KATHY

Kathy watched as Owen started to walk away from her. She sighed; she hated lying to him, especially now that it came so easily to her. It was hard at first, sneaking around and throwing him bones while she ran off the other way. And while it still hurt to watch him walk away while he thought she was about to turn to the tailor, she couldn't help but feel a rush of emotions. She then noticed Molly walk out of the Brass Bar and walk right into him, a few small exchanges go on between them, and then the two of them walk away together. Some more relief came over Kathy as she then walked toward the Ocarina Inn.

Every time she approached this place, a strange excitement rolled around in her stomach. She pushed the heavy door open as she comfortably walked right through the lobby and made her way to the back towards the rooms. It was all just very robotic for her; this route was nothing new. She had been doing this for quite a while now, almost two full seasons. She finally made it to the room she desired, the room she didn't even have to check the room number to see if it was correct anymore, and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" the familiar voice called on the other side.

With a grin, Kathy opened the door and walked into the inn room and said, "Hey there."

"Hey you," Calvin replied, standing up and immediately pressing her against the door. He gave her a forceful—yet passionate—kiss on the mouth.

"You don't hesitate."

"Why would I when I have a beautiful girl in my room all to myself?"

He kissed her again, this time gentler, as she noticed that he was taking advantage of the fact that he had her in between him and the door.

"Y'know," he started, as he began to trail down her neck, "I really wanted to take you home with me last night."

Kathy recalled going back to Owen's after the Crew's night of rambunctious drinking. She told her father that she was staying over Molly's place, while then scurrying off with Owen. Calvin had watched them go; she always felt weird being with Owen when Calvin was around. The feeling was relatively unavoidable due to the fact that the five of them are all best friends.

"Calvin," she sighed, as he began to nibble at her neck, "stop, you can't leave any marks because of—"

"Owen, I know," he groaned in response. Only in these kinds of situations Kathy was able to notice how much he hated saying his name. He brought his head back up to look at her.

Calvin had beautiful light brown hair, but under any kind of lighting it glowed like gold. His eyes were a murky chocolate brown; they were innocent and gentle. Kathy had always found herself attracted to Calvin, even for as long as she had been dating Owen. She never found herself attracted to his personality until just recently. She took a curious taking to wandering the mines, trying to understand what Calvin, Phoebe, and Molly would do in there with whatever time they had. She eventually stumbled across Calvin, who was sitting on the mine floor taking notes of what was around him. She decided to join him, as he explained to her what exactly he did and why he spent all of his time here. That moment was the first time Kathy found herself attracted to him, deeper than his exterior. She appreciated his passion for what he did. As a waitress working under her father, a trait she always found admirable was hard work and passion for that work. And while Owen was obviously deeply invested with his blacksmith work, there was something different with the way Calvin spoke to Kathy that one day, late in the Springtime. She suddenly found him sexy, suddenly wanting to explore his mind and his body. It was a strange, foreign feeling. She had never had serious feelings for anyone other than Owen before. She thought that this desire for Calvin was merely a strange phase, something that would wave away like a cold. She was wrong.

She took it upon herself to visit him more often in the mines. She found herself curious to find out what he had stumbled across in the mines that day, what he's looking for in the future, and what he needs to find. She always watched him in awe. It was the first time they really ever spent alone time together, as the two of them really only became friends through Owen. After that, there was one last time she came to visit him. While he was talking, some haze came over her as she just leaned in and kissed him. The moment froze, which drew Kathy into a panic. She worried that she had just ruined their friendship, because she was dating Owen after all. But Calvin moved himself closer to her, and kissed her back. Kathy was over the moon.

It was interesting the way it all unraveled, at least in her point of view. Considering she and Calvin only became friends through her boyfriend, the sudden forbidden attraction excited her. But her boyfriend and Calvin had been friends for a very long time. Owen, Calvin, and Luke were all best friends from when they were young. Kathy's striking personality freaked out some of the other girls. When she was younger, she did get along well with Luna but their friendship slowly dissipated, as they grew older. When Molly moved in, she took no interest to befriend her. It was Molly that always was approaching her, kindly giving her gifts and asking if she wanted to grab lunch or hang out by the ocean. It was strange for Kathy; she never had people try and talk to her. When they really became close, Kathy had already been dating Owen for a bit, and she decided to bring them into the friendship. Thus, the Crew was born.

