Hanna is still sitting next to Ashley on the couch when her phone starts to ring on the coffee table. She grabs it while checking the screen. It's Jordan.
Hanna "I'll be right back" she says to her mom and goes up the stairs. Obviously, Chocolate follows her. "Hey, baby" she says on the phone while closing the door of her bedroom after the dog gets in as well. "I was waiting for your call" she says, a little unsure, and hoping her fiancée isn't too mad at her.
Jordan "Hi, Han" he simply says.
Hanna "I'm sorry I didn't go there as I promised, are you mad at me?" she goes straight to the point.
Jordan "Mad is not the word… honestly, I feel a little disappointed… I was really counting on you"
Hanna sits on the edge of the bed "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise"
Jordan "Just like you promised me you would be here tonight?"
Hanna "Please, don't make me feel even worse than I already do… You know I would have gone there if it wasn't for-"
Jordan "I know, I know" he says calm. "I know how much having your dog back means to you… I just… it makes me see like an idiot, I told everyone I would bring my fiancée with me tonight and now, well… I guess I'll have to just make up some excuse… this dinner is such a big deal to my dad"
Hanna "I'm sorry" she says again and lays down on the bed. But gets no answer from Jordan, so she changes the subject "I miss you. Are you coming back here when you are done?"
Jordan "No… I'll stay here for another week… I guess I'll see you back in New York"
Hanna "Okay…" she only says, although she knows she won't make it to New York in just a week, but they having to move to a new place because of Chocolate is not a subject to bring up right now that Jordan is upset.
Jordan "Well, I have to go"
Hanna "Fine… call me later, please"
Jordan "Uh huh"
Hanna "I miss you" she says again. "Do you miss me?"
Jordan "Yes, Han"
Hanna "Tell me that you miss me, please"
Jordan "I miss you…"
Hanna smiles slightly.
Jordan "I'm just too upset to say it right now" he adds and Hanna's smile fades away.
Hanna "Okay. Call me back tonight before you go to sleep… I love you…" she says although she doesn't expect to hear him saying it back.
Jordan "Bye, Han" he says and hangs up.
Hanna remains lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling for minutes until her phone starts to ring again, interrupting her thoughts.
Hanna "Hey, Em" she greets her friend.
Emily "Hi Han… we are getting together at Spencer's, Toby is grilling some hamburgers, you are in, right?"
Hanna "I'm not exactly in the mood, Em… and I just came home from Spencer's"
Emily "Come on, it will be fun… besides, it's such a beautiful night, we are gonna be out in the backyard, having some drinks, you can bring Chocolate"
Hanna "I don't know, Em"
Emily "Please? We all will be there… I'm picking you up in an hour, fine?"
Hanna "Okay, fine…"
Emily "Perfect!" she says excited before ending the call.
/
Hanna, Emily, Alison and Chocolate get inside Spencer's and Toby's house after Ezra opens the door for them.
Ezra "We are in the backyard" he says after greeting the girls.
They all go through the house until they reach the kitchen where a sliding glass door connects the house with the backyard. Ezra, Emily and Alison go outside while Hanna stays in the kitchen in order to put some bottles that she brought in the fridge. When she is done, she looks at her dog.
Hanna "Come on, babe" she says in a warm voice to him and goes outside as well. *Shit* is the word that comes to her mind when she looks up and spots Caleb standing next to Toby. If she was barely in the mood to come, having to deal with this guy for the third time in the day makes it even worse. "Hey everyone" she just says, greeting them all at once in order to avoid having to talk to him.
But of course, Chocolate approaches Caleb and greets him excitedly, and that annoys Hanna, making her mood lower.
Caleb "Wow! Twice in a day! I wasn't expecting this at all" he smiles, happy to get to hang with Chocolate again, while stroking the dog's fur.
Hanna can't help but roll her eyes and goes sit next to Emily at the picnic table.
Caleb "Hi, Chocolate!" he says to the dog, still caressing him.
Emily looks confused at Hanna and so does Alison, but Aria is the one who speaks out.
Aria "Did we miss something?" she asks, since all that she and the girls know about Caleb is that he is Toby's and Spencer's new neighbor and they don't get how he could know the dog.
Hanna shrugs. "Ask him, I'm just a crazy bitch" she quotes Caleb's words from earlier that day.
Aria turns her gaze to Caleb, but Caleb smiles at Hanna. "Hey, I said I was sorry, I thought we were okay now" he says while walking toward her. "I'm the freaking thief who stole Chocolate" he says playfully, quoting the words that Hanna used to refer to him as well and he rests his arm over Hanna's shoulders.
Hanna "Keep your hands off me" she says annoyed and pushes his arm away.
Emily smiles amused at Caleb's sassiness.
