Chapter 6

After Aria, Emily, and Spencer departed the gloomy scene, Hanna and Caleb remained in her house with the power back on. Hanna was standing in the same position where she said goodbye to the girls earlier. She was in front of the bed, arms crossed, but with just enough room to let herself bite her thumb while Caleb sat on the top of the bed looking worriedly at Hanna. He wanted to cheer her up, but he honestly didn't know what to say.

Breaking the silence Hanna turned to Caleb and asked, "Please tell me you don't believe anything he said?"

"I don't know." He said while shaking his head.

Completely oblivious to what Caleb said Hanna continued, "I mean, why should I? Toby has made my and everyone else I care about lives a living hell. And now I'm supposed to believe some story he made up probably in the looney bin with Mona?"

"Hanna…" Caleb stood up and walked over to Hanna. He put his hands on her arms and slid his hands down to meet hers. "It's going to be okay. We're going to get through this."

Hanna looked at Caleb, smiled, and in a flirty voice said, "You know, just because Emily, Aria, and Spencer are fine with Toby doesn't mean I have to be."

"Exactly." Caleb said with a smirk across his face and then a laugh fell from both of their faces. They leaned into each other and their lips met. Hanna's hand moved to the back of his head where it always lies when they become intimate. Caleb's hand moved to her face where he caressed her check ever so gently. They turned around so as Hanna's back was facing the bed. They began to move back and soon came across the bed. In a slow motion Hanna fell down onto the bed, moving down it until they reached the head of the bed.

While still kissing Hanna began to pull off Caleb's shirt. Her shirt was already unbuttoned because they both had the same intentions in mind. Despite their desire for complete intimacy tonight, they knew they couldn't go that far for that Caleb would be in unbearable pain from the wound he succumbed to earlier.

Just before they fell asleep with her head on top of his bare chest and his arm wrapped around her, they whispered to each other.

In a calm soothing tone Caleb whispered, "I love you, Hanna."

She responded in the same tone, "I love you too."

The time was now three in the morning and Caleb was sleeping in Hanna's bed while Hanna was not. Hanna had woken up to a famished mouth and went to the kitchen to satisfy her thirst and hunger. Her mother had decided to spend the night at Pastor Teds, leaving Hanna and Caleb alone in the house.

As of now, Caleb had not noticed the empty half of the bed but that was until he heard a loud noise sounding like something breaking from downstairs. His eyes quickly opened and just as quickly, he turned to face the empty side of the bed only to notice Hanna was not there. When he noticed this he shot up, jumped out of bed, and grabbed his shirt. He ran down the stairs putting on his shirt at the same time.

When he reached the kitchen he let out a sigh of relief. It seemed as though Hanna was at the sink doing dishes and the reasoning behind the abrupt noise was that a cup had dropped from the counter.

After letting out another breath Caleb asked, "Is there a reason you're doing the dishes at three in the morning?"

Hanna put the back of her hand to her nose to gently wiped some of her tears from her face. As Caleb noticed her sniffling, his mood changed from relief to concern.

"I was getting water when I, um, saw today's headlines." Caleb looked over to the counter and saw today's paper laying open showing the headline in big, bold letters. It read, "Radley's Return!" with a picture of Mona right under it.

"Hanna…" He was once again speechless. So much has happened today and Caleb couldn't think of another way to reassure her.

"You know, the first couple of months she was in Radley I visited her every week. Every time I visited her I always wondered what I did that was so wrong to make her do the things she had done. And now you keep telling me it's going to be okay and we'll make it through it," she turns around to face Caleb, "but I'm sorry, it's not going to be okay. Caleb, you just got shot! And as much as I want to be with you, I can't take the risks anymore."

She walks past him, holding in her tears. As she reached the stairs, Caleb ran up to her and grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him. "Don't I have a say in any of this?" Caleb asked, frustrated but also sympathetic towards Hanna's actions.

