Hannah

32

First Holland had stopped the car and swapped places with Caspian to continue driving, only Max had stirred the slightest during the first stop on the road home. When Caspian was also done with driving. Knowing it was better to be safe only drive well rested, unwilling to risk any possible danger to Hannah or Aspen. After sleeping in the back with Hannah and Aspen, Max had been more than refreshed by then and took over driving. The added bonus of having Hannah as his copilot in the early morning hours. Aspen must have been exhausted from all that he had been through, he barely stirred as Hannah transferred him from being snuggled in her arms to Holland.

Holland behind Max, Aspen under his arm, Aspen's own arm over Holland's chest. Caspian leaned back in the opposite corner. Everyone caught a nap in the car. Wanting to be as refreshed and ready as they could when they finally made it their new home.

Taking a short detour from the fast highway down to a medium sized town Max was familiar with from his own travels growing up nearby. Stopping at a small diner Max had eaten at countless times with his family or Bryan's, he picked up two dozen of his favourite breakfast while on the road. Max had gotten more than enough take out breakfast sandwiches for everyone when they woke up. He and Hannah eating their own as the road trip continued. Max driving cautiously down the highway as the scenery grew more and more familiar to him the closer they got to home.

Max's thoughts and anxiety about what his mates would think of his home were interrupted by Hannah after she finished eating two of the sandwiches. "This isn't the kind of relationship I pictured I'd be in." Hannah said softly. After glancing behind her, and feeling certain the others were sleeping. Hannah admitted out loud for the first time. She wasn't disappointed, Max could tell through their bond. Maybe just a little overwhelmed by the speed this relationship had developed.

"Me too." Max said honestly. "I wouldn't change it, this is better than any dream or fantasy I ever had." He looked at Hannah, she was perfect. Her hair like spun gold, eyes deep like the sky over an open ocean. Strong, smart, funny, she was better than any fantasy he could have ever come up with on his own. He never would have dared even hope someone as gorgeous inside and out as Hannah would be for him.

Hannah nodded. "I didn't know I could still feel this much happy anymore." freshly fed, rested. In a car surrounded in love. Heading to a place she really hoped could be home. A real home. That she could feel that feeling again, of being safe and loved in a place she belonged. That everything Max, Holland and Caspian had promised her could be real. Hannah let herself drift inward as Max drove them closer and closer home.

Hannah hadn't actually been as asleep as everyone had thought overnight. She knew she was going to have nightmares when she fell asleep. Too many dark memories had been stirred, new trauma from Carson being at the club last night. It would be easier if she was truly exhausted before she really slept. Usually kept the worst of her nightmares at bay. 

While she closed her eyes and kept her body relaxed, her breathing even. She listened, and she thought. She had heard far more than any of her mates knew. Even knowing Caspian's father hated her, that Carson was still alive and more dangerous than even Hannah had known. She still felt safe when she was near her mates.

At least that was where Hannah was trying to keep her mind. Overwhelmed by the buoyant, optimism, and good feelings filling her head and heart through the bonds she had with Caspian, Holland and Max. Trying to be what she thought they wanted, unsure what else to do as her life seemed to spiral farther and farther out of her own control. Carson had used her work to get to her. Her last, safe place. Her income. He had ruined all her plans to keep herself independent.

Most of Hannah was trying to be optimistic, to go towards the light. Underneath was the Hannah that realised it had never mattered how hard she worked, or how good she was. All that ever mattered was what she could do and what others wanted from her.

Hannah didn't want to be, but she was suspicious. She had been too long on edge, fending for herself. It was hard to turn off those kind of feelings, no matter how good her mates made her feel when they were around. It really was too bad that no one else in Hannah's happy harem, wanted to stop looking through their rose coloured glasses.