Aria "What a coincidence" she says and sits at the table as well.
Spencer approaches Hanna and pours her some beer.
Alison "So, where are you from?"
Caleb shrugs. "Many places… I was in Allentown during the last year, though… and the two previous years in London, because of work"
Emily "Really? And what do you do for living?"
Caleb "Computer security… I keep the hackers out…"
Hanna "What a nerd" she rolls her eyes.
Caleb "Hey!" he says amused and elbows her softly.
Aria "That sounds interesting" she says with a smile, trying to be kind after Hanna's comment.
The group keep talking but Hanna is absent-minded and not paying attention to them when she gets a text. "Hey! What's fucking wrong with you? Why the fuck aren't you here?". It's a text from George, Jordan's best friend and his father's campaign manager.
Hanna stands up without saying a word and gets into the house.
Caleb "Is she always like this?" he asks, noticing Hanna's low mood.
Emily shakes her head and stands up as well to go after Hanna. Aria follows her.
When Emily and Aria get in the kitchen, Hanna is standing there, resting her back against the counter, typing on her phone.
Emily "You okay?"
Hanna looks up at her "I'm just not in the mood to be here… I shouldn't have come in the first place, I don't wanna ruin the night for you guys"
Aria "Is this because of Caleb?"
Hanna "What? No!… that stupid guy is not even important enough to make me upset"
Emily "So? What is it?"
Hanna sighs "Nothing… It's just… things aren't coming out as I wish" she grabs her purse. "Can you please take me home, Em?"
Emily "Are you sure?"
Hanna nods.
Aria "Please, stay… talk to us"
Hanna "Not now… I just wanna go home…"
Aria "Okay… I'll go for Chocolate then"
Hanna "Thank you"
Aria goes out, back to the backyard where Chocolate is playing with Caleb and Toby, running and jumping all around them.
Aria "Hey, Chocolate, let's go" she calls for him, but the dog doesn't pay attention to her. So, Caleb intervenes.
Caleb "Hey, come here, buddy" he says to the dog while approaching Aria and Chocolate goes along with him.
Aria "Hanna is leaving, can you take him inside, with her?"
Caleb nods. "Sure"
When Caleb gets in the kitchen with Chocolate, Emily goes outside to get her purse and there's an awkward silence until Caleb breaks the ice.
Caleb "Are you leaving?"
Hanna "Yeah"
Caleb "Why?"
Hanna "Why do you even care? You don't even know me"
Caleb shrugs. "Just asking… I know you aren't too happy to hang out with me, I didn't even know you would come when Toby invited me, but I thought we were okay now, anyway I-"
Hanna cuts him off. "Oh, please. You are not the reason why I'm leaving. Besides, I wasn't hanging out with you, I was hanging out with my friends and you happened to be there too, that's all"
Caleb "Well, I'll leave anyway, you should stay"
Hanna "No, I'm leaving because I wanna leave, you stay"
Hanna's phone interrupts them. She takes a look at the screen and it's George. She sighs before answering the call. "Hey" it's all that she says before the yelling starts to be heard through her phone although it is not even on speaker. "What the shit, Hanna? You were fucking supposed to be here, damn it! What the fuck were you thinking? Are you serious? You are such a selfish bitch! Fuck! I can't believe you!" he cusses her out.
Hanna is baffled when she opens her mouth to reply, but before she has the chance to say a word, Caleb snatches her phone from her hand and slides his finger on the screen, hanging up on George.
Hanna "What the fuck do you think you are doing?" she yells at him, really annoyed.
Caleb shrugs. "Something you should have done yourself but you didn't have the balls… you shouldn't let anyone yell at you like that" he says while handing her phone back to her.
Hanna rolls her eyes and takes her phone. "Well, it wasn't your call, mind your own business, you freak! You didn't have the right to do such a thing! What the hell is wrong with you? Stop meddling in my life. I barely met you yesterday but yet somehow you managed to ruin my last year. I tried to be nice to you today, but damn! You are such a pain in the ass! You are so annoying! You are such an annoying nosy idiot dog thief!" she says, even more annoyed than before "What an annoying-ass you are!" she adds at the end.
But all that she gets from Caleb is a laugh.
Caleb "Okay, so now I am not only a dog thief but also an annoying nosy… idiot…" he says amused and bites his bottom lip while smiling.
Hanna wasn't expecting that reaction from him at all, and it takes her by surprise, so she forces herself to remain serious and hold back a little smile that threatens to escape from her lips.
Caleb "Oh, and a pain in the ass too, I forgot that one" he adds then and smiles amused once more.
Hanna "Fuck you" she says but this time, her lips curl up into a smile.
Caleb laughs and makes Hanna smile even more.
