Morning after.

Hanna wakes up first. She smiles even before opening her eyes at feeling Caleb's breathing against her forehead. She tilts her head up and is about to kiss his lips when she recalls all the events from the previous day and decides against it. She finally opens her eyes. She is not sure how they ended up cuddling together and even though his arm is around her waist, his grip is loose and she doesn't know if he meant to put his arm there, or if it just ended up there by chance during the night.

Anyway, she is determined to fix things with Caleb that same morning, no matter what. But first, she needs a shower, so she gets up from the bed being as quiet as possible and then slips out of the room to let Caleb sleep a little longer. And although Chocolate does hear her and looks at her, he feels too lazy to get up and so he stays in there with Caleb.

/

An hour later, Hanna is dressed up and with her make-up done. She is not only determined to work things out with Caleb, but also to have a better day than the ones she has had lately. She wants to go back to normal and looking good has always improved her mood a lot.

And besides looking good, she also needs a trip to the mall to get a new cell phone and maybe some other things, and for that, she knows who the best companion would be: Mona. She's always been her shopping partner when they were in high school, and most importantly, she doesn't know about everything she just went through in the last days, so she won't ask questions or feel sorry for her.

But she needs to find a way to reach her. After thinking for a little while, a good option pops into her mind. She knows that her mom must have left her old laptop somewhere in the house, most probably in the main bedroom. After going through her mom's stuff for a while, she finds the laptop, sits on the bed, logs into Facebook and sends a message to Mona.

/

Hanna goes downstairs to the kitchen to make breakfast. After taking a look in the cabinets and in the fridge, she realizes that she is running out of groceries and should probably make a stop at the store later as well. She settles for simple toasts and coffee and after putting the slices of bread in the toaster, she makes her way to the staircase to go wake Caleb up. But before she can climb a step, Chocolate shows up and goes down the stairs.

Hanna "Hi, buddy" she greets the dog with a smile as he approaches her for some caresses. "Wanna go outside?" she asks him while petting his head. She knows that Chocolate needs his morning pee, so she goes let him out to the backyard.

Then she goes back to the kitchen, because if Chocolate finally got up, it means that Caleb is up too and so she decides to just wait for him there.

And indeed, only a few minutes later, Caleb shows up over there. Hanna is pouring the coffee, facing the kitchen counter and he is barefoot, so she doesn't hear him come. He is also shirtless, only wearing sweatpants, and his hair is messy, since he just woke up and only stopped by at the bathroom before going downstairs.

Caleb "Hey" he greets her briefly.

Hanna turns around right away. "Hey" she greets him back and can't help but smile a little at the sight in front of her. He is just too hot and she is not sure if she will ever get over his shirtless torso. "Morning" she adds then and forces her gaze up from his abs to look at his face. And when she does so, she finds his eyes fixed on her too.

He is staring at her. She can't decipher him. His face is serious but she can't tell if he is still upset or if his serious expression is only due to the fact that he just woke up. What she doesn't know is that what caught his attention are her red lips. Just as simple as that. He is still sleepy and finding her all dressed up just captured his attention. He finally reacts and focusing on her eyes, he gives her a soft smile too.

Hanna "How did you sleep?" she asks him, making some conversation, trying to figure out his mood.

But instead of answering to her question, Caleb approaches her and before she knows it, his strong bare arms are around her and he is pulling her to him. Her eyes close automatically as she relaxes in his embrace and squeezes him back, not wanting the moment to end. Every single time he hugs her, she feels like everything around her melts away, the whole world, and nothing else matters. His hugs are addictive. If they could only live in each other's arms forever…

But they can't, and as much as she loves being held by him, Hanna knows that they still have to work things out. Well, actually, she has to do so. Because she was the only one that screwed up. Caleb did nothing wrong.

Hanna is about to pull away from him, but before she can force herself to do so, Caleb takes one of his hands to her hair and moves it back, clearing her neck so he can have better access to her soft skin there. Hanna's mind goes blank at feeling Caleb's lips kissing her neck in such a sweet way. His lips' move is so delicate and feels so good that she even tilts her head to the opposite side to let him go on. She is sunk in the pleasant moment. But when Caleb tightens his grip around her waist, pulls her up and places her on the countertop, she reacts and takes one of her hands to his face to push him away from her neck gently.

