Hanna Marin knows what Hanna Marin means (numbtothedanger) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-11-07 10:29:00 |
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Over the past week Caleb had been to visit Hanna as often as he could. But she was a popular girl it seemed she always had one friend or another stopping by to visit her as well. Normally that sort of thing wouldn’t bother him, but he was worried about her and wanted to check on her as much as possible. Of course he understood why her other friends wanted to as well. Besides he had an apartment to move into so while she was preoccupied with them he had been putting furniture together and getting his place ready, because yes this was a permanent move.
Now it was finally ready to show Hanna and she seemed to have most of the weekend free. He felt a little bad that she couldn’t make her Vegas trip, but hopefully he could distract her enough so she wouldn’t think about it too much. In preparation for her arrival he had already pushed a chair in front of the couch with a pillow for her to prop her leg up (that way he could still sit next to her on the couch). Now all that was left was for her to arrive.
Hanna was not happy. Not really. She was making due with the cast and already in the dreams she had moved past being in one. She had just taken Caleb to the swim meet and helped him know who would be good marks, all the while dealing with Aria following the whole giving her mom the ticket to the same gallery opening Aria and Mr Fitz were going to be at. That after realising that she was worse than Ali for what she had done to Lucas? Hanna didn’t know what to think or make of the dreams and just didn’t want to think about them.
So a Disney day with Caleb? Definitely what the doctor ordered, especially since she was missing Vegas with Caroline and the girls. And then would be missing Anna’s birthday at Disneyland. With her mom having to go out for a work thing, Hanna was able to get a ride to Caleb’s apartment, Disney movies in her bag. Once at the door, she rang the bell and waited.
Caleb opened the door smile on his face although it faltered a little, he wasn’t much of a fan of seeing Hanna in crutches. “Come in,” he said opening the door wider to allow her to enter. He would offer her help but he already knew Hanna was capable of handling things on her own.
It was her first time there since they had gone apartment hunting together and she hadn’t seen it with all the furniture she had picked out. Granted it was still sparse but it was beginning to look more like a home, with the couch and coffee table set up. A table to sit at and eat meals. The dresser was upstairs with his bed but still. And there were lamps everywhere, why he needed so many he had no idea. And of course the entertainment center (which he had picked out) with the TV opposite the couch for them to watch movies. There was also his desk and computer with multiple monitors off to the side but he doubted that would interest Hanna. “What do you think?” he asked once she was inside walking with her over to the couch, just in case she needed some assistance.
Hanna was determined that, despite the fact she was on crutches, that she wouldn’t let it hold her back. Which meant she was determined to make it herself. So far, no need for assistance. She called that a win. Though she did look around the apartment to see how it was coming together. She felt bad about how she didn’t get to help decorate but that was beside the point.
“I like it.” Smiled and oh thank god, the couch, where she got situated on. She was going to be so happy once she could move around easier, but she was making due and that was all that she really could do at the moment.
“So, I brought a handful of movies. All of them are good, obviously.” To Hanna at any rate. But it also meant she wasn’t really going to care which they watched first or whatever.
Even if Hanna hadn’t had her broken leg it wasn’t like he would have asked her to help build the furniture. So it hadn’t bothered him that she wasn’t able to help decorate. “Of course you do. You picked almost everything out,” he teased.
“All right. Let me see.” He looked through Hanna’s selection, picking out Aladdin. It looked like it was about a guy, he figured if he was going to do this he’d start with the least girly option. Although he did like Pocahontas from what he remembered of it (that was the only Disney movie he had seen).
After putting it in his DVD/Blu-ray player he settled down on the couch next to Hanna wrapping an arm around her. “I can’t believe you convinced me to do this.”
“Well, yes. But still!” So it wasn’t like there was much Caleb could have messed up in decorating without her there given she had helped with most of the picking out of things. Or probably actually picked everything out since it had seemed Caleb had no idea what he was doing in that regard.
