I am not happy with this chapter. :c Well, I'm happy with the start and end, just not the middle. xD For those of you who expect some awkward 'oh hey, let's sleep in the same bed' or 'let's confess our feeling through inappropriate activities trololol' then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. xD
Just remember that their relationship hasn't fully developed yet!
This is also a shorter chapter than usual, since I felt it didn't really need to be dragged out any longer.
Disclaimer: Don't own Harvest Moon, bro.
"...Excuse me?"
"Well. You can't exactly walk home now, can you?"
"Why not?"
Turning around after being tempted to smack her head on her house door right then and there, Molly opted to just unlock the thing instead, the warmth from the inside hopefully prompting a slightly more sensible answer from Chase.
"Have you been spending time with Luke again? You seem to have lost some brain cells."
Looking over her shoulder and being met with a confused look on the man's face, Molly really did wander why she hadn't knocked herself unconscious on the door frame yet.
Well, Chase. Apart from the fact that it's now pitch black out there and you could easily fall of a cliff and into the sea, I guess that there really isn't a reason why you can't walk home after all. My mistake!"
Smiling at him before entering her house, Molly was just about to close the door when Chase finally snapped out of it.
"Now hold on a minute...do you really want to be responsible for me falling off a cliff?"
"No, so get in."
Pulling Chase in so no more heat would escape from the room, Molly quickly shut and locked the door behind her, adding a slight hint of worry to Chase's confusion as well. Noting this, the young farmer frowned as she went into the kitchen and set two mugs onto the counter, before flicking the switch to the kettle.
"Do you really think I'm going to do something bad to you? And here I thought that we now trust each other."
"It's not that." Chase began as Molly reappeared and directed him into the living room. "It's just what are people going to think? I mean, someone is going to see me leave in the morning. Hell, you had enough of a problem when Simon caught you and Kathy together."
"Well we'll just explain that it was impossible for you to walk home in the dark like this. You have to remember, the incident was Kathy was cleared up easily in the end...well, after you almost broke my nose and caused some damage with Luke's axe, but that's beside the point."
Smiling as he watched Molly flop onto the sofa, but immediately getting up again upon hearing the kettle click indicating that it's finished, Chase sat down on the adjacent seat, thankful that the seating area was a large one.
After she had made her way back into the kitchen, Chase looked around the room, noting how clean and orderly everything was. (Apart from the pile of clothes that sat in the corner near her bed, but that was different, he guessed.) Scanning around, a small picture frame which sat on a coffee table a few feet away from where he was sitting caught his eye.
Standing up, he walked over to investigate the photograph, a mixed feeling of both warmth and sadness running through him as he did so. There in the image, stood a young looking Molly –around the age of six or seven, he assumed. Next to her stood an almost identical figure to her, save for the different hair length and build of the two girls. What he assumed to be their parents stood behind them, one on either side like protective book ends. The Mother of which, was a spitting image of Molly. She had the same sparkly brown eyes and silky hair, and the smile of which was unforgettable- the same smile which Chase had come to love seeing on Molly, it was the type of smile which could calm even the most frustrated of people.
"Here, I made us some-Oh I forgot I left that out!"
Setting the cups down on the table, Molly quickly went and took the frame out of Chase's hands. Even then she was still gentle in her actions, not nearly as violent as someone else would be if they caught another person snooping through their private possessions.
Looking at Molly as she stared sadly at the image herself, Chase wasn't really sure what to say. Should he ask if she was okay? Why she was so sad? Hell, should he apologise?
"I...I'm sorry, I didn't realise you didn't want people to see it."
"No it's okay...I left it out after all! Come on, let's sit down again."
After a few minutes of rustling about trying to get comfortable on the couch, silence enveloped the pair, the only sound disturbing the peace that of a clock's hypnotic rhythm.
"Is that...your family?" breaking the silence, Chase finally gave into his inquisitiveness.
Silently nodding as she took a sip of her beverage, Molly stayed silent for awhile, causing Chase to almost come out with another outburst of apologies.
"Yes, as you can tell the photograph was taken a while ago, though." She began after silently contemplating whether or not she should tell Chase about her family – it was generally viewed as a right of passage which mainly best friends and couples do, after all.
"I don't want to bore you with the whole history of it, but basically the girl you see next to me is my twin sister, Angela. Obviously, our parent's are behind us. My Mother...she died not too long after the photo was taken...at the time, Angela and I were too young to know what that meant however. We now know that she had some sort of lingering disease, which she refused treatment for. Shortly after she died, my father went into depression, and slowly deteriorated himself. As soon as Angela and I were old enough to leave home, he let go. Literally died of a broken heart, the Doctor's told us. .."
Painful memories of his own past filled Chase's mind as he stared at the girl, wishing he had never brought the topic up for either of their sakes.
"I'm sorry...I know you've probably heard that a lot, but I'm not sure what else to say. If it helps though, I had no parents from around the age when you lost yours as well." Laughing as he realised what he had said, he rubbed the back of his neck nervously before smiling at Molly. "Well, guess that doesn't help actually, does it?"
"Not really, but least you understand." Giggling slightly herself, Molly was debating whether or not to ask Chase about his own past, before the soft chiming of her clock brought her attention back to the present.
"Oh shit, one am already? The hell, we got back at about eleven fourty."
"Maybe your clocks wrong?"
"Oh, yeah, because your totally the one to be criticising me about my clocks!"
