As the foursome sat at the table, quietly eating their meal, a car's tires were heard outside the house. A frown appeared on Caleb's face as he really hadn't expected more company. He groaned when he saw the person crossing the villa's garden. Spencer, who had been following the direction where his eyes were looking, chuckled.
-'This really isn't your day, is it?' Spencer whispered to him because she knew what a difficult person the new guest was. Seeing her walk over to their table definitely made everyone except Hanna stop eating. Toby frowned and Hanna grabbed an water bottle and poured it into her glass emptying it.
-'Toby did you want some water? Is that why you look so mad at me?' Hanna watched him as he moved his head slightly. Before he could answer her, Hanna heard a knock at the door. She turned around and watched as Caleb placed his napkin on the table.
-'I think that you should answer the door before she breaks in. You know she's capable of doing it'. Toby's cold voice and narrowed eyes surprised Hanna, who turned her head towards Spencer, searching her face for an explanation. Spencer shook her head and mouthed a 'later' to Hanna as a blonde woman entered the kitchen, followed by an visibly irritated Caleb.
-'Well, darling, when you said you had company I must confess I wasn't expecting to see team 'Spoby' here and that they brought a friend too.' Alison DiLaurentis walked inside and headed straight for the bar. She opened it,but immediately closed it once she noticed, that there were no beverages inside. Alison pursed her lips together and turned her head towards Caleb, who was now standing close to Hanna.
-'Alison, what do you want? As you can see, we were having dinner and you're interrupting us'. Hanna placed her napkin on the table and leaned in her chair as she studied the woman in front of her. Judging by the way everyone was reacting she was probably Caleb's famous ex-wife.
-'Now, now, Caleb is this any way to treat your ex-wife? I only came here to drop off the formal invitations for the charity ball next week. You are coming I presume? With a date? I know that your step-mother is dead set on finding someone to replace me soon so I thought I would give her a hand and bring the invites. Naturally Spencer and Toby are invited as well...'
Hanna suddenly recalled a period of her teenage years and a light bulb turned on in her head. She remembered Alison always calling her hefty and making fun of her. It was right before she and Spencer had become room mate. Once they started living together, Spencer had helped Hanna move on from Allison's bullying.
-'As I already told Michelle on the phone, I am coming to the charity ball and as for my date, I'm bringing ...'
-'Me. He's bringing me. Isn't that right, baby?' Hanna turned her head and smiled at Caleb, while Toby tried to keep himself from bursting into laughter at seeing Alison's shocked expression. Spencer quickly picked up on Hanna's idea and smiled softly at her, while Caleb kept his face emotionless.
-'Alison, I hope that you can forgive Caleb's poor manners for not introducing Hanna, his girlfriend. To be perfectly honest, they surprised us all when they announced that they were dating. Hanna is, after all, my closest friend and she managed to keep it a secret from me'.
-'Oh wow, I had no idea you were dating someone. Well in that case, I guess we'll see each other at the party next week. Enjoy your dinner and sorry for interrupting. Goodbye'. Alison dropped the invites on the kitchen counter and marched out of the house. As soon as she did so Spencer muttered a 'don't let the door hit you on your way out' before she and Toby started laughing.
Caleb groaned as he turned his head towards Hanna. He wasn't pleased or amused at all by the current turn of events. He also noticed Hanna was tightly gripping his hand, telling him she wasn't ok with what had just happened either.
Once everyone finished dinner, Hanna watched as Spencer, accompanied by Toby, walked to her car. She grumpily handed over her car keys to him and sat in the back while Toby drove the car away. She shook her head as she saw the unhappy look on Spencer's face as the car pulled out of the driveway. Hanna returned to the kitchen to see that Caleb had started clearing u the table.
Hanna started doing the dishes while Caleb finished cleaning the table and kitchen counter. She thought about everything that she had learned about Caleb that day. After she finished washing the last dish she turned around and spotted Caleb leaning on the kitchen counter, studying her.
-'Look Caleb, I'm sorry I put you in an uncomfortable position earlier today. It was not my intention. I don't want things between us to get awkward.' Caleb silenced Hanna by gently pressing his finger to her lips. She raised her eyes to look at him and saw that he was smiling warmly at her.
