"Nate, who exactly are you talking about?"

Nate gave Emily a blank stare. "When?"

"Earlier. When you said that we sometimes fall for unexpected people."

"No one. I've just seen it happening a lot. It happened to me, too."

"It did?"

"Yeah. My first girlfriend and I had just broken up, and then this girl, Miranda, transferred to my school. She was such a bitch, and I absolutely hated the way she treated other people. But then her sister started dating my best friend, and we started seeing a lot of each other. Eventually, we were forced on this . . . really awkward double date. By then, I had realized that I was actually pretty attracted to her."

"What happened?"

"Well, a few disastrous dates later, she finally kissed me. Up until then, she had insisted that she had no romantic feelings for me at all. And that kiss was . . . amazing. In less than two months, I had fallen in love with this girl that I barely knew. I never would've expected it."

"Did she change? When you started dating, I mean."

"She did. For a while. But we started fighting, and she started taking it out on other people again. Pretty soon after that, we broke up."

"How long ago was this?"

"Three, four years ago. It still hurts a little, when I think about her. I know I did the right thing, I just wish that there could've been some way for us to stay together. We didn't even date for that long, but she was my first serious girlfriend."

"Was she the first girl you were in love with?"

Nate gave her a sideways glance. "Yeah. And, up until now, the only."

"Really?"

"Why are you so surprised?"

"I don't know. I guess it makes me feel kind of bad, for being only seventeen and already having been in love with two people." Emily paused. "Do you believe in soul mates?"

"I guess. I think we all meet people who we have a special connection with, even if we're not in love with them."

"And do you think we're meant to fall in love with certain people? Or is it our choice?"

"I think it's a mixture of chance and choice."
"What do you mean?"

"We make decisions that influence what we do and who we meet. If I had gotten my way and gone to a private school, I would have missed out on a lot."

"I can't even imagine what my life would've been like if I had made any different choices."

"I know. It makes me kind of nervous, thinking about how one bad choice can really mess with fate."

"It is pretty scary. There's no way of knowing if you're living the way you should be, or if there's actually something better out there for you. I guess it just comes down to trusting yourself, and being content with where you are in life."

"Are you content?"

Emily shot Nate a hesitant smile. "There are some things that I wish had worked out differently. But right now, yes, I am very content."

"Aria."

Aria tilted her head upwards and looked at Ezra, a peaceful expression on her face. Once he had calmed down, they had settled on his bed to watch Casablanca with leftovers cartons of Chinese takeout. "Hmm?" She asked, giving him a serene smile.

"Your phone is ringing."

"Oh, thanks." Aria hopped off the bed and snatched her phone from the nightstand, hoping that it wasn't anything that would get her dragged away. She and Ezra were having a perfect night, and she'd hate for it to be ruined by a 'SOS' text.

I'm at the hospital – it's Lucas.

Aria sighed, reluctantly sending Hanna a confirmation text, assuring her that she'd be there as soon as possible. As much as she hated to leave, she felt concerned for Hanna and Lucas. How would Hanna cope? What exactly had Lucas done? Did he try to hurt her, or had he actually gotten hurt in some sort of a rescue attempt?

"Everything okay?" Ezra asked lazily, probably expecting the answer to be 'yes.' Aria found it amusing that, even after everything, Ezra still couldn't predict that their lives were never that simple. There would always be something; some type of drama.

"No, I have to go the hospital."

Ezra snapped to attention. "What? Why?"

"Lucas is in the hospital, not sure why. I need to be there, for Hanna's sake." After what he'd done to Emily, the thought of rushing to Lucas's aid was a joke. Nonetheless, Hanna needed her friends. Aria gave Ezra a quick peck. "I'll keep you posted. Bye!" Without giving him a chance to protest, Aria made her abrupt exit.

"No way! There is no way Hanna would go that far." Spencer said, still laughing as she raised her second cup of coffee to her lips and took a tiny sip.

"Yup," Caleb said confidently, his eyes shining as he tried not to laugh. "It was her dad's wedding, after all. And apparently, if she didn't use concealer on the zit behind my ear, somebody was going to notice."

"I can't believe that while everything was going on with A, Hanna still found time to obsess about your appearance."

Caleb suddenly sobered up. "So everything is really over with A?"

"Yes, of course. Mona can't hurt us anymore." Spencer thought her voice sounded too calculated – did her entire response just sound scripted and rehearsed? Still, considering their current positions, with a new, more dangerous A, it was better to tell a bad lie than be completely honest.

