Caleb huffs impatiently in the back on the Yellow Cab that idles in bumper to bumper traffic.

God, now I remember why I hated the city...traffic. I could walk faster than this.

It has been 3 years since he has been in the Big Apple, and he did not miss the noise. He didn't miss the hustle and bustle of the streets, and he damn sure didn't not miss the traffic. He didn't miss much about this place, other than the memories it held and sometimes even those were too hard for him to think about. Good times and bad ones, it had seen them all, and like Rosewood it somehow always felt like home when he was here...even when it did nothing but piss him off. Now, that was not the case -no matter how at home he once felt here- he just wanted to be back in D.C. He wanted out of this cab and out of this town.

Good thing I've only got 5 days of this crap.

He thinks as he pulls his buzzing phone out of his pocket and looks at the number he recognizes quite easily these days. Swiping his finger over the accept button on his screen he throws the phone up to his ear.

"Hey dad…Did you get my text?"

"Hey, I did." Jamie says back to him "You're in the city again finally? What brings you back?"

"Work, just here for work. Have to check a couple of company's firewalls and then I am headed back to DC. Want to get together for a little while tonight? Maybe grab a drink or something?"

"Uh yeah, I'd really like that son. Want to meet at Murphy's? You know where Murphy's is don't you?"

Murphy's? You mean the hole in the wall bar with the best hot wings in town? The one that was walking distance from my old apartment? The one where Hanna and I used to - That. That is why I want out of the city. All the places and things I remember I about it, they all involve her. Every one of them, Hanna.

"Caleb?" he hears his dad calling his phone from the phone and it snaps him out of his thoughts

"Uh, Murphy's is good. I should be good to go from work at 6 but I will have to run by the hotel and change so you want to meet me there around 7:30?"

"Sounds good."

He hangs up the phone and sticks in back in his pocket. Looking out the window of the cab, he still recognizes the street signs and some of the building fronts as they pass by at an achingly slow pace. He closes his eyes and groans because he knows that is exactly how this trip will go, very slowly. When he opens them, blonde hair catches his eye up ahead of the car and he does a double take. Sitting up in the seat, he watches her as she walks down the sidewalk. Black leather pencil skirt and leopard print top with hair in long messy curls down her back.

Hanna..?

He thinks as he watches the mystery blonde walk ahead of them. As they inch closer and closer to her, he examines the woman as she walks. Picking her apart in his mind, he starts trying to decide if she walks the same as Hanna, moves the same as Hanna.

She looks a little taller than Hanna is…maybe. Would she be comfortable in the city alone like that? Of course she would, she is Hanna Marin! Wait. What if it is her? Am I prepared for it to be her? To see her? Do I speak to her? Do I just let her walk on by?

Pretty soon she stops at the crosswalk, waiting to cross the street as the cab pulls up beside her. He can feel and hear the heartbeat in his ears and his breaths become farther and farther apart. He turns as they pass her looking back to see, not her. He lets out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding and slumps down in the seat of the cab. He runs his hands through his hair.

Gah, I haven't thought like this in years. It must this place, she is everywhere. But I don't know if she even still here...

When he had walked out of that apartment those years ago, he left with the full intention of never returning. He knew that when he left, he had to stay gone and it wasn't because he wanted to. He had to leave and leave the only way she could contact him behind otherwise he would stay or he would come back but either way they would be running around in the same circles they had been in the months before he left. It wasn't fair to either of them to keep on the way they were going. And when he walked out and climbed in the cab that night, he knew that his life would never be the same.

For the most part, he had gotten his life back on track as best he could. He had spent the first week of his trip contemplating if he had made the right decision in leaving and feeling pretty sorry for himself. He had thought about Hanna every waking second of the trip. She consumed every bit of it. Then he ran into Spencer and they spent the rest of their time in Europe catching up. It was a welcome distraction, but the longer they stayed together the more even she had started reminding him of Hanna. Once they were back, he had gotten back to work and to daily regular life and the thoughts of her came less and less frequent. These days he thought of her every once in a while, but she didn't totally invade his every thought like she used to.

When his boss said that he would be flying into New York for a couple of days, it was as if she never left his mind at all. He had dreams about what he would do if he saw her; he ran over what he would say in his head. This was partly the reason he didn't want to be here. He knew that there was a possibility of running into her, but he also knew that there was an even greater chance that he wouldn't. New York was a big place and it housed a lot of people. Plus, there was also a possibility that she had moved away. He never let himself say it but deep down he knew that he secretly longed to see her as much as he knew it would kill him to.

