I'm sleepy so I'll just leave this chapter and go, hope you lovelies enjoy! ~Shaymie

Angela

It pained Angela to leave Luke, but she eventually had to get up and go on with the rest of her day.

She split her time between Molly's room and the farm, making sure that the animals were okay. They were restless without Molly there, like they knew something was wrong. Molly slept through the whole day. Angela was unsure if it was those restless nights finally catching up to her or if the seizure had just tired her out more than expected. Either way, it was rest she definitely needed. Molly's been worrying herself sick about Chelsea and she deserves time to recover from that stress, not just emotionally but physically. She didn't miss the shadows that had begun to show up under her sister's eyes.

Angela was dozing off when she heard the door open, but couldn't be bothered to open her eyes. People have been coming in and out all day, staying for differing amounts of time. Ash and Maya have spent the least amount of time with her, Ash because he can't handle being in this room for too long and Maya because she's technically under punishment for sneaking into the kitchen to cook for Chelsea and Mark. If Molly wasn't in the clinic, Maya would definitely not be allowed to leave the inn for anything.

"Angela."

"Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a woman when she's getting her beauty rest?" Angela cracked an eye open and looked at Chase with a slightly disgruntled expression. She thought she'd have some time alone with her sister since he left for work. He had sat with her practically all day. Sometimes she'd hear him talking to Molly when she was coming back to the room. Most of the time he called her an idiot for not taking care of herself. According to Jin, the seizure was caused by a mix of Molly's stress, the heat, and her neglecting her basic needs.

"Like I'm gonna believe you of all people care about beauty sleep," Chase responded, sitting in the chair next to her. He placed something warm into her lap, causing her to fully open her eyes and look down. It was a takeout box, presumably from the bar. "I doubt you've eaten much today, and we don't need both of you collapsing."

"What do you know, there is a heart in that cold chest of yours." She gave him a teasing grin and opened the styrofoam. The sight of the burger and fries had her nearly drooling. She didn't realize how hungry she was until now. She hasn't really eaten anything since Luke's failed attempt at breakfast. She thanked Chase for the food and only got a dismissive wave of his hand in response. Figures. "You remind me of one of Molly's school friends."

"Were they also an asshole? Seems to me like Freckles attracts those." Angela frowned, wanting to say something in defense of her sister, but he actually had a bit of a point. Molly got along well with people like her—Linh and Candace being prime examples—but she was also always befriending people who were... well, frankly put, assholes. Still, Angela shook her head.

"Not this guy. His name was Grayson... something or other. He was shy more than anything, always hid his face with a hat." She took another bite of the burger and swiped at the grease on her face, wiping her hands off on her shorts. She laughed at the disgusted look on Chase's face. Hey, he hadn't brought napkins and she certainly wasn't getting up to go grab some. "He was really smart and wound up graduating a year early. Last I heard, he moved to the country to study under his grandfather."

"And I remind you of him because...?"

"Well, you're both blond. Though I guess you're more strawberry blond. But both of you left home to study for your profession, and both of you refuse to call Molly by her first name. Gray always called her Parker because there was a Holly in their class and it got confusing." She tucked her still too-long bangs behind her ear and tied her hair back with one of the hair ties she always had around her wrist. There was a bit more to it, but she figured he didn't want to hear about some guy he'd never meet.

Molly started shifting around, a quiet whimper escaping her throat. Angela's face broke out into a wide grin as Molly's eyes fluttered open. They were glassy and dazed, missing their usual brightness. Her hair had mostly fallen out of its braid, though the ribbon stayed loosely tied in it. Sleepy Molly was always a treat, and Angela got to see more of it because of her medicine always making her drowsy. She wondered if they should change Molly's prescription because of the effect it had on her.

"Good mornin'..." Her voice was a sleepy murmur, her lips curling up in a dopey smile. Even with her cheek swollen from Chelsea's slap, she was adorable. It was practically impossible for Molly to look bad. She blinked sleepily and relaxed back into the pillows. Angela briefly thought she was about to fall right back asleep based on how much of a struggle it seemed for her to open her eyes again. She had wanted to speak to her sister but it looked like she was completely exhausted. She should let Molly rest more.

"More like good night, Sleeping Beauty. You've been out of it all day." Molly's brows furrowed at Chase's words. She was probably confused by the fact that she'd managed to sleep through the whole day. This was a first for her, but one that she desperately needed. She turned her bleary eyes to Chase as Angela moved closer to her in order to fix her hair.

