Boris Yeltsin: Of course they aren't! Haleb will always get their happy ending! I don't care what world we are in, what terrible friends or shitty writers we have trying to fuck them over, Haleb is always MEANT TO BE!
AshBenzoLove: I totally was, too, when I was writing it! :,(
Guest: OMG, thank you! Okay, I'll definitely keep that in mind! To be honest, I'm not super inspired to write right now, but when inspiration strikes again, that'll be top of my list!
Krystal Moore: Thank you! Here's more! And girl, if you can rewatch the show, you are stronger than I will ever be! Part of me wants to rewatch it, but I literally cannot stomach the thought of having to sit through Hanna and Travis (BARF EMOJI), Hanna and Jordan (ANOTHER BARF EMOJI), or Caleb and Spencer (TWENTY-SIX BARF EMOJIS), so if I did a rewatch, I would stop after, like, Season 3, LOL. I've actually never watched 4.15-5.04, or anything after 6.10. I just found the Haleb scenes on YouTube!
PrettyLittleAshwee11: Honestly, me too! He just loves her so much, and he just wants to be with her, but at least she finally told him she loved him, too!
DuncneyLoveOfMyLife: Hahahahaha, I see you have a lot of thoughts on this chapter! If you want her to divorce Jordan, you better keep reading...I think the time has finally come for all of us to get our wish ;) Spencer's obviously encouraging Hanna to be unhappy because she's a miserable bitch and wants everyone around her to be miserable, too! Duh! Haha, yeah, I hate Spencer, too. But she will seriously redeem herself next chapter. Like, for real this time. If you liked Ashley Marin in the last chapter, then, trust me, you are going to LOVE her in this chapter! Honestly, my favorite Hanna friendship has always been Aria, but I just felt like Spencer made the most sense in the context of this story to be the one who finds out. But yeah, if Hanna had just decided to tell one of her friends, it definitely would NOT have been Spencer! But next chapter is all about Hanna finally explaining what's been going on to all of the girls, so you'll get to see how much more supportive Aria and Emily (and even Samara!) are than Spencer.
luja14: Thank you so much! Haha, I wondered if anyone thought that that was where I was going with that storyline. I definitely considered it. Mainly just because that would be, like, the biggest F.U. to Jordan, since I literally hate him so much, like, "Hey, I'm pregnant, but, it's not yours, because, oh!, by the way, I've been cheating on you and having incredible sex behind your back for months, and now I'm leaving you because I'm also in love with the guy!" Wow. That would have been glorious. Maybe I should have gone in that direction. Haha, no, but, really, I wanted to have Hanna and Caleb both figure it out on their own that they wanted to be together, and have Hanna be willing to sacrifice everything else for it, rather than either of them just feeling like they had to be together, ya know? And if you want a Haleb baby, maybe you'll get your wish in the epilogue...Hint, hint ;)
Did y'all see Ashley and G-Sleazy broke up?! I'm so excited! Tyshley is back on! (Now we just need Tyler to break up with whatever rando he's with now!)
I know you all are FED UP with me by now. I mean, it's so obvious that Hanna should be with Caleb, NOT Jordan. So I hope you all start to forgive me with this chapter. So without further ado, the chapter you've been waiting for for probably about 15 chapters now...
"Mom?" Hanna called out as she walked into her childhood home.
"I'm in the kitchen!" she heard her mother call back.
So she made her way to the kitchen, stopping to pet her parents' dog, Molly, on the way.
"Do you want a drink?" her mother asked her as soon as she came into view.
"Wine would be great," she said eagerly.
Her mother poured them each a glass of wine, before leading her to the living room.
"So how are you?" Ashley asked as she sat down on the sofa across from Hanna. "I feel like I haven't seen you at all lately."
It was true. Things had been tense between them ever since her mother found out about Caleb. But then, after Hanna got sick, Ashley had been super attentive and always seemed to be around.
Now, though, it had been about a month since the night of the election, since the last time she had seen Caleb, and for the first week or so, Hanna just felt numb, like she couldn't believe he was actually gone. Couldn't believe they were actually over. For real this time.
Then, the next week had brought the immense pain, the heartbreak, the listening to every sad song she knew on repeat, the crying in the shower, the crying herself to sleep at night, re-reading the note he had left for her over and over again, as she missed him and longed for him with every fiber of her being.
