It's the end! I feel a little emotional...

I needed to distance myself a little from the last chapter as I found writing the time skip a little jarring. I go from Molly sweet at six to snarky and a little sinister at twenty-six, but that's what happens when you skip twenty years, I guess. Children grow up so fast...

Also, adult Molly is full of references, 90s or otherwise, so bear with her...

Twenty years later...

The young woman poured yet another coffee as she gazed absentmindedly out the window, dreaming of worlds beyond her wildest imagination.

If she weren't dreaming about flying on dragons, then she was dreaming of wielding magical wands in far-off places.

Oh, how she dreamed for something more. There has to be more to life than this.

Four years of creative writing school, and for what? Pouring coffee for builders and their exposed ass cracks?

Please...

Molly was meant for more.

When she wasn't taking orders at the Deathly Diner, or pouring coffee for the sick denizens of the city, then she was jotting down notes for her WIP.

One day, she would write a number one bestseller, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Stephan King and J.K. Rowling.

She was still twenty-six years old, after all; she had time.

Be published by the time she was thirty, that was the goal.

"Excuse, Miss? Are you down with my coffee yet?"

Alarmed, Molly peered down and cringed. Shit. She had only gone and poured coffee all over the table.

Today was just not her day...

"S-sorry, sir. Let me clean that up for you."

Molly pulled a cloth out from her apron pocket, then cleaned the mess she made. Somewhere behind her, she felt the eyes of her boss as he watched her like a hawk, shaking his head with a tut.

Her boss was an asshole, always looking down her top. He made all the girls at the diner dress provocatively.

That was why he gave her a job because she was "Pretty enough". His words.

Molly wasn't bad on the eye; she'd inherited her mom's pretty blue eyes and fair complexion, and her dad's blonde, Swedish hair, but Molly couldn't give two shits about being cute.

Apart from a little eyeliner, she hardly wore makeup. Sure, she liked playing dress-up and princesses when she was six, but what little girl didn't?

No matter how much she tried though, Molly would always look sweet and doll-like since she was only five foot (five three, but she may as well be five foot). People took her cute looks far too much for granted, thinking she was an innocent little thing. Plus, her soft baby voice didn't help either.

She wasn't innocent at all, far from it. Ever since she grew up, Molly had developed a very dark sense of humour, and she was snarky too. She had to be after all the shit she'd seen in her childhood.

PTSD and anxiety were a bitch, but such is life.

Her boss was still staring at her ass, so to teach him a lesson, Molly yanked up a plastic spork from a table, spun around, then stabbed him in the eye.

Well, she would have, if she didn't want to end up in prison.

Molly was no Homicidal Maniac, after all, but some people just brought out the homicidal thoughts in her.

Luckily, her work pal Francesca came to her rescue next, leading her boss away into the back room, and soon they were going at it like rabbits.

Molly almost vomited all over the floor.

The man was fifty. Ew.

After serving her latest customer, she moved back around the counter to wipe at the surface. An annoying beat banged on the radio, and what the hell had happened to music over the last few years?

Molly could go back to the 90s any day. Music was better then.

The door to the diner pinged next, and frustration burned right through Molly's veins when she spied the tallish, skinny guy in steel-capped boots gazing around like everything was diseased.

Crap. She was supposed to be having lunch with Nny today.

Nny was her best pal. He was also a serial killer too, or an ex-serial killer, and yeah, Molly's life was pretty fucked up.

He'd been her friend since she was six, and the guy hadn't aged a day since she first met him. But that was because he threw his life away to become the Grim Reaper.

Now he would never die. He often teased Molly that she would be thirty in a few years, while he got to remain in his 20s.

Fuck Nny and his immortality.

The maniac beamed, waving his hand like a happy moron. "Hey! Molly! It's me, NNY! Your best friend!"

Molly wished the old cracked tiles could swallow her up. Everyone in the diner was staring at her now. Thank God her boss wasn't around, but that was because he was too busy boning Francesca.

She ground her teeth. "NNY, shut the hell up! Aliens can freaking hear you!"

He giggled then jumped onto a bar stool, spinning it around. "No, they can't! Trust me, I've tried..."

Molly gave him a pointed look, then returned to wiping the counter. "My break isn't for another five minutes. So you'll have to wait."

"That's all right. I have all the time in the world now since I'll never die..."

He leaned his elbows onto the counter, swivelling back and forth on the stool while Molly finished her work.

Nny was on his break too. Even death needed a break every now and again.

