ONE WEEK LATER
Hanna walks into the room where Aria, Emily, and Spencer all sit in the floor and sort through returned RSVP cards. "Hey, think one of you lovely ladies can call and order pizza? My treat?" she asks quickly "I am starving. Ali and I are almost done with this or I would." She says holding up the skirt of her wedding dress that they are making alternations to.
They all laugh and Aria stands up quickly "I'm on it. Two large, extra pepperoni?" she asks as she digs through her purse for her cellphone.
"Yes! Thank you, you're a life saver!" Hanna squeals and turns to walk back to the bedroom then stops again "Oh, and no onions, add black olives. I have cash in my purse when he gets here." She says with a smile, then she walks out.
Aria shakes her head and starts to dial "Yes, I need to place an order for delivery.." she says to the person on the other end of the line as she walks towards the kitchen.
"I swear, Hanna is the only person I know that would call you a life saver just for ordering pizza. Ali is pregnant and doesn't even feel that way about food." Emily jokes.
"We just had lunch like two hours ago, she must be stressing big time." Spencer replies as she takes a card out and adds to the head count for the caterer.
Aria hangs up the phone and walks to the hallway "TWENTY MINUTES HAN!" she yells in the direction of the bedroom.
"AWESOME! THANK YOU!"
Aria shakes her head with a smile "Stressing puts it mildly I think...but if pizza calms her down, we'll get pizza." she says as she sits back down in the circle. She leans into the group of girls and whispers "Hey, speaking of stressing...what's the deal with Caleb. Did you ever get in touch with him?"
Spencer pulls open an RSVP card and then glances up at Aria "Yeah, I uh...I got with him a couple days ago."
"Well? What did he say?" Emily whispers back to her.
Spencer huffs and sits her pen down to rub her face with her hands "He didn't say much...he just sat there and made excuses." she says as she looks between the two of them.
"Excuses? For what?" Emily asks confused.
"For why he can't ruin this for her. He thinks that he can't give her enough..." She picks up her pen again and starts to write "And I thought that I had gotten through to him but I guess not..."
"Well, what should we do now?" Emily asks as she opens an envelope.
Aria looks at her, then to Spencer and then down to the notebook in her lap "I guess we keep opening up RSVPs and hoping one of them comes around...I don't know what else to do. Spence has already talked to her, I've mentioned it and I know Ali and you have both hinted at it. Now we just wait."
Emily huffs and tosses the envelope in her hand into their trash pile "This plan sucks. I just wish there was something we could do to stop this madness." she holds up the card, waving it in the air "and make her realize this is a mistake."
"Yeah, me too." Spencer whispers never looking up from her count.
Aria gasps "You think he would stop the wedding? I mean that would be terribly romantic but-"
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
They all look at each other and then Aria glances down at her phone "Wow. That was quick." she says as she stands and walks to the door. As she swings it open, her eyes grow wide and she swallows hard then turns to look at her friends "Spence!" she whisper screams to her friends "I-I-I think you need to come here." she mumbles and never moves from her spot in front of the door.
Spencer quickly hops up and walks toward the door "What is it..." she says, fading out when she sees what has Aria's attention. "Caleb?" she says loudly and then quickly throws her hand over her mouth. She reaches out and grabs his arm, yanking him inside "What are you doing here?" she says a lot softer. Aria quietly shuts the door behind them and Emily looks over her shoulder towards the hallway before standing up and joining the rest of them in the kitchen.
"You told me before you left to get my head out of my ass and talk to Hanna..." he whispers back to her as he looks towards the other two girls
Spencer points her finger at him "Correction I told you to take a shower, put on a clean shirt and tell Hanna that you love her."
"Exactly and here I am." He says as she throws his arms up
"It took you a week to find a clean shirt?" Aria asks from behind him and he shoots her a look "What? You said that...never mind." she mumbles waving her hand in the air telling them to proceed.
He gives her a look of confusion "No, it took me a week to get my head out of my ass-" he says as he turns to face Spencer "and to figure out what I was going to say." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small black box "AND to finally pull this out of storage." He opens the box and inside is a small solitaire diamond ring tucked into the velvet that lines the box.
All three girls gasp loudly and Aria throws her hands over her mouth in shock. Spencer reaches for the box he holds out for them to see "Storage? How long have you had this?" she asks as she pulls the engagement ring from the box.
"I bought it two weeks before Europe" he says with a shrug. He reaches for the box again "I was going to return it...but I uh...I never could...I always thought-"
Spencer looks at it one more time before putting it back in the box and hands it back to him "Great! Just when I though I couldn't feel any worse about this situation." She whispers more so to herself than to anyone else before turning her attention back to him "So you're just gonna propose to her? Like right now?"
He shrugs again "I don't know I figured I would-" he stops when he hears footsteps coming down the hallway and he can feel the electricity shoot through him before he sees white tulle and lace round the corner into the room, just within his line of sight.
