Hey guys, this was supposed to just be a two-part story and I'm so sorry it took this long for me to get the second half up here. Life just got in the way! I hate to leave my stories unfinished, no matter how short. Hopefully I can get back in the game soon and tie up my other loose ends and start some new stuff. IF you have any ideas for some Hannily, let me know Thank you to those who are still reading!
...
"Shit," Emily mumbles under her breath as she slowly jogs in the direction that Hanna stormed off in. She knows she needs to just fess up and explain why she was ignoring her friend, before she loses her for good, but her main priority is finding her first. She knows drunk Hanna doesn't like to cooperate with anybody, and she hopes that she hasn't stumbled into trouble, literally.
Emily makes it all the way to Hanna's dorm before she finds her friend, who is puking in the bushes outside of the front door. When the blonde looks up and sees her, she mutters, "go away, Emily."
"Han, I'm sorry. I want to talk, but right now let's just get you inside," the brunette responds before gently taking her friends arm and guiding her to the door. They make it upstairs to Hanna's room after some minor bumps, but her roommate isn't there, so Emily just puts her to bed. It turns out to be easy since Hanna passes out seconds after lying down, so Emily just puts a glass of water on her nightstand and makes sure she's still breathing until her roommate, Jen, comes home.
...
It's early the next morning, close to seven, when Emily's phone goes off, revealing a text. "Breakfast? And I don't mean that dining hall crap." Emily doesn't even have to look at the name to know who it's from.
When she gets to the shabby diner, Hanna is already there, the only person seated in the booths that line the place.
"You do realize that no one usually wakes up until around eleven on this campus on a Sunday morning, right?" Emily jokes as she sits down.
"Ha ha. I guess I missed the memo. But I know you're an early bird. Plus, I thought having the place to ourselves would be good for talking," Hanna replies.
Emily sighs, knowing that Hanna isn't in the mood for small talk, knowing that whatever comes out of her mouth in the next few minutes will forever change their relationship.
"Thank you for last night, by the way," Hanna speaks again, "Jen told me you stayed until she got home to make sure I was okay. I'm sorry I was so sloppy."
"It's college, it's what we do," the brunette replies with a smirk before the moods changes, "and you're right, I have been avoiding you."
Hanna doesn't say anything, she just nods slowly and waits for Emily to continue. She's hard to read right now, she doesn't look angry, but she doesn't look happy. Emily isn't quite sure where to place the look on her friend's face, and that scares her a little bit.
"You have to know that I care about you more than anyone, Hanna. I trust you with my life and you are my best friend. I can't imagine my life without you in it. You know that I love Spencer and Aria too, and I shouldn't be saying this, but I've always had a favorite in our group and it's always been you," the brunette says.
"You've always been my favorite too. I just don't get why you've been pushing me away since we got here," Hanna responds.
"Alison broke my heart. But the worst part was that she knew she was doing it. She would look me straight in the eye and know exactly what she was doing to me, but she never stopped," Emily begins, "and after that I swore I would never, ever fall for one of my friends ever again. And If I did, I promised myself I would never say anything, because I can't go through that again."
"But what does that have to do with you ignoring me?" Hanna asks, seemingly still oblivious to what her friend is trying to get at.
"Please don't make me say it out loud."
The silence consumes Emily. Hanna doesn't say anything. Her eyes have gone wide, but her expression is still unreadable. The waitress brings over their food, but neither girl moves, and Emily knows that the other girl is finally connecting the dots. Emily thinks about leaving, but then Hanna speaks.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay. Hey can you pass me salt?" the blonde continues, as she picks up her fork.
Emily literally laughs because its so ridiculous that her friend is trying to act like she didn't just tell her something that will completely change their dynamic forever. So she throws some money on the table and walks, walks right out the door even though she can hear her best friend calling her name.
...
One day turns into two, which turns into ten, and suddenly Emily hasn't seen Hanna in almost a month. People say that absence makes the heart fonder, and Emily now wishes that the saying wasn't true. She thinks about Hanna more than she ever did before, replaying every moment she's ever spent with the girl, looking back on them with a new insight. Maybe she was always in love with Hanna, and maybe she knew it. Maybe she just didn't want to admit it. She doesn't know anymore, the only thing she knows is that she feels numb. Alison's disappearance was nothing compared to this, and that's saying something.
...
Emily is on one of her jogs, and she decided a long time ago that Sunday mornings were the best time to go since it was quiet. She hadn't seen someone else on her route in weeks, until she turns the corner into the woods and see's a blonde girl sitting on the lone bench that is beside the trail. Once she recognizes who it is, she stops dead in her tracks.
"Hey," Hanna calls out as she stands up, "I heard through the grapevine that this is your Sunday morning route."
"So you're stalking me now?" Emily snaps, sounding more annoyed than she intended.
"Look Em, I'm sorry, I just needed some time to think."
"Can we please not talk about this?"
"I just wanted to be sure," Hanna pleads.
"Be sure about what?" Emily asks with a confused look.
"I know what Alison did to you and I wanted to be one hundred percent sure that I wasn't doing the same."
Emily doesn't have time to even process what Hanna is saying because Hanna kisses her, hard.
It tastes nothing like Alison, and in that moment Emily knows she was right. Hanna would never play with her heart.
