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**NORMAL POV**
Molly couldn't stop crying. It had been well over two weeks now, and she couldn't get it out of her head that she had gotten screwed over. Well, literally.
Jackie tried to help, but she knew she couldn't solve anything. Mostly, because she knew that a broken heart could only be solved by time. This isn't to say that hearing your mother's comforting words won't calm you down a little bit, either.
Dario tried comforting her, too. He had mostly just gotten sick of the sound of crying, but he put up with it, because he didn't want to complain. He had his own problems to deal with, like his brother Paolo visiting for the month.
Molly had already told Dario that it was okay for Paolo to stay at the apartment the whole time. Dario almost wished that she had said no, though. He liked his space, and in the small, two-bedroom apartment, he knew that Paolo would probably sleep in Dario's room, while he would be stuck on the living room couch.
And that's what happened when Paolo arrived.
Six foot and olive-skinned, with a bright smile and boyish mussed hair, Paolo was waiting at the airport for his brother to pick him up. Plenty of American girls were already looking at him for extended periods of time, trying to make eye contact. Paolo, however, was somewhat of a shy guy, and kept to himself. That only seemed to make the girls want him more, though.
When Dario finally pulled up, Paolo put his things in the car and got in. Away they drove, back to the apartment. On the ride home, the boys had plenty of time to catch up.
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After they got back, Paolo carried his luggage into the bedroom. After that, he and his brother remained sitting on the couch, catching up.
They didn't stop talking when Molly came out of her room, surprisingly, not crying. She was made up and dressed and did her hair.
Paolo quietly said to Dario, "Is that your roommate's mom? The one you hooked up with?"
Little did he know about Molly's bionic hearing.
Dario didn't even get a chance to answer when Molly whipped around, and Dario shot a quick glare at Paolo.
"What did he just say?" Molly said, shooting daggers at Dario. "I don't know who he is, but I heard him say something /very/ unpleasant."
Dario gave a small shrug. "He's my brother. Delusional, did I mention that?"
"No, you never did, and I'm almost positive you're lying, because you would have mentioned it before you brought him into my home!" Molly exclaimed. "Now, what did you do?"
Dario sighed. "Fine. A few weeks ago, your mom and I-"
Molly gasped before he could even finish. "How /could/ you? No, no. Why am I taking this out on you?" She ran to the counter and grabbed the phone, dialing furiously.
Paolo, still on the couch, turned to face his nervous brother. "Angry girl is pretty hot," he said, his accent thick.
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**JACKIE'S POV**
I'm at work, doing somebody's hair, when my cell phone rings. It's Molly, so I definitely have to answer. This girl is getting over a heartbreak, after all.
"I'm sorry, Janet, I have to get this," I explain before opening my cell phone. "Hello?"
"Mom!" Molly explodes over the phone. "You? And D-d-dario?"
Oh damn. "What? What are you talking about, honey?" I ask.
"Don't think I'm stupid, Dario's brother just said something about it," she snaps. "Why? You're /forty-one/."
"Oh." I'm not sure what to say. "Molly, can we just talk about this-"
"Later? Ohh, no, I'm not waiting for later," Molly says. "You need to explain now. Where was I? Were you /supposed/ to be there? And-"
"Yes, I was /supposed/ to be there, I was waiting for you! You were out with... he who will not be mentioned," I say, still sympathetic of her feelings. "And we were waiting, and talking, and... it happened?"
"What do you mean it happened? /It/ does /not/ just happen. I would know!" she yells.
"I know, and it was just... casual flirting, and... it led to more. You know the process. I can't talk about this right now, though," I explain.
"No, I don't know the process, and you should have told me." She sounds genuinely hurt.
I sigh. "Well, I'm sorry, Molly. I didn't think you would want to know. I figured I was doing you a favor by not telling you."
I hear her sigh over the phone. "Whatever. I'll talk to you later." She hangs up the phone.
What the hell was that? And why is Dario's brother in town? And /why/ would he tell Molly about Dario and I?
