02.

"I saw him naked!"

Dennis had just driven Molly to the school and she couldn't wait to share with her best friend what had happened in the morning. Maggie who was just taking a sip from her drink almost choked.

"What?!"

"I saw Dennis naked." Molly repeated, her eyes glimmering in a rebellious way. "It was by accident and he didn't notice me, but I saw him naked!"

Her friend's eyes were huge but at the same time full of excitement.

"And?!" She insisted but Molly only rolled her eyes.

"And nothing. I moved away quickly so he wouldn't see me."

Maggie almost groaned.

"Start from the beginning and give me all the details."

Molly laughed at her friend's behavior but quickly told her everything.

"Last night we watched a horror movie at his house and I stayed for the night. This morning when I woke up I went to Dennis' room to see if he's awake but he wasn't there. Then I thought he was in the kitchen so I decided to take a shower before I join him for breakfast."

"And?" Maggie said, eager for her friend to get to the main part of the story.

"And I grabbed a towel but when I walked to the bathroom the door was opened. I shrugged it off because I thought he might've forgotten it or left it like that on purpose to let me know the bathroom was empty. Then I put my hand on the handle to push the door open a bit more so I could walk in and...well I saw him."

Molly trailed off, the vision of Dennis under the shower floating before her eyes.

"Well?" Maggie insisted when she realized Molly had started daydreaming.

"Well what?" Molly asked and Maggie rolled her eyes impatiently.

When the seventeen year old girl realized what her friend was actually asking her she blushed slightly.

"He had his back turned towards me and thank God for that because I walked out before he could noticed me."

"So you didn't see-" Maggie began, but Molly quickly interrupted her.

"No, of course not."

"Then why are you so excited? You didn't actually see that much."

"Yeah but I saw him naked. Even if it was only his back." Molly said, smiling at the memory. "He's so muscular and his back is so strong and the water drops were rolling all over his tan skin...even his tattoo looked darker than usual."

"You're so screwed." Maggie said and Molly rolled her eyes.

"Don't I know it?!"

She sighed getting lost in thought again.

"When are you going to tell him?" Her friend asked and she looked at her confused.

"Tell him what?!"

"That you've got feelings for him, dumby!"

Molly's expression grew serious.

"I can't tell him. And I won't."

"Why not?"

"Because he looks at me like I'm his daughter. And besides I'm under age."

"Maybe he looks at you like a daughter, but you're not and you'll be eighteen in a few months."

Molly sighed.

"You don't understand. If he finds out I have feelings for him...he'll back off and will do everything to stay as far away from me as possible. And I'd rather die than let that happen."

"But…" Maggie began to protest, but Molly cut her off.

"No buts. Dennis can never know I'm in love with him. End of story."

The other girl nodded.

"As you wish. But what are you going to do if he finds himself a girlfriend? You told me he was single at the moment, but that won't last forever you know?!"

"I know. But I'll worry about that when it comes to it."

"Whatever you say." Maggie said, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Thanks, Maggs, you're a great friend!" Molly said and pulled the other girl in a tight hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you!"

The other girl grinned.

"That's what friends are for."

They finally reached the art classroom and quickly took their seats. Their art teacher Mr Marker had retired and now they couldn't wait to see who was going to take his place.

"You know you should've told Dennis to apply for the job." Maggie leaned to whisper in Molly's ear. "From what you've said he's a great painter. Not to mention that way you would've had the chance to see him almost every day."

"How didn't I think of that?!" Molly groaned causing her friend to laugh.

"Well, it's too late now anyway." Maggie said just when their new teacher walked inside.

As it turned out their new art teacher was a woman. She was with dark hair and eyes and was wearing jeans and white shirt on stripes.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Donna Cofax and I will be your new teacher. Before we start I suggest we get to know each other a bit, so I'm going to tell you a bit of myself and then you can tell me a bit of yourself."

After she told them about herself it was the students' turn to do it. Everyone would start from their name and would end with a couple of words for their parents. However this was a painful topic for Molly (it always have been) so she quickly zoned out deep in thoughts. She loved her aunt a lot, but she missed her parents more than anything. However she was pulled out of her thoughts when Maggie suddenly elbowed her in the ribs.

"Ow! What did you do that for?!" Molly whisper-hissed and her friend nodded with her head in front of them.

Molly turned her head and redness covered her cheeks when she realized their teacher was staring at her.

"It's your turn, sweetheart. Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Ms Cofax said gently.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I just...got lost in thought. My name's Molly Smith and I..." But she was saved from the bell that rang loudly in the hallway.

