Sorry for being an atrocious updater. Haleb feels are still there... I promise.

XIV

"You think you love me?" Hanna almost couldn't find her breath as her heart ached for air, repeating Caleb's words back to him. Her throat was dry, her voice raspy and her fingers trembling as she forced herself to look up at him as the water continued to fall around them.

His eyes were worried, staring into hers as his brain caught up with his mouth. "I…" He stuttered, his eyebrows dipping as he frowned before swallowing uncomfortably, "Yeah…"

"Like," She frowned too, "…Kennedy?"

"What?"

"Whose Kennedy?" She stared up at him, not missing the flicker of pain that crossed his face. "Who is she Caleb?"

Suddenly his mouth was like a desert and his heart was racing a million miles an hour, "She…"

"I want to know everything about you," She whispered, her eyes flickering shut as she rested her forehead against his cheek, the spray from the shower rolling down her body, "And I know she means something."

"I can't talk about it," He finally found his voice.

"Fine," She pulled away from him, hurt suddenly running through her veins. She didn't understand why he wouldn't open up to her, when she felt like she bared her soul to him.

"Hanna," He reached for her as she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, quickly wrapping it around her body.

"No," She snapped, jerking away from him, "Don't treat me like that," She said, before she disappeared out of the bathroom and left him there to process his thoughts.

"Fuck," He whispered underneath his breath, reaching his fist out to slam one of the bathroom tiles. "Don't be a dick," He muttered, running a tense hand down his face before he shut off the water and followed her out, shoving a towel around his waist.

He found her sitting on the bed, the towel wrapped tightly around her as she stared at her phone. He stalked over to her, squatting down in front of her and trying not to roll his eyes as she deliberately turned her head away from her.

"Hanna." He tried, but she kept her eyes away from him. "Hanna," He said again, placing a hand on her bare leg.

"I don't want you to tell me everything," She whispered sharply, their eyes finally meeting, "But I would tell you anything," She told him meaningfully, "If you asked me."

"I know," He blinked his eyes shut, before he stood and began to pace. After a minute of her watching him burn a hole in the carpet, he spoke. "I'm fucked up Han," He started, running a tense hand through his wet tendrils of hair. "And it's hard, okay? It's really fucking hard for me to go back there."

"Back where?" Hanna asked, tears infiltrating her voice, "I give myself to you," She cried quietly, "Like you own me and I don't even know where back is."

He stopped to look at her, something in him breaking at the sight of her almost-silent tears. He moved forward, kneeling as his voice broke, "It's really hard," He trembled; it was the only word he could think of to describe what was going on in his brain. "I want to tell you, I do," He promised as she fell against him and began to cry against his neck, "But it's hard."

She held him for a moment before she sniffled and pulled back, cupping his cheeks. His eyes closed at her touch as her thumbs caressed his skin, "Start with the easy part," She whispered comfortingly.

He took a deep breath, opening his eyes to pool into hers, "What if there is no easy stuff?"

"Then I'm here anyway."

He stood and kissed her cheek, and she thought for a moment that he was pulling away from her. That this was the end of everything they'd had together. "Put some clothes on," He told her gently, heading towards his own bag to pull out a pair of old sweatpants.

She didn't move and watched him, sniffling occasionally as she waited to see what he was doing. "Put some clothes on and lay with me," He told her again, climbing onto the bed behind her and laying his head on one of the pillows.

She stood silently, turning her towel-clad figure away from him as she pulled on one of his jumpers that she'd stolen and a pair of her sleep shorts. He held his arm out for her as she moved onto the comforter, wrapping it around her waist to bring her close to him as she settled down.

"Sometimes I look at you," He started quietly, "And think this isn't real." He took a deep breath, "Because something tells me that it's too good to be true," He murmured, staring into her eyes.

"I'm here," Hanna promised him, lacing one of their hands.

There was a silence between them as Caleb looked down at their intertwined fingers, slowly running his thumb over hers. He breathed again, drawing from her strength before he began to speak, "The first time I saw a guy raise his hand I was six-years-old. First time I had a door slammed in my face, I was seven."

He stopped and she pressed her lips against his naked shoulder, whispering, "I'm sorry," against his quickly drying skin.

"I didn't know it," He muttered, "But those were the nice homes," He shrugged, taking a shaky breath. "When I was 13, I became sick of it and pushed my social worker to let me come to New York and start again. I was desperate to get out of Connecticut – I hated school and was already getting caught up with people I shouldn't have been."

"Why New York?" Hanna asked, confusion sweeping across her brow as she processed everything he was telling her.

"It was the place my Mom dumped me," He avoided looking at her as he said the words. It was harder than he'd thought to be vulnerable.

"Oh."

"I know," He muttered, "But that's another story," He shook his head, deflecting her inquisitive look, "My social worker agreed when I got caught with weed on me for the second time in a week in my first semester of eighth grade," He smirked, not missing the roll of Hanna's eyes.

"Anyway," He sighed, "Before I knew it, I was being lumped with some jack shit family up in Queens."

"Were they worse?" She asked tenderly, stroking his side.

