Guess who's back, back again. I emerge from the depths of depression to bring yet another chapter. Hope you lovelies enjoy! ~Shaymie

Molly

"What are you doing here?"

Mark was standing in front of her mailbox, putting in a piece of paper. Bell and Fiona were hopping around at his feet, chirping angrily. They already didn't like visitors, but they had warmed up to Ash and Maya, who came over practically every day. Sometimes he would sit in on their baking lessons and try Maya's desserts since Angela quit as their taste tester. She's been getting... better, but it's still very hit and miss.

Molly frowned. She just wanted to take a bath and maybe get in a short nap before the farewell party for Linh and Bridget tonight. Their day at Toucan Island was relaxing. She spent a majority of her time walking around the beach, taking pictures with the polaroid camera Bridget gave her for her birthday. Photography was a long-abandoned hobby of hers, like every other hobby of hers.

She's always been an artistic person. She had fond memories of getting scolded for drawing on the walls when she was a child. Some of her scribbles were still on the wall of their house. But everything changed when she started getting super serious about ballet. Not immediately, of course. It was a gradual thing. First her drawings stopped. Then she put away her mother's old sewing machine and knitting needles and swore she'd always come back to them, but she never did. Her father got her a camera for her 16th birthday that never got used and is probably still in her childhood bedroom. She should ask Kasey to make sure he doesn't leave it behind.

"I, uh..." Mark pulled out the piece of paper and crumpled it up. Molly tensed at the slam of her mailbox door. She should probably be more scared of being alone with him considering what happened the last time she saw him. She tries her best to not think about it. She understood now that it wasn't her fault but it's definitely something she doesn't want to dwell on. "I wanted to talk to you before we left but Angela threatened to kill me if I came near you. So I was just going to leave this note in your mailbox and leave before she saw me."

"What if Angie was the one to pick up the note and not me?"

"...Shit. Didn't think about that. Well, you're here now so—" He took a step towards her, cutting off when she took a step back. She wrapped her arms around herself with a frown. She might be willing to listen to what he has to say, but that doesn't mean she wants him to come closer. The thought of him coming any closer was enough to make her skin crawl, the memory of his hands roughly fondling her coming back. He bruised her, in more ways than one.

She spent a lot of time thinking she should have just given him what he wanted. She was willing to do pretty much everything else with him. She lost track of the amount of times they'd messed around when they were home alone. But actually... having sex scared her. So she told him no, she wasn't ready every time he asked. He'd get more and more frustrated with her, calling her a prude or a tease and telling her to just get over it.

But she couldn't.

And he should have respected that instead of trying to forcefully get his way.

He really is the perfect match for Chelsea.

There's no reason for him to have that confused look on his face right now. He knew what he did. He knew that she's spent the past couple of years avoiding him but he's here, in front of her mailbox, blocking the door. If she really wanted to, she supposed she could run past him and push him out of the way. Maybe call someone if he refused to leave. But who could she call? Angela was down in the mines and Luke's out in the forest. They wouldn't be able to answer if she called them.

Ash would come over in a heartbeat, but she didn't want him near Mark. He hated him. Initially it was just jealousy. Ash was hesitant to admit it at first, but he'd been jealous of Mark. Jealous of his looks, jealous he got to date her first, but most importantly, jealous that he was a "real boy" (and Molly nipped that in the freaking bud immediately, told him to never think of himself as any less of a man). While Luke was able to stop Angela from hurting Mark, Molly knew she wouldn't be strong enough to stop Ash if he lost his temper. So he was definitely out of the question.

Then maybe Chase—

"I wanted to apologize," Mark said, bringing her out of her thoughts. She frowned and unconsciously took another step back. That wasn't what she expected from him at all. "I'm sorry for everything I did to you, Molly. I'd blame it on being a stupid teenager but I knew what I was doing was fucked up. I never should have used you for a stupid bet and I shouldn't have tried to force myself on you the way I did."

"...Were you paid to come here and apologize?"

"No, I wasn't. You know what my dad is like. He thought I was in the right for what I did. He's all... old-fashioned. He's the one that told me it was the woman's job to put out whenever the guy wanted. But then I got older and I started thinking about it and I realized how stupid that is. I wanted to apologize for what I did but I didn't know how. You blocked my number and I just knew your brother would kill me if I just showed up at your house. You don't have to accept my apology but I couldn't leave here without doing it anyway."

Molly frowned, looking him in the eye for any sign that he was lying. Not that it mattered since she was apparently a terrible judge of character. She'd just take the things people said at face value and assume they were telling the truth. It was a terrible habit of hers. Kasey always said it would get her in trouble some day. She'd argue it already has. She could have prevented everything with Chelsea. She could be healthy. She could still be performing. She could...

Not be here.

The thought made her heart miss a couple beats. As messed up as everything was, if it wasn't for the accident, she'd definitely still be back in the city. She wouldn't have the farm or her animals. She wouldn't have met anyone here. Her father always told her to look for the silver lining in bad situations and Castanet was hers. Just a little while longer and Kasey will be here and Chelsea and Mark will be gone and it'll start really feeling like home.

