Hey guys! Happy New Year! (I just realized I hadn't even said that yesterday, and I apologize) So we've now reached the final installment to this story, and I'm very excited for you all to see the ending. I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I have, and if you have, don't forget to either review/follow/favorite/WHATEVER to let me know. And also, you can find me on my other story, So Cold, which I'm about halfway through right now, so I suggest you check that out if you haven't already! Happy Holidays, everyone, and have a great year :)


Hanna filled her red solo cup to the brim with sparkling cider before walking back over to the couch, where Emily was sitting. Well, if one could call it sitting - she was currently hunched over in a fit of laughter as she and a few girls from the swim team were watching Paige dominate a game of Dance Dance Revolution.

She had to admit, it was a pretty entertaining sight. The song was "So What" by P!nk, the level was expert, and the dance moves required were so intensive that Paige looked like a strung out anime character with the way her arms and legs were flailing about in an attempt to match up with the arrows on the screen.

Finally, the song ended, and Paige let out several long, much needed breaths as she was met by several whoops and hollers by the party guests. Paige swatted them all away as someone else rose to the challenge of playing the game, and she plopped down on the couch next to her girlfriend, accidentally separating her from Hanna.

"Great job, babe," Emily said sexily as she gave Paige a peck on the cheek, but Hanna watched as the small peck turned into something longer, and before she knew it they were fully making out right next to her.

Not wanting to be the third wheel, Hanna awkwardly rose from the couch, muttering something about going to get more cider as she waded through the endless mounds of party decor, streamers, balloons, and the large crowds of people who were either conversing about plans for the New Year, chugging large amounts of suspicious beverages (Paige hadn't supplied any alcohol for the party, but she said she wouldn't be surprised if anyone else had gone to the trouble of bringing any), or getting intimate, the worst sight for Hanna at this time.

Once Hanna had finally gotten to the table to get more cider, she nearly slapped herself at the realization that she had already gotten some nearly 30 seconds ago, and sighed as she made her way to the other side of the room, which was slightly less crowded, and leaned against the wall as she watched a growingly intense game of ping pong.

"15 minutes until the New Year!" Hanna heard a voice chirp, and when she turned she saw Aria walk up next to her, wearing a black lace dress with a brown braided belt and heels.

Hanna groaned. "Don't remind me."

Aria furrowed her brow in confusion, but her confusion soon transposed to sadness. "I thought you were having fun?"

"I was," Hanna said with a sigh. "But everyone here seems to be having a way better time than I am... probably because they have someone to have a good time with..."

Aria's perplexed expression then transposed again to one of understanding. "Believe me, I know," she pointed out as her eyes wandered to the far wall, where, in a dark corner, Spencer and Toby were giving each other eskimo kisses.

Hanna let out a small laugh. She didn't like the fact that Aria had to be by herself at New Year's, but it was nice to have someone to share her misery with. "The ball hasn't even dropped yet, and everyone's already getting it on."

Aria rolled her eyes. "She asked me to get her a chocolate eclair," she scoffed, "and when I came back, with the eclair she had requested, he was swallowing her face!"

"Welcome to my world," Hanna giggled as she linked arms with Aria's. But soon after, she met her with eyes filled with gloom. "Seriously, though, it sucks that Ezra can't be here."

Aria just shrugged. "In a room filled with his former students?" she said sardonically. "Please. I saw him this morning, and now I get to spend my evening with you guys!"

Hanna pumped her fist in the air as she continued to watch the game before her unfold. Ben Coogan had just scored, and was now chest bumping several of his teammates, but Hanna didn't get to see the rest of the celebration unfold due to Aria's phone ringing.

Aria reached into her pocket, but didn't show any reaction when she answered it. Hanna guessed this was on purpose, but she internally scolded herself for assuming things. "Hello?" she said brightly into the phone. But as she listened in, her smile fell slightly. "Oh... you are?"

After a brief pause, she held her finger up to Hanna and walked away to finish the conversation. Hanna wondered what the conversation could have been about, or even who she was talking to, but she didn't have time to think about it further as a tall, lanky frame, decked out in a sky blue sundress, came into her vision.

"Hey, why are you here by yourself?" Spencer asked, slinking her arm around Hanna's shoulder.

"Oh, I'm not," Hanna explained breezily - or at least, she was attempting to sound breezy, but the crack in her tone gave her away. "Aria was here, but she had to answer a phone call."

