After spending a few hours at the hospital with Toby and his family, Hanna finally managed to convince Spencer to head back to Emily's place with her. Spencer agreed only because Caleb promised to stay with Toby in case he needed anything. The rest of the girls were already waiting for them in Emily's room when they arrived to discuss the new 'A' threat.

Hanna stayed quiet for most of the evening before finally making her way back home. She went to her room, grateful that her mom was out of town at a business meeting, and quickly got ready for bed. After hours of staring off into space, she decided to get off from the bed and went to her closet. After rummaging through her closet for a while, she found the box that contained items that reminded her of Caleb and their relationship together. She took out the only T-shirt of his's that she'd kept and pulled it on. She returned back to her bed, wrapped in his familiar scent, and finally managed to fall asleep.

The next day, Hanna made her way to The Brew to get coffee before heading to she grabbed her coffee from the cashier, she spotted Caleb sitting at a table reading the newspaper while what appeared to be his breakfast sat on the table completely forgotten. Hanna made her way to his table clutching her coffee in her hand.

-'Hey'. As she spoke Caleb raised his head from the newspaper and studied her, concern written over his face., for he was one of the few people in Rosewood who knew just what had happened at the Cavanaugh house the previous night.

-'Hey', he greeted her back, not knowing what exactly to say to her. After a sleepless night spent talking to Toby about everything that had been going on in Rosewood, Caleb decided to let Hanna choose what they would talk about. He felt too tired to think at the moment.

-'You look as if you've got as much sleep as I did'. Hanna studied his face while she tapped her fingers on the chair in front of her.

-'I was with Toby until about an hour ago'. Caleb set the newspaper on the table and looked at Hanna.

-'How is he?' Hanna asked, her voice concerned, despite the fact that she and Toby hadn't been too close before. She worried what would happen to Spencer if she lost another person that was close to her.

-'He's still pretty shaken'. Caleb's words did nothing to ease Hanna's mind, for he too was worried about his friend.

-'God. I still don't get why A would blow up his house when we were just two doors down'. Hanna had a sudden rise of bile in her throat as she realized that it could as well have been her house, or even Emily's that blew up, while everyone was inside.

-'A doesn't shoot and miss. There has to be a reason'. Caleb's voice sounded defeated for he too had had the same thought cross his mind several times. What if it had been the Marin house to blow up? Or Emily's? 'Did you see this?'Caleb asked as he took the newspaper he had been reading and handed it to Hanna. He saw the shock appear on her face as she read the title 'Natural Gas Leak Caused Explosion'. Hanna sat down in front of him, numbed by what she saw in the newspaper.

-'Wait. That's it? They're not going to look into what caused the leak?' Hanna felt stupefied by the incompetence of the local PD, but she was also relieved to know that this probably meant that they wouldn't be able to connect what happened to her and the others.

-'The cops in this town should be riding around in clown cars'. Caleb's irritation grew as he suddenly remembered the incompetence of the PD from another town just as small as Rosewood. 'I think you guys need to tell them who's behind this'. His voice was filled with genuine concern over Hanna and the other girls' safety as the enemy they were facing was one that stopped at nothing.

-'Tell them what? We don't have a face or a name'. Hanna felt just as frustrated about the whole situation as Caleb but telling he police the truth was now impossible because they had all lied about their whereabouts regarding the night they had spent in New York and about Shanna's death. Telling the truth now would mean that all of them would have to face much more worse consequences..

-'Hanna this isn't a game. A blew up a house'. Caleb felt frustrated to see her dismiss the idea of going to the police so easily. He needed to make her understand the danger she was facing.

-'We can't. It would unravel too much'. Hanna shook her head towards him, her mind once more wandering back to New York.

-'Meaning?' Caleb realized something had happened while he was away and that that something was the reason why all the girls were all so keen on keeping A' 's existence a secret from the police.

