Hey, merry Christmas and happy holidays y'all! Decided to mix things up so I could post one last chapter before the new year as thanks for the support on this raggedy little passion project of a fic. Hope you all have a good day and that the new year is kind to all of us. See y'all soon! ~Shaymie

Molly

"Do you have any idea how fucking scared I was when I woke up and you weren't here? I get that you're an adult, Molly, but you can't just disappear on me like that in the middle of the night! You don't even have a phone so I had no way of finding out where you were!"

Molly withered under Angela's furious stare, though it was slightly less intimidating because her sister was wrapped in a towel. She'd slept longer than expected at Chase's house—he'd made fun of her for falling asleep on him and then insisted she stay for breakfast—and came home to her sister pacing around the living room. Maybe she should have borrowed Chase's phone and called home, but she wasn't thinking. She's been feeling all sorts of mixed up since Chelsea came to town and it's not helping that today's the festival.

"I'm sorry, Angie. I thought I would be home before you woke up but I must have been more tired than I thought." She's surprised Angela even managed to wake up before noon, considering how drunk she'd been last night. She had gone off on Kasey over the phone and what was probably meant to be just a single voicemail wound up turning to multiple as she stumbled over her words. He's still not answering his phone, but Jack promised that he was fine. Just... busy. Another week of the silent treatment and Angela might book a trip back to the city just to yell at Kasey in person for ghosting them.

Can you still call it ghosting if it's family?

"You're lucky today's special and I still have to finish getting ready." Angela turned away and marched over to her bed, aggressively applying deodorant. She dropped the towel and started putting on her outfit for the day. It wasn't much, just a new swimsuit she'd bought with Luke that she was pairing with some shorts and a cardigan to cover up. Molly could only dream of having that level of confidence. As it was, she felt anxious about leaving the house in the outfit Maya let her borrow.

It's not much different than what she'd normally wear, but the shirt filled her with anxiety. She hasn't worn a crop top since... she can't even remember. She'd gone through a phase where she got rid of anything that she thought showed too much skin and thought huddling up in oversized sweaters was the key to feeling better about herself. At the very least, they made it so that she didn't have to look at her body anymore. And they kept her warm when she started feeling cold all the time.

She's been doing a lot of thinking since Chelsea's shown up. It's been hard for her to think about the past few years with Chelsea, hard for her to take off that rose-colored tint she'd seen everything under. After a lot of alone time and introspection, she's realized that she... despises Chelsea. Hates her, even. And it scared her. She's always tried to be a good person and there have been people she dislikes, but she's never hated anyone.

It's scary how mad she gets thinking about Chelsea and all she's done. Not just to Molly, but to people who've done absolutely nothing to her. She was ruthless and cruel for no reason and then complained about Molly being her only "real" friend. Her only real friend that she stabbed in the back for some reason. And maybe today she'll finally know why, if Chelsea actually talks to her.

If Chelsea doesn't just ruthlessly bully her.

Molly tugged her bottom lip between her teeth. It's time for her to put her big girl panties on and stand up for herself, but what happens if she just caves under the pressure? God, what if she just breaks down and cries the second Chelsea says anything mean to her? Is it stupid of her to try and confront her when she'd been terrified to see her after the accident? Maybe it is stupid of her. Idiotic, even. But if she doesn't do it now, then when? When is she going to get another chance like this? She'd been ready to just not see Chelsea ever again. They'd planned on having Kasey visit them instead of going back to the city.

"I'm gonna go pack lunch," she said as she stood up, resisting the urge to pick at the frilled hem of her skirt. Angela gave her a thumbs-up and went back to applying her makeup, leaning into the mirror as she put on eyeliner. Angela wasn't really one to wear makeup, but when she did, it was never much, just concealer and some eye makeup. Maybe some lipstick if she was in the mood.

"The watermelon's sitting in the fridge. Oh, and Molls... please try to not overthink everything. You're gonna be fine, okay?"

