Hey therrre c: So, I really wanted to start writing again & I noticed there just aren't enough Wrenna fics around - so here you go. Quick warning, there won't be too much Wrenna for a while in this chapter but that won't be the case in future chapters of course. A very special thanks to my dearest Ashley (who can be found under MileyDreamer on here) for being a great inspiration (especially when it comes to the whole bird thing) and beta reader, you go girrrl c: (Btw, I have absolutely no idea what it's actually like to work at Calvin Klein, so please don't think I'm trashing them or something; obviously I don't own PLL or anything else, I'm a poor little fucker. And this is rated M for creative freedom mostly, we'll see how much the story will actually live up to its rating in the future)

Yet another morning had broken in the infamous city that never sleeps. A blonde girl in a perfect fit Calvin Klein dress and horrifyingly high heels got into a yellow cab, a Starbucks in hand. Three years and a half had passed since Hanna Marin kissed her hometown Rosewood goodbye to pursue her dream, working as a fashion designer in a true fashion metropolis. From time to time, a slight and tender breeze of nostalgia mixed together with a fair dose of homesickness caused her heart to long for the familiar streets of Rosewood, Pennsylvania and everything and everyone she had left behind. But this breeze never turned into a storm. After living with your mother for your whole life, it is a big decision to move out. Let alone moving to an entirely different state. But it was an act that Hanna needed to do in order to begin her new life. Hanna loved the busy streets of New York, the charming vibe of the city, the smell of the air which was so entirely different to the suburban scent of her hometown, the eccentric cafes, and the designer shops where she never needed to shoplift sunglasses. Being somewhat financially secure at the age of 22 was something she was particularly glad about, even though she didn't exactly owe that nothing but her own achievements but also to a certain someone she didn't leave behind when she left to start a new life, a certain someone without whom she might have given up and gone back home a long time ago, a certain someone who even managed to bring a slight beam of light in the darkest of days.

The cab stopped. Time for work. Hanna let a small sigh escape her lips before she stepped out and paid the cab driver. It wasn't that she didn't like her job but working at Calvin Klein hasn't been turning out to be the fairytale she had expected. Whatsoever, this was her first real job in the fashion industry, therefore she probably just didn't have the slightest clue what to expect from the beginning of this career. As frustrating as it could be at times, it certainly had its perks – at least she got to take plenty of free clothes back home with her. As soon as she had set food in the building a fuzzy little ball of fur was bustling around her legs. Not a day passed without the constant in fear of tripping over Gigi, her boss' obviously hyperactive Chihuahua. The girl made her way to her desk, desperately hoping today would be the day she would finally be able to contribute something of value to the brand but instantly brushing that thought away again. She would probably just waste the day playing Fashion Designer on Facebook instead of being an actual fashion designer.

The hours went by but the day drug on seemingly endless. After her offer to help out with a design for the new collection had been rejected by her boss, without even letting her finish her sentence, it was absolutely certain that Hanna had to lighten her mood with a little shopping tour during her lunch break, a very sufficient method for her, well known among her colleagues.
"Time to add some unnecessary but fashionable pieces to your wardrobe?" asked Jessica, whose desk was right opposite hers.
"Yep. Not too good for my credit card but exactly what I need for my soul." The tall brunette with the well-groomed bob and the oversized eyes that seemed to be too huge for her fragile looking face had quickly become one of Hanna's friends in New York and probably her best friend from work.
"I'd love to join you today but I'm drowning in work."
"Too bad," Hanna sighed and grabbed her purse, "at least I won't have to fight over a flawless pair of Louboutins if I should happen to stumble across one."Jessica threw a quick pout in her direction. "Oh hey, could you please do us all a favor and pick up some more dog treats? Otherwise our little sweetheart Gigi will have driven us crazy by the end of the day."
The blonde rolled her shiny blue eyes but agreed. She wasn't willing to deal with the "little rat on Speed" either after all.

