Molly: Rachel Bilson. Dario: Chace Crawford.
Paolo, I figured I had given him a decent description. I don't know any celebrities that have the look that I have come up with.
Same for Gage, Hyde's son, and Asher, Jackie's son.
Spencer (Jackie's other daughter): young Selena Gomez.
Reggie (Laurie and Casey's son): slightly like a younger Chris Egan, but not completely.
Lizzie (Laurie and Casey's daughter): younger Busy Phillips.
Jenny (Donna and Eric's daughter): Ashlee Simpson (like her hair is now; reddish).
Lily (introducing her in this chapter): Blake Lively./b
**MOLLY'S POV**
After getting home from that party, I have to admit, there was no point of me going.
Paolo, Dario, and I basically just sat around awkwardly while my mom caught up with her old friends. It was pretty strange. I met a lot of people that my mom used to be friends with, though, and their kids.
Now that we're back, though... I'm kind of glad we left.
Dario is sitting in the living room watching TV or whatever, so Paolo and I go in my room. We're making out on the bed.
Kissing Paolo is probably the nicest thing ever. I just feel... good. I can't think of anything else but him, and it's like, amazing.
We're still making out when there's a knock on the door. Not the bedroom door, but the front door.
I quickly get up and open the bedroom door to see the front door is already open. Dario is standing there, hugging a beautiful woman.
Silently, I back into my room as slow as I can.
"Uh, Paolo?" I ask.
"What is it?" he asks.
"Come over here quietly and tell me if you know who this is." I wave him over, and he does so.
Peeking through the door, he squints, and a look of shock comes over his face.
"That's his old girlfriend, Lily," Paolo whispers to me. "I don't know how the hell she could have possibly gotten here?"
"What, does transportation mean nothing anymore?" I ask, slightly joking.
"No, it's just... she's from back home. He hasn't seen her in almost a year. And last I'd heard, she was in jail," Paolo says.
"What?" I ask a little too loudly.
Dario and Lily hear us and quickly turn their heads.
"Not nice to spy," Dario says, giving a teasing smile in our direction.
"We weren't," I explain, flustered. "We were just-"
"I don't need to hear the story," Dario says, smiling as he waves me off. "Just give me a minute, okay?"
I nod and turn back to Paolo as Dario and Lily walk deeper into the living room.
"So... why was she in jail?" I whisper to Paolo.
"She was part of a huge, group fight thing," Paolo whispers back. "I don't know. But I recall she had a gun on her."
"Wow..." I trail off slowly. I'm right to be worried, right?
"I know. Now you understand my shock," Paolo says.
I nod slowly, peeking out the door again, but I can't see anything but the door.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Two hours later, Paolo has fallen asleep on my bed. I don't want to wake him up, so I sneak out of the room to see Dario in the kitchen. No Lily in sight.
He notices me and gives a small smile. "Hey," he says in a quieter voice.
"Hi." I sit on the counter and lean against the cabinets. "So... what happened to... that girl?" I ask. I don't want to say her name or anything or else he will know that Paolo and I were talking about her.
"First, where's Paolo?" Dario asks.
"He fell asleep," I explain.
Dario raises his eyebrows at me, and I shake my head at him. "We weren't doing anything," I tell him again. "Anyway, who is she?"
"She," he says, taking a deep breath, "is Lily. My ex-girlfriend. And, she is asleep in my room, so I'd appreciate it if we could talk about her a little bit quieter."
"Oh!" I say, then cover my mouth. "Okay. Sorry. So, what's her story?"
"She's from Italy," Dario explains. "She just got out of jail. I'm sure Paolo told you all about it." He gives me a knowing look, and I just laugh and nod.
"She was only in for a few months. And don't worry, she's not a criminal. It was all a misunderstanding," he tells me.
"So... why did you guys break up?" I ask him.
"Well..." Dario shrugs. "We went through a rough patch. She... didn't get along with my parents well. Kind of a wild girl. And then, I moved."
"Oh." I nod. "So... why is she here?" I ask, hoping I don't sound rude.
Dario sighs. "She... had a few things to tell me. Important things. But, uh, I'll say more in the morning. I really need to sleep."
"Alright..." I can tell that something's off, but I'll forget about it until the morning.
"'Night, Moll," he says, walking to his room.
"Night," I say back, going to my room and getting into bed.
Paolo wakes up as I'm lifting up the covers.