Hanna "I hate you"
Caleb "You can't hate me, you don't even know me" he jokes, using her words against her again.
Hanna "Yeah, I assure you that I can and I do" she jokes back.
Caleb "Anyway, seriously, why are you leaving? If it is not me… Is there anything going on with any of the guys? They all seem pretty cool…"
Hanna "No, of course not… It's just that… there are some things that aren't going so well… and… well, nothing, I just wanna go home"
Caleb "Go home and what? Be miserable all alone? Just stay here with your friends and have a good time, that's what friends are for" he casually says while caressing Chocolate's head, who has just sat down next to him.
Hanna just stares at him.
Caleb "Really… I mean, is there anything you could do to make things better from home? I don't know what's going on in your life, but-"
Emily gets in the room, interrupting Caleb. "Ready?" she asks while going through her purse, looking for her car keys.
Hanna "Well, I actually… I'll stay" she says and Caleb gives her a smile.
/
It's five in the morning when Caleb comes out from the house after using the bathroom just to find Hanna in the same position that she was when he went into the house a few minutes ago, she's sitting in a garden armchair, wrapped in a blanket, but she is using her phone now, since Toby and Spencer are still sitting on the couch next to her, but they are making out now, instead of chatting with Hanna as they were some minutes before. Aria and Ezra left early, shortly after dinner, and Emily and Alison left just half an hour ago, both of them really wasted, but although Caleb offered to give them a ride, they took a cab, leaving Emily's car behind.
Caleb "Seems like we should leave these two alone" he says amused while having seat in another armchair at the other side of Hanna.
Hanna raises her gaze from her phone and looks at him. "Welcome to my world, I'm always the third wheel in this group of friends" they start chatting, ignoring the horny couple next to them.
Caleb chuckles. "It's always like this?"
Hanna nods. "Yeah… well, they all have been dating since high school, so… yes"
Toby stands up from the couch, carrying Spencer along with him, holding her from the back of her thighs and making her giggle. "Well, guys… I'm… whatever, you can stay as long as you want" he says without bothering to explain anything as he goes into the house with her drunk girlfriend in his arms.
Hanna "Hey! It's very rude of you two to go fuck when you still have guests at your place" she yells at them.
Caleb laughs and then looks back at Hanna who is back at typing on her phone. That's when he gets to see the diamond ring on her finger.
Caleb "Why are you always the third wheel? Isn't your fiancée part of this group of friends too?"
Hanna puts down her phone. "No… Jordan is some years older than us… and well, he is not from here, so he only got to hang out with them a few times"
Caleb "Where is he from?"
Hanna "New York… I moved in with him some months ago"
Caleb nods.
Hanna "I'm here just to visit the guys, and my mom… I'm going back to New York in a couple weeks"
Caleb turns his gaze to Chocolate who has been sleeping on the floor next to Hanna almost the whole night and stares at him.
Hanna notices that. "I'm sorry… I'm taking him with me. I won't leave him behind, I can't…. But I promise I will let you see him at least once a day until we leave"
Caleb nods. "Thank you" it's all that he says, because he can't ask her for any more. It's her dog after all.
There remain silent for a few seconds until Hanna talks again.
Hanna "Why didn't you tell me about what happened with your grandpa?"
Caleb "Because there's no excuse for what I did… I shouldn't have left the town with a dog that wasn't mine"
Hanna "Well, still… I can't assure you that I wouldn't have yelled at you the way I did if you had told me about it, but I don't know… I would probably have understood you a little better"
Caleb smiles at her. "I'm sorry for calling you a crazy bitch… it was so wrong. I felt really bad when I found out that you were there to let me see Chocolate while I was talking shit about you without even knowing you"
Hanna "It's okay, I'm sorry too, I treated you like shit too… and I have to admit you took good care of my baby" she smiles back.
Caleb "So, you don't hate me after all?"
Hanna chuckles. "Well, I had a really good time tonight thanks to you for making me stay, so let's just say that I don't hate you anymore, I only despise you now" she jokes.
Caleb laughs. "Well, that's much better, I guess"
Hanna stands up from her seat. "I should get going… it's quite late"
Caleb stands up too. "Do you need a ride?"
Hanna "No, it's okay… I've got these" she says showing up to him the keys to Emily's car.
Once they leave the house, Caleb walks Hanna and Chocolate to Emily's car. Once Hanna gets the dog in the back of the car, she turns to Caleb and hands him her phone.
Hanna "Add your number. Let's stay in touch and I'll let you know when you can come over and pick Chocolate up, like taking him for a walk or… I can take him here too if you want…"
Caleb smiles while typing on her phone. "May I text myself so I get your number as well?" he asks then.
Hanna "Sure"