Chapter 27

Warmth

There was something about

the way the flames crackle

around a bonfire by yourself

as opposed to a circle of people

Alone, you can hear each Pop!

and see each ember as it jumps out of the fire

and onto the ground, fizzling out as it touches the cool earth

Blink, though, and you'll find yourself

surrounded by the noise of the people

instead of the fire and even sounds like

a blanket being wrapped around someone's shoulders

is louder than the popping of the wood

being eaten away by the flames

You can hear the whisper of hushed voices

the humming of a song

Then you realise that the heat that you're feeling

isn't coming from the fire itself

but rather the figures gathered 'round

and the silence between each sound

heavier than any burden

and yet...lighter as well

The weeks leading up to the Moon Festival were busy with Molly toiling away on her farm and Bo and Renee's birthday parties being held within days of each other at the Brass Bar.

Things were still awkward between Luke and herself, Molly being especially conscious when he was around and trying her best to make it so that they were always in a group together instead of by themselves. She didn't try and avoid him like she may have in the past, however, and it did put her conscience at ease when she'd found out from Kathy that he'd been finding company with Selena at the bar lately.

Not that Molly had that much time to worry or do anything, really, besides take care of her crops and animals, which had multiplied within the last couple of weeks. Along with another duck, she got another cow and was now considering adopting a dog to help her corral the animals to and from the barn/coop. This would have to wait, however, as it was the day of the Moon Festival and her friends from college were coming to visit.

She'd visited with Jessa while she was back for her birthday but she hadn't seen Trenton or Nina for nearly a year and was excited to have the group back together again.

Molly was waiting at the docks, watching the ship come in and spotted her friends on the deck waving vigorously in her direction. As soon as they'd docked, the three of them got off and came over to Molly, embracing her in a group hug.

"I missed you guys!" Molly said, laughing as she got squished between them.

"We missed you, too!"

They chatted for a bit and then started to head back to Molly's place so they could drop off their things before touring around the island.

Molly ran into Shelley, Candice and the Mayor walking through town and introduced her friends to them, engaging in some small chat before moving on. It took quite awhile to get back to her place as Nina wouldn't stop taking photos of everything, even taking a photo of the town notice board.

"It's cute!" she said in defence. "It gives off such a 'small town vibe', you know!"

Molly chuckled, "That's because it is a small town, Nina."

Once they'd dropped their stuff off and gotten a snack to eat, they set off to tour the island while catching up. Jessa was particularly interested in meeting Gill in person so she could figure out where exactly they'd seen him before.

They didn't have to wait much longer to meet him as, after they had lunch at the Ocarina Inn, they were on their way to the beach and saw Gill and Luna chatting in front of the Tailor's shop.

Molly's group approached the two of them, Molly waving and greeting them both.

"Hi Luna, hey Gill!"

"Hi Molly," Luna replied, smiling politely. "Your friends are visiting?"

"Yup, let me introduce you. Guys this is Luna and this is Gill. Luna works at the Tailor's and Gill is the Mayor's son. The Mayor-in-training, if you'd like. And this is Trenton, Nina and Jessa," she said motioning to each person one-by-one.

When Gill and Jessa's eyes met, something like recognition flashed across each of their faces and Molly saw Gill flush slightly while Jessa, without much tact, said rather bluntly, "Ahh, I see. You're that guy that was stalking Molly at college."

Everyone turned towards Jessa at that point with noticeably shocked faces and Gill's face flushed even darker.

"Excuse you, but I was not a stalker," Gill said, indignant.

"Sure, because always sitting a bit away from Molly and staring at her is a completely innocent thing to do," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Y-you can hardly call that stalking, it was just a coincidence that we would often take our breaks at the same place."

"Wait, wait, wait," Molly said, interrupting them. "Gill, did we know each other in college? Sorry, I'm just really confused because if we had met, I, er, don't really remember at all."

Gill pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Why in the world did this have to get brought up here and now of all times? "We didn't technically meet. I think we probably only spoke about once, actually."

"Oh?" Molly said and glanced at Jessa, expecting further clarification.

"You wouldn't have noticed him then because you always had your nose in a book or your drawing pad, but I would always see him sitting on one of the benches by the fountain that we used to hang out at."

