I just got the urge to write this, which I guess is very fitting, because today is November 5th, aka Haleb day. It's set on their first 1105 anniversary, which I worked out would be around the time of 3x14.
Happy 1105, enjoy!
Forever to Go
"I'll be back from New York by tomorrow afternoon," Ashley Marin notified her daughter, Hanna, as she rushed around their kitchen, washing dishes and putting cutlery back in draws and cleaning work surfaces before she had to head upstairs to pack, "But you'll be at school. I've left some food for dinner in the fridge and your dad knows that you're here alone if you need anything."
"Do you want me to stay at Em's or something?" Hanna raised her eyebrows, staring at her mom from where she was sitting at the kitchen island.
"No, I trust you to be here alone, as long as you still cooperate with the workings of the no-boy-zone," Ashley instructed, wincing as she momentarily trapped one of her fingers in a cabinet door.
Hanna rolled her eyes and nodded, casting her mind back to all of the times that she had done exactly the opposite. "Obviously," She lied, a small smile playing at her lips as she looked down at her now-empty plate, which had once been home to a slightly burnt slice of toast.
"Good," Ashley nodded with her huff, shooting her daughter a quick smile before the doorbell rang, interrupting their conversation.
"I'll get it," Hanna announced as she hopped up off of her stool, before making her way over to the door, and swinging it open to find her boyfriend, Caleb, standing with his arms behind his back. "Hey," She smiled, unable to stop a grin from spreading across her cheeks, "What're you doing here? I thought we were just gonna meet up before first period."
"We were," Caleb murmured, leaning forward to press a kiss to her cheek, which prompted Hanna to bite her bottom lip between her teeth as a feeling of warmth flooded her body, "But then I realised that I should probably bring these to your house instead." He brought his hands from around his back, and Hanna was finally able to see the soft pink and purple bouquet of flowers that he had been grasping in his right hand.
Her grin grew infinitely bigger, and she couldn't help but step forward to plant a kiss on his lips, her hand coming up to stroke his jawline as her eyes bored into his. "You are so sweet," She murmured, burying her head in the crook of his neck momentarily as his free hand snaked around her waist, "But what're they for?"
"Look at your phone," Caleb instructed as Hanna pulled back from him with a slightly perplexed expression etched across her features.
"It's seven twenty-two," She commented after looking at the screen, "We're gonna be late if we don't leave in the next three minutes."
"No," Caleb chuckled, shaking his head, "The date, look at the date."
Hanna furrowed her brow and took another look at her phone display, before something clicked in her mind and her eyes widened a little. "Oh," She breathed out, her lips forming a distinct 'O' shape, "You remembered."
"I did," Caleb nodded, biting his bottom lip.
Hanna looked back up at him, her eyes full of something akin to guilt. "And I… completely forgot," She muttered, rolling her eyes at herself, "I'm so sorry, I promise I'll get you something-"
"Doesn't matter," Caleb interrupted her, "I don't need a gift," He shrugged, passing the bouquet of flowers over to her before he stepped forward, and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips. "There," He smiled, "That was my anniversary present."
Hanna pressed her lips together to suppress a smile, shaking her head at his cheesiness. "Are you sure?" She raised her eyebrows at him. Caleb nodded, his gaze full of sincerity. "Thank you, for these," She added, looking down at the beautiful array of flowers in her hands, "They're amazing."
"Yes, they are amazing," Came a voice from behind the couple as Ashley strolled over to them, "But you need to give them to me and go to school, before you're late," She finished, prying the bouquet from Hanna's fingers as soon as she was close enough to do so.
"Hey, I wanted to put them in a vase," Hanna pouted, folding her arms across her chest.
"I'll do that for you," Ashley smiled triumphantly, "Now go, both of you, and have a nice day. I'll see you tomorrow."
Hanna loved the way that Caleb slid his palm across hers and entwined their fingers as they walked to school that day. She also loved how he kept it there, even once they were inside the building, even whilst he was trying to pull textbooks out of his locker. The gesture gave her an inexplicable feeling of warmth, and comfort. She frowned to herself as she remembered that they didn't have any shared classes that morning, and so she wouldn't see him until lunch. In that moment, her need to be around him felt infinitely intensified.
