"I don't know who I am without you
All I know is that I should
And I know if I can stand another hand upon you
All I know is that I should
Cuz she will love you more than I could
She who dares to stand where I stood"

-Missy Higgins

Flashback

Molly felt like she was finally starting to get better. For almost a year she had been telling anyone that asked she was fine, but that hadn't been the case in the least. Before Chase graduated, she couldn't see him or hear his name without being sick. She and Madison had barely spoken, and even though Molly felt bad that she was pointed and stared at due to her pregnancy, she couldn't help but feel disgusted when they crossed paths. She would walk through the halls and do what she needed to do without blinking, but when she was alone she would cry herself to sleep or study until she could no longer see the words on the page. She wasn't the same old Molly that she used to be, and no one really understood that. She didn't want to go to parties, or walk around Hogsmead, or gossip with students about the mundane activities of their lives. What she had really wanted to do was just scream, but she couldn't have people know how terrible she had felt. That had been Molly for the past few months, but things were finally changing.

Molly hadn't had some dramatic 'aha' moment that inspired her to get back to herself; she just woke up one day, went to breakfast, and actually had started eating instead of pushing the food around her plate. She tasted some of the sausages that used to be her favorite, and almost fainted at how much she had missed it. She had missed a lot in that time and it made her realize that it wasn't fair for her to be missing out on anything. After that day things just slowly started to fall back into place.

She was back to being loud and talking people's ears off, and had finally sorted her feelings for Carson. She could walk through the halls without looking for Chase, and she could sit in her spot in the Common Room without wishing he was there to lean against; she had even allowed herself to go to Quidditch games again and it seemed like this time she was actually getting over her ex. She felt guilty saying she hadn't fully gotten over him because she was with Carson now, but some days she felt like there was something holding her back from being completely free of Chase. She was grateful for Carson and cared deeply for him, but sometimes she felt like she and Chase weren't finished. They were over- way over-but she didn't feel like they were done. It only made matters worse that she had to look at his younger brother Chance, who was a spitting image if her ex, every day. Usually he'd walk by and they'd speak and move on, but today he had lingered at the table where she, Roxy and Lex were sitting.

"Hey Molly!" he said, trying too hard to make this seem like a regular conversation.

"Hi Chance, how are you?"

"Fine. You?"

"I'm good, thanks." Instead of bringing up whatever it was that he wanted, Chance started playing with some loose threads on his cloak. She knew this could only be about one thing so she decided to help him out. "How's your brother?"

"Who Chase?"

"No, the boogeyman." Lex joked.

"He's…hanging in there. Aside from Madison he doesn't really have anyone to talk to. I think he's going insane." At this Roxy snorted, but Molly tried to cover it up.

"Aren't we all? Couldn't he talk to some of his old Hogwarts friends?"

"I honestly don't think he had any." Chance confessed.

"Not true. He was popular before we started dating-"

"That doesn't mean he had tons of friends; He had the team, then he had you, then he didn't have the team or you, and now he has a- a Madison, a baby, and no Pro-Quidditch Career. He's pretty torn up about it." Molly didn't know why he'd stumbled over Madison's name, but more than that she couldn't believe he was here making a case for the girl that was having her ex-boyfriend's baby.

"No Quidditch? " Roxy asked. "But I thought he had offers from Puddlemire and-"

"He turned them down; said he had messed up enough things and he wanted to do the whole husband and father thing right no matter the circumstances."

"Wait, wait, and wait. Everybody stop. Did you just say husband?" Molly asked, almost choking on the word. Surely this little boy hadn't said husband, but she looked at her friends and they wore equal expressions of shock, except for Roxy who was flat out disgusted.

"Well yeah. Madison's parents kicked her out so she came to live with us, and my mum didn't want them living together unless they were married- even though they had already been…well, either way, she made them marry before the baby came."

"Wow." It was selfish of Molly to think that Chase wouldn't have gotten on without her. Of course he would have to; she just hadn't expected to be hearing about Chase's marriage to another woman. For the last three years she thought that she'd be that woman, but now he was married to Madison? "What the fu-"

"Listen, I know my brother messed up, and I hate what he did to you as much as the next person, but I don't think either of you will be able to move on unless you forgive him."

"What? All of this is for me to forgive him? He can't even ask me for forgiveness himself?"

"He's embarrassed."

"He should be!"