Molly wondered then what his job was like. It must be cool flying around the city with a large pair of wings. He used to fly Molly around too when she was little, but then she got way too heavy and it wasn't worth the risk anymore. One time, they crashed into a corporate meeting at the top of a skyscraper, losing that company millions of dollars when Nny accidentally killed the CEO.

Oops.

Nny weighed less than Molly did now. The guy never put on weight, staying 115 pounds, while Molly wavered between 120/125. He could eat all the shit he wanted too, and never have to worry about his waistline.

The perks of immortality.

He drummed his fingers noisily on the counter, and Molly had it up to here with his crazy antics. Luckily, she was done now, so they could go for their lunch break.

Molly removed her apron, grabbed her jacket, then moved around the counter. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Nny watched her strangely. She didn't mean to sound so cynical, but she was sick and tired of the place.

"O-okay..." he muttered, joining her side.

Before they left through the door, there came a scream from the back room. Nny turned back, a wide, Chesire cat grin on his face. "Ooh, sounds like someone's being murdered..."

Molly scoffed. "You wish. Just my boss getting his dick wet."

The maniac turned as green as a four-leaf clover. "I'd rather it was murder..."

Molly sighed. "Me too."

They finally left the shitty diner and stepped out into the city streets to find someplace to eat.

...

In the end, they sat on a bench in the city park, just several feet away from the playground. The happy, cheerful sounds of children echoed across the green, and Molly felt at peace.

All was right with the world.

She did miss being a kid at times as she spied that swing set. She wouldn't even be able to get her ass into one of those tiny seats now.

Nny sometimes like to go in the playground and play on the merry-go-round, scaring all the children away in the process. He was such a big kid. He always was. Even back when Molly was a child herself.

Today he stayed with her on the bench, stuffing his face with a bagel. Molly watched him evilly from the corner of her eye.

She had a salad...

"Not as good as hell's bagels, but still yummy..." he mumbled with a mouth full of bread.

Molly gave an over-exaggerated smile, sipping on her bottle of plain water (Nny had a Poop cola). "Good for you..."

"Mm-hm."

Silence trickled between them as he finished his bagel, and now they sat back and watched the people of the park.

Nny jumped up onto the frame of the bench next, getting his muddy boots all over the seat. Meanwhile, Molly tucked her legs beneath her, adjusting her skirt so she wouldn't accidentally flash everyone at the park. She may get a dead leg too, but who cares...

It was good to be away from the diner for a while.

"So, Molly... you finished that novel yet?"

Molly closed her eyes. There was no missing the accusation in his tone. Molly had been working on her WIP for a few years now, always procrastinating and putting it off, but this year... she would finish.

"Sorta. You still working on Happy Noodle Boy... What's it been twenty years?"

She looked up at him with a scowl, and the ex-homicidal maniac ground his teeth, returning her glare. She saw his inner monster then, but Molly wasn't scared (because her inner monster was ten times crazier, ten times batshit insane). In fact, she prolonged her gaze until he finally looked away.

Molly smirked. As if he could beat her in a staring match, especially now during Molly's "time of the month".

He sighed. "So what if I haven't painted anything half decent in over twenty years. I have all the time in the world now to rediscover my art. I'm immortal."

Molly quirked an eyebrow. "Still... a stick figure...?"

Nny rose to his feet high up on the bench, pointing his finger down at her. "Hey, you used to like Noodle Boy! You were my biggest fan after the homeless insane!"

Her cheeks heated up. "No, I didn't. I never liked him. He's a freak, NNY, and it's about time you drew something else. Also, Happy Noodle Boy the Movie sucked ass!"

Nny balled his fists, and he had that murderous glint in his eyes again, especially as he loomed on the bench above her. He wouldn't kill her though. They were 'best friends' after all, and best friends didn't hurt each other...

They pinkie promised once.

Finally, he gave up trying to defend the stick figure and joined her on the bench again. He crouched on his legs like a pet cat, leaning his elbows on his knees, and now he reminded Molly of L from Death Note.

"Fine. You win," he muttered.

Molly snorted. "No one's winning here, NNY. We're both epic failures. Also, you look like L from Death Note..."

Nny didn't pay attention to what she said since he wasn't really into the whole anime scene, and what a shame; a death note would have really come in handy for Nny back in the 90s...

The world continued to go by while they brooded over their failures. Molly glanced at her phone next and sighed.

She had to get back to the diner.

"I should go. My boss will hang me if I'm late again... or make me wear an even shorter skirt..."

Nny blew a frustrated sigh. "Why don't you just let me kill that bastard already and get it over with?"

Molly shook her head. "No, because he has a wife and two kids. He may be a perv, but he doesn't deserve to die."

