Thank you so much for all the support on the last chapter, I really appreciate it!

This is probably a good time to say that, although my A.D. reveal is different to what happened on the show, it's probably no more plausible! So, to recap, in chapter 12, the girls and Toby discovered that Charlotte had a twin sister... and then this happened.

Hope you enjoy the update!

16.

He stares back at Hanna, his face mirroring hers. After the way things went last night, it's highly likely Spencer's ringing to confront Hanna about it. He doesn't want her to have to deal with that. It was him who got in between them, him who should bear the consequences.

He knows without having to ask, that Hanna will answer. Yet he still feels nervous when she swipes the screen and lifts the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Hanna says, tentatively.

"You need to come over to mine. Like, now," Spencer replies, her voice loud enough for him to hear echoing out of the phone.

"Now? What's the rush?"

"I'll tell you when you get here. And Hanna-" There's a pause. "Bring Caleb too, okay?"

Hanna looks up at him, wide-eyed. "Um, okay."

The line goes dead.

He raises an eyebrow. "How the hell does she know you're with me?"

"It's Spencer. She just knows."

"So, what are we gonna do?"

"Do? You heard the woman. She wants us there, so we're going there."

"You think she's pissed?"

"Er, yes! She's going to hate me forever!"

"I'm sorry, Hanna. I didn't mean to mess things up between you."

She shakes her head. "I should never have told her I was okay with it."

"None of this is your fault, alright. It's mine. And whatever happens with Spencer, I'm going to make it up to you."

"You don't need to do that." She moves to take his hand but then stops, as if she suddenly remembered what they agreed. "I just need you."

"You've got me."

At the Hasting's house, Spencer whips open the door to the barn when they've barely even climbed out of the car. Caleb follows Hanna up the path, still slow on the crutches due to the blisters from overuse the night before.

"Have you even slept?" he hears Hanna ask.

"Yes!" Spencer replies. "Well, kind of."

When he draws level to her, he sees why she asked. Spencer's long hair is tangled to one side and she's rubbing fervently at one eye. He hopes their argument didn't keep her up all night.

"Spencer, listen, about last night, I-"

"This isn't the time." She squints towards him but doesn't quite meet his eyes. "Just come in, okay?"

He passes by her, surprised to see Emily and Aria already on the sofa. From the look he exchanges with Hanna, she's taken aback too.

He and Hanna take the second sofa, leaving Spencer to choose between joining them or the others. She opts to sit with Emily and Aria, opposite him but in direct eyeline, should either of them be bold enough to look.

"There's been a development on Charlotte's twin," Spencer says.

Caleb's stomach flips.

"Toby found some adoption records." Spencer leans forward. "She was given to a British couple who named her Annabel. They moved back to England taking her with them, just a few months after she was born."

"So, she's off the suspect list?" Emily asks.

"I wouldn't say that! Turns out, she moved to the US shortly after Charlotte's incarceration."

"What are you saying?" Hanna says, her voice hard. "It was this Annabel who tortured us?"

"I don't know, Han. I think it's worth exploring, that's all. Toby's arranged for a team to go to Annabel's last known address. If they can interview her, they can hopefully ascertain whether she's involved in any of it, whether she's aware of Charlotte's existence, even."

"There was a man," Caleb says suddenly, surprising even himself. "He paid us a few visits, wearing a mask of course. But it was a man."

Spencer finally looks at him. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"It couldn't have just been a tall-"

"A tall woman with her breasts strapped down?" he bites back. He doesn't say stuff unless he's certain, Spencer should know that. "No. It was a man!"

"And you think that man's A.D?"

He shrugs. "Or an accomplice. To do the physical stuff that A.D. didn't have the strength for."

He feels Hanna shrinking into the sofa and knows she's struggling with the reminders of what the man did to them; burning them, injecting them with drugs, beating him up and dragging her off him, throwing her into a locked room. He wants to take her hand and give it a comforting squeeze, but he knows it's cruel to do so in front of Spencer.

"Well, if there is a man involved then we should look into that too," Aria says. "We could start by figuring out who Annabel's in touch with."

"How?" Emily asks. "We don't even know her last name, not to mention where she lives."

"Toby knows both, apparently. He wouldn't tell me. Says he's only sharing enough to keep me in the loop and not to try to figure any of it out for myself." Spencer pauses. "What I do know is that the cops are going over there this afternoon. We could follow them."

"Toby will kill you."

"I know, Em. But what other choice do we have?"

"We'll go. Aria and I. We're not under any direct instructions from Toby not to dig around."

