I'll admit that there are two very biased traits of Molly that are entirely due to me being her author. One is her love of summer. The second is her music. I wanted her to be a dancer, but I had some difficulty picturing what kind of dances she would do. Swing and tap seemed to fit rather well, so I gave her some of my favorite music artists. Kind of guilty. It's a sorry but not sorry situation, I guess? xD

This are starting to crack it seems... Thanks for reading!

Chapter Fourteen
Tuesday, Fall 24th

Julius let out a disconcerted sigh. He was leaning against the desk, staring intently at the sketches scattered haphazardly over the top. The rain hadn't let up and was still drizzling on the roof of the house – slowly driving him insane.

As he tried to think in the quiet, the front door swung open with unbearable noise. "My, it's so wet outside! I hope the rain quits soon."

"Mmhm," he replied.

Molly shook out the umbrella on the porch and marched in, taking off her muddy boots at the door. She noticed that he was uncharacteristically short-winded though. Molly stared at his back curiously. "Won't you be more comfortable sitting down?"

"Mm-mm," he shook his head in the negative and continued to stand.

Molly took her jacket off, hanging it by the door. She shivered in her damp clothes, and her teeth chattered. "I hope I don't catch a cold…"

Julius didn't reply at all this time, so she hopped over to see what he was doing. She peered down at the table, the dim desk lamp the only light in the room. She dared a glance at Julius who looked very surly. For someone who almost never looked serious, let alone angry, the expression was rather scary to her.

Still, she felt she had to meddle in the effort to make him feel better somehow. "Um… what are you working on?"

"Winter collection."

Molly bit her lip. Julius wasn't usually like this, but she wasn't going to tell him that now. She had enough experience with people in sour moods. So she turned on her heel and left him alone.

Her first instinct after a hard day was to pick up the remote. But that seemed rather boring. And perhaps she was watching television too much. Ever since she discovered Goddess Squadron Sprite Rangers, television had been her go-to past time. Plus with Julius' new show, she was more or less forced to watch him every Wednesday and Saturday preach tips she didn't believe in.

Molly went to the bookshelf, doing her best to avoid Julius by skirting evasively around him. She scanned the shelves, secretly glad he hadn't brought any books to jam into the already crammed shelf. Then again, that meant he didn't read. Molly wondered how someone could go without reading when her eyes caught an old, familiar title. She pulled the book out and flipped the pages open with a smile.

Returning to the sofa with her book now, Molly sat and opened the cover. She didn't get through a few sentences when the rain hitting the roof started to bother her. The room was silent but for the rain and the random scratching of Julius' pencil.

Taking a chance, she pulled out her phonograph and put a Dorsey record on. The orchestra droned out of the player. Satisfied, Molly snuggled back into the couch.

The volume was low, but it apparently wasn't low enough. Julius started tapping his pencil. His ideas were rapidly disintegrating with every screech of a horn. How was this not giving Molly a headache, too?

His winter collection was far behind. Most of them should have been on the hanger by now, but he hadn't even finished his sketches. He hadn't been this untimely since spring, but this was much worse. Julius barely had any new ideas to work with, zero physical designs, and now it was taking a toll on his temper. And this hideously ancient music wasn't helping any.

"Molly, love…" he began, controlling his voice. Julius didn't turn around, but she looked up, hearing him immediately. "Do you really need to listen to that? While you read?"

Molly blinked. Even though he had tried to hide his irritation, it was evident in his tone. And she didn't like it. Getting snippy herself, she retorted: "Well, the icy silence was a little much, no thanks to you. You could've just asked me to turn it down, sheesh…"

"I want you to turn it off," Julius rephrased, turning and giving her a sickeningly sweet smile. "Darling."

Sure, some of his pet names were silly, but Molly didn't take him to be the type to use them when he was angry. Annoyed, she slammed her book shut. "Julius, what's the matter? Can I do something without you getting mad, or can I help?"

"You can help by turning that awful music off," he repeated, looking back to his work.

"It's not awful!" She was quick to raise her voice in defense.

"Says you…"

Biting her tongue, Molly glared at the back of Julius' head. She couldn't think of a time when she was angrier with him. So with a smug look, she cranked the volume up on the phonograph and went back to her book.

