So... chapter three. The way the stories seems to have planned itself I think there should be about 2 more chapters, unless something goes crazy in the writing process. Hope you guys like it!

"Thanks, man," Caleb smiled as Toby handed him a coffee. He was a bit surprised when Toby called him. They had been friends before, but it was always kind of based on the sidekick-boyfriend thing they had in common. Anyway, Caleb hadn't spoken to him since he'd left for Ravenswood and honestly, he wouldn't have been surprised if Spencer had laid down some don't-talk-to-Caleb law.

"No problem, it's good to have you back," Toby replied, sipping on his own cup.

"Is it?" Caleb asked, looking doubtful, "Not sure everyone here is my biggest fan right now."

"Yeah, okay, Spencer was pretty pissed off", Toby chuckled, "But I think they're all glad you're back. Can't hurt to have another person on the team."

"And what game are we playing, exactly?" Caleb asked as they started walking down the street.

Toby paused, taking a long sip of his coffee and frowned, "I think the only person who really knows is Alison."

"Ahh," Caleb nodded, somehow not surprised by this. Alison still seemed to be at the centre of most things. "You know, I feel like I should maybe meet her. Especially now that she's, you know, not dead."

Toby grinned again, but it was obvious this was serious stuff. "Careful what you wish for."

Caleb looked around as they turned a corner. It was kind of nice to just walk around Rosewood. This town had been his home for a pretty long time, compared to all his other stints. And despite everything, he still felt more at home here than anywhere else.

"Seriously though, have you seen her since she's come back? I just... From all the stuff I've heard, I can't believe Hanna was friends with her."

Toby paused, obviously gathering his thoughts. "Sometimes I think she's way too twisted to be a real person. Spencer says she's changed, but I get the feeling things aren't as different as Ali would like us to think." He sounded concerned, and disappointed, and Caleb got it. Everything should've been fixed with Alison coming back, but that would have been too easy.

"Caleb?" A voice called out suddenly and Caleb looked up. Travis was leaning against his truck, parked in front of the ice cream store. He was smiling, but managed to look confused at the same time.

"Hey man, what's up?" Caleb asked, extending his hand out when they got close enough. . Travis took it, but glanced at the store as he did so. Caleb hadn't seen him, or really thought about him since Travis had helped Ashley out last year. The guy always seemed nice enough though, if you looked past the dusty pick-up truck.

"Okay, here's your gross banana milkshake -" an all too familiar voice spoke suddenly and Caleb turned around to see Hanna walking out of the store with two milkshakes in a takeaway tray. Her eyes widened for a split second, before she forced a smile and walked over to them, holding it out to Travis, who took one of the large cups.

Caleb swallowed, piecing together what was happening. But it's not like he could say anything; he hadn't actually replied to her last few messages. Or her calls. Or her email. He just wasn't sure whether it was good for them to be hanging out. He didn't want to make things overly complicated for her, and judging by the scene in front of him, they easily could be.

"Thanks b-" Travis stopped short, and glanced at Caleb before forcing a smile. "Look who's back in town! Caleb, when did you get back?"

Caleb looked from Travis to Hanna, who was biting her lip and trying not to make eye contact with him. She obviously hadn't told Travis that she'd seen him. And she definitely hadn't told him that she'd been hanging out with Travis. It's not like she had to tell him anything, he reminded himself and he tried to settle the simmering in his head. "Uh, last week, actually.

"Oh, cool," Travis said, not even bothered trying to feign excitement, "It'll be good to see you around."

"Uh huh," Hanna practically grunted, "We should go. Bye!" She ushered Travis towards his truck and they quickly drove off.

"Dude," Toby suddenly spoke up, and honestly Caleb had forgotten he was even there. "She didn't tell you?"

Caleb shook his head, "She didn't. It's not like she has to tell me anything anyway," he shrugged, trying to be casual about it.

Toby raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but didn't say anything except mention he'd just upgraded his Xbox at his place. And in that moment, Toby was the best friend he'd ever had.

