LUKE
It was time for Luke's favorite part of the day: the part where he goes and bothers Gill.
He lived for these moments, because there was nothing he loved more than watching the little mayor squirm. It felt like fuel, kept him going through each day. Now he didn't do it all the time, as that would take the fun out of it, but he's been on his case for now four days straight and he's not quite done bothering him. He smiled as he made his way up to the Town Hall.
He walked through the large doors and a bell rung above him. There was no one currently working the front desk.
"Be there in a second!" Luke heard his faint voice in the back call. He grinned devilishly to himself, ready to make his own day.
Gill appeared in vision, seeming to be in a hurry. It was only until the two locked eyes did he stop in his tracks and gave him a look of frustration and nevertheless annoyance.
"Go away, Luke," Gill groaned, turning back around.
"Wait!" he called after him, leaning over the counter. "This is serious!"
The blonde mini mayor glared over his shoulder at him. Luke's eyes were shining and excited, while Gill's normally glowing blue eyes were dull at the sight of the boy in front of him. He groaned even louder now, as he sluggishly made his way to the counter, eye to eye with the carpenter.
"Please, humor me."
Luke's smile only grew wider. "I actually had an interest in purchasing a vacation house."
Suddenly, an eyebrow rose on Gill. It seemed that Luke's comment had peaked his interest. Clearly amused, Gill said, "Really?"
Luke nodded. "Seriously! My dad and I were looking at it for something to get away from Bo."
His eyes fell. "Seriously, Luke."
Luke feigned a laugh in response. "Ha-ha, yeah I'm only playing. We love Bo. Really. But that's not the actual reason I'm looking to get a vacation house."
"Well? Tell me then. I hate when you beat around the bush."
"You hate when I do a lot of things."
"Luke, please."
"Alright, alright! Well I wanted to get it for this girl that I'm hardcore bangin' right now." If only Luke actually spoke like that. He could barely take himself seriously at the moment.
Clearly not amused by his comment, Gill continued on. "Are you going to be paying upfront?"
"Gill, like, we've been really going at it. I think I might love her."
"That's nice."
Luke narrowed his eyes on him now. He wasn't biting. He sighed. "Is upfront the only option that I have? Do I have to pay in cash?"
"No, and yes. You must pay in cash."
He now rolled his eyes sarcastically, slapping his forehead. "Damn it! Luna is going to be pissed. I'm now going to have to borrow money from my dad—or her—"
"I'm sorry," Gill finally cut him off, "did you say Luna?"
"Yeah, we're toootally a thing now."
"I highly doubt that."
"It's true! Our couple name would be Lu…Oh my Goddess Gill do you realize that our couple name would just be one of our names because both of our names start with 'Lu'?"
Gill frowned at him.
"We could be either Luke or Luna!"
"Get out of here, Luke. And stop wasting my time," he grumbled.
Luke now fake frowned at him, crossing his arms immaturely. "Gill! I'm seriously buying a vacation house right now!"
"And I'm seriously telling you to get out of my sight. Go."
Frustrated yet feeling overall accomplished, Luke gave him a quick smirk and turned around to make his way out the door. Once it closed behind him, and he was back in the fresh air, he couldn't help but belt out a laugh. Ever since he was young he loved bothering Gill. It probably just had to do with the fact that they were polar opposites from one another; Gill took himself and the world so seriously while Luke just looked to have fun. There was nothing he craved more out of him than to get his frustrated reactions of having to put up with him. He could only imagine how much the mayor's son probably wanted to have him by the throat. He shrugged it off.
However, ever since it happened, all Luke's mind has been buzzing about was Molly. Molly, Molly, Molly. He never found himself thinking about the farmer girl so much before. Sure, maybe, when she first moved in, but he didn't know what he was thinking now. Was this attraction? Lust? Or was it more pure than that? Luke's brain fizzed as he overworked his mind, bruised from thinking of her.
Consumed in his thoughts, he bumped into Calvin and Kathy walking down the path right outside of the Town Hall.
"Oh!" Kathy exclaimed. "L-Luke!"
"That's the name!" he said with a grin. "What's up, friends?"
"Kathy and I were just…taking a stroll," Calvin said smoothly.
Luke nodded, a grin on his face. "Nice, nice. So where's Owen at?"
They both shook their heads. "I dunno," Kathy responded.
"Hm..."
"Hey!" she said excitedly. "I'm off work again tonight! Why don't we gather the Crew and get some drinks?"
"Now that's a plan!" Luke said. "Yes!"
"Alright, I'll definitely let Owen know when I see him," Kathy smiled.