Molly's never really thought of home as a house. She always considered people to be home, if that made any sense. Her father had been home for her until she lost him. Then Kasey became her home. He was the one to stay with her and help her through her depression after their father died. They've always been close, but she had to admit their father's death made them closer than ever.

"What you did was unforgivable." Her voice trembled as she spoke, but a shaky voice was better than no voice. She can't let him go without saying anything. "You can't just say sorry and expect it to fix things, Mark. It would have been better if you didn't come here at all."

"I couldn't just—"

"Did you even think about how it would make me feel being alone with you again? How terrifying it is seeing you here, blocking the way into my house? I don't feel safe with you here. You said what you needed to. Now leave. And I hope to god you never hurt another girl the way you hurt me." Mark stared at her, green eyes wide with shock. She flinched, expecting him to lash out in some way like Chelsea had. But instead he... smiled? She frowned. A few years ago, that smile would have melted her heart, but seeing it now was just confusing.

"Chels is right, you did grow a spine. Good on ya, Molls." And then he left. The note he'd been planning to leave was shoved into his pocket. Molly blinked rapidly in confusion. She'd heard from Angela and Ash how terrible Mark's been the whole time he was here. Maybe he was only like that because he's with Chelsea. It didn't seem like they liked each other very much. They were always arguing and Mark was always looking at other girls. Molly couldn't understand why they'd date if they didn't like each other, but it wasn't her issue to worry about. Let them be unhappy together. Who cares?

Bell and Fiona lost interest after Mark left and wandered over to Minnie, who was napping in the fading evening light. Molly blew out a few breaths and walked into the house. She flicked the light on and flopped face down onto the couch, tossing her purse onto the armchair. She expected to feel something, anxiety or anger or even sadness, but there was just nothing. She supposed it was a good thing. She didn't have to worry about trying to calm herself down for Linh and Bridget's party later.

She must have fallen asleep at some point because next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake by Angela. She looked at her sister with bleary eyes. Angela was practically covered head to toe in dust from the mine. Her right sleeve was rolled up, revealing a bandage wrapped around her forearm, the only clean thing on her. The sight of it shocked Molly fully awake. Angela laughed off her concern and shrugged off her rucksack.

"It's just a scratch, Molls, I'm fine. Owen went all mama hen on me and went overboard bandaging it." She unbuttoned the corduroy shirt she'd put on over her clothes at Owen's suggestion—it had once belonged to their father—and tossed it into the dirty clothes hamper sitting outside of their bedroom. Tomorrow's laundry day so they moved the hamper outside. Her cropped tank top underneath was spotless. Molly watched her warily. It didn't look like Angela was in any sort of major pain, but it was only her first day going down there and she already managed to get herself hurt. "I'm gonna hop in the shower. Should I save you some hot water?"

Molly hadn't gotten to take the bath she planned on taking thanks to Mark. Looking at Angela, she could tell her sister needed the hot water more. She'd have to tell Owen to make sure she was more careful, though she wasn't sure if she'd even listen. Angela had a stubborn streak that made her not listen to whoever happened to be in charge. She got in trouble all the time back in school for misbehaving just because she could. Teachers Molly had in middle school and high school had been scared to teach her before realizing she was nothing like her sister.

"I'm good. I showered on the island." She just rinsed herself off with the outside shower but Angela didn't need to know that. She smiled at her and offered to cook dinner. It was Angela's turn to cook today but she looked like she was about to fall asleep on her feet. And she must have been really tired since she didn't even put up much of a fight. Just gave her a thumbs-up and headed off to the bathroom. Molly frowned. Angela can't keep going on like this, pushing herself to the brink every single day.

There has to be something I can do to help, Molly thought as she looked through the fridge. Angela worked part-time at the carpenter's for some extra money so maybe Molly could do the same somewhere else. But... where? She's fairly positive Angela only got the job with the carpenters because she's dating Luke and because Kasey's house was a fairly big project. Even now there were still some finishing touches they needed to put on it.

Marimba Farm? No, they didn't seem like they needed any help.

The blacksmith's? It looked like Owen had everything handled there, and Molly isn't sure she'll be much help anyway. She could barely carry Angela's hammer when she tried to pick it up this morning.

The inn? It would certainly be nice to see Maya more often, but tourist season is almost over. Would they need her help? She could work in the kitchen. Yolanda was intimidating, though... Would she want someone like Molly in her kitchen, someone who's only had a semester of culinary school under her belt?

If I work at the bar, I could spend more time with Chase.

The thought made her blush, though she didn't understand why. She had also blushed the other day when they were making the pizzas together. He touched her cheek to brush off some flour and that one little touch left her flustered until he left. She also got embarrassed when he indirectly called her cute. She couldn't stop fumbling with the dishes or push her stupid blush away and she's positive he noticed. How could he not when it was just the two of them together in the kitchen?

It was suddenly overwhelming being so close to him. He smelled nice, and being so close to him, she could see how handsome he was. She's noticed before but never really thought about it. And his eyes were really pretty, like amethysts or lavender. They're the sort of eyes that were easy to get lost in. They were part of the reason she insisted on sitting up at the bar, right in front of him. She hoped that maybe someday she'd be able to look into them and be able to get more of a read on him.