He sighed again, deeply, "The worst I've ever had," He muttered quietly, "But there were three of us," He added, "And we were in it together."

"You…"

"Me, Maya and Kennedy," He trailed off, lifting his arm slightly to glance at the two names that were etched onto the back of his ribcage forever. Kennedy had taught him to love again. And Penny was teaching him that loving someone didn't have to end in pain. So was Hanna.

Caleb opened his mouth to continue when the ringtone for his phone suddenly pierced the air, making both of them jerk at the sudden interruption. He sat up, scooting down to riffle through his jeans that had been left in a crumpled heap on the floor to find the source of the offensive intrusion.

"It's Helen."

"Probably wants to see how your camping trip is," Hanna sent him a tentative smile, sitting up as he ended the call without answering.

"Probably," He shrugged, crawling back and throwing his phone onto the bedside table before he turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

"What are you thinking?" She interrupted his thoughts, prompting him to turn onto his side again as his finger reached out to play with a piece of hair framing her face.

"I'm thinking about you," He whispered, "About Maya. About Kennedy."

For the first time, there was a comfortable silence. He'd shared a piece of him that he'd never done before; it was more than Hanna had wanted. She'd asked; he'd given.

"If Kennedy's still in New York, why don't we see her? We can go on Sunday," Hanna suggested tentatively. She wanted him to heal, just like she was.

"We can't do that."

And just like that, it felt like his walls were up again.

"I'll be there with you," She promised, "We can go up to Queens."

"We can't do that."

"We can find her," Hanna tried, "Or if we need more time, I can skip out of the open day early tomorrow."

"You're not doing that."

"We can ask Maya."

"We can't do that." Caleb's voice became strained and he scrunched his eyes shut as he turned away from her again.

Hanna paused for a moment, before she sat up.

"Why not?" She pushed him. She wanted to help him see the person who meant enough for him to get their name tattooed on his body.

"Because Kennedy's dead Hanna. And there's no way I'm ever seeing her again."

In Rosewood, Helen Ackard stood anxiously by the kitchen counter as two members of the Rosewood Police Department interviewed her husband about their daughter's last whereabouts. Why, when she needed them the most, were both Sean and Caleb proving to be uncontactable?

"Mom?" The front door opened and slammed shut, and she sighed with slight relief that Sean was in fact home in one piece. "Why is there a police car out the front?" He yelled, moving into the kitchen.

"Sean," Helen moved towards him, pulling him in for a tight hug.

"What's going on?" He asked again, glancing at the two officers sat at the kitchen table with his father. "Where's Penny?" He looked around, expecting his little sister to be scampering around like she usually did.

"Penny's missing," Helen gasped, holding her chest as she tried to force the tears to stop. "Where's Caleb?" She asked, "Did you see him at school?"

"I saw him this morning," Sean answered suspiciously. "Why? And what do you mean Penny's missing?"

Helen waved him off, "I can't get hold of him and I want him to come home."

"He's probably tutoring Hanna or something," Sean brushed her off. "But Mom, Penny's missing?"

"No," She shook her head again, unable to untangle her thoughts, "He said he was having a camp out with Noel and the boys tonight. Maybe he doesn't have signal…"

"Mom," Sean snapped, taking in her trembling hands. "What's going on? Where's Penny?"

"She's gone," Helen whispered. "She's gone."

"Kennedy's dead?" Hanna paused, taking in the tense outline of the muscles in Caleb's back.

"I can't talk about this anymore," Caleb let out a strangled noise, standing up and running a stressed hand through his quickly drying hair. "I need a smoke," He muttered, riffling through his backpack to find his packet of cigarettes before he headed towards the window that allowed him to climb out onto the fire escape.

Hanna pursed her lips, nervously holding her hand against her mouth as she watched his retreating figure. She'd thought she'd cared and worried about Sean, but this… this was an all-consuming desire to protect and lo—. Her thought was interrupted again as Caleb's phone rung once more. Now wasn't the time for Helen to be checking in, she rued, switching off the device. They were off the grid for a reason.

She gathered herself and stood, heading towards the now-open window. "Caleb?" She called tentatively; the chill of the late afternoon air hitting her lungs. The lack of response didn't surprise her as she pulled the sleeves of his jumper down over her hands and stepped out too, settling silently on the ledge and wrapping her hands around him from behind as the smoke from his cigarette permeated through the thick air.

"I fucking hate this place," He muttered, staring out at the street below as his legs dangled over the side.

"Then why'd you say we should come?" She murmured, resting her cheek against his toned back.

He raised a hand to intertwine his fingers with hers whilst the other brought the cigarette to his lips. "You confuse the shit out of my brain."

She smiled to herself, stroking her thumb over his. "Thanks."

"Why'd you come with me?"

"Because I trust you." She said simply.

"Why?"

"No one's ever cared about what I want before," She replied, her free hand dropping down to stroke his chest. "But you do." Silence settled around them for a moment. "What do you want?"

"I want someone who cares about what I want," He stubbed out the butt of his cigarette.

"I care."

He tilted his head to glance at her, "You care about a lot of people."