And that was why Hanna had chosen Aladdin. Well okay, that and their Aladdin moment when they were throwing plates that Caleb hadn’t picked up on. It amsued her, okay? But it was probably a good one to start with as well.
Grinning up at her boyfriend as he sat down next to her, Hanna just kissed his cheek before curling up against him. “Because I have very good convincing skills.” And there was absolutely no pity about her current situation at all. Nope.
Yes, Caleb wanted to make Hanna’s weekend better but he would never dream of pitying Hanna. He knew better than that. “You do,” he agreed with a smirk settling in to watch the movie. He didn’t catch on to the fact that he had referenced it on their plate smashing outing, but he had to admit he did enjoy it. He probably really would have liked it as a kid. Hanna was pretty amazing for introducing him to it all now, even though he was still planning on teasing her about it.
“So basically this movie teaches kids that if you pretend to be something you’re not everything will turn out okay?” he asked raising a brow. “I don’t think I can argue with that logic,” he was only somewhat kidding too. He always had walls up, no one saw the real him and everyone seemed to believe the facade.
Aladdin wasn’t the only movie she’d brought that ‘focused’ more on the guy. She also had Hercules and Lion King. But really, there were SO MANY to choose from. Obviously Hanna needed to bring a variety. There could never be a thing as too much Disney.
Still, she did nudge Caleb when he made his comment and scrunched up his nose. “No! It means that pretending to be someone else never actually works and you shouldn’t be ashamed of who you really are.”
Which… was something that resonated more with her than she let on. Mostly because Hanna had so many different masks she wore and she was still struggling to be comfortable with who she really was, at least in school. She was better about it, but even now she knew she was holding back. But no matter. Then there were the dreams, which took masks and the like to a whole new level.
“But he got the girl even when she found out he was lying about who he was,” he commented with a smirk. However what Hanna said resonated with him as well. Of course he was ashamed of who he really was. How he was brought up. He was just a kid from the streets. Granted he wasn’t going to the same extent to pretend to be something he wasn’t. He wasn’t passing himself off as some prince. In fact he wasn’t really pretending at all with Hanna.
“Do want anything to drink?” he asked Hanna. “I have… beer.” Or you know water from the sink. But he figured after the next movie they could order food and drinks for the rest of their marathon. Or now if she was hungry. “We can order food too.”
“He pretended to be a prince but he was still himself and she subconsciously recognised him as the boy who helped her when she snuck out of the palace. His personality was still him even if his means weren’t.” And it wasn’t like Jasmine had been exactly happy about it initially. But Aladdin, at his core, had been himself. He just had to realise that it was enough and that he didn’t have to be defined by the fact he grew up on the streets.”The lie of being a prince came back to bite him though, and it wouldn’t have been sustained. That’s what doesn’t work.”
Then there was the offer of something to drink. And beer was not really something she was wanting at the moment.
“Water’s fine. Thanks.”
Caleb got up from the couch and grabbed two cups from his cupboard filling them with water for both him and Hanna. He wasn’t going to have a beer if she wasn’t. Walking back to the couch he handed her a water before sitting back down next to her.
“You’ve really put a lot of thought into this movie,” he teased. Although he honestly admired her for it. She was smarter than she looked and acted some of the time. But he was lucky that she didn’t feel the need to hold back or hide around him. That he got to see the real her. Or at least he thought he did.
“You know you’re still full of surprises,” he added a bit more serious. He didn’t want his teasing to keep her from being herself or opening up around him. Although he was fairly certain she knew all his teasing was meant with affection. “So what’s next?”
“Disney is serious business. Never let the idea that they’re cartoons make you forget.” Grinning some, Hanna nestled against the couch while Caleb got the water. Not that he was gone all that long and she took the water and took a sip before putting it on the table as she looked at Caleb with a quirked brow.
“Is that so?” So she might be teasing a bit. But she did like the sound of that. She liked that he seemed serious. Even from their first meeting, there had been something that she felt she could be herself around and she was definitely still feeling that. But then the question about what to watch next and she pursed her lips in thought for a moment. “Tangled.” Most definitely Tangled.
