Only forever (Casualty)

33

Hannah hated how tense things had been since Cal had told her to give the money back to her dad or they were over.

She knew she hadn't given him the money back. She knew he wouldn't want it back. He had always told her that he would never expect anything back from her.

Hannah hated the situation. She felt as though things were too hard for her. It wasn't fair on Ella to witness her parents bickering. Hannah had never wanted that.

She had wanted to give her little girl the life she knew she deserved. Hannah had grown up with her parents bickering. And it drove her insane. It was something she was adamant she never wanted for her own child.

Cal had been staying in the spare bedroom lately. Hannah felt it was stupid. It was pointless. She knew their relationship was always good. They had their bad moments. But she knew they'd always get over it.

All Hannah knew was that things weren't the same anymore. And she somehow needed to make it seem like it was going to be okay. But she wasn't sure.

Morning came and she left the bedroom. Cal was sitting on the sofa with Ella. Hannah looked to him. "Are we really not going to talk? Cause you're actually annoying me right now."

"Have you given the money back?" Cal asked. He didn't even look at her.

Hannah rolled her eyes. She shook her head. "No. I haven't. He won't want it back. My dad has more money than he'll ever need. He's a cardio surgeon. So he's fine. He won't miss it," she told him.

Cal looked to her. "How do you think your dad is going to like it when he finds out you had money off him for my ex? You think he's going to be happy? No. He won't. He'll tell you to end it with me. And you know he will," he said.

"No he won't. He won't ever know. He thinks it's for my student loans. And I will happily make him think that."

"Give your dad the money back. Or I meant what I said. We're gonna be over," Cal said as he stood from the sofa and walked off.

***
Hannah sat in the staff room at work. She saw Lexie who looked to her. "You look rotten. What happened?" She asked.

"Cal. He keeps telling me to give the money back to my dad. Or he's going to end it with me. Lex, I did this for him. Yet it feels like he's making me out to be the bad guy," Hannah told her.

Lexie nodded and sat with her. "Talk to your dad. Tell him the truth. If he wants the money back, give it him back. If he doesn't, tell Cal to screw a cactus. You've done this to help him without breaking into Ella's trust fund. It's gonna be okay," she said.

"You think?"

"Trust me."

***
Hannah walked into her dad's office. She looked to him and sighed. "I need to talk to you," she said.

Sam nodded. "Okay. Before that, I heard your conversation with Lexie. You had the money for Cal's ex girlfriend?" He asked as he looked to his daughter.

Hannah frowned. She nodded. "Yeah. I still have it. So you can have it back if you need it. But, I did this for my family."

"I don't want the money back. But don't lie to me again Hannah," Sam said.

Hannah looked to him and nodded. But was this enough to fix her relationship with Cal?