A/N #1: Thanks to the kind guest reviewer!

A month later, Hanna finds herself returning Aria's favor.

Aria hasn't shown up to school and isn't answering anyone's texts, so naturally her three friends have taken it upon themselves to make sure A hasn't gone and killed their smallest companion. At the lunch table Hanna had said as much with a cavalier jauntiness, outwardly laughing off the ridiculousness of the idea, but the three of them could only muster subdued laughs. They'd all seen too many murders to just brush off the thought. And sure, maybe the joke was in bad taste considering Mona's death was still fresh in their minds, but if Hanna didn't crack a joke at it, if she let these deaths drive her into solemnity it would drive her insane. She'd end up going home and locking herself in her room until A disappeared or, more likely, until she wasted away.

Hanna lets them into Aria's house with a spare key – Aria had given her a copy after so many late night sleepovers. She holds her breath and grips Spencer's and Emily's hands as she bravely walks inside. But there's no blood thrown over the wall in an unsightly red veil, no trademark 'signs of a struggle' that Hanna has become highly attuned to over A's reign of torment, no sense that anything's out of order.

But wait…

"Something's wrong," Hanna says quietly. She locks eyes with Emily, who gives her a small nod, and she knows Emily feels it too – the silence that doesn't sit right in the way the house settles, the faint smell of salt and sadness on the air, the way the thermostat's set to an uncomfortably cool temperature, like someone's gotten too warm from crying under the covers for too long and had to turn the temperature down. Hanna would know, she's done it before.

"What? How do you know?" Spencer grabs Hanna's arm, alarmed. For all her analytical skills, she still hasn't mastered the identification of such emotional nuance.

"Let's go see," Emily says instead, redirecting them to the stairs. They reach Aria's door quickly and Hanna knocks lightly. "Aria? Sweetie, are you in there? It's me, Hanna. And Em and Spence too. We're worried."

"Sweetie?" Spencer echoes, and Hanna doesn't even bother to glare at her. Emily shushes her, pressing her ear to the door.

"I don't hear anything," Emily reports. She tries the doorknob. "But it's locked."

On cue, Spencer pulls the bobby pin out of her hair. Hanna and Emily move aside to let her work. In a few seconds they're in.

It's the scariest thing Hanna's seen all year.

Aria's just laying on her side, curled up in blankets, eyes wide but lifeless and unblinking, face wet with drying tears.

Emily and Spencer get agitated, rushing to her side in a clamor. Aria doesn't move. Hanna just stands by the doorway.

"Aria?" Hanna says, and her voice cracks because she's so afraid that Aria might not answer. Her panic is only alleviated a little by the rise and fall of Aria's chest, because she's not dead but from the looks of it she might as well be.

Aria blinks up at her, but doesn't say anything. It's still more movement than Emily and Spencer have coaxed out of her. Hanna, Emily, and Spencer exchange a look, and then the latter two step aside, just as Hanna and Emily had stepped aside to let Spencer pick the lock. Hanna supposes she's spent so much time with Aria lately they've formed a closer bond. So she moves forward and kneels at the edge of Aria's bed. "Aria, what happened? What's wrong?"

Aria shudders in breaths for almost a minute before whispering four words: "He's still writing it." She shuts her eyes, gasping in her breaths now, her energy sapped. Hanna bites her tongue so hard she can feel the taste buds peeling, forcing herself to remain calm as she urges Aria to take deep breaths and reaches over awkwardly to rub her back.

Emily shoots up from her seat, her normally gentle features stark with rage.

"Whoa, where are you going?" Spencer asks, her similarly furious countenance temporarily lapsing into confusion.

"Where do you think? I'm not going to be okay until I see him bleed! I am so sick of him breaking Aria's heart and selling our life stories," Emily snarls, fists balled up in preparation for the coming fight. Angry Emily is a frightening Emily, and it's unfortunate that the other three girls have found a lot of reasons to fear her recently.

"Oh, not without me you're not," Hanna growls. "Sit your ass down and help me watch over Aria. Actually! You and Spencer need to get her some food and water. I'll watch over her. And we'll deal with that piece of scum later. But right now Aria needs us."

Maybe it's the fact that Spencer and Emily have rarely seen her so forceful, or maybe it's the fact that Aria is so unquestionably in need of help that they'd rather shut up and help Aria than fight Hanna on the command, but Spencer and Emily do as they're told without even the raise of an eyebrow.

Hanna never takes her eyes off Aria, and she smoothes a fallen strand of hair up and away from Aria's face. "Do you need anything else? Medicine? Another blanket? Your sketchbook?"

