A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I decided to finish this on this two parter on how I believe Haleb should reunite in the future. After Spaleb I'm excited to see how the writers bring the two of them back together but this is my own twist on it. I am currently taking prompts as well so if anyone has any ideas, plase don't hesitate to let me know!
"I miss you so much. It's making me do stupid things. Crazy things." - Hanna Marin
The pain soared through his body as he dropped to the ground and held onto his side. He could feel the wetness he only knew to be blood and he couldn't believe this had happened again – the last time he had been shot and in all those years, his thoughts hadn't changed. All he could focus on was Hanna, he needed to see her one last time. He needed to get the chance to tell her that he loved her, he needed her to hear those words because if she didn't, then he didn't even know what the last thing he had said to her was. Probably something without meaning, something that would mean she would have no idea just how much she meant to him.
He could see it now – he could remember walking out on her that night. He could remember putting his phone onto the bed and tucking the small ring box into his pocket. Leaving it behind wasn't an option, he would be gone and knowing his plans wouldn't have made a difference to Hanna. At least, not in his head at the time.
There was meant to be an unspoken bond between the two of them, one that meant that neither of them had to live in fear of coming second to anything. Their careers meant the world to them, college meant everything to Hanna as well and so did her best friends but neither of them would have to choose between being together and something else. Until every plan he had ever made fell apart in front of him, Hanna was meant to come to Europe with him during her summer break, he was meant to get down on one knee and ask her to be his forever, officially but instead, she had to work. No, she didn't have to work, she wanted to. She had chosen her job for some stuck up woman over him and he had enough.
Before that night, there had been arguments, so many sleepless nights as he waited for her to come in, lonely nights in as she went out, being left behind as she got to travel to London without him and then Tokyo and California, to the point where sometimes, he didn't think he had a place in her new world. Hanna was on a mission to prove that she was over Charlotte and Rosewood but that mission didn't seem to include Caleb. At least as far as he could tell.
As he laid there on the ground, he replayed leaving her and thought about if he could do anything differently. Was there anything he could have changed to ensure that he and Hanna had stayed together? She had come back, he hadn't known that for so long but she had come back and it was too late. If he had just stayed for half an hour more, things could have been so different.
Spencer was important to him, she had been such a good friend for so many years, but dating her had been a mistake. She didn't regret it but he knew that he did; he had seen the pain it had caused Hanna and then the pain he had caused Spencer in return. She had fallen in love with him when his heart belonged to someone else, and he hadn't even realised that his heart was in the hands of the blonde until it was too late. He had already hurt Spencer. He wondered if things would ever be the same again and then, more importantly, if things would ever be fixed between him and Hanna.
His eyes were closed and his fingers pressed against the bleeding wound, conjuring up images of a smiling Hanna. When was the last time he had seen her smile? When was the last time he had made her laugh? He couldn't die, there was no way he could die without letting her know how he felt. Even if those were the last words he spoke, at least she would know. He wanted to make her smile, he wanted to make her laugh, he wanted to make her happy. How possible would that be if he was gone?
She was the only reason he held on right then. There was nothing else he could focus on, even when he heard Spencer's and Toby's panicked voice, he could feel them dropping beside him. Toby called for an ambulance, Spencer applied more pressure to his wound as she sobbed, he wanted to tell her how sorry he was but that he would never have been able to make her truly happy because he wasn't able to give her his whole heart. Instead, his eyes fluttered open and he looked at the brunette, "Hanna," Was all he managed to get out; Caleb had never let many people see him cry but right then, he let out a broken sob.
Spencer smiled a little at him, despite the tears that fell down her face, "I know, I'll tell her." She whispered, "But you'll get to tell her yourself." She quickly corrected herself, realising that if she had to say those words to the blonde who was currently unaware of what had happened, it would mean Caleb was unable to.
It was though those words gave him what he needed to close his eyes and let go, barely able to hear the panicked screams when he focused on Hanna. She was in a wedding dress, he had his arms wrapped around her, she was laughing and they were smiling as he twirled her around...
And then darkness.
After that there was just flashes of memories until a familiar voice could be heard through the darkness. She loved him, he already knew that but he had no idea if she wanted to do anything with that love – it was almost as though she too scared to take anything any further because of what had happened between him and Spencer. Hanna was convinced she was broken beyond repair, that she was a wrecking ball to those around her but he had always seen so much more.
"I wish." He managed to get out, although his throat was sore and his eyes took a moment to adjust to the light. He had a searing pain in his side but he could ignore it as he got to look into those gorgeous blue eyes once again. His hand moved to her cheek when he spoke again and he gave her a small smile, "Why do you always confess your love for me in life or death situations?" He tried to make a small joke, and it worked for just a second until she burst into tears once more.
"I should have tried harder," Hanna spoke, "I should have gotten on the plane and found you..." She continued to ramble on about what she could have done differently and no matter how many times he tried to interrupt her, there was no stopping her. "Hanna, shut up!" He finally tried, moving his hand into hers, "I love you, we both could have done more back then... but I love you still. No matter what." He was so tired but he needed her to know that, even if nothing happened between them, he just needed her to know that he still loved her.
When she moved to lay next to him, he couldn't stop the smile on his face and his eyes fell to a close as his arm wrapped around her. His lips pressed against her head and he could feel himself falling into an easy sleep with her so close to him. No matter what happened next, he had told her what she needed to know and A.D could do whatever the hell they wanted to him, he had done what he needed to do and for however long he had left with her, whether it be two days, two months or two years, he didn't want to be terrified of having that one regret again. "I love you," He whispered once more, his grip tightening on her as he pulled her a little closer. They were together, she was safe and she knew how he felt.