"Oh...geez. I'm sorry, Gill, I had no idea. But, if you knew who I was, why didn't you say anything when we met?"

Gill sighed. "Well, I wasn't actually sure it was you at first since you had long hair and glasses when you went to East Shore and, to be honest, I wasn't really expecting you to end up here so suddenly. Anyways, when I found out it was you I couldn't really say anything since we hadn't actually met before and so...it was fine that way," he said, staring pointedly at Jessa since it was her fault for bringing it up.

"You don't remember, Molly? He was the one that helped you out that one time after the fountain incident," Jessa said, not taking the hint.

Molly racked her brain and tried to remember what had happened nearly a year ago.

She was sitting on the edge of the fountain waiting for Jessa and drawing in her notepad, as usual, when some other students were passing by being rowdy and shoving each other back and forth.

Not paying attention, Molly didn't notice when one stumbled in front of her and suddenly she was knocked back into the fountain by their backpack, her notepad falling away and landing in the fountain with a noticeable plop!

Molly, not caring that she herself was now soaked from the waist down, quickly grabbed her notepad and set it back on the edge before looking up to see what had happened.

The two students, and others around the fountain, were staring at her and she could hear them whispering to each other.

"Oh my gosh, poor girl." "Look at her, she's soaked." "Did you see that person? He basically shoved her in." "Is she being bullied?"

Molly remembered her face turning red as everyone stared and she glanced back up at the person who accidentally knocked her in.

"Sorry! I-I didn't mean to. It was an accident, yeah? I, uh, am in a hurry to get to my next class but, sorry again!" he stammered out, not actually looking at her and darting away with his friend, glancing back at her once as he did so.

Molly lowered her face, feeling the stares of everyone and was about to get up when she saw a hand outstretched in front of her face.

She looked up as the sun came out in full force, the intense rays bouncing off of the white pavement and obscuring the face of the boy standing in front of her.

"Are you okay?" he said.

She blinked and realised that her eyes were watering from embarrassment and quickly wiped them before taking his hand.

"Y-yeah. Thanks." Molly got up and quickly squeezed her shorts of the excess water and grabbed her notepad and pencils, holding them to her chest.

"I think the infirmary would have towels for you to dry off with. Why don't I-" the boy started to say but she cut him off, flinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"Thanks for your help, but I'll be fine," she said, dashing off just as Jessa came onto the scene.

Jessa saw Molly, drenched and asked what had happened, bewildered. Molly just took her arm and tried to drag her away wanting to get as far away as possible first.

Gill had reached out his hand as she walked away, "Wait!" but only Jessa had looked behind and stared at him before letting Molly drag her off again.

Now it all made sense, Molly thought, thinking back to that day. No wonder she thought Gill seemed familiar – he was the one that helped her that day but because she never got a clear look at his face she couldn't remember.

"I remember now...you were the one that offered to help me after I fell into the fountain that one day. Wow...this is, uh, embarrassing, haha. Sorry about that and thanks again, I guess," Molly said, feeling a bit guilty.

Gill sighed again. "No, don't even worry about it. Honestly, it happened so long ago and it wasn't really a big deal. Just forget about it."

Jessa smirked.

"You say that now but you looked pretty distraught at the time."

Gill cleared his throat, "Yes, well, she was soaked and just ran off. I felt bad. That was actually one of the last times I saw you since we all went on break after that and then you didn't come back the next semester. Then of course I ran into you all the way out here!"

"Almost like...destiny!" Nina chimed in, looking between the two.

Molly and Gill glanced at each other both going, "Uhhh."

"Yeah, like what are the odds that you two would end up here together. Aren't you glad, Gill? Wasn't the reason why you were always staring because you liked her?" Jessa then said, adding fuel to the fire.

Molly smacked Jessa on the shoulder. "Stop teasing, honestly. It's not like that."

"That's right. It's not like I was staring at Molly. It's just that she was always so serious about what she was drawing or reading so it made me curious," Gill said, spluttering a bit.

Luna was standing to the side this entire time politely following along with the story but was soon reaching her limit.

She smiled sweetly up at Gill, "The way you say that makes it seem like you really do have feelings for her, even now, no? As they say – it's like 'destiny'." With that, she smiled at the rest and said goodbye, turning around and walking quickly in the direction of the church stairs.