She hasn't had much luck with that so far.

"To being an us for once instead of a them—"

"Bridget, please get down from the table."

"La vie boheme!"

Molly collapsed over the piano in a fit of giggles as she watched Linh try to coax Bridget down from the table, her playing dying out. She was beginning to realize that maybe she was a bit drunk and maybe she'd drank more than she should have, but it's Bridget's fault. She kept bringing drinks over when Molly was supposed to be in charge of playing the piano after getting permission to play it from Hayden. It's a miracle she's been able to play as well as she has.

Her cheeks felt warm and her head felt fuzzy. She might end up regretting this in the morning. She isn't used to drinking, but Bridget wanted her to loosen up and have some fun tonight after everything she's been through these past few weeks. And when she thought about it, she really did deserve a break. She's been so stressed and worried about Chelsea. Even when she went to the inn to visit her friends, there was still a bit of anxiety at the thought of seeing her again.

Chase walked over when her laughing fit ended, a glass of water in hand. She smiled dopily at him. He was so nice. He's been making sure she remembered to drink water because she definitely wouldn't remember right now. She was all... what's the word? Spacey. Yeah, spacey. And judging by the look on his face, she must look pretty funny. She felt funny, all dizzy and tingly and loopy. What did Bridget even give her to drink? She should have asked what it was called. It was certainly different than the mai tai she'd sipped on the island.

"How the hell are you even still playing? You can barely sit up straight." Chase held the glass out for her and waited for her to take it before letting go. She dropped the first one he had given her, but luckily he caught it. Now he was more careful. She giggled at the thought of his shocked face and took a sip of water.

"Muscle mem'ry. I used to play stuff for Birdie allll the time." Bridget would often ask her to play piano for her audition practice. She paused, frowning. After he checked up on her, he'd go back behind the bar. She didn't want that. So she scooted over and patted the spot on the piano bench next to her. "Sit with me."

"Freckles, I have to work."

"Please? Just for a little bit?" She gave him puppy dog eyes, the same ones she'd always used on Kasey when they were growing up. The look that had gotten her endless piggyback rides, got her to convince him to crawl around the house dressed in poorly-painted cardboard so she could be a dragon-slaying princess, got him to give her the last piece of pizza countless times... And it worked on Chase, who sighed and joined her on the seat.

She smiled at him. She almost thought she had lost her touch. Over the past year and a half, the eyes had stopped working on Kasey. He's changed a lot. Thinks he has to be much harder now that their father's gone and he's the only "man" in the family. It led to a bit of a power struggle between him and Angela, who thought that she should be in charge since she's older. Granted she's only older by a few minutes, but she's held those couple of minutes over Kasey's head ever since they were kids.

Molly finished the water and held the glass in her hands awkwardly. She didn't want to put it on the piano, but she also didn't want to get up just yet even though it didn't look like Bridget was going to request anymore songs. Linh managed to get her down from the table and was now escorting her to the bathroom with a gentle hand on her back. Hopefully she didn't feel too sick for their journey back home tomorrow.

"I read the note you left in the basket." Chase took the glass from her, probably worried she would drop it or something. She looked up at him and felt her cheeks heat up. She had started to regret giving it to him the second the basket left her hands. She should have just given him the fruit and let that be it. She didn't remember any of what she wrote but she just knew it had to be stupid.

"What did you think?" she asked softly, biting her bottom lip. She looked into his pretty, pretty eyes expectantly before looking away. She wished she had eyes like his. She's never seen anything like them before. Well no, that's not true. A doctor she had after the accident had eyes a similar color to Chase's. But his wasn't like it... It was different. She was going to give herself a headache trying to think of how to explain the difference in their purples.

"I thought the cat drawing was cute." Her head shot up to look at him. She quickly regretted it because it made her vision blur to a mess of colors. She felt him reach out to steady her.

"Really? You like my kitty?" Chase's eyes widened, his face going bright red like it had this morning. This time he definitely couldn't blame it on a broken AC. He coughed and turned away.

"There's no way you're not doing this on purpose, Freckles." Molly tilted her head with a frown. Chase sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Goddess, only you could be so naively inappropriate. I guess Angela is your sister."

"...You're funny," she giggled, resting her head on his shoulder. He didn't push her away, but he drew the line at her grabbing his arm. She sighed and let her eyes slip shut. "You're also really warm and comfy."

"Don't you dare fall asleep on me again, Freckles. You have to walk home tonight."

"Not sleepin'... Jus' resting my eyes. 'm not sleepy." She really wasn't sleepy. She didn't want this night to be over. She didn't want to say goodbye to her friends. If she was being honest, she didn't want summer to be over, period. Even though it was her least favorite season, leaving it behind felt bittersweet. Maybe if her head was less fuzzy she'd be able to understand why. It was getting kinda hard to keep her thoughts straight. She had a feeling everything would be blurry if she opened her eyes. "Chase...?"

"Hmm?"

"...I might need some help getting home."