A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, I truly love reading every single one of them, so please don't hesitate to let me know what you think of this chapter! Here is the next one and I hope to have the next chapter to you very soon because my excitement for Hanna Marin going rogue is everything I wanted for this story and so much more!

The usual spoiler alert for those who haven't seen season seven episode four and five and this is a disclaimer – I own the premise of this story but I do not own the characters and much of the speech is from the episodes of Pretty Little Liars.

"My skin crawled with knowledge, with the evil that I'd looked into, that had created me. I took long showers. Nothing helped. The dirt was on the inside." - Chevy Stevens

"I don't know if I can live with this... I mean... how can we bury—" Emily sobbed as she covered the body they had just moved from the top of Lucas' car with dirt, "There has to be another way." Spencer looked up from the spot she had been digging at, a desperate, terrified look on her face, "There's no other way, Emily. It was a well thought out plan but when it ends up like this it's called first degree murder."

It was Aria's turn to talk, "Look, Spencer's right.. just come on..." Their eyes moved to the two blonde's, both of them staring into space as one of them remained in the same seat she had been in when she had finally hit the brakes and the other had sunk down to the floor next to where they had dropped the body when they had been dragging him from the hood of the car. "What are we gonna do with them?"

"She's in shock, it'll wear off." Emily mumbled, glancing up at the two for just a second before she focused on the task at hand. She wanted to get out of there as soon as she possibly could, and forget this night ever existed, they all did. Hanna hadn't moved since the moment it had happened, the hadn't cried, or said a single word, even when they had struggled with lifting Elliott from the car and dragging him a little further into the woods.

It wasn't until they were close to being done that Hanna somehow gathered the energy to move, moving out of the car slowly as she took a deep breath and focused on the three women in front of her. Slowly, she bent down and picked up the shovel that had been discarded, wondering for just a moment why Lucas even had shovels in the boot of his car before she focused on the desperate urge to cover up what she had done and what she was making her friends do. "Han, maybe you should go wait in the car with Alison..." She could hear the concern in their voices but it only made the guilt rise even further as she started to dig and shovel the dirt onto the almost covered body of the man who had tortured her. "Seriously, we got it, just go sit in the car."

"No, I need to help. Okay? Because if I don't do something..." She gulped, and just shook her head, her attention turning to the shovel as she bit down on her lip in an attempt to stop the tears that were slowly starting to build up. Aria stopped though, and glanced at her, "Hanna, if you want to, it's not too late to go to the police."

"Aria! We've been over this!" Hanna ignored the way her best friends argued, blanking out the way they spoke over each other, the desperation in their voices echoing through her mind as she continued to shovel the dirt onto the body she could no longer see, "What truth is that? The one where Hanna doesn't know the right pedal from the left?!" That was something that got her attention, causing her head to snap up so she could glare at the person who was meant to be her best friend. They had been through a hundred and one things together but she supposed her actually murdering someone and her friends having to help her cover it up would be the one thing to force them apart.

They went over the plan again, but Hanna blanked it out; she knew the plan, she had heard Spencer talk about it when this had first happened and she had just stared into the eyes of the man who had made her feel so weak and so vulnerable once more. She had thought about how she hoped she could do the same to the man who had made Henry possible, and then she wondered if that made her an evil, horrible person. She was too lost in her own thoughts and her own guilt to contribute anything to the conversation, even when it moved to Alison and how they were going to get her back to the mental hospital without anyone noticing. She wondered if she could just take Alison's place because she was one hundred percent certain she belonged there more than the other woman did.

She could sense the way in which they all stopped digging, their eyes all moving towards the second blonde who was moving towards them with that blank expression on her face, Hanna didn't stop until she saw Alison sink down to her knees, her hand moving beneath the dirt to grab something, "You're gonna need this." She mumbled, holding up the ID card in her hands as they all just stared at her, no one knowing what to say or what to do.

Hanna had no idea how much longer it had been before she was sat in the back of Rollins car along with her best friends, as Emily scrolled through the phone of the person who had been torturing them since they had gotten back to Rosewood. Hanna had barely spoken a word as her eyes focused on whatever was outside the window, before, for the first time, she thought about her son and she felt the panic beginning to raise in her chest. It was a crushing pressure she couldn't describe as her friends continued to argue and talk about the second part of their covering up a murder plan that she was so sure wasn't going to work. What was going to happen to Henry now that his father was a rapist and his mother was a murderer? What kind of life did her son have now? "Oh god," She whispered, not even aware that she had said it out loud as she pressed her hand to her chest and tried to focus on breathing, she had ruined Henry's life already and she had ruined the lives of every single person in that car and that made her feel sick to the stomach.