Spencer nodded her head, but her vertical nod soon turned horizontal as she conjured the universal sign for "no". Hanna wondered what was wrong, but Spencer soon started speaking.

"Hanna, why didn't you tell us you still missed Caleb?" she said quietly, so quietly that Hanna had to strain her ears to hear her speak over the hum of party noises around her.

Hanna's heart stopped. She was hoping the girls would have just ignored her exchange with Mona from earlier, and what it had revealed. Eventually, she hung her head in shame. "It doesn't make sense for me to still miss him," she confessed. "It's been almost a year since he left, since our informal breakup, and - "

"Hanna," Spencer said sternly, grasping Hanna by the shoulders. "You know we're here for you, and that we don't care if you're being irrational, which you're honestly not!"

Hanna was taken aback by this. "I'm not?"

"Of course not," Spencer said sincerely, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "The holidays are a naturally nostalgic time of year, and it's perfectly okay for you to be miserable. I just wish you had told us."

Hanna rose the corners of her mouth slightly. "I guess I just didn't tell you because I didn't want you to think I was tired of you guys."

At this, Spencer snorted. "Now is not the time for us to be getting tired of each other," she said bluntly, and Hanna laughed.

"But there's something else..." she said softly, and Spencer's ears perked up as she leaned in to listen more closely as the volume of the music coming from the TV raised slightly.

"I..." Hanna started, before swallowing loudly. "I didn't want to be holding back the rest of your love lives."

Spencer froze, her brown eyes rounder than frisbees as she glanced behind her at Toby, who was about ten feet away and slouched against the far wall as he was scrolling through his phone. Then, Spencer leaned in to encase Hanna in a long hug, squeezing tightly.

"Not in a million years," she said honestly as she rubbed circles along Hanna's back, and Hanna nested her head on Spencer's shoulder, hoping she could hold onto this moment for as long as possible before Spencer went back to Toby.

"Sorry about that," Aria apologized as she entered the scene again, and Spencer and Hanna broke apart to greet her.

Hanna looked at her, puzzled. "What was that about?" she asked, referring to the phone call she had answered.

Aria puffed her cheeks filled with air before releasing the air shortly afterward. "It was nothing," she said passively as she took a sip of her punch in her hand, but Hanna was persistent.

"Was that Ezra?" she asked suspiciously, and Spencer joined in, eying Aria fishily. Aria's eyes widened, but she soon cracked under the pressure.

"Yes," she confessed, and Hanna dropped her arms down to her sides in frustration.

"Why aren't you with him right now then?!"

"He said he was waiting outside, that he had decided to come after all, but I told him no," Aria explained as she grabbed Hanna's hand. "I'd rather be in here with you!"

Hanna shook her head. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?"

"Because you have an opportunity to be with him tonight, and you're not taking it!" Hanna exclaimed.

"Hanna - "

"Go out and see him," Hanna ordered, but there wasn't any anger in her tone. There was permission, as well as sincerity. She just wanted her friends to be happy, and like she had said to Spencer, she didn't want to hold any of them back.

"Seriously, go," she continued. "I'll be here when you get back."

Aria looked shocked. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!" Hanna said hastily, breaking out into a warm smile. Aria beamed as she encased Hanna in a tight, grateful hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Save it for your man!" Hanna squeaked out, pushing Aria off of her. Aria laughed as she gave Hanna a loving kiss on the cheek, and then sauntered excitedly out the door.

"That was really thoughtful of you," Spencer said proudly next to her. Hanna shrugged in response, but before she could say anything else, something caught her eye.

"Spence, hold my drink," she said blankly as she held her cup out for Spencer to grab. Spencer took it in confusion, but before she could ask what was wrong Hanna had walked away.

She had seen something. Someone.

That brown hair. That clear skin. Those cheekbones.

His smile.

She was walking faster now, disregarding the people she had so cautiously waded through before. They meant nothing to her now. All she wanted was to see him.

"Caleb," she breathed once she had reached him, and he turned to her immediately. It took a second to process, but his brown eyes suddenly lit up as he lurched forward, ignoring everyone around him as he embraced her, taking in the scent of her peppermint perfume, something so small that he never thought he'd miss so much.

But most importantly, he missed her.

He soon pulled back. "I missed you so much."

"What are you doing here?" she asked excitedly, but just as soon as her spirits had lifted did they fall again.

Did he even want to see her? Was that really why he came back?

Caleb's smile faded as his featured contorted into a serious expression. "I was told to come here," he said solemnly.

"By who?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "I got a note telling me to come here, and I had no idea it was Paige's house!"

