Who: Hanna Marin & Caleb Rivers What A First Date When: 20th April Where: The Boardwalk Rating/Warnings: PG
Caleb had waited a full day before calling Hanna to ask her out on a date. He didn’t want to seem too desperate. But he truly did want to take Hanna out. Get to know her better. Get to know her here. Not just the version that was in his dreams. Though she sure as hell seemed a lot like the Hanna from his dreams. Hanna may have joked about him being trouble. But he had a feeling he was going to be the one in trouble.
He asked her out for a few nights later, again not wanting to seem too desperate. But he had texted her often since he had called. And now, now it was time for their date.
Caleb honestly had no fucking clue what he was doing. He had never had a girlfriend before. Hell he had never even gone on a date. Sure, he had hooked up with girls. But it had all been very casual. He had never actually taken anyone out.
Caleb was dressed in his usual jeans, though he had on one of his better shirts - flannel with a grey t-shirt underneath. He arrived at her apartment maybe a little bit early so he just stood outside for five minutes like an idiot before pressing the button to be buzzed up.
Once Hanna let him into the building, Caleb made his way to her apartment, knocking on the door and anxiously waiting for her to answer.
Hanna’s phone had been working overtime since she’d met Caleb, between meeting a few people on campus and starting to make friends and texting Caleb himself (who was definitely his own brand on trouble because she’d found herself watching her cell for his replies), it had been needing multiple charges a day and she’d given some serious thought to getting one of those portable charger things. But then she’d always been able to find an outlet or a charger in the past, so that was a worry for future!Hanna.
Present Hanna was preparing for a date. An actual date. She had no idea what she was supposed to be wearing, so her bedroom looked as though her wardrobe had thrown up everything in it in some kind of clothes-related explosion. She’d cycled through at least ten different outfits, from jeans and a t-shirt to a cocktail dress but nothing looked right. It didn’t help that she had no idea what she was meant to be doing, so she had no idea what would be an appropriate outfit.
She settled on a pale blue dress which came to just above her knee and a black cardigan. Her hair was loosely curled and she had done her make up a little heavier than her day look. Ready as she would ever be - despite suddenly feeling not ready at all once she’d buzzed Caleb up - Hanna put her shoes on (four and a half inch heels to match her dress) and clicked her way to the door, grabbing her purse.
When she pulled the door open and saw Caleb, she held her purse in front of herself, ducking her head a little, he looked good. Not the normal kind of guy she went for, but maybe that was a good thing?
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Caleb replied taking a moment to fully take Hanna in. She looked.. “You’re beautiful,” he said grin on his face. Caleb was always one to speak the facts. Even if it was just a first date. Hanna was stunning and she deserved to know it.
He briefly wondered if he should have like brought flowers or something. But even if he did know what the hell he was supposed to be doing on a first date, flowers weren’t exactly his style. So he pushed that thought aside and decided to just be himself and enjoy the evening. That was the whole point right?
“Shall we?” he asked holding out his arm for Hanna to take ready to lead her out to the car. And no he still wasn’t going to tell her where they were going. She was just going to have to wait until they got there.
Hanna felt her cheeks flush when Caleb complimented her and she pushed her hair back, hand waving in a move that was half dismissive, half embarrassed. “I already agreed to go on a date with you, Caleb,” she told him, unable to suppress her smile even as she turned away to pick up her phone and keys. “There’s no need for flattery.” Setting the latch on her door and stepping out, keys, phone and cards being put into her purse. She latched it shut and then pulled the door closed.
He was even holding his arm out for her. Well, that would be rude of her not to take it. Accepting the offered arm, Hanna stood beside him, close enough that their arms were touching.
“So am I dressed okay for whatever it is we’re doing?” she asked, thinking that though he might not tell her what they were doing, if she wasn’t dressed right at least he could tell her before they got too far away from her apartment. “Or do I need to put on different shoes?”
“What about honesty?” Caleb replied leading her out to his car - an old beat up Honda, but whatever at least he had a car. It was true though, he wasn’t trying to flatter her. She really did look beautiful.
He looked down at her feet at the mention of shoes. “I don’t know,” Caleb said opening the door. “We aren’t exactly going to be sitting around,” it was a clue but he still wasn’t saying where they were headed. “Think your feet can handle it in those heels?” He had no idea how heels felt or when feet started to hurt. “There will be some sitting involved,” he assured her though, opening up the passenger door for her.
Hanna put her hand on the roof of the car, stopping with one foot in the footwell of the car and one on the sidewalk. “Caleb,” she told him patiently, “these aren’t even my highest heels. As long as there’s gonna be breaks I can handle whatever you throw at me.”
And if that was a little flirtatious so be it. His smile was warm and comforting and there was an earnestness about him that was captivating and Hanna might not have been looking for anything in particular but it was just a date.
Settling into the car - and it did cross Hanna’s mind to suggest that they take hers because she wasn’t confident this one would make it to the end of the street never mind to wherever they were supposed to be going - Hanna belted up and grumbled under her breath about seatbelts creasing her dress while she waited for Caleb to join her.
“So where are we going?” She asked, asking again with an impish smile because she figured if she asked enough he might cave and tell her.
Well he didn’t know. In case he hadn’t made it obvious when they first met he had no idea about clothes or heels or any of that. But if Hanna said she could handle it he’d take her word for it. He walked around the other side of the car, climbing into the driver’s seat just in time to hear Hanna mumbling something about seatbelts.