Holding up his hands in defeat, Chase merely shrugged the comment off, not willing to get into an argument that late at night. Or that early in the morning, should he say.
"I swear, I'm going to drag you to Barbara's store to buy you a new clock as soon as possible! If you don't have one, you'll also start to be late for work, and Hayden will beat the crap out of you, which, quire frankly, I don't want to see."
"So...it would be like another 'date'?"
"A date? At a general store? Pssh of course Chase, because that's the most romantic thing which I can come up with. Man, give me some credit for once."
"Well then. If that's the case, I'll give you that credit when you prove to me that you can make a romantic date."
"You're so sneaky... You're on."
Smirking at his triumph, Chase let his mind drift off to the thoughts of what Molly could be planning, he had to admit, he was both excited and a little nervous wandering what it could be.
"Hey...are you going to sit there all night and freeze, or are you going to help me find some blankets?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah."
Standing up, Chase stretched slightly before following Molly into her store room, and saving her when the blankets conviniently placed on the top shelf of the wardrobe fell down upon her.
"Hold onto them now that you have them." She said whilst rootling around for some pillows to complete the makeshift bed.
A few more minutes past as the two tried to arrange Chase's sleeping arrangements, obviously he wasn't going to be sleeping in the same bed as her, well, not yet at least.
"You know..." Molly began after she stood back to admire her handy-work. "I'll let you sleep with me if people weren't so suspicious about it as it is."
Blushing madly at the comment, Chase pinched his forehead with his fingers, wandering how someone like Molly could make innuendo's so easily without realising it. 'Get your mind out of the gutter, Chase! It's you whose taking it the wrong way...damn modern society, that's the reason why that sounds so inappropriate!'
"Um...are you okay, Chase?"
"Just dandy Mol. One thing I have to say is though, you should probably think about what you say before you say it. Not that I mind, but it could get you into some sticky situations with other people eventually.
"Huh? Okay...thanks? I think."
Again confused by the girl's lack of understanding of what she just did, Chase decided that it was finally time for them to head to bed. Unfortunately for them, everyone had to resume their normal working life even after late night festivals, meaning that it was either a case of: 'sleep or less pay.'
Coming to a mutual agreement to just bear sleeping in the majority of their clothes (Minus a few jumpers and trousers) for modesty's sake, Molly and Chase finally settled down into their respective sleeping quarters-Chase on the couch, Molly in her own bed.
"Goodnight Chase..." mumbled Molly as she flicked the light switch to her bedside lamp off. "Again, thank you, it was one of the nicest times which I've had in ages...and I really do mean that."
Genuinely touched by her comment, Chase snuggled down further under the blankets, trying to hide the smile which was increasing on his face.
"I'm glad." He muttered back. "I didn't expect to have such a good time either. I really don't know why I haven't tried socialising more..."
"Hmm...that's just you, though. Anti-sociable Chase is the one which we all know and love!"
"Haha, I guess it does kind of define me now, doesn't it? However...I've come to realise that I like socialising with you, Molly. Some days, I just think that I wouldn't care if you were the only person which I saw all day..."
"Chase...you mea-"
BANG
...
"The fuck?"
Bolting up and cursing in unison, the two adults gently padded over to the window, the place in which said noise had come from. Before Molly did however, she grabbed the hoe which she keeps under her bed for safety, silently doing a victory dance in her head after thinking about all of the times Kathy had told her she was nuts for doing so.
Wrenching the window open (The logical thing to do when there could be a potential burglar outside, of course) Molly stuck the hoe out of the window, in the hope of knocking someone out if they were there.
"Christ Mol, you're worse than Luke."
"SHUSH, we're supposed to be subtle."
"...I hardly call pulling a window open so hard you practically yanked it off its hinges subtle."
With a sigh, Molly pulled the hoe back through the window, and shut the panels tightly again.
"I'll never get to use it for defensive." She sadly exclaimed before climbing back into bed. "I seriously want to know what the hell that was though."
"Probably just a bird or something. Don't worry, whatever it is will pay if it hits the window again."
And with that, Chase and Molly finally settled down for the night, the events of the past few hours causing them to fall asleep almost instantly. Little did Molly know however, if she had just looked down out of the window, she would have found the cause of the noise.
...
"Come on Kathy, please stop spying on them..."
"No way...Owen...I want to see what will happen!"
"They're both asleep, Kath, nothing's going to happen."
"AWWW BU-"
Clamping a hand over his eccentric girlfriend's mouth, Owen once again tried a feeble attempt to pull her away from the window.
"Unless you want to almost get smacked by a hoe again, I suggest that you let me take you home."
Pouting whilst considering her options, Kathy eventually gave in and all but collapsed into her waiting boyfriend's arms.
"I need...to apologise to Molly." She announced, as she let Owen carry her bridal-style back to her house.
"Too right you do, even if she is you're best friend, it's not right to be spying on her."
"No no no...not that...I told her once that having a hoe underneath her bed was useless...so I need to say sorry 'cause she just proved me wrong!"
"Oh Kathy..." sighing as he wandered why he tried to deal with Kathy when she was this drunk, Owen decided to say no more as he carried the sneaky girl along the pathway, lighting up the way with one of many of his trusty torches.
Hmm, Owen always strikes me as the type of person to have lots of torches, for some reason, which is where that comes from.
Rushed ending is rushed. –sigh- Hopefully I can make the next chapter better.
Thank you for everyone who continues to read this, and also to those of you who review! It makes me really happy when you guys do.