After breakfast, Caleb studied for his exams and Hanna went to her toom to paint her nails and do other girly stuff, until she came back downstairs all dressed and with a flawless make-up on. Caleb looked at her and his jaw almost dropped, as Hanna blushed a little.
"I'm meeting the girls at the Brew. You need something or I'm free to go?" she asked him.
"You're beautiful." he said as an answer, smiling and biting the end of his pen.
Hanna rolled her eyes and bit her lip, turning on her heels.
"Hey, wait, wait, wait... Can I walk you there? It would be great if I can talk to Emily about some stuff for the Biology test..." he blurted out.
Hanna snorted, even if actually liked the idea of him walking her somewhere, like he was used to.
"Fine." she murmured.
"I'll be ready in a second." he promised, getting up from his chair and running upstairs.
He was quick as promised, so he grabbed the Biology book from the table and then the pair got out Hanna's house to reach the Brew. They decided for a walk since it was sunny and since they hadn't stayed outside in a few days because of the tornado. They didn't talk too much, they just occasionally made comments about the weather or the conditions of the streets after the violent storms. But both of them felt shivers through their bodies everytime that their hands accidentally brushed against each other while walking. Caleb had the strong desire to take her hand in his and interlace their fingers together, but he really didn't want to push her or make her feel uncomfortable, especially after all those kisses of the previous night. He just gave her a soft smile when it happened, which she returned, even though quickly and awkwardly.
They finally got into the Brew and Hanna immediately noticed that none of the girls had arrived yet. She sighed and walked towards a table, but Caleb gently grabbed her by an arm.
"Let's just take something while waiting." he said, nodding towards the bar counter.
Hanna nodded slightly and decided for a whipped cream coffee, and Caleb ordered a normal coffee. Obviously, he insisted to pay for both, then they sat at one of the tables waiting for the girls to come.
"So... I guess you all need to talk about the girl in Alison's grave... What was her name, again?" Caleb asked casually, taking a sip from his cup.
"Bethany. Bethany Young. Everything's just so confused right now..." Hanna muttered, taking a sip from his cup as well.
"And... How do you feel about her?"
"About who?"
"Alison. It must be very weird to have her back in your life..."
Hanna sighed and placed a strand of her hair behind her ear before replying.
"It is. Weird."
"Does she look changed at least? Or she's always the same bitch I've heard about?"
"Don't talk like that, Caleb." Hanna snapped.
"Hanna... That girl used to call you 'hefty Hanna' and make you throw up or am I wrong?"
Hanna sighed again and glanced up at him.
"She was my friend." she murmured, not sounding really sure.
"I bet she was." Caleb commented sarcastically, shaking his head slightly.
Hanna looked down at her lap an Caleb knew that the topic wasn't really nice.
"Well... You're right, this has nothing to do with me. I don't know her at all, I saw her just once the other night, so... Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude." he said meaningfully, waiting for her to look up at him.
Hanna did it and then gave him a small nod, before taking another sip of her coffee.
"And... About this morning... With Spencer... Maybe I shouldn't have been so..." he stuttered, smiling a little, before Hanna finished for him.
"Cocky? Yeah, actually you were."
Caleb let out a small laugh which became a real laugh when he saw that she was laughing too. The way her eyes sparkled when she laughed was so beautiful. He stayed lost in her eyes for a while before returning to his senses.
"I didn't lie, though. We were fine these last days, right?" he said then, almost in a whisper.
Hanna raised her eyebrows and looked away, nervously touching her hair. She was grateful when a guy approached their table with a big and friendly smile on his face. It was Lucas.
"Caleb Rivers? Is that really you?" he exclaimed, making his way to Caleb.
"Man! I haven't seen you in forever!" Caleb exclaimed back excitedly, standing up and giving Lucas a tight hug, tapping him on his back.
"I didn't know you were back! When was that? You moved to some place around here, right?" Lucas asked as they pulled away from the hug.
Caleb bit his lip thinking about Ravenswood, but then smiled widely at his old friend. He had been like a brother to him, after all.
"I've been here just for a few days. Uhm... I had to sort a couple of things out in another town, yeah, but now I'm back for good." he replied, shooting a look to Hanna at the end of his speech.