Julius stopped drawing, his back arching lower. "Molly, I asked you if you could please turn that off."

"And I'm telling you that I am going to leave it on, thank you," she said, turning the page with more force than necessary.

"It wasn't exactly a request," he slammed his pencil down.

"Well, your attitude isn't exactly my problem," Molly retorted.

They both bit their tongues. Veins pumping and anger rising, Molly and Julius were at a silent stand-off. The instrumental tunes of the Dorsey brothers continued to blare in the background.

Julius was the first to crack. "Would you please turn that off?!"

"Would you stop trying to pick a fight?!"

"Molly!"

"I'm sorry, what?" She shouted, turning the volume up as far as it would go.

"Oh, please!" Julius finally turned around.

"I can't hear you over my Jimmy Dorsey!" Molly called, fruitlessly looking down at her book.

"He was dead before you – hell, your parents – were born!" He threw his arms over his head, exasperated.

"How do you know?!" Molly shouted back. She ripped the needle off the record with a deafening screech and threw the book on the sofa. Grabbing her robe, she stormed to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

The silence returned, but it was arguably much worse than deafening Jimmy Dorsey. This wasn't like that fight all those weeks ago when Molly wanted to just fall down and cry. No, this made her want to hit something – namely, Julius.

"That grumpy, uncompromising… narcissist!" She muttered, pulling the shirt over her head and tossing it on the floor. "Who the hell does he think he is? Thinks he can tell me what to do…" Her jeans were next, followed by her socks. "I wasn't doing anything! Picking a fight. That's all he wanted. Just wanted to vent on somebody…" She slipped into the shower, turning the water on. "What a jerk…"

The icy water warmed and started to steam. Molly stood in the water for a solid ten minutes, staring at the faucet handle.

You have to admit… No matter who was right or wrong… No one could get that kind of reaction out of you… Molly reasoned with herself. She never yelled. People didn't rile her up enough. If they did, she could just tell herself they weren't worth the trouble and walk away. But this was a person she cared about. This was someone who mattered. Who knew just what to say to play with her different emotions.

Molly sighed her frustration away, reaching for the shampoo bottle. She always found that showers calmed her. Even if she had just bathed, she could just turn around and walk right back in if the world was too over-whelming. Showers were soothing. The water seemed to wash all of her troubles away. It cleared her head and gave her the chance to relax and face the facts.

But what was she looking at? What were the facts?

Going back over what had just happened, Molly begrudgingly admitted to herself that she shouldn't have let her own temper flare just because his was. She had reacted immaturely. She shouldn't have snapped at him. She should have just turned the music off.

Molly sighed again. Well, that was taken care of.

But why did it still feel incomplete? Like… there was more that was annoying her.

Her thoughts first touched on Julius' Style Check. It was cute to see him so excited about being on TV, but… it was rather insufferable as well. Molly wanted to be supportive, but she didn't like the show. It was vapid and shallow, and it vividly reminded her of the time she spent at school.

"Sorry, babe. Try Jeremy – he's more… you know. In your circle."

It was scary how close his voice sounded. Like she was back in the cafeteria right before class. When she finally saw him alone, so she had swallowed what little dignity she had and approached him, repeating her dance instructor's helpful tips to herself. And when it all went horribly, nightmarishly wrong. When she had ran before her mouth could betray her again. When she was suddenly on the floor of the bathroom, and the bell was ringing, and the tears were spilling out, and her chest heaved, and she knew she would miss history because she couldn't show up looking like that.

"Appearance is often as important as substance," Now it was Julius' voice that rang in her head.

It was something like what Adam would say. It was so… superficial. Of course, Jeremy was another kid like Molly who was often teased. But he was teased for his weight not his teeth. He was so quiet, Molly wasn't sure if she had ever heard his voice before, but she remembered he was good at drawing cartoons. Jeremy would surely design a show when he was away from the eyes of high school. Molly would move on, too. At the time, she thought she would make it big as a dancer, but that dream died and here she was on Castanet as a very successful farmer. And Adam had equated them as lesser. What made them so different? So undesirable? It obviously wasn't their skills or their invisible personalities. It was their appearance.

