Chapter 1
"Congratulations!"
Hanna Marin grinned enormously when she saw her brunette best friends standing there. She launched herself into the girl's arms and gave her a long hug.
"Thank you so much, Spence!"
"I would've called or texted, but I wanted to say it to you in person," Spencer explained.
"Don't even worry about it," Hanna shook her head. "I'm just glad that you're here."
"And don't you worry one bit... I'm totally on it with the wedding planning," Spencer told her.
"Yeah, we've got a board of everything we want for the wedding—" Hanna began.
"Say no more. I'm on it. I'll make all the arrangements," Spencer said.
"God... I really appreciate all your help," Hanna gushed.
"You're one of my best friends, Han. Of course I'm here to help," Spencer told her.
"I would've asked Emily to be my maid of honor, but I knew you'd do all the wedding planning for me," Hanna joked.
"Shut up!" Spencer laughed. "You're lucky I love to do this."
"If you love it so much, maybe you should get on doing it for yourself, too..." Hanna bit her lip.
"Are you asking me if I'm thinking about getting married?" Spencer rolled her eyes. "Come on now, Han! I'm not even in a relationship right now."
"Why not? You're gorgeous and single! Some guy is out there. You don't have to marry him, but what about a relationship?" Hanna asked.
"I'll get into a relationship when I find a guy I actually want to be with," Spencer told her.
"Are you ever going to want to be with a guy again?" Hanna asked.
"Of course I will... eventually," Spencer shrugged her shoulders.
"Not since Toby," Hanna pointed out.
"That is not true!" Spencer argued. "I've dated a few guys in D.C."
"But nothing was ever serious," Hanna reminded.
"So what? Those guys just weren't right for me. I still dated them," Spencer told her. "I'll stay with a guy if he's right for me. None of these people have been that. Sorry that I'm not engaged already," she said sarcastically.
Just then, Caleb walked into the living room of their place. He smiled at both of the girls, and then leaned in to give Hanna a kiss to greet her.
"Hey, babe! Hey, Spencer! It's good to see you again," Caleb smiled politely. "Did you just get into town?"
"Yeah, I rushed straight over here to see Hanna. I'm super excited to start helping you guys with the wedding planning!" Spencer exclaimed.
"Oh yeah! Thanks so much for helping out, by the way. That's really cool of you," Caleb grinned.
But there was a look of nervousness on his face that Hanna picked up.
"Babe, is everything alright?" Hanna asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "I know when you're nervous, and now is one of those times."
"Han, can we talk in private?" Caleb asked, biting his lip.
"I'm planning your wedding! Am I not a part of all the discussions? Unless it's your sexy talk... then, you can keep it to yourselves, and you never have to let me know," Spencer laughed.
"Sorry, Spencer. I really need to borrow her quickly," Caleb apologized. "Come on, Hanna."
Caleb and Hanna went over to the other side of the room, leaving a frustrated Spencer alone. She was really intrigued and wanted to know what they were talking about.
Meanwhile, with Hanna and Caleb...
"Spit it out! What's going on, Caleb?" Hanna demanded.
"It's not a big deal, I was just afraid to say it in front of Spencer because I didn't know how she would react..." Caleb muttered. "The thing is, I've figured out who I want my best man to be."
"Okay?" Hanna furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would that concern Spencer?"
"Because, Hanna... the guy I picked is Toby," he confessed.
"Toby?" Hanna's eyes went wide.
"He's my closest friend, okay?" Caleb explained. "I couldn't imagine not picking him to be my best man. And I know it's going to be hard for Spencer, but I can't just not pick him for our wedding because of that..."
"No, I get it. And there's nothing wrong with who you picked, I'm just worried for her," Hanna sighed. "She was really torn up when they broke up, and they haven't seen each other since. I'm afraid of what seeing him again is going to do to her, but she can't avoid it forever, can she? Maybe it'll be good for them to see each other again."
Caleb nodded his head.
"I think we should tell her," Caleb said, biting his lip.
"You think she can take it right now?" Hanna asked.
"She's a strong girl," Caleb shrugged. "Besides, Toby is flying in tomorrow morning."
"What?" Hanna asked, wide-eyed. "Tomorrow morning? Why is he flying in so soon? The wedding isn't for a while, Caleb!"
"I know, I know..." he muttered. "But the thing is, he offered to help with the wedding planning, too. He really wanted to."
