Thank you for beta'ing, xxdare2dreamxx1!
I easily catch her when she jumps in my arms. We kiss passionately as the rain pelts down on us. She's got her arms wound around my neck and she presses her face against my cheek. "Caleb, I'm so sorry. I should have trusted you." I stroke her hair while she cries on my shoulder. "I don't expect you to ever forgive me for the way I treated you. I didn't even listen when you tried to tell me the truth. I'm the worst girlfriend in the world!"
"No, Hanna, you're not. You had every right to believe Mona over me. After all, you have known her the longest."
"I thought I did...it turns out there's a whole other side of that tramp. Mona may get A's in academics, but she gets F's in friendship!"
She's shaking and her lips were so cold when I kissed them. Her hands are like ice cubes and her face feels as if it's freshly fallen snow. I have to get her into my car before she catches hypothermia. "You're freezing, baby." I open the passenger door and help her inside. I close the door and go into the driver's seat. I turn the heater all the way up. "That should warm you plenty."
"Thank you...how did you know where I was?"
"I wanted to get out of here and visit my family. Lucas helped me contact them via Skype. They live in Montecito, California. I just so happened to see you trudging through this horrible rainstorm, and thank God I did. Do you want to accompany me on the trip?"
"Oh, I couldn't leave without telling Ella or the girls where I'm going, and what excuse would I give Zack? How long would we be gone?"
"It's just for a week. My parents are filthy rich and they bought me a ticket to fly over there. I wanted to take you, but we were broken up. I can just call them up and ask for another ticket. I would love it if you came with me."
"You don't have to do that."
"Yes, I do. We need a break from all the bullshit. I'll get you a ticket for the weekend and you can return here on Sunday."
"Oh, thank you! When would we leave?"
"Friday, after school, I'm hoping."
She has the happiest smile on her face. "I have to pack tonight! I would love to go with you, of course!"
In my rearview mirror, I see someone driving closely behind us. It looks like Mona's car, but another person is behind the wheel. "I think your ex friend is stalking us."
"What?" Hanna whips around. "Oh my god, that's her car...but she was totally trashed. She must have gotten someone to follow us."
"Can you see her in the car?"
"Yes."
"Jesus Christ," I mutter and rev the engine. I switch lanes, but so does Mona's assistant. He's trying to run us off the road and I can see her laughing at us and pounding her hands against the window of the passenger seat. Hanna squeezes my hand tightly as I take a sharp turn.
"Sweetheart, I need to drive with both hands, okay? I'm sorry."
"No, I am."
At a traffic light, I come to a sudden stop and whip my arm out in front of Hanna before she can jolt forward. Mona may have sexually assaulted me last night, tied me up, gagged me, and raped me by gunpoint, but I won't let anything happen to Hanna because of Mona's extreme jealousy and attraction to me.
"Are you alright?" I ask Hanna in a panicked voice.
"Yeah, took a while for me to get my breath back."
"I apologize for all this."
"Why? I'm the one who used to be friends with her! I brought you into this mess. If we weren't together, she would never have been interested. She always takes things that aren't hers, including boyfriends, apparently. I slapped her and that's probably what riled her up."
"It's not your fault, honey. You didn't force her or pay her to come into my hotel room and give me a hand job, bite me, and start rubbing up against me."
"What? How did you know that wasn't me?"
"It was dark. I wouldn't have let her do that if I could see her! I got suspicious that it wasn't you because of the way she...did things so quickly and she wasn't gentle like you are. I pushed her away as soon as I flipped on the bedside lamp and saw her. She freaked me out!"
"That must have been scary. Why didn't you tell me right away?"
"I was humiliated."
"She's the one who should have been...I mean, getting rejected really sucks. It's just that if you know someone's clearly in love with another person, you sure as hell don't want to embarrass yourself by going after them. You know it won't work out! She should be hiding under a rock by now."
"Yeah." I don't want to talk about it anymore, since it will get us into an accident. "So, uh, I've been thinking that you could tell Zack that you're going on a road trip with Aria, Spence, and Em. He likes them, right?"