"I thought you hated that word," Molly teased, laughing as Angela stuck her tongue out. She was grateful for the reassurance, especially since she knew that Angela wanted her as far away from Chelsea as possible. Angela's just like Ash, wanting to protect Molly from everything that's wrong in the world. But she's 21 now. She's an adult and doesn't need to be taken care of anymore.

She walked into the kitchen, glancing over at her apron hanging on the rack. If she had time, she'd bake something to calm her nerves. Maybe she could stay home for a couple hours while Angela and Luke go ahead. It wouldn't do her any good to confront Chelsea with her nerves shot like this. But once she baked one thing, what's to stop her from baking another, and then another after that until she's put it off for so long that the festival ends? She doesn't know how long Chelsea will be in town and besides, she's... she's...

She's tired of running away from everything.

It's going to be fine. Chelsea can't do anything that'll hurt me more than she already has. No matter what happens today can't possibly be worse than waking up in the hospital and seeing her siblings' tearful faces or the doctors telling her that she hit her head and that it would be best for her to retire. She'd hoped Kasey and Angela would fight for her, but they agreed with the doctors. Nothing could possibly hurt more than that. It feels as if she's lost a limb. Ballet had been her whole life, it was everything to her. And Chelsea knew, she knew how much it meant to her.

Knew exactly how to hit me where it would hurt because god forbid someone actually gets to be happy around her. Molly blew a bit of hair from her face as she packed Angela's lunch, adding a bit extra and tucking in another slice of pound cake for Luke. The two of them were most likely going to be spending the entire day together. It's rare to see them apart with how attached at the hip they've been. It was actually really cute, and it's nice to see Angela with someone who's actually treating her right.

"The door's open!" she called out when she heard a knock at the door. She was expecting Ash or maybe Luke or Maya. Her cheeks went pink at the sight of Chase, her mind going back to last night. She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep on him again! She couldn't believe she had decided to go to his house in the rain like that. This whole Chelsea situation has definitely messed with her head. Angela poked her head out of the bedroom with a hopeful expression, sighing when she saw it was Chase.

"Nice to see you too, Angela," he greeted with a smirk, rolling his eyes when she flipped him off. "Keep doing that and I'll start burning your food on purpose."

"I'd eat every bite out of spite, motherfucker." Angela went back into the room to finish her makeup, pulling the door mostly closed. Molly snapped the tupperware shut and walked over to Chase. She hadn't been expecting to see him again today after leaving his house. She knew that he didn't go to festivals, but there was a part of her that wanted to ask him to come to the festival with her. Maybe she could be a bit braver with him at her side, and isn't that a thought, Chase being more of a comfort than any of her other friends.

He's the only one that treats her like a capable adult. She loves her friends and family, but they worry too much. She doesn't need to be constantly watched over or checked on. She thought it would be different when she moved here. Kasey was the worrywart, not Angela, but her sister's only taken up the irritating mantle of obsessively making sure she's okay. She gets that she worried them with the accident, but it was so long ago and she's doing so much better now.

"You left your necklace at my house." She blinked as he pulled a familiar silver chain from his pocket, her hand going up to her neck. She must have forgotten to put it back on after she showered at his house. It rarely ever left her neck, only coming off when she took showers or was going to sleep. Angela always teased her for treating the necklace like a treasure since it wasn't even that fancy, but to her it was a treasure. It was a birthday gift from Chase and it was proof that the friendship wasn't one-sided as she'd begun to fear.

"Thank you," she smiled as she accepted the necklace from him and quickly put it on. She felt a bit calmer with it on already. She looked up at Chase, tilting her head at the way he was looking at her like he was trying to solve a puzzle or something. The last time a guy looked at her like that, he had a whole emotional confession.

"Are you... wearing Maya's clothes?"

