Some topics are rather controversial in this chapter (depending on your personal opinions), and I just want to say that I am not using the characters to voice my own opinions. After studying them for quite awhile, I decided that this would make sense for the context of the story. This is how I believe they feel. Again, that does not negate or amplify my opinions. I am not in this chapter. Molly and Julius are. Just… getting that out there. Because I'm a worrywart. :)

Chapter Ten
Thursday, Summer 12th

Sweet Thursday! Molly never imagined looking forward to a weekday so much.

After the little incident at the lake, she was sure Julius would avoid her for pushing him in – and maybe scaring him away with her confession. But he had still visited every day though he had never rejected or reciprocated her feelings out loud.

Molly wasn't the type to nag or demand he say it, but she wasn't going to lie and say she wasn't a bit worried. She came from a family where the words were thrown around like hellos and good-byes. Though it was meant whole-heartedly, the phrase 'I love you' was almost… expected somehow. So Molly couldn't shake that she felt something was missing whenever Julius didn't say it to her. But then again, it was easily her fault. She had said it much too soon. Too soon! Molly had only met Julius last year… Last year?!

Going back in her mind, the farmer recalled the day back in late fall… and how they were immediately jumping in head first by winter. It was halfway through the summer season already, meaning autumn was back on its way. Good gracious, if she counted that dinner at the Inn as a date, then Molly and Julius had been dating for over half a year! Where was the time going? How had she not noticed?

While she was worrying about these things, Julius was on his way with a 'surprise.' But he was terrible at surprises. Or at least the kind of surprises that resulted in an outing. By the blanket she was required to bring and the most 'casual, stained clothes' she could find, Molly already knew they were going to have a picnic in the grass.

Of course she didn't say anything. Why spoil it for him? Molly smiled to herself, picturing his slumped shoulders and puppy dog eyes – you mean she had seen through it? Honestly, a first grader could have put it together. Julius wasn't as convoluted as he often seemed. Thinking he was smarter than everyone else had put him seriously behind, severely underestimating peoples' intelligence. Ironic how that worked.

Her trainers kicked up the dusty road beneath her. There were plenty of clouds that the wind rolled steadily by, casting shadows along the path every now and again. Molly wore some of her work clothes, but they were a neat T-shirt and shorts. Though Julius would be horrified at the possibility of grass stains (which was why the crap clothes had been a top priority), Molly was used to the green marks showing up on her clothes. She was an outdoor person where Julius decidedly was not.

Molly turned the corner and found Julius walking in the opposite direction too late. She ran into him, getting a face full of ruffles. Quickly backing up, Molly shook her head in apology. "S-sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Just wondering where you were, doll face," Julius fixed her hair. "I was sure one of those cows had finally done you in."

She rolled her eyes but checked her watch anyways. Molly was a good fifteen minutes late. "Sorry – I must have lost track of time. But here's the blanket!"

Julius took the afghan from her, inspecting it. "Good, this should work well."

"What's it for?" She asked innocently, walking down the path beside him.

He hurried forward ahead of her, his ponytail swaying with his movement – it was high to keep the hair off his neck in the summer heat. With a spin, Julius presented a basket on the grass Vanna White style. "Ta-da~! Picnic by the beach!"

Molly smiled in excitement. "Really? Wow, cool!" She went to the basket, shifting through the food while Julius spread the blanket out on the grass by the road underneath the cliff of her farm. "Did you make all this stuff yourself?"

"Of course! Though I don't mean to brag," Julius lied. Of course he wanted to boast. It was how he worked. And it was somehow endearing, but Molly knew that was mostly because she was dating him and she found herself infuriatingly modest in comparison. Molly was the kind of modest that was too modest. The kind that found it extremely difficult to take a compliment with grace. Which was arguably just as bad as constantly complimenting oneself like Julius.

