A/N You gave me my seven reviews, and many more, so I think I owe you a great chapter, am I right? Okay, enjoy!
Disclaimer I don't own any part of the Pretty Little Liars franchise, which is probably for the best…
This distance means nothing as long as it leads to you
Hanna barely had been able to fall asleep every night since Monday night, her mind heavy with thoughts and worry. Caleb still had yet to answer his phone, much less return any calls. She didn't expect him to show up to class that week, but every morning Spencer would wait patiently for him to magically walk into Ella's class at the last minute. Hanna needed to see his face, or at least know he was there. She needed to know if he could still trust her enough to be around her, to pay attention to her.
He never showed up. She didn't blame him. He'd changed his location on Facebook to Montecito, where his real family was. It's not like Hanna expected him to show up on her doorstep, begging for her to retreat to him, she just wasn't expecting to lose him completely at a time when she honestly needed him the most.
Being as understanding as she was, Ashley allowed her daughter to take a leave of absence from school, knowing that it was best. However, if Hanna did choose to stay, she had to keep her end of the bargain and continue trying to contact Caleb, something Ashley regretted when it seemed nearly impossible to get a hold of him.
Thursday evening as the Marin girls were finishing the dishes, they got a phone call from Ella Montgomery, telling the two that if Hanna didn't show up to school the next day, the school was going to make them face serious consequences. This was presumably because it was the 9th sick day she had taken within two weeks. After thanking Ella for the warning, they mutually decided that it was best for Hanna to attend school.
Friday morning, however, was disastrous. At five o'clock in the morning, two and a half hours before her alarm was set, Hanna woke up with the most intense feeling of nausea that she'd ever experienced. She nearly knocked over a glass frame on her hasty scramble to the toilet. Almost twenty minutes later, she was finally feeling somewhat normal again. She decided that it was no use to go back to sleep, seeing that all the homework Spencer had dropped off each day, piled up on her desk needed finishing.
-:-
During breakfast, Ashley spoke up from the counter where she was fixing Hanna some toast and a smoothie. "I told Ella about the baby,"
Hanna's head shot up "You what?"
"I told Ella that you were pregnant, over the phone last night after you went to bed." she said simply.
"Why would you tell her?"
Ashley sighed "She's my best friend, I needed to tell someone."
"She's going to tell Ari-"
"She promised that she wouldn't say a word." she assured her. "that's your job."
It was Hanna's responsibility to tell her friends why she'd been so distant with them. She had been fairly distant when they'd text her, and she ignored a lot of their phone calls with the fear that something might slip out.
She was impressed by Spencer being able to keep her trap shut the whole week, thinking for sure that she would tell them as soon as she could. But it hadn't seemed that she had done so.
"Do you think she's going to be disappointed with me? She could, like, ban me from her home, I'm a bad influence now." she sulked.
"Hanna, you're pregnant, not on probation." Ashley reminded.
Hanna sighed. "Well, I guess I can live with that, I'm telling the girls today after school."
"That's a wonderful idea, I'm very glad."
-:-
That afternoon, Hanna shifted uncomfortably in her seat on Spencer's sofa. The girls were meeting up after to school to discuss new happenings with A and plan their next missions.
It had been a few minutes since she and Spencer had simultaneously arrived and they were now waiting on Aria and Emily to get there, too.
Suddenly the kitchen door opened and the two late friends made their way into the house.
Once the girls spotted Hanna and Spencer sitting statuesquely on the sofa, it didn't take long before they knew something was up.
"Uh, hello." Aria spoke first, crossing her arms over her chest, watching the pair suspiciously.
Aria and Em shared a confused look.
"Were you two petrified within the ten minutes it took us to get here?" Emily asked.
Spencer spoke first. "Hanna has something she'd like to tell you all." she nudged Hanna.
"Well, assuming you all know that Caleb and I were...intimate, I think you can understand what I'm going to say next," she began awkwardly. "I don't want to beat around the bush with you two, because I love you and I trust that you won't hate me for what I tell you."
There was a pause.
"Hanna, if you're like, knocked up, just say so." Aria blurted out.
Spencer sighed, resting her face in her hands.