The maniac giggled menacingly next, then leaned closer, dark shadows settling over his gaunt, skeleton-like face. But Molly was pretty much dead inside, anyway, so he didn't scare her.

Nothing fazed her anymore.

She used to be cute...

"But you have fantasized about killing him yourself, huh? Don't lie to me, Molly. I see that homicidal bitch in your eyes whenever he talks to you like trash..."

Molly stared into Nny's wide, bulging eyes, taking note of all the spidery red veins. He needed to get himself a good night's sleep.

"You said bitch," she said. "That's money in the swear jar..."

They hadn't used a swear jar in years, and what a shame; they'd be stinking rich by now.

Besides, she swore just as much, if not worse. He really had been a bad influence on her.

Despite her rough edges though, Molly was still a good person deep down. Many people wouldn't even bother with a freak like Nny, but Molly did because she loved him.

She still remembered the first time she told him that she loved him, and he'd looked so happy. He even cried, so Molly wouldn't take that away from him...

And honestly, it wasn't pitying because she needed him too. He was the only friend she had.

Also, it wasn't like she wasn't a weirdo herself. She was a weeb after all who watched anime. Even Nny made fun of her for that.

Molly had to learn to develop a hardened front over the years, otherwise, the world would have eaten her alive. She was bullied throughout high school, and since her parents finally got divorced in the end when she was thirteen, life became tough.

Now her parents were separated; her mom had even met a new guy and had a couple more kids. Her dad remarried too and has a stepson now, a stepson who Molly couldn't stand.

Molly has two little sisters and a brother now on her mother's side. They were named Lily, Michael, and Ruby.

She loved them though, but fuck they put her off having kids of her own.

Nny narrowed his eyes, looming even closer, and now he was inches from her face. "But you swear yourself now. Maybe you should put money in the swear jar..."

Molly matched his sharp eyes. "Your breath smells like shit. Get out of my face."

Startled, he gave her back her breathing space then grumbled to himself.

Molly smirked. Yeah, she just told a serial killer he stunk of shit, and he was still seething.

"You're lucky I like you so much, Molly. You used to be nice. This world has changed you, as I feared it would..."

Nny exhaled, peering up at the park, and Molly didn't miss the sadness in his eyes. There was a blonde girl who looked a little like she did at that age, and Molly understood where his train of thought led him to now.

"I'm still the same girl. I'm still your friend, NNY. Don't forget that. I was just kidding. Your breath smells like daisies..."

It didn't smell like daisies, but she was just humouring him.

"Oh, I know you're still the same child deep down. I see it whenever you make me watch that fucking Harry Potter kid every damn Saturday night. All eight movies! God, I hate that boy wizard..."

Molly tightened her lips. No one disses Harry Potter.

"You still have a lot of childlike wonder, Molly. A part of you still believes, and I don't blame you. Dragons are pretty neat; we should all just be dragons... or monkies... I do like monkeys... Wait, dragon monkeys!"

Molly glanced up at the sky, shutting her eyes while Nny had another of his moments. There just had to be more for her than working at that crappy diner.

She was single, serving tables for minimum wage, but there just had to be more to her provincial life.

Molly wanted adventure in the great wide somewhere, and she wanted it more than she could tell (okay, she had to stop watching Beauty and the Beast ASAP).

Why did she have to be born a dreamer? Why couldn't she just be the kind of person who was happy with the mundane?

It sucked.

Life sucked.

"I know what it's like yearning and wishing for something, Molly. You don't have to explain to me. I was like you once."

Molly hugged her knees to her chest now, hiding her face to stop the flow of tears. Oh, look, it turned out she was still the same six-year-old girl after all because now she was crying like a baby.

Screw Nny and his fucked up wisdom.

Nny turned silent as she wept quietly beside him. He knew she was crying. Of course he did. He'd known her twenty years. He pretty much watched her grow up.

"Molly?"

Sighing at last, she lifted her head, wiping her eyes. "S-sorry... It's just hard. I... didn't expect life to turn out like this..."

More silence as she sniffed again, unable to bear the sounds of all the happy children in the park.

Oh to be young and ignorant again.

Why couldn't someone just build a time machine and take her back to the 90s? Everything was so much simpler then.

No social media, no smartphones, just people genuinely being people.

Humanity was going down a dark path.

Nny stood from the bench, standing over her now. "Molly, get up."

She couldn't. She just wanted to bury herself in the dirt and give society the middle finger. Screw the diner, and screw life.

It all went downhill since she and Todd broke up. Yeah, that would be Squee, Nny's old neighbour. They met at college since they both studied writing.

