"You doing okay?" Trent asked.

Molly jumped a little and looked over at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I thought you'd hear me coming in," he murmured.

"It's okay," she replied quietly. "I'm, uh, okay."

Trent hesitated, lingering in the doorway that led back to the main room, looking at her. She was sitting beside the window, looking out over Durkillesburg, smoking the pipe. She looked melancholic and more than a little worried.

"You don't seem okay," he said finally.

She didn't look back at him this time. She just sighed and took another pull on the pipe.

He tried again. "You want some company?"

"...yeah," she said finally.

He walked over and sat in another chair across from her, joining her in looking out the window. After a moment, she passed him the pipe. He took it and took a hit, then passed it back to her.

He'd awoken a moment ago out of a daze. It was still night, though he hadn't checked the time. After the sex, he'd soaked for awhile with Bea and Mae, and then Molly and Ann, and finally Claire. One by one, they all went to bed. Bea and Claire ended up in bed with him, while Mae, Molly, and Ann slept together in the other bed.

Trent knew that he'd been asleep for at least some amount of time, but he doubted it was for more than half an hour. Everyone else was still out.

"What's wrong?" he asked, trying once more.

Molly sighed heavily. She looked somehow defeated, and all of her previous confidence and self-possession was gone. She looked shockingly vulnerable, and not simply because she wore nothing but her underwear, like him.

"This was supposed to make me happy," she said finally. She winced and glanced back at the door that led to her bedroom. "Please don't tell this to Mae," she whispered.

"I won't, but...man, honestly, you should be sharing this with her," he said.

"Yeah, but, she's not here. She's out like a light."

"She does that. She sleeps really hard...go on."

She looked like she needed to talk badly.

Molly sighed again and took another puff. "It's just...I was so looking forward to this. Hooking up with a hot girl? Watching hot people have sex? Getting stoned? Relaxing? No responsibilities? It's, like, perfect. Paradise. Pure holiday."

"But you aren't happy."

She shook her head. "I mean...I am. But I'm also not. I'm still worried and miserable. It was a lot of fun, and Mae was actually real good in bed. I thought she'd be inexperienced…"

"Oh, she absolutely would've been if you'd hooked up with her back at that party. She was a virgin when you met her," he replied.

Molly laughed softly. "I guess you changed that." She looked away from the window suddenly, stared at him intensely. "You kinda freak me out."

"Why? Shit, if I'm doing something wrong, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, not like that," she said. "It's just...Mae talked about you a lot. And it's obvious that she's so in love with you. She's like...Romeo and Juliet in love with you. Mmm. Maybe not the best example. But, like, you get it. And Bea's the same way. And so is Ann. They love you so much. And that just seems kind of alien to me."

"This isn't what's making you unhappy," Trent said after taking a long moment of consider that.

She chuckled bitterly. "No, it isn't. I guess I got off track. It's just been on my mind."

She fell silent, and then winced and frowned, looking out the window again.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay," he said.

"I...people think I have this awesome life. But it's only because I imply so much. I imply a lot. And…" She looked at him again abruptly. "You see through that. I just realized that. You see right through it, don't you?"

"I guess so," he replied.

"You're being modest. Tell the truth."

He sighed. "Yeah, kinda. I noticed it. To be fair, I was dead honest about learning more about you."

"That's true. I guess that's more of what freaks me out about you. Most people, especially guys, it's like their brains just shut off when they see me, and they're really easy to manipulate, and I know how fucking awful I sound when I say that. And I'm not going to sit here and tell you being this attractive is a curse, because it isn't, but it does get fucking annoying. Not being able to trust anyone. Not having any real friends. Everyone just wants to use you. And you get so fucking lonely that eventually you just let it happen because you want simple contact, even if it's fake."

"This is gonna sound weird, but...do you want to cuddle? No hetero?" he asked.

She laughed. "Yeah," she said, "I do."

Molly got up and sat down in his lap, then hugged him. He hugged her back.

"This is so weird," she whispered after a moment. "I know you want to fuck me, but you aren't trying to fuck me. I've never had this happen before. Guys are so obvious about it. I mean, I can feel your hard-on."

"Sorry," he said.

"I don't blame you. Shit, if anything I'm impressed. How do you have a hard-on after all that? I guess you'd have to be pretty horny to keep up with three girlfriends and a few other girls on the side," she murmured.

"Pretty much...so what's wrong? You keep evading."

She sighed. "Stop noticing things."

"Force of habit."

She laughed softly. "Apparently." She was quiet for a moment. "My life is a mess," she said finally. "I'm not completely comfortable talking about it, but like I was saying, people all assume my life is awesome, and sometimes it is, but mostly it's not. Mostly it's fighting and arguing and working too much and not having enough money and trying to keep from drinking too much booze or smoking too much weed and a lot of sleeping and irritation and annoyance and frustration. I'm really shit at being on my own. I was just...hoping this would make me happier."

"I'm sorry it didn't," he replied.

She sighed heavily and fell quiet again for a long moment, just puffing occasionally on the pipe.

"Would it be weird if any of the women here woke up and found us like this?" she asked suddenly.

"No, it wouldn't," Trent replied. "Apparently this is a thing that happens almost every time I hook up with a new woman. Only, evidently, I don't even need to be the one doing the hooking up! We didn't even have sex. Every woman in this hotel room, besides you obviously, has broken down and cried in my arms, some of them many times."

"That must be tough to deal with."

"You'd think so, and it kind of is, but not really."

"Why do they do it?"

