"All right, um, I think I have everything…" Molly muttered, looking under the couch in a flustered kind of way.
"Probably," Trent agreed, "but it's worth double-checking."
Which was what Mae, Bea, and Ann were doing throughout the household, as well as himself. Though he knew there was something else they were doing, and they were going to...well, 'spring it' seemed like too strong a term, like they were conniving against her, but for want of a better term, they were going to spring it on Molly before she left.
Given her history, he had his doubts about how well she was going to take it, but he thought that he could convince her.
As he waited for that to come up, Trent thought of the past several days.
Cinco de Mae-O, as Mae had taken to calling it, had gone over very well...for the most part. While it had been, as far as they were concerned, a huge hit, they had overlooked one crucial element that had cost them. Potentially thousands. It hadn't even occurred to Mae that a common thing nowadays was for people to chip in and donate small, or sometimes large, amounts of money during streams. She hadn't set up her YouTube channel for that, and had seemed mostly confused that people wanted to just give her money.
Ultimately they agreed to get it set up soon and pointed people towards her and her , and her Ko-Fi, but he knew that a lot was likely left on the table given people tended to want to do things in the moment, with as few clicks as possible. If you had to point them towards a different site, despite the fact that it might add on an extra sixty seconds or less to the process, it made probably over half of the people who were willing to donate suddenly unwilling.
Not that he could really complain, they were willing to give them money for the simple act of playing video games and chatting occasionally.
It had been a very long day, and he, Mae, and Molly had made it through the whole twenty four hours, somehow. They'd eaten homemade tacos, and then later they'd ordered three times from Taco Buck. Ann and Bea ran the household and helped them when they needed it, and Tabby pitched in where she could.
They got through Afraid of Monsters, and then they'd blasted right through the game made by the same developers, Cry of Fear, which was kind of like a far, far more fleshed out version of the previous game. The main character, the story, the setting, the creatures, everything was ramped up to eleven. Trent had been at first disbelieving that it was actually created on the Source Engine from fucking 1998, then, when they confirmed it, he was blown away by the fact.
After they'd gotten through that, Mae had played through a ton of other, smaller campaigns created using the Cry of Fear engine, for better or for worse. Some were cool, some were...lacking. That had eaten up most of their time, and when that ran out, they ended up playing Slender – The Eight Pages, which, according to the information online, had its own slew of unique campaigns.
They'd ended the stream at a little after midnight, the three of them falling asleep in their chairs after passing through two 'second winds' and getting hyper. And then the next few days passed in that way that lazy days of recovery after partying hard did when you had no real job and no serious responsibilities beyond household chores, something Trent was finding he enjoyed immensely. They all did, for obvious reasons.
Tabby had yesterday, given she was here for a set amount of time. They'd said their goodbyes and off she'd gone with a promise to keep in regular contact, though she would be busy with her new game now, and they all wished her luck.
Trent looked over as Mae and Bea walked down the stairs. Mae was carrying a small dark satchel pouch they'd bought online for the occasion, managing to get it here fast and without Molly noticing, and Bea had an envelope. They both looked a little pensive.
"I swear, there's something...but I just can't remember," Molly muttered, now looking behind the couch.
"Worst case scenario, we find it and mail it to you," Trent said.
"Yeah...I guess so. It's probably something dumb, like a sock."
She turned around as Ann emerged from the basement and then hesitated as they all gathered in the living room.
"Whhhaaat's going on?" she asked. "You're all looking at me like you're about to stage an intervention or something…"
"We aren't," Mae said, stepping forward with the satchel. "We all talked about it and decided we were going to get you some presents."
She presented her with the satchel.
"...what?" Molly replied, slowly taking it.
"Just look inside."
She opened her mouth, then closed it, sitting down slowly on the couch and setting the satchel down on the coffee table. She opened it up and reached in and pulled out something. A new phone charger. She looked at it, then up at them.
"There's more, keep going," Bea said.
Molly hesitated, then set it aside and reached in again. She pulled several more things from the satchel. An eight gig USB stick. A shiny new copy of Neuromancer. A Kindle. A bottle opener. A smattering of giftcards, a few to Amazon, one to Wal-Mart, one to Buffalo Burger, one to Taco Toucan. A new phone case. An extension cord.
"What...the fuck is all this?" she asked finally.
"It's a care package," Mae replied, "because...we care."
