“So, what did you two have planned this weekend?”

It’s an innocent question from his dad, a thoughtful one even, but going by the nervous tapping on the diner table from Michael and the way Ben is trying a little too hard to smile, Hunter can’t help but feel a little annoyed by it.

“I didn’t give him much of a chance to plan anything,” Molly admits, looking down at her food almost with relief as it is placed in front of her, “He had no idea I was coming. I didn’t even think about the possibility of you guys coming down to see him. Sorry.”

Before Hunter can open his mouth and tell her to quit it with the unnecessary apologies, Ben does it for him.

“Don’t apologize. We’re happy that Hunter has people who are willing to go out of their way to give him a surprise like that just to make him happy,” Ben says, his smile a lot more relaxed - which relaxes Hunter in return.

“You did good,” Michael agrees, “He deserves someone like you in his life.”

Okay, Michael saying that makes things a little awkward - he always has been the dorkier dad of the two. But it isn’t even the words he’s saying. The words themselves are thoughtful and kind and Hunter really does know that they’re genuine. But it’s Michael’s eyes. The way they are soft, but concerned. Questioning, but hopeful. Happy, but confused. It’s as if he’s trying to figure out Molly, whether it be her intentions to protect whatever little honor Hunter has left or what his and Molly’s relationship exactly is, Hunter doesn’t know.

Which makes sense. Hunter doesn’t know what he and Molly are either. He just knows that what he’s feeling, even now with his dads right across from him, is something he’s never felt before. He’s never smiled so wide he felt like his face was going to crack over a simple text. He’s never had someone who could make him feel so nervous yet so peaceful all at once. He’s never felt comfortable falling asleep holding someone until he shared a bed with her.

And the sex? It’s amazing. The best he’s ever had. Even the phone sex beats out most of his actual real life encounters with anyone else. The number of times they have actually slept together is low still. Three times the morning after Christmas, once just fifteen minutes before midnight on New Years’ Eve, and five times since she arrived Wednesday night.

No, make that six. Or at least five and a half. She blew him right before they had to leave to pick up his parents at the airport. It had been unexpected, fucking awesome, but a complete surprise. Maybe Molly has a kink for surprises or something.

Whatever it is, the sex is perfect. They fit together. Fitting in anywhere has always been a struggle for him. It probably always will be. But with her? He hasn’t felt that way at all.

His relationship with sex and emotional intimacy is weird. His introduction to sex hadn’t been tender or loving or hot or even just some fumbling around with the lights off. It had been rape, set up by his own mother for extra cash, before he even hit puberty. He’s able to admit what happened now, at least without shaking or acting out over the resulting flashbacks that kind of admission brought. He wouldn’t necessarily consider the johns he had slept with as rapists, at least the ones he had met while he was on his own. But they knew he was a kid. They knew he was on the streets. They might have not known that he knew nothing else. That he barely even thought about who he was attracted to before using his body as a cash source for himself. He had been attracted to a warm bed and to the promise of a hot meal that only money could buy. He hadn’t been attracted to the men themselves. But men paid for sex. Women rarely did.

He eventually figured out that he likes women, and probably only women. He can admit some guys are attractive. He still cringes when he remembers trying to seduce Brian. But Brian would have been a breath of fresh air compared to all of the johns he got with: Brian had been younger, successful, charismatic, and good looking. He’s pretty sure Brian could have turned some straight guys gay - or at least bi - just by looking at them. Going by some of the stories Hunter has heard, he’s pretty sure Brian actually has done that. Probably still could if he hadn’t decided to settle down. But ultimately, once he felt safe and secure and had parents who loved him and accepted him, he had allowed himself to be somewhat normal. He allowed himself to figure out what he wanted and who he liked. He realized that he couldn’t get it up for Han Solo or Luke Skywalker pretty quickly. He thought it might have just been that he wasn’t attracted to those particular men. But the more he tried to figure it out, the more he realized that the thought of sleeping with another man ever again made him feel sick to his stomach and that there were multiple reasons as to why he rarely came when he let a guy pay him for sex. At first, he thought the abuse and the tricking might have ruined him. That he would never be able to have a sexual experience again, let alone a normal one. But as soon as he started thinking about Princess Leia, he had his hand on his dick as soon as he could get a moment alone. It was then he realized that he not only liked women, but that he was straight. It had been a weird time for him. Coming out as straight doesn’t happen and yet it had happened to him.

It made things harder in a lot of ways though. It’s harder to explain why he’s positive to a girl than it is to a guy. He doesn’t get the pity or sadness that he has gotten from the best girl friends in his life. He doesn’t have to worry about a romantic relationship coming to a halt with the admission of his backstory. He doesn’t have to worry about the disgust or horror or discomfort when it comes to telling his close guy friends about what he had gone through.

