Shout out to eveningshades1107 and Bagilia for getting such a kick out of a threesome with Mona Vanderwaal, aka my favorite part of that last chapter. AND shout out AGAIN to Bagilia for correctly guessing who Hanna will be bonding with this chapter! Also, yes, this story is dedicated to you, the most dedicated Haleb shipper I know ;) Sorry I'm updating so late this evening, guys, but I was out seeing Frozen (has anyone seen it? Isn't it AMAZING?!). But I'm here now! So hopefully you enjoy this chapter, and be sure to leave a nice little review at the end!


Hanna watched as Aria worked quickly, sifting through pencil skirts and frilly tops until she found a good combo. "Jesus, Han, how much clothes do you have?"

"I got some more from my grandma for Christmas," Hanna justified as she stood up and walked over to the closet, wondering why she was letting Aria pick out another outfit for her after she had to suffer from blindness from the amount of neon she had chosen for her in the morning.

Aria bit her lip in concentration, analyzing the fabric content, color, and texture of each article of clothing. "What look do you want to go for?" she asked as she put back a hanger with a pair of leather pants on it that she had been staring at for 2 minutes straight. "Preppy formal, or sexy flirty?"

"Just do what you want," Hanna sighed, sitting down on the chair next to the closet as she nursed a growing migraine. "I don't really care."

Upon hearing this, Aria stopped in her tracks. She drew her eyes away from the closet and looked at Hanna, who looked the most sullen she'd looked in months.

Aria came over to the chair Hanna was sitting on and sat on the arm of it. "You're thinking about him, aren't you?"

Hanna froze, searching for a good excuse, but when she could find none, she sadly nodded her head. After all, there was only one "him" she could be talking about.

"But Hanna, you've been so good!"

"I know, I know," Hanna said defeatedly, "but the holidays used to be a thing we shared!"

Aria nodded her head as she gave Hanna's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I can understand that."

And she could. Every year, around the holidays, Hanna and Caleb used to go all out. They would bake cookies, drink hot chocolate in front of the fireplace, and Caleb would even bring his mother's old jazz CDs for them to dance to in her living room, usually ending with her laughing her head off and him attacking her with kisses.

But this year, Hanna had had to drink her hot chocolate alone by the fire, and baking cookies with her mother just wasn't the same. And with the New Year coming up, for Hanna, that just meant another year without him.

As she reminisced on all of the good times, Hanna finally let a lone tear stroll down her cheek, one she was hoping would stay hidden until she was alone. "I… I even already bought his Christmas present back last February."

Aria's face fell. "Aww, Hanna."

"It's true!" Hanna croaked as she stood up from the chair, angrily stalking over to her dresser beside her bed. She opened the drawer and yanked out a small box, tenderly wrapped in festive paper and accented with a bow.

Aria's hazel eyes widened to the size of quarters. "You even wrapped it?"

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" Hanna exclaimed, startling Aria with her sudden emotions. "How was I supposed to know that mere months later, he would leave me for some skank in Ravenswood?"

"Hanna, you don't know all of the facts yet!" Aria offered up. "We all see through Caleb's bad boy act, he's basically a baby bunny deep down. He would never leave you voluntarily!"

"Tell that to my 900 unanswered phone calls from the past year," Hanna growled, before throwing the box to the ground and plopping herself back down on her unmade bed, lip trembling as she felt herself start to cry. Aria was immediately at her side, wrapping her little arms around Hanna's torso in a warm hug.

"We're not asking you to get better at the drop of a dime," she said affectionately, "but going to Paige's party might lift your spirits a little bit. And who knows! Maybe you'll meet someone there."

"I don't want to meet anyone," Hanna sniffled. "I just want Caleb."

Aria pondered this for a second before rising from the bed and walking back over to the closet. Within 2 seconds, she was back with a purple sweater dress and some black tights.

"Wear this," she suggested, handing the clothes to Hanna. "You'll look good in them, but it's not provocative at all. You'll just be having a good time."

Hanna drew closer to the clothes, inspecting them. The purple complemented the black leggings perfectly, and dark colors like that really brought out her eyes.

The combination actually wasn't half bad.

"And…" Aria took this time to pull something from behind her back and hand it to Hanna.

Hanna stared at them, perplexed. "What, did you shuck the skin off of a bird before you walked in my door?"

Aria looked insulted. "They're the feather earrings I gave you for Christmas… I thought you'd want to wear them tonight."

Hanna's heart melted. She had hidden the earrings away, hoping to forget about them later, but Aria had been so sweet to her lately that she took the earrings from her with a smile. "I'd love to wear them."

Aria's face lit up like the Christmas lights that hung around countless houses around town as she took Hanna's hands in hers. "And don't forget," she reminded, "Ezra's not gonna be there, so we can just be each other's dates."

Hanna laughed out loud as she pulled Aria in another hug. "Sounds like a plan."

After Aria had left Hanna to get changed and put her makeup on, Hanna lay back on the bed in a fit of giggles. She may not have the love of her life on her arm this evening, but she still had her best friends, and that should be enough.

Maybe this night wouldn't be too bad after all.


Caleb poked at his burger with his index finger, surprisingly not as hungry as he usually was. He and Olivia were on one side of the booth, trying not to appear awkward at the presence of Remy and Luke on the other side, cuddling and giggling loudly as they fed each other fries.

