sadly.

Beside her, Emily bites her lips.

She knew exactly what that feeling was, she felt it for a certain blonde for years.

"I'm sorry..." She apologizes, comforting her friend. She runs a hand up and down the upset blonde's back, then with a subtle flourish— leans back and sends a glare her other best friend's way.

For her part, Spencer does look a little guilty, but the swimmer could see the stubbornness and refusal renewing itself in dark eyes as they met.

The taller girl visibly huffs and looks away. Emily shakes her head, fighting down the urge to tell the blonde exactly what the brunette was feeling...but of course, Spencer would kill her.

She internally groans her own anguish.

"Alright, students, settle down." Their teacher walks in, getting straight to the lesson.

Hanna sits up, and with her shoulders falling, she looked utterly defeated.

So without thinking, Emily grabs her hand and squeezes it gently...

With the underlying intention of just knowing it would get a rise out of the brunette sitting behind them.

She quickly glances back, and sees dark eyes flash dangerously.

The swimmer feels the blonde squeeze back, and her gaze shifts to see Hanna smiling softly up at her.

"Thanks, Em..." She voices gratefully, though the sadness in her voice could still clearly be heard.

The brunette smiles back, and thinks she hears a literal growl from behind her.

Yep, definitely getting a rise out of her-

A small division of white paper slips its way onto the blonde's desk. Both parties eyebrows furrow as they look back.

"Noel!?" They address in unison, whispering quiet enough so that the teacher wouldn't overhear them.

The dark-haired teenager puts his hands up defenselessly, with that usual cocky smirk on his handsome face. "Hey, wasn't me." He directs a thumb behind him.

The girl's eyes follow his thumb.

Spencer.

The brunette doesn't look their way— but Hanna frowns, turning around in her seat and carefully taking the slip of paper in her hand.

She reads it— with Emily, leaning over her shoulder, doing the same.

Since you enjoy holding hands so much, how about you and Em hold hands all the way to her car after school, I have other plans.

"Wh..." The blonde swears, had she been thinking clearly she would have questioned why the brunette sounded so jealous...and also, she wouldn't have done-

"D*mmit, Spencer!" She stands abruptly, unknowingly cutting off their teacher. Hanna turns around and stares said brunette directly in the eyes, again not taking note of the gaping students around her— or Spencer's frozen state. "Just talk to me!" Her palm forcefully slams down on the desk in front of her, causing Emily to flinch.

Silence.

"..." Coming down from her lashing out state, the blonde swallows thickly— but doesn't dare take her eyes of Spencer.

"Ms. Marin." She hears her teacher's sharp tone from behind, barely containing her furiousness at her.

Oh for the love of-

...

"I cannot believe you got us kicked out of class. And detention for a week— my mom is going to kill me, Hanna." Spencer holds up the pink detention slip, matching the blonde's own, while subconsciously tightening her grip around the straps of her pack.

"Oh so now you're speaking to me." Hanna proclaims, and continues to walk alongside the taller girl— the amount of slight sarcasm in her voice, causing Spencer to glare over at her.

Within reason, of course.

They were both on their way down to the principles office because of the blonde's 'little' outburst in front of the whole class.

"I haven't had detention this long since that time you and Alison introduced me to 'that's what she said jokes', I couldn't stop making them for weeks."

Hanna smiles a bit at the memory, a humorous twinkle in her eye. "Yeah, what a funny week that was...a long one though at that."

Brown and blue eyes meet in a moment of clarity.

"That's what she said." The both of them speak in unison— then proceed to break into semi-quiet laughter (classes were still going on after all).

"Never gets old..." As the laughter quiets down, Spencer feels a small smirk tug at her lips as Hanna looks up at her with that look.

She mentally shakes her head.

No, stop thinking like that. You're just kidding yourself...

Meanwhile, Hanna sighs. Being truly delighted now that the brunette was talking and actually acknowledging her.