But Molly? She never responded in any of those ways. Maybe it’s because she had known the basics years before they were ever a thing. Maybe it is because she knows her science and diseases. She might know more about HIV and AIDS than he does. The day after Christmas, out of habit, he started to explain his status to her. Tried to get into his numbers (which have been ideal since he was first diagnosed) and told her he has been properly medicated since he was a teenager and has had no health scares. She had looked down at him as he explained all of this with his head between her legs, told him she is genuinely happy to hear he is healthy, but that if he didn’t go down on her in the next five seconds she would scream - and not in ecstasy. If he hadn’t been so turned on, he might have gotten emotional over her acceptance.

“You know, he usually isn’t this quiet,” he tunes in to hear Ben say, sounding both amused and concerned, “Are you really okay that down we’re here this weekend, bud?”

Hunter rolls his eyes and stabs at the last of his salad, “No. I’m glad you’re all here. Even though it’s fucking weird.”

“But not a bad weird,” Molly adds, lightly kicking Hunter’s foot. Hunter just twists his foot behind hers and links it with his, giving her a mischievous smirk. She playfully pushes his shoulder and he reaches around her to lightly pinch her side, all while Michael and Ben watch them like they are both cute and strange. And that’s pretty hypocritical, if you ask Hunter.

“Well,” Michael starts, clearing his throat, “We want to see you - both of you, of course - but if you need alone time and just want a few hours here and there where it is just the two of you-”

“We’ll understand,” Ben finishes his husband’s sentence, “Just say the word and we’ll be out of your hair.”

“Are we making you uncomfortable yet?” Michael adds.

Hunter sits back in his chair and shakes his head, “I’m just honored that you are so courteous when it comes to my sex life. Thank you so much for letting me focus on fucking-”

“You win,” Michael interrupts him quickly, giving up on the challenge, “You always win.”

“It’s a gift,” Hunter shrugs, taking the check before the other three can even look at it and ignoring their protests in the process, “Who wants to take a cliché hike up to the Hollywood sign? Molly hasn’t seen it yet.”

------------------------------

Once Ben and Michael part ways with Hunter and Molly for the night, they go up to their hotel room for a much needed shower (which they share, of course, because water conservation is important) before settling into bed. Michael watches his husband go through different texts he’s assigned for his classes. He has been with Ben for thirteen years now, but he still isn’t immune to the hotness of the man when he’s wearing a pair of glasses.

“So what do you think about Hunter and Molly?” Ben asks, still looking at the laptop screen.

And okay, his son’s happiness isn’t a bad thing to talk about by any means. But it does put a damper on things, at least for right now.

“...Molly’s great,” Michael finally replies, “She’s smart, friendly, witty, kind. Honestly, she was easier to have a conversation with than Hunter today. Although he seemed a lot more like himself during the hike. He was just quiet during lunch. He only seemed grounded when he was looking at her.”

“He was looking at her like she might be the greatest thing to ever happen to him,” Ben answers, “And she was looking at him the exact same way.”

“Yeah...,” Michael says, “That’s what scares me. Almost every time he’s been with someone, he’s gotten hurt in one way or another. Hannah was great, but even we thought they came off more as friends. He’s always been so cautious-”

“He has to be,” Ben interrupts, “You know he has to be.”

“I didn’t mean with his HIV,” Michael says, “I meant with his heart.”

Ben nods his head, clearing his throat before meeting Michael’s eyes, “I worry about that. So much. He’s come such a long way and I’m proud of him but he’s been hurt so many damn times in his life that I couldn’t stand it if this ends badly. Especially when he’s so far away and we can’t always be here for him to make sure he knows that he’s always going to be loved.”

Michael shifts over to kiss Ben’s bare shoulder, “He knows. It took awhile but he knows that he’s loved.”

“And now he’s in love. He’s in love with a wonderful girl who doesn’t care that he’s positive.”

“And on the other side of the country,” Michael sighs sadly, “You know, they say that distance makes the heart grow fonder but I don’t think I have personally known anyone who has somehow had a long-term, long distance relationship and made it work. Brian and Justin, for instance-”

“They weren’t in sync at the time,” Ben says softly, “And Brian is happy now. He’s engaged and has another kid. Justin and Nathan seem like a good couple too. Different from Brian and Eric, but good.”

“At least they are speaking again,” Michael scoffs, “Took them long enough.”

Ben closes the laptop before putting it on the end table, “Long distance was harder back when they were together. We didn’t have all the technology to keep in touch that we have now. The majority of new couples are meeting online in today’s world. Hunter and Molly might be fine. We don’t even know how serious they are yet. This could just end up being a casual fling for all we know.”

Michael shakes his head, “She flew across the country to surprise him for his birthday. You saw how he looked at her.”