-'Relax Hanna. Everything will work out just fine except now we both have to attend this charity ball'. Hanna turned her head and watched their reflections in the window. As she did so Caleb softly caressed her neck absently while he continued talking. 'My ex wife, as you can probably imagine, has probably started gossiping to her mom about my new "girlfriend" as soon as she left'.
-'I know it's not my place to ask you this, but you seem like a very decent guy. Just how on Earth did you end up marrying a woman like Alison? And yes I know who she is and what she's capable of. There was a time in my life when she used to bully me. Say hello to 'hefty Hanna' things changed after I met Spencer.'
-'After I left the Air Force, I hit the ground for a while. I had seen far too many things while I was an airman. I then met Alison and she seemed so full of light and I got caught up by her flame as quickly as a moth is. At the time I believed she was different so I married her. I ended things with her when I found out that she was cheating on me.'
Caleb walked over to the fridge and took out a pitcher of lemonade. He then took two glasses out of the cupboard and poured some for both of them. Caleb handed Hanna he glass and they walked outside on the porch and watched the garden.
-'Again, I'm sorry for getting in between the two of you today. It was not my place to do so'. Hanna avoided Caleb's glance by staring at the garden. She cursed under her breath as she realized she was definitely intrigued by Caleb.
-'I'm glad you did. Seeing her expression was pure comedy, but it's probably best if you are kept away from Alison for now.' Hearing Caleb's words Hanna suddenly felt out of place as she realized she shouldn't have gotten involved between the pair of ex spouses.
-'I understand. Well I'm off to bed now. It's been a very long and eventful day for me. Have a good night, Caleb'. Hanna sat her glass down on the outside table and attempted to move to pass Caleb and enter the house.
Caleb cursed himself as he heard Hanna's sudden sad tone of voice. Feeling as though he kicked her puppy, he grabbed her arm and dragged her inside the house, closing the door with his foot. He pulled her back in his arms as Hanna gave a surprised gasp.
Caleb kissed her with passion, his hands kept her body pressed against his and her arms looped around his neck as he pushed her against the wall. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him, his hand grabbed her ass and kept in place as their lips battle for dominance.
When he finally let go of her both of them were having trouble breathing. Hanna ran her hand through his hair and questioned his actions with her eyes. Caleb gave a small sigh before kissing her neck. He raised his head to look back at Hanna and smiled, a hint of sadness showing in his eyes.
-'Fucking hell.' Caleb cursed as he looked into Hanna's baby blue eyes. 'I will assign Jason's team to protect you while I'm going to continue training you. But at this point I'm not foolish enough to risk going down this path. I like you too much and I'm worried that would cloud my judgment and that I won't to be able to keep you safe.'
-'Does this mean you're not my bodyguard anymore?' Hanna's hard breathing was burning Caleb's neck as she spoke, while her heart started beating faster, a faint blush slowly covering her cheeks.
-'Starting tomorrow yes, because, like it or not, I'm supposed to take you to that ball, meaning we're apparently dating as of today.' Caleb lowered Hanna's legs on the ground keeping her hold still until she was able to stand on her feet. 'I have no more will power to fight this so I'll do my best and see what happens next. Also, we need to take you shopping for something appropriate to wear. My step-mom is a very strict lady when it comes to stuff like this. Have a pleasant night, Hanna.'
Hanna smiled as Caleb led her to her room. He kissed her forehead before heading to his own room across the hall. Smiling, she headed inside her bedroom and sat down on the bed and watched the first few stars appear on the evening sky.
Hello everyone,
I know I'm long overdue with updating this fiction. I had a couple of turn of events in my life that have prevented me from doing so. But the good news is that I have finally found my mojo and also the necessary time to start writing new chapters regularly for both 'Protection' and 'Miss me'. I'll try to update them once a week from now on.
Katie this chapter is here because you helped me pass that huge writer's block I had ever since I wrote chapter 7 this summer. The credit for this one belongs to you.
To my anon readers It's always good to hear from you as well.
To my other anon reader sorry for taking so long to update.
Mel2198 I'm not done writing this story yet. But i try to reach it's completion.
I'm now taking the time to thank those three person who have voted on the poll I had open on my page. You guys really helped clear out the way that scene will be in this fiction.
Also I want to ask those of you that have the time to go to Mel 2198's page and check her multichapter stories. We often complain about the lack of good Haleb writers here on the site. So please just check out her story and let her think what you know. Let's encourage her and other new Haleb writers to come forth and start posting stuff.
Kisses,
Nico