It was a good thing Jordan had been traveling all of that week.
The last couple of weeks had brought a feeling of emptiness and hollowness. She missed him so much, and she felt lost without him. She couldn't seem to find the energy or the desire to do anything, or see anyone, so she had locked herself in her house, letting Dorota take care of her, forcing her outside on walks to get some fresh air, the only other person she saw being Jordan, on the rare occasions he was home. This was the first time she had ventured outside of her house in a while. She knew her friends and family knew something was up, but there were very few who knew enough to know what it was.
She just shrugged. She wasn't about to lie to her mother and tell her she was great.
Ashley sighed. "You're not yourself, Han. You're not my easygoing, always-happy, always making jokes, daughter. What's going on with you?"
She just shrugged again. She knew her mother didn't approve of her decisions, and she didn't need her "I told you so" right now.
"Is this about your…little secret?" Ashley lowered her voice, despite the fact that there was no one else here.
Hanna's eyes filled with tears as she thought about Caleb. She had cried so much over the last month, she didn't even know how she had any tears left to cry.
"Oh, Hanna!" Ashley exclaimed sympathetically, getting up off of the opposite sofa and sitting down next to Hanna, putting her arm around her.
"Please, please, don't say, 'I told you so,'" Hanna begged her mother. "I know it was wrong, I know it was unfair to Caleb and Jordan, I know you think I'm a terrible person, but please don't say 'I told you so.'"
"I do not think you are a terrible person, Hanna," Ashley argued. "I think you're a good person, who just made a mistake. We all make mistakes."
"It wasn't a mistake, Mom," Hanna countered softly. Her relationship with Caleb had been a lot of things - epic and passionate and lifechanging - but it wasn't a mistake.
"What are you saying?" Ashley asked, and Hanna could see the judgment on her face.
Hanna didn't answer right away, nervous of her mother's reaction.
"I love him, Mom," she finally whispered, her eyes filling with tears again. This was the first time she had admitted it out loud to anyone but Caleb. "I love him so much. I love him more than I ever thought it was even possible to love someone. I don't even know what it is about him. He drives me crazy sometimes, and he's crude, and unrefined, and he doesn't know anything about social etiquette. But then when you finally break through his shell, he's so sweet, and kind, and sensitive, and just...amazing." She smiled softly as she thought about him, before shaking her head. "But it doesn't even matter, because he's gone now. And he probably hates me anyway. I really hurt him." Her heart broke as she thought about their fight, when he had begged her to choose him, and she didn't. The pain in his eyes when she had told him she couldn't.
"Oh, Hanna," Ashley said again. "This is exactly why I told you it was a bad idea. Not because I wanted to make you feel bad or guilty, but because I could tell there were real feelings involved, and I didn't want you to end up heartbroken. Like this."
Hanna let herself cry, as her mother held her.
"I miss him," Hanna whispered, tears streaming down her face. "I miss him so much. Everyone always says it gets easier with time, but it's not. I wake up every day feeling like a piece of me is missing. And I just feel like I'm losing more and more of him the longer he's gone," she admitted. She was already starting to forget how it felt to be in his arms, how it felt to have his soft lips pressed against hers.
"What if it never gets better?" Hanna asked her mother through her tears. "I can't live like this," she whimpered, her voice breaking. She had never known heartbreak like this. Her only even semi-serious relationships before Jordan were Sean and Travis. She had thought it hurt when she and Sean broke up, but it was nothing compared to this. And when she ended things with Travis, all she felt was relief.
"Oh, honey," Ashley said gently, hugging Hanna tightly. "It will," she attempted to reassure her.
"It's not fair," Hanna groaned a couple minutes later, once her tears had finally slowed.
"Hanna," Ashley said pointedly. "I am so sorry that you're going through this right now, I really am. I hate seeing you hurt. But you are the one who made the decision to fall in love with someone while you were married to someone else, so you really shouldn't be talking about what's 'fair,'" Ashley said forcefully, but not maliciously.
"I just mean," Hanna started. "Caleb went to high school in Ravenswood. Toby tried to set us up back then! It should have been him. I should have met him first."