Hanna "Caleb…"

Caleb "Don't you want this?" he says softly and crashes his lips against her skin again, but this time on her jawline.

Hanna "I do, but…" she closes her eyes and enjoys his kisses again for a few seconds.

Right when he is about to get to her mouth, she pulls away and takes both her hands to his face this time.

Hanna "We can't pretend yesterday didn't happen, babe… we need to talk" she tells him softly while staring into his eyes.

Caleb "I don't want to talk"

He is about to pull away from her, but Hanna, still sitting on the kitchen counter, wraps her legs around his waist to stop him.

Hanna "It's okay, you don't have to talk" she also wraps her arms around his neck to keep him close and places a tender kiss on his cheek. "Let's just have breakfast and I'll talk… I have some things to tell you…"

Caleb gives her a concerned look.

Hanna "It's not about something else that I fucked up, I promise… it's just about us… I would like to tell you some things… things that I feel I should have said earlier"

Caleb only nods and rests his palms on her thighs.

It's funny how she is asking him to listen to her now when all he wanted from her the day before was exactly the same, he wanted to be heard. But she was too stubborn to hear him out. And she also ignored the few things that he managed to suggest her. But Caleb is not resentful and he would never refuse to listen to her just because she didn't pay attention to him in the first place. And although his anger faded away during the night, he still feels hurt and that's another reason to listen to Hanna now. There's no way that he is going to tell her how he really feels, because he ended up shedding tears the previous night just by thinking about it and that's why he refuses to talk it out with her. He hates feeling weak and he wants to keep it to himself. But listening to her could help him to feel better. He hopes so.

Hanna "Hey" she whispers and makes him look at her.

He didn't realize, but he got lost in his thoughts and ended up looking down, absent-minded.

Hanna gives him a smile. "You okay?"

Caleb "Yeah…" he shoots her a slight, but still honest smile. "let's have breakfast then…"

Hanna "Okay, but first…" she says and connects their mouths in a tender kiss.

They kiss slowly, caressing each other's lips just like Hanna's hands caress his hair softly and Caleb's hands stroke her back gently. And although they add their tongues at some point, it's still a relaxed kiss. It's not one of those kisses that lead to sex, it feels more like a comforting kiss that they both needed after the hard previous day they had.

Caleb "Why are you so dressed up this early?" he asks her after breaking the kiss.

Hanna "It's not early… it's like 11:30" she answers while unwrapping her arms and legs from him.

Caleb grabs the cups of coffee from the countertop next to them and takes them to the table where Hanna placed the toasts before. "Well, I mean, it's barely the morning… you have plans already?" he sits down on a chair.

Hanna "Yeah, I'm going to the mall with Mona…" she gets off the kitchen counter and goes sit at the table as well.

Caleb takes a sip of coffee and then he speaks again. "Emily texted me last night, she wanted to know if Chocolate was back with us already"

Hanna only nods and grabs a toast. "I'm sorry about the shitty breakfast… I had literally nothing else… no jam, no eggs…" she says as she butters the toast and then hands it to Caleb.

Caleb "It's fine" he gives her a smile. "Emily also told me that she wanted to see you… well, that all the guys wanted to see you… maybe we can get together tonight… it can be at my place, we can order something for dinner"

Hanna "Uh huh…" she just says, focused on buttering another toast for herself. "We will see, it's barely the morning" she adds then and takes a bite.

They fall silent for a while as they eat their toasts and taste their coffees, but then Hanna looks at him and breaks the silence.

Hanna "So… you are no longer angry with me?"

Caleb looks up at her too. It's not anger what he feels. It's something else… like hurt, disappointment. But he was perfectly fine just a second ago, before her question, he only feels that way while thinking of everything that happened the day before. He doesn't get why she is so insistent on bringing it all back up.

Caleb "It's not anger… but really, it's fine, Hanna. Just leave it alone. We will be fine, I really don't want to talk. I thought you wanted to tell me some-"

Hanna "Yeah, I know, I know…" she interrupts him. "Sorry, I was just asking…" she reaches out and takes his hand. "I know I'm lucky you are even talking to me… I screwed up really bad yesterday"

Caleb doesn't say a word. He just lets her go on.