They drove for about five minutes, just listening to the radio, before Travis finally glanced at her and finally asked the question that had been lingering in the truck since they had gotten in.

"So, you didn't know Caleb was back?"

She took a long gulp of her milkshake, taking her time before answering, "Why would I know that?"

Travis shrugged his shoulders, "I guess I'm just kind of surprised that he didn't come to see you."

"Travis, he broke up with me." Hanna looks at him, narrowing her eyes. She shouldn't even be this annoyed with him, but seeing Caleb had thrown her. She didn't know what she'd done to Caleb, but he was doing a great job of pretending she didn't exist and it was eating away at her. And she couldn't talk to Travis, because it hadn't even crossed her mind to tell him about seeing Caleb in the first place.

"Are you okay with him being back in town?" Glancing over, she saw his jaw was clenched, like he already expected the wrong answer.

She took a mouthful of her own milkshake, mulling over the question in her head. A week ago the answer might have been simpler, but now Caleb's ignoring her and the whole thing is giving her a headache. "Whatever, if he doesn't want to talk to me, he doesn't have to."

Travis didn't say anything, and it took Hanna a minute to realise she hadn't even answered his question.

...

"Sorry I'm late!" Emily said as she walked into Aria's living room, Spencer holding the door open for her. "My dad skyped my mom so I wanted to say hi."

"Maybe if you actually answered your phone, we wouldn't have to worry." Hanna muttered, glancing at her phone once again. She had hoped that Caleb would have called her after seeing her earlier, but he stayed silent as ever. And her mood was just getting worse.

"I was driving when you called," Emily frowned, glancing at the other girls.

"And we weren't even worried, you're only like 10 minutes late," Aria nodded, before giving Hanna a look that clearly said chill-out. Or shut-up.

"Hanna, is everything okay? You've been in a weird mood all afternoon," Ali said, moving so she was sat next to Hanna on the couch. Her voice was soft, but Hanna knew that tone. She'd heard that tone too many times, in different forms of advice.

"My mood is normal," she snapped, crossing her arms. She looked up to see Spencer looking at her, more with concern than annoyance. Toby must have told her what happened in front of the ice cream place. She hadn't really had a chance to talk to them about Caleb being back in town, they'd all been so busy trying to help Ali. "Can we just get on with this? Do we even have any new information?"

The other girls were quiet for a minute; the air heavy with frustration. Finally, Spencer sighed and took her laptop out of her bag. "Look, I was looking going through some news archives online..."

Caleb was halfway through the first film of a Bruce Lee marathon on TV when someone knocked on the door. He put his beer on the floor, since his new tiny furnished place didn't come with a coffee table and went to answer it.

"Hanna?" his heart sort of plummeted when he saw hers, because she had that look on her face that looked like anger but actually meant she was upset. She arms were crossed across her chest and she stared at him until he stepped aside and motioned for her to come inside.

"You've been avoiding me." She said as soon as he had closed the door.

He took a breath; he should have known she wouldn't have let him just drop off the face of the earth. "I'm not avoiding you, I've been busy. I told you I have a lot of stuff to do for school."

She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him. "Yeah, well, I think Spencer wants her boyfriend back. And I want to know why you've been avoiding me."

He sighed; she wasn't going to make this easy. Even though all he wanted was to make this easier for her.

She stared at him for a while longer, "You can't just come back to town, and then drop me when you get tired of me."

What? She didn't honestly believe that's why he'd kept his distance, did she? He shook his head quickly, "You said my coming back ruined everything. I thought you wanted me to leave."

Her gaze softened, confused. "What? I never said that."

He glanced around the room, taking a deep breath before looking back at her. "Hanna. I get it, okay. I deserve it. Just... Just tell me to go and I'll go."

Now Hanna shook her head, frown on her face. "That's not – that's the last thing I want!"

Now he was confused. Last week she was telling him he'd screwed everything up and now she was taking it all back. "Hanna, you said I was... toxic. I don't want to be that for you-"

"Caleb!" Her eyes widened suddenly, as she interrupted, "I wasn't talking about you."