“You do know you were going to have to go in a car wherever I took you,” he teased starting up the car heading towards their destination. He glanced over at her with her comment, a smirk on his face. “You’ll see soon enough,” he replied turning his attention back to the road. As confident as he was acting, part of Caleb still had no clue what he was doing. He had never done this before and he sure as hell hoped he was doing it right. Hanna deserved that. A real first date.
Hanna made a ‘pfft’ sound at Caleb’s teasing, pressing back into the seat a little anyway and tugging down on her dress, hips lifting to help her smooth out the fabric. As the car rumbled away from her apartment, she found herself watching the scenery pass her by, occasionally catching herself watching Caleb as he drove.
“You’re lucky I don’t hate surprises,” she told him, fiddling with the strap of her purse, resisting the urge to bounce impatiently. She was somewhere between nervous and excited, trying to pin down what they were going to be doing was a puzzle that she was interested in solving largely because it involved what they were going to be doing. She didn’t think he’d take her to something like a bowling alley, or paintballing - especially not in the evening, in the face of paintballing - because her shoes would not have been appropriate for either of those activities. Also, bowling she’d have to put her feet in shoes that had been worn by literally hundreds of other people and their sweaty feet.
Ugh. The idea made her pull a slight face. Bowling was definitely out. And even if it wasn’t, she would much prefer the thought of wearing pants to a bowling alley, not one of her favourite dresses.
“Just ‘cause car travel’s needed,” she added, reaching across the car to poke his shoulder playfully, “doesn’t mean I can’t be upset that it’s wrinkling my dress. How much further?”
Caleb kept his attention on the road for most of the trip, occasionally glancing over at Hanna. She really did look beautiful. Prettier than she did in the dreams. Another smirk as she asked how much further. That was like five questions related to where they were going so far. He wasn’t surprised though. Hanna did seem to be impatient, which only amused him.
“We’re almost there,” Caleb assured giving her another grin before turning his attention back to the road. As they reached their destination he could feel himself getting slightly nervous.
He had picked the boardwalk. There were rides and games… and also food. But what if that had been a bad idea? What if Hanna wanted more some type of sit down fancy dinner. That wasn’t Caleb’s style though. He didn’t do fancy. Hell he didn’t even do dates really.
As he pulled into the parking lot he glanced at Hanna out of the corner of his eye, trying to gage her reaction.
Hanna had watched the scenery change as they headed out of the ‘city’ area and more toward the water, finally ending at the Boardwalk, which seemed to be where they were going if Caleb pulling the car to a halt and parking it was any indication. She was glad she had a cardigan, since they would be spending a fair amount of time outside and had a moment thanking whatever impulse had meant she wasn’t wearing the sticky gloss today because there was little that was less sexy than having to repeatedly pull strands of her own hair off her lips.
She’d never really been out for an evening to a place like this with a boy. Honestly, where she grew up had a fair once a year but it was on a field and was generally pretty lame. This was a whole different experience, and she was curious about the appeal. And she would definitely need to sit down every now and then.
She turned her head to look at Caleb, who had been flexing his fingers against the wheel and she wondered if he was more nervous than he was letting on. Not that she was full confident in that assessment, because Caleb had the sort of cocky self-confidence down pat from their few interactions.
“The Boardwalk?” she nodded her head, lips curled up in the corner. “But if someone ends up blowing chucks all over me when we go on that,” she pointed at a ride that looked a lot like a tilt-a-whirl, “you have to promise not to laugh.”
What? If they were going to do this, then she was going to go all in and make the most of what was a new thing for her. Hanna did like new experiences, after all.
She didn’t seem to hate the idea. Judging by the smile on her face she seemed to actually like it. At least he hoped that was what that smile meant.
Caleb gave a small laugh at the comment. “Only if you promise to do the same,” he replied. Because it as just as likely that it could happen to him after all.
Getting out of the car Caleb made his way over to open the door for Hanna. “I say,” Caleb began as Hanna got out of the car. Once she was out he shut the door behind her and locked his car. “We start with some rides,” Caleb continued as they made their way to the entrance. His hand reached out to grab onto hers as they walked. “Before we get food. Otherwise we might be the ones blowing chunks.”
“Oh, no,” Hanna said cheerily, “I will absolutely laugh if someone hurls on you.”
She thanked Caleb as he held the door open for her - which was a move that was surprisingly gentlemanly - and had been walking beside him as they headed to the entrance, feeling her fingers brushing against his right up until the point where his caught hold of hers. She ducked her head, felt her lips curl up into a smile and turned her hand slightly so that she could take hold of his as much as he was holding hers.
“That wouldn’t be a good way of starting a night out,” she agreed, squeezing his hand as they headed towards the archway that separated the Boardwalk from the rest of the area. It was loud, already, the lively hum of conversation and buzz of excitement in the air, drowned out occasionally by the whoosh and scream of rides and riders and the tinny, cheerful music of some of the games. “Where first?” she asked, bumping her shoulder against Caleb’s, warmth tingling up her arm from where their hands were connected.
“Not fair,” Caleb protested though there was a large smile on his face, eyes warm and bright. His hand remained around Hanna’s - relieved that she hadn’t pulled away.
They walked onto the Boardwalk and Caleb looked around, taking in all the rides. “What about that one?” he asked pointing to one of those big boats that swooped back and forth. It had a good view of the beach too, not that Caleb thought they would really be able to appreciate the view with all the dropping they were about to be doing.
