"What did you say to Alison?" Hanna growled when she reached Caleb.
"Hello to you too." he replied sarcastically, raising his eyebrows.
"Caleb."
He rolled his eyes and then glanced to Alison, behind Hanna's shoulders.
"She was the one who spoke to me first, actually. She wanted to know... Things about you." he said.
Hanna crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows.
"What kind of things, exactly?" she asked.
Caleb licked his lips and lightly shook his head.
"It doesn't matter. I made her understand that I don't really like her, so..." he replied then.
"Well, I want to know!"
"Hanna... You need to understand that what she says or does is not the most important thing. It's not like you, Spencer and Aria are her puppets, okay? From my point of view this is not friendship. It wasn't friendship when she was, uhm, dead, and it's not friendship now either. She's just a fucking bitch who thinks she can rule the world. But she's wrong, okay? You guys need to stop caring about her that much."
"Why would you say that? You barely know her!"
"Yeah, maybe. But I can recognize some kind of people from a thousand miles. I don't like her at all and I don't like you to be around her. That's it."
Hanna took a deep breath and scratched her head.
"Ali's been through a lot, okay? She's always been kind of a bitch, yeah, but she used to love each one of us and I think that she still does. Even if it doesn't look like that..." she murmured.
"Listen, Hanna... I don't care, okay? You're right, I don't know her, and we already discussed this at the Brew yesterday. I just don't like her, but I can't forbid you to be friends with her. I guess I'll get over it, even if I think that I'll always keep an eye on her... Anyway, look, I don't wanna talk about Alison."
Hanna nodded and pursed her lips.
"Okay, fine. Uhm... What about your exams? Everything okay?" she asked then, with a little smile.
Caleb smiled back.
"I'll have to wait for the results, but I think I made it. And... I have to thank you." he replied.
"No, you don't. I just—"
"You helped me, Han. Seriously. You gave me a place to stay, again, you helped me with Spanish, and... You helped me even in some other ways, too." he cut her off, smirking.
Hanna blushed.
"Everything okay with mommy this morning, by the way?" Caleb asked, chuckling.
"Oh, yeah, she... She was still asleep when I left for school. I guess she's still really tired... I moved all of your things back down to the basement. It's everything okay."
"Yeah... We were lucky she was that tired..."
Hanna bit her lip and blushed again.
"Hey... We need to talk... About... That." Caleb whispered, taking her hands in his.
Hanna felt sparkles when he did so, and she suddenly became nervous as hell.
"Not here, Caleb." she whispered.
"Let me guess... You don't want Alison to look at us."
Hanna sighed.
"No, it's just that... We're at school, and..." she stuttered.
"You never cared shoving your tongue down my throat being right here at school from what I remember, why would you feel uncomfortable just talking, then?" he replied, raising his eyebrows.
Hanna stayed silent, nervously shifting on her position.
"Fine, we'll talk later if you want." Caleb stated then, sighing.
"Thanks." Hanna murmured, giving him a small smile.
"Go back to your friends. I'll see you at home."
Hanna nodded and was about to go back to the table, but then she turned back to Caleb. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned closer to him, placing her head against his chest, as he hugged her back, kissing the top of her head. For a moment she just thought about how much she had missed just being able to hug him during the lunch break at school. She inhaled deeply on his shirt, breathing all his cologne, and then lifted her head and smiled at him.
"I'll see you at home." she repeated, slowly unwrapping her arms from his body.
"Okay. Oh... Can you just tell Emily to stop by the Chemistry lab before the break is over? I just want to ask her something, and I don't really feel like coming over there right now."
Hanna looked at him confused, but nodded. Only then, Caleb let her go, giving her a small wink.
Hanna walked back to the table, watching Caleb going back inside with the corner of her eye. She sat back at her spot, as her four friends stared at her.
"Em, stop by the Chemistry lab later. Caleb wants to talk with you about something." she announced.
"Couldn't he just come over here?" Alison snapped.
"No, he couldn't. He can't stand you." Hanna snapped back.
"I never thought I would have had troubles with your boyfriend, Han." Alison shook her head, half-laughing.
"Caleb's not..." Hanna started, but then regretted it.
He wasn't her boyfriend, but... Well, maybe it wasn't official again, but... Yeah, well, he was kind of her boyfriend.
"Yeah, right. He's not your boyfriend. Then you don't mind about that someone who made him all of those hickeys all over his neck, right?" Alison continued, smirking.