The cab came to a stop as it pulled off to the curb and parks. He grabs his bag from the seat beside him and throws it over his shoulder. He pulls the cash for his cab fare out of his pocket and hands it to the driver. "Keep the change." He says as he opens the back door to the cab and climbs out onto the sidewalk. He watches as the cab turns and pulls back into traffic before turning back to the building. He takes a deep breath and makes his way through the glass doors.

Hanna walks out of the double doors of her office building heading to an early birthday lunch courtesy of her boss. As her heels hit the pavement, she puts on her sunglasses and pulls out her cellphone. Scrolling through all of her birthday texts from the morning, before landing on the one she was looking for and hits send bringing the phone to her ear.

"Hello birthday girl!" her purrs with his sexy Australian accent

"Jordan! Babe, you did not have to send all those flowers! They are really beautiful though. Thank you!"

"Ah, it is the least I could do since I am all the way on the other side of the continent from my fiancé on her birthday."

"Well I appreciate it thank you. Where are you now?"

"We are in London currently. Just finishing up things here, and then we are headed to Paris, but I should be back by the middle of next week and we will celebrate your birthday then. I miss you. What are your plans for the night?"

"Just doing a girls night. Probably gonna go to a bar downtown for drinks and dinner maybe a little dancing. And miss you, of course."

"Well I have to go, but you have fun tonight though, and don't get into too much trouble. I love you."

A horn honks in the street and it makes Hanna glance up to find the source of the commotion. She stops when she sees what looks like a familiar profile come into view in the distance. He is just hopping out of a cab and turns, grabs a bag before shutting the door and steps into a building.

Caleb..?

She gasps at the thought but stands frozen in the middle of the street making the people walking behind her angry as they have to walk around her.

It can't be. Or can it? He hasn't been here in…years. Or had he? Has he been here all this time?

Suddenly she feels lightheaded and dizzy. She finds it harder and harder to make her lungs function and there is an uncontrollable ringing in her ears.

"Hanna?" she hears but can barely register is over the ringing "HANNA?"

She shakes her head as it snaps her out of her trance "Uh, sorry. Some asshole ran out in front of a cab, got me distracted. What were you saying?"

"I love you..?" he says and she can hear the hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Oh. Yeah, you too." she hits end and holds her phone to her chest.

Hanna moves out of the middle of the sidewalk and props herself up on the brick building front beside a trash can; mostly because it was out of the way of the crowd, but she also kinda felt the sudden surge to vomit.

Caleb cannot be here He just can't…not after all this time. Maybe it is just my mind playing tricks on me again…

She runs her hands through her hair remembering when she had driven herself almost to the brink of insanity in the weeks after he had left. She spent the following 3 weeks going from work to home and crying herself to sleep every night. Then when she finally decided that she would face the real world again and started going places other than her apartment, she had convinced herself that she saw him everywhere. Literally everywhere. The first time was the grocery store; the second was the mall which were both possible places where she could run into him if he had come back. Then she started seeing him at places where she knew he would never be. One time she thought she saw him at a fashion show walking the runway for a high end brand. Anywhere there was a brunette, she swear she saw him.

It had taken her so long to get back to her normal life. Many nights of Chinese take-out and rom-coms - crying until her eyes were so swollen she could hardly keep them open. Many, many dozens of cupcakes and pints of ice cream – 10 pounds later she decided that she had to at least make an attempt and mending her heart in another way that didn't involve at least 500 calories. She threw herself into her work and had gotten a promotion. Caleb was always on her mind, but at least this way she could push it to the back burner.

Right on time, when she had just decided that she was capable of being a strong single woman in the city, Jordan showed up. They hit it off right off the bat, having so much in common. He knew the business; he accepted it as the chaotic and demanding career that it was…that had been what had drawn her to him after all the business had been what had ruined everything for her. They had a whirlwind romance and before she knew it, he was down on one knee with a couple carats in his hand and she had said yes. She loved him, there was no doubt that she did but it was different from what she had with Caleb. She never actually said it out but the day Jordan proposed when she said yes, she immediately thought of him. She had always imagined that it would be his proposal she would say yes to, and in that moment she felt like her heart broke a little that it wasn't him on one knee.