She stops walking. "Spence...-"

But then, the taller girl also stops, abruptly cutting the blonde off. "You know what?" Her hands splay out in front of her. "Maybe we should just not talk the rest of the way." She insists, before sighing and attempting to continue walking forwa-

"Woah, wait." The blonde exclaims incredulously. "We just had a moment here Spence, you can't just-"

"I can't just?" Spencer stops, turning to fully face the shorter girl defensively. "What? Make a smart decision and stick with it?" She glowers.

Crossing her arms, Hanna frowns. "Low blow, Spencer...you know that's not what I-"

"Hey!"

The two quickly snap their heads up at the sound of the new voice.

"Why aren't you two in class?" A man, looking to be in his thirties and holding an old fashioned walkie talkie, walked in a fast pace towards them.

Unbeknownst to their own selves, both girl's fought the urge to move closer to one another— the unfamiliar face of the obviously new staff member sent silent alarm bells ringing off in their heads, and after the whole 'A' and now 'A.D.' ..'Uber A'...'A 2.0'-whatever. They definitely weren't taking any chances.

Looking at each other and then back at the the golden-tanned man in front of them, both open their mouths, but-

"Wait, do either of you ladies happen to be Spencer Hastings or Hanna Marin?" He narrows his eyes, peering down at them with that dreadful intimidating gaze all teachers seemed to possess.

Had he looked any closer than he already was, he probably would have noticed both girl's eyes widen just slightly at the accusation. At least years of 'A' torture did teach them something.

"Er..." After a beat, Spencer begins to slowly raise her hand— but in seeing this happening beforehand, Hanna reaches up and quickly retracts it, holding it tightly in her grasp.

"No." She gives her most innocent face. "We're not them. We were just...heading to class." She points in some random direction, in hopes that the bold man will believe her.

But he only looks on in suspicion, as silence fills the air...

Meanwhile, Spencer swallows thickly, frozen in place while her palm was likely sweating with the way this stranger was staring at them— not to mention the blonde's hand still in hers.

"Hehe." Said blonde lets out a nervous laugh when the man's skeptical gaze shifts down to their joint hands, in seeing this Hanna takes it upon herself and pulls the brunette even closer, lacing their fingers together— to make it more believable...well at least that's what she tells herself.

Finally, his gaze shifts back up to above their shoulders. "Is this true young lady?" This time his eyes skip over the blonde and lands directly on the, until now, silent Spencer.

"..."

Hanna bumps the brunette's shoulder, and she snaps out of it.

The taller girl very obviously jumps at this, but surprisingly her next the words come fluently. "Uh-yeah. Yes. Yes, sir."

Well, at least she hadn't stuttered much.

She does subconsciously squeeze the shorter girl's hand though, causing a sudden warm feeling of sort to shoot up the blonde's arm and settle uneasily in her chest.

Hanna nearly hitches, tuning out everything else around her and looks down at their hands. What...

"She is correct, and we apologize for any disturbance."

Spencer's voice, again, is the sound that all at once brings her back down to reality.

She shakes her head in confusion, but instantly straightens up when she sees the attendant watching her from his peripheral.

The man purses his lips, but then nods slowly. "Well, alright." He points the old walkie talkie at the both of them. "But you two get to class, right now. Understood?" He says with authority in his voice, eyebrows raised.

They nod quickly. "Yes" "Yes sir".

"Well then, okay." He leaves them with one last stern look, before nodding their leave.

The two waste no time in quickly making their presence scarce, scurrying passed him with the blonde's hand still firmly placed within the brunette's own— a fact Spencer was far too aware of.

"Hanna, where exactly are you going?" The brunette speaks up after a second or two, and after realizing that they had just bypassed their original destination.

Hanna, however, doesn't answer her.

And Spencer muses that she probably should have inquired where they were going— because the next thing her bewildered thoughts knew, she was being quickly dragged into a bathroom setting.

"Seriously, Hanna?" She questions, crossing her arms as she settles by one of many sinks, the brunette letting go of her hand— an action that made the blonde feel cold, the complete opposite of how she just felt a second ago.

Huh?

Spencer huffs at the shorter girl's silence. "Why are we here? Have another bright idea, did you?" And even using sarcasm, the brunette has a noticeable edge to her voice.