"But I'm Cinderella..." she mumbled with a frown. Oh. Didn't think that would get brought up. Angela untied the ribbon in Molly's hair and set it in her lap, explaining to a baffled Chase that one of the musicals Molly had been in was Cinderella. It was her second leading role, the other of which had been in a play. The Glass Menagerie, to be exact. Despite her stage fright, she took to acting fairly easily. Even back when she was only a background dancer in her school's production of Newsies—later asked to fill in as a female Race for the final performance when both the actor and understudy couldn't perform—Chelsea's jealousy was prevalent.

But there was no need for it to be.

Molly's stint as an actor had been incredibly brief. She didn't have the same passion for it as Chelsea and decided to focus on ballet. She didn't think it was right to continue to do it if her heart wasn't fully in it. Even if her heart had been in it, if she'd put as much of herself into it as she did ballet, Chelsea had no right to do what she'd done. For her to turn on the one person who had her back even through all her bullshit...

It was ridiculous. Angela's glad Molly finally had the courage to stand up to her and finally speak her mind. She tried her hardest to make their friendship work and defended Chelsea with everything she had when people called her out. You couldn't ask for a better friend and Chelsea just fucking ruined it.

"Well Princess, I hate to leave you so soon but I have to get back to work." Chase stood from his seat and stretched, unaware of the disappointed look on Molly's face. She looked towards the wall, a slight pout forming on her lips. Her voice was barely audible when she spoke.

"You're not an asshole."

"What—"

"I heard you and Angie talking before I woke up. You're not an asshole. If you were, you would have just left me alone when I was loopy from my medicine since it was none of your business. You wouldn't have agreed to be friends with me or have sat here with me all night. You even try to give me free food from the bar!" Molly huffed and turned around, pointing at the styrofoam box Angela had abandoned in her chair. "And you're not even really friends with Angie and you brought her food! You need to stop trying to be cool and just admit you're nice."

Well she was certainly awake now. Her honey eyes were alight with a fire Angela hadn't ever really seen before. It was different from the way she'd looked at Chelsea yesterday, not that Angela had really gotten a good look at her. She'd been across the beach with Luke, Owen, and Kathy. She couldn't see what was happening, but she certainly heard it. Everyone heard it, all of it.

"Okay, chill, Freckles. Fine. I can be nice. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Hmm." Molly hummed and crossed her arms, her cute little nose scrunching up. Angela used to envy it. She could almost understand Chelsea's jealousy. Almost, and her reason was at least a bit valid. Molly was the spitting image of their mother, from her eye shape all the way down to the rounded end of her nose. Between Molly and Aunt Dee, it's a miracle their father hadn't lost his mind at the constant reminders of his wife.

Angela's phone ringing broke the silence that surrounded this odd sort of staredown Molly and Chase were locked in. She pulled it from her pocket, an eyebrow raising when she saw Jack's name flashing across the screen. Since Kasey still wasn't answering his phone, she told Jack what had happened and told him to please try to get Kasey to call. She wasn't expecting a call back from Jack only a couple hours later. She excused herself from the room to take the call.

"Jack? What's up?"

"Uh... Hey, Ange."

That wasn't the voice she expected to hear. She nearly dropped the phone in shock. Was this a dream? Why now of all times? Why call from Jack's phone? Did he want to surprise her? For the second time today, she felt her eyes welling up with tears.

"Kasey..." She wanted to scream at him and ask him what the hell was wrong with him, leaving them in the dark like that. She wanted to ask how he was doing. She wanted to apologize for just up and leaving him like that, but all she could manage to get out was his name in a breathy whisper. She should go back in the room and tell Molly that Kasey's on the phone but she felt paralyzed.

"Are you crying?" Kasey asked incredulously. Angela sniffled and wiped at her tears. Typical bratty little brother behavior.

"What the hell do you think, Kasey?! You just stopped answering your phone one day for no fucking reason! What was I supposed to think? I thought you hated us!" It was a ridiculous thought, but the only thing she could think of. Why else would he just cut them off like that?

"How do you jump right to that?! I could never hate you two! I've just been busy."