Caleb set his own water down on the table so he could switch out the movies. At some point he of course wanted to know more about what had happened to Hanna before he showed up in Rosewood. Particularly where she was hit by a car. But for now keeping her happy with the Disney movies seemed like a good plan. Plus he found himself actually enjoying them, so far at least.
Back on the couch he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend again. Yeah, he could get used to this. “Is this going to be all about hair? I feel like it’s about hair.” With a name like Tangled and the DVD cover, it seemed pretty heavy on the hair.
There was always going to be later and things that needed to be said. But for now, Hanna was content to just watch Disney movies and try to ignore the Dreams and the constant threat that came from them. It wasn’t that she was actively more paranoid now. Perhaps a text message might startle her, perhaps she would get an initial moment of anxiety… but they hadn’t affected her all that much until she woke up with a broken leg, concussion and broken ribs.
“Magic hair that heals people to be exact.” What? It was pretty awesome. “But it’s about stepping out on your own, figuring out who you are beyond the confines of your childhood. Finding yourself, or reaffirming who you are.”
As Flynn became more like Eugene around Rapunzel, and Rapunzel remained optimistic if not slightly more aware of the cruelty of the world, yet held onto her heart. It was also nice to see that. That one didn’t have to become jaded just because they grew up.
Oh, right. Of course it was hair like that. How silly of him to think otherwise. He smirked to himself as they watched the movie. Which again he found himself enjoying. And okay how was it that he was able to relate to animated characters? First Aladdin, now this Flynn guy? What had Hanna done to him?
“Okay so maybe Disney movies aren’t so bad,” he could definitely see why Hanna liked them. And kids in general. “They’ve got some good characters at least.”
Hanna had mad skill, that’s how she got him to enjoy Disney movies and relate to characters. But that was the fun of Disney movies, there was always something within the characters that resonated. Maybe not completely but some small part that spoke to kids and made them not feel so alone and let them believe in happily ever after and learning different traits to get through the hard times.
And he was admitting it, which just had Hanna grin up at Caleb. “Ha, told you.”
Caleb wouldn’t go as far as to say he was believing in happily ever after. That was never going to happen. But he was at least enjoying their little marathon and he knew Hanna was too. He could tell by that smile on her face, although that probably had more to do with the fact that she triumphant in her mission to get him to watch Disney movies with her but whatever.
“Yeah, yeah,” he replied with a hint of sarcasm. “Don’t get too used to it,” he smiled down at her. “As fun as this is, I think I need a break before our next movie. How about we order food. Pizza?”
It was a mix. Because Disney movies were good for cheering her up. Add in getting Caleb to watch them with her and like them? Well. That was even better. She would just have to work on the happily ever after part since he was getting into the game late on that front. But he was right. While Disney movies weren’t exactly long, not when compared to other movies, a break was probably a good idea.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
Pulling out his cell phone Caleb ordered a pizza and a some a variety of two liter bottles of soda (so they would have something to drink other than beer and water).
He supposed he could put another movie on while they waited, for the food to arrive, but as much as he was enjoying the movies he did need a little break (even if they were short). Plus he wouldn’t mind talking to his girlfriend for a bit. “So,” he began keeping his voice soft. “Can you tell me about the dream?”
Or.. they could talk about the dream. That worked as well. It wasn’t exactly something Hanna wanted to think about, but she knew she would have to. It just felt like she was repeating it a lot. Which was absurd since both Mister Fitz and Spencer actually had the dreams and knew, and so she only had to explain it to Caroline. But… she also didn’t like lying to Caleb. It was complicated and confusing and she had a feeling simply saying she got hit with a car wasn’t going to cut it.
“I got hit with a car in the dreams and woke up that way here…” Which was obvious, but she really had no idea where to even start so it seemed that a statement of the obvious might be the best course of action. Because really. How did one even begin to explain it all? Caroline had seen the cast and message from A, and that was the opening Hanna needed.