"What are you talking about?" Ashley asked, thoroughly confused.
"Toby told me, at my birthday party, that, back when we were all in high school, he tried to set me up with Caleb. But apparently it was right after Sean and I broke up so I said no. But it should have been him, Mom!" she repeated. "If I had just gone on that date with him, who knows what could have happened? We could be married with three kids by now!"
"Is that what you want, Hanna?" Ashley asked her, frowning slightly.
"Well, that's not exactly possible now," Hanna muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Well, no, not the 'married with three kids by now' part, but...do you want to be with Caleb?"
Hanna was confused. Her mother wasn't seriously suggesting she had a choice, right?
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I just want you to be happy, Hanna. It's all I've ever wanted for you. So I want to know what makes you happy. Does Jordan make you happy?"
Hanna hesitated. She didn't know exactly how to put her feelings into words.
"I thought he did," she said slowly. "Everything was fine. I really did think I was happy with him. But then I met Caleb. And now I think... it's like I never even knew what it meant to be happy until I was with him. He made me question everything. Made me see things differently. Made me realize what was really important. He made me realize how...exciting and...amazing life can be. And now it feels like I'll never be happy without him."
"Why did you marry Jordan?" Ashley asked thoughtfully.
What did she mean, "Why did she marry Jordan?" Did she seriously not know why?
"Well, I had just graduated college when I met him, and I knew no one thought I could actually handle a job. He was sweet. You guys loved him, you told me he was perfect for me, exactly the kind of guy I needed. It seemed like a logical decision."
"'A logical decision'?" Ashley echoed disapprovingly.
"I mean, yeah," Hanna said defensively. "Jordan is exactly the type of guy you always wanted me to marry, right? So when he basically fell into my lap right after graduation, it just made sense. How could I turn it down?"
"Hanna, I'm sorry if we – if I – ever made you feel pressured to marry him," Ashley started gently. "I genuinely thought you seemed happy with him. Hanna, if I had known, at the time, that you were ever feeling unsure about it, about him, then I never would have let you go through with it. I always wanted more for you than what I had. I wanted you to marry for love, not for money or status. I wanted you to get to experience real, true love, Hanna. You know I love your father, and I love him even more because he gave me the best gift imaginable – you. But I think you also know that we're not exactly soul mates. We got married because it made sense. Because we made sense. And it's worked out fine for us. But I wanted more for you than just 'fine,' Hanna."
Hanna was taken aback. Her mother had never talked this openly to her before.
"What are you saying?" she asked.
"I'm saying...that I was wrong before. Hanna, you have always done what you're supposed to. Well, until this, at least. And, there was the tattoo and the piercing, I suppose," she let out a small smile. "But I was just shocked and confused and overwhelmed when I found out about Caleb. I didn't mean what I said. I was so wrong. Hanna, you need to do what makes you happy. Stop thinking about everyone else, and just follow your heart. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks. Be selfish, for once. You are still so young, Han, and you have your whole life ahead of you. I don't want you to get trapped. If you're feeling this way about your marriage already, it's only going to get worse over the next fifty years. Hanna, life is way too short to not let yourself be completely happy. Trust me. You have so much more courage than I ever did; use it, and go after what you really want."
Hanna was shocked. Was her mother giving her permission to go after Caleb? After everything she had said after she found out? Did she actually approve of this?
"Hanna, you've been a completely different person this last year. You were happier than I've ever seen you. I think Caleb is really good for you," she admitted.
"But, what about Jordan? What about…everyone? What will people think? What will Dad say? Jordan's his golfing buddy! I don't think Caleb's ever even been golfing in his life! And you love Jordan! And I don't even know if Caleb would take me back. I mean, I put him through so much, and I probably don't even deserve him, and – " she rambled on, before Ashley cut her off.
"Hanna, calm down. I told you. You have to stop thinking about everyone else, and think of yourself for once. You need to talk to Jordan about this, of course. It's not fair to either of you that you've been keeping all of these feelings bottled up inside. But you need to do what's best for you. And Hanna, I like Jordan, but I love you. And all I want is for you to be happy. So if he doesn't make you happy, then I can't support you being with him.