"We were listening to the things you were annoyed with in your life, or things you wanted," Bea said. "And we got them for you."
"How? When?" she murmured.
"Most of it we got from Amazon. They've got two-day delivery if you've got Prime. The rest we bought around town," Trent said.
"We also got you this," Bea said, stepping forward and handing her the envelope.
She took it gingerly and then peeked inside.
"You guys, what the fuck!? There's like...five hundred dollars in here! What...why?"
"You're in a difficult spot right now. You're stressed, you lost your job, you have shit to put up with. If there's one thing that Trent taught me…" Bea hesitated. "If there's something that Trent ended up teaching all of us, it's that it's really fucking nice when someone offers you some immediately practical and useful support. And we can, so we're going to. This came from all of us."
"But…" Molly looked bewildered and confused, verging on upset. "We might never see each other again!"
"That doesn't change anything about this," Mae said. "We had a fantastic time. It was so awesome. I had so much fun, and you're a lot of fun to be around, and you were so cool and nice-"
"I shoved your boyfriend and broke an expensive glass," Molly interrupted.
"I doubt it was that expensive," Trent said, "and you were wasted. And you apologized. And we forgave you. And then everything was chill after that."
"But...what if I take this and sell it all and spend all the cash on drugs and booze!? What if I laugh with my friends about how I fleeced you all!? You have no way of knowing that's not exactly what's going to happen the moment we part company!"
"Molly...you're a deeply mistrusting person, and I understand," Bea said. "To varying degrees, we all came from a similar world of pettiness and politics and poverty. I was so paranoid of Trent when we first met, because he was so nice to Mae and me and Ann, and he just gave me shit, including money, simply because he wanted to make me happy. It felt shifty and shady as hell, but I was completely in the wrong. And you don't owe us anything, Molly. We're not letting you borrow this stuff, or expecting you to pay it back. Honestly, if you decide you don't want to hang out with us anymore, then that will be fair, you can still keep it."
"Why?!"
"Because I trust you, and it's a gift," Mae said, sitting down on the couch beside her. "And because I just want to help people. And so does everyone else here. And we can. We all spent most of our lives fucking broke and miserable, Molly. But we're not anymore. We're fucking succeeding. I mean, Trent is now outpacing us by an insane factor, but the point is, we can help. I believe you're a good person, Molly, and I really, really liked our time together, and I really like you. And I just...want to make you happy. And make your life easier, even if only for a little while. Okay?"
Molly looked at her for a long moment, her expression a little tortured, her body tensed, and then she began to cry. Mae, who looked like she'd been expecting it, offered her a hug, and Molly took the offer immediately, hugging Mae tightly against her.
"It's all right," she murmured.
At this point, it wasn't even all that awkward to be around a crying person for any of them. Even Mae had gotten good at handling the situation. Molly cried for several moments, and it was a strong one. While she did, Bea went and got her a glass of water and set it next to the tissues, which were already close at hand.
When she was finished, she pulled back and said, "I'm sorry."
"It's fine, Molly," Mae replied.
Molly looked around at them awkwardly, then at the water and tissues. She laughed suddenly and then grabbed some and blew her nose, then dabbed at her eyes, then drank deeply from the glass. "You've got this, like, down, huh?"
"There's a lot of crying in this house," Ann said. She paused. "Like, the good kind. That sounded really ominous."
Molly laughed again. "I know what you mean...um...thanks. For putting up with me. And for all this stuff. Like...fuck. This is the biggest single gift I've ever been given in my entire life. I just...feel so weird accepting it."
"You're welcome, and I know you'll feel weird about it, but you should accept it. It's coming from a place of kindness, and also it'll be, like, super useful," Mae said.
"It will," Molly said. "I can't deny that. All this will just go such a long way towards helping and keeping me fucking sane. This is all so fucking...thoughtful. And it just scares me, but...I don't really have a good reason for why? I mean, I guess I'm scared that you'll hold it over me, but I'm not actually scared of that, because I...trust you...huh. I trust you. Like, all of you."
She shook her head and laughed suddenly. "I was supposed to be the cool, mysterious girl at the party who seduced you and has everything in check and under control and you guys just...broke down every last fucking defense I have."
"We didn't really mean to," Trent said.