"I still want you," he said to her, his voice smooth but lined with lust.

Kathy couldn't help but grin at his tone. It was deep, and grew husky in their heated moments like this, something she could barely resist. In that moment she found herself pulling him against her, hungrily kissing him as her fingers trailed the seams in his tan button down. She began to unbutton it, her hands greedily exploring his chest. She felt him smile as they kissed, as he retreated his head back to look down at her.

"You want to do this right now?" he asked softly.

She smiled wide and giggled in response, as if wanting to do it right now was such a surprise to him. He mirrored her smile and chuckled as well, before picking her up and throwing her on the bed.

Later that day she walked back to the Brass Bar to get ready to work the shift with her dad. Tired from earlier, she took in as much air as she could and with all of her might pushed through the doors to prepare for a seven-hour shift. The place was just beginning to grow crowded, as Kathy walked to the bar and approached her father. He glanced up from cleaning the bar, and gave her a hearty grin.

"Hey sport," he said. Just as Kathy was about to say something back, he turned around a grabbed a full glass behind him. It was a wine glass filled with red wine. "Do me a favor and go to the kitchen and give this to Chase?"

Chase always had a drink at some point during the day, usually when being in the kitchen got too strenuous and he really needed some form of alcohol to wind him down. She smiled and took the glass from the bar and turned to head for the kitchen. She crossed the restaurant and pushed through the double doors to enter bright white lights reflecting off the white walls and the chrome pots and pans. She glanced around until she found Chase washing his hands at the far sink. She walked towards him, the clack of her shoes echoing throughout the already noisy kitchen. She assumed that he had heard her approach because just before she stopped in front of him, he turned to look at her.

"Here's your wine," Kathy held out the glass for him. He quickly dried his hands off on his apron and took it from her.

"Thanks."

She turned around. Just as she was about to walk away and get started on her job, she heard his voice call for her again.

"Hey Kathy?"

She whipped her head around, her long blonde hair whipping her in the face. She perked her eyebrows up and said, "Yeah?"

He smirked. "I heard what you said about Molly. How you think she likes me?"

She frowned. "She told you that? Ugh, of course she did, she tells you everything."

"Yeah, well."

She got a little closer, giving him a positive smile. "I don't take it back though. I do think she likes you."

"You think she likes everyone in this town."

Appalled, she replied, "Do not!"

Chase nodded at her. "Do too. You thought she liked Julius for almost all of Spring season."

She crossed her arms now in frustration. "They looked like they had a connection."

"They talked once, Kathy. And it was the one time you were there to see it."

"Well how am I supposed to know that?"

"By asking her?"

"Well you don't need to ask. She just tells you things. Everything. I always have to pull stuff out of her but she just tells you with ease. Is it wrong of me to think that she likes you now?"

He paused. He stood there; dumbfounded it looked like, as the smirk on Kathy's face only grew wider. Her eyes widened with excitement as she said eagerly, "Oh my Goddess! You like Molly, don't you?"

"That's repulsive. She's practically a sister to me."

"No she's not, shut up! You so have a crush on Molly! It makes so much sense."

"This is childish."

"How long have you liked her for? Chase, this is so adorable. You and Molly would be sooooo good together."

"Alright. Out of my kitchen."

"What?"

Chase set down his glass of wine and started to gently shove Kathy out of the kitchen. Elated and mildly frustrated, she chanted, "You can't escape your feelings for her! Never let them go!"

And as swiftly as she walked in, she found herself back in the dark setting of the restaurant area. With a sigh, she promptly made her way back to the bar with her dad, now filling up glasses with different mixes of alcohols and sodas.

"There you are!" he called to her. "You need to start waiting tables. There, Toby and Renee have been waiting for a bit now. Go take their order."

She nodded at her father before making her way over there. The two smiled sweetly as she approached, as she herself was dreading it. She hated taking orders, especially from people who were in a happy, perfect relationship. It only reminded her how terribly fucked up her own relationship was.

After a long night of waiting tables and hanging around the bar talking to her father as no one decided to (shockingly) grab a drink on a Wednesday night, she relaxed as her father was just cleaning up behind.

