Mostly fluff this chapter, but some plot as well (you'll spot it, I promise). Thank you to all that review! Due to circumstances completely in my control, I won't be able to post next week. That's why you're getting three different updates today :)

Chapter 7

"It's not going to work," Molly said.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked. They were sitting together on the couch, watching The Shining. It was one of Molly's favourite movies before her mum died. She would spend all day persuading Alex to watch it, only to get told that night at bed 'Never again.'

"Bleaching my hair. It'll just turn it orange. That is, if it doesn't all fall out first."

"How do you know?"

"When I got my hair dyed this colour, the stylist told me that I'd have to get it done professionally or just wait for it to grow out."

And that was in 2011, with streaks, she thought. There'd be no chance in this world.

"So how are we gonna pull this off then?"

"I'm just going to have to go in, and keep my back to her. As long as I stay relatively quiet, she shouldn't notice me. She may not even recognise me anyway. I was only with her for a solid hour before she buggered back off to work. She didn't recognise me until I mentioned her daughter. Like she'd completely forgotten about me."

"I'm sorry, Molly," Tom said, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her to him. Molly tried to not tense up. It was unexpected, sure, but she was excited. She really liked him. If he wanted to further their relationship... "We can make the dinner quick too."

"Exactly. And I'll draw through most of it anyway."

"As you do every single meal," he said wryly.

"I'm just not a hungry person. Drawing interests me more than food."

"No. Food interests you. I see you. Half the time you're sketching the food on the table!"

Molly blushed. "Fine. Drawing food interests me more than eating it."

"You should do a big group drawing of us at Luigi's tomorrow. You can put yourself next to yours truly, of course."

Molly grinned. "Depends."

"On what?"

"On if you lot behave yourselves or not! Honestly, the amount of food that's been thrown across the table in the past couple days..."

"We're all kids on the inside. Looking for a laugh. And Luigi won't kick us out. Mind you, the coppers might," he added thoughtfully.

"I'd happily throw pasta on Gene Hunt," Molly declared.

"Then you could start it."

They laughed. It fell silent, the only sound in the house the movie playing.

"It's not normally like this," Tom said.

"No?"

"Usually people will stay up 'til gone one in the morning or later. It's not even midnight."

"They all got worn out playing football earlier."

"Yeah, you and me were the only ones who didn't participate, weren't we?"

"That's why we've still got loads of energy."

Tom laughed, pulling her up onto his lap. "You've always got energy, Molly Drake. I can see you staying up three days and still being fine."

"It's cause I don't do anything but draw."

"Yeah. Draw food, and sit in the park. You need to add things to your repertoire."

"Like what?"

"Well, I was hoping something like this," he murmured before his lips brushed hers, pressing up against them.

Molly was stunned. Happy, but stunned. She didn't expect him to do anything like this. As if of their own will, her lips started to respond to his. Suddenly, Tom pulled away, scratching his neck.

"Sorry. Sorry. That was too sudden."

"No. That was fine," Molly said breathlessly.

"I haven't even known you a week!"

"And I've been wanting to snog you since I woke up. So stop panicking."

Tom looked at her. "Really?"

Molly blushed and nodded. "I didn't think you'd feel the same."

"You've been driving me mad since I found you on the bench. It may have only been a week ago, Molly, but it seems like we've known each other ages."

Molly nodded. There was something familiar about this boy, but she couldn't place him. She had no time to think, however, as his lips were placed against hers once more.

~(*)~

Molly walked into her room at half one, completely dazed. She hardly even noticed that the lights were still on and Ella was looking at her slyly. "What have you been up to then?" she asked.

Startled, Molly dropped her notebook. "What? What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, Molly. You've only been watching a movie with Tom for three hours! I popped downstairs to grab a Coke earlier and almost went in to watch the film. I opened the door a crack and decided it might just be better to leave you two alone." Ella started laughing, leaving Molly gobsmacked.

"I...I..."

"Don't worry about it, Molls. We've all noticed how you two have been acting around each other since your migraine subsided. Tom sat by your side when you were unconscious if I wasn't up here. He didn't want you to be left alone. I can guarantee you that he wouldn't have done that for me. Nor for Charlie, but she has Jimmy, doesn't she?"

"How did they end up here?" Molly was actually very curious. She hadn't heard anyone's story besides Tom's.

"They don't talk about it at all. I only heard it the once. I don't think even Ethan knows. They were the first to come with Kate and Tom. Apparently, Jimmy's dad used to beat him. Their mum had buggered off when they were just kids and their dad was an alcoholic. Well, one day, their dad completely ignored Jimmy and tried to rape Charlie. Jimmy hit him over the head with a cricket bat, grabbed his sister and ran. He was only twelve, and Charlie eight. They were on the streets for two years before Tom took them in. Ethan's dad died when he was six. His mum got remarried when he was twelve. Six months later, his new stepfather is shipping him off to boarding school, persuading Ethan's mum that he's just a troublemaker. Ethan ran, and he came last year, when he was thirteen. I came about three months after Jimmy. My parents died when I was just two, and my auntie took me in. She got really ill in the winter of 1981. Never recovered and died soon after. I had no one to go to. Tom found me and brought me in and I've been here since."