"I disagree." Caleb said. "If Hanna keeps visiting her, there are so many things Mona could say to manipulate her."

"But that's her choice. It's not your problem anymore."

"I told you, I still care about her."

"No, you still want to take care of her. I think you should talk to Hanna about that."

"Why should I?" Caleb asked in a dismissive tone.

"Because she can't keep thinking that you hate her."

"I'm sure she doesn't think that,"

Spencer was about to protest, but instead, her phone started its disruptive ringing. "Were your ears burning?" Spencer said jokingly as she answered it.

"What?" Hanna snapped. "Spencer, I can't believe you're joking right now."

"Why? What happened?" Spencer asked, jumping out of her chair and grabbing her purse, ready to go to Hanna's rescue.

"You don't know? I thought that Wilden was at least diligently creepy enough to give you all a call."

"Hanna-"

"Lucas tried to commit suicide." Hanna blurted out.

It took Spencer a minute to find her voice. "Are you . . . at the hospital?"

"Yeah." Hanna sounded as if she'd been crying. "I thought you might be with Caleb. He'll probably want to be here. I texted Aria and Em, and they're on their way."

"Okay, good. Just, hold on, Han, we'll be right over."

"I'm not the one you should be worried about right now." Hanna hung up, and Spencer had to face Caleb, her brows knitted together in a deep frown.

"Caleb, we need to go right now." Spencer lunged for her coat, dumping a few bills on the table on her rush out the door.

Caleb quickly caught up to her. "Mind telling my where we're going?"

"The hospital. It's Lucas."

"Hanna! What happened?" Spencer asked when she spotted Hanna in the waiting room at the hospital. After crying on the way to the hospital, Hanna had done an okay job of keeping it together. But once she was encircled in the comfort of her best friend's arms, she felt a fresh batch of tears springing into her eyes. Spencer was surprised that Hanna was having such an intense reaction to Lucas getting hurt, but she knew she shouldn't be. Hanna stayed loyal to her friends, even when she had no more reason to, and even if it was dangerous. Despite the fact that they had given Lucas the cold shoulder since he had started getting involved with A - or whatever he was involved with – none of them wanted to see him get seriously hurt.

Hanna took a second to regain her composure. Biting her lip and blinking quickly, she managed to stop the tears long enough for her to wipe her smeared makeup. However, it didn't last very long. Acting on impulse, Caleb also enveloped her in a hug, and the familiarity of having his arms wrapped around her was just too much – especially after everything that had happened. Once again, Hanna was unable to control her emotions, and this time, they were no longer silent tears, but rather heart-wrenching sobs. Caleb froze, unsure of how to react. After considering letting go for a second, he relaxed. He and Hanna may not be in the best place – figuratively speaking, of course - but he couldn't just stand by and watch her cry her heart out without doing anything.

Spencer, on the other hand, started feeling uncomfortable. Should she wait for Hanna to calm down? Should she try and find out what room Lucas was in? She couldn't just stand there and stare at Caleb and Hanna.

Sniffing loudly, Hanna slowly peeled herself off of Caleb's chest, offering him a small, embarrassed smile. She was glad that he didn't try to give her any sympathetic looks. "I'm gonna . . . go clean up." Hanna slowly walked to the ladies bathroom, and once inside, she carefully wet a piece of toilet paper to clean up the streaks of makeup residue that had ended up on her cheeks. Despite her dramatic outburst, brought on by the overwhelming emotions of the night, Hanna felt a lot better. She felt like she could breathe again. Once she had successfully reapplied her eyeliner and mascara – waterproof, this time – she ventured outside with a brisk walk.

"Ouch!" Hanna yelped as she collided with someone.

"Fancy running into you here." Wren said, amused. "Have you come to look for me? I'm sorry about earlier. This kid-"

"I know. That call I got? It was the police. Telling me about Lucas."

"So you two are friends?"

"We used to be. Is he okay?"

"He's a little beat up, as you can imagine. He'll be fine in a couple of weeks."

Hanna wasn't reassured with his positive report, not yet. "Did he break anything?"

"He has a few bruised ribs, a broken ankle bone, and a few nasty scrapes."

"No concussion or anything?"

"Surprisingly, no. A significantly small amount of damage was done, based on the speed the car was approaching."
"How do you know how fast the car was going?" Hanna asked suspiciously.

Wren gave her a funny look. "The guy who hit him had a GPS, and it records his speed, among other things."

"So it wasn't, like, a hit or run?"

