Other Part:

The sound of her white strappy heels clicking along the pavement was one of the few noises that could have been heard that night in Rosewood town centre. It was just a little after eight in the evening when Carly had arrived in town and parked her car on the road side, about twenty five yards away from the restaurant she had agreed to go to for her date.

The butterflies in her stomach grew as she came to the front of the restaurant, which had two large open windows on either side of the entrance door. She could already see her date sat inside at one of the two seated tables, towards the middle of the right hand side of the room. He was anxiously looking down at his wrist watch and back over to the window again, only this time he spotted Carly stood outside and beckoned her in.

Flashing a half smile in his direction, she headed towards the door and made her way into the restaurant. The smell of fresh food cooking instantly hit her and the chatter of the guests already seated filled the busy restaurant.

A young male waiter approached her upon her arrival and guided her over to where her date was sat. Once he saw her coming towards him, he got up out of his chair and was onto his feet within no time. The waiter left them too it as Carly went to grab the chair to sit herself down but her date immediately stopped her, instead replacing her hands with his own and moving the chair out for her.

"You don't have to do that." Carly told him turning her head to the side to look at him.

"I want to, Miss Monroe." He replied gently before nodding down to the chair. "Please take a seat."

Laughing under her breath at his charming ways, she sat herself down on the chair as he pushed it in a little and retook his own seat at the table. She laid her clutch bag onto her lap and looked across at him; as per usual he was already gazing at her.

"I'm actually surprised you called me." Holbrook told her.

"Yeah well let's just say something changed my mind." She smiled at him before glancing down at the drinks and appetizer menu in front of her on the table.

"Well I'm thankful for whatever it was." He chuckled as he copied her actions and she looked over at him seeing how happy he actually was.

However weird and nerve racking this was for her in this situation, out in a fancy restaurant in the middle of town with the guy who was basically her boss and the lead detective on the cases she had been assigned to, she was kind of glad she accepted the offer since it would help her forget about Jason and she was pleasing Holbrook in the meantime.

"So have you ever eaten in this place before?" Holbrook asked her in which she shook her head.

"No never," She answered him. "My dad's not really a fan of French food so we never visited here. But I'm not particularly fussy so this is great."

Holbrook nodded in response "I remember you telling me that you grew up here the first night we met, although I was being pretty rude and nosey at the time, which I do apologise once again for."

Carly thought back to her first night at the station in which Holbrook had questioned her about her where abouts the summer Alison went missing. It was a sensitive subject for her especially when it was the first couple of days of her being back in town. Although it had been way over a week since she had come back and that subject wasn't as raw. But it still held a lot of secrets Carly prayed would never get out.

"It's fine honestly," Carly reassured him "I'm so over it. I get it. You're a detective you want to know everything."

"I never wanted to integrate you though, Miss Monroe." He replied with a guilty tone in his voice "I just wanted to get to know you better."

"Well you can tonight." She offered with a warm smile.

If it didn't involve anything about her relationship with some of the suspects on the case, about what she was doing of the night Alison went missing, what trouble she got herself involved with and what she went through afterwards then she would be fine with opening up to him.

"I like the sound of that."

Before she got the chance to answer, the male waiter who greeted Carly on her arrival came over to the table ready to take their first order of drinks and starters. He turned to Carly first with his notepad and pen at the ready waiting for her choices.

"Um I'll just have a sparkling water please with no starter." She informed him in whom he nodded and jotted down her drink, before turning to face Holbrook.

"And you sir?" The waiter asked him as Holbrook glanced down at the menu again.

"Um I'll pass on the starter as well." He said before looking over at Carly. "Why don't we share a bottle of wine? My treat."

Carly face fell instantly at the mention of an alcohol substance. She could fell her heart speed up in her chest and her palms heating up under the table. She didn't know how to react to this. She had not been offered any form of alcohol for years and hadn't consumed any since her last night in Rosewood. She was not prepared for this whatsoever.

If she would have known this was going to happen she would never had agreed to go one a date with Holbrook. It was something she hadn't even thought about it and now she was being faced with her past demons. But she couldn't let Holbrook aware of her problems and had to get around it somehow or another. It wasn't going to be easy though since he was a detective who could tell when someone was lying or acting strange.

"U-u-uh no I'm fine with my water thanks." She stammered laying her elbow on top of the table and fiddling with the back of her earring nervously.