"How're we doing, dad?" she wondered.

"Money's still tight, but we're hanging in there. We really need something to pull people back in, though. Give them a reason to show up on a night of the week that no one comes." Kathy watched as her father examined the barren bar. "Like tonight."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Have you thought of anything yet?"

Kathy recalled back to the night before, when the Crew was all talking about their lives pre love discussion. She remembered hearing Molly say that Selena was looking for work, and that she could dance to potentially bring in people on slow days like the weekdays. Would that really work though? Kathy and Selena were never close, because frankly, Selena frightened her. She had a fiery attitude and mainly used it in spite, and it nerved her to the bone. Sure, Kathy could get sassy as well, but there was something about the way even Selena walked that sent a strange chill down her spine. She looked up at her dad and debated even bringing it up to him. She didn't want Selena to be in the same work environment as her, especially every night. She brushed it aside.

Only for it to very quickly re-enter her mind.

How could she be so selfish? This wasn't about her. This was never about her. This was about her father's business. If it were worth the risk, then she and her dad would take the fall. But she knew her dad was desperate for ideas, and was willing to try anything to keep the bar around. With a sigh, and a quick chug of her drink, she nodded and looked up to her dad with a fake grin.

"Yeah, Molly and I were able to stumble across something."

His eyes widened. "Really? Shoot!"

"Selena."

"Selena?"

"Yeah. Molly told me she's been looking for work lately. She's an amazing dancer." That was, indeed, a fact that Kathy could agree on. "She could wait on tables and then dance on some nights. Maybe it'll bring more people in on nights like this."

"I think that's a brilliant idea," Kathy turned around to see Chase walking out of the kitchen, his apron drooping over his shoulder. "I think that'd really add an interesting flare to the place."

"Get out of my restaurant, Chase," Kathy playfully snapped at him.

"I think that's a great idea too!" Hayden said, ignoring his daughter's comment. "She could dance on Mondays and Wednesdays, those are our slowest days. Every other day she could help around and wait tables with you!"

There go all of my tips.

Kathy couldn't help but glare at Chase, as she knew that he was helping encourage this. She and Chase were obviously nowhere near as close as he and Molly were, but they did have their occasional small talk considering they were in the same work environment. Plus, since Molly was one of her best friends and he was one of Molly's best friends, she knew that she at least had to be relatively nice to him. Fortunately they were able to create a great work environment between the two of them. And from past conversations, it has come up before about Kathy's small little fear of the belly dancer.

With that, Kathy decided to get up from the barstool. "Alright, I think I'm gonna go for a quick walk then head home."

The two nodded at her, as Chase then approached the bar as she heard him ask if he needed any help closing up. Always trying to make me look bad, she thought to herself as she walked through the door.

Just as she was about to head on her way, she heard a soft tune playing in the near distance. A large smile spread on her face, when she quickly turned toward the Ocarina Inn and saw the fedora wearing beauty outside on the bench playing his guitar. When she approached him, he glanced up at her with that usual smirk that he gave her when he was trying to seduce her.

"There you are. I've been waiting for you."

"What are you doing out here?" she wondered.

"It's a beautiful night. And since I couldn't take you home last night, I was wondering if you'd want to come back with me tonight."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was he seriously suggesting that she spend the night with him? It couldn't be more obvious. Her walking in there with him, together, her leaving the next morning, alone; the equation just didn't add up or make any sort of sense to her. She felt her brain buzz with all sorts of thoughts, contradicting thoughts, thoughts arguing against each other. Finally, she decided to just ignore it all and go with whatever her heart wanted to do. She decided to follow her gut, to follow the emotions that struck through her veins like lightening. She breathed.

"Yeah. Let's go."

A/N: I hope those who are following are enjoying it so far... and those who are just looking at it hopefully are too! Please, if you don't already follow it, read my other fanfic Reflection! It's a Sunshine Islands fanfic and it's 24 chapters in!

Also I love you. Even if you can't read this, and aren't reading this, I love you.

I felt the need to make an unnecessary Author's Note as well as shoutout my own stories. I'm just very proud. I dunno. I'm rambling now. Love y'all.