"No, Luna – you're misunderstanding things! Please, wait!" Gill said, sighing and quickly saying goodbye as he chased after Luna.

Molly turned and smacked Jessa again. "See that, you've caused unnecessary trouble. Honestly, I hope Luna doesn't misunderstand," Molly said, worried.

Jessa shrugged but looked like she regretted saying that last part. "I thought he liked you but I guess he's moved on. Well, if he likes that girl he'll take care of it, we don't need to get involved."

"It never involved you in the first place," Molly said, exasperated. Jessa and Nina grimaced and Trenton just shook his head, glad he kept quiet.

"Well, now that that's over I guess we can head to the beach and chill until it's dinner," said Molly, motioning to the beach and they all spent the afternoon playing beach volleyball and soaking up the sun.

The group made it to Flute Fields around 5pm with a basket full of food and a picnic blanket, ready to enjoy the festival with the rest of the town. Most of the villagers were there including Toby and his family, an increasing number of couples that included Gill and Luna who seemed to have cleared up the earlier misunderstanding and were looking quite happy sitting next to each other and some others.

Molly looked around, wondering if Chase was going to come or not but then saw the light on in his house and figured that he was going to stay in. Thinking about it, Molly rarely saw Chase at any community events besides the Summer Festival and that was only because there was a cooking contest. Molly thought back to the task for the purple bell and how she'd have to bring the community together and find out people's wishes. She wondered what Chase's wish would be? Perhaps to run his own restaurant?

"Molly? What're you looking at?" came Nina's voice from beside her.

"Oh, no, nothing. Sorry, I was just spacing out," she said, turning around and taking a bite of the mooncake her friends brought in from the mainland.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully and they all went back to Molly's house late that night and quickly fell asleep, the girls on an air mattress and Trenton on the sofa while Molly snuggled up next to Finn, grateful to be surrounded by such great friends.

They headed out the next morning, having to say goodbye too soon and they hugged each other tightly, just like they did when they arrived the day prior.

"We'll see you again soon," Nina said, hugging Molly tightly then letting go.

"Yup, I'm coming back to check up on my dad in a few weeks so I'll visit you guys then."

"I'm so glad your dad is alright now, we were really worried there for a bit," said Trenton.

"You're telling me...but yeah, we're thankful that he'll be able to make a full recovery eventually. Thanks for coming out guys, see you in a few weeks," Molly said ushering them towards the boat as Pascal rang the bell to signal boarding.

Molly stayed on the docks waving until the boat was only a small dot on the horizon. She stretched her arms and headed back towards her farm feeling oddly energised and ready to do some weeding. She was about to enter her property when she noticed Chase waving at her coming from the direction of his house.

"Molly!"

"Chase? On your way to work?"

"Yeah. I was hoping to see you actually," he said, pulling out a small bag.

"O-oh?" Molly asked, her heart skipping a beat.

"Here. I was actually doing some baking last night and made too many," Chase said, handing her the bag which was full of an assortment of shortbread cookies.

"Oh! Wow, thanks, I'm sure they taste great. So this was what you were doing last night instead of going to the festival? I did see that your lights were still on last night."

"Ah, you noticed that? Yeah...since everything closes early on festival days I'm not quite sure what to do with myself in the evenings so...I just end up cooking."

"In that case, maybe I should stop by on festival days so I can grab myself some extra food," Molly said, joking around.

"Sure, you're welcome anytime," Chase said back in all seriousness.

"I'm only joking, Chase, I wouldn't want to bother you," Molly said, laughing a bit awkwardly. Was he being serious or was he joking as well?

"No, I mean it. You can come over whenever, I always have a bunch of extra food lying around," he said, looking her directly in the eye.

"Really? It's amazing you're not bigger than you are then with all of that food around you. Perhaps I should come over just to make sure you don't eat it all," Molly said, keeping the conversation light, just in case he was still joking. She realised that she was finding him increasingly harder and harder to read these days. Not that she ever knew what what going on in his head before, but...

Chase chuckled and Molly marveled again at his smile, transforming his face.

"A dangerous situation, indeed, I should watch my figure. You could use the extra food though, you look like you've lost some weight recently. You're eating properly, right?" Chase asked, casually wrapping his hand around her upper arm, his fingers nearly touching each other.