"I know, that's probably why it was so effective. You four are the fucking...realist people I've ever met. I think that's it. You don't hold anything back, but not in an asshole way, in a just...authentic way. You don't lie, to me, to each other, to yourselves. Like, at all. I don't know how to handle this level of genuine authenticity. And, I mean, it's good. I like it. It just freaks me the fuck out. So…" She seemed to compose herself. "I'm going to accept the gifts, and thank you heartily. Thank you. All of you, for the gifts, and for everything you've done. This has been such an amazing week."
"You're welcome, Molly," Mae said.
"I, uh...probably should get-I mean, we should probably start driving," she replied.
"Probably," Trent agreed.
"Well, let's do it, then," Mae replied, standing.
The ride out went smoothly, though Trent did find his mind wandering as they drove down the highway. Mostly about the sales he'd managed so far, and the future. He listened to Mae and Molly happily chatting, with Bea chiming in occasionally at first, then getting more involved when they started talking about music.
At the end of the drive, he found himself standing with Molly a little away from the Jeep. Mae and Bea were in it, giving them some privacy when Molly had asked for it.
"So…" she said, looking awkward, not quite meeting his eyes.
"I'm not gonna bite, Molly," Trent said.
She laughed softly. "Yeah. You're right. I just wanted to say...I'm sorry. For just, getting out of control and making things weird. I didn't...ever expect to meet a guy who made me feel, uh...like you did. I didn't know how to react, and that's not a great excuse, but it's really all I got. And I wanted to thank you for not taking advantage. You could've. I know you wouldn't, but you could have asked me to do things, and I would have done them. And...you were right. I would have regretted it. Even if only because, as curious as I may be about...us, if anything ever does happen, I intend to experience it fully sober."
"So there's hope?" he asked.
She laughed. "That's the first thing out of your mouth?"
"Sorry, you looked like you could use a joke," he replied. "You're welcome, and I'm glad you trust me, and I'm happy how things turned out."
Molly giggled. "But you still want to fuck me."
"Who doesn't want to fuck you besides aces, Molly? Bea is most of the way to wanting to fuck you and she's straight. But don't ever feel pressured. I'm maintaining that we can remain as we are now."
"That's appreciated." She looked up briefly at her apartment overhead, then sighed as she looked back to him. "I...don't know what's going to happen. This last week was amazing, but I don't know...how I'd maintain a friendship with you all beyond long distance and I also just...need time to think. And sort out my feelings."
"We'll be waiting, Molly. And I hope we see you again, but I will accept if we don't."
She looked at him with a sudden intensity that abruptly gave way to sly smirk. She leaned in and paused. "Do I have your consent?"
He laughed softly. "Enthusiastically yes."
"Figured."
They kissed. He heard Mae let out a happy shout from inside the Jeep, and Molly stuck her tongue in his mouth, then put his hand on one of her breasts, giving him permission to grope her. Which he did, just a bit.
Finally, she pulled back. "Okay, I'm a lot less conflicted about that now," she murmured. "It's...fun. Really fun. But only because it's you."
"Very fun," he agreed.
She looked down and smirked at his now obvious erection. "Go get one of your sugar babies to handle that."
He sighed. "Thanks, Molly."
"Bye, Trent. You'll hear from me."
"Looking forward to it."
They hugged and then parted ways. He got back behind the wheel and, after she'd made it safely to her apartment, left.
"So, you had fun," Bea said.
"I did," he replied simply.
"So hot," Mae murmured.
"What are we gonna do when we get home?" Bea asked.
"I am going to clean the house," he said.
"For real?" Mae asked.
"Yep. I've had my downtime. I want to start the engine back up tomorrow and go hard. I'm feeling inspired. And I always work better with a clean house. Sort of feels like...starting the car on a cold day so it's warm when you get in to drive."
"I'll help," Bea said.
"I guess I could," Mae said. "Although maybe I should get back to recording material…"
"Where are you on that?" he asked.
"I mean, I'm ahead of the curve. Still actually posting the Dead Space footage. I've got Dead Space, Dead Space 2, the DLC, and the first half of Dead Space 3 recorded and ready to go. I want to get Dead Space 3 finished up, though. It's...you were right. Everything about it is awesome...except the combat. And that fucking ruins everything. Honestly, I want to get into this Slender Man thing, I barely remember it because we were so tired but that game was fucking scary."
"Yeah, definitely," Trent agreed.
They kept talking about their plans for the immediate future, and Trent felt content as he drove back to the home that he shared with the three women he loved.