"Ok, I'll see you at lunch, right?" Caleb enquired, pulling Hanna out of her little reverie. He finally let go of her hand after pressing a quick kiss to her knuckles, and Hanna missed the warmth of his contact immediately.
She swallowed, and gave him a quick nod, bringing herself back to reality. "Meet me here?"
Caleb nodded back at her, and reached out to give her hand another gentle squeeze. "See you in a bit," He murmured, pecking her cheek before he walked off in the other direction.
Hanna smiled to herself, and blushed a little in embarrassment when Caleb looked over his shoulder, and caught her staring at him.
They had been together for a year now, as she was still just as infatuated as she was the day that they had shared their first kiss.
The school bell sounded, and Hanna had to remind herself that there was more to her day than her boyfriend, although she desperately wished that there wasn't. As soon as she opened her locker in order to grab her biology textbook, a bright red envelope fell onto the floor in front of her. She furrowed her brow for a second, but it wasn't long before she realised that it had probably been slipped in there by Caleb. For the second time that day, she felt an overwhelming warmth flood through her body as she bent down to pick up the envelope, and tore it open as quickly as she could.
Inside, was a simple card, with a photo of the two of them on the front; it had been taken during the summer, and they were both smiling, with their arms wrapped around one another. It was Hanna's favourite photo, and Caleb knew that. She felt tears spring to her eyes before she had even opened the card to read the beautiful words that adorned the previously blank space inside.
To my girlfriend, best friend, and favorite person,
Thank you for the best year of my life. You have helped me to become somebody that I never thought I could be. I don't know where I would be without you.
I can't wait to spend every November fifth with you for the rest of our lives.
I love you, always and forever,
-C
Hanna struggled not to outwardly sigh at the sweetness and sincerity of his words. Though she managed to keep her verbal reaction at bay, she couldn't stop a single tear from rolling down her cheek as she thought about how his words rang true for her, too.
It was going to be even harder than she had imagined to be apart from him for the next couple of hours.
Hanna felt the familiar pressure of Caleb's hands on her waist as she finished putting her books back into her locker, awaiting the sound of his deep voice up against her ear, which she knew would come eventually.
"Hi," He murmured, confirming her suspicions, "You get my letter?" He asked, peering over her shoulder into her locker, which was decorated with more than a dozen photos of the two of them, her friends making an appearance here and there.
"I did," She nodded, closing the metal door before she turned around in his arms so that he could see her bright smile, "Thank you, it was beautiful," She added, moving her hands up to the back of his head to play with strands of his hair.
Caleb leaned forward to press a kiss to the tip of her nose, his way of saying 'you're welcome'. He reached down to take her hand in his, and Hanna instantly relaxed at the returning feeling of comfort as they walked outside to their usual lunch spot; an inconspicuous bench, pushed up against a brick wall. "Okay, I know this is sort of cheesy," He started, a slightly nervous expression creeping up onto his face, "But I made you lunch."
"You did?" Hanna beamed back at him, "What did you make?"
Caleb smirked as he took a seat on the bench, and Hanna situated herself next to him. "For savoury…" He started, reaching into his bag before he pulled out a clear, plastic lunchbox, filled with food.
"Fries?" Hanna raised an eyebrow, not sure whether she was seeing things correctly.
"Cold fries," Caleb corrected her, opening the lid of the lunchbox so that Hanna could get a closer look at them.
Hanna smiled, shaking her head in amusement. His attention to detail really was impeccable. "My favourite," She grinned, reaching out to take three fries before she popped them into her mouth, savouring their taste.
"And for sweet," Caleb continued, reaching into his bag to pulling out another lunchbox, this time filled with something completely different, "Smores. Turns out they're a lot easier to make when you have a microwave," He joked, referring to the last time that they had attempted to make them.
"Just like last year," Hanna smiled at the memory, biting her bottom lip.