Hanna "But I won't apologize for what I did. Because I don't regret anything. I don't regret having listened to Jordan, I don't regret the message I sent to George and I don't regret lying to the police officer because I had a reason to do those things"

Caleb only looks at her expectantly. He has no idea where she is going. But at least, she is not apologizing just because, like she did the night before. She seems more sincere now.

Hanna "But I do regret the way I pulled you around… I knew you would be there for me and I kinda… took you for granted. So that's what I want to apologize for. I'm sorry, babe… I told you that I would meet up with Jordan with or without you knowing that you would stick around anyway"

Caleb nods. She is finally getting why he got so pissed off.

Hanna "I also want to explain you why I was so convinced about lying to the police that I didn't even listen to you before doing so… I know that if we had talked it through in the car while coming here, I could have explained this to you then and maybe you wouldn't have felt that I left you out, or that I didn't care about what you thought. I'm sorry for that too"

Caleb gives her a slight smile. She definitely got his point.

Hanna "Remember that night at the Radley Hotel? When we were there just talking about life while having drinks?"

Caleb nods again. He loved that night, they had a great time together… although she got drunk and treated him like shit later when they went to the hotel room. Anyway, after that, she went back to being sweet and cute, and once again, they ended up sharing the bed. He still can't believe how he managed to hold himself back that night.

Hanna "That night I told you that I felt… like my life was paused… that I was stuck… that I didn't have a job, that I couldn't focus on my career because I was always traveling, going here and there, and that I also needed a new place to move in because of Chocolate, and stuff…"

Caleb "Yeah… and that your wedding was on pause too and that you also wanted to be a young mother but you would settle for babysitting Spencer's baby for now"

Hanna grins, she loves the way Caleb remembers everything she tells him. "Yeah… well, I want to do something about it now. I still feel that way and I'm done feeling stuck"

She looks down at their joined hands and starts to caress his palm with her thumb. But then, all of a sudden, she looks back up at him with her eyes wide open.

Hanna "OMG! Don't freak out, I'm not telling you that I want a baby already. I'm talking about my career, I want a job in fashion" she clears it up immediately.

Caleb laughs and squeezes her hand. "I know, silly. Don't worry, I wasn't going to run away scared or something"

Hanna smiles at him again. "And well, I also want to find my own place to live alone again, I can't stay here with my mom forever… But I need the job first. Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is that I want to move on. And I know you are going to tell me again that George and the other guys should pay for what they did to me. But I really don't care. I couldn't care less about Jordan, his father, George and the other two men. I want to forget it all and go on with my life. And telling the truth to the police wasn't going to let me do so"

Caleb "Han, if you had told the police what really happened, you could have asked for a restriction order at least. And you could still go on with your life, feeling safer… We still can do something about it. We can go to the station and tell the police that you lied because you were scared and that the voice message that you-"

Hanna "Babe, I haven't finished yet" she interrupts him. "That is not where I want to put my energy. I won't involve the police in this because once you report something, you can't take it back. It could turn into weeks and weeks of court battle between George and me and the press would be in the middle. It could become a whole scandal and George is more likely to win the war. So no, there's no way I'm changing my mind"

Caleb "Han, you have all the proofs in your favor" he says and takes another sip of coffee.

Hanna "Okay, let's suppose that you are right and George ends up, I don't know, in jail, and the other guys too, all locked up… it still wouldn't make me feel any better. I want to put my energy into the things that make me happy. If I can move on and build a life for myself here in Rosewood, then I'll feel that I won"

Caleb "Why did you send George that message, Han? I swear, I have been thinking about it a lot. I've been trying to understand why you would do such a thing. But it just doesn't make any sense"

Hanna "Because I thought that if I wasn't going to go to the police anyway, sending him that message wouldn't make any difference. I gave him what he wanted for him to leave me alone. I won't lie, I felt horrible the moment I recorded that message. But I thought I would feel safer when I came back home… that's why I did it, to feel safer"

Caleb "Mmm… but it didn't work, did it?"