Hanna had to look away from the brightness of Caleb’s smile, it made her stomach swoop in a way that was more than a little disconcerting. She squeezed his hand instead and looked up at the bright lights of the Boardwalk, confidently walking on her heels and being very glad that she’d not chosen to wear the really high ones. She’d have been asking Caleb to carry her back to the car by the end of the evening if she’d gone any higher with her shoes.
“The pirate ship?” she asked, nodding enthusiastically. Her purse was slung across her body, bouncing on her hip as she tugged on his hand, trying to get him to move a little faster. That looked a lot less intimidating than some of the faster paced ones that spun and made the guests go upside down. They could maybe try those ones after they’d done a few of the more tamer ones. At least, tame compared to the upside down ones. “Come on Caleb!”
If it was possible for the smile on Caleb’s face to widen, it definitely did at Hanna’s excitement for the ride. Hell, she was practically dragging Caleb over to it. His nervousness subsided satisfied that he had picked a good place for them to go. All that was left was excitement to spend an evening with Hanna.
They went from ride to ride, progressively building up to the bigger and faster ones. After they got off an upside down roller coaster Caleb looked over at Hanna, his hand grabbing onto hers again, like he had done between every ride. “What do you say we get some food?”
Though she would be hard pressed to say she hadn’t enjoyed some of the faster paced rides, Hanna was reluctant to take Caleb’s hand that last time only because she was trying to fix her hair and she couldn’t do that if she was holding his hand. She tugged him to a halt, since he’d caught her fingers anyway in front of the edge of a stall that was selling hot chocolate and let go of his hand so she could rake her fingers through her hair, trying to fix it and shooting a glare back in the direction of the ride like she was expecting an apology for how it had messed up her hair.
Lacing her fingers through his once more when she was satisfied that her hair was better - though she did still give him a quizzical look like she wanted at least a little reassurance that she’d managed to wrangle the soft curls back into something that looked orderly - she nodded.
“I thought I saw- wait, did you have something in mind already? ‘Cause if not I saw a hot dog place back near the ferris wheel which looked good.” Though she had been too busy enjoying the rides and company to be paying all that much attention to the food stalls that weren’t covered in cakes and candy. She could point them out immediately without even trying.
Caleb wasn’t sure why Hanna was letting go of his hand. It almost caused a frown to form on his face, but then he noticed how she was trying to fix her hair. He gave her a reassuring smile that she looked good once she took his hand again. But really, Caleb would pretty much always think she looked good, even if her hair was wind blown.
“I like the way you think,” Caleb replied as they made their way to the hotdog stand. He was glad Hanna didn’t seem to have a problem with eating greasy Boardwalk food. Or food in general with they way she went after the chocolate cake the other day.
At the hotdog stand Caleb purchased both hotdogs, his had a fair amount of toppings on it - ketchup, relish, mustard. Though he was smart enough to not get onions. He didn’t want his breath to completely smell. And of course he got a large soda - coca cola to be exact. Once Hanna had hers as well he led them over to one of the tables set up on the pier, overlooking the ocean.
“So,” Caleb began taking sip from his cup. “How was the rest of your week? Enjoying your chemistry class yet?” Yeah he had talked to her almost every day via text so he kind of knew the answers. But still he was interested to hear in person, directly from her.
Hanna had gone for ketchup only on her hotdog; something to flavour it but not enough toppings to risk making any more of a mess of herself than she would anyway. It was hard to eat a hot dog delicately, and as they set up at a table, she had one leg crossed over the other, leaning over the table to make sure that there was little chance that she’d splodge ketchup over her dress.
His question caused her to lift her eyes from where she’d been critically staring at her hot dog trying to work out how to best eat it without getting more ketchup on her face (that she’d wiped off her cheek with her thumb pretty quickly than you very much). She put it down and folded her arms on the table, head tilted as she looked at him for a moment, as if she was surprised he needed her to tell him the thing she’d been complaining about all week via text.
“Seriously?” she asked with a laugh, her deadpan response coming a second later. “Yeah, some time between Monday’s lecture and Friday’s lab I totally fell in love with it.”
Caleb let out a small laugh at Hanna’s response. “Well hey,” Caleb replied. “A lab sounds more fun than a lecture.” Though none of it really sounded all that fun to Caleb. He took a bite of his hotdog, wiping the side of his lip with his thumb taking a few moments fro chew his food before speaking again.
“I wouldn’t know though,” he went on. “I never went to college.”
Hanna’s eyes dropped to Caleb’s lip, tracing the movement of his thumb before she shrugged her shoulders. “It- no, labs are the worst,” she told him enthusiastically, “even though we’re not even doing anything right now I have to wear these stupid safety goggles and I need to put my hair back and they keep saying I can’t wear heels.” Which was stupid, women scientists were just as entitled to look fashionable and awesome even if they were working with chemicals. Or whatever actually happened inside of proper science labs.
She tipped her head, latching onto the snippet about his life that Caleb had shared. “No?” she asked, not sure how to ask why without sounding like a bitch. She settled on, “Not your thing?”
Caleb was already trying to picture Hanna in googles. The image brought an amused smile to his face. “I’m going to need to see that,” Caleb commented taking another sip of his soda. “Next time you have a lab, I expect a selfie.” As amusing as the image in his head was he was still sure Hanna looked beautiful even in googles. “Do you always wear heels?” he questioned with a raised brow, his tone light.