"But-"

"Listen to me. Your brother doesn't need my forgiveness Chance, I have nothing to do with him."

"Yes you do. He loves you Molly."

"And look what bloody good that did me the first time around." She said in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Please! You have to talk to him." Molly looked around to see if anyone else was hearing this nonsense, but for some reason no one else seemed the slightest bit concerned.

"Why me? I mean really me, of all people?"

"Because you've always been his…person. Even when you didn't notice him; you were the person he looked to for answers. It doesn't matter how many times my mom or dad or Madison talk to him. I don't think he'll ever start to heal until you forgive him. He'll be in Hogsmead this weekend if you decide you want to talk."

He walked away before she could respond or do something stupid like cry. Chase and Madison are married and he wants to be forgiven and he loves her. That's just…not what she was expecting. She'd known and loved Chase's parents as if they were her own, and it just didn't seem like them to be so welcoming about the whole thing. And he had given up Quidditch? That was one of the main reasons they had even started fighting all those years ago. Molly's thoughts start going to places it hadn't been in a long time and she looked to her Rox and Lex, who had become her personal therapists through this.

"What do you guys think?" she asked. "Should I meet him?"

Lex was the first to answer with a solid no, while Roxy weighed the options before speaking. "I think you guys definitely need to talk, but how do you think Carson will feel about it?"

"Good question. I don't want to make him mad by going to see him, and I don't want him to get jealous or anything."

"You've got to remember that you're in a normal, healthy relationship now." Lex said, "Carson's a pretty understanding bloke, just talk to him about it."

"Fine. I'll go now." On her way to Ravenclaw Tower, she thought about whether or not she even wanted to talk to Chase. Did she want to bring back all those awful feelings she felt when they had broken up? Technically they had never even broken up, it was just mutually understood that they were no longer together. When she got to the door of the Ravenclaw Common Room, she expected to be asked for a password, then remembered where she had come.

"The man who invented it doesn't want it. The man who bought it doesn't need it. The man who needs it doesn't know it. What is it?"

"Pardon me?" she asked. Their door to the Gryffindor Common Room never said much more to them than "password please." This was so weird.

"The man who invented it doesn't want it. The man who bought it doesn't need it. The man who needs it doesn't know it. What is it?"

"I'll pass on the pop quiz, I need to see someone."

"The man who invented it doesn't want it. The man who bought-"

"Listen lady, this is more important than some stupid riddle! I am in the middle of an emergency; this system is so inefficient. What if I was running from an attacker, trying to get to safety, and then I can't answer your stupid question? What do I do then?"

"The man who invented it-"

"A coffin!" Carson screamed from behind her. He was wearing a smirk on his face like he had just gotten away with murder. "I can't watch this anymore, it's a coffin."

"How long were you watching?"

"Long enough. You get so angry so fast." He said with his adorable smile, "It's cute."

"Yeah, well this isn't." She relayed the entire exchange with Chance and had told him Roxy and Lex's reactions, but he didn't seem angry at all. He just looked thoughtfully before saying the last thing she'd expected.

"You should do it." Carson said solidly. She looked at him to see if he was kidding but all she saw was a mask of indifference.

"Why?"

"You guys never talked about what happened. Ever. You guys broke up and just stopped talking like you could ignore what happened, but you can't. It practically killed you and apparently he's not doing that well either." She let out a huge sigh. He was right; as always. She'd have to talk to Chase.

"Fine; I'll talk to him."

It had taken Molly 2 hours to get ready this morning. Carson had literally torn her away from the mirror and walked her to the front of the castle. She had begged him to come with her, but he'd insisted that it was something she needed to do alone; plus he was having a little gathering later and needed all day to set up. Everything in Molly was telling her to forget the day she'd agreed to meet Chase and just go back to the castle, but another-embarrassingly large-part of her wanted badly to see him again. She wanted to run up to him and smell his cologne, and see his face, and look into his eyes and Punch. Him. In. The. Mouth. Molly thought she'd been ok up until this point, but the closer she got to Hogsmead, the more she was positive that she was not ok. All of the denial and sadness she'd been harboring was boiling up and being directed towards this moment and she was pissed. Chase loved her? Yeah right. That was a great explanation for why he had cheated on her, broken up with her without speaking to her, gotten her best friend pregnant, and married the girl to top it all off. If that's what love was, Molly didn't want anything to do with it.