"Yeah, as long as they don't try to get in my pants. Thanks for the idea, babe!"
"Anytime. Hey...why didn't he like me when we were just friends?"
"You're a guy and you like girls, end of story."
"Emily likes girls, too, doesn't he hate her as well?"
"He doesn't know her sexual orientation. He just assumes everyone's straight, which is stupid, but it's also a good thing, because then Em would be banned from the house."
"Shit, just because you like women doesn't mean you wanna bang everyone with a vagina that you see! Same with girls and gay guys, they don't want every man in the world's dick! As for bisexual people, what, are they just gonna go on a sexual rampage in a co-ed swim class or something? There's nobody home in Zack's brain!"
Hanna chuckles. "I know, right? I guess he wants me to be a nun when I grow up. I ain't never getting any."
"What do you really want to be in like ten years?"
"Hmm...I ain't never really thought about it. I've always been into fashion...so maybe a fashion designer."
"You'd be good at that. I'd probably be a computer technician or something."
"Sounds like a promising career."
Her mansion comes into view and as soon as I come to a full stop, there's a bang on the window. We both jump and I start trembling inside while my stomach flops over a few times. Zack's angry face is staring back at our scared ones. He doesn't say anything, but his expression is filled with hate. I thought Hanna would explain why she was in my car, but she doesn't. She doesn't even look at me as she gets out of my car. I can hear him yelling at her from up the street as they walk to their mansion. "I've had my suspicions about you two! You will not leave this house..."
"What's his fucking problem?" I ask myself as I furiously drive away. I didn't even get to kiss her goodnight because of his ass, but I strongly believe it wasn't entirely his fault. Mona probably told him about us because she's desperate to tear us apart. They can both do that physically, but we'll always be together in spirit.
When I get back to Lucas' house, I send Hanna a message. Hope you didn't get in too much trouble. I overheard Zack ranting...are you grounded for life?
Ella came through again. God, I love her. She convinced him to let me go on my girls weekend, as long as we didn't get into any mischief, and I swore to him up and down that it was a girls only road trip, we'd make a few stops along the way to take pictures, get takeout, and sleep in the car. We wouldn't go out drinking or hooking up with boys, I promised him. Ella told him that she would call me for updates on an hourly basis and he finally agreed because he figured he couldn't keep me on lockdown while he's working half the time and hunting and fishing the other half lol and I have to be home on Sunday, which is fine. I can't wait to see you tomorrow! Good night xoxo
Night sweetie!
"You're in a good mood, considering what that bitch did to you," Lucas notes as we get into bed.
"Yeah, that's because Hanna and I got back together and we're flying to California tomorrow after school. Zack thinks she's going on a road trip with her girls, but nope!"
"Nice!"
The next morning, I meet up with Hanna and her girlfriends. She's telling them about Mona and then the road trip. As I get closer to them, I can see that Hanna is wearing bright red lipstick, dark eye makeup that makes her unrecognizable to people who barely know her, a black leather jacket, blue jeans, and grey boots. She looks so beautiful, like always.
"My mom wouldn't sneak off to see her own daughter! Also, Zack could recognize any of us just walking around town. There's gotta be a better plan!" Aria says.
"Please, it's the only one I can think of, unless you guys have better ideas. Ella would keep track of him at all times. He's on a hunting trip and a fishing trip outside of Rosewood this weekend. That's why it's perfect!"
I wrap my arms around Hanna and kiss her neck. She giggles and the other girls smile at us.
"What if he gets home early?" Emily asks.
"Yeah, and what if Mona tells him everything, just like she did last night? Remember, Han, bitch crazy!" Spencer points out.
"She doesn't know about this, unless she was a stowaway in Caleb's car, and I know she wasn't, because she tried to run us off the road...actually, her driver did. Come on, girls, just trust me on this. I've thought about it all night long. I've even perfected the plan with Ella, and she doesn't make rash decisions like I do. She'll even take you guys to her painting studio if Zack comes back here and you're still out. She'll make sure she knows where he is."
