AUTHOR'S NOTE:

And here is chapter two with a little angst, some fun, and some character bonding.

Hope you enjoy it!

=D

****

Molly got herself to the Forman residence pretty easily, and ended up getting into the driveway right as Eric made his way outside to help Red trim some hedges. She smiled a little when Red saw her and gave a sad smile her way, wishing she didn't feel so terribly sad about all of it. He wasn't one to share his feelings at all but he had lost his brother, and his niece had lost both of her parents.

"I thought we were in love." Eric said suddenly and Molly leaned on the Vista Cruiser.

"Oh God." Red said aloud, really not wanting to do the care and share.

Eric nodded. "And then it all just blows apart. And all that's left is this big hole, you know?"

"Uh, no, I don't. Oh! But there is a gopher hole out back. And if you shove the hose down and flush him out I'll stand at the other end and hit him in the head with a shovel." Red exclaimed.

Eric nodded slowly and sighed. "Uh-huh. Just go, Dad."

"Thanks. Thank you." Red told him and ran off to the backyard.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm here." Molly explained.

She hadn't wanted to really talk about anything else that was really sad, but she knew for a fact that Eric was hurting and she hated to see him hurting so much. He meant quite a lot to her, and if she could help him through this then she would. Unfortunately, Donna showed up to drop some bags off at the curb and Molly swallowed when Eric and Donna looked at each other, Donna noticing Molly for a second.

"Hey." Eric told her and Molly felt like she should head inside.

Donna looked at him. "'Hey'? Is that all you have to say to me?"

"Well, what do you have to say to me?" Eric asked her, Molly heading to the door to go inside the Forman house to give Eric his space.

"Huh. How about this? 'Hey'." Donna told him.

Molly headed to the living room and wished Kitty was there maybe so she wouldn't be alone but part of her felt like she needed to be alone. Everyone was kind of in a funk because of the accident, and Molly wanted to cry but she couldn't. She started to after a few hours of not being able to get through her book, but she knew it wasn't the time or the place, so she wiped the tear away, and smiled a little when Kitty came in with groceries.

"Do you need help with that?" Molly asked her.

Kitty smiled at her. "Sweetie you have every right to just sit around and cope, you know?"

"No, I need to keep myself occupied." Molly replied with a smile, helping Kitty with a grocery bag. "What are we going to make for dinner?"

Kitty smiled at her niece and then nodded, knowing that there was no way to force Molly to deal with any of her problems. If the seventeen year-old thought she needed to keep herself busy in order to be all right, then Kitty was going to help her with that. She couldn't help but smile at the helpful girl, and wish that there was something that she could do that would make things up to her a little. She was Red's flesh and blood but Red didn't do the share and care, and Kitty wanted Molly to feel better.

"Do you think there's a candy striper position open at the hospital?" Molly asked Kitty, smiling a bit as she got the groceries out of the bag.

Kitty smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm sure I could get that for you…but what about school?"

"I can candy stripe on the weekends—I'm really good about getting my homework done." Molly replied quickly, blinking a little and quickly drying her eyes.

"Oh I believe you, Sweetheart." Kitty replied, hugging Molly a little and then helping her to put the groceries away. "What do you say to sandwiches?"

Molly smiled at her aunt. "Perfect."

Kitty smiled at her and the two set to making some sandwiches, smiling at Red and Eric when they got back from Price Mart. Molly was glad to have more company in the house to get her mind off of everything that was going on around her, and she swallowed when she realized that Hyde would be coming back. He lived with the Forman's and that meant sooner or later he'd be back from Funland and she'd have to face him and she really didn't want to at all.

"Hey, how about that new cashier at work? Not bad, huh? Single too." Red told Eric, trying to up his mood since his break-up with Donna.

Eric sighed. "Dad, I'm not—"

"—what? Is it the braces?" Red asked him.

"Well you know what helps a fella get over a gal? Pimiento loaf." She said and started to laugh, but the second Eric opened up the sandwich to put mustard on it, he made a face and walked off.