She noticed that all of the treats inside didn't require eggs. They were simple things like sandwiches and juice and granola. It made her laugh. "Well, it looks delicious. Do you need help with the blanket?"

Julius tugged a corner, straightening it out. "No, it's fine. See? All done!"

Molly crawled onto her blanket, toting the basket as Julius sat down cross-legged. Because she wasn't sure whose was whose, she let Julius pass the food out. They all turned out to be the same – vegetable sandwiches with orange juice. Molly didn't tell him she didn't like mayonnaise, and she ate it out of politeness, choking down each bite with a surprisingly good poker face.

In her haste to stop tasting it, Molly had finished her food long before Julius. He eyed her inquisitively. "Hungry, doll face? Remember to chew."

Molly swallowed the last bit, rolling up the plastic wrap and taking a large swig of juice. "Ah, yeah! I skipped breakfast…"

"That's not wise," he scolded. "If you're working all morning, you should have something in your stomach. Can't have you collapsing on us – Dr. Jin would give you an earful."

She knew this of course and had been lying, but she took it in stride. Throwing herself down on the blanket, grass poking through the crocheted holes and tickling her skin, Molly watched the clouds pass overhead.

"Well, lunch wasn't the only surprise," Julius said.

Molly sat up on her elbows. She tapped her trainers together lazily. "There's another surprise?"

Julius smirked and pulled something from the basket Molly had over-looked. It sparkled blue like deep water in the sunshine. "With some difficulty, I decided your color was sapphire. So would you like it?"

"Of course!" Molly blurted. The sapphire bracelet had dozens of different sized and shaped gems that composed the circle around her wrist. Silver held it all together like a puzzle. Some of the sapphires were shinier than others, giving the jewelry some shading and depth. "Oh, Julius… It's beautiful! How…?"

"I am a metal smith, I like to think. I can make more than sandwiches," Julius quipped as he fastened it around her small wrist. Molly spun it around, examining it at every angle. Julius watched her in amusement. She was such a child – so easily entertained. "I'm glad you like it so much, doll face~"

"Like it? I love it!" She corrected him, giving him a hug. That wasn't enough, so a good kiss was in order. "Thank you so much! I don't want to ever take it off…"

Julius smiled with pride. "Who said you had to?"

Molly stared at her bracelet in awe, lying back against the blanket. The blue of the sky seemed to be captured on her wrist. It was so exciting somehow.

And look how far she had come. She was having a picnic by the ocean with her boyfriend. Molly – Mugly – had a boyfriend. Take that, all you naysayers… Their words had been wrong after all.

"If you told me that… that this was going to happen last year, I would've said you were crazy," Molly whispered, still staring at the passing sky and her bracelet.

Julius sipped his orange juice, watching her.

"I mean… I don't know what I mean, actually. It's kind of surreal."

Julius reflected, trying to remember how all of this started. When a lovely, mysterious girl was trying to hide her tears over a sink. He was always a fan of a good puzzle, and the stranger who he had known by name for a couple of years had suddenly taken an interest in him (at last – he wasn't a fan of being ignored), giving him a good riddle to solve. Sometimes, he was sure Molly was the easiest thing to read. The stuttering, self-conscious innocent girl. But then she would talk like this and throw him off track, like Julius didn't really know her at all.

"They called me Mugly."

The statement was so quiet he almost didn't catch it. Finishing his sandwich, Julius' eyebrows wrinkled together. What could he say to that? "Who?"

Molly shrugged. "Everybody… I… My teeth," she was having a hard time explaining, but it was easier to tell this to the sky than to look him in the eye. "I rough housed a lot when I was little and it happened that my four front teeth all came out at once. My two front teeth came in first when I was just in second grade. The other two took their time…"

Julius could easily see how cruel enough children could make fun of the gaps and the over-sized adult teeth on a little girl's face. It was sour, but it wasn't something that could be fixed or avoided. Just endured. He leaned on his arm, reclining in thought.