"Uh ok." Holbrook mumbled confused and glanced up at the waiter "I'll just have an lemonade please."

"Sure." The waiter said taking the two menus off the table in front of them both and replacing them with the main menu. "I'll be over shortly with your drinks and to take the rest of your order."

Once the waiter was out of sight Holbrook turned his head back towards Carly and gave her a strange look. All she could do back was give him the best fake smile she could in that situation. She couldn't let him find out she had a past problem with alcoholic. It would not only ruin her but her career also.

"You ok?" Holbrook asked since it had not gone unnoticed to him how her mood had changed within a matter of seconds, pretty much ever since he had brought up the offer of wine. Why was she acting so strange about it?

"I'm fine." She lied before laying her hand back down under the table and readjusting herself in the seat, due to the nerves making her feel like she couldn't sit still.

An awkward silence lingered over them since Holbrook was trying to work out what the hell was wrong with her and Carly was trying her very best to act calm, like nothing was wrong and that she could actually do this without messing it all up. She just needed Holbrook to forget about it and fast. Also they were trying to make a decision of what they were going to have to eat, although Carly really wasn't feeling like eating anymore after that.

The waiter came back over to the table a few minutes later with their drinks in his hands. Once he had reached the table he sat their drinks down in front of them and grabbed his notepad again to take their next orders.

"What can I get for the both of you?"

"I think I'll go for the steak frites please." Carly told him closing up her menu and handing it over to the waiter.

The waiter took the menu from her grasp once he had finished writing and turned to face Holbrook. "I'm going to go with the grilled Atlantic salmon."

"Brilliant." The waiter said before he took the other menu and wrote down the last order.

"Uh man I don't mean to be annoying but do you think I could swap drinks?" Holbrook quickly requested causing Carly to frown puzzled.

"Of course Sir." The waiter approved picking up the drink Holbrook had previously ordered.

"Can I have a beer please?"

The waiter nodded before wondering off towards the kitchen, leaving Carly with a panic feeling flooding through her body about the possibility of having an alcoholic substance just across the table from her. She didn't quite know how she was going to be able to handle this but hoped that whatever the hell happened it went smoothly.

Holbrook continued to observe Carly's mannerisms throughout the rest of the time and even when his drink arrived. It didn't go unnoticed to him that when the drink was sitting on the table after the waiter had brought it over, Carly had avoided looking at it or down at the table at all costs. It made him question more why she was acting so weird and he was trying to brush off the idea of her having some sort of problem.

If only he knew the half of it.

The rest of the dinner seemed to go thankfully well despite how uneasy Carly was feeling about the alcohol being present on the table but she managed to keep her calm and not crumble right there. She had actually enjoyed her meal and the conversation between the two of them seemed to flow really well. Holbrook had even managed to make her laugh multiple times and it felt good to laugh for once. She really needed a night out and was glad she accepted the date in the end.

For Holbrook with regards to him watching Carly's eye move, he also had enjoyed himself that night. He loved being around Carly at work because they both worked well together, could be serious about work related topics but also have a joke and a casual conversation when it was ok to. But even at dinner he seemed to grow to like her even more than he had before. He had learnt little aspects of her life growing in Rosewood such as what her favourite hobbies were, where she would hang out when she was young, what clubs she was in at middle school, her grades at high school and her relationship with her Dad. He was beginning to even picture himself progressing further with the young woman. She was definitely someone he would love to spend his future with.

"So I heard your Dad was a doctor at the hospital." Holbrook said continuing the conversation about Carly and her Dad's relationship.

"Yeah he's the famous Rosewood emergency doctor." Carly joked as she finished off the last piece of her steak and laid the cutlery down onto the plate.

"Wow so you've got a father who's part of the public service and now you his daughter is." He smiled at her from across the table.

"Yeah guess it must run in the family wanting to help people." She giggled wiping her mouth with the napkin.

"Just like your mom?"

Carly stopped what she was doing with napkin and turned her head slightly to the side with a small smile. "You know about her?" She asked shocked he was aware of her.

"Yeah doesn't all Rosewood past and present cops?" Holbrook said like he was stating the obvious.

She couldn't help but laugh slightly under her breath in amazement that people still remembered her mom after all this time. She was quite surprised that her mom had made such an impact on not just the people of this town but those who were part of the force.