"You didn't?"

Caleb shook his head. "All it had was an address, and it wasn't signed or anything!"

Hanna felt the color drain from her face. "Could it have been A? Oh god, if A did something to you - "

"Hanna," Caleb interrupted. "It's fine. A did nothing to me. I don't even know if A had sent it! There wasn't even an initial or anything. For all I know, one of your friends could have done it!"

"But can you blame me for worrying? I haven't seen you in forever, and I didn't know if something had happened - "

"None of that matters now, though," he said sincerely as he tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "I don't care who gave it to me. All that matters is that they brought us together. I'm here with you now, and that's all I want."

Hanna felt her heart swell as Caleb kept talking, his voice clear as a bell over the sounds around him, which had dimmed out in Hanna's mind. "I thought it was the right decision to leave you behind," he confessed grimly. "I should have never put you second, I should have never ignored your calls, I should have never left your side. I was selfish, and I will regret it for the rest of my life."

"Caleb, don't say that," Hanna said softly. "You deserve to know what happened with your family."

"But I also deserve you," he countered, and Hanna blushed.

"I am so lucky to have you in my life, and I can't believe I let you go so easily," he said brashly as he shook his head at the realization. "But not anymore."

Hanna's heart was now so big it had leaped into her throat, ready to burst from her body and fly away into the night. "Does that mean you're leaving Ravenswood? Does that mean you're coming back?"

Caleb bit his lip, thinking about this. "It means that someday I will," he said truthfully. "It means that when I'm ready, I know where to come."

Hanna wasn't sure how she liked this answer, but Caleb kept going.

"I don't know where I'm going to end up in my life. I've been all over the place, and I would've never considered that out of all of the places I've been, Rosewood would be the one I would want to stay in. But now I know that wherever you are, is where I want to be."

Hanna was speechless, and as she stood there, staring into Caleb's eyes, still filled with that cheeky wisdom she had come to adore, she heard even more commotion in the background.

"20 seconds until the New Year!" Paige shouted, and several people around her clapped as she changed the channel to the national news station, where the camera showed New York City, filled with people in striped sunglasses and carrying pom poms. They were all cheering as well as the ball got ready to drop.

Caleb turned to Hanna, cleverly smiling as he grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the TV. Hanna complied, nearly walking on air as she followed.

"5... 4... 3... 2..."

"One," Caleb said as he leaned in for a kiss, and Hanna stood on her toes to touch her lips to his in the longest, passionate kiss they had ever shared since the last time they had been together. Hanna ran her hands through his hair, refusing to let go, and he wrapped his arms around her small waist as he deepened the kiss, ignoring the loud sounds of horns and congratulations around them. Sparks were flying, and they both knew that it wasn't due to the fireworks on the television. Hanna soon realized that Caleb was right. It didn't matter who had brought him here. All that mattered was that he was here.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they pulled apart. Caleb cocked his head to the side, admiring her beauty as he cupped her face in his hands, honored to call her his. "Happy New Year, Hanna," he said warmly, subtly, but inside he was screaming.

Hanna giggled cheerfully as she snuggled into his strong chest. "You know you're spending all of tomorrow telling me about your crazy adventures in that ghost town," she joked, and Caleb laughed along with her as he kissed her hair, promising to fill her in.

It was a night to remember, that was for sure.


Mona tugged her black hood tighter around her ears as she looked up from her position in the bushes into the mansion, where numerous teenagers were jumping up and down in celebration of the New Year, and couples were intertwined in a passionate embrace, locking lips as the ball dropped. Immediately, she spotted Paige and Emily, and then Spencer and Toby, and on her way over she had spotted Aria and Ezra getting off right outside so that they weren't in view of any curious students.

As Mona looked in closer, she soon spotted whom she was looking for. There, in the near center of the room, was Hanna and Caleb, holding onto each other for dear life as their mouths connected, a circuit unwilling to be unbroken as electricity flowed through it. Mona pursed her lips and nodded her head, considering her task done. She had come to ensure that he had gotten the note, and sure enough, he had.

She had done her duty for the night.

With that, Mona stood up, as Noel was waiting for her in his car, but before she dismissed it completely, she glanced once more into the window. Hanna was now smiling, the happiest she had looked in ages, as she leaned into Caleb's embrace. And with that, Mona found herself smiling, too. Whether it was with happiness, she wasn't sure, but she was smiling.

"Happy New Year, Hanna," she said sadly to herself. "You're welcome."