"Hanna? What's wrong?" She didn't deserve the gentle concern in Aria's voice, she kept telling herself as she resisted the urge to burst into tears as she bit down harshly on her bottom lip. "What do you mean, what's wrong? I mean... what are we doing? What... we're never going to get away with this..." It felt as though something was crushing her chest, she couldn't breathe, she was starting to feel a panic rise inside of her that she couldn't describe. She was a murderer and she wasn't the only one who was going to be punished for what she had done that night.

"Don't say that!" Emily looked behind her at the terrified woman and shook her head, "Who else is going to say it, Emily?" Her own voice raised in response, and she pressed her hand against her forehead, her eyes wide and her heart thumping harshly against her chest, her stomach twisting horrifically. When Emily spoke again, she almost wanted to burst out laughing and tears at the same time, "Nobody thinks of everything! Okay, I'm going to jail. I'm going to jail. I'm going to jail for... for..."

She couldn't think of the word, not until Aria gave it to her and to have an actual name for what she had done only served to make her want to burst into tears all over again, "Yeah, vehicular manslaughter. God, we're never going to be able to pull this off. I mean there are way too many things that could screw this up... we've probably already done fifty things wrong by now."

It seemed to be Spencer's turn to attempt to calm Hanna down but the only thing that stopped Hanna from talking was the sheer anger in the brunette's voice, "Hanna! Please stop, okay? You're not the only person who buried a body back there." Spencer was right, she may have been the one to run over the body of the person she hated but the other girls had covered it up for her, and she knew her panic attack was doing nothing to help with what they were going through as well. "Guys, if we just stay calm and stick to the plan, we'll be fine, okay? This is about containment and right now, everybody who knows about what we did is in this car." Hanna's eyes looked around at the four others in the car as she bit down on her bottom lip – containment was good in theory but she knew that it wasn't going to stay between them for much longer. Containment never worked for them no matter how they tried.

The moment they got back to Lucas' apartment, Hanna had not hesitated as she practically ran to the shower. She scrubbed at her skin, even when the blood was gone, before finally, she threw up the contents of her stomach and watched it mix with the blood that sank down the shower drain as she let out a broken sob. She had murdered someone and she had no idea how she was going to live with that going forward. She had no idea how long she had been in the shower before she finally stepped out, staring at her reflection in the mirror as she bit down on her lip. There was a large bruise on her forehead that she would never be able to explain, and a look in her eyes that she wasn't sure had been there before – that lost, guilt ridden look that she knew would never disappear. She had taken someone's life. Her fingers moved to run through her head, her eyes staring at the blood stained glass that had been tangled in her hair, her eyes widened before she threw it down the drain in fear and disgust. She was a murderer now.

When she finally gathered the courage she needed to walk out of the bathroom and into the next room where she knew her best friends were, with her arms wrapped around her body as she just watched Spencer on her hands and knees trying to clear up the dirt that they had covered Lucas' floor in. Aria had gone to pick up Henry from Caleb because Hanna hadn't been sure she could face the man and whilst she didn't know if she would be the best person for her son to be around, let alone bring him up, she just needed to be with her son. "How does it feel to be clean?" Emily asked her with a hopeful look on her face when she took in Hanna's appearance.

"I wouldn't know." Hanna whispered in response, her eyes meeting with Spencer's for just a second when the brunette gave her a look that expressed more than Emily would ever know – one that involved the fact that Hanna had no idea how it felt to be clean for a seriously long time, the blood of the man she had murdered only added to that. "Spencer, I could help you with that..." She finally glanced at her best friend who was still down on her hands and knees, staring down at the mess they had made.

"No, I got it." Came the short response and Hanna wished she could know why her friend was so pissed at her – it had been an accident, of that she was sure, or at least half sure. "Y-you're bleeding..." Spencer's eyes glanced to where Hanna had been looking and quickly shook her head with a frown on her face, "It's not mine." Just as Hanna opened her mouth to respond, the door opened, the only thing stopping it from fully opening was the clasp someone had thought to put on. Emily was in her bedroom, and Spencer had moved from the floor quickly whilst Hanna hid around the corner and closed her eyes, her heart thumping as she repeated to herself over and over again that she needed for it to be Aria and no one else.