"And as for Caleb, I don't think you have anything to worry about. First of all, he'd be an idiot to turn you down. You are my amazing, smart, beautiful, kind-hearted daughter and he'd be lucky to have you. And second of all, I've seen the way he looks at you. He knows how incredible you are. And your grandmother noticed that, too. Your grandmother - who insists true love is a fraud - told me that she, and I quote, 'got chills' from the way he looked at you."
"Wait, what?" Hanna exclaimed incredulously. "You and Grandma talked about Caleb? About me and Caleb? What, when, how…?" She needed answers.
"Well, she called me after you guys ran into her on your little getaway," she informed Hanna, who gave her a guilty look in return.
"She didn't know that I knew about him, and she thought I should. She told me I should talk some sense into you. Make you realize that Caleb was the one for you."
"But you never…" Hanna trailed off.
"You're right. I didn't," Ashley admitted. "I didn't realize just how much you loved him, Han. I knew you cared about him, but I thought it was just a...a phase that you needed to get out of your system. I never gave you a chance to explain yourself, I just yelled at you for it. But I was wrong. And I'm sorry for that, Hanna. I should have realized sooner just how much you love him. I was too worried about what people would think, about how leaving Jordan would affect your life. But, Hanna, I just want you to be happy," she repeated.
"Apparently Regina knew you two were meant to be after seeing you together once, though." Ashley rolled her eyes, making Hanna laugh. "Of course, she never really liked Jordan anyway," she added.
"So what are you thinking?" Ashley asked after a few seconds of silence, having a difficult time reading her daughter, who was usually an open book.
"Well, I know what the smart thing would be," she began. She knew that Jordan loved her, and would take care of her for the rest of their lives. He treated her right, and he was a good, dependable guy. She knew how crazy it looked from the outside to even be considering giving that up. "But I don't think the smart thing would make me as happy as Caleb does."
Ashley just looked at Hanna gently as they both thought about what she had just said.
"I think you have your answer," Ashley finally concluded.
"Thanks, Mom," Hanna replied. There was nothing like a mother's advice to make you see clearly.
Hanna spent the next couple of days contemplating what her mother had said. She had made it all sound so simple, that she could just leave Jordan and get her happily ever after with Caleb. But Hanna wasn't so sure. What if it didn't work out that way? What if Caleb wouldn't take her back, and she was alone forever, and had to adopt twenty cats to keep her company?
"Miss Hanna, may I talk to you?" Dorota interrupted Hanna's thoughts, the same thoughts that had been running through her head for three days now.
"Of course, Dorota, what's up?" Hanna asked.
"I am worrying about you, Miss Hanna," Dorota said gently. "You have been at home a lot more lately, and I have not seen Mr. Caleb in a long time. And you seem so sad all of the time. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, Caleb and I kind of broke up," Hanna admitted. "He didn't want to sneak around anymore, and I obviously couldn't commit to him." She laughed humorlessly.
"Well, I am probably not supposed to say this, since Mr. Jordan is my boss, but I think Mr. Caleb make you very happy," Dorota said with a little smile.
Hanna smiled, too. Were her feelings for Caleb that obvious to everyone?
"He did make me really happy," Hanna agreed. "And can I tell you a secret?"
Dorota nodded enthusiastically.
"I think…I'm going to try to get Caleb to make me happy again," she said slowly, making sure Dorota understood what she was getting at.
Dorota's eyes widened. "You and Mr. Jordan will split up?"
"Shhh," Hanna put her finger over her mouth. "Maybe. I still have some thinking to do."
"Well, then you go think!" Dorota demanded, making Hanna laugh, really laugh, for the first time in weeks.
Maybe Dorota was right. She needed to figure out what to do already.
So she decided to go for a run. She hated running, but it was the best way for her to clear her mind, so she only ever did it when she needed to think. It always seemed to be the only thing to help her make sense of her thoughts.
When Hanna returned from her run, she knew what she had to do.
"Hey, can we talk?" she asked Jordan, walking into the study where he was working at his computer.
"Of course, darling," he said, looking up at her. "What's going on?"
"It's kind of important," she replied nervously. "Can we…sit together?" She gestured to the small sofa on the opposite side of the room.
He gave her an odd look, but got up from his desk to sit down next to her, bringing his mug of coffee with him.