She stood from her spot on the wall and brushed off the front of her dress. Pulling her blazer together in the front she buttoned the lone button. Turn to the window, she fixed her hair and lipstick before turning on her heel on a mission.

Only one way to find out...let's chase these ghosts Marin…

She starts to walk, stomping her feet a little harder than she wanted as she walks to the building. When she reaches the front windows, she peers inside no sign of him. She swings the door open and walks through the building. Having no idea what the building housed, she walks right up to the front reception desk. The woman sitting behind the desk smiles at her "Good morning ma'am. How may I help you?"

She glances over to the sitting area to see the man from the street sitting in an arm chair to her right. Not Caleb. Feeling embarrassed she turns back to the woman at the desk "I uh, I'm sorry. Wrong building." whispers as she turns and walks out of the building.

You cannot start doing this again, not now. Not today.

As she walks back out the doors, she pulls her cellphone back out of her bag and opens up her texts. Scrolling through until she comes across the group text from earlier this morning, with the girls she works with

So, birthday girl…let's go out for girls' night tonight, you want to? Say around 6ish?

She takes a deep breath as she types out her reply as she walks down to the café down the street from her office building.

Absolutely! I could use a night out!

Caleb's cab pulls up out in front of Murphy's around 7 and he pays his fare and gets out to stand on the sidewalk. He looks up at the building, it is not exactly a hole in the wall bar to most places, but here in New York it definitely fell into that category. He looks inside, it appears to be pretty busy tonight and there is people filing in and out at a pretty quick pace. He can hear the loud music playing from inside and what sounds like karaoke being sung. He pulls out his cellphone and finds his dad's contact, and hits the call button

He picks up on the second ring "Hello?"

"Hey, I made it here a little early and I am outside. This place is pretty busy tonight…"

"Okay, I am right around the corner, I won't be long."

Caleb hangs up and waits, propping himself up on the brick wall of the building. He had spent all day thinking about the situation with the mystery blonde and Hanna. Truth be told he hadn't really thought about the mystery blonde as much as he had thought about Hanna.

It has been years since I thought about her like this, why can't I get her off of my mind? Why must this place open up old wounds?

He throws his head back against the brick wall and sighs. The notes of Backstreet Boys "I Want it That Way" boom through the doors and takes him back into a memory. His first year living in the city, he and Hanna had made a tradition out of going to this little romantic diner down the street from their apartment. It was their "special occasion" place. One time they were there and it had come on and Hanna squealed with happiness. She began to sing into the salt shaker and dance at the table. He had laughed so hard that he cried that day at her childlike delight over the song. She had started to make a scene in the diner, but he didn't care because she was having so much fun. He laughed again at the memory.

God, I haven't heard this song since Hanna's birthday that year...shit. Of course, today is her birthday!

He pulls out his phone to check the date, and he runs his hands through his hair as he realizes that it is in fact her birthday. Jamie picks that time to walk up towards the bar.

"Long day?" Jamie calls out making Caleb jump

"Hey, yeah something like that." He says as she reaches out to wrap his dad in a bear hug.

Jamie pulls back from him "It's good to have you back son."

"Yeah, I wish I could say it was good to be back…but it is good to see you. Let's go get a beer"

Caleb opens the door and walks in; Jamie follows behind him as they make their way through the crowd to a small bar top table at the far side of the bar. Jamie sits with his back to the wall facing Caleb who sits with his back to the door.

"So, how does it feel being back in the city after, what -3 years?"

"It's uh…it's different. It's busy and noisy and exactly how I remember it, kinda…" he trails off

"Different?"

"Yeah, a little. I just haven't been back since Hanna and I split so it's just…not the same you know?"

"Absolutely."

They order beers and wings and catch up while they wait. The bar starts to get more and more crowded as they gear up for karaoke night. They watch as people get onstage and sing along; some good and some bad. Three beers in, and he can finally start to feel himself relax for the first time she he had arrived as they catch up. He glances back towards the door just as a group of loud girls come in and take their seats at the other side of the bar.

Taking a drink of his beer he turns back to Jamie "This place is starting to get crowded. After this round why don't we go to my hotel bar? So we can catch up..it's not as loud."

Jamie looks past him to the other side of the bar "Yeah, it is…" he says distractedly "Hey, isn't that Hanna?"

Caleb immediately stills, beer halfway to his mouth and stares at his father. He takes a deep breath as he turns his head looking in the direction of his dad's gaze but he doesn't see her "Not you too." He says with a chuckle as he turns back around.