Instead, the voice that echoed through the apartment filled her with dread, "Hanna? Hanna... please, I know you're in there..." His voice was desperate, concerned, panicked and everything inbetween – what had Aria told him? She closed her eyes even tighter and rested her head against the wall when she felt Spencer glance towards her. Caleb was there, and she doubted he would go away and she had no idea what Aria had said to him when she had gone to take the little boy he had been looking after for her whilst she went out and ran someone over. "Can you let me in, please? I need to talk to you, Hanna... please, I know something is wrong and I swear if you don't answer me now I will knock this door down."

That was enough to make her eyes open as she walked over to the door and pressed her hand up against it, still hidden behind it so he couldn't see what a mess she was, "I'm here, please don't..." She whispered, resting her head up against the cool wood of the door as the tears started to fall when she heard his sigh of relief. "Hanna? You need to let me in, I don't know what happened but... you have to tell me. You can tell me anything, you know that..." Quickly, she shook her head although he couldn't see her, the tears only falling faster and heavier than they had been before as her heart felt as though it was breaking all over again. "Please, Caleb..."

From the way he spoke, she knew he was crying, "Aria came to pick up Henry, she wouldn't tell me what happened... she's on her way here now and I know he's all you probably want and need right now but.. I'm here, Hanna. I'm so sorry for not being here before... I never should have left. I should have waited, I should have stayed and let you explain even if I wouldn't have liked the answer and I can't walk away now, Hanna, I can't... I need you to explain, even if I hate the answer, so please just talk to me."

Hanna's desperate eyes sought those of Spencer's who quickly stood up and walked to stand next to her with a sigh, "Caleb? I promise that Hanna will talk to you when she's ready but right now, we really need you to just back off, okay? I know it's hard and I know you don't want to repeat the same mistakes you did before but please, I am begging you, just walk away and let Hanna just have tonight to think things over and then you can talk, so please..." She pushed on the door gently, in the hopes he would get the hint as she looked at the sobbing girl next to her, practically feeling the way in which Hanna's heart seemed to be shattering into tiny pieces right then as she listened to the desperation in her ex-boyfriend's voice. It took a moment before the door clicked to a close and she could hear him walking down the hallway, after he let out a defeated sigh.

Even if she wanted nothing more in the world to curl up in bed with Henry and just apologise to him for every hardship she had given him. She was so sorry for the life she had given him, for the life he was going to have and for the parents he had been forced to have. He had come into the world with no choice, no options other than the traumatised woman who was meant to bring him up to be a happy, normal little boy who would find out when he was old enough that his biological father was a criminal, and so was his mother. And despite the guilt and the desperation she felt right then, she knew she had a murder to cover up and so, once again, she had to leave her son with Emily because Hanna had to do something that would stop the guilt of allowing her friends to cover everything up to protect her, from increasing.

That was how she found herself with shaking hands, walking through the dark woods so late at night with a torch in her hands and a pair of goggles on her head as they discussed whether or not Alison had murdered her sister and started this awful nightmare that had become their lives. "Are you sure we have everything?" She finally said to cut off the conversation that was only making her feel more uncomfortable with every second. "Yeah, accelerant, lighters, gloves, goggles... I think she's telling the truth. Besides, this isn't the same Alison we knew at fifteen."

"Yeah, I didn't think I was the same person either but look where we are." Her voice was getting irritate as she glanced around at the dark woods they had found themselves in, whilst they attempted to cover up a murder that should never have happened. She tuned out Aria's voice, shining her torch over to where she had put the car, only to find an empty space, "A-Aria... we're missing something." Her heart thumped uncomfortably and the panic attack she had tried to wave off before was returning, as she looked around in a blind attempt to find the car that was suddenly gone - "The car! Tell me this is a nightmare, oh my god... it's gone, tell me this..."

"No, it can't be gone, Hanna, we must be in the wrong place." Aria was too quick to shrug it off, but Hanna knew where she had placed the murder weapon, she knew exactly where she had put it just a few hours before and it was already gone. Her hands gripped at her hair as she turned in circles, before her hands finally settled on the tree she had put the weapon under with a strangled cry, "No, no, I remember covering it up and putting it by the tree-" She ignored the response she got, "No, I put it by this tree because it looked like one of those trees that one of those-those little men would live in." Aria continued to interrupt her, so sure that the car was elsewhere, but Hanna blanked her out as the panic truly settled into her terrified body. "You know, the little men with the ears and- Keebler elves!" Her head pressed up against the bark and she repeated to herself over and over again that she couldn't cry, not in front of Aria because she wasn't sure she would be able to stop, not this time, "Oh my god, I can't breathe. I can't breathe."

