"Caleb!" Spencer called, grabbing his arm as he marched past her. "Were you leaving?"

"What? Oh, uh, no," Caleb said unconvincingly.

"You're a surprisingly bad liar." Spencer stated, smirking.

"And why is that so surprising?"

"Well, usually when people have a lot of run-ins with the law, they develop a few techniques to make dishonesty seem like the truth."

"I guess I'm just saving my best lies for the precinct, then."

Spencer laughed and put on her best detective voice. "Tell me, Mr. Rivers, were you planning on abandoning your amazing date, leaving her to play a cheesy, ridiculous party game all on her own?"

"I guess not," Caleb said with a wink. He turned his attention to the mass of people who were all paired off with their dates. "So how does this work?"

Spencer bit her lip. "Honestly? I have no idea,"

"Wanna bail?"

"On one condition."

"What?"

"You have to tell me what you and Hanna were just talking about. Or, more specifically, why you walked away."

"Hanna?"

"I'm tired of people saying my name," Hanna said simply, not even turning to face Wren. She wondered how long he'd been watching her, or whether it was a pure coincidence that he happened to be outside. "Nothing good ever follows."

"Is everything okay?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Hanna said, sinking onto a bench that she hadn't noticed before. With a smirk, she added, "But I could use those painkillers right about now."

Wren sat down next to her, a compassionate expression on his face. "Well, if working with mental patients has told me one thing, it's that talking about it does end up helping."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't help if you want to stop thinking about it." Hanna finally met Wren's empathetic smile. "Wren, I want to apologize for . . . kissing you. It was out of line, and inappropriate, and I don't even know why I did it."

Wren looked a little taken aback, and Hanna realized that she had approached the topic candidly, and he probably wasn't used to it yet. "So you regret it?" He asked slowly, carefully.

"It's . . ."

"Complicated?"

"I guess, yeah. It's not like there's anything wrong with you, because, believe me, there's not. But I have a lot going on, and I can't drag you into it. It's never ended well when other people got involved, and I'm still dealing with some of the aftermath."

"What if you're not dragging me into? What if I'm stepping into it?"

Hanna felt her mouth hanging open slightly. She pressed her lips together, and her eyes drifted to her hands, which were folded in her lap. "Then I'd say that you're really idiotic," Wren laughed, but Hanna could barely crack a smile. "Wren, you don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to dating. I'm just trying to remind you to think about what you're doing and make the wise choice,"

"And what would be the wise choice here, Hanna? To ignore you? To pretend like Mona is the only mutual interest between us?"

"Isn't it?" Hanna asked, meeting his piercing gaze. "You may not realize this, but I'm dangerous."

Wren laughed again. "Are you, now?"

Hanna was surprised to realize that a small smile had somehow reached her lips. "I'm serious, okay? I know this is going to sound crazy, and you might not believe me, but . . . I'm not sure if I actually like you. Or, I do, but I have so much going on that I can't decide if I'm attracted to you or just . . . Lonely." Hanna paused, deciding that she should continue with her brutal honesty. It was the least she could do to try and lift some of the weight that was pressing down on her shoulders. "And even if I figure out that I do like you like that, I don't think we could work. Are you seeing me right now? I'm a hot mess, and you know it. Until I get my shit together, I can't pull you, or anyone else, into this. It wouldn't be fair to you, or Spencer, or . . . Or Caleb."
"Why are you worried about Spencer?"

"She's . . . wary about you."

"And what about Caleb?"

"What about him?"

"Why are you worried about him?"

"Because . . . believe it or not, I just tried to convince him that there's nothing going on between us. Do you know what it would be like if we started seeing each other?"

"So you still love him,"

Hanna was surprised. "Yeah, and I don't know when I'll stop. I'm confused, and overwhelmed, and I need some time. But I don't want things to be . . . weird between us."

"It won't be," Wren promised, giving her a wry grin.

"Thanks." Hanna paused. "Isn't this weird? Us talking about our feelings in such a casual way?"

"Why?" Wren asked, his smile growing more sincere. "What are you used to?"

