"A message came for you," Adrian told Molly and tossed an envelope down in front of her. "Who do you think it's from?"

"The school!" Molly replied after opening it. "Even though we aren't going to school, they're holding a dance for us anyway." She looked at Adrian. "Isn't that exciting? Maybe I can get Junior to go with me!" She then looked at him sheepishly. "I'd ask you, but you know, you're older and everything. Not that I don't think you're attractive, or…"

"Never mind," Adrian told her. "I'm glad that you have someone else to go with. My luck with school dances isn't good. Helene died during our prom. Came back later, of course, but died."

"Really?" Molly asked. "Did you kill her?"

"No!" Adrian shook his head. "Some really badly timed weather did. And a car accident. I just had to deal with the aftermath. So it should suffice to say you'll have more fun at your little dance without me." He paused. "And maybe Felicity could help you pick out a dress. She's good at that sort of thing."

"Are you just suggesting that because you want me to spy on her and her boyfriend?" Molly asked with a smile.

"What?" Adrian asked innocently. "Why would I want to do something like that?"

"Cause Lucien makes you nervous," Molly replied.

"He doesn't make me nervous," Adrian huffed. "It's just that…I know guys like him and I don't know if I want Felicity with that sort of person. Especially after all she's been through in her life."

"I'll ask her for her help finding a dress for the dance, but I really think it might be good for you to lighten up where she's concerned," Molly told him. "It makes you much more tensed and stressed than you need to be."

"Well, I wouldn't say 'No' to help with that!" Adrian called after her as she headed up to her room to call Felicity.

"You have to get a dress for your first school dance?" Felicity asked. "Isn't that nice, Molly! Of course I'll help you. No, I don't have plans. All right, see you in a few minutes." She ended the call and told Lucien, "We're gonna have to delay lunch for a bit. I'm helping Molly pick out a dress for her first dance."

"Oh, come on, Kitten," Lucien groaned. "Do we have to do that now? You can help some little kid pick out her dress any time."

Felicity gave him a look. "You haven't seen Molly yet, have you?" She asked.

"And I don't need to," Lucien replied. "Isn't she some toddler that your dad is way too attached to?"

"Not anymore," Felicity chuckled. "And the fact that she isn't makes her the one person who drives Dad crazy more than you do."

"Is that so?" Lucien smiled, an evil plot forming in his brain. "You know what? I think we can take some time to help the girl get her dress. It's only a little while out of our lives, isn't it?"

"Exactly," Felicity nodded, taking his arm and leading him to the car. "I'm so glad you finally came around to my way of thinking."

"I like this dress," Molly commented about the short red dress she wore. "I knew I wanted a red one, but do you think I'll be able to get away with it at a school function? I heard they were picky about stuff like dress length."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Lucien told her. "I'm sure Adrian will like it."

Molly turned to face him. "I don't think I should be going with him," she said. "If a short dress doesn't get me in trouble, having a date that's older might."

"Adrian's not that much older than you!" Lucien said. "At least not when you look at each other. You look really good in it."

"I do, don't I?" Molly smiled and gave a twirl, even though the skirt wasn't the twirly kind. "Let's get it!"

"Good!" Lucien smiled as Felicity shoved him out of the dressing room so Molly could change back into her other clothes.

"Don't think you have to buy this dress if you don't want to," Felicity said. "I think Lucien's only encouraging it cause he knows it'll drive dad insane."

"That would mean he knows about your dad and me," Molly told her. "Did you tell him?"

"I did," Felicity nodded. "I'm sorry."

"No," Molly shook her head. "It's fine. I'm not bothered by it. But do you think I should buy something a little more conservative just in case?"

"If it will make you feel better, we can buy another dress as a backup," Felicity replied. "Would that be good?"

"Yeah," Molly nodded. "Just to cover the bases. And let's make the other one blue."

"All right," Felicity nodded. "No problem there!"