"That's so weird." Carly laughed causing Holbrook to smile hearing her laugh. It felt so good to him to hear her laugh.

As Holbrook went to speak again the waiter interrupted the two of them as he came over to collect their plates and present them with the bill. Carly and Holbrook both thanked him for his service as they both began to pull out their purses/wallets to pay for their meal.

"You're seriously going to try not letting me pay again?" Holbrook teased as he threw a $50 bill down onto the table before Carly even had the chance to sort her money out.

"Yes I can't let you pay for me again." Carly told him pushing the note he had put down back towards him and replacing it with a $30 for her own meal.

"I meant what I said that day when I said there would be other times when I treat you, such as our first date which is I think what we're on now." Holbrook motioned between the two of them with his fingers before pushing his note forward and picking up her note.

Carly raised her eyebrows up at him with a light smirk gracing her plump lips as Holbrook handed her the note back. Rolling her eyes in defeat, she took the note from him and tossed it into her purse.

They both got up from their seats and made their way towards the exit of the restaurant. Holbrook kindly opened the door for her and let her go through it first, before he followed shortly after. They began a slow peaceful walk over to her car which was still parked on the side of the pavement. There was a breeze in the atmosphere which caused Carly's arm to erupt into goose bumps making her regret not wearing a jacket over her pink nude strappy bodycon dress.

When they had reached her car, they both turned to face each other before Carly spoke up "I really had a great time tonight," She told him honestly "So thanks."

She really had enjoyed herself. Her main aim was to try get rid of her past once and for all, as well as get over Jason. Despite the alcohol incident, she had slowly eased her way back into the dating sides of her life and towards getting over Jason. However it was still going to take some time to completely forget how she felt. But Holbrook could be a good possible distraction in the future.

"Me too Miss Monroe." Holbrook smiled at her and it wasn't long before silence fell over them again.

Holbrook took this as his chance to make a move on Carly since he had been wanting to since the first time he had seen her that evening. He had also been thinking about what it would be like to hold her and kiss her over the course of the week. Now that they had their first date and seemed to be getting on really well, he hoped that she was just as interested and would return his feelings.

Slowly he leaned in closer to her, his eyes drifting down from her lips and back up to her eyes. He was just inches away from kissing her when Carly realised what he was doing, causing her to freak out and spin her head to the side to stop it from happening.

His lips awkwardly came in contact with her cheek making Carly cringe a little at how awkward and embarrassing this must have been for him. But she couldn't have him kiss her and get the wrong end of the stick. She wasn't ready for that yet. She wasn't ready for a relationship when she was still hung on someone else.

He quickly stood back up straight and gave her a sheepish smile in which she shook her head with a smug look on her face. She had to bite down on her bottom lip to try and stop herself from laughing at how awkward this was. The office certainly wasn't going to be the same again.

"I'm sorry about that." Holbrook apologised putting his hands into his pockets on his pants, whilst she shook her head in as to say forget it.

"I'll see you on my next shift." Carly said wanting to get away from this situation as quickly as she could.

Holbrook remained quiet but nodded his head as Carly unlocked and opened up the driver's side of the car, before getting into it and closing the door behind herself. Not once did she look back at Holbrook, as she laid her clutch bag on the passenger seat and started the engine of the car.

Within seconds, she pulled away from the road side and headed back towards her apartment block. She breathed a sigh of relief when her car was out of sight from Holbrook and was certainly grateful that was one of two of the strange moments of her date that night. She was glad it wasn't a complete disaster after all but didn't see herself going on anymore dates with Holbrook anytime soon, especially if he was going to be trying to kiss her after every one.

She was also so proud of herself for not losing it in front of alcohol. She had never imagined herself to get so close to a drink again. But she was glad she didn't freak out or react badly to the situation. Even though she felt uneasy and like she couldn't stand to be there, a part of her was glad she could cope and sat through it without running away. Her Dad and Brooke would be so proud of her.

Just as she pulled away from the traffic lights and turned the corner down one of the streets, two figures walking closely by one another suspiciously caught her eye causing her to slow down a little as she approached them.

As the car edged closer to the pair, she could make out that the short blonde wavy haired teenager was clutching the tall bald guy beside her as if she was drunk and couldn't stand up on her own.