"Secrets and mysteries and unanswered questions,"

"Then I can see why you'd be confused; you're not used to things being this easy." Even though Wren spoke in such a joking manner, Hanna realized that he was right. With Sean, he had the whole Pastor's kid thing, where you weren't even allowed to mention the word 'sex.' With Caleb, it was easier, but still . . . hard. He had eventually confided in her, but she had a feeling that he saw being vulnerable as being weak, and it would always be a struggle for him to open up.

"I'm sorry for what I said about your dating history," Hanna said quietly. "I guess I haven't had the best run, either."

"No, you had every right to bring that up. I've made some bad choices; I can't lie about that."

"Believe it or not, dating me wouldn't have been a very good choice, either."

"Why, because you're so dangerous?" Wren teased. Hanna was about to make some sarcastic comment, but her phone rang.

"Sorry, I have to take this." Hanna got up and walked a few feet away from Wren. It was an unknown caller, and she didn't want him to overhear anything he shouldn't. "Hello?"

"Hanna," Hanna couldn't place the voice, but it was vaguely familiar.

"Yeah, who's this?"

"It's Detective Wilden."

"What do you want? Did I spend too much time in church again?"

"I'm calling about Lucas Gottesman."

"What about him?"

"I think you should come down to the station."

"So you can have a chance to steal my blood? No, thanks."

"Hanna." He warned. "This is serious business.

Hanna dropped her sarcastic tone. "Did something happen to him? Is he okay?"

"Besides being suicidal?"

"Aria?" Ezra sounded surprised when he opened the door, and Aria didn't blame him. Wordlessly, she pushed past him and dropped down on his couch, waiting until he closed the door and sat down next to her before talking. "I'm sorry that I've been avoiding you, and I'm sorry that I wasn't honest about it. I thought about telling you that I just needed some time to work things out, but that sounds really sketchy, doesn't it? I didn't want you to go crazy thinking about all of the things that could be going on in my life. Or am I the only one who over thinks things?"

"Aria, slow down." Ezra said, half-laughing at the speed at which she was spitting her words out. "I did worry. But not because of things I thought could be wrong, but because I know what happened. My mother said something to you, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she did." Aria said incredulously. "But it's not like she just . . . threatened me or something. It was the things she said."

"What did she say?"

Aria stared at her purse, which she clutched tightly in her lap, trying to ignore the painful memory of Diane's words. "Look, it doesn't matter what she said. I just needed some time to think it through and come to the conclusion that she was wrong about everything." Ezra gave her a dubious look. Aria sighed, debating whether she should tell him exactly what his mom said to her. Of course it mattered. And Aria knew that trying to forget her insults – and the truth in them – was taking the easy way out. Yes, that settled it – Ezra had to know. "Actually, there is something she said that I think you need to know."

"What is it?" Ezra asked, his eyes darkening the way they usually did when he was trying to look calm.

"She said that there could be 'real-world compensations' if I were to break-up with you."

"Compensations?" Ezra demanded, no longer making an effort to 'keep calm and carry on.' He jumped up and started pacing, running his hands across his face. "I can't believe her! I shouldn't even be surprised. This is so like my mother. She has this crazy, twisted idea of what happiness is. She expects that everyone should follow the perfect little plan she worked out for their lives! And when you don't – Watch out! – She'll buy your loyalty, and your future, and probably your free will, too. She is so . . . full of it. No, she is just absolutely pathetic." He paused, slowly sinking into the sofa. He gave Aria a remorseful glance as he grabbed her hands in his. "I'm sorry, Aria. I should have warned you. Or protected you. Or just insisted that we don't go the opening."

"No, it's not your fault. I'm the one who wanted to prove something by being accepted by your family. Obviously, that's not going to happen."

"Well, we don't need to associate with them. We'll keep our distance, and I'll sure as hell tell my mom to do the same."

"You know what Paige said to me on our first date?" Emily said, laughing at the memory of the 'rustic' location, the karaoke, and Paige's insights on her dating history.

"What?" Nate asked, looking interested but a little uncomfortable.

"She said that I obviously like ballsy women."

"I think she's right." Nate said with a smile. "What's she like?"

"Who, Paige?" Emily paused, wondering how to best describe Paige. "She's smart – really smart. And she's a great swimmer. She used to be extremely competitive, but now she's more relaxed. But still determined. She knows what she wants, and she definitely does what she needs to do to get it."