"Oh," he says, standing up. "I'm sorry. I didn't even realize I fell-"
"It's fine," I say before he can finish, smiling.
"Alright. Well, I'll go now then. To bed." He nods toward the door.
"Uh, actually," I say, "Dario and Lily fell asleep in his room. So if you want, you can sleep in here, with me. I mean, not like /that/, but-"
He smiles at me. "I know. Thank you." He walks toward my bed and gets in.
"Night, Paolo," I say as I shut out the light.
"Good night, Molly," he says back to me.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
**NORMAL POV**
Paolo awoke in Molly's bed around seven thirty in the morning. Molly was still fast asleep, so he tried to be as quiet as possible.
Walking into the kitchen, he saw his brother sitting on the couch, his head in his hands.
"What's up, Dar?" he asked quietly, but loud enough to scare his brother.
Dario jumped, then realized it was just his brother. "Oh, man, I need to talk to you."
"Yeah?" Paolo sat down. "Does this have to do with your ex-girlfriend randomly showing up yesterday?"
Dario swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah, definitely."
"So, what's up?" Paolo asked.
"Well," Dario said slowly. "You know how Lily and I went out a while back?"
Paolo nodded. "Obviously."
"Well, she came here today telling me that after she went to jail, she found out that she... was pregnant. And I was in America by then." Dario stared into space while waiting for his brother's reaction.
"Wait, you mean, with your child?" Paolo asked.
Dario nodded. "That's what she's tellin' me. And she says that when she got out, she didn't know what to do. And she had the baby, and was trying to find me. She didn't want to talk to Mamma and Papa, because they didn't like her anyway. She got a hold of Manny (A/N: their sister. I mentioned her before; real name is Emmanuelle) and she gave her the information as to where I am. And now... she's here."
"Wait." Paolo paused. "So where's the baby?"
"With Lily's parents." Dario shook his head. "I can't believe all this. I mean, I've lived my life the way I always have, every day. And then I find out last night that I'm a father? No way."
Paolo nodded. "I may be an uncle. That's crazy."
"Rosanna Isabella," Dario said. "That's her name."
Paolo raised his eyebrows. "Wow. So this is real."
Dario nodded. "I don't know what to do," he concluded as he leaned back on the couch.
"Well, you've got to go home," Paolo said. "Mamma and Papa need to know. Soon. Unless Manny told them first."
"I would have gotten a call if she did that," Dario said. "Going home does sound nice, at least for a little bit. And I need to see the baby."
Paolo nodded in agreement. "Yes. But when do you plan on doing that?"
Dario shrugged. "I'll figure it out when I talk to Lily more, later."
"Yeah." Paolo sighed. "Wow. I can't believe this is happening. I guess I should probably go home with you."
Dario nodded. "Guess so."
"My show is tonight, so I can leave after that," Paolo added.
"Alright," Dario said.
Just then, Molly's door opened, and she emerged from the room.
"You can leave for where?" she asked, yawning.
"For... the store," Paolo said. "We need... uh... milk."
"No, we don't. I got some yesterday," Molly said, giving a suspicious look.
"Okay, we'll just tell you," Dario said, sitting down.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
After telling Molly the entire story, she was in disbelief.
"So you guys are like, leaving?" she asked, shocked.
The brothers nodded.
"For good?" she asked again.
Dario shrugged. "I don't know right now. It really depends, but..." He noticed Lily open the door.
"Why is everyone-" She stopped, noticing the looks she received. "I'm guessing you told them, Dario."
"Told them what?" he asked.
"The thing about Rosanna?" She raised an eyebrow.
Dario nodded. "Yeah. I had to." He took a deep breath. "I need to go home for a while. Maybe for good. I don't know. Paolo'll come, too, and then... I don't know."
"Alright." Lily nodded. "That works." She noticed Molly's expression of pure disappointment. "Um, Dar, I'll be back in a minute." She touched Molly's shoulder. "Will you come talk to me for a second?"
Molly nodded, confused, and followed Lily near the door.
"I never caught your name," Lily said, once they were out of earshot of the boys.
"I'm, um, Molly," Molly said.
"Lily." Lily offered her hand, gently, and Molly slowly shook it.
"Are you sad?" Lily asked.
After a moment of silence, Molly looked down and shrugged. "Yeah," she finally admitted.
