You guys have been so patient. Truth be told I'm a little nervous about posting this chapter, but I really hope you like it. Please review and let me know what you think. :)

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When Hanna shows up ten minutes later, Emily is slumped against a wall in an alleyway, still crying. She doesn't look up when Hanna approaches, barely even reacts when Hanna crouches down beside her.

"Em?" Hanna says softly. "You sounded really upset on the phone. What happened?"

Wiping her eyes with the sleeves of her shirt, Emily takes a shuddering breath and tries to talk. But all that happens is that she takes one look at Hanna's concerned expression and starts crying again.

"Oh, Em," Hanna says sympathetically, settling herself beside her.

Emily is dimly aware of Hanna's hand on her shoulder, and she does feel the slightest bit comforted. But after all that's happened, it's going to take a lot more than that to get her through it all. Her heart hadn't just been broken; it had been smashed into tiny pieces, and if she tried to pick any up she'd just stab herself on a shard. She wonders if this is how Spencer felt when she found out about Toby. She wonders if soon she'll end up like Spencer, catatonic, in the woods alone at night… ending up in Radley.

"Come on, Em," Hanna says encouragingly, rubbing Emily's back. "Talk to me. What happened? Did you and Aria have a fight?"

Emily shakes her head, her hair falling into her face and getting stuck in the tear tracks. Hanna gently brushes the hair away and tucks it behind Emily's ear; the two share a long look, and then Hanna pulls her hand away and clears her throat.

"What, then? Did Mona make you do something else?"

Another shake of the head.

"Was it Paige?"

At the sound of the name, Emily has to work hard to hold back a whimper. Hanna knows she's onto it now.

"What happened? Did she hurt you?"

For a minute Emily just stares at a crack in the sidewalk; she knows if she looks at Hanna the tears will start again. She's tired of crying.

Finally, she whispers, "She didn't hurt me. She broke me."

For once, Hanna doesn't argue. She doesn't try to convince her that she's not broken, or give her some heartfelt speech about how amazing she is. "Do you remember when I first started dating Caleb?" she says instead.

Emily looks up, confused at where this is going. She nods.

"And I found out that Jenna was using him to spy on me?" Hanna picks at a spot on her shirt; although this happened a long time ago, she clearly hasn't been able to entirely move on from it yet. "I felt betrayed. I felt abandoned. I felt like my whole world was crashing down and nothing would ever be okay again. I felt broken too, Em."

"How did you get through it?" Emily asks, her voice catching on a sob.

"Slowly," Hanna replies. "And I wouldn't have been able to get through it without you guys. But the further away from that moment I got, the more I realized what I'd been missing. What I'd been letting myself miss. Every moment I spent feeling sorry for myself or hating Caleb was a moment I could have spent laughing with you, or studying with Spencer, or gossiping with Aria. Worse than that, every moment I wasted was one I could have spent shopping!"

This gets a laugh out of Emily, who looks surprised. She can't remember the last time she laughed.

Hanna smiles. "My point is, it's done, it's over. Don't waste your time thinking someone broke you, or wondering how you're going to move on. Just do it."

"Easier said than done," Emily mumbles.

"Oh, I never said it would be easy," Hanna says. "But it's what you have to do. Sometimes life sucks, but we deal with it and we get on with it."

Emily lets a few minutes of silence pass while she mulls it over. Hanna doesn't pressure her, just sits there and rubs her back and lets her think. If Emily lets herself forget about Paige for a second, this is a nice moment. She's here with her favorite person, someone she knows would do anything for her, and she feels… safe.

"I just… what if I can't move on?" Emily asks at last. "I mean, Spencer's stronger and smarter and better than I am. But look at what happened to her. What if I break like that? What if I end up in Radley too?"

"Then I'll visit you every day with homemade cookies, piles of magazines, and all the gossip you could want," Hanna says with a grin. "I'll sit with you until they kick me out, and then I'll come right back in the next day and do the whole thing again."

For the second time, Emily lets out a surprised laugh. God, this girl is amazing.

"You're not alone, Em," Hanna says, quiet but passionate. "No matter where you end up or who you end up with, I'm here for you."

Her words seem to take away some of Emily's pain. She's not sure how, but she doesn't question it. She leans against Hanna's shoulder, and Hanna wraps her arm around her. They sit like that for a long time, until Emily's breathing becomes regular again, until the tears stop, until the panicked pain subsides and is replaced by a kind of numbness. It's like being sedated, like being anaesthetised. It's not great, but it's better than agony.

She turns to Hanna, looking up into her eyes. "How did I ever end up with such an amazing friend?"

"You're pretty amazing yourself," Hanna says softly.

They share another one of those lingering looks, but this time neither one looks away. Even through her numbness, Emily can see something in Hanna's eyes: an unspoken question, a longing, held back by doubts. And without thinking she responds, her eyelashes fluttering to match her suddenly frantic heart. Hanna seems to recognise this, because she leans forward, her eyes searching, hesitant.

Their lips meet, and Emily's eyes fly wide open in shock. Hanna feels her hesitation and pulls back, searching her face.

"Was that… was that not okay?" she asks tentatively.

Emily considers. She looks at Hanna's face, at those features that are as familiar to her as her own, and suddenly they look different. She's seeing her in a new light, the kind of bright light that makes her irresistible. She pulls herself up so that they're at eyelevel with each other.

"That," she says emphatically, " was very okay."

She takes a second to register Hanna's surprised smile, and then she leans in and their lips meet again. This time neither of them pulls away for a long time, until they're both flushed, breathless, and unutterably happy.

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I promised you Hannily, didn't I? Don't ever say I don't deliver. ;)