"No," Aria says, her words wispy and boneless. "I just need you."

Something about that statement makes Hanna hesitate on her next words. "Of course. And Spence and Em are here for you, too. They'll be back before you know it."

Aria stares at her, lips pursed and full with barely restrained confessions. She swallows, but the adrenaline still sticks in her throat as she watches Hanna wait for her to speak. Tired of the discomfort of stifled nervousness, she sits up on her elbow, leans forward, and presses those full lips to Hanna's.

To Hanna the kiss tastes like being knocked over in the surf for the first time, overwhelming and disorienting and new and stamped with salt. When they part, Hanna has never been more unsure of how to feel in her entire life, and her breath seems just as reluctant to make a decision, here one second and gone the next.

"Aria…you're hurt. You're confused." I'm confused. "Is that why you kissed me?" Hanna focuses on the sound of Spencer and Emily putting together a meal downstairs, praying for them to get back sooner so she can go home and sort out her feelings in solitude.

"I…maybe. I don't know. I'm sorry," Aria says, collapsing back onto her side, looking ashen.

"Don't apologize," Hanna says, wanting to help Aria back up, but she keeps her hands at her side. She's not sure what else she expected to hear, but it wasn't that. It makes her feel almost disappointed, but she doesn't stop to dwell on why.

"Well…Is it ok if I ask you to stay? All of you?" Aria asks, and Hanna can't say no to that in good conscience. She nods, feeling guilty for having even thought of leaving.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course we'll stay."

Hanna's been sneaking around and it's driving Aria crazy.

Aria's kissed a lot of people she shouldn't have, but this one she regrets the most.

Sure, Hanna acts like everything's ok. She'd accepted Aria's multiple apologies graciously, laughing them off, and they'd ended up regaling each other with tales of all the people they'd impulsively kissed. But nothing else explains the fact that Aria hasn't seen Hanna for more than two hours in a row since Aria's first day back at school.

"Where's Hanna?" Aria asks her two other friends.

She swears she sees them exchange a heavy look before turning back to her. "I don't know," Emily says, focused on swirling the mashed potatoes on her tray around with her fork. Spencer touches her hand to Emily's, causing Emily to look up.

"Don't play with your comfort food," Spencer says in what sounds like a playful tone, and Emily rolls her eyes. "I get it Spence," she says, and they laugh in a way that suggests this is some kind of inside joke for them.

The exchange hurts Aria in ways she can't explain, and she slams the soda in her hand down onto her tray, before picking the whole tray up in a rather dramatic fashion.

"Aria!" Emily says, alarmed. "Are you leaving?"

"Yes, I'm leaving," Aria snaps. "I'm going to find Hanna and demand answers. Because you two are too busy flirting and keeping secrets to give me any, and I'm so sick of people lying to me," she spits, the stress of the past few weeks returning to her.

"You can't leave!" Emily blurts, standing and deciding to ignore Aria's accusations of something more than friendship going on between her and Spencer.

"Watch me," Aria seethes, spinning around, only to find Spencer standing before her with her arms crossed. When did that happen?

"Aria, we're not hiding anything from you. Least not a secret relationship," Spencer says. Aria gives her an incredulous look, one that's she mastered over the past few years. "Ok, we were hiding something from you, but it's small, really, and I'm about to tell you."

"Spence – " Emily starts, clearly disapproving of spilling whatever secret she's privy to. Spencer cuts her off.

"No, Aria's right. Too many secrets, no matter how small and ultimately benevolent, are going to tear us apart, and Aria's had more than enough lying in the past week alone." She looks to Aria for confirmation, and Aria only nods, a little chastened by Spencer's calm and rational agreement.

"All Hanna was told us was not to follow her or ask her where she's been disappearing to, and to make sure you don't follow her either. And she told us to keep an eye on you, and if you weren't ok, she told us to call her."

"God, she couldn't have told me that herself?" Aria said, instantly infuriated again. "And I'm not some fragile toddler that needs watching all the time. I can handle myself." She's so angry that she almost misses the second look Emily and Spencer exchange over her shoulder, and her face darkens. "What else are you guys hiding from me," she growls.

"N-nothing," Spencer says, a little frightened by Aria's anger. "Aria, do you want to – "

"No. I'm done here," Aria says. "I'm going to find Hanna, and neither of you are going to fucking stop me."

But she can't find her.

She thinks of all the times that Hanna's blown off their sleepovers or impromptu movie watching sessions recently, and thinks of how cold her bed has been lately without Hanna there to splay herself over it and laugh at the ridiculously posed models in magazines, and thinks of how everyone in her life she's somehow fallen for has done nothing but lie to her.