"Listen," Lily said gently, "I didn't come here to ruin this for you; for anybody. I'm sorry. I just... I had to get it out there."
"I know. I understand," Molly said, nodding.
"Okay, good." Lily smiled. "How long have you and Paolo been... seeing each other?"
"About a week," Molly admitted.
"Oh!" Lily said. "I thought it was longer."
"No, he hasn't been here long," Molly said.
"Oh, alright. Well... I'm sorry I had to end it so soon." She gave a little frown and then turned around to walk back to the boys.
**JACKIE'S POV**
Work is boring. I hate it when I'm trying to start a conversation with a customer, but they don't seem interested. It's so... boring.
However, once I'm finished with Sally Anderson from down the street, I get a break. At least, until I notice Molly burst through the door.
"Moll?" I run to the front door, noticing she looks upset.
"Mom," Molly said as she approaches me. Her eyes are wide and she looks worried.
"What's wrong, honey?" I ask as we go into the back room and sit down.
"Mom, Paolo and Dario have to go home, like in the next couple of days," she says, her eyes looking glassy, "And they might stay for good."
I give her a confused look. "/Why/?"
"Because... Dario has a kid back in Italy, and just found out. Now he has to go home, and... Paolo can't stay if his brother isn't here." I can see the tears threatening to escape from her eyes.
"Oh, honey." I give her a hug, and I feel her start crying.
"Why can't anything good /stay/?" she asks as she wipes her eyes and pulls away from me.
I sigh. "Honey, I know, you're sad, and-"
"No, I mean." She pauses. "It's been a week, but I'm crazy about Paolo. And Dario and I have become like family, almost. And... I don't want to find another roommate. I just wish this never happened." She puts her head in her hands. "I don't know. I just don't know what to do."
"Listen," I tell her as she puts her head back up, "These are two common decisions, or pieces of advice, or whatever," I say. "You can either admit that if it's meant to be, it will last... or, you can do something about it. Don't go with destiny, /make/ your destiny. If you feel it's right, don't let it go away," I tell her, squeezing her shoulder.
Molly nods. "I like that second option."
"Yeah, me too," I say.
"But," Molly says, "I can't just go to Italy. Not alone."
"But you'll have Paolo," I point out. "And Dario."
"They have family there! I can't just... intrude!" Molly insists. "Ugh, I can't do it."
"You know what," I tell her. "I'll go with you. I need a break from Paul; I can't stand him."
"Really?" Molly looks at me hopefully.
"Of course." I nod.
"Well... you have to tell them we're going, because I don't want to seem like an... intruder!" Molly says.
I laugh. "Fine, deal. I'll tell them."
"Can we go now, then?" Molly asks, trying to pull me toward the door like a little kid.
"No, I have to work," I tell her.
Molly sighs. "Alright. Stop by at my place after work." Molly leaves.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
So, after work, I go straight to Molly's. She opens the door for me, quickly, and has a panicky look on her face.
"What's wrong?" I ask as I walk in.
"Nothing." Her eyes avert to Dario and a blonde girl, sitting on the couch together, then back to me.
"Oh." I nod, noticing. "Is that her?" I whisper.
"Well, duh," Molly says quietly.
"Jackie, hey," Dario says as he notices me walking in.
"Hi," I say.
"This is Lily," he tells me, gesturing to the blonde girl.
"Hi, nice to meet you," I say to her.
She smiles back at me, nodding her head.
"Um, Dario, where's Paolo at?" Molly asks.
"Back porch," Dario says, pointing behind him.
"Alright." She opens the sliding door and calls Paolo in.
He walks in with an ashtray in his hand, putting out a cigarette. I didn't know he smoked.
"Paolo." Molly grabs his hand, pulling him towards her. "Dario. My mom has to tell you guys something."
Wow, way to be blunt.
"Um, okay," I say, giving Molly a weird look. "So, she told me about how you guys have to go back to Italy. And she was upset." I notice Molly shooting me an angry look. "But, uh, so was I. And we decided, that we might visit you in Italy when you go."
"Ah, that would be wonderful!" Paolo says, putting an arm around Molly. She smiles back.
"Yeah, that's great," Dario agrees. "Our parents would love to meet you two. You've become like another family."
I smile at him, but we both avoid extended eye contact because I think we both are thinking of that one night.
"So it's settled," Paolo says. "You both will be coming to Italy." He grins at both of us.