Chapter 5

I'm so warm and feel extraordinary. I haven't felt this good since... I stop stretching abruptly. Flashes of passion and tenderness crash through my mind at lightning speed. Caleb. Oh my god, Caleb! I peek through my lashes to see if he is awake. He's staring at me, he knows I'm awake. "Good morning." I say to him softly.

"Try afternoon." He chuckles and pushes a strand of my hair off my forehead, tucking it behind my ear.

I start to get up. Afternoon, damn. "Do you have somewhere you need to be?" He asks, putting a hand on my stomach, effectively stopping me from leaving the bed.

"Uh," I search my mind for a believable excuse.

"Hannah, please don't run." It's such a sincere request that I stop searching for an excuse and stare at him. His beauty is captivating. I reach out without thinking and run my hand down his cheek to his chin. Turning into my palm, he places the softest kiss in it. "Please, just stay. We don't have to talk about this right now if you don't want to. But Hanna?"

"Hmm?"

"We will need to talk about this, about us, at some point." He smiles at me.

"Not now." I do not want to analyze the hurricane of emotions pulsing through my veins.

"Not now." He echoes, sitting up. Slowly he leans into me and tenderly kisses my lips.

An instant spark ignites in my veins and scorches every nerve ending in my body. His touch has always effected me this way. He adjusts the pillows behind us against the head board of the bed so that we can comfortably lean back. "TV?"

My guilty pleasure. I smile wide and snuggle deep into the pillows as he hits the power button on the remote. He casually flips through the stations, waiting for me to choose. Without realizing it, we've slipped back into an old routine.

We end up watching Wheel of Fortune. I love game shows. We always try to guess the correct answers. The contestant leans over and spins the wheel. She asks for an E. There are two Es in the puzzle, one at the end of which word. She spins again, asks for an S. There is no S. The next contestant takes their turn, asking for a T. It is the first letter of the first word. Caleb laces his fingers with mine. The contestant takes their turn, spinning the wheel. A tile lights up,Vanna turns it and I feel Caleb squeeze my hand, "True Love," I'm not sure I heard him correctly. I sit in the bed, stunned. He is staring at me and I am staring back. He's leaning into kiss me but he's moving so slowly, I get lost, sort of stuck in my own head, fog surrounding my brain.

"The puzzle, True Love." he whispers to me, his mouth hovering over mine, so close that my slightest move would bring us into contact, causing an explosion, setting my bed on fire. You can feel the electricity in the air around us.

I inhale deeply and it's enough. My lips brush his mouth. The spark is lit. Caleb rolls onto his stomach so that his body is partly over mine. His kiss is soft, romantic, causing an explosion in my chest, setting my bed on fire. There is none of the frenzied rush that we felt before.

I sigh, and turn ever so slightly so that Caleb is no longer lying on me but parallel to me, stomach to stomach, on our sides. He pulls back and looks directly at me, "You are my true love, my soul." His voice a little husky.

I run my hands through his hair, gently locking my fingers together behind his head, gently pulling him to me. I kiss him, softly, "You are my true love, my heart." I echo his words. In the background I hear Pat Sajack say, "Something you would find in Lake Champlain." Caleb gives me a little squeeze.

"Champ." He shifts to sit up and lean against the headboard, laughing.

"How did you know that? Cheater." I tease him, leaning back against the headboard and scooting closer to him.

My cell phone rings. I look at it, it's Lucas. "Hey Lucas, what's up?" I feel a flush of warmth for my friend.

"Nothing, I thought we were gonna hang out today and forget everything? Leave it all in Rosewood, remember?"

Shit, no, I didn't remember. I look at Caleb from beneath my lashes. "I'm sorry, Lucas! I got caught up in something and lost track of time. Pulling my phone away from my ear, I quickly check the time.

2:47, damn! Half the day, gone. I look at Caleb again. It was worth it. I grin to myself. Caleb nudges me, and feigns offense. "Dinner?" I look at Caleb. He nods to me and mouths the word, "Go."

"Yeah, of course. What time?" And with that, the electricity evaporates from the air in the room, being replaced by a homey comfort that you find between best friends, soul mates. I get up off the bed and walk across the room, back to the living area to grab my panties and shorts.

"So, I'm a "something"?" I hear the teasing in his voice.

"A nice "something"." I grin.

"Well, then I guess that's ok." He loops his arms around my waist, kiss the corner of my right eye.

I feel a tingle on my skin where his lips touched me. "Have a good time with Lucas. Call me tomorrow?" He asks.

I nod at him, a little bit distracted by my own thoughts. He starts to move away, heading for the door. Something snaps in my mind, "Caleb?"

"Hmmm?"

"Why did you want me to go with Lucas? Why didn't you want to stay and talk?" I ask?

He can clearly see the confusion in my eyes. "Because Hanna, I know you. You need time to figure this out in your mind." His eyes lock onto mine. "Listen to me. I want you to process everything you feel about us getting back together. How you deal with whatever may happen with you and Spencer." My head snaps up at the mention of Spencer. He grins to one side of his mouth, "Spencer will be fine, I told you she let me go. But I know that you'll still feel guilt. Not because we did anything wrong, but because you want to make sure you're not hurting her. And I love you for that, but..." His hands frame my face as he captivates me with the intensity in his eyes. "When you finally do decide that it's right and you will have no regrets, no doubts. Not even from the smallest of unanswered questions. Hannah, I want you to come to me with nothing but love and happiness in your heart and soul" He runs his hands down my arms, holding my hands. "I don't want there to be any darkness, no clouds that could hang over our lives. I want to make you happy. Every day for the rest of our lives. And I don't want there to be any doubt, any reason, to exist in your mind that could cast a cloud over our life together."