"Huh?" Jamie asks confused

He starts to pick at the label on his bottle "I, uh. I thought I saw her earlier today on the street but it wasn't her…" he shakes his head, eyes wide "We both can't be seeing things old man."

"Now, I may be old…but I am definitely not seeing things. She is in here."

Caleb chuckles "Yeah yeah..not funny."

A few minutes later the DJ comes on loud over the speakers, grabbing their attention as they look towards the stage "Now, ladies and gentlemen we have real treat for you. Well, actually these four lovely ladies have a real treat for you. Singing 'Party in The U.S.A'. Take it away ladies" he says as he motions to the group of loud girls next to the stage.

They squeal and clap as one of them jumps on stage quickly before the music starts and whispers in the DJ's ear then turns around and gestures for the rest of the girls to come on stage, One by one three of them jump up as the music blares through the speakers, leaving one at the table.

Two girls get around one microphone and one girl at the other one they begin to sing "I hopped off the plane at L.A.X. with a dream and my cardigan. Welcome to the land of fame excess – Hurry up girl! – Am I gonna fit in?" They sing, calling out the girl still at the table with her back to the crowd taking one last drink of her mojito before she hops on stage.

Caleb turns back to his dad who smiles a very big 'I told ya so' smile as he takes a drink of his beer and points the neck of the bottle towards the stage. Caleb turns back to the stage and freezes again. This time, he forces his lungs to breath in and out at the sight

Hanna stands on the stage and joins the other three girls around the microphone and starts to sing "So I put my hands up they're playing my song, the butterflies fly away. I'm noddin' my head like yeah, movin' my hips like yeah" they throw their hands up as they sing the words and it is followed by uncontrollable laughter.

He uses what strength he has right now to force his eyes to blink; making sure this isn't another mind game. When he opens them, she is still on stage singing and dancing with her friends. The whole room goes silent and he just watches her as she sings another verse with her friends and when she laughs she throws her head back..

Oh my god. There she is. She is really in here…she is in this bar…and she's...damn, she's beautiful. Just like I remember.

He watches them as they sing, although at this point he cannot hear the words anymore. All he can hear is the sounds of his forced breaths and his own heartbeat as it gets faster and faster. Now, he doesn't blink; afraid that if he does she will not be there when he opens his eyes. He can feel a smile creep onto his face as he watches her on stage.

Once the song is over they shuffle off the stage and the DJ walks back up "Let's give these beautiful ladies another hand. Also, if you are feeling friendly…I was informed that today is Hanna's birthday – Hanna if you could please join me back on stage…?" he asks.

She gets back up from her bar stool and get back on stage offering up a very nervous smile and wave and she walks back up to the DJ who gives her a quick hug. He lifts the microphone back to his lips "As I said, today is Hanna's birthday so if you have any extra cash – why don't you be generous enough and by Hanna and her friends here a drink. Happy Birthday Hanna." He says as he leans down and kisses her cheek. She waves again and walks off stage and quickly tells her friends that they shouldn't have done that.

Caleb watches them through the crowd of people; he can't force himself to take his eyes off of her. It's as if the whole room has gone into black and white and the only things he can see in color is her. Long blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, red dress, bright red lipstick and her megawatt smile. She was breathtaking – literally.

Well, you wanted to see her…it's been 3 years, you think you can handle it? Can I handle it? What if she's still pissed. What if she is married...

He turns back around to his dad, never meeting his gaze. Lifting his beer to his mouth he downs the rest of it, lifting it up over his head to signal to the waitress he wanted another round. He sits the bottle back on the table and finally looks up to meet his dad's eyes.

"I don't guess we're headed back to the hotel bar then…are we?"

Caleb looks back down at the table and then rises from his stool "I need some air." He says as he turns and makes his way through the crowd and walks out the doors.

Jamie motions to the waitress and when she walks over to the table he says "I will have another one of these and –" he pulls out his wallet "And send 4 shots over to the birthday girl and her friends over there in the corner. Just tell her…an old friend says happy birthday." The waitress smiles at him and takes the money up to the bar to put in the drink order.

Jamie stands from his bar stool and makes his way back through the crowd and outside to meet Caleb who sits on the bench outside the bar with his head in his hands.

