A/N: Here is the third chapter! Thank you to barbthebookworm, h3yyy0u, and LoneGypsy for reviewing! An extra thank you to LoneGypsy, for telling people in her story, La La Land, to check out this story! Thank you guys! So, here it is!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars, because if I did, Hanna would be paired with Caleb indefinitely.
I woke up, forgetting where I was, and hit my head on the bunk. What a great way to start off the day. I rolled out of the extra set of Star Wars sheets that Lucas had, and rubbed my eyes. I looked over at Lucas, and saw that he wasn't awake yet.
"Lucas. Time to get up." I said shaking him.
"Fine, fine." He said and he slowly climbed down the ladder, as though if he moved any faster, he might fall to his death, even though the top bunk is only six feet off the ground.
We both got ready for the day, and headed into the kitchen, where Mr. and Mrs. Gottesman were already eating breakfast, and watching the news. Lucas and I both sat next to each other at the table, and grabbed some cereal and orange juice.
The middle-aged blonde news woman then came on, and suddenly caught my attention. "And now for some bittersweet news. Alison DiLaurentis can finally be put at rest, now that her killer, has been found." She said, and she caught my attention. Wasn't Alison Hanna's old friend, whose dead body was discovered earlier this year?
I look over at Lucas, and he has his eyes trained at the television. As a picture of Alison comes onto the screen, a glare shadows Lucas's face.
"Ian Thomas, a former Rosewood Day coach, who has been missing for over a week, was found dead, along with a suicide note confessing that he killed Alison." She said, and I start to worry. I decide to go over to Hanna's right after I find out what exactly happened.
I take a huge sip of my orange juice, just as the news lady said "The five girls to discover Ian Thomas's body were his fiancé, Melissa Hastings, and Alison's best friends Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, and Hanna Marin." I almost spit out my orange juice, but saved myself by choking on it instead. HANNA was the one to discover her best friend's murderer's body! Aw hell no!
I immediately grab the rest of my meal and throw it away, then grab my stuff from the chair. I say a quick goodbye to the Gottesmans and run out the door. I have to see how Hanna is doing.
I then realize that she probably already left for school, and that was not going to be the place to talk to her. I will just have to wait until this afternoon to talk to her. Dammit.
I walked up to Hanna's back door, and hoped that she would answer me. She wouldn't look at me, as though if she did, she would see his body again.
I sit down and lean my elbow onto the island, and just look at her. She walks over to her fridge, and pours me a glass of water. "Do you want ice?" She asks, finally looking at me.
"Sure." I say, and I watch her go through the refrigerator, searching for ice.
"Uh, we don't have any. Are you hungry?" She asks, standing awkwardly by the refrigerator doors.
"Do you have any food?" I ask, with a smirk on my face, trying to lighten the mood, because this is just really uncomfortable.
"No, that's on the list too. After ice. My mom's been too busy to shop." She closes the doors to the refrigerator, and turns towards me.
"So why are you here anyways?" She asks, shaking her head slightly.
"Well I heard what happened, and I just….wanted to see how you were holding up." I said, still staring at her. Through all of my years, I had realized that death has impact on people differently. And seeing the dead body of the guy that murdered your best friend….I can only imagine what that's like.
"You don't have to check in on me anymore, okay? One fake date does not a relationship make." She said sternly. I nodded at this, understanding where she was coming from. I may still love her, but it isn't my place anymore, no matter how much I want it to be.
I stood up and made my way to door, grabbing my backpack on the way.
"Wait, I'm sorry." I turn around, to listen to what she has to say. "It's just…..it's been a stressful couple of days." She pauses for a minute, and tries to come up with what to say next.
"Have you ever seen one? A dead body, I mean?" She asks, quietly.
My eyes land on the floor. "Yeah." I say back. It was one of the most disturbing things that I have ever seen, too. It was when I was nine years old. Sometimes in my nightmares, I still go back to when I found the body in the house that I was being fostered at, at the time.