-'Things happened while you were gone'. Hanna gently shook her head. She felt the need to tell him the truth about Shanna, but now was not the time or place.'It's not the same as when you left'. When the words left her mouth they were both suddenly reminded of the point they were at in their relationship now.

-'I noticed'. His voice held a trace of grudge and jealousy, which Hanna detected immediately

-'Caleb I had no idea when you were coming back or if you were ever going to come back at all. Not with the way you left Rosewood. Or do you want me to believe that had I not come to Ravenswood to search for Miranda, you would've eventually picked up the phone and told me she was dead?'

It was Hanna's turn to show traces of bitterness in her voice, for she truly had been hurt by the fact he had kept such a thing a secret from her. 'It's late. I should probably get to school'. Hanna used that as an excuse to avoid getting into an argument with Caleb because she never knew how they would end.

Hanna spent a tiring day at school trying to avoid people's stares and whispers and worrying about Allison's current had been surprised when said girl came to her and asked her to help her run away from Rosewood again.

After canceling her plans with Travis, who had shown up for their date, Hanna decided that it would be best for everyone if her and Allison managed to no longer be so close each other on a constant basis. Hanna later received an unexpected visit from Emily and they argued over Hanna secretly helping Allison leave town again.

Hanna once again felt that everyone around her was making a huge fuss over Allison while no one really noticed that she was going through some serious stuff as well. Hanna made her way downstairs, determined to go out and clear her head. She realized such a thing would be impossible as she noticed her mom waiting for her in the kitchen. Sighing, Hanna made her way towards her mom and sat down in one of the kitchen's chairs.

-'I think it's time we had a talk, Hanna. Tom called me earlier and told me about your unexpected visit to his office the other day. Why did you go there? I don't think you've done that in years, at least not since your father moved out of the house'. Ashley tried to find a gentle way of probing Hanna's mind, carefully wandering across the minefield that her relationship with her daughter was these days.

-'I needed answers and he was the only person capable to give them to me as he is the only other person I know that has trusted you and believed in you only for you to hurt and betray us both'.

-'Hanna', Ashley sighed as she realized she had no choice but to face what had been her greatest fear for years: letting Hanna know the truth about what had happened years ago.

Ashley had prayed that she would somehow manage to find a way to explain things to her child and knowing Hanna's explosive temper she had made her fear this moment. It was for this reason and this reason alone that Ashley was glad Spencer had called and asked Caleb to come back. He always had a calming influence on her daughter.

-'You lied to me, mom. You lied to me for years. And now I know that Ali's my sister. Do you have any idea what this is doing to me? How lost and confused I am right now? Do you even care?' Ashley went pale when she heard Hanna's words and tried to put her hand on Hanna's arm, but she moved away, grabbed a glass, and went to the fridge. She settled on apple juice before turning her attention once more to her mom.

-'I didn't mean to hurt you or Tom, Hanna. Before the I got pregnant with you, the doctors told me I was infertile and that I would never be able to have a child. When I found out the news, I was away on a business trip. That's when I met Kenneth. We had way too much to drink that night and you were the result. The next day, we agreed to never speak of of that night again. Soon after I returned home, I found out he and Jessica had moved here. This was also around the time I learned I was pregnant.

Hanna silently listened as her mom spoke, the pain inside her growing with each word she heard. She decided to let her mom finish talking before she reacted in any way.

-'I didn't know what to do at the time. Tom wanted a child so desperately and Jessica was also pregnant. I had no right to tell them the truth and ruin everyone's lives, so I decided to keep it a secret. I really wanted to protect you from the truth. I never meant to hurt you or Tom but I just couldn't find the strength to tell him the truth, not after seeing him so excited at the idea of finally having the family he wanted so much.'

Hana watched the woman in front of her and silently wondered who she was because, at this point, she literally knew nothing about her mom any more. Grabbing her car keys, Hanna ran out of the house, ignoring her mother's pleas.

