Rosewood, March 2011

When Mona resumed her game and started to torture and harass the pretty little liars she planned a lot of things, but she would have never guessed the development of this exact outcome: she managed to put all them back together. In fact, it was precisely because of this cyber-stalker that the girls found their way back to each other and their newfound friendship. To unite them was an even stronger bond than before, now that they had a common enemy. Not even their lies and secrets seemed to pull them apart – and they had a lot of them.

Emily, for example, tried for a while to hide her relationship with the new girl, Maya, to everyone, her friends included. It was hard for her to come out, especially to her very conservative, slightly bigots parents. In the end, however, she found the strength and the courage to do so and things worked out for the better, despite all the pain she had to endure. Now she had a beautiful girlfriend, Samara, whom even her mother liked and approved of; she had her three best friends and she was happy, despite –A and their stunts.

Spencer's life was complicated, that wasn't new. To make things worse, it had to appear - completely out of the blue - this crazy -A bitch, whom probably killed Alison and now had developed the hobby to play with her and her friend's lives, like they were dolls in their hands. Fucking insane. The fact that, maybe, this person was her own sister was absolutely creepy. She regretted even more kissing her fiancé, Wren. She knew it was a mistake the moment it happened, but it was already too late; he was cute, and so much different from every other boy Melissa had ever brought home. And that accent, damn. But it was a mistake nonetheless, they both knew it. So she welcomed and enjoyed this British distraction as much as she could, before putting an end on something that simply was not destined to be. So she focused on more important things, like trying to figure out who was their stalker and why. In order to do so, she had to face a lot of unpleasant things, like her family's secrets - she swore the Hastings' held at least half of all the secrets of Rosewood, if not the entire Pennsylvania. And if there was something she hated with passion, was to be kept in the dark. She seeked the truth, no matter what. Maybe that was why she found herself so drawn to Toby: he was one of the very few people in her life who never lied to her.

Aria too kept a pretty big secret from her family and her friends: she met a very attractive boy on the first day she came back from Iceland. A boy that happened to be her English teacher, she soon discovered, and in the most embarrassing way possible. If drama didn't follow her...Still, the pull they felt towards each other was too strong to be ignored – not that they seriously considered for a moment to ignore it – and so they started a secret relationship, at first at least. With –A around nothing can be kept a secret for more than a week. When her friends found out they were shocked, Spencer a bit more than the others, but they only wanted their tiny friend to be happy so they all came to terms with it. And honestly, it was a huge relief for Aria knowing that she could count on her friends and talk to them about Ezra and all. Things are not that great when you have to hide your love.

And actually, that was something Hanna knew all too well. Yes, she was still pining over Spencer and her unrequited love for the brunette. Even now that she had what could be defined the perfect boyfriend.

When she and Caleb met, she was instantly intrigued by this guy. He was handsome, yeah, but that was something she noticed only an instant later. The very first impression she had of him was that he had something 'familiar' to her that she couldn't quite figure out. After all, he was the mysterious type, all dark and brooding. But when they started to talk, and hang out, and finally date, she learned that he was a great guy: he had a tough past that made him guarded, but he was actually really sweet and caring. He was a huge nerd, but he had a witty, sarcastic side that was irresistible. He was also smart and so incredibly kind, when he wanted to be. And he was easy on the eyes, too. She felt so lucky, until one day:

[Flashback]

"Wow, I just realized something!" Emily suddenly exclaimed. They were all sitting on their usual table for lunch break.

"What?" Spencer asked, always the curious one.

"You! And Hanna!" the swimmer pointed at each one of them.

"We what, Em?" the blonde asked anxiously. All of a sudden she was interested in the current conversation.

"You guys are practically dating each other!" Emily said, laughing hard along with a very amused Aria.

"Oh my God, it's true!" the tiny brunette yelled.

"WE WHAT?" Hanna and Spencer yelled even louder, both dumbstruck.