One more day, Caleb kept thinking to himself as he put his head in his hands. Just one more day, and it'll be just another year. You don't have to think about her anymore.

Caleb took another sip of his ice water to try and sooth his headache as the waiter came around, giving them each individual checks to pay for their meals. Caleb sighed as he opened his, but when he saw the contents on the inside, he spit his water all across the table, soaking what was left of Remy and Luke's meal.

"What the hell, Caleb?" Luke said, aghast as he picked up his soaked napkin in disgust, but Caleb, once again, wasn't paying attention.

Inside the checkbook was a note. A vague note, but a note that held all the meaning in the world.

118 Anderson Court. Rosewood, PA. Tonight. Meet me there if you care.

"What's the matter with you?" Luke asked again, and Caleb shot his head back up to meet the fury in Luke's eyes.

"I, uh..." Caleb tried to answer, but he found himself getting tongue-tied. He darted his eyes between looking at a furious Luke, a confused Olivia, a concerned Remy, and a now soaked piece of paper before him that, he noted, wasn't signed.

The tone of the note, as well as the typewriter neat handwriting, screamed A, but could it be someone else? And what did they mean by "if you care"? Could that be what he thought it was?

There were only a few people that he genuinely cared about, that he genuinely could care about, in his life, and only one of those people lived in Rosewood, PA.

Before he could turn into a further blubbering mess, Caleb stood up from the booth and started to walk out of the restaurant, pulling his brown leather jacket tighter across his torso as he prepared to enter the cold outside, but he was stopped by a spindly hand grabbing his arm.

"Remy, let go," Caleb said, his voice leaving no room for joking around, but Remy was persistent.

"Caleb, I get it," she said firmly. "I get that you have issues with the holidays, just like the rest of us have issues with plenty of other stuff. But that doesn't mean you have to act like this - "

"Listen, I'm sorry about all of that, but I have to go," Caleb said apologetically as he tried to get away, but Remy kept a firm hold on his arm.

"I just want to know what this is all about!" she said desperately. "We've all gone through way too much to break apart like this - "

"We're not breaking apart!" Caleb answered. Now he was starting to get angry, and he felt all of the emotion that he had been holding in for the past few days start to pour out. "I'm forever grateful that you guys have been so hospitable to me for the past year, but I don't cuddle up to too many people. I've been a little too busy jumping from family to family ever since I was seven to form a legitimate relationship with people, so if you're confused about what's going on, then you're gonna have to deal with it!"

"Well, obviously you've taken the time to form a legitimate relationship with whoever you're so upset about right now," Remy pointed out, and Caleb froze. Was it that obvious?

Remy just looked at him quizzically. "To be honest, I'm not sure which gave it away first," she said manifestly. "The dogeared picture of her you keep in your pocket all the time or the wilted look you get on your face everytime you get a phone call and it's not her."

"You don't even know who she is," Caleb murmured, as he had never shared anything more than that he had a girlfriend back in Rosewood that he had to leave behind, perhaps for good, but Remy just shook her head.

"Maybe not," she said truthfully, "but she must be a really great girl if you're pining over her this much."

Caleb chewed on the inside of his cheek as he thought about this. Yeah, she was a great girl.

In fact, Hanna Marin was the best girl he'd ever met in his life.

"I'm not going to dig into your past for you," Remy said defeatedly, throwing her hands out to the side. "That's all you."

Caleb felt his skin tighten and his bottom lip tremble as he surveyed his surroundings. The beaten walls, the unwelcoming strangers, the uncannily gray tinge to the air, it was all a part of a town he had learned to call home for the past year, and there was still so much he had yet to find out. About the secrets it held.

Secrets that concerned him.

Ever since he was little, he had wanted to find out about who he was and where he came from, especially when his dad left. And his need to find out more had led toward him making some sacrifices, including one that he regretted greatly. One that led to the love of his life slipping from his fingers. At the time, he felt that this was the right decision, that friendships, and partnerships, weren't meant to last forever, yet ancestry was.

Now, he was beginning to realize this wasn't the case. He had the rest of his life to figure out where he came from, and Ravenswood was still going to be there by the time he got back, but there was only one Hanna Marin.

He didn't even know if this note was what he thought it was, but if his instincts were correct, he would see her tonight. God, he wanted to see her tonight.

"Remy," Caleb finally breathed, breaking free from his thoughts. "I'll be back by tomorrow night. But today, this evening, there's somewhere I need to be. Someone I need to see."

"Maybe when you get back, you'll bring stories?" Remy offered up just as Caleb was about to turn back around and head out the door. Immediately, Caleb knew what she was suggesting.

Maybe, she and the others could be a part of the select group of people he had chosen to let in.

Maybe, they could help him break free from the past, and help him live in the present.

Just like Hanna had.

"Yeah, maybe," Caleb said pleasantly, before zipping up his jacket and walking out as Remy went back to the table, helping the others clean up the rest of the water.


Caleb's coming to Rosewood! Is he being sent to Hanna? Who do you think wrote that note? Was it A? One of the girls? Could it have been an ex-lover? Oh my god, COULD SEAN ACKARD HAVE SENT HIM TO HANNA?! While I let you chew on that, be sure to review/follow/favorite/WHATEVER if you liked this, and I'll see you all tomorrow for the final installment of this story!