"So what's going on?" he asked her again.
She hesitated, trying to figure out the best way to handle this. She hadn't prepared herself at all, had just suddenly realized that she needed to do it.
"Do you miss me?" she finally asked him.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, confused. They were sitting right next to each other; why would he miss her?
"When you're away, do you miss me?" she tried again.
"Of course I miss you, darling," he laughed. "What's this about? Are you telling me you wish I wouldn't travel so much?"
She hesitated again. This approach wasn't really working.
"I mean; do you really miss me?"
"I don't think I understand the question," he frowned.
"Like, whenever you're gone, you always make sure to call me every couple of days. But is that because you feel like you should, or because you actually want to talk to me, and you have things you can't wait to tell me?" She thought about Caleb, all of the times her words had tumbled over each other as she had excitedly told him some new story every time she saw him. And all of the things she had wanted to call or text him about since he had been gone, all of the things she had been so excited to tell him, before remembering that she couldn't.
"Um, a little bit of both, I guess," he replied uncomfortably. "Of course I feel as though I need to call in and check up on you, but you're my wife, so of course I want to talk to you, too."
"But are you ever just like, 'Wow, I miss Hanna so much, I'm just dying to talk to her'?" she questioned.
"Hanna, what is this really about?" he asked, picking up his coffee and taking a sip.
Clearly, he wasn't understanding what she was trying to say. She needed to be more obvious.
So she braced herself, taking in a deep breath before saying, "I think we should get a divorce."
She saw the shocked expression immediately cross his face as he nearly choked on the coffee in his mouth.
"Hanna, what on Earth are you talking about?" he exclaimed, standing up suddenly. "Are you ill? Are you on drugs? What are you talking about?"
"Don't you ever just want more?" she asked him. She knew they had a good marriage, and were relatively happy together, but she also knew that they didn't have the passion, the intensity, the desire that other couples had for each other. And she used to wonder if that even really existed, but now she knew for a fact that it did, and now that she knew it did, she didn't want to settle for anything less than that.
"Hanna, I seriously have no idea what you are talking about right now!" Jordan exclaimed. "You sound insane! I love you so much; I would move heaven and earth for you! You know that, don't you?" He grabbed her hands between his, desperately trying to get through to her, make her realize how ridiculous this was. But Hanna had made up her mind already.
"I know – " she started.
"But you don't feel the same way about me?" he asked angrily.
"Look, Jordan, I am so so sorry," she told him. "I thought I did, and I tried to, I really did, and I care about you, so much, I promise, but I just know that I'm not in love with you. Not like that."
"So why did you marry me, then? Huh? Why did you waste the last four years of my life, planning a fucking future with you, when you knew damn well you didn't want a future with me?"
"Jordan, I didn't know, I swear. I married you because I saw a future with you, I thought we could be happy together, and we were, for a long time, but lately…" She didn't know how much she should say about this. "Lately, things have changed, and I realized that we deserve more. We both deserve more."
"Hanna, what more could you want?" he exclaimed, frustrated. Their life was pretty damn near perfect, or he thought so, at least. "I mean, look at this house, Hanna, go look in your closet! You don't have to work or cook or clean, you can just shop and lunch and hang out with your friends all day long, because I take care of you! And I do that because I love you! Hanna, we're great together. Everyone says so. Your friends and family love me, mine love you, everyone thinks we're the perfect couple, what more could you want?"
How could he seriously not understand that she wanted more than that? That bullshit he just spewed didn't matter to her. Did he seriously think all she cared about was money and shopping and her family's approval? She wanted a crazy, passionate, once-in-a-lifetime type of love. And she knew she would never have that with him. But there was someone else she could have it with.
"Yes, Jordan, we're perfect together on paper! You're exactly the kind of guy everyone always thought I would marry, and I'm the perfect, pretty trophy wife that you always wanted, supporting you while you chase your dreams of getting to the top! But don't you want more than just a perfect-on-paper marriage? Don't you think we deserve better than that? You wanna know what 'more' I want?" she exclaimed. "I want my husband to make me feel sexy and beautiful and desired! I want you to want me! I want you to want to hang out with me! I want you to want to watch my favorite movies with me, I want us to be so in love that we do crazy things, stupid things, for each other! I want what Allie and Noah have," she concluded.
