I was gonna say happy new year seeing as this is the first time I've updated this fic this year but… I think it's a little late for that now haha! Nevertheless, here's a new chapter for you all. I've also posted three oneshots recently, so feel free to check those out if you'd like to.

To the guest who asked for an update for their birthday – I'm sorry I kinda failed and didn't get this out in time, but I hope you still like it anyway.

Without further ado, enjoy!

Chapter Ten

Hanna had been caught making out before, sure. But that was with Sean, and it could barely qualify as a real kiss… she'd never been caught in a heated make out session with her best friend until now.

The way in which Spencer was staring at her with raised eyebrows and wide eyes, an amused Toby hot on her heels, really wasn't helping the situation at all.

"You can stop looking at us like that now," Hanna mumbled, sliding herself off of Caleb's lap before she pressed her face up against his shoulder, "We didn't do anything wrong."

Caleb shook his head at Toby and Spencer; he could tell that Hanna was starting to get a little upset by the small wobble in her voice, and the way that she was scrunching the back of his shirt up over and over again in her fist. "Hey," He soothed, rubbing her arm a couple of times as he tried to pry her face away from his shirt, "Han, it's Spence and Toby, they don't care."

"Oh, we care," Toby teased, oblivious to Hanna's upset, laughing as he sat down on the couch opposite to them.

Hanna's head shot up immediately and she gave him her best death stare, exhaling noisily through her nose, "Not funny." She was trying desperately to hold back from exploding, telling them how much she wanted to run away from Spencer's house in that moment, a single tear threatening to spill down her cheek despite her wishes.

Spencer rolled her eyes at them both, "You don't have to be embarrassed, Han," She assured her, taking her place on the sofa next to Toby, "We're just a little… confused."

Toby nodded in agreement as Hanna and Caleb looked at each other for the first time since they had been caught, small smiles tugging at the corners of their lips, Hanna's mood instantly lifting at the sight of his face. The truth was, neither of them really knew how to explain what was going on between them. Sure, they had agreed on this whole 'friends with benefits' things, but explaining their situation according to those terms seemed a little superficial.

Before either of them had a chance to explain themselves, though, Spencer interrupted the silence. "You're dating, aren't you?" She smirked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down a couple of times.

Caleb looked straight to Hanna, who barely registered the question before she threw her answer out. "No," She assured her, shaking her head, "We're not… we're not… a couple."

"Then what are you?" Enquired Toby, "Because you walk around holding hands, you spend every second of free time that you have together, and we just caught you doing things that nobody else needed to see."

Hanna rolled her eyes; Caleb tried not to laugh beside her.

"So?" Toby prompted, something that looked undoubtedly similar to anticipation flashing across his eyes, "Can we start going on double dates now or not?"

Sensing Hanna's unease, Caleb took her hand in his and squeezed her fingers gently, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. "We're not exactly together," He began, scratching the back of his head with the other hand, "We're more than friends but, uh, we're not dating." He took a deep breath in, unsure of how to continue, "We're trying a-"

"Friends with benefits. You're totally friends with benefits," Spencer concluded, her eyes gleaming with joy at the fact that she'd just figured out what was going on, "So you've done it then, you've had sex?"

Hanna groaned, her face returning to it's previous position, buried against Caleb's shoulder. "Stop," She moaned, "Leave us alone."

"She'll just pester you until you tell her," Toby joked, "So you may as well just get it over with."

Spencer titled her head to the side, indicating that what Toby had said was correct; she wanted an answer, and she was going to get one, even if it meant embarrassing her friends a little in the process.

Unsure of what she should say, or even if she should say anything, Hanna stayed with her head pressed firmly against Caleb; he sat quietly with raised eyebrows and a small pout forming on his lips. Apparently, their silence was enough of an answer for Spencer.

"You have!" She practically beamed, "How was it?" She mocked, in a purposefully husky voice.

"We don't have to answer your questions ok?" Hanna huffed, suddenly deciding to stand up and move into the kitchen, reaching into the fridge to grab herself a drink. "You want anything?" She asked, turning towards Caleb, purposefully not offering anything to either Spencer or Toby.

"I'm good, thanks," He smiled, turning back to his other friends. "Seriously guys, it's no big deal. Just leave it."

"Right," Spencer agreed with a small smirk as Hanna returned to them, deducing that she had gone a little too far by the stern look on Caleb's face. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Hanna mumbled into her can of diet soda, taking a huge gulp as she realised just how dry her mouth had become. She sat down next to Caleb, purposefully a little further away from him than she had been before.

After a beat, Spencer couldn't help but come back with one more remark, "But I am gonna need you to tell me how it was at some point."