We stare at each other for a couple of seconds, waiting for the other one to make a move.
Suddenly, we hear the door open.
"Hanna?" Ashley calls out. She sounds worried, which considering everything that's happened, I guess she has a right to.
'Yeah? I'm in here." She answers simply.
"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Ashley quickly walks over to Hanna.
"Uh…it's off. I'm charging it." She answers simply again. I'm still staring at Ashley, and I can't help but feel a little annoyed with her. I was sure that if I had comforted her a little longer, we could have actually talked about us.
"I left messages." Ashley says.
"About what?" Hanna asked, suddenly worried too.
"That's not the point! When I call I need to be able to reach you always!" Ashley says, and she sounds like she is having a freak-out. I REALLY wish I could disappear, because me being here, it's only making things more awkward.
"Okay!" Hanna says, and she sounds embarrassed. Ashley looks at us both, and then stalks off to grab something from the hall table. Hanna leaves after her, and I can tell that she is worried for her mother.
I can hear everything they say. I feel awful for admitting this, but I am jealous of Hanna and Ashley's relationship. All Janet cares about is the money that keeps coming in that she can use to feed her alcohol addiction.
I hear Ashley say that she has been worried about Hanna, ever since Alison went missing, and I can tell that the two are close to tears.
I hear Hanna say that they no longer have to worry about that, now that Ian's body has been found. But I don't believe this. I always worry about Hanna, because I don't trust that she will be safe. Alison must have stepped on a lot of toes, because a lot of people seem to be after the girls. For all I know, Jenna could want to hurt Hanna again, and I need to protect her from that. It might even be someone worse, and I can't handle knowing that Hanna won't ever truly be safe.
I see Hanna and her mom hug, as they both hold back tears, and I know it's time to go. Besides, I will see Hanna in school tomorrow.
I was at my locker the next day when Hanna approached me.
"Hey." She said, and I smiled at her. "Hey." I said back.
"Look, I'm really sorry that you got caught in a full on chick-flick yesterday." She says, trying to keep the mood light.
"No worries." I smile at her, and gather some more of my books.
"Yeah, my mom and I usually try and save our Eat, Pray, Love for when we're alone." She smiles back at me, and a pang of jealousy shoots through me again.
"Hanna, don't apologize, okay? You're lucky. The only thing my foster mom cares about is cashing the checks." And I'm right. Janet is awful. She doesn't even TRY to take care of me.
"Wait, I thought you were living at Lucas's?" She asks, and she sounds genuinely confused.
"I am."
"Then why is your foster mom still getting money for you? I mean, you don't even live with her." She says, and I can tell she still doesn't understand.
"That's the deal. As long as I show up to the visit from Child Services, Janet leaves me alone." I smile sadly.
"No, Caleb, why do you have to settle for that? I'm sure there are so many other amazing people who-"I cut her off.
"Yeah, I'm sure there are. But I could end up with a lot worse. It's a short jump from Eat, Pray, Love, to Drink, Snap, Slap." Hanna looks at me sadly, and I close my locker, and walk away to my next class.
What a load of bullshit. Janet feeds them the same lies every single visit. "Caleb is doing great. He's started some sports, he's doing really well in school, and he has made a lot of friends at school." HA! As if she would know. She doesn't care what happens to me.
"I will be sure to have all of these forms back to you by tomorrow." Janet says, in her sickeningly sweet voice. I barf a little very time I hear it.
As soon as we leave the room, and enter the hallway, Janet is at my throat. "What happened to giving me a heads up? Do you know how stupid it makes me look when I can't answer questions about you?" She says waving the forms in front of my face.
"Here's a crypt sheet. I like Kung-Fu flicks, my favorite color is blue, and I once went four days without a meal." I say, the sarcasm dripping off my voice.
"Cute. Don't let it happen again. It is a serious pain in the ass for me to come all the way down here to drop these off." She walked off in the opposite direction. I couldn't take any more of her crap. I walked down the hallway putting my hand on my face, and hoping that this nightmare would just go away.