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**NORMAL POV**
A day passes and so does the steam. Molly went from being super pissed, to angry, to mad, to sad. Now she was in the heartbreak stage again, remembering Scott.
She sat in the kitchen, cleaning up from dinner the previous night (obviously the guys didn't), and Dario walked in.
"Molly," Dario said, now not afraid to talk to her, "You've gotta cheer up."
She shrugged. No response.
"Are you ignoring me because you're still mad or are you ignoring me because you're sad?" Dario asked.
"Mostly the last one," Molly said.
"Okay, listen." Dario sat down at the table next to Molly and lowered his voice. "I know you're all... down and everything. But you haven't talked to my brother at all. And he thinks you're cute. Plus, you're gonna have to get to know him somehow... he's gonna be here for a month."
Molly looked up. "Like hell he thinks I'm cute," she muttered.
"He does. He's said it to me multiple times." Dario nodded to emphasize.
"Alright... so what?" she asked.
"So, how about... you two go do something tonight? I could have my house to myself. It would be nice," he commented.
"Oh really? You're not gonna sneak my mom over?" Molly mumbled.
"We're gonna make those kind of jokes now, huh?" Dario said, rolling his eyes.
"Dario, are you sure it's okay?" Molly asked, her face serious. "I mean, is it creepy to go out with my future uncle?"
Dario mock-punched Molly in the arm. "I'm gonna go talk to my brother about it, okay? Unless you don't want me to."
She shrugged. "Go ahead."
Once Dario walked away, though, she smiled a little. A guy thought she was cute! Especially a guy as cute as Paolo. When she first saw him, she didn't think anything of it, because she figured he'd be way too good for her. But now that she knew that he thought she was cute, she realized he definitely wasn't the ugliest person she'd ever seen.
He was tall, which was a plus, because Molly was 5'7. His skin was tan, and his smile was adorable. He had the sexiest accent, better than Dario's because it wasn't 'faded.' And his hair was cute, shaggy, and light brown.
Maybe trying this wouldn't be so bad, she figured. Paolo was very attractive. She didn't know his personality, though.
Suddenly, an image of Scott flew through her brain. Just like that, she decided a date /could/ be the worst thing ever. She didn't want to get screwed over again.
She ran to go tell Dario to call off telling Paolo, but realized it was too late. As she approached the closed door, it opened, revealing Paolo.
He smiled at her. "Hey."
"Hi." Her eyes moved straight to the floor, and she felt herself blushing. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she thought.
"So... my brother said he wants you to, uh... tour me around the town." Paolo blushed, messing up his English.
"Oh, show you around? Yeah, I can do that," Molly said, nodding like crazy. "When... do you want to do that?"
"Anytime is fine," Paolo said.
"Okay..." Molly looked around. "Well, do you want to go now?"
"Um..." Paolo looked at a clock. "Yes." He smiled, and Molly couldn't help but smile back.
"Dar! We're going!" Paolo called to his brother.
"Already?" Dario asked. "Well, okay. Bye! Have fun!"
Molly grabbed her coat and rushed out the door, along with Paolo. They got in her car and started driving.
"So, Dar tells me that you've been... sad recently," Paolo said.
Molly nodded slowly. "Yeah. I got dumped. Kind of. I mean, we went out, and did some... stuff, and then he just kind of ignored me." She felt awkward telling him this, but hey, he asked.
"Ah. That's not good," Paolo commented. "I hate people who do that."
"Yeah." Molly looked straight ahead, not sure of what to say. "So, I hear you're a musician?"
"Ahh, yeah," Paolo said. "I played guitar since I was eleven years old. And singing too."
Molly smiled. "That must be nice, to do something you like."
"Yeah, I like it very much," Paolo said, smiling back. "Hey, why don't we get out here? It looks like where we could walk around."
"Okay." Molly parked and they got out of the car, walking downtown. "It's nice out."
"Yes." Paolo nodded as he went toward a park bench and sat down. "Sit here."
