Crossroads

Chapter 04

= The threat =

19 years earlier

Caleb was so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't seen that the pair had broken apart, he squinted down at the couple trying to figure out who the man could be when the man suddenly looked up at his window as if he had felt Caleb staring at them. They looked at each other for a second and Caleb felt his blood run cold.

He yelped in shock and yanked his curtains close. He stood there frozen to the spot, his heart racing in his chest. He was certain the man on the street had recognised him as much as he had recognised the unmistakable features of Mr Tom Marin.

XxxxX

Isobel was rooted to the spot as she watched the swift exchange between Tom and the boy upstairs.

"Shit!" Tom cursed when Caleb had unmistakably recognised him. "Dammit." He swore again and found Isobel staring at him, her eyes wide.

"How do you kn…"

"It's that damn kid Hanna hangs out with, Caleb!" He spat. "Ms Roberts new project." He hissed in case Caleb overheard through his open window, looking up to make sure the curtains of Caleb's room remained closed. He turned his attention back to Isobel who looked frightened at this new information.

"Go inside, I'll take care of this."

"But Tom…"

"Now Bella! I promise you, we'll be fine. Let me handle it." Tom urged and waited for Isobel to make her way into her house, turning around to look at him before closing the door.

Upstairs in his room, Caleb was still standing behind the closed curtain, their hushed voices drifting through the open window.

He couldn't stop thinking about what Mr Marin had said: "I'll take care of this."

Caleb wasn't too sure what "this" was, but the way Mr Marin had spat the words, scared Caleb. He could tell Mr Marin was still outside on the street and he wondered why he hadn't left yet.

Fearfully he thought that maybe Mr Marin would try and climb up to his room by the drainpipe.

After a few tense moments, he heard a car door opening and the engine starting. Caleb didn't dare to look outside until minutes after the car had driven away and the street below fell into quietness once more. He released a deep breath when he peeked out and saw Mr Marins car was gone from the street.

Heavy hearted and replaying the night over in his head, he laid back into his bed, but didn't try to go to sleep. He knew it was futile anyway.

XxxxX

Lisa had gone upstairs several times that morning, yet found Caleb in a deep sleep every time she checked in on him. Even when she sat on the edge of his bed, looking at him for while and running her hand through his long hair, he didn't wake up. She reckoned it must have been the excitement of seeing Hanna the previous day that must have tired him out.

She looked at the clock when she entered the kitchen, 11 am. She sighed and wondered if she could make a quick trip to to shops and back before Caleb woke up. She knew in the past he had been left by himself for several days on end when he was with his previous foster family, but she had never done anything of the like before. She knew Caleb was growing used to being cared for and looked after. But she knew him well enough to know he would be fine by himself for a little while. In the end she decided to leave him a note on his bedroom door to inform him where she was and that she would be back soon.

XxxxX

Caleb woke up with a start, his heart hammering in his chest. He had a terrible dream but he didn't quite remember what it was about. All he remembered was the sound of gunshots ringing in his ears seconds before he woke up.

He looked around his room and wondered why he felt so terrible and drained. Like he hadn't slept at all. He could still hear the sound of the gunshots from his dream ringing in his ears.

Boom - boom - boom

He came to realise it wasn't the sound of gunshots he was hearing, but someone pounding on the front door. He was surprised Lisa hadn't opened the door yet. Curiously he slipped out of bed and sleepily read the note attached to his door.

As his brain started to wake up, he Understood he was alone at the house, he ran down the stairs to meet their guest.

He yanked open the door as soon as he reached it.

His breath caught in his throat when he saw who it was and he took a few steps back into the hallway.

Tom Marin was staring him down as he backed up even further.

Unbeknownst to Caleb, Mr Marin had asked his assistant to watch the house all morning, hoping for a chance to catch Caleb by himself to go out and play with his friends.

Luck was on his side when his assistant called and told him Lisa left the house with a few shopping bags.

"Can I come in?" He asked, his tone threatening. Caleb knew it wasn't a question. He watched Tom step into the hallway and close the door behind him. Tom hovered over Caleb, advancing on him menacingly and he felt helpless in defending himself.

Caleb started to tremble and fought hard not to show how frightened he felt. He balled his fists and clenched his jaw in an effort to appear braver than he felt.

"Do you have any idea who I am boy?" Tom sneered loudly.

Caleb was thrown off by his question, of course he knew who he was. He had been to his house countless times. He nodded vigorously and squeaked. "You're Hanna's dad."

"Indeed." He jeered, giving Caleb a threatening smile.