"Toby Cavanaugh wanted to help plan our wedding?" Hanna scoffed. "That seems off!"
"It's weird, but maybe the guy just wants to be involved in planning his friend's wedding," Caleb shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever, it doesn't matter why he wants to help, because he does, and he is. He's flying in tomorrow morning, and I can't change that. So, what are we gonna do about it?"
"There's nothing we can do except tell Spencer the truth," Hanna sighed. "She's going to have to work with Toby to plan this wedding. Do you think she can take that right now?"
"I don't know... I really don't," Caleb sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We can tell her together, if you want."
"What the hell? Did you think I was going to tell her alone?" Hanna rolled her eyes.
Caleb chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.
"Hello?" Spencer called from the other side of the room. "How long are you two lovebirds going to isolate me from the conversation? You two know that I don't like secrets! So, what's up?"
"We're coming now, Spencer," Hanna told her.
"Please don't tell me that was you two finishing off your sex or something," Spencer joked. "I hope that was the right kind of coming..."
"I happen to think the 'right' kind of coming has to do with sex," Caleb joked, causing Hanna to pinch him. "Ow! Babe, what was that for?"
"Making a sex joke right now," Hanna angrily said.
"Why is it so serious right now that he can't make a sex joke?" Spencer asked.
"It's not that big of a deal, Spencer, but we need to talk to you..." Hanna muttered.
"Okay. What's going on?" Spencer asked, looking over at them. "I'm glad to know you guys aren't having some type of silent sex. That was my worst case scenario."
"Good, then if that's as bad as it can get, you won't be so upset when you hear our news," Caleb smiled.
"Shut up, Caleb," Hanna rolled her eyes.
The two of them walked back over to the other side of the room to join Spencer.
"Come on! I've been left in the dark long enough. What the hell is going on?" Spencer asked desperately.
"Okay, okay... the news is that Caleb picked a best man," Hanna said.
"So what?" Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. "Am I supposed to be devastated that he did that?"
"Well, his best man is Toby, so you tell me how you feel about that..." Hanna ripped the bandage off, biting her lip.
All Spencer said was, "Oh..."
But her eyes were saying other things. Complex things.
"That's okay," Spencer nodded her head, even though it was paining her on the inside. "I knew I'd have to see him again eventually. So, it's okay. I can deal with him for like... one or two nights. The wedding rehearsal, and then the real thing."
"But here's the thing... it's not just that," Caleb revealed. "Toby's flying in tomorrow morning. He wants to help us with the wedding planning, too."
Spencer's eyes went wide.
"What did you just say?" she demanded.
"He wants to, uh... help us with the wedding planning," Caleb repeated, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Ugh! No, I heard what you said, Caleb!" Spencer cried. "But I can't believe it! You want me to work with my ex-boyfriend to plan your wedding? That's a little much to ask for..."
"We get it if you don't want to help anymore—" Hanna started.
"No we don't!" Caleb cried. "Speak for yourself, babe! I was really looking forward to seeing what she could do for us... I trust her to make it awesome."
"Shut up, Caleb! This is about her," Hanna punched him playfully. "Sorry that he's so insensitive about it. He just doesn't realize how hard it'd be for you to have to do all that stuff with Toby. So, again... we understand if you don't want to help plan the wedding anymore. Well, at least I understand. Caleb's a different story."
"No, I'm sorry..." Caleb muttered. "I get it, too. Seeing an ex can be hard."
"Stop it," Spencer sighed. "I'm not going to quit helping you plan the wedding just because I have to do it with Toby. He's not a bad guy. I won't lie, it's going to be hard to see him again after our break up, but I'll do it because I love both of you, and I want you both to have a happy and perfect wedding day."
"You're still in?" Hanna smiled brightly.
"Thank God..." Caleb grinned. "Don't get me wrong, Toby's an awesome dude, but I don't trust him at all when it comes to wedding planning."
"Actually, he's pretty good with his hands," Spencer reminisced.
"Ew!" Caleb cried, raising his eyebrows and widening his eyes. "Why are you telling us about... that?"
"Oh my God, Caleb..." Spencer rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean anything relating to sex. I meant that he's good with stuff like building and setting up. He was a carpenter, after all."
"I'm sure he was good with his hands in sex, too... he's got those big hands. Am I right, girl?" Hanna grinned.
"I am not here for this," Spencer rolled her eyes again.
"Sorry..." Hanna bit her lip.