She also didn’t know why it seemed so complicated and difficult to explain. As if that paranoia and worry from the dreams had bled over even here.
Caleb had known that much already. Both from what he knew in the dreams and from what Hanna told him. But he still felt like there were some things he was missing. There were a few months that Hanna seemed to dream before he had shown up in Rosewood and he wasn’t sure what else he had missed. There was her friend’s disappearance and her getting hit by a car but other than that he had no idea.
“Did you see who hit you?” his guess was probably not considering no one seemed to be in trouble for it when he showed up to Rosewood, which he didn’t think was that long after her accident.
“Yes and no. Or I guess I know but don’t know?” Scrunching up her nose, Hanna sighed. Because she knew how that sounded and it made no sense. But nothing made sense when A was involved. Whoever it was seemed to have a serious grudge against the girls, hated them even. And while Hanna knew they weren’t perfect, she couldn’t understand what this psycho’s problem was.
“The girls and I are being stalked by this creep calling themselves A. We don’t know who it is, though. Just threats and blackmail. I was trying to figure out who it was when I got hit by the car, so I guess I saw something I shouldn’t have.”
She just didn’t know what it was beyond Aria and Mister Fitz sneaking around. But apparently she had seen something without realising it, which was just really annoying all things considered.
Caleb’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion as Hanna attempted to explain. Because saying both yes and no made no sense. But then as she went on he found himself getting angry. Not at Hanna. But at whoever the fuck this A person was. Who the hell would blackmail and threaten her? And what could she have even done that was blackmail worthy? Shoplifting maybe. He had a feeling her dreamself had sticky fingers as well.
“So this A person blackmails and threatens you and now ran you over with a car?” He had to repeat it because really it sounded insane. But then a lot of the stuff people dreamed about sounded insane. “That’s dangerous, Hanna.” No shit. Way to state the obvious Caleb. “Why haven’t you gone to the police?”
Hanna let Caleb repeat what she had already said because, well, it was probably the only way to really wrap his mind around it. Theoretically. It was still ridiculous and hard to understand. Hanna was living it (in the dreams) and still didn’t understand. Just that she never knew what to expect.
Then Caleb was saying it was dangerous and asking why she hadn’t gone to the police. And right at that moment, her phone buzzed, causing the blonde to jump some. A part of her worried that it was somehow A and was sending a new threat because she had told Caleb about him/her/it/bitch. Which was absurd but it was her automatic reaction. Reaching for her phone, she realised it was just her mom and let out a breath before shaking her head and turning her attention back to Caleb.
“Because A has things on my mom. Because going to the police would just make it worse.”
Of course Caleb noticed the way Hanna reacted to her phone going off. That was a little… strange. Normally people didn't react to text messages like that. He had noticed in the dreams though that Hanna and her friends all seemed a little wary of their phones. And they seemed to have an obsession with them. First with hiring him to hack Emily’s phone so she could call her girlfriend. Then they tried to get him to hack Jenna’s phone, but hacking a blind girl’s phone? There are some lines even he wouldn't cross.
“Wait. Do you think Jenna is A?” That would make sense. Why else would they have wanted in her phone? And on to the more important topic. “Are you getting messages here?” With that reaction it sure seemed like it. He couldn't really blame her for not wanting to go to the cops. From what he had seen of the Rosewood police force he wouldn't trust them. But he didn't trust cops in general.
“Yeah…” Then there was the fact they thought Ian was the one who killed Ali. But for whom A was? Jenna was pretty up there on their list. “Or at least it’s possible.” She had a reason to hate them, and none of them would deny that. They swore never to talk about it, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be a motive. Add in the fact she was the one who turned Toby into the FBI.
“Nothing specific to here. It seems I get the messages from the Dreams.” Which you know, was great. But Hanna was still on edge from it, as if waiting for something unrelated to the Dreams to show up.