He bit into his hot dog again using the time he spent chewing to figure out how to answer Hanna’s question. He knew if things kept going the way they were - the way he hoped they would - he would eventually have to share about his past. But right now it was just a first date. Who knew if Hanna would even want a second although the evening seemed to be going pretty well if you asked him.
“Nah,” Caleb finally said. “School was never my thing.” Which was completely true. There was just more to it than he was letting on right now.
“Three inches or nothing,” Hanna answered immediately, a response almost rehearsed. She was short and being short did her no favours when it came to style and dressing and looking incredible so she needed the extra assist from a pair of heels. That wasn’t to say she never wore flat shoes: she wore flats to exercise in. She’d tried the heeled sneaker look once and she twisted her ankle really badly and had to concede that flats for exercise were a must.
Of course, she wasn’t the biggest fan of exercising either. Sweating. Gross.
She kept her eyes on Caleb, glancing down only to take another bite of her hotdog. As she chewed, she nodded. “School is stupid,” she agreed. She’d just wanted to be done with it, but also to do well and prove that she was just as good as her evil step-sister. Competition was a great motivator. “No way are you getting a lab selfie. No one else needs to see me like that.”
Wetting her lower lip, she reached out and pulled her soda closer to herself, playing with the straw for a moment before taking a sip. “So what do you do, if you don’t go to school?”
Another brow raise from Caleb at her first comment. She really cared about her shoes. Which wasn’t a huge shocker given the whole studying fashion thing. But still it was a whole new world for Caleb. Though he had to admit he liked it. Liked getting to know more about Hanna’s world.
“Come on,” Caleb protested his face forming into a playful pout. “I bet you still look amazing,” he added his eyes lighting up a bit. “Otherwise I’m just going to have ot find an excuse to crash your chemistry lab,” he added playfully. Not that he would ever really do that. But maybe if he threatened it he’d get that lab selfie.
“I work at Stark Industries.” He was glad to actually have a job now. He wouldn’t want to lie to Hanna about what he did for a living. Working for a gang wasn’t exactly the best job title. Neither was ‘I hack into people’s bank accounts and steal their money.’. Though he never took too much. Just a little from each person enough for him to get by. But that life was behind him now. At least he hoped it was.
“Doing cyber security,” he finished taking another bite of his hot dog, licking the remnants mustard and ketchup off his lips.
Hanna ignored the urge she had to lean across the table and erase that pout, squashing down the impulse because yes she’d agreed to a date and she was having a really good time but Caleb was trouble, she just knew he’d be trouble for her considering how every time he grinned at her, giant birds swept in her stomach. Really giant birds. He was super cute and he was funny and he was polite.
Trouble.
“Chemistry would be more interesting if someone crashed our class,” she told him, deciding she wasn’t going to rise to the bait. If she could get a cute angle, maybe she’d send him a photo, but it was hard in the oversized goggles and terrible lighting of the chemistry lab. She should know. She’d tried.
Deciding that getting her fingers covered in sauce was better than getting her face covered in sauce (and risk getting it in her hair because ketchup!hair was sticky and stiff and not attractive in any sense of the word), Hanna broke a piece of her hotdog off, popping it in her mouth and feeling pleased with herself for the minimal mess. Still, she wiped her fingers on a napkin, eyebrows lifting when Caleb revealed what he did for a living.
“Stark Industries?” she asked, swallowing her food and washing it down with a drink so she could speak faster. “What does… cyber security mean? Are you like their computer bouncer or something?”
“Well then,” Caleb said setting down his hotdog so he could take a sip of his soda. “I guess I’ll just have to crash it,” he winked at her smirk back on his face. And maybe he would go through with it. Maybe. If it seemed like Hanna was having a bad days and needed some cheering up or something.
“Yup. That’s exactly my job, Caleb joked. “I just stand in front of computers and make sure you have a VIP pass to see them.” He couldn’t help but laugh before continuing. Growing a bit more serious as he explained his actual job. Though that light was still in his eyes. “I help make sure no one hacks into the network. That the information on the computers doesn’t get stolen.” It was the simplest way to put it really.
So Hanna knew next to nothing about computers. She could turn hers on, do all the basic stuff with it and if it went weird she took it to a shop for repairs. The whole… hacking element was beyond her understanding, even though she’d watched that really terrible film from… the 90s, whenever it was, it was old and she was pretty sure the internet didn’t look like that if the internet was actually a thing. And the Matrix had just been confusing anyway.
But it was worth asking Caleb about his job just to watch the way his face lit up. She took a sip of her drink. “By like, guarding it?” she asked, wanting to understand but not knowing how he would do that actively. “Do you have like an alarm or something so you know if someone’s trying to get in?”
“Yeah,” Caleb said giving Hanna a small nod. “I put up safe guards.” Hanna was sort of getting it. Not that it mattered to him much if she did or not. It wasn’t like he was ever going to understand fashion. “Sort of. It’s not like a fire alarm or anything. It doesn’t make loud noises,” he grinned at the mental image in his mind of computers just beginning to beep super loud. “But I do get alerted.”
Caleb finished off the rest of his hotdog, licking his lips to make sure there was no food left on them. He even did a quick sweep of his thumb over his lips to be extra sure. “What do you say we play some games?”