From her view in the driver side of the car, she could make out that the girl who was stumbling on her two feet was actually Hanna Marin, friends with Alison DiLaurentis and the other girls including Spencer and Aria who had turned up at the station last week.

Rolling down the passenger window, Carly slowed down the car and stopped against the curb on the side of the road causing the two teenagers to turn to face her. The guy who she had never seen before from when she use to live her and now, gave her a confused look when he realised Carly had stopped beside them.

"Uh can I help you miss?" The guy asked turning to face her with Hanna wrapped under his arm.

Once Hanna had uneasily spun around on her feet to look where Travis was looking, she blinked in confusion at the car and pulled a small smile once she had realised who was driving it.

"I-i-it's C-c-carly Monroe." Hanna stumbled over her words and wobbled on her feet slightly.

"She's drunk isn't she?" Carly asked stating the obvious.

"Uh…" Travis mumbled looking around his surroundings not sure if he should even answer that question since both of them were underage and could get in trouble if the police found out.

For some strange reason, Carly couldn't help but want to help the pair out since she felt like she could totally relate to the situation Hanna and Travis happened to be in. During her final years of high school there would be a number of times when she would be the one stumbling down the street drunk out of her ass and have one of her friends trying to hold her up right, as well as making sure she didn't vomit on her shoes or run off somewhere.

Even though Travis seemed like a nice enough guy and like he was close with Hanna, Carly couldn't help but feel responsible within her job and as an older female to take over from Travis, to make sure that Hanna got home safely without getting to trouble on the way.

"Get in the car Hanna." Carly instructed reaching over to unlock the passenger door, in which Hanna moved slowly forward to jump inside before Travis grabbed her wrist to pull her bag.

"You're just going to go jump in some stranger's car?" Travis asked Hanna with a worried tone.

"Relax Travis." Hanna brushed him off and rubbed the top of his head causing him to edge away slightly. "I know Carly."

Carly gave Travis a reassuring smile as Hanna hopped into the car and slowly put on her seat belt. "Relax Travis. I'll get her home safely and within no time."

Without saying another word, Travis closed the door behind Hanna and watched as Carly pulled away from the curb before heading back down the road to where she remembered where Hanna lived.

Unlike Aria, Carly had never been very close with the other girls within the friendship circle. She had gotten on well with Spencer since she is Melissa sister and Carly use to spend time over at the Hasting's house. But with Hanna, Emily and Alison she had never had a proper conversation with them due to them not really having any connections. Also Alison acted like she hated Carly's guts, so Carly would never waste her time getting to know someone who didn't want anything to do with her.

Although just like everyone else in this town, Carly knew of everybody and that included where they lived, as well as how old they were and who they hang around with. Most of the time it was a disadvantage that everyone knew each other's business, but sometimes it came in handy especially when giving drunken teenagers rides home in the middle of the night.

"So how did you end up in this state?" Carly asked interestedly to hear the theory behind this. There was always something behind someone getting in a bad state.

"I went to a party."

"And you had way too much punch I guess?"

"You guessed right."

"Why?"

Hanna looked at her puzzled "What do you mean why?"

"What are your reasons for getting wasted on a school night?"

Hanna went silent for a moment, debating whether or not she should be honest since she hardly knew Carly. She had no idea what she would do with the information she was going to give her. But if Aria and Spencer liked her then she guessed she could too.

"Caleb's back."

Carly felt her stomach tighten slightly after hearing Hanna's words and that the situation the teenage was in seemed way too familiar to Carly. She felt unsure of what to say next since her own thoughts were getting the better of her.

After a few moments of silence between the two, Hanna turned her head slowly round to face Carly in the car with a deep frown, causing Carly to turn her head slightly to look at her and then back on the road "What?"

"I thought you were a cop now." Hanna queried in which Carly nodded back thankful that they were on a different topic now. "So aren't you going to arrest me for drinking?"

Carly shook her head slightly and laughed lightly under her breath which only made Hanna more confused. She shifted slightly in her seat so that she could look at Carly more, although due to her drunken head right now she could see a lot more than one of her.

"What's funny?"

Carly came to a halt at one of the traffic lights and turned properly to face Hanna "Let's just say that I've been there and done that."

"Y-y-you've been drunk underage?" Hanna asked in disbelief with a smug look on her face.