Again Caleb’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. These dreams just got more and more confusing. “The messages A sends you show up here?” Again he had to repeat because, what? “I swear I don’t get how this whole dreaming thing works,” a frown formed on his face. “How’s your leg?”
The dreams just made it all the more complicated to explain. She knew that Spencer wanted to figure out just what was going on when things were beyond their understanding. She was injured and getting threats through text. Or when her alarm played the song dedicated to her from A….
“Yeah…”
Even though she had tried to delete the messages from A on her phone, they hadn’t seemed to vanish so Hanna just handed Caleb the phone so he could see for himself.
“I don’t think anyone does…” They would have heard about it, right? “My leg’s okay though.”
Given the conversation about A and the text messages, Hanna’s gaze drifted to where the sticker was covering the note on her cast.
Yeah Caleb was curious about these messages. It meant a lot that Hanna was sharing them with him, that she trusted him that much. Even if they did come from the dreams they seemed pretty personal. There was a lot about food and her weight and not getting the guy which of course pissed Caleb off. Hanna was drop dead gorgeous. Any guy would be lucky to have her, both here and in the dreams. He honestly had no idea how he had gotten so lucky. He already knew about the Hefty Hanna nickname, she had shared that with him after her mom kicked him out of the basement, but he didn’t know the extent of the torment.
He got what she meant about her mom being threatened. He saw the messages about her mother owing money and making Hanna do things to get it back. Like dance with that guy Lucas. And now the whole thing with Mrs. Montgomery made sense. She had been blackmailed to get Aria in trouble somehow. And yeah of course he was quiet. However the texts that stood out to him most weren’t the ones about dead girls walking or her being hunted. No it was about her being forced to eating some type of food and then getting rid of it. He didn’t like the sound of that.
He handed the phone back to her silently not sure what to say or how to bring any of it up. “I get why you mean about your mom,” he finally said. “I don’t blame you for not wanting to go to the cops. I wouldn’t trust those cops anyway.”
Hanna wasn’t going to mention that the temptation was there to purge her food again from the stress of it. Because it should only be seen as a dream related thing, not something here. She had her issues with food and her weight ever since her father, and had briefly mentioned that in one the throw away comments he made about her, but that didn’t mean it had to be worried about now. So she just took back her phone and nodded.
“It doesn’t help that one of the cops is a complete sleaze.” Shuddering because Wilden just gave off complete creep vibes. And not just because of the sleeping with her mom thing. “It’s like he’s determined to pin Ali’s death on us. So no way we can go to the police.”
She didn’t know why she had trusted him that much, but she supposed it was because it was how she was. Hanna tended to believe in people and trust them until they broke that trust. And even then, she would usually try to understand. Maybe not the A thing, though. Not after all of this. That and this wasn’t Rosewood and while Hanna was worried about the texts and growing more paranoid, she wasn’t as afraid about fall out for telling someone.
It was probably a good thing to trust your boyfriend. That was the whole point of having one right? Well maybe not the whole point, but Caleb was fairly certain that trust was a big part of relationships. There were still some things he had to share with Hanna, and he would.
“Well I know you aren’t capable of murder,” he wasn’t sure about her friends though. He didn’t know them all that well in the dreams. He barely knew Spencer here. “I don’t think your friends are either,” he was mostly basing that on Hanna because he knew Hanna trusted them.
Just then there was a knock on the door Caleb got up to answer it thanking the pizza guy and paying for the food. Arms full he brought everything back to the coffee table and set it out for Hanna. Before sitting back down he quickly grabbed two more cups from the kitchen for the soda and some plates. He wasn’t going to say anything out loud, but he was going to pay a little more attention to her eating habits.
Yes, trust was important in relationships. Even if most of Hanna’s hadn’t been the best of them and she usually ended up hurt because she trusted the wrong person. But telling him wouldn’t put Caleb in danger here, so trusting him with the texts seemed to make sense to her.