"I care the most about you," She said, reaching for the pack of cigarettes and lighter resting next to him.

He stood and turned to lean his back against the railing, taking Hanna in as she perched on the window ledge with a lit cigarette hanging out of her mouth. The things she did to him, he thought, looking up into the sky as he felt a drop of water hit his cheek.

"You're not speaking to other guys are you?"

"Caleb!"

"Sorry," He muttered under his breath, looking down at the floor as he folded his arms. "Just gotta check these things…"

"Well don't," She snapped, "When do you think I have time to speak to other guys? When you're eating my face or my—?"

"Okay!" He held his hands up in mock surrender, cutting her off before she could finish as the rain began to fall. "I'm sorry, but I just…"

"You just what? What Caleb?"

"I meant what I said earlier, okay?" Their eyes met as their sky began to unleash on them. "I know I'm closed off and a dick and every other thing that's written in my social worker's file."

"Your social worker's a dick," Hanna retorted softly.

"But I swore I'd never come back here after Kennedy," He muttered, pushing his damp hair off his face, "And you... you make me forget all of that. But I can't let you in unless I know you're mine."

She stubbed out her cigarette and stood, moving into his arms as the rain hit their skin and their hair turned from damp to wet. He was cold and hurting and she wanted nothing more than to share his pain and fade the scars that marred his heart. She'd only just begun to realise how deep they really were.

"I'm yours."

He pulled her tight against his naked chest, a hand lacing through her hair to tilt her face up to his as the rain began to fall harder, just like her.

"I love you, Hanna."

She pressed a wet and tender kiss against his lips. This was all she'd ever wanted.

"I love you too Caleb."

In Rosewood, Helen Ackard could hardly process what was happening. Just as they were in the middle of organising a search party through the Church's network, Caleb's social worker, Louise, had made an unexpected appearance having been notified by the police of the missing child.

"This isn't the first time this has happened," The brunette guest spoke carefully as they all politely sat around the kitchen table, Helen flanked by her husband and son.

Helen narrowed her eyes. She had no time for this whilst her daughter was missing. "What exactly do you mean by 'this'?"

"There was an incident about 3 years ago, with Caleb and his foster family at the time."

"We know about this," Jonathan stepped in firmly. "We read his file and spoke to you before we took him in."

"Look, I'm just saying."

"Saying what?" Helen snapped. "That because his old foster sister died, so has this one?"

"N-no," Louise stuttered.

"Caleb loves Penny," Sean spoke tensely. "He'd never hurt her."

Helen shook her head and stood, pacing over towards the kitchen, "Sean please call him again. I want him at home."

There was silence as Sean dialed the number he'd already called half a dozen times. "No answer." He muttered after a few seconds of listening to the now-familiar opening of Caleb's voicemail. He was just about ready to throw it across the room in anger when it suddenly began to vibrate and ring in his hand.

"Who is it?"

"I... don't know," Sean stared at the number that wasn't saved to any of his contacts.

"Answer it." Jonathan demanded.

Sean wasted no time, moving the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Sean?" A familiar voice filtered through the handset.

"Emily?"

"Sorry to call you like this," Emily Fields rushed out, "I just wondered if you'd seen Hanna?"

"Emily, now's not really a good time..." Sean glanced up and stepped away from his parents who'd clearly lost interest once they'd realised it wasn't Caleb or someone with information on Penny.

"Or Caleb?" She asked unexpectedly, "Have you seen Caleb?"

"Why are you asking about Caleb?" He spoke quietly as he frowned; when had Emily and Caleb ever spoken?

"So Hanna's Dad has gone crazy because he found one of the portfolios she's been working on to send to Parsons and her Mom can't get hold of her."

"Right."

"So she called Mrs DiLaurentis because Hanna told her she was staying there tonight, but Alison had told her Mom that they were staying at mine and obviously nobody told me because yet again I was abandoned in Bio, so my Mom's totally blown her cover and now... Now we can't find her. But I thought you might know…"

"I'm sorry Em," Sean said, "I haven't seen her."

"And Caleb?"

"Emily, Penny's gone missing." Sean uttered the words that had haunted him since he'd walked into his home. "And we can't get hold of Caleb either."

"Penny's... missing?" Emily stammered.

"Did you say Hanna skipped Bio?" Sean ignored Emily's question. "She never skips class."

"I know…" She trailed off slowly, "Maybe her and Caleb went to work on their History project or something."

"Do you think Penny's with them? That they're all together?" He felt the emotions build up in the back of his throat and struggled to suppress them.

"I don't know Sean." She answered honestly.

"But they're just studying together, right?"

Emily paused for a moment, unsure of how much to reveal about something that Hanna and Caleb were clearly trying so hard to keep a secret. She'd do anything for her friends' happiness and was loyal until the end, but right now… right now there was a six-year-old girl missing. And that changed everything.

"Listen Sean. There's something you should know…"

So Kennedy's dead, Penny's missing and Emily's about to say something she shouldn't. If you want to find out how did Kennedy died, where Penny is and what exactly Emily is going to say, please review :) they are totally encouraging x