Hanna called Toby and asked him to give her Caleb's address. She drove there on automatic pilot and once she arrived at the cabin, she nervously knocked on his door. When a surprised Caleb answered it, she threw herself into his arms, hugging him, silent tears streaked on her cheeks.

Caleb held her against him, closed the door behind her and kissed the top of her head, whispering comforting words to her. Hana let him lead her to his couch where they sat in silence as she continued to cry her pain away while he held her against his chest. Once she finally calmed down, she turned her head to face him.

-'Toby told me that you were living here'. Caleb raised his eyebrows when he heard her words. He studied her face, wondering what had led her to his doorstep in the middle of the night in such a state.

-'What's up?' he slowly asked her.

-'I needed to see you. I needed something to keep my mind off the shitty night I've been having so far and you were the first person to cross my mind.' Caleb leaned back on his place on the couch to get a better look at Hanna.

-'Something happened?' Caleb waited patiently for her to tell him why she came to him crying, especially since he knew for a fact that she hated letting other people see her cry.

-'Ali was going to leave town tonight for good and I was helping her. Look, whoever killed Ali's mom is still out there', Hanna told him in a defensive voice, even though Caleb felt there was nothing to blame her for.

-'I can understand her wanting to go', he responded to her in a calm voice.

-'I realized I wasn't helping her to keep her safe. Part of me wanted her gone', Hana confessed to him, knowing he would understand what she was going through.

-'That makes sense. You never liked who you were when you were around her. And I doubt you want things to go back to how they were, especially given the current circumstances.' Caleb waited in silence for Hanna to continue talking.

-'I still want do... want her gone', Hanna let him know of the burden that had been plaguing her for weeks, ever since Allison had returned home.

-'Hanna, look whatever she stirred up inside of you, that's not gonna go away, even if she does. Those are the type of demons that everyone has to face sooner or late.' Caleb spoke calmly to her noticing she had other things on her mind as well.

-'I know you're right. I just wish I had just Ali's crisis to deal with today. Unfortunatly my mom caught me in an ambush and we talked about my paternity. I don't want to talk or think about that right now.' Hanna tried to keep her mind focused on being there with Caleb.

-'So what are you going to do now?' Caleb decided not to let her leave his sight for the moment, worried of what she might do on her own.

-'Honestly? I want to get drunk. Wasted drunk. So drunk that I forget about everything, even my own name, even though it's probably something I'll regret in the morning. That's what I plan on doing'. Caleb kissed the top of her head before he softly answered her.

-'You can do that here. That way I won't worry of anything happening to you'. Hanna faced him again, this time raising her eyebrows, not quite believing what he's just told her.

-'Under normal circumstances you hate it when I get drunk. You always complained about me doing stuff like that. Why the change of heart?' she asked him, genuinely surprised at his words.

-'What you're going through, Han, these aren't normal circumstances. I'll let it slide this once, but I'm not letting you leave this place because I know the things you do when you're drunk.'

Hanna sighed at him, shaking her head, defeated. She went to his fridge and grabbed a bottle of beer and then she headed back towards the couch.

-'Then drink with me. I hate it when I do this all by myself. I wanna see what you're capable of doing when you get drunk. I want to see this side of you'. Caleb nodded his head, grabbed a beer for himself, he sat down on the couch next to her, and took a sip...

So my lovelies, it's the week-end, meaning I'm updating I haven't been answering your reviews lately and I apologize for this. Katie I haven't read the books, I only use what we saw of him on PLL as a source, yes he's a jerk we know that. I hope I managed to clear up the twist about Ashley in this chapter. Anons thank you for your reviews, traveling across Europe was a fantastic experience. Feyhazelle I hope I didn't disappoint you or anyone else with the Mama bear Ashley and Hanna's scene in this chapter. Also I hope you guys enjoyed the Haleb scene's in this chapter as well. Now I' off to finish editing the next chapte of 'Protection', and while I do that let me know what you guys think about this chapter.

Kisses, N