Chapter 9

"Come on baby, stopping at the motel will give you time to rest, and since we can't hitchhike.." Raven shuddered, not only from the cold but from the incident that had happened, if he ever came across the man again, he wouldn't be responsible for what happens.

Molly sniffed, "Please..I can walk farther, I promise.." She was leaning most of her weight on Raven, the day exhausting her, it was clear she couldn't walk much more. She let out a silent cry as she lost her footing, Raven caught her.

He surveyed the darkness around them, they were at the edge of the road, near the city, he could see the lights far back. His eyes focused on a bridge, he said, "Molls, we'll rest under the bridge, there's no way that you.." Molly opens her mouth to protest, but he wasn't up for a negotiation. "..Or I could get very far without sleep."

He helped her find a place to lie down on the cold cement, with no regards to himself, he took his leather jacket off, wrapping the material still warm with his body heat around Molly.

Molly looked up at him, her eyes seemed old somehow, the only light in her eyes were of hope. "We'll get through this won't we Raven? I didn't mean to kill him.."

He embraced her closer, wishing some of that hope would rub off on him. Kissing the top of her hair, he replied, "Anyone who matters would know what you did wasn't out of intention."

Molly fell into a restless sleep afterwards.

Chapter 10

Lita brushed one of the red locks that had made its way onto her forehead aside; a look of annoyance flashing as another strand came loose.

"I always did tell Bob to fix the waitress outfit but does he ever listen?" She muttered good naturedly to herself, she didn't hate Bob, the manager of the diner she worked full time at. Just the opposite, Bob was almost like a father figure rather than her boss.

She had been working full time since graduating high school; her parents couldn't afford to send her to college. Back when she had first graduated, it had bothered her that she couldn't live her dream to go to college and study fine arts, though now that she had been working at the diner for a little over a year, that dream was a distant memory.

"Hey Lita, more coffee?" A regular at the diner called out from the other end of the diner.

Lita's face formed into a smile, yelling back, "Yeah yeah Eric, next time think you'd be man enough to use the word 'please'?" She joked as she brought the coffeepot to the dark haired man, pouring him a cup.

"Aww Lita you know I hate using that word!" His eyes twinkled in mischief.

He and Lita went a long way back, in the small town that she lived in, most of the people she had gone to kindergarten with, were with her throughout high school, Eric was one of them. She never really figured out why Eric never left the small town, he was a talented architect, he would have gone a long way if he had gone to a big city. Though since a young age, she knew it wasn't her place to question other people's actions. She was glad he stayed, most of their high school classmates had gone on to college or were spread out throughout different parts of the country.

Her almost unnoticeable southern accent was apparent as she messed up Eric's hair, laughing out, "You just keep on telling yourself that Eric."

Just then, the diner entrance door opened, the ringing sound of the bell placed at the door heard. She lifted her head curiously towards the direction of the entrance, usually afternoons were deserted. Lita saw an auburn haired woman and a blonde haired man who wore a leather jacket. She raised a silent eyebrow, wondering if the man was one of the bikers who caused trouble in town while passing by.

The two had taken a seat at the booth, so she grabbed menus from the counter and headed their way. She took out a pen from her apron and placed it on her ear, smiling at the strangers as she approached them. "How are you two today? Anything you'd like to drink to start off with?"

"A coffee…and orange juice." Raven said after he had asked Molly.

"Okay..anything else?"

Molly shook her head, "No, that'll be all thank you."

As Lita walked back to the counter she was even more intrigued at the strange couple. The blonde haired man couldn't be a biker, he was too soft spoken and thoughtful looking for one, and the brown-haired woman had beautiful eyes, though one thing she noticed was that her blue eyes were tinged with..sadness? She laughed and waved her thoughts away, she had been known to jump to conclusions without getting the full story, why would the auburn haired woman be sad?

She picked up the drinks and brought them over to the table, placing the orange juice in front of Molly and the coffee to Raven. "So are you two just stopping here to rest before heading back on the road?" Lita slightly blushed; she could hear how nosy that question sounded. "I'm really sorry..It's just hardly any visitors come to the town, let alone any new residents."