Today was the funeral. I wish I could be there for Hanna, but I don't really think she wants me near her right now. She needs to be with her friends, and I understand that.
I decided to go to the school library and get some of my homework done.
Suddenly, I saw Janet walk into the library, but something was off about her. She kept looking behind and around her, as though she was afraid that someone was following her. I chuckled in spit of myself.
Just as I was about to get up and leave, Janet saw me and practically ran over to where I was standing. "Here. Take it." She said in a pained voice. She thrust out an envelope that I quickly opened. It was filled with wads of cash.
But before I could say anything, Janet started talking again. "Just tell that Hanna girl to stay out of our business and you'll keep getting your money. I can't have Dolce, Gabbana and Leibowitz on my back." She says sternly, and walks away from me.
Wait, Hanna talked to Janet? And she got her to give me my money? All I have to say about that is that Hanna is amazing
And what is Dolce, Gabbana, and Leibowitz? Why do they sound so famialiar? And then it hits me, and I start to crack up. Living with Hanna means hearing her go on and on sometimes about clothing, and I remember her mentioning those brands.
I need to talk to her, and thank her. I grab the envelope, and decide to treat Hanna with it.
I knock on her door and notice that it is unlocked. I open the door, smiling when I see her standing in front of me.
"Hey." I say as I stand in the door way with a brown bag in one hand.
"Hi! What's up?" She says as she walks over to me.
"I know the funeral was today, and I just wanted to come and check on you. And to give you this." I say, as I pull out a big bag of ice.
She chuckles. "Okay, when rappers brag about showering their ladies with ice, they mean something else." I walk in to her kitchen, and set down the bag on the island.
"I also got this;" I pull out a white bag, in which I KNOW contains a meal that she thoroughly enjoys. "Soup, dumplings, and walnut shrimp."
"That was sweet." She says with a smile on her lips. She takes the bag from my hands, and sets it on the island.
"Before you get carried away, it's going to need to be reheated. I probably should have sprung for two bags." I say smiling a little. This is going well.
"Look, Caleb, you really didn't have to do this." She says and she turns around to face me. "How much do I owe you?" I can't believe she just asked me how much she owes me. She SHOULD be asking how much I owe her, but that's a sum that I probably will never be able to pay back.
"Nothing. I'm good. Weirdest thing, Janet showed up out of nowhere, and gave me an envelope filled with cash." I say with a grin that I can feel spreading across my face. She turns away from me, as though she doesn't want me to know that it was her who really made Janet give me the money.
"Really?" she says softly, pulling out the food from the bag.
"Yeah." I say, and I have to keep myself from chuckling.
"Wow. That's crazy."
"I know. But, I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."
"Yeah, especially when horse face is giving you money." I laugh at this.
"Well, I should probably go. Goonies is on T.V. tonight. Promised Lucas I'd watch it with him." I say, even though I wish I could stay here and hang out with Hanna.
"Aw. Alright, well that sounds fun." She says, but she looks like she is holding something in.
I shot her a confused look. "You must not have heard me, I said we're watching Goonies tonight." I say shooting her another grin. We both chuckle at this.
I can't hold myself in anymore, but I don't want to ruin the fragile friendship that we have managed to build. So I do the only thing I can think of. I kiss her forehead.
"What was that for?" She doesn't sound like she regrets it, she just sounds like she wants to know WHY I did it.
"Dolce, Gabbana, and Leibowitz?" I say with a huge grin on my face. She smiles softly, and looks at the ground.
I start to walk out the door, but she stops me. "Wait." I pause and back up a little.
She puts her hand on the side of my face and pulls her lips onto mine. I instantly kiss her back. I only then realize how much I miss her. I put my hands on her waist, and she wraps her arm around my neck, pulling me even closer to her, if that's even possible. Screw Goonies. Hanna is mine right now, and I want to remember that.
Sorry it took me so long! I wanted to include scenes that happened just from Caleb's P.O.V, and I hope you guys like it! Please review and tell me what you think!