"Hey, did they remember my olives?" Hanna asks as she enters the room, never looking up from her phone. She stands just at the entrance into the hallway.
Caleb swallows hard as he stares at her. She has her long blonde hair braided back away from her face and she has on a wedding dress. A strapless, mermaid style wedding dress that hugs her body tightly, flaring with ruffles at the knees and flowing down and back into a long train. He sucks in a deep breath and takes in the sight of her. She was always beautiful but there was never a time he could remember when she looked more perfect than she did now. He always imagined that when he saw her like this, he would be at the other end of the aisle. He forces his eyes away from her when the thought enters his mind that she was standing in front of him, wearing her wedding dress for a wedding where he wasn't the groom.
She walks further into the room still scrolling through her phone. Ali walks in behind her but stops short when she sees Caleb standing there as Hanna continues to talk, oblivious to his presence "Ali and I are almost done. Some of these measurements were taken down wrong but what do you..." she finally glances up "think?" she whispers the last word and stops when she sees dark chestnut eyes staring back at her.
"Caleb." she gasps when she sees him standing with her friends "What-what are you doing here?" she whispers, unable to look away. She can feel goosebumps break out all over her, so she reaches up to rub her arms willing them to disappear and not give her away.
Spencer stands beside him and looks between the two as they all stand in silence. Every other girl in the room watching with looks equally as much shocked as they were relieved. Spencer clears her throat loudly, pulling his attention to her as he glances over his shoulder at her and then back to Hanna "I um-" he stumbles. She reaches for him and nudges him forward as she moves behind him to join Aria and Emily who have moved closer into the living room.
Hanna watches the two of them and then looks down at the floor, a small feeling of hurt flashing through her "If you need Spencer, she's free to go at any time." she says with a forced, fake laugh.
He never takes his eyes off Hanna, searching her eyes for any sign that she is as nervous as he is. She blinks rapidly and breaks eye contact with him to look down at her hands that she rings together in front of her. He can't help but smile when he sees that he still has an affect on her and he hopes that it is enough to save him. He takes a small step towards her "You look...incredible." He breathes and he notices that his words send a small tremor through her.
She quickly wraps her arm around herself to hide the shiver that ran up her spine at his words "Thank you." she whispers barely about to speak. She clears her throat and speaks louder "Thank you." She looks down and notices that she is wearing her wedding dress "Oh crap!" she says frantically as she looks around for something to cover herself up with "I don't think you're supposed to see me...isn't it bad luck or something for people to see the dress." She starts to panic when she cannot find anything.
"That's just the groom Han." Aria throws out from behind them, making both of them look in her direction. She throws her hands up quickly as a sign of retreat.
"We will just...be in the bedroom." Spencer says as she motions for the rest of the girls to follow her and gives him a nod of encouragement before disappearing out of sight.
Hanna and Caleb stand staring at each other, neither saying a word or making a move until they hear the door click shut down the hall. He pulls his eyes away to look in the direction of the noise then they are back on hers. They share and awkward laugh, the air between them almost cracking as they stand in silence staring into each other waiting for the other to break the charge between them.
She finally whispers "What are you doing here Caleb?"
"I uh..." he mumbles, looking towards the floor before looking back up at her and he takes a step forward "When I left New York, I was in a bad place. I was pissed...I was pissed and I was hurt. I got on the plane and as soon as it took off, I knew somewhere deep down that I had made a huge mistake but I was too angry with all the drama to stop and think about what I was doing. To think about what I was jeopardizing. I go back to that night all the time in my mind...and every single time I made a different choice. Sometimes I stay and sometimes I still leave, but I come back. Either way, every time without fail we end up together...because that's just the way it should be. "
"Caleb-"
"Just let me get this out, Please. I've been thinking about what to say for days" he says with a chuckle and another step towards her. She shakes her head telling him to continue, tears welling up in her eyes as she does.
"I um...I was in a bad place, mentally. I stayed in that angry place for a long time...and I wasn't expecting for things to go the way they did when I ran into-"
"Spencer." she whispers, finishing his sentence.
He sighs and looks down to his feet and back up to her "I'm so sorry that I hurt you. That was never my intention, it wasn't her's either...I hope you know that. We would never set out to hurt you on purpose...and we should've known better. We should've known that but you have to understand somehow we really helped each other out of the bad place we were both in. I think Spence and I were both so desperate for it to work once we realized that you and Toby had moved on. It was never going to work...and I know that now."
Hanna shakes her head in understanding with tears in her eyes "There is no need to apologize." she says as she sniffles and flops down on the couch, the tulle and lace fluffing into the air around her as she does "Spence is...she's one of the best people I know...so I understand why.."