"Yeah," Aria agrees. "It's been too long since we last stalked anyone. My spidey senses are in danger of fading."

"What about the rest of us?" Hanna asks.

"You two are only just out the hospital," Emily says, "I don't think you should be going anywhere!"

"Yeah, you're staying put," Spencer agrees. "And I've got some more research to do. Caleb, perhaps you can help me hack into social services' database to look for more on Annabel?'

The request takes him by surprise and he freezes, lifting only his head to reply. "Sure."

Emily and Aria leave soon after to get ready, which leaves just the three of them in an awkward silence.

"You want me to help you with the database?" he says, to break the silence.

"Actually no," she replies.

"No?"

"We've got other things to talk about, haven't we? The three of us."

He can't help but give a sideways glance at Hanna. She's staring down at her hands, playing with a loose end of bandage, and he sees as she takes a visible deep breath. When he looks back to Spencer, he realises she was watching Hanna calm her nerves too.

"So, are you back together?" Spencer asks, somehow making it sound like she was asking what they had for lunch.

"No," Hanna replies quietly.

"But you want to be."

Hanna's lips part but no words come out, so he takes this one for the both of them.

"Yes, we do."

A look of hurt crosses Spencer's face. "And I'm getting in the way."

He doesn't know how to reply to that, so bites down on the inside of his lip as he tries to find a way to put everything right.

"Spencer, I am so sorry," Hanna says. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"You told me you were over him," Spencer says. "You gave me permission to fall in love with him."

"I know." A tear slips down Hanna's cheek. "I thought I was doing the right thing. I wanted you to be happy."

Spencer holds her hands up, leaving her face, and the emotions upon it, exposed. "And do I look happy to you?"

"I tried to fight the way I was feeling," Hanna says. "I promise I did. For you. But there were things that happened in there which made me realise I never want to be apart from Caleb again."

Even the love in Hanna's voice can't make him feel any less awful about the tears falling from Spencer's eyes.

"I- I get that you went through hell in there and if it was just you turning to each other for comfort then I think I might even have been okay with it. But even before you were taken, I saw the looks, the touches, how thrilled you both were to be working together on that goddamn awful plan to try to trick A.D." She pauses to take a shaky breath. "I know it's not just because of whatever happened to you in there."

"It's not," he agrees. "It's so much more than that. Do you really think we would do this to you otherwise?"

"And nothing's happened since we got out," Hanna says. "We know we needed to speak to you first, and to Jordan."

Spencer scoffs. "Well at least I'm not the only casualty in this, eh."

"Spence-"

"What happens if I say no? If I say that no, I'm not okay with you two getting back together?"

He and Hanna exchange a look. He knows what she's thinking and his heart leaps into his throat.

"The thought of losing you over this is killing me," she says to Spencer. "But Caleb and I love each other. Not being together isn't an option."

Spencer freezes for a moment, looking choked. Then she turns to him, causing a tear to overflow and trickle down her face. "And you?"

He blinks to focus his thoughts. When he opens his eyes, they're both staring at him. "I want to be with Hanna for the rest of my life," he says. "Not want. Need. And I hate that that's causing you pain. And I'm sorry. But the one positive thing that came out of that hellhole is remembering why we fell in love in the first place and all the things that were wrong about being apart. Like Hanna says, not being together isn't a possibility now."

Spencer covers her face with her hands and turns away. He can see from the movement of her shoulders that she's fighting to compose herself. Hanna nudges his side and he knows from her slight shrug that she's silently asking him what they can do to make everything okay again. He replies with a shake of his head; he has no idea.

Spencer turns back and looks him square in the eye. "Tell me, was any of it real or was I always just a poor replacement for Hanna?"

"You were never a- a replacement!" he says. It's hard to answer. However he does it, he's at risk of upsetting one of them. "The memories from our time in Europe, they mean a lot to me. I like everything about you, Spencer, you're smart and you're driven and I…" He shoots a glance at Hanna. She's leaning forwards, clearly hanging on his every word. "And I think maybe, in different circumstances, perhaps we could have worked."

"In different circumstances," she repeats, taking the words in. She shakes her head. "I should have known from the start I was fooling myself. I literally watched you guys fall in love. I always said you were the best thing to happen to each other. I just thought… hoped… I don't know, I thought things had changed and that you had both moved on."

"We nearly convinced ourselves of that too," Hanna says softly. "Don't be hard on yourself."

"I would say the same back, but-"

"I know. It's okay. But we are both really sorry about hurting you like this, please believe us."