"I'm Hanna's dad." He started and took a step towards Caleb, towering over him, his eyes boring into Calebs. "I'm also the governor. Do you know what that means?"

"It means you're the boss of Rosewood." Caleb answered bravely, remembering what Hanna had told him last year when he asked her why her dad was such an important man.

"You can say that," he chuckled, but to Caleb it didn't sound like a joke at all. Tom leaned down to Caleb's eye level and kept his gaze.

"It also means I get to say what happens to everyone here in Rosewood. So know what's good for you boy and make sure you forget what you saw last night." He raised his index finger and jabbed in hard i. Caleb's chest to emphasize the point he was making.

"Forget it all or I'll make sure your social worker will remove you from this house by tonight and place you in a group home on the other side of the country."

Caleb's mind was racing and he felt more frightened than ever. He had been in a group home once before and that was one place he'd never want to return to again.

"Do we have an understanding?" Tom asked, and observed the way all color drained from Caleb's face. He didn't wait to hear the boy's answer. He knew Caleb had understood his options.

Caleb remained in the spot Mr Marin had left him, anger and terror taking over. Caleb bit his lip hard in an attempt to keep himself calm, he squeezed his eyes shut to keep the tears threatening to fall at bay. He took a large step towards the door and slammed it shut with all his might. The sound of the door slamming ringing through the quiet neighbourhood.

He ran up to his room and slammed that door as well. His eyes fell on the note Lisa had left him and he tore it off as he yelled in frustration. Taking all his anger out in the offending note, shredding it to pieces.

He advanced on his desk and in one rage fueled motion shoved everything off his desk, his possessions flying everywhere.

He picked up his pencil case from his bed where it landed and threw himself face down onto his mattress, punching into his pillows until his arms hurt.

He couldn't do it, Caleb could no longer fight his tears and he let them fall freely into the sheets below.

XxxxX

It had been 4 weeks since Lisa had found Caleb in his room crying in despair.

His room trashed and the remains of what she could only guess was a moment of frustration.

She had tried to approach him, to comfort him but he had screamed at her to leave him the hell alone.

Shocked by his outburst, she had backed off and left his room, taking one last look at his belongings strewn across his room and the note she had left him that morning shredded to pieces.

Upset and concerned Lisa had called Caleb's social worker to ask her for advice. However all Lisa was told was that his behavior was normal and expected. Part of the bonding process all foster kids went through.

She went as far to tell Lisa this was a good thing, as Caleb obviously felt secure enough in her care to act out.

Lisa didn't give up her fight for Caleb and explained to the social worker Caleb had acted out many times, but this was different.

She would never go as far to say fostering Caleb had been a walk in the park, but his behavior wasn't as challenging as some of the other kids that had stayed with her and she demanded a meeting with the social worker to see if Caleb was willing to speak with her, to find out if there was anything he would tell his social worker he didn't feel like telling Lisa.

Feeling like she managed to convince his social worker to come around, she went to find Caleb to tell him the social worker would be coming to the house that very next day.

It shocked her that the news made Caleb angrier than he'd been before and things soon took a turn for the worse.

The look he had given her, shook her to the core.

One of hopelessness mixed with what she recognised as defeat. Without a word he turned back to his room. She heard the bedroom door slam from the living room.

Caleb refused to come back out until the very next day.

When he finally did show up for the meeting with his social worker. He dragged the backpack with him he had with him when he was brought to her doorstep a year ago. In his other hand he held a small plastic bag with some of his dearest possessions he had accumulated this past year.

He stood by the door without so much as a word to either of the adults in the room, waiting for either of them to speak.

Surprised at his behaviour, Lisa asked him what he was doing with the bags. She caught the social working looking at Caleb with sadness in her eyes.

The social worker carefully walked over to where Caleb was hovering in the doorframe and led him to the couch, motioning him to sit down and she took a place next to him.

"Caleb," she began softly and waited for Caleb to meet her eye. "I'm here today to talk to you, see how you are doing. I haven't seen you in such a long time that I wanted to check in on you." She explained kindly, but he still looked a bit sad.

"I'm not here to take you to another family." She made herself clear and shared a meaningful look with Lisa over his shoulder.

The other woman let out a breath when she realised how uncertain Caleb still felt about her as his foster mother.

XxxxX

"Hi Ms Roberts!" Hanna exclaimed excitedly, still in her camp gear, sporting a grin from ear to ear. Her eyes twinkling in excitement. Lisa surveyed the small girl in front of her door and wondered if she had spend more than a minute at home before making a beeline for her house.

She knelt down and hugged the 8 year old.

Hanna quickly let go of the hug and looked hopefully over her shoulder into the house.