A rather unsuccessful shopping spree came to an end, with nothing but a tiny Victoria's Secret bag tangling from her wrist. Hanna went towards the pet shop to save her colleagues, as well as herself, from an unbearable day in the constant company of Gigi. She was just about to pay for the treats when a large, silver, antique looking cage in the corner caught her eye. In it was a huge grey bird whose breed she still couldn't keep in mind, that she knew she'd never seen before but who looked oddly familiar. No one else seemed to pay any attention to the beautiful, but sad looking creature. Hanna couldn't keep her eyes off it for even a minute.
"That'll be $3.94, please." The cashier brought her thoughts back to earth.
"Excuse me, how much is that bird in the corner over there?"
"That one?" The cashier asked, seemingly surprised. "It belonged to some old lady. Her son sold it to us after she had passed away. It's been here for two months and nobody has ever expressed any interest in it before."
Hanna had started to stare at the bird again, barely paying attention. "I want it. How much?"

"Hanna Marin has come to save the day!" the blonde cheered as she was walking to her desk, tossing the bag of dog cookies in Jessica's direction who caught it with both hands just before it hit her iMac.
"You really are a lifesaver, darling. Success?"
"Hardly. Nothing but a slight dose of Victoria's Secret today." Hanna fake-rolled her eyes and set the bag as well as the cage down on her desk, causing the bird to coo a little.
Jessica couldn't believe her eyes. "Okay, what?! Care to explain?"
The blonde sighed. "Don't ask. It's a long story" Her friend raised an eyebrow. She wasn't the type of girl who let a topic of this kind slip away from her just like that. "A bird like this is kind of the reason my boyfriend and I got together, so I couldn't bring it over me to let this fellow rot in a corner of that shady pet shop any longer, okay Jess?" Jess was obviously still more than interested in hearing the whole story but Hanna wasn't exactly in storytelling mood once she noticed the pile of documents that had appeared on her desk over the break. Despite the concentration required to work on them, they couldn't keep her mind from wandering off and reminiscing.

"Hanna, should you plan on letting this bird stay under my roof just one more night, I'm afraid you'll wake up to find it with its head ripped off" Ashley Marin yelled, looking fairly disheveled.
"I'm sorry, mom. I didn't get more than two hours of sleep either, so believe me when I tell you there's nothing I'd appreciate more than having this thing out of here as soon as possible but guess what, there aren't any takers. I honestly have no idea why." The girl yawned and took a sip from her cup of coffee. "Don't you think Caleb might want to take it in? He seems like the type to me" Her mother suggested.
"He hasn't returned yet" Hanna shrugged. She really didn't want to think about her absent boyfriend any more than she already did to keep from feeling neglected and miserable. She picked up her phone, still taking sips from the mug in her other hand. "Look mom, I'll go through all of my contacts today and I promise, no, I swear I will have found a place to stay for Tippi by tonight. Now leave or do you want to be late for work?" The girl threw her mother a weak smile before she focused on her iPhone again.
"Alright, sweetie. But your lack of sleep isn't a valid excuse to stay home, okay? Go to school."
"Of course, mom." Hanna rolled her eyes when Ashley pecked her cheek and rushed out of the door.

Now, who would possibly say yes to the offer of a free bird? The blonde skipped through her contacts with a lack of motivation. What about Lucas? He seemed more like the type to her than Caleb, definitely. He didn't pick up. Damn. Maybe he had changed his number. Well, if she saw him in school, she would surely make him an offer unless she had found another taker by then – as if that would actually happen. The girl continued to scroll down. Nope, no, definitely not. For no obvious reason, she stopped at Wren's number. She hadn't talked to him in forever, or so it felt, and had absolutely no clue if he even liked birds but something made her feel that he was the perfect candidate. "A bird for the boy with the birdlike features" she thought to herself and pressed the green "Call" button.