Adrian was sleeping on the sofa when he heard Molly's voice close by. He opened his eyes and found Molly leaning over him, and of course her chest was very much in his line of vision. "Oh, my god!" He said. "What are you wearing?"

"This is my dress for the dance," she said, standing up straight so that Adrian saw he got a good view of her legs too. "What do you think? Do you think Junior will like it?"

"Well, um…I don't know," Adrian said, clearing his throat. "Come closer so I can have a better look."

She came closer and as Adrian looked her over, he said, "No, I don't think you wanna waste this on him. I like it, but I don't think he'd appreciate it."

"Should I bring it back?" Molly asked with a grin.

"No, just keep it around," Adrian replied. "You might…you might want it around some day." Then he jumped again when he heard another voice.

"You know, Lucien thought you might say that when he gave her that dress to try on," Felicity said, coming over to stand next to Molly. "Now I'm kind of glad we got her that more conservative one as a backup."

"You don't have to act nervous or scarred for life," Adrian told his daughter. "As you heard, she wants to go with Junior, and not with me."

"Yeah, but I saw how you were looking at it anyway," Felicity replied.

"Thanks for not bringing Lucien with you," Adrian replied as a way to quickly change the subject. "I could have only handled so much shock at once."

"Oh, it's not a problem," Felicity assured him. "Grandpa needed him to go and drink with him. He couldn't have come even if he wanted to."

"Ah," Adrian nodded. "Sounds about right. How's Dad anyway?"

"Not good," Felicity shook her head. "They went back in time to get this mummy, they got it to the present, and now the mummy is gone and both Grandpa and Uncle Elijah are freaking out."

"It's just a mummy," Adrian shrugged. "I wonder what the hell the problem is. Do you know?"

"No," Felicity shook her head. "I wish I did though."

"I think I'm gonna go change now," Molly said as Adrian and Felicity turned to look at her. They'd been so deep into their own conversation that they'd forgotten she was there. "Wanna see the more conservative dress?"

"No, thanks," Adrian shook his head. "I bet it will look beautiful on you. Everything always does."

"You're so sweet," Molly smiled and headed down the hallway that led to her room. "I just hope Junior is as enthusiastic as you are."

The next day, Molly, Junior, Finn, and Sarah all met for lunch. "I don't understand this whole dance thing," Junior said. "I mean, how the hell did they even know to invite us? We only turned school age recently."

"Well, maybe since it happened because of magic, the council knows about it and they're trying to make the best of things," Sarah suggested and took a bite of her hamburger. "I think it's nice." She then turned around and looked at Finn. "You wanna go with me?"

"No, no!" Junior shook his head quickly. "Don't ask him!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't ask you," Sarah replied. "You're my cousin and people just don't go to dances like that with their cousins."

"Says who?" Junior asked, looking angry as he rose to his feet and Finn did too.

"I would love to go with you, Sarah," Finn said, although his eyes were on Junior and a wicked smile curved his lips. He was winning this contest of wills they had going on.

"I don't know who says!" Sarah answered. "But they just do!"

"It's okay, Sean," Molly told Junior quickly. "Finn and Sarah can go together, and you can come with me." She gave him a brilliant smile. "Then everyone is happy."

"Oh, all right," Junior huffed. "I guess."

"Such enthusiasm," Molly said, her lips tight. "That really makes me feel special."

"Sorry," Junior told her. "I'd be more than happy to go with you, Molly." But his eyes were still on Finn and Sarah, who were sitting together and smiling as they talked about plans regarding pick up for the dance.

"If you don't want to go to the dance with Molly, then don't tell her you wanna go," Mary chided Junior when he told his family what happened. "It's not good to lead her on like that."

"But it's not necessarily leading her on," his uncle said. "I mean, did either one say they were going in a romantic context, or was it just understood that they'd be going as friends?"

To hide out from Edele, Mary, Liam, and Junior had moved in with Mary's brother Sean and his wife, Eva. So much magic in one place had to be a good thing on some level should Edele come calling.