"It's got to be here somewhere, Hanna, we just hid it really, really well." No matter what the other woman said to her, nothing was having the calming effect she obviously thought it would. Each word only causing the panic to rise, "We lost the car! We lost the damn car, Aria!" She screamed, quickly turning around when her eyes settled on tyre tracks before she stumbled back, "Somebody knows what happened."

It took a few moments for that information to settle into both of the women as they stared at the tracks that showed them that the car had been driven away from the place Hanna had been so sure she had placed it. Finally, Aria was on the same panicked page that Hanna had been and she wasn't sure if that was only serving to increase her own terror or if it was a relief that she wasn't the only person who saw that on night one of covering up a murder, they had already failed. "We have to call Emily and Spencer, tell them we have to pull the plug on this whole thing."

"Wait, really? Are you sure?" Hanna wondered if the fact that they buried the body and attempted to cover it up would up the charges from vehicular manslaughter to downright murder. It made it all look planned, no one would understand that the entire events that followed her car hitting the body of the man who she was so sure had kidnapped and tortured her. "Well, when someone steals the car you're about to torch, the cover up is kind of uncovered." She snapped, before any further words between them was cut off by the blinding headlights of a car heading towards them – an extremely familiar car without the large, shattered glass hole in the wind-shield, without the blood that had once coated it. She had stopped in her tracks, not sure if she felt relief or fear when Mona stepped out of the car with a small smirk on her face, "Well, you two sure know how to ruin a surprise."

After that, everything seemed to move in a blur; the car looked perfect, as though nothing had ever happened and Hanna could only wish that she had dreamt the entire thing. Mona had driven them back to the now clean apartment and whilst Hanna felt an indescribable guilt running through her body when she held her son close to her chest as she, Mona and Aria discussed the man she had murdered. But as her lips pressed to his forehead, his tiny fist curled around the necklace she wore as he slept with his pacifier half in his mouth, she knew that everything she had done was to protect him and their tiny family and maybe one day, if she told him everything that had happened, maybe he could understand.

Luckily, Mona and Aria understood how exhausted she was and it didn't take much to convince them to leave so she could focus on the one person in her life who mattered to her the most. With the apartment quiet and empty, she slowly climbed into her bed and settled her son on her chest as he continued to sleep. Her hand moved to rub his back and she pressed her lips to his blonde hair over and over when the tears began to fall, "I wish I could explain everything to you," She whispered, "I wish I could be the kind of mother you deserve... I wish you had a father who deserved you because you are perfect. You are perfect in every single way and no matter what happens from now on, I need you to know that. You are loved and you are special, and when you're older, you're going to hear a lot of things about your biological father and what he did. Maybe you'll hear people question me about why I kept you, how I feel about you.. but I need you to remember that I love you. I love you more than anything in this world and everything I do is to protect you..." She smiled when his bright blue eyes opened, knowing she had woken him by her heaving chest as she sobbed and held him close. His tiny hand moved to her face and her heart burst with such love that she would never be able to put into words.

"If I don't get away with this," She whispered, pulling him to lay next to her so she could move onto her side to look at him and run her fingers up and down his back as he smiled at her through sleepy eyes, "I need you to know that you are the love of my life, and maybe I'll have to tell you that in supervised visits whilst I'm behind bars but you are the best thing that ever happened to me. You were my bright light in the darkness, you were my reason to be happy, the only thing that kept me breathing.. you gave me a reason to live when I couldn't find one. My beautiful baby boy... you are loved, maybe you'll hear a lot of things about me too in the future and maybe you'll be ashamed of me but... I just need you to know that despite what happens..." Her hand moved to his chest and she forced a tearful smile onto her face, "You are loved so, so much." She shifted further down onto the bed and pressed her forehead against his, and he nudged their noses together before his hand moved to rest on her neck when his eyes closed again and her fingers moved to run through his short, blonde hair as her own eyes started to close into an uneasy sleep.