Carly remained silent as the lights changed and she turned her head back on the road as she continued the journey to Hanna's house.

"I thought Carly Monroe was a goodie too shoes who focused highly on her education."

"That was only part of her." Carly answered.

"What was the other part?" Hanna pushed as Carly turned down Hanna's road, her house now coming into full view.

Keeping quiet, Carly pulled up outside Hanna's house a few seconds later and shut off the engine. Hanna unbuckled her seat belt, her eyes never leaving the older girl's beside her as Carly took the key out of the ignition and looked ahead of her.

"Well?"

Carly lowered her head slightly as she knew Hanna was still after an answer with her and she knew that she couldn't hide away from that side of her anymore. But on the other hand, if she told Hanna would she even be able to remember this conversation they were having by the morning, since Hanna was very intoxicated.

"The good side I guess was a front, that was masked by the other part of me, that use to enjoy being reckless." Carly told her truthfully before stepping out of the car and wondering round the other side to help Hanna out.

Hanna who was slightly in shock and confusion at the slight revelation, she tried her best to pull herself out of the car and with the use of Carly's arm's to hold onto she did.

The two girls unsteadily wondered up the front path of the Marin household which was dark inside apart from the dim light coming from one of the front rooms. Once the two girls had reached the front door, Carly rang the bell and waited for someone to come open it.

After a few seconds, the door slowly opened up to reveal Ashley Marin, Hanna's mom on the other side. At first she was puzzled to see Carly at the door because she didn't really know her but her face dropped slightly when she saw Hanna dangling beside her.

"Hanna! What the hell happened?" Ashley questioned in astonishment, clearly embarrassed and disappointed to see her daughter in the state she was in.

"Relax Mother I'm fine." Hanna waved off her comment and tried to stand up without the use of Carly to prove her point.

However it was no use when she staggered around on the door step and stumbled into her mother's arms inside the house. "Hanna! You're wasted."

"State the obvious Mom." Hanna rolled her eyes and laid her head on her mother's should which caused Carly to speak up.

"Um Ms Marin, I'm Carly, I work at the police station, I thought I would give Hanna a lift home since I spotted Travis struggling to walk Hanna home in her state." Carly explained.

"I apologise now for Hanna's behaviour. Trust me my daughter is not normally like this." Ashley tried to defend Hanna.

"It's completely fine, Ms Marin." Carly reassured her giving her a small smile. "I better head home now, try sober up Hanna."

"Thank you Carly. I promise you that you'll never see Hanna in a state like this again." Ashley replied as Carly nodded her head back before turning on her heel to head back to her car.

On her journey back to her car she could hear the sound of Ashley questioning her daughter again what the hell happened and why she was acting the way she was, which Hanna could only respond with jumbled words and sentences from the alcohol before the door closed as Carly reopened her's.

Jumping back inside, she placed the key into the ignition and just sat there for a while thinking. She thought back to the time when she use to come late at night or the night morning and have similar conversations as to what Hanna and Ashley were having but with her Dad instead.

She thought back to the disappointed and ashamed look on his face when he saw that she was still dressed in last night's clothes, her makeup smeared around her face, her hair slightly messy, her breath and body reeking of alcohol, as well as the smell from the drug fumes she had been around.

It was that side of her that she had mentioned to Hanna ever so briefly, the side of her that she could never go back to and her Dad would do more than send her away to New York this time. She was pretty sure he would never want anything to do with her again.

She was so glad that she had her life sorted out for her now and that she could move on from that part of her life. She had a job, she was working towards her dream career, she had good friends, and she had her Dad for support and her own place. Life was good for her.

Being reminded of her past now was just never an option now.

Or so she thought.

Author note: I can't believe we're already on part ten! That's crazy! I really hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far and liked this part. Sorry there was no Jason/Carly again, but I hope there was some hints within this part that will have given you guys an idea about what happened that summer and how it has affected Carly's life now.

Special thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited or followed since the last part, LiLuLo12, ColdHeartAngel, venna26, RHatch89, TheRandomOne, Am4444, Courtney-Tamara, JessBoobear, laymetosleep33 and pureoxide22. Many thanks to you guys.

Also thank you to everyone who read this part. I love to hear what you think so feel free to drop me a review with your thoughts.

Many thanks again

xx