Molly continued. "I finally had to go to the dentist to see what was wrong. Over-crowding and all that. So I got braces to fix it. My parents couldn't afford them for awhile, so I had them put on in high school. My teeth eventually came in alright, but the names didn't stop. It was something established and familiar, you know? It was almost too easy."

"Mugly got braces? About time, squirrel girl!"

"Braces can't fix that face. It looks like she got hit by a truck."

"Does she think Adam will like her now that she's got her squirrel teeth caged?"

"There was a boy… once," Molly admitted with some reluctance.

This peaked Julius' interest. "So what about him?"

"Oh, it was when I was fifteen," she sighed grumpily. The habit of spinning her bracelet began. "I never liked that age… I still had my braces, so it wasn't a great time to begin with, but Adam just made everything worse. He was the class clown, you know? Really easy to like. But he had a big head. I guess I liked his confidence…"

Julius nodded.

Molly's hand left the bracelet and pulled at the grass, uprooting it as she talked. "I kicked the idea around, b-but I finally… had the courage to just ask. If I… If I had a chance…"

Adam gave her a disbelieving look. "Go out with you? Look at you. I mean… I'm not about to become fodder dating squirrel girl. Sorry, babe. Try Jeremy – he's more… you know. In your circle."

Molly laughed darkly at the memory. It was so harsh; she had thrown up in the girl's bathroom afterwards. "Of course not! He told me to buzz off. So… I k-kind of ignored people ever since."

"Well, that's not fair," Julius cut in. Molly turned her head to see his face. "You just let him win that way."

She knew he was right. But it was so easy to say that now that it was all behind her. After everyone started pairing off – even her few friends. After the weddings and date nights and vapid advice she couldn't sincerely offer because she didn't really know. Molly just had to look at the facts without experience from the heart. It often gave her friends excellent advice for whatever problems they had, but it didn't give Molly any credit. She was still ignored and over-looked. A late bloomer that no one saw flower.

Her favorite memories still lingered around Mrs. Clarence. She was the one who had persuaded Molly to get up the courage to ask Adam out. But she was also the one with the tissue box and the cup of tea when things turned south. Molly could still hear her advice that got her through so many years of being bullied for her teeth. "Molly, no matter what you look like, a real friend will always look inside first. Remember that story you always liked so much? We had that dance routine one year for it…"

"'Beauty and the Beast,'" Molly easily provided. "The school did the musical the same year."

"Ah, that's right," the old woman smiled, holding her gaudy beaded necklace in her fist. She had a far off look for a moment before her blue eyes found Molly again. "You'll remember then that the point of that story was to tell you that appearances didn't matter. They'll never matter as much as what's in your heart. And you have a good heart, Molly. A beautiful heart. A heart that Adam doesn't deserve to see because he hasn't learned that lesson yet. Okay? Now stiff upper lip, baby. Why don't you show me that Jitterbug routine you were practicing…?"

What was supposed to be a light-hearted picnic was quickly becoming an open-heart afternoon. Time to put everything up front, all chips in, and see who was still bluffing. Lay down the cards and find out what was really behind the hands.

Julius settled down next to her, sprawling out and looking up at the fluffy clouds as well. He heard a stray bleat from one of Molly's sheep up the hill. "I won't repeat most of the names I've been given. The most popular one though was faggot."

Molly gasped. "That's not fair…"

"It didn't have to be fair," Julius chided. His voice sounded far away. "For awhile, I believed them…"

She turned her head, studying his face. There were memories etched there that she couldn't identify. Maybe she didn't want to know. Maybe some things were best left unsaid. Molly took his hand, intertwining their fingers. "Julius…"

"It was when I was travelling with my parents after school before coming back here," he casually provided. "I had a few flings, sure. But they didn't work out."

Molly still had the question on her tongue, but she already knew the answer. Still, she wanted to hear it from him. "So?"