"I believe you," she says. She wipes at her cheeks and her nose and then laughs slightly at how futile that is. "But I can't- I'm not- I'm not okay," she says. "Not yet. But I absolutely will be. You're both my friends and I don't want that to change but just give me a while okay. Let me be mad. And sad. And a million other things that I can't even articulate right now."

He nods, biting his lip.

"I'm going to go and work in my parent's house, okay?" she says. "You can- you can get together your stuff, Caleb. You can wait here for news. And I'll come and update you if I find anything or if I hear from Em and Aria or from Toby."

She grabs her laptop and leaves before either of them can object.

They stare at each other for a moment. Hanna's stopped crying but he can tell she's still upset. He wonders if hugging is also off bounds. He's about to reach a tentative arm to her shoulders but she suddenly stands.

"Do you need help packing up your stuff?"

"No," he replies. "But I could use the company."

Unfortunately, most of Caleb's belongings are in the bedroom he shared with Spencer, and so Hanna lingers awkwardly in the doorway, watching as he separates his clothing from hers, trying not to think of everything else that's gone on in the room.

"My mom will let you stay, you know."

"Even after turning up on her doorstep completely wrecked?"

"Yeah, especially after that," Hanna says. "She'll be worried about you."

He shakes his head, fondly. "She doesn't need to worry about me."

"Well, I'll let you convince her of that."

Might be difficult," he says. "I blubbed all over her in the hospital."

"I heard." She tries to supress a smile but the reminder of how much Caleb cares about her is too powerful to disguise.

"Hey, you're not meant to look happy about that!"

"I'm not!" She manages a flat two seconds before she gives up hiding the smile. "Okay, maybe just a little bit! It's just," she bites her lip, "it's actually kind of hot thinking about you crying over me."

"Trust me, it was not hot."

She's about to tell him he looks hot when he's all embarrassed too, but he beats her to speak.

"Is that where you'll be then? Your mom's."

"For now," she says, with a shrug.

"If you're there, I'll be there." He takes a step closer. "I never want to spend another day without you."

Her chest swells and she feels her smile stretch across her face. He's right in front of her, his expression matching hers, and she suddenly feels like she's seventeen again, unable to believe she's got the guy. Instinctively, her eyes flicker to his mouth. He does the same to her. She wants to kiss him more than anything, she can almost feel the pressure of his lips against hers and she's sure if she allows her eyes to shut, he'll press them there for real. But she remembers Spencer, up at the main house crying into her coffee, and Jordan, in New York eagerly awaiting her return, and so she shakes her head instead.

"Caleb, not yet."

He looks disappointed. "I know, sorry."

She reaches out and cups his jaw. It doesn't really follow their self-imposed rules, but it's far more innocent than a kiss. Particularly their kind of kisses. "Not much longer, I promise."

He nuzzles his lips against her palm. "I can't wait to kiss you," he says, "to hold you, to-"

"Okay, you're going to have to stop talking," she says. "Good girl Hanna can only resist so much temptation."

He grins and shuts up, but his eyes are still looking hungrily at her lips.

"Caleb, stop! You need a distraction." She picks up his laptop from off Spencer's bed. "Can you get on with hacking whatever you're meant to be hacking to find Annabel?"

She heads out of the bedroom, knowing that if she has his laptop, he'll follow.

"You sure you want me to do that?" he asks.

"What do you mean?"

"All this effort to find A.D… isn't that the kind of thing that's gonna make nightmares worse?"

"No!" she snaps. She waits until Caleb has lowered himself onto the sofa and sits beside him, passing him his laptop. "No, I want to find out who did this to us. I want them to pay!"

"And if that stirs up painful memories?"

"Then it will be worth it," she says, forcefully. He still doesn't look convinced. "What, you think I'll just forget everything otherwise? The memories will be there whatever, Caleb, but knowing the person who hurt us is locked up will make them easier to deal with." She rolls her eyes. "Trust me, I know."

"I hate that you know that."

She gives him a sad smile. He still hasn't opened his laptop. "We need to find them. Will you look? Please. For me?"

He sighs. "I'll give it a go. Even if I can hack into social services records, there's not a whole load to go on."

She watches him work. She's missed this, seeing the little crease beneath his eyebrows as he thinks, the biting of his lip as he comes close to achieving something. She wonders if she shouldn't have pushed him, but she knows this is something they have to do. It's not just for the mental impact finding A.D. will have on the two of them but a way of achieving physical safety for them all.

She's so busy watching him that when the door crashes open, she jumps violently. Even so, she doesn't miss the flinch that shakes Caleb's body too.

Aria rushes in, looking around wildly.