"This just isn't like her at all," Aria comments. "She stopped my dad from calling the police on Ezra even though she didn't really support us. Why can't she get Zack to leave you and Caleb alone? I mean, your birth mom and your freakin' grandma already gave their okays. Why do you need my mom and Zack's approval?"
"Zack's more of an ass than your dad, but he's partly in charge of me. He and Ella don't have to agree on everything."
"Hey...Caleb...I wanted to ask you something," Spencer began. "We got this video message from either Mona or Alison and we can't open it." She gives me her laptop and they all sit down beside me. I open it up and turn it on. There's a file in Spencer's inbox labeled Ian's stalker. It needs a password and it takes me a few tries to finally get it.
A younger Hanna is dancing around on the screen and gushing, "Oh my god, Ian, I love you so much, and I want to have your babies!" Hanna snaps the laptop closed and she looks humiliated.
"She's trying to get you to think I'm unattractive, and I was back then, but I swear, that was from when I was thirteen and had an unhealthy obsession with a much older guy."
"You were cute," I insist, because she really was.
"You are not the first person to have a crush on someone inappropriate at such a young age. I liked him too, and so did Alison," Spencer assures her.
"I think everyone did," Aria adds.
"Yeah, even me, and I had a boyfriend," Emily says.
"He never said you could be a plus sized prostitute to one of his loser friends, who just so happened to be Alison's brother!"
"He was a jerk, okay, baby?" I tell her while taking her face in my hands and kissing her gently. "It was…" I trail off when she flinches, and I look at her with worry.
"Ow," she whispers, but it doesn't fall on deaf ears. I exchange glances with the other girls. "Yeah…I know that."
"Are you okay?"
She nods. "My bottom lip is sore, is all. I accidentally scratched it with my fork. We had pancakes for breakfast this morning. You can go on with what you were saying."
"It was mean of Mona or Alison to send that, but never forget that you are a beautiful girl inside and out. I love you, and no matter what anyone says or does, I will always adore and cherish you. It's forever, you and me. We'll grow old together. You're not gonna lose me, and I'm being perfectly honest when I say that. We'll never break up again. If we don't agree on something, we'll just talk things out and listen to each other with open hearts and minds. How does that sound?" I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear that was previously falling into her eyes.
That makes Hanna smile and she puts her hand on her heart while sighing. "I love that idea and your whole speech, actually. Thank you."
"Aww," the girls say in unison.
The day goes by slowly and when the final bell rings, I tear out of that school like it's out for summer instead of just for the weekend. Before the girls head to Ella's classroom, Hanna gives them all hugs goodbye. They're telling her not to come back pregnant and she laughs while hitting them in a teasing way. I love how happy she is with them. That's what true friendship looks like. They're just so down to earth and none of those girls have ever tried to claim me like I'm a piece of meat.
"Have fun!" Aria shouts at us.
"Thanks! We will!" Hanna says gleefully.
"I'm serious, Caleb, when she comes back, she better not be pregnant!" Spencer warns me.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't put her through that in high school and besides, I don't want Zack to find out any more about us than he already has!"
"Keep each other safe. There's crazies everyplace you go," Emily advises us.
"Well, that's a given," I say.
"Yeah," Hanna chimes in. "I feel like we're all partners in crime, including Ella. This is so cool!"
"I know."
We walk to Ella's classroom and she tells us that Zack won't be home until ten at the earliest, which is good, since we'll have mobile service by that time, so in case he calls Hanna to check in, he can reach her.
"You can call me anytime you need to, okay? That goes for the both of you. Enjoy each other's company and don't stress. I've got everything handled, and the girls and I will keep tabs on Mona and Zack." She pulls Hanna in for a tight hug. "I'll see you Sunday, Hanna. Caleb, I trust you with her."
"Yeah, she'll come home in one piece."
Ella looks relieved. "Bye guys!"
"Bye!"