It was as if someone had thrown Molly into a boiler – her face immediately flushed bright red and she could feel her face growing hotter by the second. She stepped back as Chase let go, staring at her face having been left temporarily speechless by her reaction.

"I-," Molly spluttered, quickly looking away. "I-I'm fine, I eat plenty. A-anyways, I'd better let you go, you don't want to be late. Thanks again for the cookies."

"Oh, yeah, no problem. I'll see you later then," he said, walking away and glancing back at Molly who had already turned back and was heading to her house. He tugged at the collar of his shirt, feeling a bit warm himself and wondered if heat could transfer from one person to another so easily like that. He'd seen Molly blush plenty of times before for one reason or another but not quite to that extent. He couldn't help but smile slightly, a bit proud that this time, at least, her blush was because of him.

Two weeks passed by and it was the day of the Harvest Festival. Molly entered some of the contests being held and got third place in the crop contest which she was rather proud of seeing that it was her first time entering. If it was back in the Spring or even the Summertime Molly was sure she would've gotten dead last but it looked like her hard work this Autumn had paid off. She even got third place in the baking contest having entered her mixed berry pie which she made early that morning, deciding to enter rather spur-of-the-moment.

She had almost been more nervous for the baking contest than the crop one as Chase was the judge and knew that he was notoriously hard to impress. That's why, when he took a bite of her pie and then went back for more, Molly let out a sigh of relief, glad that it passed the first-bite test. She was beaten by Yolanda, of course, and Hanna which made sense since Hanna's cows and chickens were top-notch so the quality of the products she used were bound to be higher than Molly's.

After the contests were over, Molly enjoyed going around spending time with her friends like Kathy and Toby and eating the roasted chestnuts that Taylor was selling. By the time dusk came around, the contest stage had been transformed into a makeshift karaoke stage by the members of the Brass Bar and they had passed the remaining hours taking turns singing, some good and some so bad it was funny.

Molly found herself laughing, surrounded by the small crowd below the stage clapping to the rhythm of the song as Chloe, Taylor and Paolo sang and danced to the popular theme song of an anime and was amazed. She had never felt so much a part of the community before and felt her chest grow tight as she was overcome by emotion. She wasn't even doing anything or talking with anyone at that moment but it was as if a great wave of affection for the town rolled over her and she had to steady herself for fear of tripping.

She turned around and snaked through the people to reach the edge of the crowd and decided to buy a roast yam from Craig who had taken over for Taylor. She hugged the yam in the bag, hot from the coals, and sat down on one of the logs nearby, watching as the young trio finished and reflecting on her nearly 9 months here.

She was vigorously blowing on her yam to cool it down so she could take a bite when she felt the log move, Toby sitting to her left.

"Hey," he said, smiling down at her. "Got hungry?"

Molly smiled back. "A bit. I thought it'd warm me up too but it's too hot to eat."

"It'll cool faster if you pull it out of the bag more and make a small slit so the steam can escape. Here, let me," he said, putting out his hands.

Molly handed him the hot bag and he skilfully slid the yam out halfway and used a small knife to make a cut on the top for her.

"Don't worry, it's clean," he said, referring to the knife as he handed the yam back to her.

"Thanks Toby," she said and continued blowing until she could safely take a bite.

Toby watched her in adoration, wondering how someone could be so cute just by eating a roasted yam. "Is it good?"

"Sho goo'," Molly replied, covering her mouth as she chewed, the yam still a bit too hot for her. "Want some?" she offered, holding it out for him to take.

Instead of taking it, Toby leaned over and took a bite while it was still in her hand. "You're right, it's good," he said after he had chewed and swallowed it. "Thanks."

"No problem," Molly said slowly pulling the yam back in and blushing as she looked away. At that moment she felt the log rock again as Chase sat down to her right this time.

"Taking a break?" Chase said, addressing Molly and then glancing at Toby who calmly blinked, looking back at him.

"Yeah, I was getting a bit chilly and wanted to warm myself up with something to eat."

"You're cold? Do you want my jacket?" Chase asked, getting ready to shrug off the light jacket he was wearing.

"No, no, I'm fine now. I'll probably go home after I finish this anyways so I'm okay. Thanks."