"Well, not really each other, but the male versions of you. I mean, Toby and Hanna share a lot of qualities: they're both blonde with blue eyes, they're kind of sweet, like puppies, but they are also always honest and blunt – so much so that sometimes you want to strangle them" Emily explained, still chuckling.

"That… that doesn't make any sense. Em, are you sure you didn't hit your head earlier during gym class?" Spencer asked truly concerned, remembering the incident that occured earlier.

"Shut up!" Emily muttered embarrassed – she had slipped on the wet floor while running out of the locker room, giving quite the show to her classmates. They were still giggling at her expenses.

"Oh no no Spence, she's right! I had the same thought! Actually, are you sure Caleb isn't your long lost twin? You guys are so alike in so many ways" Aria pondered.

"Okay, this conversation is ridiculous" Spencer said, while Hanna was uncharacteristically quiet. "Besides, it's a common occurrence to find attractive people who possess different qualities from your own ones" the brunette continued.

"Yeah, I see that" Emily snorted; "The only thing you and Toby have in common is that you both have butt chins" the brunette chuckled again.

"WHA – " Spencer playfully gasped; "Em, you're so going to pay for this!" she was now laughing too, along with her friends.

"Oh don't worry Spence, we love you and your butt chin. It's so cute" Hanna (not so) mockingly cooed.

That was the moment when realization struck her. What had started as an innocent joke between friends ended up to make her see things under a new perspective, one she had not considered until now – deliberately or not, she didn't knew.

She was between a rock and a hard place; the truth was that she actually came to care a great deal about Caleb. She didn't know if she was in love with him, but she loved him – of this she was sure. Then again, it was hard not to love someone who was practically everything she ever wanted, even if he wasn't exactly the person she always imagined herself with.

But that was it: while things with Spencer existed only in her head, and every dream she ever had about the two of them together was destined to remain exactly that, just a dream, a childish obsession even; with Caleb she could have a future. For all she knew, he could have been the real deal. He was amazing, and he was available, and he wanted her; actually, no one had ever made her feel so desired, not even Sean and certainly never Spencer, not in that way at least. Besides, the brunette was happily in love with Toby so why was so hard for her to completely let go of her feelings for her best friend? She decided to try nonetheless.

'If only I could bring myself to fall in love with him' Hanna thought while stepping inside her house. She tried to navigate the hallway without making a sound - she didn't want her mother to know how late she was.

"Hanna, is that you?" Ashley yelled from upstairs.

'Shit'.

"Yes mom, I was just…"

"coming back from your date. How is Caleb doing?" The redhead finished for her daughter.

"Well" Hanna rolled her eyes. Her mother didn't like the boy, that much was obvious. She didn't know why, though.

"You know, I can't understand why you hate him so much. You don't even know him" the blonde voiced her thoughts.

"Hanna, I don't hate Caleb. It's just that I don't trust him" Ashley replied.

"Well then trust me, he's the perfect guy and he's so good to me" Hanna smiled a little hesitantly. Her mother, of course, noticed.

"I trust you honey, I just want you to be happy and safe. With whoever you decide is worthy enough to be by your side" the woman replied slightly cryptically. "One that cares about your curfew, hopefully?!" she arched her eyebrow expectantly.

Hanna just scowled in response and the redhead retired for the night chuckling to herself. After all, a mother knows best.

A/N: Hey there! So, I'm back from my trip and I-am-so-so-soooo-beat. But here's a new chapter; though I feel like is kinda rushed I still hope you'll enjoy it. Like always, let me know what you think if you feel like it ;)

P.S.: I hope with this I answered your question, TheMidnightSociety :D

I wanted to insert Caleb because I think he's a huge part of Hanna's life and someone who helped her to grow up (same for Spencer and Toby), in the show and in this story. Obviously, this is an AU so things are inevitably different, but I wanted to stay true on this – does it make sense?

Oh and Spanna is endgame, I wouldn't have it any other way ;D Actually, in the next chapter there will be maybe the real turning point in their relationship. I hope you all will stay with me to read it. In the meantime, thank you all for reading, reviewing and following! I'm so glad for your support :)