"What's going on, are you okay?" Hanna asks.

"Where's Spencer?"

"Up at the house. Aria! What is it? Where did the cops lead you to?"

"Er, we- we didn't actually get that far," she says, looking back out of the door by way of explanation.

Hanna moves to stand beside her so she can see what her friend is looking at. Her heart jumps. Emily's got her arms wrapped around a familiar figure and the two are walking slowly up the path.

"Ali?" Hanna gasps.

The other girl is in a hospital gown, walking unsteadily on bare and muddy feet, and there's a nasty scratch up one leg.

"God, Ali!" she asks, as Emily steers her through the door. "What happened?"

Alison lifts her head. "I could ask you the same, Han. You look like crap."

It's not like she needs a reminder, the scab on her lip and the ever-present throbbing in her fingers do that anyway, but she's glad she put on long sleeves this morning so the rest of her scars aren't pointed out too.

"Long story. Come here." She takes Alison's other arm and wraps it around her neck, so she and Emily are virtually carrying their friend.

"I'm going to go and get Spencer," Aria says, disappearing out of the door.

As they support Alison onto the sofa, Caleb wordlessly passes her a throw to wrap around herself. Hanna gives him a fleeting smile, she knows he's not Ali's biggest fan, but he's not going to ignore that she's clearly traumatised.

"Thanks," Alison says. She looks him up and down and takes in his visible injuries. "A lot's happened since I've been gone, huh."

Hanna watches her carefully. Her friend's long blonde hair is matted and there's a twitch just under her eye that shows she's not as composed as she's trying to make out. "Ali, we thought you were in Welby?"

"I was," she replies.

"Ali sent us an SOS and a pin-drop from Elliot's phone when we'd just left to trail the cops," Emily explains. "So we followed that instead, and-"

"Wait. Wait until the others get here. I don't think I can relive it twice."

Hanna watches as Emily takes Ali's hand and gives it a squeeze. She's suddenly hit with an intense longing for Caleb to do the same for her.

Once Aria's back with Spencer in tow, they all huddle together on the sofas and listen to Alison's story.

"He was drugging me," she says. "Making me think I was going mad, but I wasn't. He was in charge of my care, he was telling them I was getting worse, strapping me down. So when I had the chance, I ran."

"Why would he do that?" Spencer asks.

"Something to do with Charlotte. That's all I know."

Hanna shivers. "Where is he now?"

"He was chasing after her," Emily says. "We bundled Ali into the car and drove off fast. He was still in the woods when we left."

"You think he's going to come here?"

The door bangs open again and all of them jump. She turns to see Toby striding through, still in police uniform.

He gaze sweeps the room before finally landing on Alison. "Oh," he says.

"Nice to see you too," she says.

"You do know you're about to be registered as a missing person?"

"Missing. Escaped. What's the difference?"

"A considerable amount of police time for one," he replies.

"Toby," Spencer stands up and pushes him down into the seat she was occupying. "Is that why you're here, to look for Ali?"

"No, I came to give you an update. You've told them?"

"About Annabel, yes."

"Okay." He takes a deep breath. "So, I was part of the team that went out to investigate her last known address."

Hanna finds herself holding her breath. She doesn't know what outcome she's hoping for.

"No-one was in," he continues. "We didn't have a warrant to force entry so we sat in the car and waited and, just as we were about to leave, someone showed up."

"Annabel?"

Toby gives a pointed look at Alison and Hanna suddenly knows where this is about to go.

"Elliot Rawlins."

"What?!"

"We took him in for questioning but he's being far from forthcoming about explaining how he knows Annabel or where she is now. So-"

"You need to charge him," Spencer says. "Forget Annabel, at least for now, you need to charge him for drugging Ali and keeping her falsely imprisoned in a psychiatric unit."

"He's been charged. Not for that. Although, if Alison wishes to make a statement…"

Alison tightens her grip on Emily. "What's he been charged for?"

"Fraud." Toby takes a deep breath. "Elliot Rawlins has been dead for fifteen years."

There's a deafening silence.

Then. "Who the hell did I marry?"

Hours later, once they've returned to Hanna's mom's house and are sitting further apart on the sofa than they'd like to be, Caleb's phone rings. It's Toby's name on the display. He answers and hits speaker so that the news reaches them both at the same time.

"We've uncovered Rawlins' real name," Toby tells them. Even down the phone, they can hear him take a deep breath. "It's Archer. Archer Dunhill."

They look at each other, hearts hammering, blood pumping in their ears.

That name; it can't be a coincidence.

Archer Dunhill.

"A.D."