"Caleb isn't home yet." She explained before Hanna could ask. "I asked him to come with me to your house to greet you, but he's not home yet honey." She saw the crestfallen look on Hannah's face.

"You can wait here if you want, I was going to make you a welcome home cake with Caleb but we could do it together instead? I'm sure he will be home any minute." She encouraged even though she didn't believe her own words.

"No it's fine, thank you Ms Roberts." Hanna said in a tiny wavering voice and turned around to leave, her shoulders down, wiping at her face as soon as she made her way back home.

XxxxX

He had laid awake for another night, just like he had done since Mr Marin had come to his house.

Not only did he have Mr Marin's secret to think about, but this time he could add feeling guilty for being a crappy friend to Hanna. As soon as he got back from spending the day with Hunter, he had received quite the scolding from Lisa for not being home as promised.

He couldn't come up with a good excuse as to why he hadn't been there when Hanna came back from camp, nor why he didn't come home to bake her a welcome home cake like he promised.

He felt terrible when Lisa told him Hanna herself had come to the house to see him, and that she had cried when he wasn't there to greet her like he promised her in his letters.

He got out of bed that morning with renewed vigour and determination, vouching to make it up to Hanna.

Whatever Hanna's father might have said, or however much Caleb was intimidated by him, he would not let him get in between his friendship with Hanna.

Caleb grabbed his carefully wrapped gift he bought for Hanna with the money he earned doing odd jobs around town and put it in the pocket of his jeans, running down the stairs, flying into the kitchen and running into Lisa who eyed him suspiciously.

"Hey Caleb. Where are you off to?" Lisa asked when Caleb dashed for the front door without so much as a hello or a sneaky bite from her toast she was about to eat.

"Going to see Hanna!" He smiled.

"Don't you want to eat first?"

"I'm not hungry." His stomach felt too queasy for food.

"But…" She trailed off, but Caleb was bolting out of the door and left on his new racing bike.

The closer he got to his destination, the more nervous he grew. He looked up at the house and tried to make out if Hanna was home. And more importantly, if Mr Marin was home. Despite his fears he dumped his bike in the front garden and made his way to the large double front door.

Before he could raise his hand to knock, it swung open.

Mr Marin stepped into the entrance, towering over him and glared at him.

Caleb's immediate reaction was to run away, but his need to make amends with Hanna kept him in place. He couldn't live with the idea that Hanna believed herself unimportant to him. If she knew how much she really meant to him she would never doubt herself again. Spending these past 4 weeks without her, showed him exactly how much he cared, even though he'd never admit all of that to Hanna.

"What do iou want boy?!" Mr Marin barked at him when he didn't speak up, and Caleb tried hard to hide his trembling hands behind his back.

"Is Hanna home?" He hated that his voice came out really high.

Mr Marin was spared to come up with a lie when Hanna came skipping to the door. She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the unexpected visitor and stared at Caleb from underneath her father's arm that was resting on the doorframe.

His heart tugged when he saw a trace of sadness in her usually sparkling blue eyes.

He shifted on his feet and waited while Hanna hugged her father who was leaving for work. Caleb stared after him, Mr Marin glared at Caleb in return as he pulled out of the drive.

Caleb knew Mr Marin would never say a word. Especially when Hanna was nearby. Just as Caleb would never tell anyone what he'd seen.

Caleb let out a breath when Mr Marin disappeared from view. He slowly he turned around and looked at Hanna.

"Hey." He smiled weakly.

"Hey," She huffed, crossing her arms and staring at him. "Your buddy Hunter too busy for you today?" She snapped.

He shrugged. "I dunno, I came straight to your house." He admitted and he looked helplessly at Hanna. Her arms were still crossed and he knew by her demeanor that ignoring her on her first day back had hurt her feelings. He felt like a complete jerk for making her sad.

"You should have called first, I'm going to Ali's house." She said.

"No you're not." He laughed and Hanna scowled at him.

"You always have your hair down when you go and see Ali." He pointed at her high ponytail with the pink bow. "Why do you want to look like her anyway? She's not as pretty as you."

"She's the prettiest girl in our class." Hanna muttered, looking at her feet when she felt her cheeks burning at Caleb's confession.

"Says who?" Caleb challenged, he never saw the appeal in Ali. He couldn't fathom why Hanna was so taken with her. Allison wasn't even nice to her friends and bossed them around all the time. The only reason she had stayed clear of Caleb for the past year, was because he hung out with Hunter from time to time.

"Boys… Sean…all the girls." Hanna continued, thinking of all the people infatuated with Alison.