She was just about to hang up when she heard a raspy voice mumble a tired "Yeah?" on the other line. Very thoughtful of you, Hanna. Sure, go ahead and call people you haven't spoken to in ages early in the morning, that's classy and polite. Shitshitshit.
Obviously embarrassed, she began to stutter: "Wren. Hi. Uhm. It's Hanna. I'm, uhm. So sorry for calling so early." Okay, this was just getting worse and worse. She covered her eyes under her palm, wishing she could rewind time.
"Oh, Hanna? Wow, hi. Uhm, I'd love to have a chat with you but I just got home from a 48-hour-shift… two hours ago, so I'm afraid I could really use some sleep right now." Well done. You woke him from his first two hours of sleep after two days of being awake. You deserve an award for this.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I… you know, I really just have a quick question for you and then you can go back to sleep. Do you possible want a bird… in your life?" What even?!
"…A bird?" She could hear him yawn over the phone. "Like, what kind of bird?"
"Uhm… well… it's big and grey and rather talkative" What an accurate description. After a short silence Hanna was absolutely certain Wren had just fallen asleep on her and she didn't dare to wake him again.
Then he finally responded: "Yeah, alright. "
Hanna felt as if she had never been more relieved in her entire life. "Really? Oh my god, that's great, I'm so sooo grateful I- " If he wasn't too tired, he'd probably step away from his offer now. You're really at your best today, Hanna. "I'll drop her off at yours after school, okay?"
"Sounds good. I'll text you my address then." So she hadn't screwed up too much. Thank God.
Feeling more than just relieved, Hanna was suddenly back to her usual, bubbly self. "Okay, perfect. I'll see you then. Oh, and Wren?"
"Yeah?"
"Goodnight." She tried hard to hold back a giggle.
"Well, good morning." Wren let out a slight chuckle. "See you later." He yawned once again, and then hung up. Hanna's mood had gone through some drastic changes throughout their conversation and eventually she ended up being captivated by some sort of slight happiness she hadn't felt in a long while.

School went by awfully slow and ultimately, the blonde was overwhelmed by tiredness and therefore barely paying attention to neither her classes nor her friends half of the day. Once there was only one more lesson to survive, her mood lightened up and she was suddenly wide awake again. The reason for this midday wake-up wasn't quite clear to Hanna, or at least she didn't want to believe it to be that simple. Why should seeing Wren make her feel this way? It just didn't make even the slightest bit of sense to her. Or did it? She didn't bother pondering the thought for any longer, and cheerfully put the bird cage inside her car once she got home. For no obvious reason, she decided to leave a note for her mom, as if she expected she wasn't going to be home before the next morning. Well, she could miss the last train after all.

It didn't take Wren long to open the door which Hanna was once again fairly glad about as people had started to stare at the crazy girl carrying around an immense bird cage – or at least that's how she felt.
"Good morning, Mr. Kingston" she exclaimed cheerfully, a huge smile on her face.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Marin" Wren replied grinning "Please do come in" He took the cage from her whilst she stepped in and eyed the bird curiously. "So this is going to be my new companion. Does it have a name yet?"
"I think it's Tippi or something like that. She used to belong to Alison's grandma" Hanna explained, looking around with an equal curiosity. So this was how a doctor lived. Wren's apartment didn't look too special but it appeared to be somewhat tidier than it actually was due to being well organized. Only now she noticed that there was music playing and her eyes fell on high end equipment next to a massive music collection – tall, dark shelves that covered almost an entire world to be more precise.
She turned to face Wren, who had made room for the cage on a nightstand for now. "Is that Broken Social Scene?" she asked, obviously excited.
"It is, indeed. It's 'Sweetest Kill'" Wren flashed her a boyish grin. "Do you like them? Most people I know haven't even heard of them."
"Well, I do know and like them. Would you mind me sticking around for a while? Your collection has me captivated a bit, to be honest" she asked, pointing at the shelves behind her.
"Oh, please. Be my guest. I'd be more than pleased to have you around" the young man announced and left for the kitchen. "Can I offer you anything? Snacks, water, alcoholic beverages?"
Hanna was more than glad to have found a place to hide away for a bit and the fact that there was one of her favorite bands playing in the background almost made her feel at home. "I'm always up for some underage drinking," she laughed and started to study the shelves more closely.
"Well, in that case, please allow me to offer you some whiskey"
Wren returned with a full bottle and two glasses. Soon the two were sitting on the floor beneath his music collection, discussing their favorite Broken Social Scene song, their favorite Arctic Monkeys album, the best song on The Temper Trap's "Conditions" and their favorite Zulu Winter lyrics. Through this in-depth conversation, Hanna studied the shelves of music which were almost too neatly organized ; vinyls at the bottom, CDs in the middle, tapes in the top shelf, everything in perfect alphabetical order.