"They've all told me, in one way or another, that they trust me. On some deeper, instinctive level. That there's something about me that speaks to them and says 'you can let your guard down around him, he will not hurt you', or, even more basic, 'you are safe with him'. Which, I mean, is true. But how do I effectively communicate that with just words? Because the assholes will say the same thing. Everyone says 'you can trust me', especially the untrustworthy people. So I guess I'm really lucky in that regard...why do you look so guilty?" he asked.

Molly's frown deepened and she made an unhappy sound. "Jeez, what are you, fucking psychic?" she muttered.

"No, but apparently I'm really empathetic. I think what's happening is that you're usually really confident in your poker face because it both works really well and you have, as you say, pretty privilege, but in this particular instance, you're faced with a strange situation, and it's screwing with your ability to put up a good poker face."

She laughed and shook her head. "Fuck's sake, you are definitely a writer. And apparently a good one...I feel guilty because...there's a part of me that feels weird, about having sex with your girlfriend in front of you. Like I was humiliating you."

"Were you trying to?" he asked.

"No."

Her guilty look lingered. "...but you have in the past?"

"...maybe," she muttered.

"Jeez."

She sighed again. "You think I'm a piece of shit."

"I didn't say that. Or think it."

"Why? I've definitely been shitty."

"That doesn't mean you're a piece of shit. And, full disclosure, I also have trouble judging people."

"That's a big plus. I've had to put up with a lot of judgment. I mean, some of it I deserved, but a lot of it I didn't. But like...I don't know. I wasn't looking to make you feel bad by hooking up with Mae, I wasn't even expecting it to happen, but there's definitely some part of me that feels bad about it. Even if you're really okay with it. Maybe I feel like...I don't deserve to be involved with people like you. You all seem so nice and trusting and caring, and I really don't deserve that."

Trent considered that for a moment, just staring at her. She was staring at the floor, frowning deeply, the pipe smoking and nearly forgotten in her hand. He reached out and gently took it, then took a pull on it.

"I don't know what you've done, Molly," he said finally. "I don't think it's my place to judge you. Really, all I have to go off of is how you've been tonight. And tonight you've been fun. Kinda shady, but fun and nice. I don't have a problem with you being here. I don't have a problem with being your friend, or you or Mae being friends, or lovers. That's all I can really say. And the best I can do after that is...listen to you spill your guts about some or all of the mean shit you've said and done, and respond to it. But even that isn't what I'd call 'proper judgment', because I wasn't there. We've all done mean shit, and Mae and Bea had a lot of problems with each other before I showed up, and they've had to get past it, and they both asked me if I thought they were shitty people, and I said no, but also I couldn't truly know, because I wasn't there. That's a big deal. When it comes to the past, we all stack the deck, either for ourselves or against, depending on who we are."

"That makes sense," she murmured.

"Honestly, I'm not completely sure what I can do to help you right now."

"I don't know either, but...I do kinda feel better. I haven't really been able to talk about myself, the bad parts of myself, even at this surface level, for so long. Because I can't trust people. But I trust you. Even if that's stupid."

"It isn't," he replied. "But I get what you mean."

She readjusted herself in his lap and then laid against him suddenly, resting her head on his shoulder. "I've never really done this before," she murmured. "Cuddled with a guy, I mean. It's pretty much always women."

"How's it measure up?" he asked.

"Women are a lot softer for the most part, but...I'll admit, I can see the appeal. It isn't bad. And it's definitely different." She yawned. "I should go back to bed. I'm actually pretty tired now."

"Same," he agreed.

She got up and then he did.

"I've got one more question," he said as he put out the pipe.

"Yeah?"

"I just had to be sure...you said you didn't want to go home earlier tonight. You had sort of a tone, like...are you unsafe there? Or in any kind of danger?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that," she said. "More just it's...annoying. And kind of miserable sometimes. I've got roommates. We don't always get along. They're a lot more comfortable with filth than I am. And I had a fight with one of them before coming to the party. But no, I'm not, like, being abused or anything." She smiled suddenly and hugged him. "You're really sweet to ask, though."

"I wanted to be sure," he replied, hugging her back.

"What would you have done, if I'd answered the other way?"

"Well...I don't know," he admitted. "I mean, offered to let you crash with us for awhile, but we live three hours away. I guess I'd talk with Jackie to figure something out."

"Yeah, she'd get shit done. I don't know her all that well, but I know she gets shit done...well, I'm gonna go back to sleep and hopefully not wake up Mae or Ann."

"Don't worry about Mae, she could sleep through an air raid siren. Legitimately."

Molly laughed. "Good to know."

They started to split up, but Molly hesitated. "Wait...Trent. Uh...thanks for this. Talking with me. It was kinda stressful, but I also feel a lot better now."

"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Molly."

Trent headed into the bedroom and climbed into bed next to Bea. She stirred as he finished getting settled and rolled over against him.

"What were you doing up, you bad boy?" she murmured. "Were you going to fuck Mae or Ann?"

He laughed. "No. In fact, I was being a good boy," he replied.

She giggled sleepily and ran her hand down the front of him, then hesitated when she found his erection. She gripped it gently. "Hmm. Apparently being a good boy left you with a hard-on."

"Well, being a good boy meant I had Molly topless in my lap," he replied. "She needed someone to talk to."

"Oh man, that must've been tough. Here." Bea slipped her hand into his boxers and pulled out his dick while pulling him onto his back. "Good boys should be rewarded," she murmured as she climbed on top of him.