Hanna looks down. "No, I guess it didn't…" she can't deny it. They both know that she was too clingy to him the previous night because she felt unsafe.

Caleb "And don't you feel that you let them win by sending that message? Because I feel that you let them get away with it by doing so"

Hanna shakes her head no. "No… well, George might think that he won, but I'm pretty sure that karma will catch up with him soon. And if not, his full of crap life is already pathetic… Anyway, I don't care" she shrugs. "I feel that I'm the one who won. I know I'll get better with time… and I have you, Chocolate, my family and my friends and that's all I care about. I really want to move on"

Caleb "I still think that you shouldn't have sent that message… but I understand you better now…"

Hanna "It's okay, I guess we don't have to agree with everything always…"

Caleb "No, of course not"

There's a moment of silence. Caleb feels much better after listening to Hanna. He understands her now. He doesn't agree with everything she did, but he completely gets her. And just like he told her the day before, he will respect her decisions. And he really appreciates her apologies.

Hanna "So… will you forgive me?" she breaks the silence and Caleb looks at her.

Caleb "I already forgave you last night when you pretended to be asleep to cuddle with me" he knows that she was actually asleep, but he is just teasing her a little.

Hanna chuckles. "What?"

Caleb "Nothing, come here" he pulls from her hand and Hanna gets up from her chair and goes sit on his lap.

He embraces her waist and Hanna smiles while pressing a kiss to his temple, resting one of her arms on his shoulders and placing her other hand against his bare chest. Caleb tilts his head up, looking for her lips but Hanna moves her face away while grinning.

Hanna "I'm not done talking yet"

Since she faced away, he goes straight to her neck instead. He knows that it is a weak point of hers. Kissing her neck almost worked out for him earlier when he wanted to avoid talking.

Caleb "Mmm... really? What is left to talk about?"

Hanna "I know what you are trying to do" she giggles because of the tickling. "But it's fine, I still can talk to you… so unless you cover your ears, you are gonna have to listen to me"

Caleb raises his head from her neck and looks at her. "Fine, what is it?"

Hanna "Didn't tell you to stop" she gives him a playful smile and pulls him back to her neck.

Caleb smiles amused against her skin and gets back to kissing her neck.

Hanna closes her eyes and smiles again while giving into the pleasant sensation. She takes her hand to his nape and starts to stroke his hair.

Hanna "I was thinking about us like a lot last night… and I realized something…" she starts to say at some point. "I never thanked you for everything you did for me… you were the one who found out that I was missing. You looked for me, you found me and then you put me out of danger. You brought me back home. And I never thanked you for all that… so, thank you, baby"

Caleb tightens his grip around her, pressing her body against him even more, but both her legs are hanging on the same side so that keeps him from having her as much close as he would like. It would be easier if she were straddling him.

Caleb "You don't have to thank me for anything" he places one more kiss on her neck and then looks up at her. "Anyone would have done the same" he says, although he really appreciates her thanks.

Hanna shakes her head. "Not anyone" she whispers while staring into his eyes.

She knows that if Caleb hadn't been there, her friends would have realized that she was missing at some point and they would have probably found a way to get to her too. If her mom was in Rosewood, she would have too. But Caleb's timing was perfect. If she had depended on the man she was planning to marry just a month ago, she surely would have woken up alone in the woods, lost, unable to move… she would have been lying there until her body started to work again and she would have had to find a way to get back home on her own. The whole thing would have been way more traumatizing. So, she needs to tell Caleb how much it means to her what he did.

Hanna "Really, thank you" she says again, with her palms cupping his cheeks. "You got there just in time. I was still confused as fuck, but I was starting to feel scared and cold and hearing your voice was just great… and the way you held my hand the whole time at the hospital, it meant the world to me… you kept me from breaking down... My whole body was paralyzed, I would have gone crazy if I hadn't had you. You made me feel that everything was going to be okay and I just trusted you. Thank you"

Caleb gives her a smile. He is very glad that he listened to her. He feels so much better now, and he didn't even need to tell her how hurt he felt the previous day. She found her own way to fix it all herself. Also, he wasn't expecting such thanks. Those very honest words from her make him feel so much valued too.