Molly had thought that she and Todd would be together forever, but fate had other ideas...

Quite frankly, he was a little disturbed by and jealous of her relationship with Nny. He did not like the idea of his old, scary neighbour and his girlfriend being the best of friends, especially as Nny hadn't aged since the 90s.

Todd may have been her boyfriend, but Nny was her BFF.

A bond that could never be broken.

Also, Todd had enough of his own problems to deal with. He was a grown man and still slept with his teddy bear, Schmee.

Well, it looked like she and Nny were both unlucky in love.

Nny never did reignite things with Devi. Not that he could have, anyway. Devi was in her forties now while Nny still looked in his twenties.

Also, he tried to kill her once. That wasn't very nice.

Molly and Nny may have failed at the whole romance thing, but at least they had each other. Maybe they should just get married and call it a day?

So fucked up.

"I said get up!"

Nny yanked her up off the bench, making her stand with him now, and she glared at him, wondering if he liked getting kicked in the balls.

He was still a good few inches taller than her, but Molly didn't have to crane her neck so much to look at him these days since she was a grownup herself.

Nny stepped closer, placing his hands on her shoulders, and now he gave her those wild crazy eyes. The wind swept through his blue-black hair. It blew through Molly's too, and now her pink ombre strands flew in her face.

Yeah, she dyed her hair. She had since the age of fifteen, and her mom was pissed. Natural blond hair was rare these days after all...

"Molly, what if I told you there was more out there..."

She blinked. "More of what?"

His hold tightened on her shoulders as he dragged her closer, making her as tall as him now. "You won't have to dream anymore. Just imagine. No more diner, and no more asshole boss. The whole world at your fingertips!"

Molly was intrigued now. "Well, I'm listening..."

Nny let go of her shoulders, dropping her back to her feet. "They're recruiting."

"Who?"

"For more reapers... The world will go to shit in a few more years, Molly. I didn't want to say since you're still human and vulnerable, but it's not looking good. It appears 2020 isn't going to be a good year..."

Molly's eyes widened. That was just two years away.

Shit.

She bit her lip, mindful of the time. She was so late, but who cares.

Fuck her boss and fuck the diner.

Nny always liked to talk about how the "end is nigh" and all that, but she always ignored him because he was crazy, but maybe he was on to something.

The world was falling to shit. Fuel prices were increasing, children were on PoopTube, and unicorns were invading the planet...

The horror never stopped.

Maybe she should hear Nny out.

"Just think about it, Molly. Immortality... You will have all eternity to finish your novel..."

Well, Molly was sold.

Even though she would outlive her family and have to watch them die one day, Molly couldn't argue against the appeal.

Nny did seem a lot happier since he'd died and resurrected.

Molly once told Nny off for throwing his life away. Sure, if he hadn't thrown it away, he'd be sitting inside a padded cell right now, rambling about Happy Noodle Boy, but here he was, pretty as ever.

Nny had all eternity to rediscover himself now.

Life was fleeting, but immortality was forever...

Molly could procrastinate until kingdom come.

"Fine, I'll do it."

Nny beamed, and Molly finally saw it; he didn't want her to grow old and die, and she was touched.

Truth be told, she didn't want to leave him either. They did swear to be friends forever once, and now it looked as if forever had become literal.

The universe would remain intact after all.

"Neat! Well, let's go!"

Nny spread his wings then took her hand, flying her up to space or heaven, who knows. Molly never bothered to ask.

All she cared about was that he flew her far, far away from earth.

Molly was done with dreaming now.

Time for something new.

This is the end for real now, and it's pretty poetic that they stayed friends for so long. Nny is like that boil Molly could just never get rid of 😂

Writing adult Molly was so liberating. I tried to give her more layers here than just the sweet girl trope. I know she was a bitch in the end, but I think she has a reason to be given her childhood. Her parents divorced after all, so she developed that snarky front from age 13. A sweet, tender age...

It's like her protective suit of armour.

But inside every snarky bitch is a sweet little girl who loves unicorns. I should know (I am one).

Yeah, Nny was on to something there I think. 2020 wasn't a good year in the end.

Molly may be a little hypocritical now, deciding to become a reaper herself after she scolded Nny twenty years prior, but bear in mind she was six years old. It was a bloody miracle she could even think in such leaps and bounds at all give her young age, but I digress.

I'm just so sad we reached the end. Writing this fanfiction helped me grow so much too. It sparked my love of writing again and got me back into the world of JtHM.

Thank you for reading

CartoonPrincessSigningOut.