I take her hand and drive her to her house so she can gather her things. I'm on the lookout for Zack and Mona, and so far, so good. I help her get her suitcase in my trunk and we drive off for the airport. Our flight is at four and we would fly into California at about ten Rosewood time. We give our tickets to the gate agent and we board the plane. As soon as it's off the ground, I put my arm around Hanna.
"I feel so free," she comments.
"Yeah, we can relax now!" I agree.
We're holding hands and kissing and we're thousands of feet up in the air. It can't get any better than this. She snuggles into me as she falls asleep while listening to her music. I stroke her hair and close my eyes as well.
Almost six hours later, we land at the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport where my parents and brothers are waiting for us. They don't know Hanna's coming. I wake her up with feather-light kisses down the side of her face to her shoulder and she starts giggling. She's half asleep as she smiles up at me.
"We have to get off now, sweetie."
"Okay. Um…how far away is Rosewood from here?"
"Probably about three thousand miles, why?" I open the overhead bin and pull both of our suitcases out. She takes hers, zips up her carry-on bag, and carries it on her arm as we make our way out of the crowded plane.
"It just feels unreal and amazing how far we are away from the drama. I'll text Ella and the others and tell them we made it safely." She took her phone off airplane mode and did so.
"Your suitcase was heavier than mine, Hanna. How much did you pack?"
"Probably a week's worth. Hey, you always need the right shoes and the right outfit for when something goes wrong. Sometimes, I change my clothes three times in one day."
I laugh and shake my head. "Alright, silly girl."
"You wouldn't be saying that if someone wore the same outfit as you or if you spilled something on your nice dress!"
"I'm a guy, I don't care about that shit!"
She chuckles. "Hey, those people are holding up signs with your name on them!"
I notice them when she jerks her head in their direction. Standing there, are a man and a woman with two little boys. We wave at them and I feel so awkward seeing those kids for the first time in my life. My parents look excited to see me. I get choked up because I haven't seen them since I was six.
"Hey, guys…uh, this is my girlfriend, Hanna Marin."
"It's nice to meet you all," Hanna says and she shakes their hands.
"I'm Jamie Doyle," the man introduces himself. "This is my wife, Claudia and our sons, James and Clay. Claudia, you were right, Caleb does sound like me!" he says, and this guy has got to be my father. The woman hugs me and she's crying just as much as I am. "I'm sorry, Caleb!" she keeps saying. When she lets me go, my father claps me on the back. "How have you been, son?"
I feel like yelling at my parents about how they should never have abandoned me and running out of here with Hanna in tow, but I just wipe my eyes and say, "Fine. We should go to the hotel."
The kids are little attention-grabbers. They keep saying Hanna's pretty and they take each of her hands and skip along while she walks. She ruffles their hair. "You guys are too young for me, I think. I already got someone, anyways." She turns to me and kisses me on the cheek. "They're hilarious."
I roll my eyes and laugh as best as I can. She's trying to make me feel better, and I'm so happy that she's here. She gives me a hug and I hold her close to my side. We follow my family to their van and get in the very backseat. They drive us to the hotel and we get a room key. It's across from theirs and overlooking a beautiful view. We all plan to hang out at the ocean tomorrow and get to know each other more.
Hanna and I get into our pajamas and set up the bed. She's gonna live out of her suitcase, since she's only here for a day and two nights. I, however, am loading drawers with my clothes. I'm staying longer than she is. After we brush our teeth and she washes her face, we get into bed. I wrap my arm around her middle and she has her back pressed against my chest. She groans and then turns around. I scoot her up so our lips can comfortably touch.
"I love you," I say as I gaze deep into her blue eyes.
She smiles. "Me too, so much. Good night."
Mona leaves my room, but she continues her torture. She calls me after it happened. She tells me that she knows who my soul mate is and that I am talking to her. I tell her that I have Hanna, and she calls me again and says the same thing. She says she will put a curse on me if I ever tell Hanna about this. Then she climbs through the window with a gun and tells me to be still as she binds my wrists together behind my back with rope, stuffs a sock in my mouth and covers it with duct tape, and then...I think she is literally eating me alive. I see more than I want to see of her...I try to close my eyes, but she points her gun at me until I obey her. She forces me to touch her disgusting body and pinch her...down there...and her nipples...I beg her to quit...and she refuses. She stops when she is finished orgasming, and then she leaves me there. I'm lucky she didn't kill me.