Hanna had been steadily picking her hotdog apart, eating as they were talking and when she finished she put her thumb in her mouth to clean the sauce off it, wiping her hands with a napkin again and then running her tongue over her lips in a similar (if not a little more graceful and in her opinion much less distracting fashion as Caleb had). She still had some soda left, but she could walk and drink, she only needed one hand free, after all, to hook around Caleb’s arm as they walked.
“You know,” she said, getting to her feet, “I heard that most of these are rigged so you pay, like, loads but you never win.” Or was that casinos she was thinking of?
Caleb also had his soda left. He kept it in the hand opposite Hanna, letting her hook her arm around his as they walked. “Yeah?” Caleb asked looking over at her. “It should still be fun to try.” He didn’t care all that much about winning. He just wanted to enjoy himself. Enjoy his time with Hanna.
“What game should we try first?”
Hanna bumped Caleb’s shoulder with hers, keeping her arm looped through his, looking at the prizes that were on offer. She definitely didn’t want anything that was alive, if those fish even were and it wasn’t just a clever trick.
“How about that one?” She asked, the prizes were cute fluffy things that looked somewhere between a unicorn and a dragon. The game was a typical knock-‘em-down type, which Hanna figured was either really easy or really hard to rig. “What do you wanna try?”
“That one looks good to me,” Caleb replied walking up to the game and purchasing some tickets for them to play. He reluctantly unlinked his arm with Hanna’s so they could actually play the game. “Ladies first,” he said motioning for Hanna to go ahead. The person behind the booth handed Hanna three balls to throw, Caleb stood back to watch, amused smile back on his face.
Hanna knew already she was going to do terribly, even as the balls were handed to her. Still, she put down her soda and aimed, the first shot went wide and the stall owner made a sound. Hanna shot him a glare and he held up a hand, quiet and backing up a little to give her space.
Her second shot knocked one of the cans off the perch which made her make a happy little sound and wiggle on the spot, looking at Caleb with a grin, pleased with herself. Of course, her celebration was premature because her third throw was off and flew over the two cans, so ultimately, she didn’t do so good.
“Man,” she complained, only half-heartedly. When the stall runner opened his mouth to console her she just held up a finger. “Don’t.” Because she really didn’t want to hear ‘better luck next time’. Instead, she just judged Caleb, leaning over to whisper, “it’s totally rigged.”
Caleb watched as Hanna attempted to knock over the cans. She did pretty good actually. She managed to hit one at least. Caleb would call that a win. Even if her throw was off for the other two.
Hanna’s whisper in his ear sent shivers down his body. He didn’t let it show though, instead he just smirked at her comment. “Maybe,” he whispered back giving her a small shrug.
But now it was Caleb’s turn. He set down his soda accepting the three balls to throw. He got super dramatic, winding up his arms a few times before throwing ii and of course he missed. He tried again being a little more serious. Caleb managed to knock down two of the cans. Just like Hanna on her second through. He looked over at her giving her a grin. Last one. He threw the ball hitting the bottom row of cans and all they all fell down. Caleb smiled triumphantly.
“Rigged, huh?” he leaned over to whisper in Hanna’s ear.
“Congratulations,” the guy in the booth announced. “You may pick your prize,” he gestured to a row of stuffed animals. The bottom row. The smallest ones.
“From there?” Caleb questioned his lips turning into a frown.
“Yes, to win one of those,” the guy said pointing to the large stuffed animals. “You have to knock all the cans over on your first try.”
Well not the best prize. But at least it was something. Better than Caleb had thought he was going to do anyway. “What do you want?” he asked Hanna, because yeah he was definitely giving it to her.
Hanna looked delighted, having bounced on the spot when Caleb managed to knock everything over, her enthusiasm wasn’t dampened by the smaller prizes, though she did go still when she felt Caleb’s breath ghosting over her ear.
There was a blue and white unicorn sitting amongst the gaudy, slightly wonky dragons. It didn’t quite look like it belonged and for that reason alone she wanted it. She pointed it out to the guy behind the stall who walked over and plucked it out, holding it by the neck to Caleb. Hanna was appalled that he would hold a stuffed animal by the throat. What a monster.
On impulse, she kissed Caleb on the cheek. “Thank you,” she murmured while she was in his space still, followed by a soft laugh as she swiped her thumb over his skin. “Sorry, left a mark. Let me just get that.”
Caleb wasn’t expecting the kiss on the cheek. It took him by surprise in a good way. Bolts to electricity shooting through him starting with his cheek. And then her thumb was brushing over his skin causing even more bolts. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face even if he tried.
“Uh yeah,” Caleb managed to say still recovering from the effect Hanna’s touch had on him. “Of course,” he added handing her the unicorn. Looking over at her Caleb bit down on his lower lip, keeping himself from kissing her. In front of a game booth on a crowded boardwalk was not the place. Not matter how much he wanted to.
Caleb cleared his throat breaking the moment. “Where to now?”
Hanna took the small stuffed unicorn and, oblivious to the effect she’d had on Caleb, picked up her soda again to finish it off and drop it in a nearby trash can. She felt almost giddy with enjoyment, looking around on the spot for where they could go next. She honestly didn’t mind, she was just enjoying the date.
With one hand free again, she looped her arm through Caleb’s once more and used it to guide them towards one of those racing machines. The horses were lined up along the top, and underneath a row of holes that were just waiting for the right ball to be dropped in to make the horses move. There were no prizes available at that stall, though, other than the superiority of having won, so she moved them on.