Aria doesn't bother returning to class. She drives home through tears and miraculously manages not to crash.

She's so lost in angry thought that she doesn't see Hanna sitting on the front steps, cradling a large bag in her hands, until the key's in her hand and she's two paces away from unlocking the door.

"Hey," Hanna says uncertainly, looking up at her, and Aria can't decide whether or not to scare her away with a snide comment or return the greeting. And she's so, so angry, because even though Hanna's made her so furious she can barely stopper her tears, Aria still would love nothing more than to grab her by the elbow, pull her up, and kiss her.

She settles for staring down at Hanna, waiting for her to speak.

Hanna remains sitting, rather than standing and making Aria look up at her. "Emily texted me. She told me what went down at lunch. She and Spence wanted to come, too, but I told them I'd handle it."

Aria glowers, and Hanna backs up. "Not – not that you're a situation that needs to be handled. I just…ugh, I'm not good at this. Just take this. Please open it first, at least, before you decide to shove it up my ass." She withdraws a large and plain cardboard box. "Sorry, I didn't have time to wrap it, and it's not as good as I'd hoped it'd be, but I figured this was the best time to give it to you, even if it meant the thing was a little rushed."

Aria takes the package, but she doesn't spare it a second glance. "And what? You think you can buy your way out of this? I'm not that materialistic, Hanna! I'm not – " She takes a deep breath, willing herself not to cry, and Hanna darts up, trying to steady her. Aria stumbles backward sharply when Hanna's fingers brush against hers, stunned by how much she relishes the contact.

"Do you remember what I said once, about us? I told you I can handle the universe throwing me curveballs, but not when they start coming from my best friend. So why does it feel like both of these are happening again? Happening now?"

"You're not the only one who's felt like that recently!" Hanna blurts, and Aria drops her eyes, ashamed, crying harder, because she knows Hanna's talking about that time Aria accused her of always being the problem instead of helping her out of her temporary addiction. "Fuck," Hanna sighs, looking instantly remorseful and extremely frustrated. "I didn't mean – I – "

"I know, and I'm sorry, and I'll never stop feeling like I have to spend the rest of my life making that up to you," Aria sobs. "I missed the signs twice, Hanna. I missed your identity crisis two times. Maybe I just didn't get it, because you've always seemed so perfect to me, and I didn't understand how you could ever see yourself as anything otherwise. But I'm still just an awful friend, and I don't deserve your friendship. I get it. I get why you don't want to look me in the eye anymore, and you can take your present back, I don't need it," she rambles, thrusting the box back into Hanna's hands.

Hanna sighs, pained by Aria's hurt. "Aria…I'm not perfect, but I've already forgiven you for both of those things. I don't know why I said that. Unresolved issues, I guess. I just…we can both be really shitty friends sometimes, yeah, but our friendship is stronger than any of those issues. Because in the end, I know you're here for me. And you might not see it right now, but I'll always be here for you too. And as for the present and the sneaking around…I can explain. When you're ready."

Aria hiccups, crisis mostly averted. "You're so great. I'm sorry," she repeats. It seems to be the only thing she can say these days.

"It's ok," Hanna smiles. "Fighting sucks. Come on, let's get you cleaned up." She tucks the package back into her bag and leads Aria upstairs.

Aria stares at herself in the mirror until she's mostly forgotten the memory of Hanna's fingers against hers.

Once Aria has pulled herself together, they both sit in Aria's bed and watch three episodes of Gossip Girl before Hanna has to leave.

Aria's leaning on the wall with her back to it and she's watching Hanna struggle into her sandals in front of her. She's managed to force one on, and she's hopping around on her right foot as she tries to force the left sandal on.

"These must have been designed by someone at Radley," Hanna gripes. "They're cute as hell, but they're also straitjackets for your feet. Ahh!" Hanna yelps, as she loses her balance and falls onto Aria, arms stretched out, just as Aria catches her. The way Aria catches her leaves little to no space between their faces, but the air is thick between them as Hanna catches her breath and refuses to move.

Hanna wets her lips and Aria nearly chokes. Should she take that as a cue to kiss her? She leans forward just as the back door slams open.

Hanna's off her in a flash, smiling as if nothing's happened. "Is that Mike?"

Aria nods dumbly.

"Tell him I said hey, but I've got to go," Hanna says, finally shrugging the other shoe on. "I'll see you later."

And she's gone.