Before her teacher could say anything else Molly grabbed her stuff and hurried out of the classroom. She ran through the corridor and into the first bathroom she saw. Closing herself in one of the cubicles she closed the lavatory's lid and sat down bursting into tears. She hated how she was reminded over and over again she was an orphan every time there was a new teacher or some formal school event. Her aunt did her best to make her feel loved but she couldn't fill the void left from the loss of her parents.

She didn't know how long she had cried until she checked her watch and realized she'd been sitting there for an hour or so. She wiped her eyes and unlocked the door. Walking over to the sink she washed her face and looked at her reflection in the mirror and remembered something her father had told her once.

'If you want to know what your mother looked like, you should just look in the mirror.'

All those years she had followed his advice but it was just now that she realized that looking in the mirror wasn't enough for her. She needed to see what her mother really looked like. She wished she had a photo of her parents because she barely remembered even her father. New portion of tears welled up in her eyes but she fought them back and splashed water on her face. She then wiped her face carefully and throwing the used napkin into the recycle bin she walked out of the bathroom.

Molly didn't feel like going back to class so she left the school and went to Dennis' workplace instead because she needed to talk to someone and he was the only one who could answer her questions. He was still working at Teshima and every time she went there a lot of memories were brought to the surface. She quickly got to Dennis' department's floor and headed straight at the direction of his office. His secretary Suzanne Dunne, who was the only other mother figure in Molly's life beside her aunt, wasn't at her desk so the girl assumed she was inside the office talking to Dennis. The thought lifted her mood up a bit and made her smile because she hadn't seen the bubbly brunette in a while and she loved spending time with her.

However when she took a peek inside through the window her heart fell.

Suzanne was leaning back against Dennis' desk talking animatedly with Dennis whose hands were on both her sides and he was leaning close (way too close for Molly's liking). His face was inches away from Suzanne's and his lips were pulled in a playful smile.

Molly's smile vanished and tears of pain glimmered in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Taking a deep breath she took a moment to compose herself before knocking on the door and walking inside.

"Molly?!" Dennis' eyes shot wide and he quickly walked over to her. "What are you doing here?"

She watched his expression change quickly from surprise to concern.

"I came here because I needed to talk to you about something." The young girl said, closing the door behind herself.

When Suzanne moved to walk out of the office she quickly stopped her.

"I need to talk to both of you."

The other woman nodded and the three of them sat down. Taking a deep breath Molly told them about what happened at her school and explained the reason why she had come to Teshima.

"I just...I need to know more about my parents." She concluded. "I don't know how or why my mother died. Hell I don't even have her picture. If you could help me it would mean a lot."

"Sweetheart, I did a really big research on your family back then and I came up with nothing. You know that." Suzanne said softly.

"I know. But that was ten years ago and today the technology is really advanced and I just thought if you do another research you might..I don't know..come up with something." The young girl said pleadingly.

"Ok, I'll see what I can do." Suzanne said, causing Molly to smile.

There was another reason why Molly wanted Suzanne to do the research. Initially she was planning to ask Dennis to do it, but after what she had witnessed she decided that if she asked Suzanne that would keep the brunette occupied for some time and she wouldn't have enough time to hang around Dennis and flirt with him.

"Thank you so much."

"Anything for you, sweetie." Suzanne smiled back and walked out of the office.

Dennis circled his desk and sat down in the chair next to Molly.

"Look I know it was painful to listen your classmates talk about their parents but you shouldn't run away from school like that."

He gently took her hand in his, squeezing her fingers lightly. She looked at him and new portion of tears filled her eyes at the memory.

"It was horrible. I felt like an outsider all over again because they had something I knew I'd never have."

Booker's eyes softened and he pulled her in for a hug. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes falling deep into his embrace.

"I know it's not Ms Cofax's fault because everytime there's a new teacher we have to introduce ourselves over and over again, but it really hurts." Molly said, not acknowledging the way Dennis' body tensed ever so slightly when she mentioned her teacher's name.

"Ms Cofax?" He asked, still holding her in his arms and he felt her nod.

"Yeah, Ms Donna Cofax. From what I got of our first class with her she's really nice."

"That's good." Dennis said, deep in his thoughts.

It seems after all this time Donna was back in town and judging by her last name she was either divorced or had never married Jeff. Unless she decided to keep her maiden name that is. The dark-haired detective suddenly felt the urge to see her again. After all she was his first true love and even after all those years she still owned a piece of his heart. That's when he took the decision to talk to her. Sure a lot of things had happened for the last ten years but he needed to see her and to find out if he still held a piece of her heart as well.

Blissfully unaware of the storm going through Booker's mind, Molly enjoyed being held by him, because he had never hugged her for so long.

But she was soon to find out that the reason for the long hug would become one of her biggest nightmares.

And that it would be only the beginning of the storm that was about to hit them, shaking their lives and scattering their world into pieces.