Wow wow wow you guys blew me away with all your kind words on the first chapter.

CanonCannon ~ yassss I agree bad boy Caleb is so hot as Hanna will find out

Atramea ~ glad it was worth the wait!

Guestxoxox ~ I thought of you when I posted it, I really really hope it lives up to expectations

Bday girl ~ so I didn't manage to upload before I got on my plane, but happy happy birthday and even though you didn't get to wake up to an update, I hope this is still a good present

Enjoy...

II

Hanna Marin sighed as she sat at her dresser, deciding what nail polish she wanted to use. It was Tuesday evening and she'd been so consumed by her own thoughts over the past two days that she hadn't even noticed she'd chipped a nail. It was only when Mona Vanderwaal pointed out the offensive jagged edge in her nail tip that she'd realised it needed to be rectified immediately. But it wasn't just her nails that needed smoothing.

She was off-balance. She wasn't afraid to admit that - she'd admitted it to herself for most of her life - but right now she was determined not to acknowledge the cause.

Caleb Rivers wasn't supposed to have impacted her school in the same way she had. And especially not in two days. It had taken her two years goddammit - two years to get to a point where she was the queen bee; gossiped about but respected by all. Everyone was talking about the brooding brunette who was mute in class; Bridget Wu in the ladies, Ben Coogan in phys ed, even Bryony Green in the library. If Bryony was talking about you, you knew you'd made it - the girl didn't leave the sanctity of the silent library for anything other than class. She was sweet, but oblivious so if she was heard muttering about Caleb then... Hanna refused to finish the sentence.

Settling on the nude varnish her Mom had bought her on her latest trip to Philly, she quickly dialled Sean's number and put him on speaker before she went to work on her nails. She needed to get her mind off Caleb Rivers.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Hanna smiled, "It's me."

"Hanna?"

"Who else would it be?" She murmured, leaning over her hand to ensure she was perfecting her brush strokes.

"No one," She could hear Sean breathing heavily and she wondered what he'd been doing.

"Have you just finished practice?" She asked.

"Erm... Yeah," He agreed.

"Do you want to come over?" She tried, "My parents are out," She added and paused before deciding to take a risk, "We can make out," She couldn't help the grin that crossed her face. He'd been pretty into it yesterday morning and she was getting the impression he was finally ready to move their relationship forward. She was there, ready and willing, just waiting for him to join her.

"I can't," He shot her down, "I'm still at practice, Han."

"You just said it's finished," She pouted. She wanted to spend more time with him and sometimes she just felt like he pushed her away.

"I know, I'm sorry," He said, "Coach has just come back and said he wants us to do some more weight training."

"He's pushing you guys too hard," She frowned, "You had practice like every day last week."

"I know," Sean closed his eyes.

"My Dad basically funds the team, I can get him to say some-"

"No," Sean snapped, cutting her off, "It's for the good of the team, right?" He justified, "You know how many of us are looking for scholarships, Han."

"I'm sorry," She said quietly.

"No," He replied softly, "I am. Look we'll hang out tomorrow, okay?" He said, "Caleb's tutoring us after school so we can chill at mine," He added, "My Mom's made some of that banana bread that you love too."

"Okay," His words made the pit of dread that appeared in her stomach when she thought about exactly what she'd be doing tomorrow night, lessen slightly. Knowing the Ackards, she'd be invited to stay for dinner with them and after Friday night's awkward encounter, eating a meal with Caleb Rivers was one of the last things she wanted. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll come pick you up in the morning," Sean tried.

"No, I'll see you at school."

"Han."

"Bye Sean." She moved her perfected nail to her phone and ended the call, confusion and annoyance bubbling beneath her skin. She got that he was stressed with trying to get a scholarship, but she was still his girlfriend and if he really cared about her like he said he did, then he'd want to spend time with her too.

Yes, they'd only been together a couple of months, but Sean was a serious guy and they'd had conversations about what colleges they might go to. Her's wasn't exactly in doubt and his was pretty dependent on who showed interest, but he'd given her the impression that he wanted them to be close.

With their phone call in mind, Hanna couldn't help but cynically think that actions spoke louder than words.

Shaking her thoughts away, she focused on finishing her nails before she prepped her bag for the next day and settled in bed. She considered calling Emily and asking for some advice, but from the way her and Ben had acted in school in the aftermath of the vicious game of Truth at Noel Kahn's party she was pretty sure her best friend would not want to talk about boys right now. There was Aria too, but she'd said she was busy all evening doing some admin work for Jason DiLaurentis at his Mom's company - Hanna thought there was more to it than that but when she'd pushed, Aria had vehemently denied it was anything other than easy money. She scrolled through her phone book and paused on Spencer's number before throwing it down on the bed in resignation; everyone knew Spencer Hastings gave the worst boy advice in the world. And Alison? Alison hated Sean with a passion and would take any opportunity she could get to belittle Hanna's relationship with him.