"You good?" Jamie asks as he sits down beside him and puts his hand on Caleb's shoulder

He huffs "Yeah I..uh, I just hadn't prepared myself to see her is all…it's been a long time."

"It has. Are you sure that is all that is bothering you?"

"Yeah. No. I just...I don't know if I can say anything to her and I don't know if I can sit in there, knowing she's across the room and not say anything. I didn't exactly leave things on good terms so she may still be pissed." he trails off as he shrugs his shoulders "I don't know that I have the right words to apologize for what happened. I know that I cannot sit in there and act like I don't know her at all. She's not a stranger...she's Hanna. She knows me like a book. But what can I say to her? Nothing. There is nothing I can say to her to change it. Not now...and I've tried so hard to wrap my mind around it, but I just didn't realize-"

"That you miss her?" Jamie asks with a smile, already knowing the answer to the question. Caleb shoots him a pointed look and he throws his hands up in defense. "Look, I can't say that I would blame you. Hanna is a helluva girl and truth be told, I always imagined she would be my daughter in law someday. I mean, I owe that girl a lot…"

"Yeah, she is.." he says as he throws his head back against the bench "It's so damn complicated and it took me a long time to get my head straight after I left and in just the matter of hours it's screwed all up again. Pushing it to the back was so much easier miles away from her."

"Well, we've just put another round on our tabs so why don't we just go back inside and down the beers we've ordered. If you decide then that you want to speak you can or we can go on over and if not then we will leave after we get done. We can go back to the hotel bar. But son, let me just tell you...you can take my advice or not but you may have left things on bad terms, but you cannot run from it forever. You just can't. Maybe seeing her and speaking with be what you need to put all of the past between you two to rest. You might even gain a friend out of it." he says as he stands from the bench "Now, we going to drink these beers or not."

Caleb looks back towards the building and opens his mouth to speak but quickly shuts it again as he stands "Yeah, let's go. Good talk dad."

"You're welcome...and I might just have to go tell her thank you myself for giving me the opportunity to have it with you." he says as he opens the door and heads back in with Caleb trailing off behind him.

As the cross the threshold of the door Caleb pats him on the back, "I will meet you over there. I'm gonna run to the restroom." Jamie nods and pushes his way through the crowd and Caleb turns to the double bathroom doors.

Pushing open the bathroom door, Caleb walks in and to the sink. He puts his hands on either side and takes a few deep steadying breathes and he turns on the water. He runs his hands under the cold water and splashes his face a couple times. He pulls a paper towel out of the holder on the wall and wipes his eyes.

Let's just keep to yourself...don't ruin her birthday..

He huffs and throws the paper towel in the trash as she pulls the bathroom door open to make his way back to his table.

As he reaches the crowd he starts to push his way through the people. He glances back to the table in the corner where she was with her friends and he cannot see the table from where he stands. As he continues on through the crowd he bumps into a girl who is leaving the bar. Grabbing her arm to keep from knocking her over and mutters "Excuse me, I'm sorry." she smiles at him.

"No problem handsome." she says and turns to grab another girls hand that stands at the bar still. As her friend turns around, he stops...it's her.

Hanna...

He sucks in a deep breathe when he sees her. She laughs with the bartender and when she turns around she stops suddenly at the sight of him. Their eyes meet and she gasps, dropping her drink in the floor completely uncaring that it has splattered all over her designer shoes.

"Come on Hanna. We're about to go back on." her friend calls out as she jerks her hand, pulling her through the crowd behind her. Hanna turns back around to look at him with a look of sheer panic on her face. He watches her as she goes back through the crowd and after she has disappeared he shakes his head and pushes through the crowd to the table.

When he reaches Jamie, he sits holding his beer in hand "You get lost?"

The DJ booms through the speakers again as he stops the music,Caleb turns to look at the stage and then back to Jamie. "Alright, the birthday girl and company has requested to sing another song...and who are we to deny the birthday girl, right? So ladies and gentlemen give it up once again for Hanna and friends."

The place erupts in applause as the three girls climb back on stage, dragging Hanna back up behind them. This time, she is not nearly as excited and happy to be in the spotlight. Caleb glances back up to the stage and he can see that she is scanning the crowd to find him as the music starts playing.

"Something like that" he sighs as he picks up his beer and starts to down it while Jamie looks on confused. He sits the bottle back down on the table. He looks back up to his dad and gives him a don't ask look and turns to find the waitress nearby.

"Can I get something stronger?"