"Well, since you took care of that for me, I think I'll be going." Hanna got up and walked to the door before Emily stopped her.
"Hanna! Are you...serious?" Emily asked quietly.
Hanna turned back to her friends, sighing. "Wish I wasn't."
Aria immediately ran over and enveloped her in a hug. "I'm sorry I was so blatant about it before. I didn't actually think it was really true."
They sat back down, Hanna curling into a ball on the sofa. "I found out, well Spencer and I found out on Monday night. That's why I didn't come to school all week, I've been mulling things over trying to figure everything out."
"How'd your mom take it?" Aria asked as she rubbed circles on Hanna's back. "I'm guessing well since you're still living in her house."
It was Spencer's turn to talk. "Actually, Ashley took it surprisingly well. If anything she took it like a real mother should."
Hanna sat up. "Yeah, she's been pretty supportive, and I'm so thankful for that." she paused. "It's just...it feels like I should be punished or something, you know? I feel like I got off really easy, but it leaves me with all this guilt. And I know she's not putting any guilt trips on me or anything, but I just feel like I'm letting her down in some way."
"You're not letting her down, Han. You shouldn't be thinking like that." said Emily.
"I know, but I feel like she's only supporting me because she knows that Caleb's gone, and I have no other places to go."
Aria laid a hand to her knee. "Hanna, you know that's not true. My mom would take you in in a heartbeat."
"Mine too." Emily informed her.
They all looked to Spencer.
"What? I was going to say me too, but you know my parents wouldn't even notice anything." They all laughed.
Emily looked back to her. "Have... Have you told him... Caleb?"
"No, but not for lack of trying. I've called him every night this week. He hasn't answered. And I get that he's probably still scarred from the split, but so am I. You'd think that after like seven missed calls in three days that he'd figure something was up."
"Well he hasn't been at school." said Aria.
"Yeah, but he changed his location to Montecito, so I know he's already gone."
"Do you know if he's living with his mom?"
"I suppose he's with her, he'd been dying to go and spend time with Jamie and Clay, his little brothers." Hanna smiled, thinking of how cute Caleb was whenever he spoke of his younger half-brothers. "Clay's 5th birthday was last week and I know he was going to try and make it up there, and since the accident, I'm sure he's been there ever since he...dumped me."
"He needs to know." Spencer reminded her.
"I know! I know I told you that I'd tell him, but I've tried. And tried, but to no avail. Can't you just let me off the hook, just this once?" Hanna pleaded.
"I've got an idea," said Aria deviously.
"I'm not going to write him a parchment letter, or send him a damn telegram, Ari, this is the 21st century."
"No, better. If Caleb won't come to you, why don't you go to Montecito! You should surprise him, and then since you've got nowhere to go but his doorstep, he'll be forced to let you in and you'll finally be able to explain it all to him."
"Are you crazy, Aria? I can't just drop everything and hop on a flight to California!" cried Hanna.
"No, actually it's perfect!" Spencer cut in. "Melissa and my mom were going to go to Santa Barbara for the weekend, but my mom's been too busy with work and Melissa hasn't been very comfortable around her since she told us everything about the miscarriage and stuff the other night. Hanna, you and I can fly up tonight, stay at the hotel and tomorrow I'll go with you to Caleb's."
"I don't know if this is such a good idea, Spence. If Caleb wanted to hear from me, he'd have answered my calls."
Spencer sighed. "Han, you can't wait on things like this. You've got to get to him before someone else does. We don't get grace periods anymore. That was before there was a killer stalking us. And you don't want Caleb to get the wrong idea."
"You're right, I know, it's obvious what I should do. I just don't want to go all the way up there for nothing." she stared at the floor. "I don't think I can face him angry at me anymore. I'm still raw."
"That's completely understandable, Han, but things don't work out this well everyday, just because they can. Everything happens for a reason, and we have to take every little thing with a grain of salt."
"If this doesn't work out, I'll be devastated."
"Rightly so,"
"But, I can't help but think you're right. Things like this don't just happen, there's always a little more behind it." Hanna stood up and looked back at Spencer. "So are we going to catch that flight or what? We don't have much time!"