Molly took her gaze off from her orange juice and looked up at Lita. Lita looked friendly, like someone she might have been friends with if given the chance. She lowered her eyes again, she knew making friends would be dangerous, she might unknowingly say something to give them away. She shot Raven an expression of surprise when she heard him say; "We saw the sign outside about the diner looking for a kitchen helper and a waitress."

Lita brightened, she had been reluctant when she heard Bob had wanted to hire more people, she didn't get along too well with many people. The last waitress that had been hired at the diner was fired after a fury of words were exchanged between the waitress and Lita. Though judging from the woman's appearance and demeanor, she seemed pretty nice. "Oh, I'll be right back, I'll get Bob." She disappeared towards the back.

Once Molly was sure the waitress was out of hearing range, she whispered to Raven, "What are you doing Raven? I thought we were only here to get something to eat then head on?"

"This is a small town, we can work, save up some money, head out before the police find us. The police wouldn't even think of checking a small town such as this, they would consider it a waste of time."

Molly opened her mouth to say something, but Lita and her manager neared their table just then. She sent Raven a look that said, "We'll talk later."

A man in his mid fourties stepped forward, shaking hands with both of them. "Well Mr…?"

"Bill Wellington, and she's Cordelia Brown."

"Well then, Mr. Wellington would you like to step inside my office first to talk over a possible job position here?"

Raven nodded silently, getting up and following the man towards the back.

Lita felt Molly's uneasiness, she sat down on the seat next to her. "Don't worry Cordelia, as long as Bill over there agrees with everything Bob says, you two've got the job handed to you." She smiled. "So where are you two from? You certainly don't look the people around here..I meant.." Lita guiltily tried to correct herself, her mouth always got her into trouble.

Molly shot Lita a small smile. "It's okay, I know it's not the easiest thing in the world to make introductions. ….Bill and I are from…Michigan."

Lita perked up at the name of the place, "Oh! I have an aunt that lives there! What part of Michigan?"

"Um.." Molly wasn't as good at making up lies as Raven, she had only said out loud the place she had first thought of when Lita had asked. "Er..you've probably never heard of it."

She tilted her head in silent confusion, "Um..okay. Would you like something to eat? You look pretty hungry."

Molly shook her head lightly, "No, Bill and I spent all our money just getting here.."

"Don't be silly, I'm sure Bob will hire you two, and even if he doesn't he won't notice a little bit of the sandwiches gone." Molly opened her mouth to tell her it was okay but Lita had already disappeared to the back, reappearing with a plate of sandwiches and in her other hand a cup of hot chocolate. Lita sat back down beside her after putting the plates in front of Molly. "I noticed you were eyeing the hot chocolate when you came in, so I thought you'd like a cup."

Molly's eyes glimmered with appreciation. "Thank you.."

Lita laughed, waving off her thanks. "You'd think that I just gave you a glass of water while you were dying of dehydration or something. It's no problem, a little tweak every now and then won't hurt, especially since I've caused a lot worse trouble here."

"Trouble?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Yelling at the other waitresses---but it was always for a good reason."

Molly giggled. "Seems like working here must be lots of fun."

"Yeah it's a bundle of joy," She said sarcastically. "And I'll be nice to you since you're not one of those bubble headed blonde bimbos that Bob hired last time."

"Blonde bimbos?"

Lita blushed. "I meant..bimbos in particular, not blonde people..I mean, you seem very—"

Molly laughed, "It's okay Lita, I know you didn't mean it like that."

They both looked up as the owner of the diner and Raven stepped out of the small office. Lita took one glance at Raven and leaned in to whisper to Molly, "He's got the job."

"How can you tell?"

Lita's eyes twinkled. "Bob's grinning like an idiot, it doesn't take a genius to figure out, good luck." Lita momentarily squeezed her hand in a friendly matter, giving her a light shove in Bob's direction.

TBC…