The more she thought about it, the worse the idea of confronting Chase seemed. Maybe she had kept her distance from the situation in a subconscious effort to avoid this very thing. Molly hadn't been paying attention to where she was going as she walked down the path to Hogsmead. Her mind was clouded with a wide range of emotions and she was planning out a million different ways to confront Chase when she saw him. She was just deciding if she should actually yell or do no talking at all when she ran into another figure, falling on the ground with a loud thud. The offender rushed to her side, blurting out a string of familiar 'I'm sorry's' and brushing herself off. The girl held out her hand and Molly took it gratefully. It wasn't until she was in her face that she noticed who it was. She had been prepared to see Chase today; she had not been expecting to see this girl.

"Madison?" she asked, confused. It looked like Madison, but this was no girl. This woman was older looking, with dark circles under her eyes and a short haircut that didn't do her face any justice. Her shoulders were more hunched, and she was curvier in the hips and thighs. She would have thought this was Madison's mom or something, but she noticed the little butterfly tattoo on her wrist. This was definitely her old best friend, but she had really…matured.

"Hi Molly." This was weird. What was Molly supposed to say to her? There were so many things she could say, but not a word escaped her lips. "How are you?"

"Good." She answered quickly out of habit. Molly was usually never good, but after the break-up she'd noticed that 'good' barred no questions, while 'fine' wasn't ever believable, and sent people on a mission to figure out what was wrong with you. "How are you?"

"I've been better for sure, but I'm doing alright. With the baby and everything I feel like I'm always all over the place." She answered quickly. Madison probably realized that bringing up her baby was probably the most awkward thing she could have done in that moment.

"Right, a baby." Molly said uncomfortably. "How is…it?"

"She's great." Oh, so it was a she. "Actually here she is." Madison gestured somewhere behind where Molly was standing and she turned to see Chase wheeling an enormous pink and frilly stroller that had Lavender Brown written all over it. She could not believe their baby was here for this. Were they trying to piss her off? How many people had been invited to this rendezvous? Who was next, the Minister of Magic? Chase was making his way towards them and honestly Molly hadn't expected him to look so…happy. "I know you need to talk to Chase and I didn't mean for the two of us to tag along today, but I needed to get some shopping done."

"No, no. it's fine. Um, I had been meaning to talk to you at some point, I just-"

"I understand." She said awkwardly. "I never got to say how sorry I was. I felt awful-"

"I bet." Molly interrupted rudely. She hadn't meant to be so hostile, but this really wasn't their time to work things out. She was here to talk to Chase, and this was finally the moment. "Hello Chase."

"Hey."

"Well, I'll let you two talk." Madison said before kissing him on the cheek sweetly. Molly felt bad just letting her walk away like that after she'd tried to apologize for the millionth time, and there was a small twinge of guilt in her chest.

"Wait," she called out to the retreating figure. Before she could stop herself she hugged her old friend. It wasn't a best friend hug, but it wasn't a scowl or a rude comment either, so Molly figured it was a step in the right direction. "I know I can act like a bitch, but it really is good to see you again; and if you ever really, really need me you can always owl." She tried to put extra emphasis on really. Like, in case of a severe emergency.

"Thanks, I don't deserve that after what I did." She said sadly.

"Well, we were friends and you didn't deserve to go through that alone." Madison smiled again and turned down the path back towards the stores. Molly noticed she'd forgotten to take her baby with her, but as long as it was sleeping, maybe it would be ok. And she didn't want to be rude and make it seem like she didn't like it because it was their baby. She should also maybe stop referring to it as 'it'. "Well, I got us a table at the Three Broomsticks."

"Three Broomsticks with a baby?" he asked, with the tone of a condescending adult. It was the one he used to use with her when they were together that made her feel stupid. She had forgotten that quickly that it, scratch that, the baby was there and he had no reason to be short with her. Obviously she wasn't aware she would be accommodating a baby, but she wouldn't say that out loud. Though she did note that now that they were broken up, she could say whatever she wanted without the pressure of him blowing up at her.

"I guess not. Where to then?" she asked, starting to regret coming down here at all.

"What about Honeydukes?"

"Ummm, Ok." Now she was really really wished she had stayed at school and helped Carson and Lex set up for their party. They walked into the sweet shop and took a seat in the back with a few other little kids and their parents. She had no idea this was even back here. When they had settled in, Chase opened the cover of the stroller and revealed a small bundle of soft pink and cotton.