Hanna snorted and grabbed her purse, standing up.
"I'll go back to class." she announced.
Hanna could finally see Caleb again late that day, when her mom left after dinner. Only then, she went down to the basement, bringing a sandwich to Caleb. She knocked on the door and Caleb's voice allowed her in, then she walked down the stairs and joined him on the couch.
"Hey. Sorry, I came here as soon as I could." she smiled, handing him the plate with the sandwich.
"No problem. Thanks for this." he replied, placing the table on the small coffee table near the couch.
"So..." Hanna started, not sure about where to address their conversation.
"Hanna, I asked Emily not to tell you what I needed to talk to her about today, because I wanted to tell you. Well, I... I heard they needed some help at the Brew, so... She said it was true, and that I could come there to talk with Zack about that. Emily said she was going to put on a good word for me. And... I stopped there earlier, and Zack told me I can start tomorrow. I think I found a job." he said.
Hanna stayed silent for a moment, processing Caleb's words in her mind.
"That's amazing, Caleb!" she exclaimed then, smiling.
"Yeah. I... I want to buy an apartment here. Of course, I need some money help anyway and I'll ask my mom for that, but I wanted to earn something on my own not to make her pay me the whole thing. So... I thought it would have been good to work at the Brew."
"You want to buy an apartment here?" Hanna sounded surprised.
After all, Caleb had no one in Rosewood beside her. All of his relatives were in California, and that was the senior year. Buying an apartment right now was a serious commitment, even because college was almost on their ways.
"Yeah. I don't want to take advantage of you, or Lucas, or anyone else. I want to stay in Rosewood, so I need my place, right? I don't care if I'll use it just for a few months, I like the idea of always having a place here, a place where I can come back whenever I want to. It could become one of my brothers' place in the future... Or even... Our place... Someday. Like... Mine and yours. Who knows." he replied, smiling.
Hanna couldn't help but smile back at him. It definitely was one of the cutest thing someone had ever told her.
"You really see us together in a five or ten years time?" she asked, still smiling.
"Always." he replied without hesitation.
Hanna didn't know what to say. They stayed just staring at each other for a while, then Caleb took a deep breath and broke the silence.
"So... What about you? Do you see a chance for us? Are you...ready to try one more time?"
Hanna bit her lip and looked at the floor. Caleb swallowed hard and patiently waited until Hanna lifted her gaze and looked up at him.
"Caleb... There were moments when I really thought I was never going to see you again. Because... I thought it just wasn't meant to be. Having you in my life had been a huge treat, and I couldn't complain that I wasn't going to be able to see you again, because I had had you. I had had the best moment on my life with you, and I just had to get over it, to accept that they weren't going to be back because I had lost you. But someway I was happy because anyway I had met you. I had understood what love was thanks to you." She stopped to take a breath and then continued. "And then you came back. And... I just... I didn't understand anything. I was confused, but... In my heart, I've always known that having you back was the best thing that I could've asked for. I love you, Caleb. I never stopped. It's not like you can erase some kind of things from your heart, you know... And... You're back in my life now. I spent these days with you, trying to understand if I was ready to retry, to take the risk of losing you again, and... Look, life is just unpredictable. You can't promise me that you'll never leave me again because no one can know what happens next. I hope you won't, of course, but... But I'm tired of thinking, of holding myself back, of... Everything. I hope but I don't know if we'll be together in a five or a ten years time, but the only thing I know right know is that I love you so much and I want to be with you. And making love to you last night made it clear. I missed you like hell, so... Yeah. I guess I'm ready. And I don't want promises or anything, I... I just want you."
Hanna was crying by now. And Caleb had tears at the corner of his eyes as well. They both had waited that moment for months.
"Come here..." Caleb whispered quietly, motioning a smile as a tear slowly streamed down his cheek.
He spreaded his arms and Hanna threw herself into them, crying hard. Caleb buried his face through her hair and sobbed as well. They couldn't do anything but cry in that moment, but their tears were of happiness.
Of love.
"I love you... I-I'm so sorry, Hanna..." Caleb stuttered, holding her tighter.
"It's okay now..." Hanna mumbled, her voice muffled against his now soaked shirt.