"Am I bisexual?" He laughed, making her smile foolishly, embarrassed by her curiosity. "Let's just say that I believe in love wherever it's found. I don't believe that there's such a thing as fake love. Or just puppy love. It's either real or it's not. Either you're feeling something or you don't. That's the difference between leaving and staying."

She remembered his parents. That they left him behind. Julius made it a point to tell her he didn't miss them. He had specifically said: "They travel all over the world. They've always done things their own way. But at least they don't interfere with me." Still, it must have hurt. Molly couldn't imagine losing contact with her parents. She squeezed his hand tighter.

Suddenly, Julius seemed to change the subject. "Pink has always been my favorite color."

Instead of laughing at the irregular (though completely unsurprising) fact, she waited and listened as he did for her.

"I was always so jealous that girls could be beautiful. They got to play with all of the loveliest toys, could do up their hair however they wanted, wear whatever colors and styles they chose, and everyone associated girls with beauty. Why is it so… forbidden for boys? Why is it so wrong to appreciate beauty like girls do?"

It was an excellent question. But it was one Molly didn't know the answer to. Did anybody?

"So it seemed I was transgendered," Julius added as nonchalantly as telling her the time of day. "But I still liked being a boy. I just didn't understand why girls and boys had to be so different.

"And so I would spend my days with the girls in school. Coloring, playing tag, pretending house. I always got to be the dad," he smirked.

Molly giggled. "I would've killed to know a guy like you back in kindergarten. I was always stuck playing the estranged grandmother or the family dog when I refused to be the father."

Julius shook his head. "Ridiculous! Such talents wasted at such a young age!"

"Oh, stop it," she nudged his shoulder.

"But you saw the same thing, didn't you? How it was alright in kindergarten," Julius pointed out. Molly nodded slowly. "Oh, everyone loved me in kindergarten. The teachers thought I was a hoot! But when we grew older and I didn't change, people started asking questions. The teachers suggested counseling. What did I need counseling for? What did I do wrong? I hadn't changed. Everyone else had."

Julius let out a long sigh. "I moved around quite a bit as a child, finally stopping here on Castanet. Aunt Mira was here, so we thought we'd get along fine. But these country bumpkins were sure I was a flaming homosexual at the age of seven and wouldn't see past it."

Molly bit her lip. What an identity crisis. How awful it must be… to even have the adults against you. Molly's teachers pitied her and were often her closest friends as she passed through the system. She fondly remembered her long conversations with Mrs. Clarence. She was her savior. But even the teachers thought Julius was weird. How… lonely. "It's not right."

"Doesn't mean it didn't happen, doll face. Though things got better after I came back, it's not exactly easy to forget the past," Julius let go of her hand, rolling on his stomach. He stretched like a cat and yawned.

"So what did you do?" Molly pushed, wanting to know more about him.

Julius puffed out his lip in thought. "Hm… Well, I honestly thought about modeling. But I had too much to say. I couldn't just stand and let others do. Besides, my ideas were much better."

"Of course," Molly rolled her eyes, rolling onto her stomach as well.

"So I picked up design. I went off with my parents for awhile. I liked it very much. My enthusiasm scared some people, but… I started to like that, too. The intimidation factor. The more outlandish I dressed and acted, the more people would stare. It was like a punch of rebellion."

Molly smiled, seeing him in a new light. She picked at a highlight in his hair. "So are you still 'rebelling?'"

"Sure," he shrugged, shaking his hair away from her. "But I like this look. No matter what anyone has to say."

"That's impressive," she stated matter-of-factly. "I could never do that…"

"Which is what makes us different," Julius agreed, eyeing her. "Heh. I suppose we're both a couple of losers, eh, doll face?"

Molly nodded in agreement. He learned to lash out at the world, and she had learned to avoid it. They were two completely different methods, but they were just as effective. Or so she thought at the time. "Hm… This was nice. Thank you, Julius."

He gave her a kiss as 'you're welcome.'