No, she'd have to think this one out on her own.

So for the second night in a row, Hanna Marin lay in bed and stewed. And just like the previous night, her thoughts weren't only of Sean Ackard. At some indiscernible point Caleb Rivers slinked his way in, and like her now perfect manicure, she knew he wasn't going anywhere.

The next day, Hanna didn't know what had come over her boyfriend. For the first time since they'd gotten together, he was trying really hard.

He'd been waiting in the car park for her with a bunch of flowers in his hand before she'd arrived at school. And when she'd stepped out of her car to ask him what he was doing, he simply moved over to her and gave her a hard kiss in front of all his friends, ignoring their wolf-whistling and jeering before proceeding to take her hand and lead her inside to her locker. Hanna should have thought it was sweet, but all she saw was the $3.99 sticker on the paper around the flowers he'd clearly picked up on a whim from the gas station and a guy who was trying to put on the biggest show possible for the student body. It wasn't authentic. And as he clung onto her the whole day, his presence became suffocating. She couldn't even go to the toilet without him asking her where she was going.

She got he was trying to prove a point but it felt convoluted and fake and Hanna didn't understand why he was trying so damn hard. It wasn't like they'd had a big argument, just a minor tense conversation about how much they saw each other and they'd agreed to see each other that night. It was a bump, not a derailing. But thank God for Alison DiLaurentis - unobservant she was not and after fourth period, she linked her arms with Hanna before Sean had any chance to protest and led her to the back of the school for some fresh air and space.

"What the hell is going on with him?" Alison asked as she pulled out a box of cigarettes from her bag. "Why is he following you around like you're some resurrected saint who's going to grant him a miracle?"

"I don't know," Hanna said, moving over to a bin she'd spotted to dump the flowers.

"It's pissing me off," Alison muttered, "I haven't been able to say two words to you all day," She grumbled, "And where the hell is my lighter?"

"Here," They both turned their heads to see Caleb leaning against a brick wall, cigarette in mouth and hand outstretched with lighter clenched inside.

"What are you doing here?" Hanna asked harshly. As if his presence in her thoughts hadn't been enough, now here he was in person. She couldn't deal with him right now.

"What does it look like blondie?" He retorted, blowing smoke out the side of his mouth. "Needed my nicotine fix."

"Thanks," Alison smiled at him, handing him back his lighter.

"No problem," He muttered, stuffing it in his pocket again. "Does he know you've thrown them in the trash?" He asked Hanna, nodding towards the flower stems that were sticking out the top of the bin. "He spent a whole 30 seconds picking them out," He muttered, taking another drag of his cigarette.

"Your point?"

"Just saying, I don't want to be stuck in the middle of a lover's tiff whilst you're trying to understand differentiation tonight."

"Well you won't be if you don't tell him," She shot him a glare.

He laughed and she stood there, simply taken aback by his reaction. He was the most confusing person she'd ever met and she'd only know him for 5 days. "I think he's going to notice when you show up in class without a bunch of flowers in your hand."

"I'll say I left them in the science lab so they could be in water," She smirked at him.

"We should get to class," He murmured, inhaling one more time before he dropped his cigarette on the floor and stubbed it out with his shoe.

"We?"

"You have History fifth period," He stated, "And so do I."

Alison stood there watching them amusedly. She hadn't seen Hanna get this riled up in a while. "You're late. He's your alibi Han," She stated simply, "I'm gonna finish this."

"Oh.. Okay," Hanna stuttered.

"Let's go." Caleb said firmly, stalking off down the hall. She froze for a moment, but Alison shoved her, bringing her back to reality. It was then that she realised something inside of her was compelling her body to follow him too.

"Wait," Hanna called, chasing after him.

"Just say I got lost."

"Why are you doing this?" She breathed heavily, trying to keep up with him as his pace quickened. "You don't care about me, I know you don't."

"You don't know anything Hanna."

It was the first time he'd said her name.

It had never sounded darker.

It had never sounded sweeter.

It had never sounded so goddamn good.

By the end of fifth period History, Hanna didn't know whether she was coming or going.

She spent the entire lesson sketching clothes in her notebook as she thought about the tutoring session she was supposed to have that evening. She hardly noticed when the bell rang, and it was only when Emily nudged her on the shoulder that she realised everyone else had left. Sean was stood at the door waiting for her and much to her annoyance, Emily seemed to evaporate into thin air at the sight of him.

"Hey," He smiled, kissing her forehead, "So I know we have tutoring this evening with Caleb, but I need to stop by the gym first."

"Great," She smiled before quickly correcting herself as she realised what she'd said. She never thought she'd be so grateful for Sean to leave her alone. "I'll meet you at yours?"