"'Allie and Noah'?" he echoed incredulously.
"From 'The Notebook,'" Hanna muttered, embarrassed. That had just kind of slipped out.
"So you want a divorce because our marriage isn't like the relationship of a fictional couple in a movie?" Jordan asked angrily.
"No!" she exclaimed, frustrated. "That's just a metaphor! I want us to be so madly in love that we can't stand to be apart! So attracted to each other that we can never get enough of each other!"
"So you don't think that's what we have?" he questioned.
"Of course that's not what we have!" she exclaimed, exasperated. Did he seriously not see that? "I mean, when was the last time we even had sex?"
"Is that what this is about? Our sex life? You want us to have more sex?"
"No, I want us to want to have more sex!" She knew she sounded crazy and irrational, but she didn't know how to get through to him.
"Hanna, sweetheart, you are not making any sense right now," Jordan stated, much more calmly and quietly than before. "I think we just need some space right now, and then later, once you've calmed down, we can have a more rational discussion."
"No," she countered. "This wasn't an easy decision for me, Jordan, believe me. But I've made up my mind. I want a divorce."
"Come on, Hanna, this can't just be it," he pleaded with her.
"I'm sorry," she said genuinely, but she wasn't going to change her mind. She needed this, needed out. She couldn't keep doing this.
"Is there someone else?" he asked suddenly, comprehension dawning on his face. He didn't even want to imagine that she could have been having an affair, but it was the only thing that made any sense at all. Everything between them was going great; this had come completely out of left field.
Hanna didn't answer. She had been hoping it wouldn't come to this.
"Oh my god," he said with disgust, her silence clearly being the confirmation he needed.
"Look, you were gone all the time, and I was lonely, and I know that doesn't make it okay, but - " she started, before he cut her off.
"Hanna, I was gone, because I was working! So I could make the money that supports you. That pays for this house, and for your shopping addiction, and for your car, and for all of your fancy spa treatments! I was working my ass off for you while you were off fucking god-knows-who!"
"Jordan, it wasn't like that, I swear," she pleaded with him. She wanted him to understand what really happened. "I didn't mean for it to happen, I didn't go looking for someone else, and I never meant to hurt you. I know it was wrong and I'm sorry."
"But now you want to go off and run away with the guy, so you can't be that sorry about it!" he exclaimed. "Who is it?"
"That's not important," she lied. Of course it was important. 'Who it was' was someone who had turned her world completely upside down, had made her question everything she had ever thought, had made her feel alive, had made her realize what she was missing out on. But he didn't need to know all that. "This isn't about him!" she argued. "This is about us! It feels like we're just going through the motions and doing what we think a married couple is supposed to do, but neither of us really want to. And I'm not okay with that, and I don't think you should be, either!"
"You know what?" he said angrily. "Fine. You can have your divorce. I don't want to be with a whore who's screwing someone else anyway. But I hope you know that you are not getting a penny of my money! I'm taking this house, I'm taking the penthouse, the beach house, the yacht, I'm taking everything!"
"That's fair," she agreed. She knew it's what she deserved. And she didn't care about the money. She really didn't. Not anymore.
"Oh, please!" he laughed humorlessly. "You seriously think you'll survive without me supporting you? You think you can take care of yourself? Hanna, you don't know how to cook, you have no life skills, you've never worked a day in your life - and that campaign shit you did doesn't count! You didn't get paid, and you didn't even have to do anything to get the job, it was just handed to you. Just like you've had everything handed to you your entire life. You'll never make it on your own."
"I'll be fine. I'll figure it out," she argued. She really wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she just knew she couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't let herself keep being unhappy when she knew there was someone out there that could make her happier than she had ever thought possible.
When he didn't reply, she left the study, walking upstairs to the master bedroom to pack a suitcase. She would go back to her parents' house. Just temporarily. Until she figured out her next move.
She had thrown a bunch of clothes in the suitcase when she heard a knock at the door. She figured it was Jordan coming to apologize. She knew he hadn't meant the hurtful things he had said. He was just angry and hurt, and she understood why.
But it wasn't Jordan. It was Dorota.
"Miss Hanna, are you okay?" Dorota asked gently, stepping into the room.