"If you're sure…," Chase trailed off. He glanced at Toby, making eye contact and they both moved in a bit closer to Molly, neither willing to get up and go away.

Molly, very aware of their shoulders just a hair's breadth away from hers was very glad her yam was on the small side so she wouldn't have to deal with the butterflies in her stomach for too long. They spent their time commenting on the performances, Chase and Toby mostly silent as they listened to Molly lightly humming along to some of the songs she'd recognise. Too soon, Molly got up and announced she was going to head home.

"Shall I walk you home?" Toby asked, standing up.

"Oh, sure-," Molly began to say but was interrupted suddenly by Chase.

"Molly, I was actually hoping you'd stop by and pick up some food before going home. I made extra again. Remember, you said you'd help by taking some next time?" Chase said, standing up quickly.

"Oh, yeah, I guess you're right. Okay, then I'll stop by your place first. You can go home first if you'd like Toby, your family's still here anyways?" Molly said, looking at Ozzie who seemed to be deep in conversation with Cain and Paolo, who seemed to be in the middle of a game of tag with Chloe, Taylor and Bo.

"Ah, well, I wanted to go back early anyways so how about I just wait for you at the bridge while you finish picking up what you need to at Chase's place," Toby said, making up an excuse to walk back with Molly. "I'll go let Ozzie know now and meet up with you soon?"

"If you don't mind, then sure," Molly said, feeling like she was stuck in the middle between the two men. Her and Chase walked back to his place first making small talk and she had paused outside of his home, preparing to wait as he got the food but he surprised her by inviting her in.

"Oh, is it okay?" Molly asked, hesitant.

"Of course, I wouldn't invite you in otherwise. Besides, it's cold out here, just come in – it won't be long," Chase said, opening the door and motioning her in.

She slowly walked in, momentarily in darkness as Chase shut the door and then switched on the lights shortly after.

Molly looked around his house, small but surprisingly spacious except the kitchen which had an extra shelving unit piled with various cooking supplies.

"Just give me a second," Chase said, taking off his jacket and hanging it by the door and then heading to the fridge to take out some containers and putting them into a bag that had already been laid out on the counter top. "There's some cold salad, a jar of pickles, some beef stew in this one and a package of crisps I made earlier in the morning."

"Wow, you weren't joking when you said you had too much food," Molly said raising her eyebrows as she saw him putting in the containers, one by one.

"Yeah, I, uh, guess I went a little crazy this time," Chase said, handing her the bag. There was no way he was going to tell her he actually made everything just for her. He didn't doubt that she was a good enough cook but imagining her sitting in her house eating the food that he cooked made him put in just a bit more effort.

"Well, thanks. I'm sure it'll be great. Maybe I'll get some inspiration for my own cooking," Molly said, gratefully accepting the bag.

"Speaking of which, your pie was really good today. Was that your recipe?" Chase asked, keen to keep her there for a little while longer.

"Oh, uhm, well it was mostly my grandma's recipe but I did a little bit of tweaking. Thanks though, it must've been good if you say so," Molly said, a bit embarrassed.

"Hmm, I bet your cooking is good, too."

"No way, it's just average, haha. It'd be great if I could cook like you someday, though."

"Do you want to?" Chase asked, a sudden idea coming into his head.

"Cook like you? Of course, who wouldn't, your food is great."

"Then...how about some lessons?" Chase suggested.

"Lessons? With...with you?" Molly asked, off-guard.

"Sure, why not? Or weren't you serious?" Chase asked, pushing just a little bit.

"Oh, well, no, I mean, I was, but...aren't you busy enough as it is? And where would we have lessons?" Molly asked.

"We could have them here," Chase said and then quickly backtracked as Molly's eyes widened, obviously wary, "or, or the Ocarina Inn? We could meet up once a week during the break around 2pm and use the kitchen. Yolanda wouldn't mind as long as we clean up after ourselves."

Molly didn't respond right away, thinking it over. It was going into winter and she wouldn't have that much to do so it's not like she'd be too busy...but one-on-one cooking lessons with Chase? It seemed rather scary to her for more than one reason.

"You don't have to be so scared, it's not like I'd go all Gordon Ramsey on you or anything," Chase said, almost laughing at the expression on Molly's face. "Do I scare you that much?"