"Then I'll try and find Molly and let her know," Luke replied. He was so elated. Any reason he could find to drink, especially with his best friends, he'd take. After all, what're friends without having the comfort of a beer with you? Wait, that didn't sound quite right in his head…
Before he realized, Kathy and Calvin gave him a curt nod each and smiled on their happy way. He continued on his path ahead, trying his best to get Molly out of his mind as he approached her farm to talk to her about tonight. Well, he discovered fairly quickly it was pretty hard to cleanse your mind of someone that you were preparing to see in a few minutes. Nevertheless, the carpenter put his pretty little head through the trauma.
He didn't know what to think of Molly. Every time his mind explored that region it just ended with him in a dazed confusion. He certainly didn't want to take advantage of her; no, while that may have been easier with some of the other women he was involved with, Molly was too fragile, to honest. She was innocent, and while that part intrigued Luke, he also didn't want to destroy that part of her, either. Maybe this was a bad idea.
But when he approached her farm and he saw her standing outside tending to her cows, he couldn't help but wind himself back into the thought that this was in fact a good idea. After all, she was going to kiss him, too.
"Molly!" he blurted, waving a hand in the air.
He watched her turn around, and beam a smile at him in return. He then found himself walking up the path right to her farm and to the pasture. She stood there, hands on her hips, beads of sweat dripping from her temples, but a warm grin still glowing from her face. She was a natural beauty.
"How's the farm?" he wondered, glancing around at all of the grazing animals.
She nodded a few times, before saying, "Good, good! No problems just yet."
"So, what're your plans for tonight?"
She perked an eyebrow up at him. "I don't know; I'm assuming you're going to tell me, though?"
Luke's grin exploded wide, and he said, "We're hitting the bars again tonight!"
Now both eyebrows were up. "Kathy got off work?"
"Yeah!"
Her eyes widened for a quick second before she said, "Wow, I'm not too sure I can handle this much alcohol in a week."
Playfully, he tapped her shoulder. "Oh come on, you can handle it. Plus, I'm really looking forward to seeing you tonight."
He saw a quick blush cross her cheeks, and he couldn't even help but smile. She could just be too cute. He didn't even know what he wanted from her anymore, but he knew he wanted something.
"Owen, leave me alone."
"Not until you pick a damn bandana."
"O, you don't understand! This is an extremely important decision."
"We're getting drinks at the bar—just pick one!"
Frustrated, Luke walked out of his bedroom with the bandana that he had on his head and stared at the blacksmith with anger.
"You make me mad."
"You take longer than Kathy to pick out an outfit. And she's usually trying to figure out what shirt to wear. You stress over an accessory."
"It's not just an accessory, it defines me!"
Owen couldn't resist laughing. He shook his head and walked past Luke towards the door. "You're such a baby. C'mon, they have to be waiting for us down there."
The two finally started down the path, side by side, nearing the Brass Bar, which was in sight. And yet, for some reason, nerves struck through him like lightening. Why was he so nervous? He tried to shake the feelings but for some reason failed to do so. He didn't realize until he saw her sitting down at the table that his mind was clouded with the idea of Molly.
"Hey guys!" Owen greeted, bringing Luke out of his trance.
"Hey!" Molly smiled. She was sitting next to Kathy, this time Calvin across from her. Owen and Luke discovered their fate of splitting up, so Luke sat in front of Molly while Owen sat at the head, in between Calvin and Kathy.
"So, do you even work anymore?" Luke eyed her with a grin, over at Kathy.
"Shut up, Fluke," she spit. "Actually, it's because…"
"Hello, welcome to the Brass Bar. Can I interest any of you to the drink menu?"
We all glanced up to see the tanned skin, redheaded beauty beside me. She stood there with a smirk, holding a few menus under her arm and glaring down between the five of us.
Was Selena always this beautiful?
"Holy crap!" Owen exclaimed. "You work here now!"
"That I do," she simply nodded. "Finally gives me a reason to get off Toucan Island and away from my parents."
"But I mean," Luke tried to counter, "it's Toucan Island! What could be so bad about that?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't get me started. So, do you guys want drinks or what?"
"Polite, Selena!" we heard Hayden call from the back.
She rolled her eyes yet again, this time plastering a fake smile along with it. "Would you guys like any drinks?"
"Just tell Hayden our usual," Luke smirked up to her playfully, "he'll understand."
"He better," she sneered over him, "otherwise I'm in huge trouble."
With that, she tightened her grip on the menus and trudged back to the bar. The boys couldn't help but contain their snickers while Molly and Kathy were clearly was not amused by their picking on the new waitress.
"Guys, don't be so hard on her," Kathy glared between them.
Now Calvin was one to perk an eyebrow. "I thought you were afraid of her?"