The night had been a long one, for all of the girls, even more so when Emily found herself with her arm wrapped around her best friend as she helped her stumble into the Hastings household. The lights were still on in the Barn, which meant Caleb would still be awake and she wasn't sure she could deal with him and all his questions right now, not when she had a drunk Spencer to keep an eye on. She helped the other woman onto the bar stool as she set about busying herself by making some coffee, listening to the way Spencer slurred about all the plans they had made and whether Emily had carried them out or not once Hanna and Aria had gotten home that night. It didn't take long for her to snap as she gripped onto the mug of hot coffee and slammed it down in front of Spencer with a glare on her face, "How could you do this to yourself? How could you do this to us? This could have ruined everything!"

"I know," Spencer mumbled, staring down at the coffee in front of her as she swayed in her seat a little in an attempt to take her heels off. "Why would you go and lose control on the one night when you needed it the most?!"

She at least expected the brunette to snap at her back but instead, Spencer's voice was filled with sadness, self-pity and bitterness, feelings that Emily knew all too well, "You know, there were a few years when I really felt free... I didn't flinch anymore when I saw someone wearing a hoody or when I got a blocked call on my phone. I thought it's over, really over...I took a cooking class, I even let friends tag me in photos and now we're just right back where we started. It's worse now I have aiding and abetting to a murder in the mix... I'm just sorry, sorry I screwed up so badly."

"Don't worry about it, it's over. If it makes you feel any better, we're all there with you. Right back at the beginning." Spencer shook her head at Emily's response and brought the coffee to her lips before she set it back down, "It doesn't make me feel any better, nothing makes me feel any better anymore. Hanna murdered someone, Emily... and I don't think it was a complete accident." Emily opened her mouth to defend the blonde, fully believing that it was an accident but she was completely cut off when Spencer continued to talk, "She's broken, Emily and now she's even more broken and I don't know what to do. We already let her down and we're going to let her down again... I-I need to tell Caleb what happened, I need to tell him everything but she won't let him in. She won't-" Her eyes met with Emily's, her voice still slurring as she put her head in her hands, "She was raped and now she's a murderer and I'm sitting here moaning about how I was able to take a cooking class once and now my life is a mess but her life has been a mess for years..."

At those words, Emily turned around and stared out of the window, her hands shaking as she closed her eyes and tried to resist the urge to ask a thousand questions to the still rambling, still very drunk best friend. The announcement was unexpected, and it was one that made Emily want to run back to the apartment she shared with the blonde and force her to explain everything to her. Tears fell from her closed her eyes and she shook her head, "Just drink your coffee, Spencer..." She mumbled as she turned around and stared at the drunk woman who clearly had no idea of the secret she had just exposed to a perfectly sober Emily who had no idea what to do with the new information that was now repeating itself in her mind over and over again that made bile rise in her throat as she held back the sobs that so longed to break free. Suddenly everything was starting to fall into place and she hated herself for not seeing it sooner.

The idea to suffer through brunch the next day had been one they were all quickly regretting as their paranoia increased and the questions seemed to go unanswered whilst even more arose. Jenna Marshall was back in town and that only put them even more on edge than they had previously been, because her being there couldn't be a coincidence. Nothing was a coincidence in Rosewood, they all quickly learned that as the years passed and one disaster happened after the other. Once Spencer had made her excuse to leave the table, Hanna was quick to follow, muttering something to Aria about looking after the little boy who had been happily playing with his toes on his mother's lap. "Hey," She gave Spencer a small smile as she watched her pour herself a glass of orange juice, "Are you going to stay mad at me forever?"

She didn't miss the guilt or the confusion on the other woman's face as she shook her head, "I'm not mad, Hanna, I was just scared last night and I took it out on you. I'm not mad at you..." She trailed off and bit down on her lip, "I think you need to go see him, let us find the burner phone."

Hanna's face visibly paled and she looked down at the ground, not sure if she could face the man she loved right then for fear of what he was going to think of her, "W-what am I meant to tell him when he asks about last night?" Tears already filled her eyes at just the thought of having to tell him something else about her life that he had no clue about – why would he still love her after everything she had done and everything she had put him through? Spencer just gave her a small smile in return and rested her head on Hanna's shoulder before she looked back at the other girls, "Tell him the truth, Hanna... maybe they will be mad for a while but there are worse things in this world and you need him, and he needs you even if neither of you want to admit it. Just go, please." The blonde nodded her head in response and quickly wrapped her arms around the woman who held a guilt Hanna had no clue about, before she went back to her friends and lifted Henry up as she made her excuses to leave.