Caleb "I would do anything for you" he only responds. His words are very honest as he looks into her eyes as well.

Hanna "I know you would" she says softly before leaning in to connect her mouth to his.

And this kiss is more passionate than the one they shared before their talk. Probably because Caleb wants to show Hanna what she is making him feel by telling him all those things and so he gives his all in that kiss. And Hanna kisses him back the same way, holding his face in her hands and tilting her head a little so they can have a good angle to enjoy themselves.

Caleb keeps his hands on her lower back, but then he takes one of them to one of her legs, to the thigh of hers that is pressed against his stomach and breaks the kiss a moment to speak.

Caleb "Move this leg to the other side, babe" he needs to feel her closer, he wants her to straddle him.

Hanna pecks his lips once more before standing up from his lap. "Okay, but just for a moment. Mona is picking me up in a little while" she sits back on him, but this time straddling him just like he told her. "Only kisses, okay?" she tells him while taking his face in her hands again.

Now that she is sitting like he wanted, Caleb wraps his arms around her and presses her body against his.

Caleb "Mmm… why don't you tell Mona not to come?" he suggests and joins their lips together again.

Hanna "Because I need a new phone" she smiles against his lips and kisses him back.

Caleb "I'll buy you ten phones" he says into the kiss and takes one of his hands to her butt. "Stay with me" he gives her a squeeze.

Hanna can't help pulling a little away to laugh. "Sounds tempting but I need to go out and you need to go home and take care of your stuff…" She grabs his hand from her butt and moves it back up to her back. "Call your contractor and get that pool in your backyard ready before summer ends… and the hot tub too… I already have a few ideas for us to enjoy them"

Caleb raises an eyebrow while shooting her an amused smile. "Really? You do?"

Hanna "Uh huh" she only answers and resumes the kissing.

Of course she would prefer to stay with Caleb rather than go out with Mona. But that's why she made plans with her before talking to Caleb. She knew she wouldn't contact Mona if they made up first. And she really wants Caleb to have some time to himself. She wants him to go home and take care of himself because all he has been doing the last days is taking care of her. She wants to give him a break from herself.

Some minutes later, they are still kissing when the doorbell rings. Caleb can feel Hanna's body become tense in his arms at hearing the sound and she pulls away from his lips abruptly. He can tell that the doorbell made her a bit nervous.

Caleb "I'll get it" he tells her softly and places a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Hanna shakes her head. "It must be Mona. I'll go" she forces a smile and gets up from his lap. "You should go get dressed, babe… put a t-shirt on"

Hanna goes to the front door and Caleb goes after her. She takes a look through the door peephole just to make sure. "It's Mona" she says and instead of just opening the door right then, she turns around to look at Caleb.

Caleb "Okay… I'll go change, then… should I stay upstairs?"

Hanna looks at him confused. "Why?"

Caleb "I don't know… maybe you don't want Mona to see me here just yet? I mean, you just broke up with Jordan and-"

Hanna "No" she cuts him off. "It's not that" she shoots him a smile. "It's just that you are half naked and Mona likes you… she thinks you are hot. And I'm not giving her the pleasure of seeing you shirtless, that's all" she brushes her hand down his abs.

Caleb chuckles. "How do you know? Were you guys talking about me?" he asks amused and intrigued.

Hanna "She asked me if you were single at her birthday party… I told her that you were taken"

Caleb "You lied" he gives her an amused smile.

Hanna shrugs. "You are taken now, so… it's almost the same… Go get dressed and then come say hi" she gets closer to him to peck his lips and right when their mouths touch, the doorbell rings again, so Hanna pulls away and Caleb finally goes upstairs.

Mona "Hey, you!" she greets Hanna excitedly and pulls her into a hug.

Hanna "Hey, Mona!" she greets her back, trapped in her tight embrace.

Mona "Thought would be back in New York by now, I got so excited when I got your message today!" she says and finally lets go of Hanna.

Hanna only shoots her a kind smile and moves aside so Mona can get inside.

Mona "So, why are you still in Rosewood? Where's Jordan?" she asks while stepping into the house.

