Chapter 2

It had been seven hours since Hanna fell asleep alongside Caleb, making it now eight-thirty in the morning. Despite having a fuzzy blanket draped over her throughout the night, she still felt the occasional breezes that came through the slightly open widow across from where she was. Caleb didn't wake up the entire night either, or at least not since he tightly grabbed a hold of Hanna's hand. It was still a mystery to Aria as she thought about it the rest of the night on how Caleb was able to grab Hanna's had while being under the control of strong medications.

Hanna was starting to come to consciousness when she felt a warm feeling on the side of her face. She was still somewhat asleep when she fluttered her eyes open trying to figure out what was so gently touching her. The first thing she noticed was the olive-skinned look of a thumb grazing her check ever so softly. She knew there would only be one person who would do that to her and he was lying right next to her.

"C-Caleb?" She mumbled, finally realizing that it had indeed been Caleb who was, and still is, grasping a side of her head with his soft hand.

"Hey. Sorry if I woke you." Hanna, containing her happiness, was overjoyed with the sound coming out of Caleb's mouth. Even though it wasn't anything special, it just felt good to hear something come out of Caleb's mouth because around seven hours ago, she didn't know if she ever would hear another word from him.

"No, no it's fine. How long have you been up?"

"Just a couple of minutes." Relieved that Hanna didn't miss much of Caleb's coming of consciousness, Hanna smiled.

"How are you feeling? Are the meds working?" Hanna began spewing numerous questions, but Caleb seemed to know that this would happen.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Caleb quickly began saying to avoid the many other questions that were forming in her brain and almost coming out of her mouth.

Hanna smiled once again, but this time a tear began to fall down her face. Caleb wiped the tear away with the hand that has been holding her head for the past five minutes.

"Hanna, it's okay."

She choked back more tears as she began to say, "I'm just really glad you're okay. I just….I'm really happy."

He smiled and made a small and gentle pull on Hanna's head signaling her to come closer to him. So she did and for the first time in a while, their lips met each other's. For a kiss that only lasted a few seconds, it was there most passionate kiss yet to come. Thoughts raced through both of their minds as they pondered on what it would be like if they didn't have each other in their lives. Caleb knew that if he had not been so lucky last night, Hanna would be utterly crushed. If the roles were reversed, he would be just as hurt, which is why he didn't regret bringing the gun. He knew the chances of last night, and if bringing the gun meant protecting Hanna and her friends, he would do it all over again.

As their lips departed from each other, tears still streaming down Hanna's face, Hanna pressed her forehead onto his. They looked at each other and appreciated the fact that they were with each other.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzz. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Hanna looked to her right and noticed that her phone was going off. She slowly broke away from Caleb and walked toward her phone and saw that it was Emily calling. Even though Caleb and Hanna were just sharing what potentially was there most intimate moment, Hanna answered.

"Hello." Hanna said while clearing her throat at the same time.

"Hey, Hanna. Listen, I know you're busy with Caleb, but we really need to talk." Surprisingly it wasn't Emily, who was the one specifically calling as indicated from caller id, it was Aria.

"I, um, can't. Caleb just woke up and I can't really deal with "A" right now."

Taking a pause before talking, Aria tried again to convince her friend that what they needed to talk about was more important than spending time with Caleb. "I know, but trust me, when you know what we need to tell you, you won't regret leaving."

Hanna sighed. Why is her best friend making her choose between her boyfriend who almost died and finding out about something that could potentially lead to finding out about "A"?

"Is there a reason you can't say this over the phone?"

"It's not really something you say over the phone…."

Hanna thought for a second and finally gave in. "Fine. Alright. I'll…." She looked over at Caleb to try to figure out how understanding he will be of her leaving. "I'll be at your house in ten."

She hung up the phone and turned completely around to face Caleb. She bit her bottom lip trying to figure out what could possibly be more important than Caleb at this point.

"I'm really, really sorry. Aria apparently has some big "A" news that for some godforsaken reason can't wait and I have to go meet her…." Before he said anything Hanna quickly added, "I'll be back as soon as possible and I will tell you everything she tells me."

Instead of hearing the expected "It's more important than me?" speech that Hanna was fully expecting Caleb said, "Okay. Just be careful, alright?"

Hanna paused for a second to realize he approved of her leaving him for someone else even though he just came out of a near death experience.

"Wait, you're okay with that? Of me leaving?" Hanna asked, still confused.

"Well if it means getting one step closer to finding out about "A", then yeah."

Another smile appeared on her face as she said thank you to Caleb. She walked over, kissed him, and grabbed his hand at the same time.

"If I'm not back in thirty minutes, send out a search party." She said, half joking but half serious at the same time.

She began walking away, trying to hold his hand for as long as possible to the point where it was just their fingers touching. She was nearly out of the doorframe when she took one last glance at him and then left.