Molly laughed, feeling a bit bad because it was actually a rather terrifying thought. "No, I know. Well, if you're offering...I guess it wouldn't hurt to learn a bit more. Can we start up once Winter comes though? I think I'll be too busy next week."

"Of course. How about every Thursday at 2pm? I'll double-check with Yolanda and let you know," Chase said, relieved that she accepted.

"Okay. Sounds good. Well, I should get going then, I'm sure Toby's waiting for me."

"Ah, right...Okay, have a good night, Molly," Chase said opening the door for her and waiting to close it until he could no longer see her, her figure gradually blending more and more into the night.

Chase shut the door and turned around, pumping the air and smiling, humming as he got ready for bed. This was his chance, he thought, to impress her and then maybe even getting her to think that having a boyfriend wouldn't be so bad after all…

Molly met up with Toby at the bridge, as planned, Toby taking the bag from her despite her protests and walking as slowly as he dared back to her place. They chatted comfortably, Toby taking her by the shoulder as she'd occasionally trip on a rock, the path too dark to see ahead.

He walked her to her door, handing her the bag and saying goodbye, hesitating before he did so. To be honest, he was quite glad that Luke had been rejected and that Gill now seemed to be with Luna as he had the sneaking suspicion that perhaps Gill had been interested in Molly for a short time there back in the Summer. But even though those two were out of the picture, there was still Chase and, although he hated to admit it, he was proving to be a difficult rival. Ever since the hospital visit, Toby had known for sure how Chase felt about Molly but it was Molly's feelings that were hardest to decipher. He knew she thought of him as a friend at the very least but was afraid that new feelings had begun to develop. Sometimes he caught her staring in Chase's direction, or looking around as if she were waiting for someone (Chase?) to appear.

He looked at the bag in her hand now, full of food he cooked, just for her and felt a sting – the sting of jealousy.

"Toby? Shouldn't you get going?" Molly asked, noticing that he was staring at her bag instead of saying goodbye.

Toby looked up, putting a smile back on and apologising for spacing out. "Yes, you're right...it's getting late now. Well...goodbye Molly. And goodnight."

"Goodnight," Molly said, smiling.

Toby watched as some of her hair fell into her face and couldn't help but reach out his hand and gently swipe it back behind her ear again.

Molly flinched slightly as he did so and just blinked as he pulled his hand back, smiled once more and turned around, walking away without another word.

She closed the door behind him, put the food in the fridge and then went to her bed, laying down face first and kicking her legs up and down.

"Er...Molly?" she heard Finn say, hovering above her.

She sighed and took in an deep breath to compose herself before getting back up.

"It's nothing," she said and went to get ready for bed, leaving Finn thinking, not for the first time, how weird humans were.

The next few days passed by quickly as she harvested the last of her crops and got ready to, once again, visit her family on the mainland.

She took the ferry back early Friday, planning to spend a long weekend at her family home, Angela taking the same time off so they could spend it together. Molly got there first, hugging her parents, her dad now nearly recovered besides a bit of remaining soreness around his incision site. Angela arrived not too long afterwards and it was during dinner that they started to discuss when their dad was going to back to his apartment.

"Ah, well, I'm actually going to be selling my apartment," Mr. Auclair said calmly, eating a spoonful of rice and veggies.

"You are? Then, are you buying a new apartment or something?" Angela asked, looking at Molly but she just shrugged, not knowing anything herself.

"Well...no. I'll be moving the rest of my belonging here tomorrow."

Angela and Molly just looked at each other, not quite understanding. It was then that their mother laughed, setting down her spoon.

"What your father means to say is that he's moving back here. Permanently."

"But why?" Molly asked, dumbfounded.

"Because your mother and I are...well, we're getting remarried," their dad said, taking a sip of his water and smiling back at their mom like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Molly's spoon dropped to the table and Angela choked.

"What?!"

AU Note: Hello! I know that took awhile...but what's new ^^; I know there was no baking contest in the Harvest Festival but I had already switched the cooking contest to the Summer festival so I felt compelled to add something to replace it. I also know that the whole Gill thing was rather rushed – can you tell I'm trying to get through and tie up loose ends now? Haha.