"Fuck off, Mona!" I yell.
"Stop it, please! Lemme go!" Hanna's screaming in her sleep, and I realize that I'm squeezing her too tightly because of my flashback. "No, I said no!" She starts sobbing loudly and I relax my muscles. I'm glad she woke me up, because I don't want to hurt her, ever. She's struggling to get out of my arms, so I let her go. She rolls over and before she can fall off the bed through her thrashing, I catch her and wake her gently. "Hanna…I was just having a nightmare, okay? I got too into it. It was a flashback, actually. It seems like you were also having a bad dream." I turn on the light so I can see her better. Tears are falling down her cheeks and she looks so frightened. Slowly, she crawls to me and tucks herself into my embrace again. She sniffles.
"I heard you…something about Mona…and your grip was too strong."
"I'm sorry, honey…"
"No, I get it, you're traumatized, apparently. Can you tell me about your bad dream?"
I explain everything, and I don't face Hanna until now, and tears are streaming down her face. She looks angry and hurt, not at me, but at what Mona did.
"I thought you would've told the police."
"Nobody would believe me. They always blame the guy in these situations."
"I believe you. God, I despise her. She deserves way worse than the slap I gave her at the club."
"I know…but do you feel like talking about your nightmare?"
"It was nothing. It's all in the past…like, when I was nine. Don't worry about me. I'm okay."
We go to sleep in each other's arms, and the next morning, we get ready for our day at the beach. Hanna wears a cover-up over her swimsuit. It's a pink dress, and she puts her sunglasses on and applies lipstick. She has her beach bag and her sarong with her and her hair is in braids. I'm in my swimming trunks and a white t-shirt. We walk down to the beach and while I play with my baby brothers in the water, Hanna and my parents lounge in chairs and talk the day away. I try to get Hanna in the water, but she insists that it's too cold. It's one of the hottest days ever, and she refuses to take off that dress. I know she isn't shy, because she splashed around in her pool at home at Aria's pool party a while back. She gives in after a few minutes and just goes in with her dress on. After we enjoy ourselves in the ocean, we run along the beach while the kids hang out with my parents. We get hot dogs for lunch and have a picnic on the beach and then get ice cream for dessert. We call it a day after a delicious dinner of pizza and fettuccini. Hanna answers her ringing phone as we walk back to our room.
"Hi, Ella! Oh, that sounds great! We had fun today, too. What the fuck? I think you should have my grandma there with you guys. She wouldn't let him get away with that." Hanna moves the phone away from her mouth and says to me, "Zack called the police on you! Of course, Mona told him that you raped her and they're looking for you." I'm infuriated.
"See, that's why we needed to get away!"
Hanna nods and she looks so angry as she tells Ella, "Caleb would never do something so vile! Mona did that to him. You should call the police on her! Oh, they've already set up a warrant for his arrest? Well, too bad he ain't gonna be home anytime soon! I'm sorry, Ella...no, this isn't your fault, it's Zack's and Mona's! I have to go…I'll see you tomorrow! Good night!"
"I don't want to go to sleep," Hanna says. "I'm afraid we'll ruin each other's nights again."
"We don't have to. We can stay up until we're too tired. Let's face it Hanna, we're both damaged. Like you said, we can get through it together and help each other heal."
She turns to face the window and stretches. "It feels good to be here."
That's when I notice a large, red welt on her lower back. My heart tears itself out of my chest when I see it, because I'm afraid I know exactly how she got that. Even still, I walk over to her and run my thumb over the ridge in her otherwise smooth skin. "What the hell is this from?"
"I'm clumsy. I…I backed into a corner of our dining room table. It's sharp and it really hurt, so would you mind never touching that area again until it heals?"
"What about your cut lip?"