Molly sighed and decided to follow him up to his room as Kitty asked Red what could possibly be wrong with him when Red was supposed to make him feel better, and Eric looked up at Molly and he sighed. He hated that he was so mopey about breaking up with Donna when the real person who was sad and had every right to be was Molly. Molly had just lost both of her parents in a tragic car accident, and he had lost his aunt and his uncle—how could he be being so completely selfish when she was putting aside everything to try and make him feel better when she was the one who was the saddest.

"So why did you leave Funland?" Eric asked her as she crawled onto his bed.

Molly shrugged. "It just wasn't any fun without you."

"And…?" Eric asked her.

"And…" Molly took a deep breath, "Hyde made a crack about my parents and I couldn't take it."

Eric kissed Molly's temple. "Hyde is just a jackass."

"He didn't know but I uh…I just don't want to deal with it right now because I can't so…your mother is getting me a candy striping job at the hospital." Molly said with a smile on her face. "It'll give me something to do."

"Is that really wise, Moll? I mean the hospital really isn't the place for you right now, is it?" Eric asked her. "I'm not trying to be hurtful, I swear, I just worry about you."

Molly nodded and she felt the tears coming, leaning against Eric and crying. She didn't want to breakdown with him but she couldn't help it, and Eric just stroked her hair and held her close to him. Eventually Molly said she was sorry she was being stupid and got off of his bed, stopping as Eric took her hand and smiled at her. He told her he was always going to be there for her, and then let her go to her room to try and get some sleep.

She got dressed in her t-shirt and pajama pants and laid in the bed that was now going to be hers and used to belong to Laurie, and she just couldn't sleep. It wasn't like she hadn't slept at the Forman's before, but it had always been on the couch, and she had always known that the next day she'd go back home. So, picking up her pillow and her blanket, she headed down to the couch and paused at the bottom of the stairs when Hyde came out of the kitchen.

"I was uh…I don't have to." Molly told him.

Hyde shook his head. "No, no, it's fine. I'll just use the TV in the basement."

"This one is bigger." Molly said lamely, and then she took a deep breath and bit her lip to stop the tears.

"Look…I didn't mean to crack about your parents, I didn't know." Hyde tried and they both knew he was struggling with the apology.

He really did feel bad for what he had said but he hadn't known about her parents and his 'apology' was not going to make them friends. Still, he knew what it was like to not have parents around and hers were dead and he didn't want to make her feel any worse about losing them. Besides, she was actually looking kind of attractive with her hair down like that, and she moved towards the couch and set her things down.

"If you want, we can watch whatever you wanted to watch up here." Molly offered.

She wasn't sure quite why she offering, but she was too sad and tired to argue with him and Hyde really wanted to watch things on the bigger TV, so he nodded and sat down with her, watching as she leaned against her pillow and snuggled under her blanket. Then he laughed a little when he realized along with her pillow and her blanket, she had her stuffed animal with her and he couldn't hold the teasing in if he tried.

"A teddy bear?" Hyde asked her.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Keep your eyes on the TV and shut-up."

"Oh well isn't someone getting all feisty?" Hyde said with a laugh. "You honestly sleep with a teddy bear?"

"One more word about Mr. Bear and I'm shutting your mouth for you." Molly warned, giving him a death glare.

Hyde started to open his mouth but suddenly he felt something he found strange—Molly's lips on his. Their constant bickering back and forth wasn't something new…in fact they both kind of preferred it that way. Still, Molly was feeling like she needed cheering up and Hyde wouldn't shut his mouth, so she had shut it for him.

"What are you doing, Molly?" Hyde asked her, pushing her off a little.

Molly took a deep breath. "Steven, I'm tried of feeling bad, all right? I want to banter, I do, but I have no energy and I just can't do this with you right now. This is the next best thing."

"I'm not going to be used by you." Hyde told her and smiled a little when she laughed and raised her eyebrows at him.

"Oh you're not?" She asked him.

Hyde nodded at her. "We're doing this not here in the living room."

"Lead the way." She replied.

Next chapter soon. Feedback is appreciated.