This is just a comfy lil chapter, hope you lovelies enjoy! ~Shaymie

Angela

"You look nice today. What's the occasion?"

Molly was wearing an outfit she had recently bought from the tailor's. The blouse was pale yellow, with frills over the chest and at the ends of the long sleeves. The skirt was longer than anything Angela would ever wear and was a nice cream color. It went down to Molly's ankles and was covered in a pretty rose pattern. To top the whole outfit off, she had an orange shawl draped over her shoulders and a pair of laced boots on her feet.

She was the spitting image of cottagecore.

"It's Renee's birthday," Molly smiled, tying a ribbon in her hair. Angela noticed that she was wearing a new pair of earrings, a pretty silver set that were shaped like daisies. She vaguely remembered Kasey giving her a jewelry box and a slip of paper a few days ago, explaining that he learned that Gray lived near the twins' hometown and he happened to run into him. Gray asked him to give those earrings and his phone number to Molly.

"So I should tell Luke not to touch that cake on the counter?" Angela raised her voice as she spoke, looking down the hallway towards Luke, who thought he was being sneaky. Molly's reflection blinked rapidly before she whirled around and left the bathroom. Luke at least had the decency to look embarrassed as she marched over to him with puffed-up cheeks.

Angela thought it was hilarious how Luke could be intimidated by Molly. Small, sweet, delicate Molly who even at her most frustrated still hesitated to swear. Her glares were more like a kitten's. Still, Luke's claimed that Molly was scary ever since their first date when she'd pointed a strawberry jam-covered knife at him and told him to be a gentleman. He'd been that and more. Angela was the one to make all the moves on that date.

"Sorry, Molls," Luke apologized with a sheepish chuckle. "It just looked really good!"

"That doesn't mean you can just eat it! What would you do if you had ruined it? Ms. Hanna is paying me for that cake!"

Angela had a feeling that Molly was being paid against her will. She still struggled with the idea of getting paid for her baking even though she used to have a ton of bake sales. She'd probably do it for free if people let her, and Angela's glad they didn't try to take advantage of her. They easily could. But they always insisted on paying her. Their kindness was almost aggressive.

She didn't think it was possible for anyone to out-nice Molly before moving here.

"Well, you shouldn't just leave cake out like that! What if Pretzel ate it?"

Molly blinked at Luke and turned to look at the cat, who was lounging on the arm of the couch grooming himself. He was exceptionally well-behaved for a cat. He understood that he wasn't allowed in the kitchen at all. Molly didn't even have to train him to keep him out. He'd just sit nearby and watch her while she cooked. She's been looking into making homemade cat treats and somehow the little bastard seemed to know it because he always had an expectant look on his face when she went into the kitchen.

"Pretzel knows that chocolate is bad for him." Somehow Angela doubted that. Food was food to animals. The cat just knew that the kitchen was off-limits. She wasn't going to be the one to burst her sister's bubble. She walked up to Molly and quickly tied the loose ribbon in her hair into a bow. Molly smiled up at her and started getting the cake ready to deliver. She's gifted people so many things that she had the art of delivery down to a science. She could probably run a bakery from their house if she wanted.

It certainly fit her more than working on the farm. She looked more at home covered in flour than dirt. If Angela could, she'd handle everything herself so Molly could focus on the things that made her happy. Molly deserved a bit of selfishness every once in a while. She did so much to make other people happy and they all just took it for granted. Just saying thank you didn't feel like enough anymore. Angela wanted to be able to show her appreciation for her sister.

"Are you busy today, Angie?" Molly asked, tucking a curly strand of hair behind her ear. "I need your help with something."

Angela could hear Kasey and Chase speaking in the living room as she carefully patted Molly's hair dry. She had to admit, it was a bit disappointing that Kasey was completely fine with Chase. She'd been expecting her brother to pull his typical overprotective crap. Maybe he just didn't want to upset Molly. He'd keep an eye out for her but he wouldn't directly antagonize someone she clearly liked.

...Well, clear to everyone but herself. Angela wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to keep her mouth shut. She didn't want a repeat of Ash and Molly. They were cute together but it took them ages to actually start dating. She knew part of the reason was because Ash was scared of asking Molly out. He didn't want to cause issues at home, and for good reason. Jessica turned out to be a selfish bitch who cared more about her reputation at church than her children's happiness.

There's nothing like that holding Chase back, though. The only thing stopping him from confessing his feelings seemed to be his stubborn pride.

"Is there a reason you suddenly wanted to dye your hair?" Angela asked, setting the towel aside and carefully untangling her sister's hair. She's actually rather proud of how it turned out. Reina gave her advice over a video call since she hasn't dyed anyone's hair in over a decade. Maybe Angela should have swallowed her stubborn pride and called Julius over for some more hands-on help. She would have hated herself if she messed up Molly's beautiful hair.

But it luckily came out exactly how Molly wanted, the rich and pretty caramel shade of her hair tapering off into a warm yellow.

"I don't know. I guess I just didn't want to be boring anymore."

"Boring?"

"I don't really have anything going for me compared to you," Molly sighed, not noticing the way Angela froze in shock. "You wear your makeup the way you want, you have all those cool piercings, and you're really pretty. I'm just quiet and forgettable. I wish I could be more like you."

"...You're joking."

There's no way in hell Molly just said that. Why on earth would she ever want to be like Angela? Molly had so much going for her. She's pretty. She's talented. People actually like her. Kasey likes her, doesn't have to force himself to put up with her. She had it all. Why would she ever not want to have it? Angela felt her hands start to shake and quickly moved them away from Molly's hair before she pulled it.

"Wouldn't you rather be like Kasey? He actually has his life together."