"I already told you, we had chocolate chip banana pancakes, they're really yummy, and my fork missed the inside of my mouth and got my bottom lip instead."
"That doesn't draw blood."
"Yeah, well, it does if the tines stab you hard."
"I didn't know forks gave you bruises and a swollen lip."
"I got hit in the face with a soccer ball on the way to seeing you guys yesterday morning. That aggravated my cut and then split my lip, okay?"
Interestingly enough, she has this stuff happen to her when she's at her house. "What's weird is that you always seem to get hurt after Zack catches us together. Every time I've taken you home and he's been there, he's grabbed your arm too roughly. All of these injuries didn't start until you moved into that house! You don't fall all over the place when you're with me or the girls. I understand reprimanding you when you go against his rules, but corporal punishment is against the law. The haunting truth dawned on me, Hanna, and now I just have to ask, is he beating you? If so, you need to report that...or tell someone...at the very least, me. I'll take care of it."
"No!" she says sharply and faces me. "No, he's not. I bump into all kinds of crap!"
"So, your house is a hazardous zone or something?"
"Yes!"
"I've never known you to have a balance problem." I pull off my shirt and show her my scars. "They're all from belt buckles and whips because I misbehaved in my first foster home. I would always make up excuses to anyone who had questions about them...and if he ever does that to you, I swear to God, I'll fight him!" My hands clench up into fists.
"Caleb, stop, you're really tense. I'm sorry that happened to you, but I'm not going through that."
"I'm tense? You should see your foster father, who has no right to disrespect you like he does! I've seen the veins bulge out from his neck and his arms when he's angry! Hanna, he's not even your real dad."
"At least he's in my life, unlike my biological father!"
"I don't feel comfortable when he's around you. I want to keep you safe, my darling girl...but I can't help you if I don't know what's going on in your life when I'm not around."
"Then don't!" She takes her pajamas and goes into the bathroom to change, I'm guessing.
I give us time to ourselves so we can both calm down, but after fifteen minutes, I decide she's taking too long in there. I can hear her whimpering and saying, "Ouch!" every five seconds. I knock softly on the door.
"Honey, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to pressure you...I just don't like when people hide things from me, especially when they're in danger!"
"I'll be out in a minute!" Her voice sounds so weak. "Wait, I have to get dressed!"
"Could you at least stay here with me? I really don't like the idea of him being in the same living space as you."
"Well, I do need to go home because Ella is going to try to get Zack to be okay with us and I want to see this happen!"
"Babe, can you just please come out so I can comfort you?"
"Not yet...I can't get up. I've done something awful, Caleb." She unlocks the door and I open it to find her sitting by the toilet and crying while holding my razor in her hand. Blood is dripping from her wrist. "Don't look at me, please. I'm a bad person!" She's sobbing, and I let her give me the razor. I clean her cut and put a towel on it to stop the bleeding. "You hate me, don't you?"
"No, princess, I could never hate you. Why would you do this to yourself, though?"
"I don't know! Sometimes I can't control the urge...and I'm so ugly that I deserve it!"
I carry her to our bed and hold her. "You're not ugly, not even a little bit. You're such a pretty girl."
She weeps against me and keeps lightly hitting my chest with the palms of her hands. I kiss the top of her head and rock her. We stay like that all night, until her alarm goes off and I have to take her to the airport. We kiss and hug before she boards her flight.
Later, I decide to get her some jewelry. Zack possibly abusing Hanna is gnawing at me from the inside, though. Every part of me regrets letting her get on that plane, and now I have to see her.
Before I get on the next flight, I send a few texts. To Ella, I say, I think you should watch your husband around Hanna. My message for Hanna is, I'm coming home, baby! Then I let the other girls know I'm returning to Rosewood early.
I need to protect her from the man who I suspect is a monster behind closed doors.
Thank you for reading and reviewing, XxScarredAngelxX, guest, SereneCalamity, jazzy, Atramea, badassHaleb, xxdare2dreamxx1, and feyhazelle! I really appreciate the support! Xoxo