“I should name him,” she announced, lifting the unicorn that she had carefully been carrying. “Any suggestions?”
Picking his soda back up Caleb walked with Hanna again, sipping his drink as they made their way to different games. She wanted him to name it? He had never named a stuffed animal before. “Uhhh,” he said as he thought about it. It was blue and white which was like winter or snow or something.
“Ice,” Caleb began. And then there was that horn. “Cicle. Icicle.” Sounded good to him. He finished off his drink tossing it in a garbage as they walked by.
“How about this game?” he asked. It was one where you had to throw darts at balloons to try and pop them.
“Icicle?” Hanna looked at Caleb, then at the unicorn, and figured why not. She had asked him to name it, after all. It was pretty cute how he had looked the tiniest bit flustered, how she could see the cogs in his brain turning trying to work out a name. “Done.”
Though her purse wasn’t huge, she was able to at least fit Icicle in there with his (because he was a boy, she had declared) head sticking out the side. It meant she had both hands free again, this time so she could not only curl her arm around Caleb’s, but her other hand could rest in the crook of his elbow.
She looked at the game and nodded, detangling herself only so she could beat Caleb in paying for two games, one for herself and one for him. “You can go first this time,” she told him, eyebrows moving in something approaching a wiggle. “You have better aim.”
A sense of relief washed over Caleb when Hanna accepted the name. He had never named a stuffed animal before. It wasn’t like he ever had them growing up in the first place.
Hanna was getting closer and closer to Caleb. Clearly the night was going well. Not to mention how much he enjoyed having Hanna this close to him. Having her in his arms, or well on his arm but it was pretty damn close. It made him feel warm all over, smile not leaving his face. It was a feeling that Caleb didn’t particularly want to stop.
But they got to the game and hard to part to actually play. He frowned slightly when Hanna paid for the game. That was supposed to be his job for the evening. But he did his best not to make a big deal out of it. He knew that Hanna just wanted to help out. She was sweet. It was one of the many things he liked about her.
“Alright,” Caleb replied taking the darts. He missed on the first try. “What was that you were saying about my aim?” he teased trying again. He it a balloon but it didn’t pop. Maybe Hanna was right and it was rigged. On his third try he finally popped one of the balloons. But it wasn’t enough to win a prize.
“Let’s see what you got,” he challenged Hanna, smirk back on his face.
Hanna rolled her eyes, bumping Caleb’s shoulder again as she stepped up to the mark and braced herself against the ledge. She looked at the balloons, then the darts, eyes narrowed in concentration even as she drew her lower lip into her mouth, nibbling on it in thought. This might be tricky. The target looked closer than it probably was.
“Your aim,” she pointed out, “was fine. The darts aren’t sharp enough.” That was what it had to be. Everything here was a cheat but it was okay, she had Icicle and her date was going great.
She threw her three darts in quick succession, the second one popped one of the balloons, but the other two bounced off a balloon and the backboard respectively, pointy end down in the dirt.
“Better luck next time, folks,” the stall runner said with a toothy grin and Hanna just shrugged, turning to look at Caleb again, reaching out for his hand.
Caleb couldn’t help but watch as Hanna prepared to throw the darts. The look of concentration on her face was adorable. But then Hanna didn’t git any balloons either. Caleb just gave the guy in the stall a displeased look. Not even bothering to acknowledge his statement.
Instead of taking Hanna’s hand, Caleb wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close as they walked away from the booth. “You’re right,” he commented. “They probably are rigged.” And although they were fun he wasn’t sure he wanted to waste anymore of his or Hanna’s money on them.
“What do you say we just go down to the beach?” Caleb commented not even considering Hanna’s heels. Because why would he? He never had to think about these things before.
Hanna felt her eyebrows lifting at the comment about the beach, but her retort was lost a little when Caleb’s arm slid over her shoulders. The warm weight was reassuring in a way she wasn’t expecting and she found herself just saying “Yeah, we can do that,” despite the fact that she had heels on and she hated sand.
She leaned into Caleb a little as they headed away from the lights of the Boardwalk and towards the beach, stopping before they hit the sand to take off her shoes because she would sink into the ground if she kept them on. She’d have to burn these tights, she thought, because they’d be inundated with sand, and she’d have to go back to the car barefoot because her shoes cost over three hundred dollars and she wasn’t about to get them sandy.
“There’s literally no beaches near where I live,” she told him, nose wrinkled only for a moment as she stepped down onto the sand, movement careful as though she were stepping onto hot coals rather than a sandy beachfront. “Lakehouses, sure, but not beaches.”
Caleb’s brow furrowed when Hanna removed her shoes, suddenly feeling bad for offering the beach. He just thought girls liked that sort of thing. Long walks on the beach or whatever. He was trying to be romantic and clearly failing. At least Hanna didn’t seem to mind. He pulled her closer, hand resting on her waist.
“You mean lived?” Caleb asked as they started walking down the beach. “Or are you going back at the end of the semester?” He really hoped she was staying. Even if it was a few months away still he didn’t like the idea of not seeing Hanna.
Hanna held her shoes loosely between two fingers, not at all complaining when Caleb’s arm slipped around her waist again, tugging her close. Without her heels on, she was significantly shorter and fitted nicely underneath his arm. She tipped her head to the side slightly, feeling herself sinking into the sand as they walked. There was a cool breeze blowing off the ocean which felt nice against her skin, a contract to the warmth that rippled over her from where she was pressed against Caleb.