"No." She said being stubborn as usual. "I don't know if you have forgotten, but my life wasn't paradise before I met you. For all I know, I could be lost somewhere in Arizona if I hadn't met you or sleeping on another bus bench. When all these bad things happen, I do question why I'm still here, but only for a second until I realize that it's because of you."

Hanna looked at him and started to smile. She had tried holding back her tears during the whole conversation, but now she just couldn't. When tears began streaming down her face Caleb pulled her into him, hugging her tightly. They stayed in the moment for a while, appreciating each other's compassion and loving for each other.

A new day approached and it happened to be the first day back to school ever since the incident that occurred that grave October night. The girls didn't know what to expect walking down the hallways. They hoped that everything would blow over and that everyone would just mind their own business, but it was Rosewood so all bets were off. Every time something happened to them there would always be some sort of ridicule so it wasn't too far off to assume that it would happen this time, especially considering the specific events of that night.

Even though Caleb stayed the night at the Marin's house, Hanna had arrived to school alone because Caleb had to stop by his apartment and change. She hadn't talked to any of the girls since she last saw them so she could sort everything out on her own, without any persuasion coming from anyone besides Caleb. Each of the girls would try to get her on their side except for Aria, for she was mostly on Hanna's side with only small doubts.

Hanna arrived at school just a couple minutes before class started to avoid any talks with her friends. The halls were packed with people going on with their lives as if nothing in Rosewood was wrong. So she headed to her locker and when she was almost done with her avoidance plan she spotted Toby down the hall. Just as she noticed him, he noticed her and began walking in her direction, aimed at her. She quickly slammed her locker shut and started walking in the opposite direction but Toby had already caught up.

"Hanna, wait!" Toby said just as he reached her. "Listen, I know I'm probably the last person you want to talk to, but we need to talk."

"I don't have time for this." She turned around and began walking away when she felt a grip on her arm and a sudden tug that turned her around to face Toby once again.

"It's about Mona." Toby whispered to her closely so as no one could hear them. She looked at him wanting to know more and just when she was about to say they could talk privately, they were interrupted.

"What's going on here?" Asked Caleb as he took an assertive stance next to Hanna, but facing both of them. Toby let go of Hanna and let out a subtle smirk and told him, "Nothing. I just thought Hanna and I could talk."

As soon as Toby said that he began to walk away, but Caleb couldn't resist continuing the conversation that he wasn't even a part of.

"Just one question. Do you guys all meet together or do you just plan your life destroying ideas individually?" Caleb said with a distinct smile across his face. After Caleb said this Toby stopped dead in his tracks and turned around slowly. The three other girls appeared after turning the corner of the hallway and immediately noticed the tension between the two guys and Hanna.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." Toby asserted, taking a step towards Caleb.

Caleb responded by taking a step towards Toby showing that he was not afraid of him. "No I don't think you do. Do you even see all the damage you've done?"

"I'm protecting them!" Toby nearly screamed, now face to face with Caleb. Everyone in the hallway stood still and didn't dare say anything. The girls were now lined up with each other, watching as the fight escalated.

"Well you could have fooled me." Caleb said.

"Easy for you to say. You got the truth from Hanna, I didn't! But you know, at least I didn't break up with her because she didn't tell me. I guess when the going gets rough, Caleb gets going."

Within a couple of seconds, Toby stumbled back. Caleb had punched him straight across his face, hitting his nose hard enough that it started to bleed.

"I can't wait until people start seeing your true colors." Caleb said as Toby began to stand up straight. Soon after, Toby jolted towards Caleb and pushed him against a locker, both gripping each other's collars. Once Caleb pinned Toby against the wall, Toby pushed him off and onto the ground. Just as Toby was about to return the punch, Mrs. Montgomery appeared to break up the fight.

"Boys, boys! Break it up!" Mrs. Montgomery screamed making sure they heard her as if anyone else was actually talking. "What is the matter with you two?" When she received no answer she demanded that they went to the principal's office along with the four girls.