"I am, actually," Hanna confirmed. She smiled to herself as she realized it was true. She actually was okay. She had expected to feel more upset than this. After all, her marriage of two years, relationship of four, was over. She was closing the door on a chapter of her life that she had always thought would be the entire book. But, as awful as it sounded, she actually felt relieved. She finally realized that she had been unhappy for a long time, longer than she had even wanted to admit before.
"I will miss you very much, Miss Hanna," Dorota told her, tears shining in her eyes. "But I am happy if you are happy."
"Oh, don't cry, Dorota!" Hanna replied, pulling her into a hug. "I'll miss you, too. But I don't think this is goodbye quite yet, I'm sure I'll be back at some point. Jordan told me he's not giving me anything in the divorce, but I'm secretly hoping he comes around and lets me keep my shoe collection, at least," she whispered conspiratorially.
Dorota sniffled as Hanna zipped up the suitcase.
She followed Hanna down to the main level, but went in the other direction at the bottom of the stairs to give Hanna and Jordan some privacy.
Hanna walked into the kitchen, where Jordan was sitting at the island, drinking whiskey - specifically, the whiskey she knew for a fact he saved for special occasions. Apparently your wife leaving you was a significant enough occasion to break out the expensive stuff.
"Jordan," she started nervously. "I really am sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. But I just can't do this anymore. It isn't fair, to either of us. I know you probably hate me right now, and I know this probably doesn't make any sense to you right now, but it will, eventually. This is what's best for both of us," she said confidently. "You deserve to be with someone who loves you as much as you love them. You deserve someone who can give you their whole heart. You deserve to find the love of your life, too. That's just not me."
He didn't reply, didn't even look at her, but she knew he had heard her.
She slipped off her engagement and wedding rings, placing them down on the island near his almost-empty glass, before leaving the kitchen, walking through the foyer, and closing the front door behind her, closing the door on her marriage.
Fina-fucking-lly. The annoying prick is finally gone. And trust me, no one is happier about that than me. I despised writing Boring Jordan. Ew. I hate him. With a passion. Is it bad that this was one of my favorite chapters to write, literally just because I hate him so much?
I hope this was realistic. I mean, I know Jordan was kind of a dick, but part of that was intentional (I don't care how perfect he was portrayed as on the show, I still hate his guts), while part of it was just, like, emotions are running high, 'My wife is leaving me.' I'm sure you get it!
Side note about him being so perfect on the show: Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I'm actually kind of glad about that. Don't get me wrong, I wish he never existed at all! I wish we could have gotten happy, mature, stable, married Haleb in the time jump, ideally with child(ren), rather than the stupid, redundant bullshit we had to deal with. But since the writers hate shippers, and we had to deal with aforementioned bullshit, I'm actually glad Jordan wasn't evil or didn't die or anything like that, even though 2016 me was probably wishing for one of those things to happen. But now, looking back on it, I think that would have felt like Hanna had no choice but to break up with him/lose him, and go back to Caleb by default. Instead, he was perfect, and could give her everything she had ever wanted, except, you know, TRUE LOVE. So even though he was seemingly perfect, she broke up with him, not even knowing if Caleb would take her back, thinking he was happy with Spencer, but she just didn't want to marry Jordan as soon as she was reminded that Caleb existed. I think that's actually really sweet and says a lot about how strong Haleb's love is. (Still wish Haleb had just never broken up at all, though!)
Also, I know Ashley was kind of anti-Caleb earlier, but I think I made up for it here! We all know Mama Marin is ALWAYS a Haleb shipper! She doesn't even know Caleb here, and she already has a son-in-law, but she can still see how happy Caleb makes Hanna, and wants them to end up together. I saw this tweet: It was something to the effect of, "To my future partner: If you, my mom, and I don't have a Hanna Marin, Caleb Rivers, and Ashley Marin dynamic, I'm not interested." And it just made me laugh and warmed my heart at the same time. Because it's so true! Ashley literally loves Caleb and ships Haleb so much. Remember how much she disliked him for like two episodes in season one, and now she's loved him ever since. Even Hanna acknowledged that Ashley never liked Jordan because he wasn't [as good as] Caleb.
Stay tuned for the next chapter!