Aria makes her way upstairs and ignores the unopened package left in the corner of her room.

10 minutes after she's woken up, Hanna opens her door to incessant knocking. "I'm up! I'm – Aria? I thought you were the cops. Or the IRS. Or hell, the FBI. What's with all the knocking?"

"I opened it," Aria says, an elated grin stretching her face. She throws her arms around Hanna, crushing her in a hug the blonde would have expected from a person twice Aria's size. "How did you do it?"

When Aria pulls away, Hanna's beaming too. "The night we came over to check on you, I went looking for your sketchbook and found it in the trash, along with a page ripped out and torn up that was labeled Winter Ball. I guessed you were designing a dress for yourself. I had Spencer and Emily help me piece the designs back together, and I swore them to secrecy…sorry about that, but I wanted it to be a surprise. And making a dress takes a lot of time," Hanna admits. "And I didn't know if I could get it done in time before the winter ball, but I remembered how you spent all your lunchtime in the library, and your mom let me stay in her room. And I just – I just – "

Aria puts a finger to her lips. "Han, you're rambling, but it's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me. I love it. I love you," she says, crushing Hanna in a hug the blonde would have expected from a person twice Aria's size.

Hanna chuckles. "I love you too. All three feet of you. That's why I made the dress for you. It was too good to be thrown away like that."

This time, when Aria pulls back to look at Hanna, she finds it really, really difficult not to kiss the taller girl. They stand there, arms around each other, just grinning. Aria wonders if Hanna also feels the tension building silently between them.

Aria bites her lip shyly, considering pulling away from the situation, and something changes in Hanna's eyes.

"Screw it," Hanna breathes, and catches Aria in an earnest kiss.

To Aria the kiss feels like falling asleep in a lover's arms, comforting and safe and promising relief and reminiscent of mint toothpaste.

"Did you just wake up? You just brushed your teeth, didn't you?" Aria murmurs, high on the scent of Hanna's body wash.

"Yeah, I did. I'm sure my bedhead hair is super sexy," Hanna chuckles.

"I don't know what's so funny, because I definitely agree," Aria says, and adds with a smirk, "Let's go upstairs and you can teach me some…hairstyling tips."

As expected, Hanna reveals their relationship with a pair of customized T-shirts and a hundred invitations to her coming out party, the likes of which has both of them bringing leftover rainbow cupcakes to lunch for two weeks. Aria doesn't mind. Because when she kisses her girlfriend, Hanna always tastes as sweet as Aria's imagined (in private dreams and stolen fantasies that left Aria with a blush and a special kind of ache, but now it's a kind of ache that Hanna can take care of). And Hanna never tires of licking stray frosting off Aria's lip so lasciviously that even an unseeing Jenna feels uncomfortable being in the general vicinity.

They're at the winter ball, and after pulling quite a few favors and recruiting assistance from her girlfriend, Aria manages to finish dresses for the rest of her friends, presenting them in the presence of their dance dates. "We'll match!" she tells them.

Spencer gets so excited she practically proposes, making a wheelchair-bound Toby chuckle into his coffee. Emily's level of admiration is similarly off the charts, so much that Paige and Hanna start to bond over their envy and side-eyes. As for Hanna, she manages to keep her appreciation at a civil level considering they're in company, but after Hanna drives her home she shows Aria how thankful she really is.

"Did I mention you look gorgeous in that dress? I can't think of anyone else who would make it look sexier," Hanna whispers, honest appreciation making the quirk of her voice breathy, and she chooses that moment to dip her date to the slow song. When Aria comes back up, her cheeks are red and her eyes are shining, and Hanna's pretty sure it's not because the blood's rushed to her head after that dance move.

"Mmm, I can. I designed it to look best on your bedroom floor," Aria smirks.

"Oh yeah? I'll believe it when I see it."

They laugh even as Spencer stops by to tell them they're obnoxiously sweet and as Emily smacks her in the shoulder for it. Aria smiles as she looks over at her friends; they're all dancing in outfits straight out of a fairytale. But Hanna's ultimately proved to be the princess she's always drawn up dresses for, and that couldn't make Aria happier.

A/N #2: The winter ball dresses are from the promos; remember to capitalize in all the right places if you want to check them out:

goo dot gl / sCx30b

Sorry if it's OOC or not true to canon; I may be missing some details. I've watched seasons 1, 2, and 5 in their entirety, and I'm still catching up, so I haven't watched half of season 3 and most of season 4. But I'm getting there! Also, I obviously don't really know how dressmaking works or how long it takes, so sorry for inaccuracies. Criticism still welcome!