She sighed. "Well I mean, now that we're working together I have to be nice. Like how I have to be nice to Chase, for the sake of Molly."
Now Molly glared at the blonde. "Thanks."
Chase. Luke couldn't help but scrunch his nose at the name. It was funny, actually, he really didn't have any real bad blood with him. He just didn't like how close he was with Molly. Call him overprotective, but Chase's sarcasm and lack of filter did cause her to cry a few times, and Luke unfortunately always saw the aftermath of Chase's actions. He didn't hate the guy himself, he just didn't really like the way he treated Molly…before they became friends, of course. He wasn't sure what drove them to actually be friendly with each other, but that was way out of his reach. He had nothing to do with the chef, anyways.
The night went on the Crew dove into their usual conversations. Kathy picked on Molly again, while she just continuously denied her. He couldn't help but expose a small smirk, knowing that not long ago he had Molly to himself—almost. He wanted to get her alone again. He needed to. For some reason, he craved to feel her lips on his. It could've been lust, or just a mere crush, he wasn't sure; what he did know was that he wanted her alone.
He needed to do it tonight.
So as the night tapered off and the Crew was tipsy and happy, it was unanimous amongst the group that it was time to part ways. They all laughed one last time as they all rose from their seats, making their way towards the exit.
They all stood in a huddle on the other side of the Brass Bar entrance, as Kathy and Owen waved the three of them, making their way up to the Garmon Mines. Calvin then tipped his hat to the lone two and began his stroll back towards the inn. That only left Luke and Molly under the glow of the moon.
Luke cleared his throat. "Do you want me to walk you back?"
She brought her eyes to meet his, a look of innocence sweeping over her face. "Really? You don't mind?"
"Nah, of course not!" he said nonchalantly. "I'd rather you get home safe then have to worry about it all night."
She gave off a faint giggle. "Alright."
The two began up the path and back over to her farm. It wasn't a very far walk—considering she owned an entire portion of the island to herself—so the two kept a fairly silent tone. They briefly talked about how the nights were beginning to get colder as Winter was quickly approaching, but how beautiful the moon looked in this season. It only looked this good in the fall, as it was the season that brought the harvest moon.
The duo approached her front doorstep, as they both awkwardly gazed at each other with just the glow of the moon. He couldn't resist wanting to kiss her right then and there, but he wanted to do it when the moment felt right for the both of them. He was afraid of rejection, and the last thing he wanted was for Molly to push him away.
"Thanks for walking me back," she said softly, a sincere smile appearing on her lips. "It really means a lot."
"Of course!" he replied, throwing wider smile in response.
"Do you…uh…" Molly was fumbling over her own words.
Luke couldn't hold back the fact that his face was growing warm and his heart beat just a bit faster.
"…erm, wanna come inside? For maybe some coffee, or some hot chocolate?" she wondered kindly.
He didn't hesitate to nod, keeping that wide grin smack across his cheeks. "I'd love to."
Molly fingered the keys delicately, nervously unlocking the doors to her house. She opened the door slowly, glancing back up at the carpenter with a genuine grin, before flicking on the lights to her relatively large, vacant home. There were some clothes tossed around and some dirty dishes that lay next to the sink, but otherwise he noticed that she kept the house in order. However, the house just seemed too big for one person to live in it by himself or herself all the time. He wondered if she ever got lonely.
"So, what would you like, coffee? Hot chocolate?" she wondered, frantically going through her cabinets.
Luke couldn't help but breathe a smile as he watched her. Smoothly, he said, "Molly."
"Maybe tea?"
"Molly."
She finally stopped, and turned around to face him. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were wide and confused. Luke, finally, felt calm, being with her in here. He didn't even have to say anything to the farmer; like magnets, she just approached him as he stood in the middle of the open floor. She was now looking up at him, as he was a decent height over the girl, and he just smiled down at her genuinely.
"You look beautiful tonight," he whispered, tucking a lock of her chestnut hair behind her ear.
She just bit back a smile and continued looking up at him. And with that, he took that as an invitation.
He rested his hand on the side of her face, and gripped her forearm with his other hand, while bringing lips down to meet hers. It was slow, and passionate, the way he held her, the way their lips moved in sync, and the way he was happy to be holding her like this for the first time. Molly threw her arms around his neck now, suddenly feeling the intensity rise and his hands shift from their assigned positions now to around her waist. He couldn't help but pull her hips closer to his, now just wanted to feel every inch of her body attached to his own. A wave of emotions swamping over him, he found himself in a daze as he was now pulling her and hungrily kissing her. The slow passion had gone out the window, as now the farmer and the carpenter were moving heatedly, soon finding themselves on the comfort of Molly's bed.