He sits down on the table in front of her, putting his legs on either side of her, careful not to step on her dress when he does "Yeah, she's one hell of a girl...and I wish there was a way say this without sounding like an asshole, but there isn't. I wish I could sit here and tell you what I think you want to hear...that I could say that I regret what happened..." He trails off as he sees a tear slowly run down her cheek and she quickly swipes it away. "I wish I could say that, but I can't. I regret that it was her because of the hurt it caused you and what it did to your friendship...if I could take that part back, I would in a heart beat because you are the last person on this earth that I would ever want to hurt...but I don't regret being with someone else. If that makes any sense."
He reaches out and takes her hands in his one hand. She sucks in a sharp breath as their hands meet. "Because being with someone else put into prospective how I felt about you...how I feel about you. I remember telling you once that I always felt alone until I met you. Han, I've felt so alone since I left New York...like part of me was missing. I had JUST given up on finding that again. I had decided that I would never get that feeling back, and then I came back here, and saw you." he stops as his lips tip up in a fond smile. He reaches out and wipes a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb. "I remember the feeling of relief I felt when you opened the door...it was like I could breath again because I had that whole feeling back. I hadn't felt like that in years, but I've felt that feeling every single time we've together. Even in a group of people, all I have to do is look over at you and it's there."
"What are you saying Caleb?"
"I'm saying that I never want to live without that feeling again. I'm saying that I don't know how I ever left you no matter how angry I was. Sure I walked out of the apartment that night, I got on that plane and I ran from those memories all the way to another continent but I never completely left. You have a part of me that I will never get back, and I never want to. That sounds cheesy as hell, but it's the truth. I searched for that feeling, that missing part for the last three years and all along, it was you that was missing. I don't to spend one more day without you."
"But you care about her..." She whispers never looking up from the spot on his shirt where she had fixed her eyes to keep from crying anymore "I heard you telling her..."
"You're right, I do care about her. I would never lie to you and say that I don't. I care about her, and I owe her a lot. She listened to me bitch and complain in Europe and after we got back. She helped me out of the angry place I was in, because she was the only person that I knew that was going through what I was. She understood what it was like to try and figure out how to live a life that didn't go as you had originality planned for it to go." He shrugs "Yeah, I got really confused by that and blurred the lines of how I felt about her. I had thought that there was a time and a place where we could've made it work but that wouldn't have been fair to anyone."
Hanna opens her mouth to speak but shuts it back when he continues.
"She was the one that made me realize that there is no one else on this planet meant for me, but you. It's you, it's always been you. No one else has ever stood a chance."
She reaches up to quickly wipe another tear that rolls down her cheek away.
He doesnt give her a chance to reply as be continues afraid of what she will say before he can get everything out in the open "You may have said those things in The Lost Woods that night because you were scared, but there is no way deep down that you didn't mean them. I understand being scared because I am scared to death right this very second. I am terrified that I'm too late and I've already lost you because of my own stupid mistakes."
"Caleb-"
He stands and walks towards the kitchen, needing to put some space between the two of them before he just reached over and kissed her "I don't know this Jordan guy, and I personally don't care to. All I care to know about him is that he is a good man and will take care of you. I know he has the means to give you all the things you've ever wanted in life, things that I could probably never give you. I don't know how you feel about him. You may be happier than you ever have been. If you are, then tell me I will make myself be happy for you, even if it kills me."
He walks back to her, sitting down beside her on the couch with his hand resting on the box in his pocket "But I need you to know that I've loved you for as long as I can remember knowing you. I bounced around from town to town and I never planned on putting down roots anywhere. Then you happened to me and it was all I could think about." He sighs and pulls the box out of his pocket. He opens the lid and she gasps and sobs when she sees the ring inside throwing her hand up to cover her mouth. He sits the box down on the table directly in front of her. "I got this before Europe. I was going to ask you over there, that 's why the trip was such a big deal. This is why I was so angry and so hurt. I wanted to ask you to be my wife. I've held onto this for 3 years because getting rid of it didn't seem right. I bought it to start a life with you and I've held onto it hoping that one day I still could."
She reaches out and picks up the box "Caleb-" she whispers again, running her fingers over the prongs that hold the diamond in place.
"I know I have shit timing...I mean you're supposed to be getting married. You are literally sitting here in a damn wedding dress. I will walk out of this room right now and go on with my life if you say that you don't feel the same and I will never bring it up again. I just needed you to know that I never stopped loving you either."
"Caleb, I can't-"
A loud knock on the door to the loft makes her jump as she stares at the ring. They knock again and it makes her jump a second time. "I can't." she whispers as she stands and walks past him towards the bedroom.
He spins around watches as she walks away from him. "Han.."
"I uh I need to get out of this dress." she says blankly as she looks up from the ring still in her hand and puts a hand through her hair "I um I will get one of the girls to grab the pizza from him."
"Hanna wait."
She quickly spins back around to face him with tears falling from her eyes "Caleb! I-I can't do this right now...I just...I can't." she sobs. Quickly she turns and walks down the hallways towards the bedroom, leaving him standing in the middle of the room, watching her leave.