"What?"

She sighed, and he knew from the look on her face she didn't like what she was about to say. "I was talking about Ali."

"Alison?"

"Why do you think I'm wearing combat boots and have black streaks in my hair? I've put on 5 pounds since she started coming to school again. I know I should be happy that she's home but things are just getting worse. Everything is still so complicated and none of us are safe and every time she looks at me like she knows something I don't I just feel like losing it-"

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her before she could finish another sentence, and by the time her head was one his shoulder he could tell she was crying quietly. It hurt; it always hurt when she was hurting but he just closed his eyes and held her tighter. He didn't know what he could do for her, and he hated being so helpless when all he wanted to do was help her. She rested her broken arms against his back as she hugged him back and his hurt grew into anger. He should have been here for her. Months ago, and last week. He should have been here.

She pulled away slightly, squeezing her wets eyes, "I'm such a bad person. My best friend is home. And alive. And I'm mad about it!" Her voice cracked slightly, and he watched her squeeze away more tears.

"Hanna," he said gently, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know you. And I know your friends, your real friends. I don't know if she's one of them."

They stood quietly for a moment, as Hanna moved her hand from Caleb shoulder to wipe her eyes. "I want to forget about being angry. Or scared. I just want to relax!"

Caleb nodded, smiling slightly. This was something he could do. "So let's relax, right now." Hanna looked up at him, a doubtful expression on her face. He just smiled a little wider, "I'm serious. Whatever you want: Real housewives marathon? Cool ranch Doritos? Those homemade facemasks you always wanted me to try-"

And then she kissed him.

And he kissed back. His hands were on her waist almost immediately and she'd wrapped her arms around his neck so that she was pressed against him. And it felt like it was supposed to. Her fingers played with the hair at the back of his neck, although there was barely enough to pull on now, like she used to. It was as if he's learning how perfectly her body fit with his all over again. Not that he'd ever forgotten. He couldn't remember why Hanna was here, he couldn't even remember why he got in that jeep to go back to Ravenswood. All he could think about was not wanting to stop kissing her. Not wanting to ever let her go again.

He moved a hand up to her cheek and stilled her, pulling away slightly. They were both breathing heavily, and Hanna looked up at him confused and concerned. And all he wanted to do was to kiss that look off her face. But he knew he couldn't.

"Hanna..." he said under his breath. He didn't know how to say what he wanted to say, how to ask what he wanted to ask.

She gazed up at him, and moved one hand from his neck to meet his hand at her cheek. She pulled it gently, and grasped it in her own, offering him a slight smile.

The credits rolled on the TV and she glanced to Caleb, not sure what would happen now. She knew why he had stopped the kiss: neither of them knew what was happening around them or between them. But she also knew she just needed to be near him right now, despite the simmer she feels in her heart when she's with him, he also made her feel calm and safe. More so than anyone else in this town.

He'd been surprised when she offered to stay and watch kung fu movies with him. She'd never told him this, obviously, but she never minded being forced to watch them when they were together. And besides, she didn't really care what they watched; she just wanted to be next to him for a while.

Finally he glanced back at her, his lips quirking up. They looked at each other for a moment and Hanna felt an overwhelming desire to kiss him again. Or even just to be in his arms.

"Hey, thanks for the pizza," Caleb said suddenly, nodding toward the empty pizza box on the floor. They'd ordered it before the second movie, and she'd insisted on paying, pulling out her wallet before he could even get off the couch. But his eyes locked onto hers and she knew he wasn't really thinking about the pizza.

She smiled, "Thanks for tonight. I really needed this."

"Which part?" He grinned and she started to blush. She couldn't deny, both parts were pretty good. So she looked back to the rolling credits, studied them for a bit until it passed. When she turned back to him he looked concerned.

"I meant what I said, Hanna. If you need anything, I'm here," he said seriously, leaning over to take her hand in his.

She had no idea where to go from here. She had no idea what to do about Ali, about Travis, about A. But when she squeezed Caleb's hand she felt less lost than she had in weeks.