Molly was stunned into silence.

"What about you. What happened to you?"

"My mum and dad got a divorce years ago, when I was twelve," she lied. Well, it was a partial truth. She could hardly go around saying her mum had died and she was running away from her mum, could she? "When my dad got custody, he cut me off of all contact with my mum. He got a new girlfriend, and finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I ran, back to the house we used to live in. It turned out that mum didn't live there and they didn't get the locks changed. I was under arrest for a few hours until mum sorted everything. She took me to her flat, but ten minutes later her boss was there, demanding her back, that she take me back to my dad's. She told him that she would if she could. I realised that I had to get out of her life then. I was just an inconvenience to her. She was in love with her boss, and she'd forgotten me."

"Molly, I'm sorry," Ella said.

She shook her head. "I'm happier here. I don't have to deal with her bastard of a boss."

They sat in silence for several minutes, Molly tapping on her sketchbook. "I think I'm going to go to bed," she said finally.

"Okay. I'll go ahead and turn out the lights," Ella responded, marking her book. She stood and flipped the light, plunging the room into blackness. Molly closed her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

She was driving through London, but it was different. It was future London. But it wasn't 2011. That much was obvious by her mother driving the car. The Lexus. She had missed the Lexus. She grinned. This was Before Mum. These were good times.

Molly looked down. She was wearing a dark dress, something that looked like what she would have worn when she was ten. Her mum had a look of sadness on her face.

"Where are we going, Mum?" she asked.

"Why are you asking that, Molls? You know where we're going. My friend, remember, she was in the car accident."

"Emily, right?"

Alex nodded. "Her and her kids and her brother."

"A lorry hit them," Molly stated.

Alex bit her lip. Not noticing this, Molly continued as the thoughts came back to her.

"The boy, I used to play with him. He wasn't killed instantly like the other three. He stayed in hospital for three days before he finally gave in. It was Emily and Luigi and Kate and...

Molly sat straight up in bed, eyes wide. "Emily and Luigi and Kate and Tom Dellucci."

Tom was right. They had known each other forever. Except, Tom had died when she was ten. They had ended up in the afterlife together.

~(*)~

Alex sat in her flat, staring at the blank television. For the first time in days, she wasn't pissed. Molly was as much as dead to her before she showed up randomly the week before. If Molly was dead now, was it much different?

Yes, Alex confirmed instantly. Because she's dead. She's not with Evan, she's not hiding from me. She's dead, and I won't ever be able to see her again.

There was a knock on her door. She knew the knock. It was Gene. He had such a distinctive knock that she knew it immediately, every time he came to her door. Alex stood and moved over to the door, opening it.

Gene stood in the doorway, holding two wine glasses and a bottle. "I thought you'd want a drink."

"I could use one."

"I noticed that you weren't down getting pissed today."

"I was going to drink in the flat, and then realised I had used up all my booze last week."

Gene gave her a face of mock horror. "And you didn't restock?"

"Shut it."

He just gave her a small grin and moved to the sofa, setting the glasses on the table and opening the wine. He poured her a glass, straight to the top, offering it to her, careful to avoid spilling any on the floor. Alex took it gratefully.

"I wanted to talk to you about returning to work," he said seriously.

Alex sighed. "I know I need to go back."

"I'm not trying to make light of your situation Bolls. I know she's your daughter. I know she's important to you. But we don't even know that she's dead for sure. She very well could be alive and hiding."

"And that's what kills me," Alex whispered. "She ran because of you, Gene. She thought I wanted you over her. And I can't even correct her, reassure her that I still do want her in my life. Because she's gone," she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

Gene pulled her into his arms. "Don't cry Bolls. Look, I've already got a comforting arm around you. You don't want me to go further, do you?"

Alex laughed and hiccupped. "Can't have that. What would CID do if they found out?"

"Exactly. We'll find her Bolls. I know I've said it before, but I mean it. We will find her. We have all of London looking for her now."

"Thanks Gene," she murmured gratefully, putting her head against his chest.

Gene was startled. He wasn't used to being this close to her. Her comfort level with him was astounding. Unsure of what to do, he started stroking her hair.

Soon enough, her breathing changed and slowed. Her head dropped down and the hand on his chest slipped almost dangerously low.

"Christ Bolls," he muttered, imagining if she woke up and her hand was on his meat and two veg.

Slowly, not wanting to wake her, he stood up and laid her down on the couch. He threw a blanket over her and picked up the wine glasses. He turned out the lights and left the flat quietly, walking downstairs to Luigi's to drop off the glasses. As he walked out of the trattoria he looked up at the ceiling, imagining the woman upstairs, lost in despair.

As he unlocked his car, he made a promise to himself. If he ever found Molly Drake, she was going to get a long lecture from him. A very long lecture. One that she'd remember for the rest of her life.