"Just like last year," Caleb repeated, placing the boxes down on the bench between them before reaching over to take her hand in his.
"Caleb you didn't have to do this," She murmured, "You are so sweet." Though cold fries and smores may not have been everyone's idea of the perfect anniversary meal, to Hanna, it was so much more than that. It showed how Caleb listened to her, and cared about what she liked, and that the memories they had shared meant just as much to him as they did to her.
Caleb rolled his eyes, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Stop calling me sweet, or I'll warm your fries up."
"So, I'm doing the first part of the project, and you're doing the second?" Emily checked with Hanna as they stood by her locker, wanting a definite answer before she headed home for the afternoon.
Hanna nodded, "Yeah, but I'm making no guarantee that my half will be as good as yours," She smiled.
Emily shook her head, smiling back at her friend. "Oh, and before I forget, Caleb wanted me to give you this," Emily remembered, reaching into her bag in order to retrieve a folded up piece of paper, before holding it out for Hanna to take.
"What is it?" Hanna furrowed her brow, feeling that some sort of an explanation was necessary.
Emily shrugged, "I'm not sure, I didn't read it. He just told me to give it to you at the end of the day."
Hanna accepted Emily's explanation, and reached out to take the piece of paper from her. "Thanks," She smiled weakly, "Do you know where he is?"
"Haven't seen him," Emily shook her head.
"Huh," Hanna mused, looking around her to see if she could spot him. They usually met up by her locker at the end of a school day. "Thanks for this, see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Emily smiled, before she turned on her heel and walked towards the front entrance of the school.
After checking to make sure that nobody was looking over her shoulder, Hanna unfolded the slightly crumpled piece of paper in her hands. Her eyes moved quickly over the words on the page, which was only partially filled with Caleb's scrawled handwriting.
11/05/11
Hanna,
Hopefully I chose a friend who's a little more trustworthy to give you the letter this time around.
Meet me at your place in ten.
Bring yourself, that's all I need.
Love, C x
Hanna immediately folded the piece of paper into the back pocket of her jeans, and began to walk home as quickly as the five-inch heels on her feet would allow.
The only stop that she would be making on the way home was to pick up something for Caleb.
She couldn't let him do all of this for her, and not give him anything in return.
Hanna felt a wave of excitement wash over her as she approached her front door, and turned her key in the lock. She was about to enter her own house, something she had done a thousand times before, but this time she was absolutely sure that she would find something out of the ordinary. Caleb had told her to meet him there, and she had been a little surprised not to see him standing outside, which only made her more curious as to what could be going on inside of the house.
As she opened the door, she saw nothing unusual, until Caleb appeared from the kitchen, and walked towards her with a huge grin spread across his face. "So you got the letter this time?" He joked, wrapping his arms around her waist before he pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.
"How did you get in?" Hanna replied, completely ignoring his question – her confusion had gotten the better of her.
"I still have that key that you had made for me, remember?" Caleb smirked as his palms slid up and down the expanse of her back.
"Caleb!" She laughed, "You need to give that back before my mom finds out and bans you from our house for life," She joked, "She doesn't even let my grandma have a key anymore."
"I'm kidding, your mom let me in. I told her I was waiting for you to come home so that we could spend our anniversary together, which is the truth," He explained, prompting Hanna to roll her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Did she leave already?" She questioned, peering over his shoulder to see if she could spot her mom.
"Yeah, she left just before you got home," He nodded, "I remember you saying that she was going to New York for a day, right?"
Hanna nodded in confirmation as she stepped back from his embrace, placing her coat, bag, and shoes in their rightful places before she took his hands and placed them back on her waist, earning a laugh from Caleb. "How come you got out of school so early anyways?" She mused, reaching a hand up to straighten his shirt out, before she ran it through his slightly dishevelled hair.
"I uh, I ditched last period," Shrugging his shoulders.
Hanna raised an eyebrow, "What for?"
Caleb's smirk grew bigger as he seemed to mull something over. "I guess you won't find out until you come upstairs," He shrugged, piquing Hanna's curiosity.