"They think I'm just using you to get some," Hanna concluded, throwing her arms out in front of her as she walked down the almost empty streets of Rosewood. "They think I'm some kind of slut that will just sleep with her best friend because he's… there."

"Han," Caleb laughed a little, "You know that's not true. They're our best friends and they know us, you're overreacting."

"I'm not," She huffed as they approached her front door, turning the key in the lock and pushing the front door open before she stormed through it.

Caleb could barely keep up with her as she strode through into the kitchen, sitting down on one of the stools with a packet of cookies that had been stashed in one of the cupboards.

"Why are you this upset?" He asked, confused and a little concerned as she bit into a cookie, "I don't get it." His resolve crumbled when he saw a single tear run down her cheek, before she turned her head away from him so that he couldn't see her face anymore.

"Hey," He soothed, suddenly concerned, "What's wrong?" He walked straight over to Hanna, bringing her face back towards him with her cheek in the palm of his hand. Her skin felt damp and warm against his as more tears began to fall, her eyes turning a bright shade of blue and her cheeks flushing pink in embarrassment.

"Nothing," She shook her head, dumping her half eaten cookie into the bin beside her, "I'm fine."

"You're not fine," He countered, sliding his palm up to push her hair back from her face, "Why has this upset you so much?"

Hanna took a shaky breath in before her eyes settled on Caleb's. The truth was, she didn't really know why she was so upset. Spencer and Toby were their best friends; they would never judge them, or tell anybody else, if they didn't want them to.

But then again, Hanna didn't even think it was them that she was upset about. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that she might have just been upset with the fact that 'friends with benefits' was the only valid explanation that she and Caleb could give. It felt so wrong to her, to explain their relationship as something that seemed so shallow. When Spencer had asked if they were dating and her immediate answer had been 'no', something in her had switched, and everything about what they were doing felt phoney. Like they were pretending to be something that they weren't.

Her relationship with Caleb was so much more than friends, so much more than just 'benefits'.

Why couldn't either of them bring themselves to admit it?

"Han?" Caleb prompted her gently after she hadn't spoken for a couple of minutes, never ceasing the soothing motions of his fingers as they ran through her hair, "What is it?"

Still unsure of her answer, Hanna turned on her stool until she was facing him and shrugged, before pushing herself up and wrapping her arms around his back, her face buried in his chest and her body pressed tightly against him. "I just need a hug," She mumbled, her voice muffled by his shirt.

Caleb laughed, snaking his arms around her waist as he began to rub slow circles on her back. "I think it's a little more than that," He chuckled, his voice soft and quiet, "But a hug will do for now."

"Thanks," Hanna smiled against him, loving how he never pushed her into talking about anything that she didn't want to. After a minute or so, she lifted her head up to meet his gaze, his eyes boring into hers, a mixture of curiosity, and concern, and something akin to fondness that she couldn't quite place flooding them. A force from within compelled her to say something, something that she wasn't even aware that she was feeling until the words were in her mouth.

"I-"

But then she stopped herself.

And her lips were on his.

And all words were forgotten.

Except they weren't, not in Caleb's mind. And as their lips moved together, their mouths slanting against the others, his heartbeat sped up uncontrollably as he imagined what the end of her sentence could have been. But he was fooling himself, he was sure. Hanna was getting upset about them being friends who were... more than friends, she couldn't have been about to say what he had thought she was, could she?

Now that the idea was in his head, he couldn't help but spend the rest of their kiss thinking about what his answer would have been; it didn't take long for him to come to a definite conclusion.

"Well, this is new."

Hanna stilled immediately, cringing as she heard her mother's voice slice straight through the sexual tension in the room, cruelly interrupting the make out session that she had been so engrossed in. Turning on her heel, she rubbed her lips together and looked up at her mom, her unease more than evident. "I thought you were asleep in bed…" She began, her voice trailing off as she attempted to come up with an excuse for her actions, "I wouldn't have…"

Ashley smiled at both of them, before focusing her attention on Hanna. "I don't mind that you're kissing Caleb, honey," She assured her, noticing the way that her daughter's hands were fumbling with the bottom of her shirt, "I mean I'd rather you didn't do it right here but, I just didn't know that this was…" She pointed between the two of them, "A thing?"

Caleb cleared his throat, "We're not a thing," He shook his head, "We're not uh, we're not dating." His voice was noticeably hoarse from the kiss, and he made a mental note not to speak to Ashley again before he'd had something to drink.

Hanna's heart started racing when her mom raised an eyebrow at her. How the hell was she supposed to explain 'friends with benefits' to her mother? In her mind, that would pretty much be the epitome of embarrassment. "A play," She eventually blurted out, not being able to bear the awkward silence for any longer, "We're rehearsing for a play."