"No, the driver was apparently very cooperative. He's the one who made the 911 call."

"Do you know his name?"

"No, but I'm sure you can ask the police about it. They have two officers up there right now, ready to question your friend once he wakes up."

"I just don't get why he'd want to . . . do that. Maybe I should have described the pain I had after getting hit by a car in more gruesome detail."

Wren gave her a small smile. "I doubt that would've helped. But rest assured, Hanna, your friend will definitely be getting the help he needs."

Hanna's limbs suddenly turned icy cold, and she felt like she couldn't move. "Help?" She managed to choke out. "You're not going to be sending him to Radley, are you?"

"I doubt it. Of course, we'll need to assess his current state with the help of a psychiatrist, but I don't think it's very likely." Wren paused, gently wrapping his hand around her forearm, sensing that he needed to do more to get her full attention. "How are you handling everything?"

Hanna was surprised that he could invade her personal space so casually. She didn't necessarily mind, but she was aware of the fact that Caleb and Spencer could look over any second, and get the wrong idea. "I-I'm fine." Hanna said.

Wren released her arm after seeing how uncomfortable it made her. "I'm glad then. I should make my rounds, since I'm here already. Your friend is on the fourth floor, room four-B. He hasn't come to yet, but I'm sure his parents wouldn't mind if you and your friends wait around for a while."

"Thanks, Wren. I appreciate it." Hanna felt guilty for making Wren feel guilty for just trying to comfort her. He was simply being nice; she was the one who had made it into something more. Wren nodded, and gave her a small wave before disappearing into the elevator.

"How's Hanna doing?" Emily asked as she and Aria approached Spencer, who was waiting outside Lucas's private hospital room. "Is she in there with him now?"

"Sorry we're late," Aria interjected before Spencer could answer. "I had to pick Emily up, and it was a mission just to find her in that large crowd."

"My battery died." Emily offered apologetically.

"Don't worry about it," Spencer said. "She and Caleb just went in there, after Lucas's parents left; I guess his mom had to go back to the party, and his dad had to make a few calls."

"How is he? And Hanna?"

"Hanna is coping pretty well. And Lucas is fine." Spencer lowered her voice. "Although a part of me wishes he wasn't. After what he did to Emily-"

"What did he do?" Caleb asked with a deep frown as he slipped out of Lucas's hospital room. The girls were all startled, and shot each other hesitant looks. What could they say?

Aria was the first to speak up. "Oh, it's nothing, really."

Caleb was unsatisfied with her vague answer, and simply crossed his arms as he waited for a further explanation. Emily stepped in with a fast reply to save them. "It was just some gay comment. But he was drunk, and it was after I'd said a few bad things myself."

"When was this? That doesn't sound like Lucas."

"I guess he's changed. According to Hanna, he's been really different and . . . distant since school started." Aria added. Caleb nodded, giving them one last scrutinizing glare before heading to the vending machine down the hall.

"That was close." Emily whispered, even though he was out of earshot.

Spencer breathed a sigh of relief. "We need to make sure Hanna tells him the same story. I'm gonna check on her." She darted into the hospital room, softly closing the door behind her. Hanna was sitting on a chair a few feet away from Lucas's bed, staring at him with scowl, even though her bloodshot eyes made her look more vulnerable than menacing.

"How's it going?"

Hanna's head shot up as she met Spencer's calm, steady gaze. "According to that bitchy nurse, he's going to be out for at least another hour."

"Strong pain meds?" Spencer asked, receiving only a quick nod in reply. "Hanna, you don't have to stay here. He doesn't deserve this."

"Well, neither does Mona, but I still go to Radley, don't I?"

"No. You don't go there because you feel sorry for her; you want answers. She owes you that."

Hanna's steeled eyes settled back on Lucas. "So does he. I want to know why he would be so stupid and selfish and go jump in front of a speeding car. I want to know what he knows about A, and what exactly he did to Emily. And I want to know why he hates us."

Thanks for reading! I know my writing still has a long way to go - I'm able to justify any and all mistakes with a variety of different reason.

1) English is my third language.

2) I'm young.

3) I didn't reread this chapter for any mistakes.

Still, as long as it's actually helpful, I don't mind if you leave me some tips or constructive criticism! Tell me if it's over-dramatic; I think it is. My writing usually is - not on purpose, I'm just so laid-back in person that I have to be dramatic somewhere.

Also, I have a tendency to make my Author's Notes longer than the actual chapter, so I'm stopping now. R&R!