"Yeah, working yourself to death! How is it legal for you to take so much overtime?" Angela asked, leaning against the wall. She really should go in the room but she wanted to talk to Kasey alone for at least a couple minutes. She just knew that the second she handed the phone to Molly, he would ask her a million questions about how she was doing.

"It's... not really that much." Kasey's voice faltered at the end of the sentence. Angela scoffed and rolled her eyes. He's always been a hard worker. From the time they turned sixteen, he's always had some kind of job. Even before that he would take on odd jobs around the neighborhood. He probably doesn't realize that he's working himself to death. "I was mostly lying about the overtime. I did work a lot, but not every night."

"So you were just avoiding me."

She can't stop the bitterness from coloring her voice. Why would he lie about that? What changed? She knew he had been upset by them leaving, but he should have said something sooner instead of just ignoring them. He didn't even call for Molly's birthday! Just like that, the relief flooding her body was replaced by anger, and she quickly left the clinic before she blew up at her twin and made a scene.

"It's complicated, Angela."

"Then explain it to me, Kasey. Tell me what about you not answering a single call or text for weeks is so complicated. Tell me that you weren't fucking avoiding me." It's one thing to miss a call or two. It's another thing entirely to not respond to any voicemails or texts and make your best friend pass messages between the two of you like you're in grade school or something. Angela let out a frustrated huff through her nostrils as her feet carried her to the beach.

"Okay, so maybe I was avoiding you. But I just didn't know how to tell you that... I'm moving to Castanet."

Angela blinked once, twice, the words not fully processing in her head at first. She initially thought she was just hearing things. And then it finally clicked. He's... moving here. She'd get to see him again soon, see him every day. The thought should make her happy but it only served to piss her off even more. He spent so long giving them so much shit for moving here and now he's turning around and coming here? What fucking changed?

And then she realized...

"You're moving into that shitty house I'm helping the carpenters fix up?" She thought back to the notes she'd snuck a peek of when Dale was busy once. The customer's name was just written KP, and there had been a number of specific requests made, like all-new furniture and thicker walls and an expansion of the second room in the house because they... had kids. Angela's brow furrowed in confusion.

Jill wasn't pregnant when they left. Even if she had been hiding a pregnancy, there's no way she would have given birth already. She wouldn't let Kasey move so far away with the kid either, especially after their break-up. Or... kids? According to Dale's notes Kasey had more than one kid. What the hell was going on?

"Kasey," Angela started slowly, a frown on her face, "the boss said that the person moving here has kids. So if you're the one moving here..."

Kasey cursed quietly, the sound barely audible over the phone. She had hoped it was a mistake or a misunderstanding, that he was maybe moving into one of the other empty houses in town and hadn't bothered getting it fixed up, but his reaction told her that wasn't the case. Kasey... had kids. And they most definitely weren't Jill's. Was that why she cheated on Kasey before dumping him, to get back at him?

Why wouldn't he tell us? Did Dad know?

"Their names are Mara Rose and Gideon Ray," Kasey said, his voice subdued. He sounded nervous, like he just wanted to up and run away."They... You remember when me and Jill took that break in college? I slept with someone and she got pregnant with twins. She didn't want to get rid of them and I couldn't—wouldn't—force her to get an abortion. So she had the twins and I would help as much as I could. I visited them and paid child support even though they didn't need it since Lumina's family is rich. I just... didn't want to be a deadbeat."

"Why didn't you tell us, Kasey?" The revelation had her trembling in anger. Kasey had kids. He's a father and didn't even bother telling them. She thought about all the times he would leave for weekend trips, sometimes with Jack but mostly by himself. Did Jack know? Why the hell would he tell Jack, but not his own fucking family?!

"I was scared, Angela." That one sentence held so much emotion. She's never heard her brother sound like that.

"I was a year away from graduating and all of a sudden, I had babies to take care of. Maybe it would have been easier if Lumina lived in the city, but her family made her drop out and move back home. They wanted to cut me off completely. I was so busy fighting to visit my children that I didn't even... god, I was so focused on them and then suddenly months had passed and I didn't know how to tell you guys. I'm so sorry, Ange."

His final year of college... He had seemed a bit stressed, but she attributed that to just college. He was the first person in their family to go. Well, Molly also went, but it was only for a semester. Kasey got a whole degree. Their father had been so proud of him. Angela was proud if not a little bit jealous, but what else was new? She's the unaccomplished one of the three siblings.