Ashley let out a short laugh, clearly amused, "Caleb, you auditioned for a play?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Caleb mumbled, scratching the back of his head as he looked at Hanna, who rolled her eyes and slapped his arm at his weak attempt at lying.

Reaching past them both to grab her phone charger from the kitchen island, Ashley let out a sigh and began making her way upstairs once again. "I know for damn sure that you're not rehearsing for any kind of play, Hanna," She spoke over her shoulder, "But you can just tell me what's going on whenever you're ready."

As soon as Ashley was out of sight, Hanna threw her head into her hands, her elbows resting on the countertop as she let out long groan. "Can people, like, stop walking in on us when we're kissing?" She moaned, "It's getting really annoying."

Caleb laughed, pulling on Hanna's arm gently so that she turned to face him. "I mean I guess it's kinda our fault, we should probably stop kissing in the middle of people's homes," He joked, absentmindedly intertwining the fingers of one of his hands with hers.

Hanna rolled her eyes, "That's not the point," She retorted, though there was a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "What if I don't want to stop kissing you in kitchens, anyway?"

"Then you have to stop complaining about people finding out about us," He murmured as she pulled him towards her by the front of his shirt.

Hanna tilted her chin up, moving her face forward so that her mouth was only centimetres from his. Her eyes flickered down to his lips quickly, and then back up to his eyes, which were gleaming with excitement. "I think I can do both," She whispered, before closing the distance between them.

Their kiss picked up pretty much from where they had left off; soon hands were roaming and heavy breaths were filling the air as they quickly felt themselves begin to lose control. "Upstairs," Hanna mumbled between kisses, "We should go upstairs."

"But you mom has that no boys in your bedroom rule," Caleb countered, trying to catch his breath as Hanna began walking them backwards towards the stairs.

Hanna shook her head, dismissing his comment, "You know that doesn't apply to you, she lets you in my room all the time," She stated simply, before pushing her lips back onto his.

Caleb went along with it for a second, until they reached Hanna's bedroom door and he realised just how close it was to Ashley's. "Not to do this," He mumbled, breaking this kiss, "She's never let me go in your bedroom to do this."

Sighing, Hanna tugged him through her doorway and shut the door behind them, dimming the lights before placing her hands on his shoulders and leaning up to whisper in his ear. "Well she never has to know, does she?" She leaned back, a mischievous grin on her face and an excited twinkle in her eyes.

Caleb smiled and shook his head, but despite his efforts, he couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine at the sound of her voice in his ear. He didn't protest at all when Hanna's hands slid up from his shoulders to his face, her thumbs tracing his jawline as she gently bit his bottom lip between her teeth.

"Kiss me," She murmured, her eyes searching his with fervour.

He couldn't hold himself back for any longer as Hanna's eyes, and voice, and whole being got the better of him; he should have known that he was eventually going to give into her, he always did. Their lips crashed together as they clumsily moved back towards Hanna's bed, falling atop of the covers in a tangled mass of limbs.

"Are you sure you want to do this again," Caleb breathed, his hand trailing up the soft skin of Hanna's stomach under her shirt with no intention of stopping.

She nodded in response, opening her eyes to stare up at him, "We just have to be really quiet."

Caleb nodded back at her, already aware of what she was telling him; he definitely didn't want Hanna's mom hearing anything of what they were about to… do. His lips desperately reattached themselves to hers as she wrapped her legs around his hips, and her hands started grabbing at the bottom of his shirt, eventually moving it up and over his head.

"What was that?" He mumbled against her neck as he placed a kiss there, her hands stroking up and down his abdomen.

Hanna sighed, for the first time noticing the small bleeping sound that Caleb was referring to, "My phone, ignore it." With the gentle pressure of her legs on his back, she pulled his body closer, encouraging his lips back onto hers.

Five seconds later and her phone started making noise again, the increasingly annoying ringtone going on for a little longer than it had before. Hanna rolled her eyes as Caleb paused mid-kiss, pulling back to raise his eyebrows at her, "Sounds like somebody really needs you."

"Yeah, you," She retorted, rolling out from underneath him to sit on the edge of the bed as she grabbed her phone from her bedside cabinet.

Caleb laughed gently, shaking his head at Hanna's comment as he lay on his side, propping his head up on his hand. "Who is it?"

Hanna didn't reply, instead swinging her legs back onto the bed and throwing her phone down onto the floor, leaving it to ring. "Spencer," She moaned, wriggling her way towards him and burying her head in his neck as he wrapped an arm loosely around her waist. "I'll just call her back later."

Caleb had no intention of arguing with her, especially when her lips found their way into the crook of his neck and she began kissing a path up to his jawline. "Now can we please carry on from where we left off?"