Hanna "We broke up. I'm staying here for good" she tells her and closes the front door.

Mona "Oh… I'm sorry"

Hanna "It's fine. I'm okay, I'm happy" she smiles.

Mona "Good" She smiles back. "So, go get your purse and let's go. You can update me on our way to the mall"

Hanna "Mmm… Actually, I can't leave just yet… I'm not alone, Caleb is here… he's upstairs. He is about to leave, let's wait-"

Mona "Caleb?" she interrupts her right away and Hanna can see the amusement on her face.

Hanna "Yeah… Caleb" she can't help smiling.

Mona laughs. "You wasted no time" she says, not in a judgmental way, just amused.

Hanna "Yeah, it just happened… we are dating" she tells her, still with a smile on her face. Being able to talk only about the good things going on in her life with someone feels really good. Hanna is convinced that reaching Mona was a very good decision. She almost feels normal again.

Mona "So you were already dating him at my party?"

Hanna "No… well…"

She doesn't want to tell Mona that her very first kiss with Caleb was at her birthday party because Mona is too extra when it comes to those things and Hanna knows that she is going to remind her that her first kiss with Caleb was at her freaking Camp Mona every time she has the chance, as if it were an achievement of hers. She can picture Mona making a toast at her wedding and mentioning it.

Mona "So?" She asks and brings Hanna back from her thoughts.

Hanna chuckles at the silly thought of her wedding. The last thing she wants at the moment is thinking about weddings. Fuck weddings.

Hanna "No, we hadn't even kissed yet… but I already liked him"

Mona "So you lied to me when you told me that he was taken?" she asks still amused.

Hanna "Yeah, I did" she admits it with no problem. "I really liked him"

Mona laughs. "You could have just told me that. I wasn't going to make a move on him knowing that you liked him. Even if you were still with Jordan"

Hanna gives her a smile. Mona can be crazy as fuck, but she is a good friend. "So, what about you?"

Mona sighs. "My love life sucks"

Hanna "Weren't you seeing Noel?"

Mona "Yeah… but it's just that… we are just hooking up… and he hasn't been texting me much lately… I think he is losing his interest in me…"

Hanna "Oh… I'm sure you will find someone better than him" she shoots Mona another kind smile. "Well, I'll go rush Caleb a little" she says and heads for the stairs.

Mona chuckles. "Make sure you don't delay him more instead"

Hanna goes to the guestroom and finds Caleb sitting on the edge of the bed, putting his shoes on. She goes sit down next to him.

Hanna "Wanna take Chocolate with you?"

Caleb "If that's okay with you, sure"

Hanna "Yeah, I won't be home anyway"

Caleb nods and sits up straight after finishing with his shoes. Hanna gets closer and gives him a tender kiss on his mouth.

Hanna "I'll go get Chocolate. Hurry up, Mona is waiting for us down there" she stands up from the bed.

Caleb "So, you already told her about us?"

Hanna "Yeah, of course I did" she says while leaving the room.

/

Caleb gets downstairs shortly after. Hanna, Mona and Chocolate are standing at the front door.

Caleb "Hi, Mona"

Mona "Hey, Caleb" she greets him back with a smile and stares at him as he approaches Hanna.

Caleb "Text me as soon as you get your new phone, okay?" he tells Hanna and hands her a little paper with his phone number written on it.

Hanna nods and he places his palms on her hips.

Caleb "Call me if you need anything" he says while staring into her eyes, making sure that she gets what he really means.

He wants to make sure she knows that she can call him if she gets a little anxious again or if she just doesn't feel safe. He is not so convinced of letting her go alone with Mona. But if that is what Hanna wants, what she thinks she needs, then he won't go against it.

Hanna "I will" she gives him a soft smile.

Caleb "See you later?"

Hanna nods and takes her hands to his face to pull him closer. She pecks his lips. "See you, babe"

Caleb lets go of her and looks at Chocolate. "Let's go, buddy" he opens the door and Chocolate goes outside. "Bye, Mona" he says while going out as well and heads toward his car.

Hanna "Okay, let's go shopping" she grabs the keys to her house and she and Mona leave too.