Hanna sighs in frustration, throwing her hands up in the air. "Are we still on this Charlotte and A.D. thing? We have to talk Spencer, okay?" The blonde leans against the sink, leveling the brunette with an imploring gaze. "We all talked, and you and I both agreed-"

"No!" Spencer shouts, cutting the girl off. "No, you all agreed." She glares. "I didn't agree to anything, especially not to this." She recrosses her arms— calming herself, while the blonde's hands grip the edge of the sink tightly. "You're going to get yourself killed Hanna, what the h*ll were you thinking sending that text?" Though still tense, her voice lessened its anger and was now leaning more towards confusion and sadness.

Hanna leans warily off the sink before speaking. "I was thinking, that I was going to take the responsibility for Charlotte's death and keep my friends— my family safe. That includes you, Spencer...especially, you." The last part comes out softly, nearly inconceivable.

Except Spencer catches it, and hesitates with it. "...w-whats that supposed to mean?" She questions after another beat, almost afraid to know the answer.

"Nothing!" Hanna jumps, shouting all too quickly to be believable. The blonde takes a breath before chewing on her bottom lip. "I-I mean, I don't...I don't know..."

What the h*ll is that? Why does this keep happening to me?

"Look, the point is, it was my decision, and I don't regret it. So please, don't be mad at me." She pleads, eyebrows furrowing.

Unfortunately, the brunette just stares at her for a moment. "...I'm sorry, was that actually supposed to give you a leg up in this case you're trying to make?"

Hanna huffs. "Seriously, Spencer!?" She runs a hand over her face, before placing them on her hips. "Don't you get it!? I'm trying to protect you!" She stumps, almost like a kid— and had this been any other situation, Spencer would have laughed...but instead...

"God, you're so infuriating when you're like this!" The blonde throws her hands up again and moves closer, to pace in front of the brunette. "You're just like-"

Spencer's jaw clenches, body tensing.

Don't you dare say-

"Caleb!"

"O-kay!" The brunette expresses definitively. "That. is. it." Her arms uncross and her fists clench. "Don't you get it!?"

"Get what!?" Hanna counters back, just as infuriated.

"F*ck Caleb!"

Hanna gasps— whatever left of her composure, leaving her instantly. "Spencer!" The blonde is truly surprised at the way her best friend was acting.

Spencer was furious.

"No! You know what!?" She could feel her temperature rising with every syllable. "You wanna know why this is all bothering me so much! You're going to hear it!" The brunette is across the floor in mere seconds, making up any space still between the blonde and herself. "I love you, Hanna." She confesses firmly.

...and once again, silence fills the air...

The blonde's left gaping at her in utter astonishment— and she takes an unsteady step backwards...

Spencer's chest heaves. "I am in with you, okay? So, there." She gestures around wildly. "That is why I'm upset, that is why I don't hate Caleb-but I don't like him, that is why I can't stand the thought of anything happening to you because of this, and that is why I can't just stand by and watch it happen..." She finishes softly, visibly calming after the confessions— though, she refuses to make actual eye contact with the blonde in front of her. "I'm sorry..." She whispers, then backs away slowly.

Hanna's still frozen in place.

"I'm sorry." The brunette voices her regret once again, before she's gone in what was a blink of eye to the shorter girl, out the door in a hurry.

"Woah..." Hanna responds, blinking— literally minutes after the taller girl was gone. "Oh my god..." Her hands slowly move to cover her mouth, eyes dilated wildly.

... ... ... ...

[ Two Nights Later ] [ Lost Woods Resorts Cabin ]

"I trust, Caleb."

After finishing off with the electric fences and cameras outside, Hanna sits atop the highly uncomfortable bed, thinking back on those oh-so-recent words of hers and can't help thinking how much they leave a burning feeling in her chest now, saying those words so easily to Spencer like that.

Not just that, she shifts on the bed to keep the three other occupants in the room in her peripheral vision, she's starting to doubt them, she had been distracted and sidetracked all night—thinking about the brunette's last words to her...

True to her word that she "wouldn't stand by and watch it happen", she hadn't shown up, opting to go with Toby instead to search the Radley for any clues of Sara Harvey possibly being "A.D."