"And right now, she wants you,"

"I'm sorry," Emily said, trying not to feel offended. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"No! No, not at all. I'm sorry if it sounded that way." Nate said apologetically. "It's just . . . strange to hear about your other girlfriends. Not bad, just . . . different. I guess it's because we've only talked about Maya for so long."

"I know what you mean. I didn't even think that I was ready for a new relationship, but after what you said to me the other day, I realized that I just didn't want to admit to myself that I still had feelings for Paige."

"Still?"

"Yeah. We sort of dated for a while, while Maya was away. But she wasn't ready to come out of the closet, and I wasn't ready to climb back in again."

"Sounds wise."

"Yeah. And, in case you were wondering, I don't have a crazy dating history or anything."

"I didn't mean to imply that you did."

"No, you didn't. I just want you to know that I loved Maya a lot, and I would do anything to bring her back." Emily paused, blinking rapidly to try and stop the tears that were blurring her vision. "In fact, the only other girls I liked were Samara and Ali."

"Ali? You mean the one that…?"

"Yeah, that Ali. But it was one-sided, and, even though I found it hard to admit it, she treated me like dirt whenever I tried to have a heart-to-heart with her. I really needed to talk about my feelings for her, but she refused to let me, and I think that made it hard for me to believe that my other friends would be okay with it." Emily wondered if she should be telling Nate all of this. It wasn't that she didn't trust him; she just wasn't sure whether he would think less of her if he knew that Maya wasn't the first or the only girl she had ever been in love with.

"Who was the other girl?" Nate asked, seemingly unaffected by her confession.

"Samara. But, I don't know, that was more like a fling. A buffer between Paige and Maya. It was fun, and short, and sweet, and even though I don't like the way it ended, I'm sort of glad that it's over. Thinking back, I doubt it would've turned into much."

"But you never really know, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

Nate paused, giving her a pointed look."Sometimes we fall in love with the most unexpected people."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me,"

"No, you don't know what you're talking about. Lucas is not suicidal."

"Okay, then. Mind explaining why he jumped in front of a car ten minutes ago?"

"He what?"

"Hanna, we need you to come down to the station."

"Why?"

"Because we know that you were close to him."

"And how do you know that?"

"His family gave us a list of people who he's friends with."

"Why are you even handling this? Aren't you supposed to be looking for more evidence that could get Garrett behind bars for good?"

"Do you want me to send a squad car to get you?"

"Unless you have a warrant for my arrest, I'm not going anywhere. Got it?" With that, Hanna mustered up enough courage to hang up. When she turned around, Wren was gone. Hanna found it strange, since she couldn't have been on the phone for more than ten minutes. After waiting on the bench for a few minutes, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Wren.

So sorry, I'm on call tonight and there was an emergency. We'll talk more about us later. Hanna swallowed hard. This was all too much for her. Wren was into her; Spencer was mad at her; Caleb couldn't even stand talking to her. Lucas tried to kill himself because of her, her so called best friend was being the ultimate frenemy from inside an insane asylum, and someone was still sending her cryptic, threatening messages.

"My life sucks."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have insisted that we do this." Spencer said, wrapping her hands around her cup of coffee and relishing the warmth it provided. She and Caleb had ended up at the Grille, which was, sadly, no longer one of Rosewood's hotspot – not since the New Window Brew opened. "I'll ask Hanna about it. No, scratch that, I'll wait for her to tell me."

"Do you think I was wrong to walk away?"

"Caleb, I don't know a lot about where you and Hanna stand right now. But, in my opinion, if you even have to ask . . ."

"Sort of like 'when in doubt, don't.'"

"Exactly." Spencer said. "We don't need to have some big discussion about your feelings for her, but I think you at least owe each other a chance at resolving everything."

"Are you planning to take your own advice?"

Spencer froze. "Why? Toby and I aren't over."

"No, I'm talking about you and Wren."

"There isn't a 'me and Wren.'" Spencer snapped.

Caleb was unaffected by her harsh tone. "Then why does it matter if Hanna likes him or not? I know why I don't like it. But who are you jealous of?"

"I don't think it's necessarily jealousy." Spencer said defensively. "I just don't trust Wren's motives."

"He is kind of a sleaze, isn't he?" Caleb said, only half-joking.

Spencer smiled gratefully, glad that she had someone on her side. Yup, they were going to have a beautiful friendship.