"He's kinda a mess right now, though." Angela barked out a laugh at how bluntly Molly said that. She's definitely been spending too much time around Chase. It would sound mean coming from anyone else. "You're really cool, Angie! Why wouldn't I want to be like you?"

"I'm also a mess, you know. I think it runs in the family." She sighed quietly and returned to her careful task of fixing Molly's hair. Her hair tangled easily when it was damp, and bleaching it meant it would be more brittle. It definitely wasn't helping that they were using a cheap brand of dye that certainly wouldn't last long. Angela ordered a better brand online in case Molly decided she wanted to keep the ombre.

She's all for Molly branching out and trying something new.

"I don't know, I think Fritz is pretty okay."

"Fritz is an exception." Angela didn't think there was anything that could bother their cousin. Even when his father abandoned him and Aunt Dee, leaving them with his debt and crushing her dream of owning her own clothing shop, Fritz was as bright and chipper as ever. They had him to thank for helping Molly out of her depression after their father died. He was one of the only people she'd let into her room. Kasey and Aunt Dee were the others.

Angela knew that Molly really wanted to visit their family for Thanksgiving. She had to talk with Aunt Dee about that and see what they could do. Their aunt's not exactly rich, and there's definitely no way she'd have enough space to house everyone. Hopefully there's a hotel somewhere nearby. Angela wanted Luke to come with them if they did end up going but she'd feel bad leaving Dale alone for the holiday.

He'd still have Bo, though... Angela didn't know the full story of how he ended up with the carpenters but Luke said that Bo's basically like his brother. He also said that Molly felt like a little sister to him. She nearly cried at that. She liked having someone finally see Molly as her own person. Not Angela's little sister, not Molly Rose the ballerina, but as Molly Parker.

"You ready to show the guys your new look?" Angela asked, tucking some hair behind her sister's ear. It was still damp but there's nothing they could really do to make it dry faster. Even years after her retirement from modeling, Molly still refused to use any heat on her hair. She towel-dried what she could and let the rest air dry. Angela hoped she didn't get sick when it started to get colder. Did it snow in Castanet?

Molly chewed on her bottom lip as she stood up and nodded. She didn't even glance at her reflection when she walked past the mirror. Angela stretched and put away everything she used for her hair. Just because this wasn't her room anymore didn't mean she wanted to leave it a mess. She couldn't wait to see what Molly did with the room after she finished moving her stuff out. Molly's always had a good eye for interior decorating but she couldn't really do much with Angela's stuff taking up half the room.

Kasey was the first one to notice them leaving the room, trailing off in the middle of his conversation with Chase. She wished the twins were here and not off on a playdate with Chloe because she'd love to see their reactions right now. Mara was convinced that her youngest auntie was a princess and nothing would change her mind. She's probably going to lose her mind once she sees Molly's new hair.

"Um... Does it look okay?" Molly asked shyly. Her gaze was entirely on Chase, who looked stunned into silence. This time Angela couldn't hold back her smirk. Of course Molly would look directly to Chase for his opinion first, but she desperately hoped that her sister hadn't decided to change her look just to impress him. She learned the hard way that changing yourself for someone did more harm than good.

"Pretty... Er, it looks pretty good. Matches your eyes." Nice save, Romeo.

"R-Really?" Molly brightened up at that, her cheeks flushing a pretty shade of pink. "It doesn't look weird? I've never done anything like this before."

Kasey looked like he wanted to say something, but Angela shut him down with a sharp look. She wanted to see how this would play out. There's a part of her that's even hoping that this would help Molly finally realize her feelings and maybe do or say something about it. Or maybe, miraculously, Chase would get his head out of his ass and actually make a move before Selena does. Her first dance lesson with Molly was this week.

There was almost certainly going to be something more than dancing going on there, if Molly let it. She was familiar with the hungry way Selena looked at her sister. There were certain people that were obsessed with the idea of corrupting something innocent, and Molly's about as innocent as they come. Selena promised Angela that she'd never do anything to actually hurt Molly and that she'd back off if Molly asked her to. In fact she really did want some dancing tips since she was self-taught and she was interested in seeing the types of things someone might have learned from a professional.

...She just also thought that Molly was really cute.

Ever since the incident with Mark, Angela's made sure to let Molly know that no always means no, zero exceptions. Nobody was entitled to her body and they shouldn't make her think that they were. She said that she felt like a bad girlfriend for not giving Mark what he wanted. Kasey had to have a talk with her after that because Angela was too furious to form a proper response.

There's being a people-pleaser and then there's... whatever the hell Molly does. It bordered on self-destructive. There's a reason Angela and Kasey worried so much about her.

"Trust me Freckles, I'd never say something nice just to spare your feelings. Your hair's fine."

"That's true! You're probably the most honest person I've met," Molly giggled, smiling up at Chase. "I like it. It's nice."

"I think most women would prefer being lied to." Molly frowned in confusion at Chase's words and it looked like she was about to respond when Pretzel trotted over and flopped down between her and Chase, meowing irritatingly loud. Angela swore she saw the little demon give Chase a smug look as Molly knelt down to grab him. The cat had no problem with her picking him up and cradling him like a baby.

Molly blinked as she rubbed Pretzel's belly and looked over at Angela and Kasey, her eyes widening slightly. Looks like she finally remembered they were here. She chuckled shyly and turned her flustered gaze to the ground, asking if the guys were staying for lunch. Kasey checked his watch (if it hadn't been their father's, Angela would make fun of him for wearing a watch when he had a phone) and shrugged, saying he had some time until he had to get the kids.

The look on Chase's face as he looked between Angela and Kasey made her think he'd make an excuse to leave, but he also said he could stay. Pretzel let out a disgruntled meow, his tail flicking across Molly's arms. Angela couldn't hide her little snort of laughter.

Selena apparently isn't Chase's only rival for Molly's attention.