Then, Caleb slightly pulled away and lifted Hanna's chin. He wiped her tears with his thumbs and then placed his forehead against hers. For a long time, they just stayed with closed eyes, breathing deeply in and out with their forehead pressed against each other, in silence. They just need to calm down, to feel each other's presence, to realize that they were finally making up for everything that had happened in the last few weeks. After a while, Caleb rubbed the tip if his nose against hers and opened his eyes, catching her smiling. He placed a strand of her hair behind her left ear and smiled back, as Hanna finally opened her eyes too.
"Maybe... Maybe you're right, I can't promise you anything. But I can tell you that I love you and I don't want to lose you, never again." he whispered.
"Me neither. And... I love you too." she whispered back.
"God, you're beautiful..." he smiled.
Hanna giggled and then took his face in both her hands.
"Kiss me, you idiot." she ordered then, smirking.
Caleb didn't need to hear that a second time. He pulled her on his lap and pressed his lips to hers, at first gently and slowly, but then he felt her tongue enter in his mouth and touch his, so he just lost it, totally. Caleb pushed her closer resting his hands on her hips, as Hanna straddled him on the couch and tangled one of her hand in his hair, while using the other to move his face onto the kiss. After a while, they had to pull away to breath. Hanna smiled at him and fell back on the couch next to him, placing her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. They cuddled in silence, just wanting to enjoy each other's presence.
"You're not gonna eat that?" Hanna asked out of the blue, pointing at the sandwich she had made for him.
"I am. But right now I just need to cuddle with my girl." Caleb replied.
"Your girl?" she smiled.
"Well, if you prefer girlfriend..." he teased.
Hanna giggled against his neck.
"I'm so happy you're here." she added then.
"I'm happy to be here with you."
"So, now that we're official... I was thinking to ask my mom if you can stay in the guest room until you can buy your new apartment..."
Caleb looked down at her.
"Ugh... Your mom should hate me. I'm occasionally staying in her house like a tramp... I don't know if I can disturb her once again like this, Han..." he murmured.
"Caleb, my mom loves you. Well, last year when we just got together things were different than now, she didn't know you at all, and you looked kinda sketchy, yeah, and she walked on you and her dear only daughter making out all around the house, so she just kicked your ass off here, but... Then she let you stay, remember?"
"Yeah, and then I screwed everything up again when we broke up because I worked for Jenna Marshall..."
"Yeah, okay, but... Look, she has always supported you, even after that. And that's because she knows that you make me really happy. Caleb, you're home here. And if I didn't tell her that you're staying here is just because I was with Travis when we agreed on this. I can even tell her now, but it wouldn't make much sense, right? We could just tell her that things between us have come back the way they were and that now you need a place for a little while. She won't be against this, trust me. You gave all that you had to pull her out of jail, you even wanted to sell your car to pay her bail, we had plenty dinners just the three of us sitting at the kitchen table watching those stupid TV shows which my mom loves laughing like stupid kids... Do I have to add something more? She simply adores you. You're like the male son she never had. You know, she will just say that it's okay as long as you and I won't do funny business, but she's always out for work and plus we know a lot of ways to break the rule, right?"
Caleb laughed at that.
"Well... I guess I'd feel better to stay here while she's aware of that, yeah. And I also think the bed in the guest room is way more comfortable than my couch." he added then with a small smile, realizing Hanna was right.
"Exactly."
"But it will be just for a few weeks. I need a place on my own, and I don't want to take advantage of you and Ashley. As soon as I can move in my new place, I will, I promise."
"Yeah, don't worry. I got it."
"Okay." Caleb sighed, nuzzling his nose through her hair.
"Okay." Hanna repeated, snuggling closer to him.
"Thank you."
"Stop saying that. I love you, Caleb. This is the least I can do for you."
"Whatever. I love you too."
A/N: Hey guys! Haleb finally (and officially) made up, yay! Hope I didn't exaggerate with the cheesiness :P So, just a couple of things to clarify: 1) In this story Zack is not the creepy perv who is on the show, he never hit on Hanna or anything since my fic starts right after 5x05. You guys see him just as the Brew's owner who's dating Aria's mom, that's it. And now he's giving Caleb a job so..yeah ;) 2) If you want to find out what exactly Caleb and Ali had told each other just wait till the next chapter, okay? I didn't forget about that, I just wanted to leave it like a cliff :P As always, thank you guys so much for all your reviews... I really really appreciate the words you tell me and the fact that you spend a little time to write me your thoughts, seriously :) so, if you want, review again... We're getting closer to the end ;) Have a nice week everyone! Let's hope that Tuesday's PLL ep will give us some good Haleb :D Love you all! xx -Atramea.