Caleb snorted at that. He decided he was going to stop and understand the obsession with Alison and reminded himself why he was here, at Hanna's doorstep. "Can I come in?" He asked and his question took Hanna by surprise.

"Uh sure…" She pushed the door open wider and disappeared down the hallway, Caleb followed her silently until he reached the kitchen.

"Hi Mrs Marin," He said happily, seeing Ashley in the kitchen making breakfast.

"Hey Caleb." She waved quickly, and flipped the pancake she was cooking. "It's good to see you again."

She grabbed an empty plate and placed it on the kitchen island where he'd taken a seat right next to Hanna. Ashley observed them, both patiently waiting for her to finish cooking breakfast, their arms pressed against each other as they watched her serve the pancakes on their plates.

XxxxX

After spending the entire day at Hanna's house, having breakfast together and helping her un-pack her bags from summer camp, they all went into town together to order some photos she had taken at camp for her album, a lot of them from visiting day when Caleb came for a visit.

They had shared their stories about their time apart, Caleb preferring to listen to Hanna's than tell her how he spend his time trying not to think about how much he missed her and filling that gap with hanging out with Hunter.

They had so much to catch up on, that Caleb was still at her house just before dinner. Hanna suggested watching a movie whilst they waited for dinner, as Ashley instructed them to stay close by.

Hanna climbed on her bed after they managed to agree on Jumanji. She was about to lay back against the pillows when Caleb sat up. She craned her neck to see what he was doing. He grabbed something from his pocket and held it in front of him.

"What is it?" She asked, looking at the small wrapped box in his hand.

"Open it and find out." He smirked.

Hanna rolled her eyes at his cheekiness, but took the small box from his hand nevertheless, curious to see what he'd gotten her. She couldn't think of a single reason why he would get her a gift.

She gasped when she lifted the silver charm bracelet from its box and held it in front of her face to examine it closely.

"Caleb!" She gasped. "It's beautiful."

They beamed at each other and Caleb held out his hand. "Can I?" He took the bracelet from her and he clasped it around her outstretched hand. Hanna held her arm up and examined it further.

Caleb brushed his hand over the charms. "This one, this one is obvious because butterflies are your favorite animal." He started in a quiet voice. "Then there's the tiara because you love princesses, and this one, the seven, is because your birthday was the first birthday I was ever invited to."

She smiled brightly at him. "What about this one?" She frowned, running the last one he didn't mention through her fingers.

He followed her gaze and looked at the last charm that looked like it didn't belong there at all. Even the nice lady at the store had asked him if he was sure he wanted to add the last one as it seemed so out of place.

"You don't have to keep that one." He chuckled. "But I couldn't find anything that resembled that we are friends. So I went with something that would remind you of me." He explained, tearing his eyes away from the skull shaped charm and watched a smile spread across her face.

"I love it." She decided.

"I like to have something that shows that we are frie… I mean, best friends." She corrected confidently.

"We are best friends." He agreed, running his hand over the friendship bracelet Hanna made for him at summer camp.

XxxxX

Ashley could feel the anger bubbling inside of her. She slammed her phone down on the counter and tried to push her mind away from infuriating her husband.

She wondered how long he would keep lying to her. Part of her wondered if he suspected she knew he was lying. They had been married for 15 years now and it pissed her off to realize he thought so less of her to believe she couldn't hear he was lying.

The sudden increase to his late nights in the office a total contrast to the non existent increase to his paycheck. But what was she supposed to do? Not only was he governor now, Ashley had devoted herself to being a housewife and the best mother she could be to Hanna. And Hanna needed a mother and a father, a better life than she herself had growing up.

Hanna… Ashley realised. It had been a while she had heard voices and giggles coming from upstairs where Caleb and Hanna had disappeared to half an hour ago.

Quietly she went upstairs, pausing at the landing and straining her ear for any noise coming from the open door leading to Hanna's bedroom. But it was silent.

Panic took over, thinking Caleb and Hanna might have sneaked out of the house. She looked around the corner inside of the room.

Her hand found its way to her heart of its own accord and she stopped herself from making any noise.

Ashley stood in the doorframe a few minutes, staring at her daughter and Caleb sleeping side by side on top of Hanna's pink duvet. Their hands so close to each other it left Ashley wondering if they had been holding hands moments ago.

She ran downstairs to retrieve her camera and quickly snapped a photo of the peaceful pair. Reminding herself to print off a copy for Lisa.

XxxxX

Preview?

Reviews are always appreciated. Any questions, suggestions are always welcome.

The next chapter will be called: "Happy birthday! Right?"