"Sorry isn't just going to make this better, Kasey! Were you ever going to tell us? You've been living a double life for four years and you think you can just apologize and I'll be fine with it?!"

Angry tears pricked the corners of her eyes. He was just like Mikhail. How could he have the nerve to be angry at him when he'd done the exact same thing? Did Jill know about the kids? Did he keep them a secret from her? Maybe he did and she turned down his proposal after finding out. No, that's definitely what happened, because there's no way in hell Jill would keep quiet about Kasey's little secret family for four years. She would have dumped him on the spot. Which, Angela supposed, she did.

"Of course I was going to tell you, Ange! I was planning on driving you and Molly down to the valley to meet them but then everything went to shit and when I finally thought we were stable enough for me to tell you, you guys decided to move!"

"Don't you dare turn this on us, Kasey! You can't seriously be trying to blame you keeping your kids a secret on us moving here! You had plenty of fucking time to tell us!" Angela pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled deeply. Calm down, Ange. Yelling at him won't get you any answers. "Why are you moving here, anyway? If you and the mother are deciding on shared custody now that we're out of the picture, shouldn't you stay in the city?"

"Their mother died... The family didn't want to take care of them so I got sole custody. And I'm moving there because I miss you guys and I want the twins to know their aunts. I know apologizing isn't enough but I want you to know that I really am sorry about keeping secrets from you. No more. I promise."

"Fucking hell, Kase," Angela sighed out, her mind still struggling to process everything. Before she'd started dating Luke, she resigned herself to being alone forever and just being the cool aunt when her siblings had kids. But Kasey already had kids. For four years, he's had a family somewhere else. "Can you tell me about them? About the twins? ...Fuck, you have twins. What the hell?"

Twins did run in their family. Their mother and Aunt Dee were (fraternal) twins, which is almost certainly the reason they never went to visit. Their father couldn't face Aunt Dee. She looked... so much like her sister, it was ridiculous. Molly may have not noticed the way their father conveniently made plans the weeks Aunt Dee and Fritz visited, but Angela did. And she could tell how hurt Aunt Dee had been by it even though he almost certainly didn't mean anything bad by it.

She knew their father partially blamed himself for their mother's death, thinking that if he hadn't pushed for her to have another baby so soon after Kevin, she wouldn't have...

No point dwelling on it now.

Kasey was rambling about his kids, a sense of pride in his voice as he proudly told her that they could spell their own names despite not yet starting school school and that Gideon knew his piano scales front and back. Mara was the quieter of the two (and not just because of her sensitive hearing, though he thought maybe that was a part of it) and preferred drawing and having tea parties with her stuffed animals over playing outside with other kids. He's positive she'll love Molly when they meet.

"Speaking of Molly, you do realize you're going to have to tell her. I'm not doing your dirty work for you," Angela mentioned, finally getting a word in. Kasey groaned. She'd imagine him pacing around if he hadn't mentioned that he was sitting in Jack's car in the parking lot of the big arcade. Apparently Jack had all but cornered him and told him to call today. She'd have to thank him for it. Jack's meddling could certainly be annoying but it came in handy at times like this.

"She still doesn't have a cell phone, does she?" Kasey asked when he finally got over his griping.

"I'm getting her a phone soon. I know she said she wants to stay away from social media but I should at least have a way to reach her when we're not together." She toyed with a bit of her hair, which had been ruined by the salty ocean breeze. Molly's an adult and has more than shown she can take care of herself, but Angela would at least like to be able to check in on her. She knew that Molly wandered into the forest from time to time to gather berries for desserts and jams. It would be nice if she was able to send a text before disappearing into the woods for hours on end. "I can walk back to the clinic so you can talk to her. Actually I'll put it on speaker because you still have some things to explain."

"O-Oh. Today? I was thinking of waiting until tomorrow to tell her since she's probably still resting—"

"Oh no you don't. We've got you on the phone, we're not letting you go until you tell us everything. It's the least you could do after leaving us in the fucking dark for so long."

Angela wanted to stay mad at Kasey, but she couldn't help being relieved at the sound of his voice. She'd been so worried about him. If he didn't call her by the time the next harvest came in, she'd been seriously contemplating going down to the city to see what was up. But it's fine. He's talking to her now and he's going to move here with his... kids. Holy shit, Kasey has kids.

That's gonna take some getting used to.