"Upstairs?" She repeated back at him, looking towards the staircase, "My mom wouldn't be happy about the fact that I'm breaking the no-boy-zone rule already," She joked.
"Just follow me," Caleb chuckled, taking her hand in his before he led them up the stairs, to her bedroom door. "Now close your eyes," He murmured, watching as an unsure expression crept upon her features, "It's nothing bad, I swear," He assured her, smiling triumphantly as she gave in, and her eyelids fluttered to a close.
Slowly, he opened the door, making sure that she wasn't cheating by looking before he told her to do so. Leading her by the hand, he walked her inside the room, and closed the door behind them, not bothering to flick the light switch on. "Ok," He confirmed, a feeling of sheer nervousness and excitement washing over his body, "You can open them now."
Hanna didn't know what to expect when she opened her eyes, but it certainly wasn't anything as spectacular as the reality that she found herself faced with.
Caleb had covered Hanna's bedroom in strings of fairy lights; warm pinks, purples, and whites that scattered shapes all across the room. Her bed had been transformed into a den, no, a tent, with blankets strung across various pieces of furniture, forming a canopy over Hanna's mattress. More sheets hung from the blankets, completely enclosing the bed in a cocoon of fabric.
"Caleb, this is so beautiful," Hanna beamed, looking back at him, "When did you do all of this?" She asked, a little lost for words as her eyes scanned over the room once more.
"I told you, I skipped last period," He smiled at how captivated she seemed to be by what he had done, "You haven't seen the best part yet, though. Climb inside the tent."
Instead of stepping forward towards the 'tent', Hanna turned back to Caleb, and brought her lips to his in a soft, lingering kiss, which soon turned into two, three, four kisses. She wrapped her arms around his neck as they eventually slowed down, and buried her face against his shoulder, revelling in his warmth and comforting scent. "I love you," She reminded him, softly, quietly, smiling to herself when she felt him shiver gently at her words.
He leant down to press a kiss against the top of her head, his arms wrapping a little tighter around her waist. "I love you too," He returned, before she pulled away, grabbing his hand in her smaller one, inviting him to walk towards the makeshift tent with her.
As she lifted the sheet closest to her, and made her way underneath the blankets, she was met with an array of pillows and comforters and yet more lights, which created a space so magical that she felt like she might melt. Amongst the pillows was a small box, with a tiny white envelope next to it, which reminded Hanna of the fact that the had left her gift for Caleb downstairs. In the corner of the 'tent', was a pile of Hanna's favourite candy and snacks, alongside her laptop, with a stack of her favourite movies next to it.
"You like it?" Caleb asked her gently, crawling inside the den and putting the sheet back into place behind him, before moving the small box and envelope to the side so that he could kneel down next to her. "I figured we could spend the evening in here, after dinner."
Hanna pressed her lips together, suppressing the urge to cry at how sweet and considerate her boyfriend was being. "How about we just skip dinner, eat the candy, and spend the rest of the day in here instead," She laughed softly, turning towards him and taking his hand in hers.
"That's good with me," He answered in reply, his bright smile mirroring hers.
Hanna shuffled forward until she was right in front of him, and placed her hands on his thighs, before leaning forward to capture his lips between hers. "You are so amazing," She whispered between kisses, not quite able to bring herself to move away from him, to stop the warmth that encompassed her body as his tongue entered her mouth, and his arms wrapped around her back, and he brought her onto his lap.
"I think I like your idea about skipping dinner," Caleb breathed as he pulled back momentarily, attempting to catch his breath, "This is a much better use of our time."
Hanna grinned, and nodded in agreement as he lowered her down until she was laying amongst the pillows, barely having enough time to get used to her new position before his lips were back on hers, and his warm fingers were trailing up her side, underneath her shirt. She shivered under his touch, moaning as his kisses became deeper, and she felt the tell-tale sign of his arousal brushing up against her jean-clad thigh.