The blonde sighs subtly. ...now all she could think was: "I trust, Spencer", and how much she wishes it were the brunette all the way out here with her and not-

"You okay?" She hears his voice, closer than she expected him to be.

She jumps slightly, then looks him in the eye— shooting him a grimace of a smile when he looks at her skeptically. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

He raises his eyebrows. "Hanna, you're gonna be safe in here. I promise."

"I know..." That wasn't what she was worried about...

"Good." Caleb smiles at her, before walking back to where she assumed he was working on whatever he was working on before.

Until now that was.

His words only served to intensify her fear of doing this...

And while his words struck fear in her, Spencer always had ways of making her feel safe...like it was her calling or something— now she just felt cold and alone, even with three other people right there beside her.

"Do you need anything?" Next, it's Aria to come over, approaching cautiously— that's how they've been with her all night, she suspected that her and Spence being on the "outs" at the moment had something to do with it.

"A whisky and diet would be nice." She snarks, and Aria gives her a sympathetic overlook, as if she understood— and maybe she did, the blonde muses, being stuck between an old love...and a possible new one.

"I brought some water." The short girl gives a small smile, in which Hanna returns.

"Okay, I'm gonna run a test on the strobe lights." Ezra interrupts, coming into view. "Aria, could you give me a hand?" He inquires, shooting the blonde a small smile, Hanna acknowledges with a nod.

"Yeah. Sure." Aria coincides, taking her best friend's hand and giving it a soft squeeze before walking off and disappearing out the door with Ezra in tow. Leaving just her and Caleb. Hanna takes a calming breath...

"You're really brave, you know that?" He turns his head her way, but doesn't stop what he's doing.

She shrugs. "Someone had to be the bait."

"Didn't have to be you." He counters.

And finally making eye contact with him, Hanna sees the utmost concern in his eyes. "Well, you said I had nothing to worry about..." She throws him a small bone, arms braced against the bed.

"You don't." He finally stops working. "There's no way Sara Harvey is gonna get in here." He nods his conformity

"Are you sure?" She questions for the second time, realizing that she did trust the boy in front her...just not like she used to.

"Have I ever let you down before?"

"..."

That hurt.

The words sent a straight shot to her heart, in the absolute worst way. Because the blonde couldn't help thinking selfishly that:

Yes, yes he had let her down before. And he continued letting her down...because it isn't him she can't stop thinking about right now, it's Spencer. It's always been, Spencer— and he just...wasn't enough anymore, or maybe he never was.

"No." She lies. Then hesitates. "But, I've let you down." Immense guilt laces her quite words, words that she never met to pass her lips, and definitely never for Caleb to hear.

But he does.

And the tech-genius blinks rapidly, fully twisting around to face her, confusion written across his face. "What do you mean?"

Biting her lip, and trying not to let her panic show, she declares the the first thing that came to mind. "The night of our big fight...the night we broke up."

Please believe it, please believe it, please believe it

Caleb looks down at her unconvinced for a moment, then he looks down to the floor under him and shakes his head. "You made a difficult choice." He looks back up at her with sincerity.

Taking a breath, Hanna reflects back on that. Not as 'difficult' as it should have been breaking up with a boy she had been in a relationship with for years— in actuality, after the whole thing she had immediately ran into Spencer's arms; she cried, she ate more than her stomach could handle, and she would've drank (had Spencer not been there to console her).

Frankly, with some distance from Caleb and a certain brunette's pick-me-up, she was over the whole thing in under a month.

Didn't make her feel any less guilty though...

She looks up at him, eyes glazed over.

Caleb was such a caring and loving soul. How could she do this to him? How could she fall...

"There's something you don't know..."

The boys eyebrows furrow in confusion. He had know idea what he was about to hear.

A single tear slipped its way down the blonde's cheek as she turns away from him.

Immediately, she feels a dip in the bed beside her— and then he's turning her head to face him, wiping her tears.

"What is it?"

Shaking her head sadly, she takes a deep breath before staring him in the eyes.

"I...I don't love you."