Time flew by and with every minute that had gone past Hanna felt more comfortable in the company of the boy with the lovely British accent. Hanna mentally noted that she found it to sound even more beautiful than she had remembered. Once they had gone through another record, the girl started looking for a new one but soon stopped at a bad she had not expected to find.
"I certainly didn't expect you to share my like for She & Him," she said teasingly and took another sip from her glass.
Wren laughed and shrugged. "Might be a rather soppy band for a guy to like but I couldn't care less. Have you heard their latest album yet?"
Hanna shook her head no.
"Oh, we ought to change that right now. Their version of 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me' is to die for" He grabbed the CD and leaned over her to reach the stereo which caused her to soak in his scent. He smelled a bit like this typical hospital smell mostly caused by disinfectants but absolutely not in a bad way.

The first song started to play and a moment of awkward silence emerged which Wren eventually broke by bringing up a topic Hanna had rather not thought about.
"So… how is Caleb?" he said in a slightly bitter tone.
The girl had to take another sip of whiskey before she answered with a shrug. "Out of town. Family business. It's been a while since I've last spoken to him." Wren looked down at his glass, nodding slightly but Hanna was almost certain that a slight smile had escaped his lips right after she had finished her last sentence. "How is your love life then?"
"Uhm, basically non-existent?" he laughed and poured himself another glass.
"How is that?" she asked curiously. He seemed like the kind of guy to her who had no trouble finding a girlfriend. After all, he was fairly handsome. Especially with his hair as disheveled as this and in this light blue shirt with the rolled up sleeves and the first two buttons unbuttoned. Her emotions seriously started to confuse her now, therefore she barely managed to pay attention to his answer.
"I work a lot and I just can't seem to find the time to go out and meet someone new." He shrugged and sipped on his glass. "Everything alright?"
As if she had been awakened from a light slumber, Hanna's eyes jumped from his chest back to his eyes. "What? Yeah, yeah, I guess I was just caught up in my thoughts for a moment" she stuttered, trying hard to hide the embarrassment that was growing inside of her.
"And I guess we ought to get that bottle away from you" Wren grinned and put their glasses and the half-empty bottle aside just when the song he had been wanting her to hear all night started playing. "Oh, there we go. I consider this a pure masterpiece."

Once the first verse started they got lost in each other's eyes.
Once the second verse started there wasn't more than an inch of space left between them.
Once the reprise started they had lost all of their inhibitions and he brought his lips closer and closer to hers, and they started to kiss right in time for the chorus.
Even though they had kissed before, it had never felt as right as it did in this very moment. Soon they were completely caught up in each other, having seemingly forgotten about the rest of the world. After breaking another passionate kiss to receive a reassuring look from Hanna, Wren began kissing down her neck, paying special attention to a spot not too far from her collarbone, causing her to let a soft moan escape her lips, one hand buried in his hair, the other one further unbuttoning his shirt.

A moment later he had picked her up and set her down on the bed which was only a few steps away where they slowly got rid of each other's clothes, only breaking eye contact for seconds. When there wasn't even the tiniest layer of clothing left between them, Wren carefully pushed her down onto her back and in response her lips immediately found his again. Their tongues and bodies seemed to be in perfect sync, as if this wasn't the first time they were going this far. Overall, it was a night of tenderness and, at the same time, overwhelming passion, pleasure and pure satisfaction of a kind the girl had never experienced quite like this before.

After deep and peaceful slumber Hanna woke up the next morning with her head on Wren's chest and their fingers intertwined. She didn't have a hangover and the past night certainly wasn't a blur. She had been fully conscious throughout the entire affair and therefore there was no one else to blame but herself. Her guilty conscience took over and the fact that she couldn't bring herself to regret what she had done, not even the slightest bit, made her feel even worse. She got up as quietly as she could and got dressed but she only managed to put on her underwear when Wren opened his eyes.
He sat up and studied her curiously. "So… what's going to happen next?" he asked, a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Deep inside, there was nothing she wanted more than to come back to bed and stay with him forever but instead she swallowed hard and said, sounding somewhat doubtful and unbelievable: "It'll be best to pretend this never even happened"