That daunting sentence from the first episode of Julius' show. How she almost wished it was someone else who had said it. How it made her feel sick, and she knew it was wrong. But she couldn't say anything. Even now…

"You're wrong…" she whispered to no one. The hot water beat down her back. "It's not… It's not as important. It's not… It's not…"

Reaching up suddenly, Molly turned the water off. She took a deep breath.

Where was this coming from? Was this really why she was upset with Julius? Was she holding in her irritation, too?

What if Julius had something lingering like this? Molly needed to say something. Get this out in the open. It would fester and only get worse. She had to talk about it.

But Molly was afraid. Afraid of what Julius might think. It's what he truly thought – if she argued against it…? What would happen? What would he do? What would he say?

Molly shivered with the negative reactions he could possibly have. And she decided not to say anything.

Stepping out of the shower, Molly dried herself off and pulled the robe around her, tying it tight. She faced her mirror, staring at her reflection.

Beyond the regular angles of her face, Molly could plainly see two major changes she did not like. The eyeliner was beginning to stain, so there was a line on her lower eyelashes where it always went. She decided not to wear it for a few days.

But would that help? Who was this person? This girl had long hair and used make-up daily for no real reason except to… except to what? Impress Julius? Is that what she was doing?

Molly was disappointed in herself. For a few seconds, she didn't care that long hair was 'in' or not. She missed her short hair. She didn't care how pretty the eyeliner and mascara and eye shadow made her look – it was a pain. So parting her hair down the middle like she used to, Molly combed it out and found the scissors.

It wasn't quick work to get rid of weeks of growth, but Molly steadily snipped away at her hair until it began to resemble what she once had. Why had she done this in the first place? Was she really becoming that clingy? Every waking moment had revolved around Julius. Where did she go in all of that?

Her hair already mostly air dried, she took the hair dryer out anyways and quickly blew her hair back. Molly shook it out. It was comfortable, hugging her face around her chin and barely touching her shoulders. The hair that littered the floor and sink was a headache, but Molly eventually collected it and threw it into the rubbish bin.

Molly looked back in the mirror and smiled. She had fringe again. She had a clean, natural face again. And this time, she was determined to keep it that way.

When Molly finally emerged from the bathroom, Julius' drawings were packed away. He was sipping tea at the kitchen table, waiting for her.

She bit her cheek, tossing her clothes in the hamper and avoiding looking at him. But his eyes were penetrating as they followed her across the room to her bureau where she tried to pick out pajamas. Molly stared into the drawer blankly, not able to register what she was looking at when she could feel his stare.

Molly turned around guiltily. "So?"

"So," Julius stated, setting his tea mug down and crossing his ankles.

She warily approached the table, hand pulling on the knot of her robe. Molly stopped when she felt she was close enough – a good yard or two from the nearest chair across from him.

"I like your hair."

Her eyes flicked up in surprise. "U-um… thanks."

The rain was still rolling down outside. The tin roof pattered with the echo above them.

"Are you going to sit?" Julius asked innocently.

Molly shook her head. She stared down, spinning the bracelet.

Julius sighed. "Well, I'll be the first to say I was a monster."

"You weren't a monster," she quickly denied. "I was… really immature."

"We both were," he compromised. "And I'm sorry I yelled at you. Being stressed is no excuse to take it out on anyone – especially you."

Molly chanced a look up. Julius' arms were spread straight out in front of him, his hands grabby. She laughed, getting the hint. "I'm sorry, too."

Julius turned in his chair so Molly could sit on his lap. She positioned herself precariously, trusting that he could support her weight. He did without complaint, hugging her like a teddy bear. "Mm… this is better~"

"I'm glad I don't have to go to sleep angry," Molly admitted, leaning towards him. "I think it's all this rain. And the fact we're stuck in here."

"Are you suggesting a vacation from each other?" Julius asked, running a hand through her hair.

"No… But if it doesn't get sunny soon, we should get out of here."

Julius silently agreed with a little hum.

Molly suddenly jerked back, finally recognizing the tune. She looked at him accusingly. "You were humming that at the Starry Night festival!"

"Was I?" Julius shrugged. "Well, it's appropriate, isn't it?"

"'Catch a Falling Star,'" Molly smiled. "I have Perry Como's record with that song…"

Julius chuckled, pulling her tighter. "I'm not surprised, doll face. I am not surprised."