"Good." Lucas nodded, smiling.
Then something came up to his mind.
"Hey, do you have a place to stay, don't you?" he asked Caleb.
Hanna pursed her lips silently, as Caleb remained speechless for a moment, but then cleared his throat and replied.
"Yeah, yeah, man. Don't worry."
Then, Lucas looked at Hanna.
"Hey, Hanna. How are you doing?" he asked friendly.
"I'm good, thanks." Hanna replied, smiling.
Lucas looked from Hanna to Caleb, realizing the situation, and widened his eyes.
"Oh... Did I interrupt something, maybe?" he asked, scratching awkwardly the back of his neck.
"Nothing." Caleb replied quickly, shaking his head.
Lucas glanced at Hanna and saw her uncomfortableness, then smirked.
"I bet you're back together, right?" he said.
For what he knew, Hanna was with Travis, but he had a feeling that she could have immediately broken up with him as soon as Caleb had been back. Hanna blushed furiously and lowered her gaze, as Caleb just scratched his head.
"Ahem... No, actually, we're just having coffee together, you know..." Caleb stuttered, but he didn't want to say that they were friends, because it seemed like the biggest lie of the world to him.
Damn, friends don't make out in bed. Friends don't blush when their hands accidentally brushed against each other. Friends don't act the way he and Hanna were acting. They weren't friends. He really didn't know how to define their current relationship, but he knew that they definitely weren't friends. And Hanna knew it too.
Lucas raised his eyebrows at Caleb like he wanted to tell him that he knew that he was staying at her place and like he could perfectly feel all the sexual tension right there, but then nodded.
"Yeah, okay. Sorry for disturbing, though. I gotta go. Nice to see you again, Caleb. Hanna!" he said, and with that he had walked away.
Caleb opened his mouth to say something, but then Emily and Alison came to the table.
"Hey, guys." Emily smiled, approaching them.
"Oh, hey, Emily. I was waiting for you, need to ask you something." Caleb said, standing up from his seat with the Biology book.
He came up to Emily and started showing her something on the book, so Alison sat on the now free chair across Hanna.
"So he's the famous Caleb, right?" she whispered to her, raising her eyebrows.
Hanna pursed her lips and shrugged as way of answer.
"When I first saw him the other night, with all that happened, I didn't have the chance to notice how cute he is. Nice way to lose your virginity, Han." Alison continued, giving her a wink.
"Ali, stop." Hanna snapped, shooting her a deadly glance.
"What? I can't express an opinion?"
"Caleb is not 'a way to lose the virginity'. And I'd just rather not talk about him, okay?"
Alison nodded slowly, with a smirk plastered on her face. Then, Emily and Caleb returned closer to the table.
"Okay, I'll leave you guys alone. See you later." Caleb said, looking at Hanna while saying 'see you later'.
"Thanks for the coffee." Hanna smiled softly at him.
Caleb smiled back and was about to leave, but Alison said something.
"You can stay. After all, you're Hanna's roommate, right?"
Yeah, even Ali had received that damn text.
"I need to study. Thanks though." Caleb replied without a problem, smiling one last time before leaving.
Hanna sighed and roamed a hand though her hair.
"Can we just wait for Aria and Spencer without talking about Caleb staying in my house, please?" she said, frustrated.
Emily smiled at her, a genuine smile unlike Ali's devious smirk, but they all eventually avoided the topic.
A/N: Finally I can update this :) Even if it's just a filling chapter... I'll try to update more often now that I'm on holiday, though ;) As usual, a big thanks to you guys for all the reviews, PMs and whatever and also for being so patient with me :) I had college stuff and then I did some Christmas shopping, so... Now I managed to update ;) Honestly I wanted a scene between Lucas and Caleb on the show when he came back, so I wrote it here :) I'm glad you find the previous chapter sweet btw... I love Haleb teasing, can't help it :D So, a guest asked me for a Tyshley story... Of couRse I'm totally in love with them -honestly, how could you not be?- and I actually already wrote something about them but never published it, so... It's possible I will sooner or later :P:P Haha! ...I'm gonna update "The Mall" soon too :) Love you guys, merry HoHo! xx -Atramea.