His hands moving to her front in order to push her shirt up brought her back to reality, and she gave him a quick nod to encourage him to go faster. She didn't know when, but at some point, he had taken his shirt off too, and she couldn't help but look down to admire his toned, tanned form. His lips trailed up her neck to her jawline, his hands cupping her covered breasts as she arched her back up towards him and moaned into her pillow.
"Happy anniversary," He murmured hoarsely up against the shell of her ear, at the same time running a hand down to undo the button of her jeans.
The sound of his deepened voice gave Hanna a newfound sense of urgency, and almost by instinct, she reached behind her back to undo the clasp of her bra, before throwing the item of clothing over to the other side of her bed. Caleb outwardly groaned at the sight of her newly exposed skin, and latched his mouth onto her nipple as she arched her back off of the bed, wrapping her legs around him.
"More," She mumbled, running her hands through his hair, gripping at the dark strands as his teeth nipped at her sensitive skin. She let out a contented hum as she felt one of his hands reach up to tend to her other breast, and he gently rolled her nipple between his thumb and index finger. Hanna could feel the heat pooling between her thighs, and knew that she wasn't going to last for much longer before she had to have him. Her hand slowly moved down until it reached Caleb's crotch; at the first contact of her small hand with his jean-clad, hardened length, Caleb let out a loud grunt, and buried his face into the crook of her neck.
Hanna smiled to herself, and took it as a sign that she should unbutton his jeans.
Once they had both kicked off their bottoms, and were left only in their underwear, Caleb settled himself back on top of Hanna, and started a gentle kiss, slowing their pace down a little. "Is this okay?" Caleb asked softly as he toyed with the top of Hanna's panties, asking for her permission to take them off. Hanna nodded, silently confirming to him that it was more than okay.
Slowly, he dragged them down her legs, making her core ache more deeply with every passing second. She couldn't help but reach out to reciprocate, dragging his boxers down until he kicked them off, and they were both left completely naked, and slightly out of breath. Hanna gulped at the sight of his nude form, allowing her gaze to linger on his hardened length for a moment before he distracted her with a hand on her cheek, and her eyes shot up to meet his.
"You ready?" He asked her gently, rubbing his thumb over her cheekbone as she nodded up at him. He reached over to grab a condom from the back pocket of his jeans, and Hanna smiled at the memory of how awkward she had felt, asking him whether or not he had a condom the first time that they had slept together.
When he finally entered her, a feeling of warmth a thousand times more powerful than that when he held her hand washed over her, and she couldn't help but let out a long, drawn-out moan. Her fingers gripped at his shoulders and her legs wrapped around his back; Caleb started a deep, slow kiss as he began to move inside of her, allowing her to adjust to his size before he started to move a little faster, drawing a series of groans from them both.
When they were together as one, neither could feel more content if they tried; the feeling of belonging and warmth and love was incomparable. But it couldn't last forever, and eventually, their passion came to a head, both of them falling over the edge almost in synchronisation, panting against the other's slightly dampened skin as they attempted to catch their breath.
The room was otherwise quiet for a while, and Hanna had almost fallen asleep with her head resting on Caleb's chest, when his soft voice broke the silence in the room. "You forgot to open this," He murmured, reaching over to his side, before he held out the small box and envelope for her to take.
Hanna smiled lazily, and immediately went for the box, prying it open to find a fine gold chain laying inside of it, a delicate charm in the shape of an owl hanging from the end. "Caleb, it's beautiful," She gasped, her eyes welling with tears as she looked up at him, "I love it."
"You do?" He asked, a little unsure of himself.
"Yeah," She nodded, before a realisation hit her, "My gift for you is downstairs, hold on, let me get it," She rambled, attempting to sit up before Caleb pulled her back down.
"I told you, I don't need a gift," He assured her, softly, "Being here with you is enough. Read the card," He encouraged her, nodding down to the tiny envelope, which she still hadn't opened.
Hanna took it in her hands, prying it open to find a tiny rectangle of white card, with seven words carefully inscribed on it in blank ink.
One year down, forever to go.
-C
Hope you all have a wonderful 1105, reviews are always very much appreciated x
