It wasn't at first sight

Chapter 22

Evening.

After having stopped by at her place to freshen up, Hanna is now walking toward Caleb's house, feeling excited to be about to see him again.

She parked her car a bit away from his place, since all the closer spaces were already taken, and on her way to the front door, she notices that those cars parked there, are her friends'. She sees Emily's, Ezra's and Alison's cars. She wonders if they are all at Toby and Spencer's... maybe they got together and Caleb is there as well. Anyway, she decides to ring the doorbell at Caleb's house and check there first.

After a couple of minutes of not getting any answer, she has not doubts, Caleb must be in the house next door, and so she goes there.

Now, she gets extremely anxious, standing at her friends' front door. It was never in her plans to meet him again in front of her friends, well, their friends now. She thought that she and Caleb would have a more intimate reunion, she was dreaming about it all the way back to Rosewood. But Caleb is in the house in front of her and she is not walking away because of her insecurities, because although she doesn't know if he is ready to let their friends know about their relationship just yet, and she was counting on having another talk with him about it, she really wants to see him as soon as possible.

She takes a deep breath, trying to chill out, and rings the doorbell.

Aria "Han! What are you doing here?" she greets her excitedly after opening the door.

Hanna "Hey!" she greets her back with a smile. "I just got back"

Aria "You could have told us you were coming, we already had dinner, we would have waited for you"

Hanna chuckles. "It's okay, I already ate"

Emily "Han!" she yells after hearing her friend's voice. "Come here, Chocolate! Look who is back" she calls the dog over as she approaches the front door.

Hanna "Hey, Em!" she greets Emily too while stepping into the house.

Chocolate gets there in no time, running so fast that he almost bumps a table on the way. He jumps over Hanna and places his front paws on her shoulders, standing on his hind legs.

Hanna laughs and hugs him. "Hi baby! You really missed me" she presses several kisses on the top of his head. "I missed you too" she releases him, but he keeps jumping around. "Hey, it's okay, buddy. Stay still" she tells him, trying to calm him down a bit.

Aria chuckles. "He was napping like a champ just a moment ago and look at him now" she pets Chocolate on his back.

When Hanna looks up, she finds Emily staring at her, amusement in her face.

Emily "The guys are in the backyard, Caleb is there too" she tells her, still grinning.

Hanna only smiles in response and makes her way through the house to go to the backyard. Emily, Aria, and Chocolate go after her.

Spencer "Han! What are you doing here?" she asks as soon as Hanna comes out to the backyard.

Caleb, who is standing there, with a beer can in his hand, turns around right away after hearing Spencer, and as soon as his eyes meet Hanna's, a spontaneous grin appears on his face.

Hanna "Hi, guys" she greets everyone although her eyes are only fixed on Caleb's.

Caleb puts the can down on a table next to him and opens his arms for her.

That's Hanna's cue, the sign that she needed to let herself go, and not holding anything back, she rushes over and hugs him. He presses her hard against his body making that hug tighter.