“They aren’t. It’s completely ridiculous. Just a lot of conjuring.” Okay so she meant conjecture, but it was Hanna, and confusing words was a thing. Between her wanting to ‘take Ali’s place’ or Spencer being competitive or Emily as a scorned lover. It was all talk.
Looking up as Caleb came back with the pizza, she smiled some.
“I feel bad I can’t help you with that.” But you know. There was a cast on her leg and she was pretty much stationary for the time being.
Caleb had to keep himself from laughing at Hanna’s use of the word ‘conjure’. He knew what she meant and it was just a very Hanna thing for her to do. One of the many things he liked about her.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said handing her a plate, bending down to give her a quick kiss on her cheek before settling back on the couch. “But don’t get used to this service. Once your leg is healed, no more waiting on you.” That statement alluded to the fact that Caleb planned on being with Hanna for awhile. Past her leg being healed, longer than that, but that wasn’t the point.
He picked up the pizza box, opening it and holding it out for her, letting her have the first choice. “While we’re on the subject of honesty..” he said with a sigh not really sure how to go into his past.
“Rude.” Pouting but laughing some because Hanna really didn’t care about the being waited on thing, she got settled again. Because she definitely picked up on the intonation and phrasing Caleb used. That was long term speak. Like he wanted to stick it with her, even after finding out about the crazy A drama in the dreams. But there was pizza to be had and so she picked a slice before looking at Caleb curiously.
“What about it?”
Hanna knew very little about Caleb’s past. She had a feeling she knew more than he usually let people in on, but it was very minimal and mostly came after he had seen the horrorshow that was her and her father. So she was definitely intrigued to know more about her boyfriend, but she also didn’t want to push it. But if he was going to offer it, she was willing to listen.
He got his own slice and set the box back down. He decided to take a bite, to give himself a bit more time to figure out where to start. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know, Hanna,” he began. Although she did know more than most people. Or anyone. Well some of his bosses at Stark knew things since they had looked into him but that was different. It was just facts on paper. Not the real story.
He took another bite of pizza and then set it back down on his plate and on the coffee table turning so he was facing Hanna. “My mom left me with my aunt when I was five. Went into the system at six,” Hanna pretty much knew that already. Well not how it had come about, but she knew he had grown up in foster care. “Left when I was sixteen,” as in ran away. “Things went downhill from there.”
For as much as she talked, Hanna could also be quiet and listen when the situation called for it. This situation? It definitely called for it. She knew how tough it could be to open up about things that were more personal. She was good at acting flippant about the things which upset her. Act like it doesn’t bother you, keep repeating it, and maybe one day you’ll believe it.
And from what she knew about Caleb? It was better to just let him talk and not interrupt. So she did that. Stayed quiet and let him talk. At least until he said it went downhill from when he got out. Because it already sounded bleak.
“I.. how? I mean, I guess I know that things can get worse but…” That was the extent of it really.
He almost said that what was said between them didn’t leave his apartment. But he didn’t. Even if Hanna changed her mind about him (which he wouldn’t blame her if she did, he was a criminal), he still trusted her. He knew she wouldn’t repeat anything.
“I had to make money,” that was kind of essential for survival in this world. “I’ve always been good with computers. I guess I can thank one of my foster mom’s for that. She couldn’t be bothered to deal with me so she just left me at the library all the time. I was way more interested in the computers than the books.” But that was way early on in his life. And he was supposed to be talking about after he left the system.
“Anyway. I started off small. Upgrading cellphones. Like I do in those dreams.” He knew Hanna had gotten that far considering now considering she had that message about him. “Then one of my old foster brother’s got me in with his friends. I helped them steal cars. Hacking into the DMV, laundering VIN numbers, that sort of thing. Eventually it went to laundering money from big corporations. Never enough that they noticed it was missing, but a good amount. Once I started working for them it was almost impossible to stop,” he frowned. That sounded like an excused and he didn’t want to make excuses for himself. He knew they weren’t the best guy yet he had chosen to work for them. It was his choice. His own fault. “I’d hack banks too, getting blueprints and disabling the security cameras, sometimes opening doors for them. They would have to bring me with them for those types of jobs.” Obviously. The hacking didn’t work as well from a remote location.