"That was nice of you." Chase answered while arranging a variety of toys around the baby. "Talking to Madison- she really wasn't expecting that."

"I'm full of surprises. Plus, I wasn't really expecting her here today." She said, causing his ears to turn red. Good grief, he was still so sensitive. "It was long overdue."

"It was still nice. So how have you been?" he asked casually. She was surprised by how nonchalant he was being, like all that happened was just a dream and they were catching up on old times. It was weird.

"I've been- well, I'm good."

"Really good or 'I don't want to talk about it' good?"

"I've been good. I've been studying for my NEWTS and trying to keep some kind of control over my cousins and…and I'm dating Carson now."

"Oh?" he said with a simple nod. "That's good. He's a good guy."

"Really?Because I specifically remember telling you that he was a good person for the better portion of our relationship. I also remember you hating him relentlessly."

"I didn't hate him; dislike is a better word."

"Dislike?" she asked. Molly had fought hard to keep her friendship with Carson while she was with Chase. He was always telling her that he was a prick, or obnoxious, so she couldn't believe he was telling her he hadn't actually hated him.

"Yeah. He was always a good guy- that was the problem. He was really nice and good for you and understood you in a way that I never could, and it bothered me." Molly remembered thinking something along those lines about Madison a while back. "I was always afraid that you'd come to your senses and let him steal you away from me."

"Hmm. Funny that it ended up being you that stole you away from me." He winced at her words and it only made her more annoyed. This was not at all going the way she'd expected. She knew Chase had been a little possessive, but she'd never noticed how manipulative and selfish he was. He had been willing to try and turn her against one of her best friends just because he was intimidated by him. All that time Chase had spent criticizing Carson's mannerisms and reputation, that had really been jealousy? Ridiculous.

"But since I clearly have no right to be jealous anymore I can admit he's a good guy."

"Yeah he is." She said quickly. She needed to change the subject fast. "Well what about you? How's fatherhood and…marriage?" His eyes went down to his left hand as if he'd forgotten he was married, and she could see him turning red.

"Who told you about that?"

"Chance. He didn't mean to, it just sort of came out." She didn't understand why it was such a big secret anyway. Who really cared?

"Oh, well everyday isn't bright and shiny, but we do what we have to. Being a father is amazing and a little scary, and I know my parents forced us into the marriage but Madison is a great wife and an amazing mother." Molly couldn't help but smile at that. Madison had always been the mother of their group so she knew she was good at this whole thing. She was exactly the kind of woman that could handle Chase's crazy, a baby, and the rest of the Finnegan household at one time. And the way Chase spoke about Madison, Molly could tell he thought way more of her than just a 'great wife;' He really loved her. "I know we didn't mean for any of this to happen but we're happy."

"That's good. I'm glad you guys are happy." She said honestly. Finally the conversation had relaxed a little and she realized that as long as the two of them weren't actually talking about them, they were ok. Molly was pretty shocked that she was sitting here with Chase talking like they were new friends, not old lovers. It was weird, but not completely uncomfortable like she'd expected.

There was a fussy sound coming from the stroller and Chase immediately turned his attention to the baby. When Chase reached his finger in and lightly tickled her palm, she grabbed his finger and looked at him with love, admiration and content. It was really sweet; like he was the only thing she had ever wanted or needed in this world. Then again, he probably was one of the only things she'd ever wanted considering she couldn't have seen much yet. Chase returned the look with even more ferocity and Molly felt like she was intruding on a very personal moment. She had never really been fond of babies, probably because she'd grown up with so many of them. From her memory, they were tiny things that produced powerful sounds and smells; they had vice-like grips and an obsession with grabbing nice, shiny things that didn't belong to them. She also remembered that they got up at all kinds of hours of the night, but Molly could see how it would be worth it for moments like these.

"Could I see it?" she asked. "I mean, her." He looked completely taken aback by her request, but nodded his head.