Hanna had been terrified the entire drive to the Hastings house, where she knew her ex-boyfriend was currently staying. Her hands shook and she kept glancing at her son wondering if he would ever forgive her for everything she had put him through because she was so certain that she was going to get caught. She felt sick just at the thought of telling Caleb the truth of what had happened the night before, maybe this would be too much for him, maybe he would leave her again and she really wouldn't blame him if he did. She never gave him enough of a reason to stay.

The conversation had been a difficult one, one that had ended with them both in tears as a silence fell over them. She told him what he needed to know – that they had gone to help Alison but instead, she had hit Elliott with the car and they had covered up what she had done. He didn't say a word as she explained why she couldn't let him in that night and why she had to leave Henry with him for as long as she had. "D-do you hate me?" She finally stuttered, when the story was over and he was just sitting in front of her with a look on his face she couldn't quite explain. His head shook quickly though and before she knew it, he was up and next to her with his arms wrapped around her and his lips pressed against her forehead. She felt his tears falling onto her hair as her own tears began to fall and she hid her face in his neck. Her fingers curled around his shirt and she let out a sob, "I'm so sorry..." She pulled back and looked at him, "I... Spencer was right... there was time to stop if I hadn't gotten the pedals mixed up."

Caleb shook his head once again and he pulled her back to hold her against him, pressing sloppy kisses against her forehead when the tears started to fall once more, "You got confused, Hanna, it could happen to anyone." He mumbled against her hair when he buried his face and just inhaled her scent, whilst his eyes fell to a close and he held her trembling figure against his body as tightly and as closely as he possibly could.

"I-I keep telling myself that it was an accident. A horrible accident but when I saw Rollins, I just... I-I remember being in a cold, dark room. So was I confused or... was I the least confused I've ever been in my life?" It was a thought she had yet to express to anybody but telling Caleb allowed all those feelings to come pouring out, all those true, heartfelt feelings could fall onto the ears of the man who somehow accepted her no matter what she and her friends had done or what they had been involved in. As he rubbed her back, he bit down on his lip, "Whatever happened, Hanna, what he did was unforgivable and I can't say I'm sorry that he's gone. You saved Alison from whatever he had in store for her and... we have no idea what else he was capable of. He was not a good person but you..." Finally, he pulled back and looked her in the eyes, "You are a good person, so whether you were confused or not, what happened that night doesn't change how good you are."

She took a deep breath and gave him a watery smile, before she nudged their noses together, their lips brushing together in an almost-kiss before a squeal from behind them distracted them both and she let out a nervous laugh before she walked past him and towards the little boy who was reaching out for her, before she picked him up and Caleb walked over to them, his hand resting on Hanna's back as his other hand reached out to take Henry's hand in his own with a grin on his own face, "No matter what Hanna, you're loved by so many people, none more than me and this little man here... please remember that." Hanna gave him a small smile as she rested her head against his shoulder and looked down at the little boy in her arms – maybe his mother was a murderer and his father was a rapist but he was loved by the people in his life who knew just how special he was.

"Let's just spend the day here, you've got Mona onto the burner phone, you need to relax." She wanted to protest, but when she looked at her son, and saw the adoring look in his eyes when he glanced at her and then at Caleb, she nodded her head as Caleb moved to wipe the drying tears from her cheeks before he led her to the couch, his eyes moving to the movie they had put on for Henry when Hanna had arrived the hour before. Henry was quick to move onto the man's lap after Hanna had put him down, and Hanna smiled as she moved to rest her head onto Caleb's shoulder when his arm wrapped around her. "He's never taken to anyone like he took to you..." She whispered, as she watched her son settle down with his eyes on the screen. The reminder of how different everything could have been as she watched her son and the man who should have been the father of any child she had, was enough to break her heart as she closed her eyes and hid her face in his shoulder when the tears started to fall once again. Caleb didn't say a word, his arm tightened around her a little tighter as he took a deep breath.

"Hanna?" She sniffed in response, so he continued, "I know you're confused right now and I know you've been through so much, things that I should have been there for but I'm here now, okay? Don't push me away, please? If you need anything – even if it's to take Henry for the day or a few days if you ever need to clear your head, I'll be here for that or if you need a shoulder to cry on... I'm not going to let you down again. Neither of you." Hanna wanted to protest, tell him that she truly believed it was her own fault – she should have told him, she could have told him when it happened or when he went to walk out but instead, she remained silent and held onto him a little tighter than she already had been. She breathed in his scent, felt his warm body beneath her fingertips and listened to the sound of his voice, and she knew that for the first time in so long, she was home.