"Now, let's think about this," Eva countered. "I mean, I liked you for years before you finally felt able to do anything about it. What if Molly has the same sort of feelings for Junior?" She looked at him. "Does she?"

"I think so," Junior nodded. "I don't know why, though, when I make it very clear that I'm not interested in being more than friends."

"Who do you like instead?" Mary asked.

"Sarah," Junior told them.

"Your cousin Sarah?" Liam asked, raising an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well, she can't be too close of a cousin," Junior replied and looked at his father hopefully. "Right? Plus, I feel it's my sworn duty to make sure she doesn't get brought into the family of a known criminal like Kai Parker."

"That's a very good point," Liam nodded. "You might have something there."

"Although he's my cousin so even if you do marry Sarah somehow, you'll still be brought into Kai's family," Sean added, "I agree with the general sentiment."

"I know," Junior said while Mary and Eva rolled their eyes. "I thought once I explained myself you'd see things my way. And sorry, Uncle Sean. I forgot Kai was your cousin."

"It's okay," Sean shrugged. "I don't mind. We're not all that close."

"I think the more important matter at the moment is Molly," Mary told her son firmly. "Even though you like Sarah, you promised Molly you'd take her and I think you have to stick to that. I bet it won't be some awful torture."

"Of course it won't be," Junior replied. "I mean, Molly's still my friend. I just don't like her in the same way I like Sarah. However, like you say, I will make an effort to have the evening be enjoyable for her and not just ignore her completely."

"Good," Mary smiled. "That's very nice of you."

"Yeah," Eva said and leaned against Sean, who put his arm around her and kissed her hair. "It really is."

"I'm so glad Adrian called me to come and see you off before your first dance," Kai told Molly as she did her make up. "Your mom is checking out Finn and Sarah and I get to look you over."

"Did you pick that specifically, or was it left more to chance, like with the flip of a coin?" Molly wanted to know. She was wearing her more conservative blue dress while her father was around so he wouldn't freak out. She would change into the other dress later when he wasn't there to see.

Just then, she heard the doorbell ring and jumped a little. "Junior's here!" She said and grabbed Kai's hand. "We can't leave Adrian talking to him for long, or I might not have a date at all!"

They got to the living room quickly, but Junior still looked a bit worn out and pointedly avoided Kai's gaze as he gave Molly a corsage and grabbed her hand to lead her to the car.

They sat in silence for a few minutes so that Junior could take a deep breath and then began driving to the school where the dance was taking place in the basement. At a stop light, Molly came to a decision.

"I know you don't want to go with me," she told Junior. "You just did it to be nice when you really like Sarah. So I think it would be better for both of us if you just took me back home."

"Are you sure?" Junior asked. "Cause I'm totally prepared to do this with you."

"Yes, but it's going to feel like a chore, no matter how determined and sweet you are to make this work," Molly told him. "Enjoy your evening spying on my brother. But just don't hurt him. All right?" She gave him a smile and Junior just shook his head. "You really amaze me," he said. "Thank you. I hope you have a good night." He then gave her a kiss, and even though it was what she'd been waiting for, she felt nothing. She pulled away and tried again. And again.

And then without so much as another goodbye, she zapped herself out of the car, appeared on Adrian's front step, and knocked.

"Back so soon?" He said when he opened the door.

"Yeah," she said, throwing herself in his arms. "Things didn't work out with Junior. Is my dad still here?"

"No," Adrian shook his head. "He left."

"Good," Molly smiled and zapped herself into the red dress. "I'd like you to kiss me now," she requested.

"All right," Adrian said, pulling her close, kissing her deeply, and making her feel warmth from her head to her toes as he picked her up and took her to the sofa without pulling away, although he'd changed his focus from her lips to her neck. This was what it really felt like to be kissed. Not like what she'd had with Junior. She knew that now, and she wouldn't forget it.