"I might be a few minutes late, but I'll be there and we can hang afterwards," He murmured. She nodded in agreement, smiling slightly as he cupped her cheek and pushed his lips onto hers. She was one of those girls making out with her boyfriend in the school hallway; it should have made her scream with happiness but after the way Sean had acted the evening before and throughout the day, she hated it. She could feel eyes on her; staring, judging and she wanted to hide from all of them.

She forcibly pulled away, "I'll see you later," She said, stepping away from him entirely. He nodded and kissed her one more time before turning on his heel and heading down the hallway to the gym.

"Nice," Caleb appeared behind her and smirked, "But I'd have liked more tongue myself. Screamed Justin Bieber to me."

"What the..."

"I'll see you at home blondie," He called, walking past her and heading towards the exit, "Looks like it's just you and me for now."

Hanna opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out and she was left stood there looking like an idiot. She thought she hated when he called her blondie, but she was starting to feel like she was hanging onto his every word whenever it came out of his mouth. Still, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to her and so she turned and stormed off in the opposite direction, even if it was the long way to her car.

She raced home to dump her stuff and freshen up before she was following the familiar roads to the Ackard's. She parked up and made her way to the front door, fully intending to knock, but it was slightly open and instead, she just moved inside and closed it quietly behind her. There was a giggle from the kitchen and she couldn't help but smile as her ears recognised Penny's precious laugh - she never failed to bring a smile to her face. Sean must have gotten home already and be playing with her, she thought, heading towards the noise.

"Caleb!" Penny squealed, forcing Hanna to freeze just before they could see her. She didn't want them to know she was there just yet. Leaning against a wall, she plucked up the courage to peer her head round the corner to see exactly what was going on. The sight that greeted her made her question everything all over again.

"Don't tell your Mom," Caleb said quietly, a smile on his face as he cut a large slice of banana bread off the cake for Penny who was sat on the kitchen countertop, clinging onto his arm for safety. "Promise?" He tested her, moving a hand to her waist to keep her steady.

"Promise," She whispered and held her pinky out for him, "You need to shake it," She implored, "Daddy told me that means it's a real promise." He stared at her for a second before giving in and looping his pinky with hers. "Now kiss it," She added, ducking her head to kiss their two fingers.

"I don't need to kiss it," Caleb argued.

"But if you don't it will break," Penny looked as upset as if someone had stolen her favourite model horse.

"Okay," He quickly gave in, pressing his lips against their fingers too. She smiled in triumph and squealed when he picked her up and placed her on the floor. "Here," He muttered, handing her a plate, "Now scram."

She turned to run off but stopped and looked back at him. "Caleb?" She whispered, moving closer to him as he knelt down.

"What?"

"Will you play ponies with me?" She put her best puppy dog eyes on and leant against his shoulder, trying to be as convincing as possible.

Hanna watched as Caleb's eyes shut painfully, "I can't."

"I'll show you," She begged, "Tilly told me she wants you to play with her," She pouted sadly, "And Tilly is the Mommy horse so everyone else agrees with her."

"Not today."

"Tomorrow!" She gasped hopefully, "We can have a jumping competimition!"

"Maybe," He conceded, just to get her off his back, "Now go upstairs before anyone sees the cake." She nodded and ran off, darting past Hanna without so much as a glance in her direction.

"Hey," Hanna stepped out of the shadows awkwardly and made her presence known.

Caleb's head jerked up and he stared at her with concern, "Don't tell anyone."

"I won't," She promised as she heard him muttering something about cashing cheques. "I... I don't know when Sean will get here," She said something, anything to fill the silence.

"We can wait," He sat down at the table, his shoulders hunched as he closed himself off from her. He was so different, so vulnerable compared to the act he'd put on earlier in school. Then, he'd made her pulse race as he told her they'd be studying alone. Now, he made her heart break.

She noticed all the books he'd laid out and bit her lip nervously, "No," She pulled the chair out next to him, tugging on her skirt before she sat down, "He can catch up," She said quietly, "I need more help than him anyway."

"You're not dumb," He muttered, "Your brain just works differently."

Hanna let his words sink in. And then she swallowed nervously

She was ready; ready to acknowledge exactly why she'd felt off-balance for the past few days. It wasn't Sean, it wasn't her parents. It was Caleb. He'd come into her life and with his brooding silence, started to pull the rug right out from underneath her. Now, with his gossip-inducing presence and choice words for her, that rug had just been ripped from it's already precarious position.

Sitting with him quietly in the Ackard's kitchen, as he explained a concept she hadn't managed to grasp since the beginning of term, she decided that right now, she was okay with having no rug underneath her. Off-balance was scary, but for once she thought it suited her just fine.

Sooooo a few little plot seedlings planted. Hanna has certainly been thrown by Caleb showing a little vulnerability and she's still trying to figure out where he slots into her Rosewood kingdom.

If you liked it, pleeeeeease review they mean so much xox