"Sure." Chase murmured something that Molly could only classify as baby talk before turning the stroller so that the tiny baby girl was facing Molly. With the sight of her father gone, the wide-eyed baby's gaze turned from loving to curious and almost judging, as if she was sizing Molly up and deciding if she was going to cry or not. Taking this as a challenge, Molly slowly raised her eyebrows at the baby, who repeated her movement exactly. Molly squinted until she could barely see, and the baby did the same. When Molly slowly tilted her head to the side and puffed out her cheeks, the baby followed. And when Molly smiled, realizing she had been having a staring contest with an infant, the baby giggled her approval. "Would you like to hold her…?" It wasn't a question, but more like a hint at what she was supposed to do next.

Molly reached in the stroller and pulled out the baby that smelled like powder and lavender. Instead of crying like Molly had anticipated, the baby sighed contentedly and began babbling away. She was more talkative than either of her parents, which was pretty funny. Molly decided this would be a good time to give this whole baby talk thing a shot. "Hi pretty girl, what's your name?" The question had been directed more at Chase, who was too busy staring at them to answer. Why was he staring at her like that? "Chase, helloooo, what's her name?"

"Olivia." All Molly could do was quickly shake her head from side to side to keep tears from coming. Why on earth would he do that? It was completely selfish and maybe even ridiculous to think he'd named his love child after her, but how many other Olivia's could he possibly know?

"You named her after me?" she asked.

"Yes. We named her after you."

"Why? That's…Chase, I-"

"Listen Molly, I never stopped loving you. I made a mistake and I've dealt with the consequences, but I need you to know that as bad as I treated you, or as crazy as I seemed, there was never a time that I didn't love you. It kills me every day knowing that I hurt you and if I could take away all the pain I caused I would."

Whatever indifferent cover he had adopted had faded away quickly. She wanted to tell him that there would never be a way to take away the pain, but she didn't think that would help. She wanted to tell him she didn't care if he still loved her; there wasn't much purpose in lying. She wanted to let him know that it had taken her ten times as long to put herself back together as it did for him to rip her apart but she didn't need to. Right now, with him practically begging for the forgiveness he needed to be free of his guilt's; here, with his daughter in her arms she knew none of that needed to be said. He knew, and he had suffered just as much, if not more, than she had. She had let their relationship fade and was able to at least dull the pain. Chase and Madison hadn't been around so she didn't really have to deal with the problem, but they had been dealing with it this whole time. They hadn't gotten time to themselves to think things out and heal. They were still holding on to the things that happened in the past.

"Chase, I never stopped loving you either, but I stopped holding on to you and you have to do the same. I had to let go because it was so obvious that there would never be a place for me in your life, and I had to move on. All I did for months was wonder what I had done wrong and replayed how I could have made it better, but it was useless and painful. And I so want to believe that you loved me as much as I loved you, but I really can't because I could never do what you did to anyone I loved. But over time things have gotten better and I'm not perfect, but I'm ok. You have to let go of whatever guilt you have because there's no point. It'll be better for you, me, and Madison that way."

"You think so?" he asked. She reached across the table and gave his hand a light squeeze.

"I really do, Chase. You have a family now with this gorgeous little girl. Don't ruin that by self-loathing over a mistake you made in the past; Madison and Olivia deserve all of you, not just the part that isn't bogged down with your shame and regrets. Let it go Chase. Let me go."

She knew how cliché it was, but all she could think about was how much of a weight she felt being lifted off of her shoulders. She had been holding that in for almost a year and a half now and it felt good to let it out because she needed to let him go too. She owed it to Carson and everyone else that had dealt with her recently to get over it. Maybe if they had talked sooner theses pasts few months could have been a lot different for both of them.

"I know it's a longshot," Chase started, "but do you think we can ever be friends again?"

"You know, I don't think we ever were friends. We kind of went from teammates to boyfriend and girlfriend in like a day."

"That's exactly what happened. So maybe we should start being friends now." She laughed at the simplicity of his request, but realized she kind of wanted that as well.

"Yeah we can try. But I have to give us credit and say that this surprisingly calm, albeit dramatic conversation is a good start."

"I figured the next time we saw each other you'd be yelling. I would have deserved it."

"That was my plan," she said with a laugh, remembering how she'd wanted to literally fight him just 45 minutes ago. "I had this whole speech thought out in my head and I'd gone over it millions of times but when we started talking I realized I'm not angry with you. I guess I've grown up. And of course I have Carson and now you have Olivia so…in a weird kind of way everything worked out I guess."

"I guess they did." Olivia let out a huge yawn and nuzzled against Molly as she silently fell back to sleep. She truly felt her heart melting.