Molly followed him and sat.
"I'm sorry for saying the truth about my brother and your mom. I didn't mean to. That's been bothering me since yesterday," Paolo said.
"No, no, it's fine. I'm glad I know. Kind of." Molly weakly smiled. "So, did you bring your guitar with you here?"
"Oh, yeah. That is the whole reason why I came to America. I actually have a show booked at a little place around here next weekend," Paolo said.
"Wow." Molly was shocked. "You must be really good."
Paolo shrugged. "I guess you'll have to hear me."
"Tonight, you'll show me. Okay?" she asked, smiling.
"Okay," Paolo agreed.
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The two of them walked around, talking about their pasts and problems, for a long period of time.
Finally, Molly said, "Do you want to stop at a restaurant around here or something?"
"Sounds good," Paolo said.
So they went to a nearby restaurant, which was fairly nice but not upscale.
"So this guy," Paolo said, "This Scott guy. He's an idiot, no?"
Molly smiled a little and shrugged. "I don't know."
"I think he is. Whoever would want to hurt a woman like you is crazy." He grinned at her.
Molly blushed. "Thanks. So, um... how old are you?" She blushed again.
"Twenty-three. You?" he asked.
"Twenty-one." She nodded. "What's it like living in Italy?"
"No diference compared to America," he said. "Only it's more rural where I live... like by the countryside. More people speak Italian, and... that's it."
"Really? So do you live by any big cities? Like... Rome?" Molly asked.
Paolo laughed. "No, no. The biggest city I live by is probably Avigliano. You've... probably never heard of it."
"Why is that so funny?" Molly asked.
"That's like me asking you if you live by Los Angeles," Paolo explained.
"So... where /do/ you live?" Molly asked, wondering if she would know it.
"It's a little village, Badia." Paolo nodded. "I'm moving, though. There's no places for work there, where I am able to perform. Now, going to different... uh, performances won't be so hard."
"Oh." Molly nodded. Italy seemed so much more glamorous than where she lived. "So, have you been to any of the big cities?"
"Of course." Paolo nodded. "One time I even had a... performance in Turin once. It was very big for me."
"...where?" Molly asked, smiling a little bit.
"Turin... it's a big city," Paolo said, looking confused. "Well, okay. But yes, I've been to Rome, and Milan."
"Oh, okay." Molly nodded. She knew those cities.
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After eating, the two of them left the restaurant and started to walk through the downtown area, back to her car. The May air was unusually hot, and the city's annual fair was going on for all of the younger kids.
As they walked back, fireworks started going off, with the sound of music and cheering ringing through the sky.
"What is all this for?" Paolo asked, gesturing toward the sky.
"It's just a fair. It happens every year," Molly explained.
"Ah," Paolo said, leaning against a gate and looking up.
"I bet you don't see these much, huh?" Molly asked.
"No, I do. We always have fireworks at our celebrations in Italy. Well, maybe not in my town, but in the big ones, yes." Paolo nodded, still looking at the sky.
"Oh." Molly felt dumb and looked down.
"Molly, look up," Paolo said.
Assuming he meant to look at the fireworks, she looked up at the sky.
"No," Paolo said, putting his hands around her face and leveling it to where he wanted it at, which was at eye level with him.
She stared at him, unsure of what he wanted, until he leaned in and kissed her.
It was quite possibly the best kiss of her life. She instantly forgot about Scott for the three seconds that the kiss lasted for.
They pulled away quickly, and Molly felt like she was in a trance. Her gaze was still focused on Paolo.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't wait any longer," Paolo said.
Molly gave a tiny smile. "It's okay. It was nice."
Paolo smiled and nodded. "It was. Are you ready to go?"
"Um... yeah." Molly started walking towards the car again. Paolo ran to catch up with her, as he kept watching the end of the fireworks.
They got in the car and drove home.
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A/N: Another thing... I'm not screwing up when I write things that Paolo says. He just... doesn't know English as well. In my mind. Lol. Please review! You see that blue button down there...