-:-
Once Hanna had decided to take up Spencer's offer and fly to California, she ran home to pack a bag and tell her mother, who reluctantly agreed. As much as she didn't like the idea of her going all the way to Caleb's mom's house on the other side of the country, Ashley knew it was for the best, and she wanted Hanna to experience this for herself.
Three hours later, the two girls were en route to Santa Barbara, California. Hanna twiddled her thumbs nervously as she stared out the window of the plane. Spencer sat next to her, contently reading a book, studying no doubt.
"Hanna, chill." Spencer hissed.
"Chill, really? I'm hours away from taking a huge risk with talking to Caleb, and you're telling me to chill? You chill, Spence." she turned her head and rested it on the window, wondering how she could watch the changing scenery thousands of miles below without puking. She hoped this was a sign that morning sickness for her would actually stay where it belonged, in the morning.
Spencer rested her hand on Hanna's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Han, I can't imagine how stressful this must be. But you don't know for sure that it won't work out well. Don't worry about things until there's actually something to worry about."
"I know," Hanna sat up. "I'm just scared that we're doing this all for nothing. I know this is where Caleb would go in a time like this, but there's always the other scenario where he doesn't."
Spencer looked at her confused.
"I'm just starting to second guess myself, Spence. This might not happen the right way."
"Hanna, maybe you should stop thinking of all the ways this couldn't work out, and start thinking of what you'll do and what you're going to say when and if it does." Spencer went back to reading.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now beginning out descent into California. Please take this time to fasten your seat belts and prepare yourselves for out landing. And by the way, welcome to Cali!" the overly-pleasant flight attendant's voice rang through the speakers over Spencer and Hanna's seats in business class.
-:-
After departing the plane, the girls took a car to the resort and ordered a pizza before checking in with Ashley, then heading to bed as it was four hours later in Rosewood than Santa Barbara.
The next morning, Spencer's alarm went off fairly early. The two teenagers took their time waking up. After taking turns in the shower and getting dressed, the pair went downstairs to explore the pool, as it was still sunny outside and it was open. They had a nice breakfast and charged it to Veronica's bill.
After breakfast, Spencer called a car to pick them up and take them to the Dawson's residence in Montecito. Thirty tense minutes later, the sedan pulled up outside a beautiful gated community, and the gate was open to their surprise. Must've been because of the mail and delivery hours.
Spencer, being as prepared as she was, had written down Claudia's address which she'd found on white pages.
They pulled up to 19 Blanchard Place, and Spencer immediately exited the car, leaving the door open for Hanna. She climbed out with ease and smoothed out her dress, suddenly conscious that people could see a bump, which clearly wasn't formed yet. She turned to Spencer and nodded. "Let's do this."
The cobblestone clicked under Hanna's heels as she accompanied Spencer up the drive. Once they'd come to the front door, Spence nodded toward Hanna, telling her that she was not following her to the threshold.
Hanna reluctantly proceeded up the path, stopping just at the door. Nervously, with a shaky hand, she pressed her index finger to the doorbell. Seconds later, she was about to turn and run, but the door opened before she could step back.
The door opened just a little, only exposing a few inches of space. A little face peeked out at her. "Who are you?" a matching voice asked.
Hanna stammered, looking back and forth between Spencer and the boy. "I-uh...Hanna. I'm Hanna." she spoke.
The boy's face lit up in recognition. "Oh. Hi, it's nice to meet you, Hanna." he opened the door a little more, stepping closer.
Before Hanna could say anything, a familiar voice came from behind the child. "Jamie, who are you talking to?"
low and behold, Caleb showed up behind his brother. He froze.
"Hanna..."
Told you there'd be some Caleb! Okay, I'm SO SORRY that I took so long to update, I was busy with babysitting and then I got sick and it was my little sister's birthday! I've been writing all week, but I'm just now finishing! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon! EEP!
School's starting soon, which totally sucks. But it's my senior year, so I'm pumped! Anywhoo, thanks for all your reviews, even the whiny ones, LOL. Can't wait to hear more name suggestions for my poll, so far I've only gotten one. Keep them coming, though! Thanks!
Okay, how about fifteen reviews for the fourth chapter? I know you're capable of that!
