*Yawn* Who knew doing nothing would be so exhausting? Lol. More drama drama drama in this chapter. Just want to thank my reviewers and those who favorited or alerted this story; you peeps are aweeeeeeeeeeesome! :D As always, feel free to leave a review with questions, comments, concerns, and/or complaints! If you have something you want to say, don't be afraid to share it! Hope you enjoy the newest installment of Drifting Through!

Dean sat on his front porch swing, head in his hands and a cloth full of ice pressed against his temple. Paul's punches were still ringing through his head, even after a couple hours. Caught up in his pain and thoughts, he didn't hear anybody approaching until a horse whinnied. Looking up, the unmistakable figure of Mollie Edgecomb came riding up the drive. Dropping the ice, he staggered off the porch to meet her.

"Mollie, I—"

"You left these at the house." She said stiffly, handing him a shirt and tie. Probably from one of the days he spent renovating her house.

"Oh, thanks." She had already turned around when he looked up again. For a moment, all he could do was stare at the rounded hind end of the chestnut horse she was riding. Suddenly, she whirled around, causing the horse to let out an irritated growl.

"Why? Why did you do all that to me if you had her?" She hadn't planned on talking to Dean, but she couldn't help it. "Why did you fool me into falling in love and then throwing it back in my face?" She was fighting the tears that were coming, sure they would force their way out in a few more sentences.

"Mollie, I didn't know!"

"BULL! You knew!" She allowed the horse to take a few agitated steps towards him, making him feel smaller compared to the enormous animal. "The day Wild Bill grabbed me through the bars, you knew. You said no woman had ever caught your heart! You lied to my face about being engaged! What excuse do you have for that?"

Her eyes were blazing as she stared at him. They both knew there was no acceptable answer to that; he made a dumb ass move and there was nothing he could do to change it. Before he could speak, however, a car pulled onto the drive.

Please God, don't let that be her.

There was no mistaking it; Dean recognized the car as Linda's. Cutting the engine, Satan's mistress stepped out with a fake smile on her face.

"Hey sweetheart!" Linda called out, waving as she carried a box under the other arm. Dean could see Mollie stiffen from her place in the saddle. Even the horse sensed it; the animal suddenly became unnaturally still in response to the change.

"Mollie, isn't it?" she asked in a cheerful voice. A slight nod answered her. "Good, I was hoping to catch you sometime." Linda responded, digging through the box. "Here's your invitation." She handed a slip of thick paper up to a bewildered Mollie.

"An invitation to what?" Dean asked, craning his neck to look in the box for a clue.

"Your wedding." Mollie answered softly. For a moment, it looked as if she might burst into tears, but she simply stared at the silvery print on the paper. Biting her lip, she took a deep breath. "I'll be out of town that day, I can't make it." Her neutral tone was forced, though Dean could hear the pain beneath it.

"Mollie…" She turned her horse around for the second time, this time trotting away. "Mollie!" Dean took off running after her, his legs no match for the horse. "Mollie, wait!" At the end of the drive, she stopped.

Never looking at him, she said, "What do you want Dean?" Breathing heavily, he tried to catch his breath.

"I'm not…marrying her…I broke things off the other day." Looking at her, he waited.

"How do I know you're telling the truth? You haven't exactly been the image of truth, you know. Besides…we never would have worked." The last statement threw him for a loop.

"What are you talking about?"

"It was stupid for me to even think it would. We don't really know anything about each other and things were being rushed." She didn't meet his eyes when she said this; instead, she messed with the reins resting in her lap. He could tell she was lying. "It's probably for the best that things ended." For a split second, Dean stood in utter disbelief at her words.

"You've got to be joking."

"No, I'm not." She said defiantly, though tears leaked through her voice.

"I don't know anything about you?" His temper flared slightly. He had been prepared to take the heat over lying, not over stupid claims that they wouldn't have lasted. "Well let me tell you what I know! The Mollie Edgecomb I know learned how to drive a stick shift when she was fifteen. She likes strawberry jam more than grape or blackberry. She hasn't cut her hair in three years because she likes the feeling of it catching the wind while she rides. She's reread The Jungle so many times I wonder how she isn't a vegetarian yet. She's the kindest woman I've ever met and the toughest one I'll ever meet. Look me in the eye and tell me I don't know you." She stared ahead stubbornly, never even glancing in his direction.

"Your fiancé's waiting." She said tersely, nudging her heels into her horse's ribs and riding off down the road. He wanted to yell for her to come back but he knew it was no use. If she had come at any other time, he may have had a chance. But of course, Linda had to show up at the same time.

Turning, Dean made his way back up the drive slowly, gritting his teeth against his anger. No matter how mad he was or how much he was hating Linda at the moment, he didn't want to do anything stupid like hit her. Only men like Percy or Wild Bill were that low. Looking up, he saw she had settled down on the porch swing.

"Now that she's gone, we can get down to the planning. I was hoping that—"

"Linda." Dean said gently as he sat beside her, thinking hard about what he wanted to say. Turning, he gripped her shoulders and met her gaze. "You don't love me. And I don't love you." He let this sink in, shushing her when she got ready to speak.

"I don't know why you came back, but you don't want to marry me." They sat silently for a moment, her eyes leaving his and looking at the porch. Turning away from him, she wrapped her arms around herself.

"You're right." She said quietly. Letting out a bitter chuckle, she continued. "I never thought you'd guess that, but you're right."

"Then why did you come back?" She took a deep breath and ran a hand through her stick-straight hair.

"Things didn't go the way I planned when I left." Dean let a scoff escape his lips. Had she expected a happily ever after?

"You mean, James dropped you after a while?" To be so different, Mollie and Linda had the same problems; both got with men and were rejected. Linda left the good guy though; Mollie was still searching for him.

Linda secretly ran off with the shopkeeper's son after she and Dean called everything off. She claimed that James loved her more than Dean ever would the day before she left; it looked like James told some tall tales to get Linda in bed. She nodded, wiping at her eyes.

"He dumped me on my ass and I had nowhere else to go. I came back hoping another girl hadn't picked you up yet. I heard a rumor that you and that Mollie girl were together and I panicked…" Dean ran a hand through his hair as he looked out over his yard.

"Linda, you should have just told me that. Making her believe I was using her while I was engaged to you was probably the worst thing you could have done to her."

"And why's that?" she asked, her tone bitter.

"Because she caught her husband cheating on her. I was the first man she got close to in nearly four years and she believes I did her exactly the same way." They sat in silence for a few moments, both caught in their thoughts.

"So we'll never work it out?" she asked hesitantly. Without thinking, Dean shook his head.

"No." He didn't feel the need to elaborate. His feelings about the situation should be crystal clear at this point. She bit her lip, nodding at his answer.

"Okay then…" Standing up, she grabbed the box and tossed them into a garbage can beside the porch. "I'm…" She wrung her hands as she looked everywhere but at him. "I'm sorry." With that, she nearly ran down the drive to her car. As the vehicle revved to life, Dean let his head tip back as he sat in the swing. It looked as if half the problem was solved.