He let out a hoarse groan at the sound of her needy whisper right up against his ear, and flipped them both back over, effectively answering her question with his act of dominance. "You're still wearing too many clothes," He remarked, gesturing towards her top with his eyes.

Hanna sucked in a breath through her teeth, pretending to think deeply about the situation. "Yeah, I think you should probably do something about that," She quipped; but Caleb was already there, and her shirt was half way over her head by the end of her sentence. She was sure that she could make out a muffled 'better' coming from Caleb's lips as he latched his mouth onto the newly exposed skin over her collar bone, but when his tongue began running a path between the valley of her breasts, she couldn't find it within herself to muster up any kind of response.

Instead, she threw her head back onto the pillow, tangling her fingers into Caleb's hair as his mouth made her feel things that she didn't even know she was capable of feeling. A deep moan emanated from her throat when he pulled one of her bra cups down and sucked her nipple into his mouth; she instantly covered her mouth with her hand when she realised what she'd done, praying that her mom hadn't heard her more than obvious noise of gratification.

Caleb laughed against her as he felt her tense up, "Shhhhh," He joked, pulling away for a second, "Or I'll be kicked out of the no boy zone."

"I don't care," Hanna retorted, pushing his head back towards her, "This is so worth it."

Caleb flicked his tongue across her nipple once more before he moved his mouth up to meet hers, starting a kiss that was inevitably going to lead to them both being anything but silent. Neither of them could find it within them to care, though; Hanna's breathy whimpers, along with Caleb's groans and the sounds of their lips connecting over and over again soon became so overbearing that they left little room for anything else to be heard.

That included the sound of Ashley's bedroom door as it opened, and the sound of her footsteps as she walked out onto the landing.

Hanna only came to the realisation that her mom was no longer in her room when she heard the toilet flush, and the bathroom door creak open shortly after.

"Shit," She croaked out, her brain a little fuzzy, "My mom, she's not in her room."

Caleb immediately pulled away from Hanna, turning his head towards to door as he attempted to listen out for any signs that Hanna's mom was heading their way. "She isn't?"

"I heard the toilet flush," Hanna explained, reaching over the side of the bed to grab both of their shirts, "Quick, put this back on, we can just pretend that we fell asleep."

Caleb nodded, a panicked look washing over his face as he pulled the material back over his head. "I can hear her coming this way," He whispered in an attempt to hurry Hanna along.

"My bra's twisted," She hissed back at him, "Help."

He reached an arm around her back, trying desperately to do what he could, but before he came anywhere close to achieving his aim, Hanna's bedroom door began to creak open slowly. They both had no choice but to lay down in the positions that they were currently in, Caleb's arm around Hanna's back, her face pressing into the crook of his neck by chance as they fell.

The beam of light coming from the crack between the door and the frame got wider, and shortly after, the sound of Ashley's footsteps could be heard as she entered the room. Hanna held her breath in anticipation, but then realising that she probably looked a little unnatural doing so, let out a small snore. Please don't kick him out, please don't kick him out.

Nothing happened for a good few minutes. Or maybe it was only thirty seconds, but to Hanna and Caleb, it felt like forever. Then, Ashley sighed, and the room became dim once more as the door clicked shut. She was gone.

Lifting her head up and off of Caleb, Hanna let out a breath that she'd practically been holding since she'd first heard her mom leave her bedroom. "She believed us," She smiled, her voice barely there; she was terrified at the idea of her mother hearing her and returning, "She believed we fell asleep."

Caleb smiled, nodding in confirmation, "She did." For the first time, he noticed the way that his arm was wrapped around Hanna, but made no effort to remove it. Instead, he tugged at her waist with his hand, encouraging her to cuddle up against his chest.

Hanna happily complied, snaking an arm around him as she hummed in contentment. "I don't think we can do anything, uh... anything else now," She mumbled, flushing a little as she searched for the right words, "But it looks like she's alright with you staying over," She joked, her eyes fluttering to a close.

Looking down at her peaceful expression, Caleb smiled to himself. "That's good enough for me," He confirmed stroking his thumb across her cheek as her face visibly relaxed at his touch, her lips parting a little. "Goodnight baby."

Hanna's heart flipped in her chest at his words. Baby. Caleb had just called her baby, and boy did it feel good. She could really get used to this.

"Goodnight," She whispered back, her smile seeping through in her voice. Her sentence was incomplete, a little something missing from the end, but she still couldn't quite pluck up the courage to say it. They weren't even there yet, anyway.

As he lay next to her, his lips pressed to her forehead, Caleb thought about how he wished more than anything that they were.

I'm seriously finding it hard not to make this story move forward really really realllllly quickly. Help. On another note, I'm going to upload the first chapter of a new multi-chapter story soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that one. As always, I appreciate each and every one of your reviews! x