"Y-Yeah..." She was starting to feel a bit self-conscious now with Chase looking at her like that. Did it look bad? Angela told her it looked nice, but she's her sister. She's supposed to say nice things to her. Molly wanted to dress somewhat nice for when she talked to Chelsea. Not because she wanted to impress her or anything, but she wanted to give Chelsea as little as possible to pick at. She seemed to always know exactly what to say to get under someone's skin or make them doubt themselves. Molly looked away from Chase, her gaze falling onto the counter where the last bit of pound cake was sitting. "Do you want some cake?"

"Excuse me?"

"Cake. I have some pound cake left from last night." Molly was walking over to the counter as she spoke, Chase following behind. She's not one to toot her own horn but this cake was by far the best thing she's made during her self-imposed isolation. Hopefully it lives up to Chase's standards. This is the first time he's ever had her baking, strange as that was. Maya had made his birthday cake and only needed a bit of help, but it seemed like that was a bit of a fluke since she hasn't been able to make anything successfully since then.

Molly grew up baking. She taught herself everything she knows. Like dancing, it was something she'd started doing because her mother did it. She'd spend hours in the kitchen poring over her mother's recipes and following them to the letter. She doesn't have the professional training Chase had. Her father enrolled her in culinary school, but she dropped out after a semester because she wanted to focus on dancing. She threw away a lot of things for her career and it was all for nothing. God, what a waste it all was. If it wasn't for Ash, she's pretty sure she wouldn't have any other friends left because she just pushed everyone away.

Everyone except Chelsea, the one person she should have cut off.

Molly's brow furrowed as she cut into the cake and put it on a plate, handing it to Chase along with a fork. Just another reminder of something Chelsea destroyed. Before, Molly wouldn't really care about what she ate, but then she started listening to Chelsea and it just... ruined everything. She missed being able to eat sweets without a care in the world. She missed being able to eat normal portion sizes and being able to tell when she was hungry. She even missed having regular periods even though her cramps were downright awful and took her out of commission for a couple days.

She knows it's just a matter of recovering—because she is still in recovery even though she's managed to gain some weight and get some muscle built back up—but she just wants to feel normal again.

"You know, asking someone if they want a piece of your cake could be taken as flirting," Angela said as she walked out of the bedroom, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. Molly flushed. Of course Angela would say something like that. "Huh. That's actually the perfect pick-up line for you. I'm a genius."

"W-What? Who would I even use that on?" Molly watched Angela join her and Chase in the kitchen and grab the last sliver of pound cake. She couldn't believe how much people liked it. Next time she made it, she'd be sure to make a bigger serving. Maybe she'd even let herself have a piece.

"I don't know. Someone better than Peaches here, I hope." Angela scarfed down the cake and looked at Chase with a quirked eyebrow. Molly noticed that he had finished the cake and wondered what he thought of it. "You coming with us today?"

"Wasn't planning on it. I have better things to do than sit around in the heat all day."

"Better things like what, cook? Even Molly's getting out of the house today." Molly huffed as Angela reached over and ruffled her hair, but let it slide. She knew that she had worried her sister when she started spending all her time at home. The most she'd do is help Angela with the fields and let the animals out. Bell's been upset about not getting the attention she's used to and even Minnie, as lazy and aloof as she was, seemed to miss the hours Molly would spend just relaxing in the field with her.

Maybe she should get some more animals so the ones she has aren't lonely...

"Anything would be better than watching you and Luke dry hump each other in public." If Chase's comment was meant to embarrass her, it didn't work. Angela had a smug, almost satisfied expression on her face. He sighed and set the plate on the counter, giving Molly a quick glance. What was that about? "Fine, I'll go."

"Really?" Molly asked, picking up the plate and walking over to the sink. Angela called her a neat freak for putting dishes away the second someone was done with them, but was that really such a bad thing? The kitchen was her domain and she liked when it was clean. It made for less work in the end.

"Yeah. I want to be there when you give Chelsea a piece of your mind."