“Huh? Oh- my mom still lives there, so I’ll probably still visit? But I don’t think I wanna move home. I like it here.” She had only been in Orange County for a couple of weeks but she liked it. And it was far enough away from her family that she could avoid the inevitable fall out of their drama. “Why,” she tipped her head up to look at Caleb, expression light and teasing, “you tryna get rid of me?”
“Never,” Caleb replied with a large smile on is face. Yes it was really early on, but Caleb already knew he didn’t want her going anywhere.
“Are you and your mom close?” He had already mentioned not liking her stepsister, but he didn’t know much about her mom. Well other than what he knew from the dreams. But Caleb wanted to get to know the real Hanna.
Hanna was content strolling over the sand and when he asked her about her mom her steps barely faltered. She was quiet, though, trying to piece together how she and her mom had left their last conversation.
“Yeah? I mean, it’s a normal mother-daughter relationship. She’s not pleased I came all the way out here.” She supposed she and her mom were closer than some because they’d banded together after her dad chose a new family to go all in with, like a jerk, but that didn’t mean they didn’t drive each other crazy sometimes. “She’s cool, for a mom.”
Caleb merely nodded as she spoke. He didn’t really know what a normal mother daughter relationship was. Or a normal parent relationship in general. “That’s better than most,” he finally offered. “At least you don’t hate her.”
“I really don’t.” She smiled a little, “I think I miss her a bit? My other college was closer to home.” But being away was good, she needed some space. To learn who she was away from the safety blanket of home. “I know I’m lucky, though, I mean- she and I have a good relationship.”
Tipping her head, she leaned into Caleb as a breeze rippled along her legs. “What about you?”
“Do you still talk to her a lot?” Caleb could imagine it was hard to be away. Even though he had no personal experience with it. He still assumed as much.
It was Caleb’s turn to grow quiet. Not sure how to answer Hanna’s question. He didn’t want to bring down the mood, but he also didn’t want to lie to her. He wanted Hanna to know the real him. Even the bad parts. “I don’t really have a mom,” he finally said the smile disappearing from his face for the first time that night.
Hanna nodded, ready to respond to talk about her mother a little more but stopped when she saw the look on Caleb’s face. The soft confession, followed by the look of grief on his face made her stop in her tracks. Her expression faltered, apology written all over her face before she even spoke.
“Caleb,” she started, reaching out to touch his chest, hand resting flat against his sternum. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
Caleb stopped walking and just looked down at Hanna, eyes meeting hers. She looked so sincere. Hell even slightly concerned. And definitely apologetic that she had brought up bad memories for him. The anger he felt towards his mom dissipated.
“It’s okay,” he assured her a small smile back on his face. Not quite as large as it had been all night but at least it was back. “You didn’t know. Besides I’m the one that brought up moms.” He paused reaching out with his spare hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, fingers brushing over her cheek. “That’s a story for another time.”
Hanna’s brows creased, even as Caleb’s fingers brushed over her cheek, her head turning ever so slightly into the touch. She still looked distraught that she’d managed to upset him, even though it had been unintentional. She filed ‘Caleb’s mom’ away in her mind as a topic of conversation that was not something she should just initiate. She added ‘Caleb’s dad’, too, and then stuck a mental post-it over the filing to remind herself not to complain about her crappy parental situation to him because at least she had a mom - and a dad. It could have been worse, she could have not had a mom.
She leaned up and kissed his cheek, standing back down almost immediately and not lingering in his space for any longer than she was invited which, under the circumstances, was probably not that much long.
She slipped back into where she’d been tucked against his side. “Another time,” she agreed quietly, because it was less awkward for everyone involved if the matter was dropped, for sure. For a moment, quiet fell and Hanna listened to the crashing of the waves as they lapped against the beach.
“Have you surfed yet?” she asked, the question randomly popping into her head as she saw a sign designating a surfing zone appear in her peripheral vision. Besides, the conversation needed to move past the awkwardness. “I thought I might try it in the summer, y’know?” Except the idea of Hanna Marin surfing was ridiculous and anyone that knew her well would have said the same.
Once again Hanna’s lips on his skin sent shockwaves of electricity throughout his body. And she seemed okay with dropping the subject of his mom. Could she be any more amazing? Caleb could feel himself falling for her already and it was only a first date.
Surfing? That was random. But then he supposed they were at the beach. Caleb himself hadn’t seen the sign, he was too busy looking at Hanna. “No,” he replied keeping his arm wrapped around her. “I’m not really sure that’s my thing.” Actually he knew it wasn’t his thing. “But I’d definitely come watch you try,” he added the light back in his eyes.
Hanna snorted, “I think lying on a beach towel watching people play volleyball is more my kind of thing,” she said honestly, “or maybe on a lounger. Sand gets everywhere and, like, a girl I was in second period English with took her cell phone to the beach and somehow sand even got inside the casing, and scratched up the inside of her screen.”
She had never been much of a sunbather, though that was in part because she had never felt comfortable with her body. Last summer had been too much of a whirlwind for her to actually enjoy or test out her comfort with how she looked now. Maybe this one could be a change?
“But summer’s still forever away,” even if the weather here was consistently much nicer than back home. “I’m not really a boat person, either.”
