"you caught him doing what?" paul cried.

"shush!" molly shushed him.

they were in molly's bedroom exactly after her mother and eduardo left.

"you're going to wake up the whole neighborhood!" it was already ten pm.

"molls, tell me you're joking!" he exclaimed. molly sat on the floor of her room. he was on her bed.

"i'm not. trust me, it shocked me more than you," she replied shakily. "would you like to listen to some of my records? let off some steam?"

paul nodded and sighed. he was clearly angry, but tried not to show it. "i don't think we should just let it slide like this..." he said.

she got up and walked over to her record box and started flipping through them. "we have buddy holly, johnny cash, frank sinatra, chuck berry and the crickets..."

"anything you fancy." he shook his head, still a bit angry.

"alright," she grabbed an elvis record and put it on the player.

love me tender began playing.

paul smiled and stood up, making sure the door was closed. he walked over to molly with pure, true, undeniable love in his eyes.

"care to dance?" he held his hand to hers, his face instantly softening upon hearing the familiar song.

molly smiled and took his hand. he pulled her close to him. she rested her head on his shoulder and held him. he had one hand on her waist and one holding her hand.

molly's heart began beating faster than normal. the two swayed back and forth in the middle of her room while listening to the music, just thinking about everything and nothing at the same time.

she began to almost tune out the music with her thoughts. all she could hear were the unsteady beats of his heart. it made her feel happy, almost giddy that she had that effect on him.

paul subconsciously closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. he took in her scent, her aura. she smelled just like strawberries. freshly picked.

he smelled faintly like cinnamon. it entranced molly, and she began to space out in the moment.

but the moment abruptly ended when paul accidentally stepped on molly's foot. "ow!"

"sorry," he whispered.

he hugged her for a moment before letting her go, but not fully. his hands rested on the backs of her elbows, her body half pressed to his.

she looked up to him with her alluring eyes. he returned the stare while smiling at her. for a brief second, it seemed as if they would kiss. the way he looked at her said too much, and she wasn't helping.

but molly didn't want to ruin the pure and perfect pleasure of dancing with him.

though, he didn't feel the same. he looked at her full, plump lips and licked his own. he leaned forwards and connected their lips.

molly kissed back, savoring the moment although she didn't want to ruin anything. his hands moved to the small of her back, their lips working in perfect synchronization. it all felt right. their slow, passionate kiss turned into a heated make out session.

molly backed up and laid on her bed as paul struggled to keep his lips on hers. he put his hands on the sides of her legs while climbing on top of her. his lips moved to her neck and softly sucked on a spot just below her ear. her breathing turned erratic, hitching from fast to slow. she let out a small moan, making paul suck harder.

"you're so beautiful, molly," he breathed into her neck and went back to her lips.

"oh, paul," she moaned. when he put his hand on her breast, she stopped him. "paul, my motives haven't changed... i don't mean to lead you on, but i'm just not ready. i'm sorry..."

"you don't have to apologize, molls. i completely understand," he assured her as he pushed his hair out of his face. "it would be nice, though,"

he flipped around and got off her with ease. "i'll be sure to let you know when i'm ready, paul."

he nodded with a smile, taking her hand in his and squeezing it. "for now, i suppose we can just kiss..." paul chuckled and went right back to her lips.

                                          *

molly was resided in the flower shop she regularly went to the next morning.

she found a strange comfort in looking at flowers. just looking at them made her feel peaceful. it might've had to do with the fact her father always took her to that same store.

her father would buy her all the flowers she wanted. originally, he wanted to name her after his favorite flower, rosemary, but molly's mother wanted it to just be mary. their house would be lined with flowers all the time.

molly even took care of some of them after he died, but to no avail. her mother stopped buying them and went into a deep depression, secluding herself to the deepest part of the house most days, not caring a bit about molly, the outside world.

it was only when her mother met eduardo at a casual party, the first one she'd gone to in months, when she finally cheered up.

eduardo surely wasn't her father, but molly could almost begun to bare him when she was nine.

her father was just wonderful, to molly. he even taught her a small amount of french! she knew phrases such as sil vous plait, merci beacoup, de rien and oui. it wasn't quite a shock when he revealed to her before he passed away that he was actually a native from france.

whadd'ya know? i'm french, she thought while trying to drown the sorrows out.

"hey, i've seen you around here before," a boy poked his head around the corner with a goofy smile. "well, i'm not actually from here. i'm from dingle, just a bit farther from here," he explained.

molly was amused at the boy's confidence, so she decided to continue the conversation. "oh?"

"yeah..."

she nodded and looked back to her flowers. "what's your name, then?" she asked.

"my friends call me lucas," he simply said.

"what are you doing here, lucas?" molly wondered as she walked to another pot.

"i like to visit sometimes. i like flowers," he said.

once she heard he liked flowers, they got into a small discussion about flowers. it was only when george's mother burst into the shop when she tore her eyes away from the curious, curly haired boy.

"is molly here?" she frantically asked the cashier. he nodded, pointing at the isle she was in. "oh, molly,"

she was suddenly trapped in a bone-breaking hug. molly hugged back, realizing something was wrong by the tears running down louise's face.

"what's wrong?" molly asked.

lucas had already left and said goodbye.

louise sniffled and took her hair out of her face. "that's why i'm here... your mother got into a horrible car accident in california!"

a sudden rush of adrenaline coursed through her, making her feel uneasy. she felt like it was all just a bad fever dream at first, just her imagination. surely, she was still taking to the big-eyed boy from earlier.

when she pinched herself, "is she alright?" is all she could get out.

"i don't know, but they've been trying to reach you for hours," she explained. "she's in a hospital somewhere,"

molly looked at the clock. it was nearly eleven am. "what do i do?" molly's eyes were widened.

"i went over to your house after the phone wouldn't stop ringing... i got the spare key... it was the police!" louise ignored the question, only making molly panic more. "they told me to bring you to the station!"

it wasn't a happy exclamation, but a sad one.

"i'm going to drive you. george is in the car," louise guided the quivering molly outside, making sure she got in okay.

"molly, are you alright?" george took her hand, an unusual thing for him to do, but she didn't notice. she was too busy thinking of what she would do if her poor mother died.

her mother was the only thing she had left. although her mother had become hostile and rude the past months, she still loved her.

george held her hand all the way to the station where she was only silent. he reassured her the whole time. she only blankly stared at the backs of the seat in front of her.