"Plus, it'd be hard to yell at you while holding your daughter, who, by the way, is completely irresistible and charming; she's going to be very popular with the boys." She joked.

"She better not be." Oh she will be, Molly thought. Lily had been like this when she was a baby and to this day people can't fight her charm. She would have told him, but she figured he'd find out soon enough. Somehow through all of their talking, Olivia had fallen asleep soundly. Molly transferred her back to her stroller and kissed her on the cheek. She really was mesmerizing- and Molly didn't usually compliment babies.

"Well, I'm glad we talked, but I've really got to get back. It was nice seeing you though."

"You too. See you again soon?" he asked hopefully.

"Probably. I really do want to visit Madison sometime."

"She'd like that."

"Hey guys." Madison said, walking into Honeydukes as if on cue. If she thought the baby was happy to see Chase, she didn't know what to call the little girl's reaction to hearing her mother's voice her mother. You wouldn't even have thought she was sleep 5 seconds ago. Madison sat down and showered the little girl with kisses before kissing Chase, who wrapped a protective are around her shoulder. Though the circumstances hadn't been traditional, they were a happy family and Molly couldn't help but be happy for them. Chase had always wanted a family and Madison was fit to be a mother. This is the way things were supposed to be.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything." Madison said. Molly found that ironic considering she was practically a stranger sitting by watching their family moment.

"It's fine, I was just leaving. Lex and Carson are having a poker night and I promised to help set up." Her silly party seemed like a mundane activity to compare to parenthood, but that's where Molly was at in life and she was okay with that. She got up from her seat and considered hugging him, but turned to the baby instead. "Goodbye little, Olivia. I'll see you soon."

"Bye." The pair said in unison. Molly walked out of the Three Broomsticks and let out a breath she had no idea she'd been holding. Chase was a dad and a husband with an adorable baby, and he was happy. Now she could be happy too because now she knew that what she had been holding onto was not her relationship with Chase, but the possibility that things could have been different. What she had needed from him wasn't an apology, but closure, so that she could move on without the false hopes that something good could have come out of their relationship. The man she loved was not a father or a husband. The man she loved was first and foremost still a boy, that still played never have I ever, and snuck around the halls, and threw parties, and enjoyed his youth. The guy she loved was Carson; and he'd been so good and patient with her throughout all of this. Molly walked into the Room of Requirement that looked like Las Vegas had exploded.

"There you are!" Roxy screamed. "Were you in Hogsmead all that time?"

"Yes."

"Well, is he still alive?"

"Of course he is Roxy; I wasn't going to kill him with his wife and daughter right there."

"They were there too?"

"Yes. Long story. Where's Carson?"

"Right here." He called, walking in the room with a container full of poker chips. She ran at him with full force and he had the sense to drop the chips so he could catch her when she leapt into his arms. "Wow, somebody had a good day. Did you talk to him?"

"Yes I did."

"And you're not mad or angry?"

"Ok, at first I was pissed. Like I was seriously running through any fighting moves I knew on the way down there, but then when I talked to them- oh yeah, Madison and their baby Oliviawere there-"

"Olivia? As in-"

"As in my ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend named their daughter after me. Which is kind of weird, yes, but in a way it's kind of flattering I guess. But oh my gosh, they're such a cute little family and it made me realize that I kind of want that."

"You want all of that?"

"Well I don't need the ex and all that, but a family and a baby wouldn't be horrible as I like to make it seem."

"Really?" he asked

"In the future- and by future I mean like, so far from us being students at Hogwarts that baby Lena goes here- I would consider having a family. With the right person of course."

"Of course. And this right person wouldn't happen to be a strapping young Ravenclaw with auburn wafts of hair that fall perfectly without him even having to try, would he?" He teased. "He's also got a killer smile and a winning personality that adds to his irresistible charm."

"This guy sounds amazing, can you introduce me?" she said as she rolled her eyes. "But there's plenty of time for the right guy and all that serious stuff. Right now I just want to be with my boyfriend, who I'd like to thank properly for everything he's done for me." She ground her hips against his waist, hoping he was getting a good sense of how she'd like to thank him. He raised an eyebrow and kissed her fiercely.

"Hey!" Lex called, "None of that until after my party." Molly got down, but Carson never let go of her. She was sure that everything had worked out in its own strange way. Right here with these people is where she was supposed to be.