“I was always the behind the scenes guy. But a little over a year ago I was there when a job went wrong and they had to kill someone. I think he was a father. I heard him yelling about his son.” He paused now that hit a little close to home considering he had no idea who his dad was, what happened to him. Maybe a group of criminals had shot his dad too. He doubted it though. Most likely he was some low life criminal. Life father like son, right?
Caleb’s eyes were focused on the floor. He couldn’t look at Hanna for this part of the story. It was too difficult. He hated that he had been a part of any of it. “They just shot him. No remorse. That’s when I knew I had to leave. So I did. I never stayed in one place for too long. Until now.” That was basically the end of the story. There were other little crimes he committed. Like the hotel hacking, but Hanna already knew about that. And even though he had finished telling her everything he still couldn’t bring himself to look at her, afraid of what he would see.
There was no way Hanna was going to repeat any of this. She and the girls might share everything, but she wouldn’t share this. Not at all. She knew how to keep a secret when needed. Secrets were what had her in the situation she was at the moment in the dreams. So instead she just listened, pizza forgotten.
There wasn’t much that she could say once Caleb was done explaining. It didn’t change how she saw him, though it made sense of things she had noticed. Another piece to the puzzle. So she just hugged her boyfriend, resting her head on his arm.
“Thank you for trusting me with that.”
She couldn’t think of what else to say. But that really did sum it up. She knew how terrifying trusting someone could be, especially with something like that. And while she had been honest about the Dreams, they were Dreams, not real life. So she definitely understood the gravity of what she’d been told.
Caleb was relieved by Hanna’s reaction, although he wasn’t too surprised. She had taken the whole hacking news well and it wasn’t like she was completely innocent either. His crimes were just on a whole other level than shoplifting.
“I want us to be honest with each other,” Caleb didn’t get like this often. All open and vulnerable. He was usually on the snarky side. But there was just something about Hanna. He felt safe with her. And she was so honest with him, he wanted to do the same. “I’ve never really had that. Trusted anyone. Most of my life, I have felt alone, even when I was with people... that was until I met you.”
Caleb’s crimes were definitely beyond shoplifting, but Hanna knew that there was a lot more to a person than just that. And she also knew that she wouldn’t want to be judged for the worst mistake of her life, or because she had to do what she could to survive despite legality. So there was no judgement. No pulling away. Instead she just leaned up and kissed him after the comment about feeling alone until he met her before pulling away to nod.
“Here on out, honesty.” Not like she had all that many secrets. She knew that she might struggle in regards to the dreams, just because of that ever looming fear of being watched and waiting for the next threat. But honesty she could do. There wasn’t much to say to the comment that she hadn’t responded to with the kiss.
Still, there was a heaviness to the air that came with being vulnerable and so Hanna decided to break it. Because that had been an unexpectedly heavy conversation but it was also a good one. It opened doors for them.
“So. I’m thinking Anastasia for the next movie?”
Now Caleb didn’t have any secrets either. It was all out there. Hanna knew the darkest parts of his past and somehow still wanted to be with him. Yeah, his girlfriend was amazing. She also knew the perfect time to change the subject because that was more than enough talk about his fucked up life, it was nice that she just accepted it and moved on instead of grilling him for more details. Reasons he felt comfortable enough to let his guard down around her.
“And pizza,” he added because the conversation had taken away from the whole eating thing and those texts he had read, even if they were from the dreams were still in the back of his mind. But that was probably a conversation for another time and it didn’t necessarily mean Hanna had any issues with food here.
Reluctantly Caleb pulled away from Hanna to put Anastasia in then settled back down on the couch with her. “I feel like it’s going to take a lifetime for me to catch up on all these Disney movies.”