“Well there goes my plans for our second date,” Caleb joked. “I was thinking canoeing.” An obvious like. Though he was definitely planning on having a second date.
“If that ever happens to your phone,” Caleb went back to the sand topic. “I can fix it.” Fixing up phone was how he got into the whole hacking business in the first place. It was something he didn’t really do anymore. But he’d be more than willing to help Hanna out, with whatever she needed.
Hanna laughed, “Maybe we can do a movie,” she suggested, because that was probably a little safer than going into a canoe, at the very least because bedraggled rat was not a great date look on Hanna, though she was pretty sure Caleb would look more than good if a bucket of water was tipped over his head. Did boys even do wet t-shirt competitions? They should.
She hummed a little, attention drifting from wet t-shirts back to Caleb and she blinked at him, pulling herself back into the here and now. “What, fix my phone?” she asked, “Just if I get sand in it or if it breaks in general?” That was an important distinction.
Caleb’s smile widened. Hanna wanted a second date. He knew the date was going well. But still it was reassuring to hear Hanna wanted a second one. “I could do a movie,” Caleb replied. “Anything in particular you want to see?” He would let her pick of course. After all Caleb had picked everything for this date.
“If it breaks in general,” Caleb replied. “Or anything extra you want for it.”
Caleb walked a little further keeping his arm wrapped around Hanna, wanting to keep her close. “You know,” Caleb began. “I’ve been having a really good time tonight.” In case that wasn’t obvious.
“I’ll have a look a little closer to the time,” Hanna told him, shoes swinging in her loose hold, not moving out of the warmth of Caleb’s arm. “See what’s out.” She had a feeling if there was a rom-com Caleb might not be interested, and though she generally tended to stick to watching horror movies in her room where she could cuddle a stuffed toy and shriek and no one would judge her, it might not be so bad to have someone’s hand to hold.
Her smile softened and she looked up at Caleb again, “Me too,” she told him sincerely, “even if I’ll have to burn these tights when I get home.” She looked down at her feet, buried in the sand.
Caleb looked down at Hanna’s feet. A sheepish smile crossing his face. He hadn’t even realized she had been ruining her tights. He couldn’t help but feel a little bit bad about that. More than a little actually. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I guess I have a lot to learn about... clothes. I’ll do better next time.”
Hanna watched his smile fade a little and she shrugged her shoulders, reaching down and tugging on the knee a little until there was a small ladder in the fabric. She looked up at Caleb again and shrugged her shoulders, “Looks like they’ve got a ladder in them anyway.”
God, she was so amazing. That was it for Caleb. With his arm still around her waist he pulled her into him turning her so that she was facing him a bit more. With his other hand he tilted her chin up, bringing his face closer until his lips crashed into hers in a tender kiss.
Hanna’s sound of surprise was muffled when Caleb kissed her, the warmth of his hand against the base of her back steadying her as he pulled her in. She dropped her shoes, hands on his shoulders and leaned up into the kiss, breaking it after a moment to stand down on her heels which resulted in her dropping a few inches in height.
She looked up at him, wetting her lower lip and tilting her head as she smiled, then ducked her gaze away, coy and taken aback by the kiss. “What was that for?” She asked, though she wasn’t complaining.
“I don’t know,” Caleb replied with a smirk. “Felt like it.” There was a brief pause as Caleb looked down at her, tucking her hair behind her ear for a second time. The smirk disappeared from his face, growing more serious. Although his eyes were still shining. “And I might have been thinking about doing that all night.”
Hanna’s gaze ducked again even after his had lifted to look at Caleb when he answered her, tilting her head into the brush of his fingers against her cheek and the shell of her ear when he tucked her hair back. She wrinkled her nose as she asked, “Even when I was making a mess of my food?”
Caleb couldn’t help but smirk at Hanna’s question. He didn’t move his hand from the side of her face, letting his thumb rest on her cheek, the rest of his fingers just below her ear. “Yeah,” Caleb said softly. “Even then.”
Hanna scoffed but not unkindly. Caleb was sweet, but no one wanted to kiss anyone when they were getting ketchup all over their face and fingers. She lifted her hand and curled her fingers around his wrist where she squeezed gently and her other hand remained on his chest, her finger splayed as she felt his heart beating under her palm.
It was possible to see the exact moment Hanna realised her shoes were in the sand. Her eyes widened, her mouth dropped open a little and she looked genuinely shocked at herself. Both hands patted Caleb’s chest gently before she was bending down and pulling away to pick up her shoes, turning them upside down and shaking them a little to try and get the worst of the sand out of them. She’d need to vacuum them. Thank god they weren’t suede. Not that she owned any suede shoes. Gross.
“Sorry-” she said sheepishly, aware that she’d broken the moment by remembering her shoes, of all things. She hooked her arm around his, resting her temple against his shoulder. “I really have had a great evening,” she told him a moment later, apologetic since she’d broken the mood. “Best date I think I’ve had.”
Caleb’s brow furrowed when Hanna’s expression changed. And then she was pulling away. He briefly worried he had done something wrong. But he saw he bending down to get her shoes. Caleb just grinned. Not even feeling a little bad that Hanna had been so swept up in their kiss she had dropped her shoes.
She rested her head on his shoulder, Caleb couldn’t resist the urge to places gentle kiss on the top of her head. “Me too,” he agreed. And Caleb had a feeling that it was going to be the first of many.