Ben lets out a sigh, “Yeah. I did.”

------------------------------------------------

The smell of a well cooked meal is what wakes Hunter up. The rumbling of his stomach is what gets him out of bed faster than he normally does. Walking over to the adjacent bathroom connected to his bedroom, he brushes his teeth before going into the kitchen, finding Molly standing over the stove.

“What’re you making?” Hunter asks, coming up behind her to put his arms around her waist and kiss where her neck meets her shoulder.

“The most hipster, LA breakfast I’ve ever made in my life,” Molly informs him, “I would say it is your birthday breakfast, but since your birthday is officially over and today is Valentine’s Day, I guess it could be for that instead.”

“An LA breakfast?” Hunter asks, “You know, I wouldn’t have complained if you made pierogies. I fucking miss pierogies.”

Molly smirks, “When’s the last time you were in Pittsburgh? Haven’t you heard? They’re as hipster as Portland, Oregon now.”

Hunter fakes a gasp, “No.”

“Yes. Well, at least Lawrenceville and Shadyside, a few other neighborhoods too. They’re still obsessed with football and hockey. The Pirates kind of get thrown under the bus,” Molly shrugs.

“They still have the Pierogi mascot?” Hunter asks, “I haven’t kept up with sports in years.”

“From what I’ve heard,” Molly answers, “Are you really wanting pierogis that badly? I’m sure we can find some somewhere for lunch.”

Hunter shakes his head, “Not like the ones in Pittsburgh. I guess I will make due. Besides, your breakfast smells good. It’s what woke me up.”

“I was wondering why you were getting up at 6 am on your day off,” Molly says, “I was going to wait to make something but I’ve been up since 3 am and I’m starving. I planned on giving you breakfast in bed so that you could go right back to sleep if you wanted to.”

“I’d rather be up with you,” Hunter tells her honestly, “Even though you’re a nut for waking up at 3 o’clock in the morning. Are you sure you don’t want to go back to bed? We don’t need to leave until 9:30.”

Molly waves the suggestion off, “I’m on Eastern Time. Besides, if I go back to bed now, I will wake up feeling dead and be miserable for at least half of the day.”

“So I guess that means you don’t want to go back to bed for other reasons,” Hunter says, only half joking.

He can see Molly shake her head in amusement as she turns off the stove, puts their breakfast on two plates set to the side, then turns around with one plate in her hand.

“Eat your breakfast. And then we can shower. Together.”

Hunter takes the plate of food without hesitation.

---------------------------------------

“No. No no no no no. Absolutely not.”

The words come from Molly, but Michael is shaking his head right along with her because Hunter and Ben are insane. Molly isn’t. It’s probably why he approves of Molly and likes her. He may go back to Pittsburgh to see if they can change Hunter Novotny-Bruckner to Molly Taylor on the adoption certificate so that he can be her dad instead. If that makes him Justin’s dad too, then so be it. It would make more sense than this because he doesn’t think a child of his, blood related or not, would go for something like this and drag their significant other right along with them.

Although Ben probably wouldn’t go for a child swap this late in the game. Especially when he’s in cahoots with Hunter. But Michael thinks that he and Molly might be able to take them. Yeah, Ben and Hunter are health focused, work out and have more muscle mass, and are physically stronger than he and Molly are, but Michael is extremely stubborn and dramatic due to his Italian and drag queen heritage so that should count for something. And if Molly is anything like Justin, then she’s probably more stubborn than Michael is.

They can hold their ground and say no to jumping out of a plane.

“Please?” Hunter says, going over to Molly’s seat to get down on his knees in front of her to beg like he’s a puppy who feels terrible for making his owner mad but still wants them to play with him. Honestly, Michael is wishing more and more that Hunter would have met Molly sooner. If Molly hadn’t been 12 when Hunter was 16, he would have loved for her to be around then. She may have gotten him to stay in line at least a little better.

Molly glares at Hunter, “I came here to watch you jump out of a plane. I was excited to see how ridiculous you could be. I didn’t come to partake in the ridiculous behavior myself.”

“And I didn’t even know you planned on partaking,” Michael says, turning to Ben, “I thought we were going to come here and watch our son be a risk taking asshole together.”

Ben lets out a laugh at that, “You know I got certified by him last year. It’s been our thing so I wanted to go again this year in order to keep my certification valid. Besides, he called me after you fell asleep last night, asking me if I would do it with him and agree to surprise you and Molly.”

“Is that what you call ambushes?” Molly asks, crossing her legs and arms defiantly, “Surprises?”

“Well, technically, ambushes have always been surprises,” Hunter tells, still kneeling in front of her, his chin now resting on her knee, “The word ambush just doesn’t have positive connotations like the word surprise does.”

Molly doesn’t look all that impressed by Hunter’s smartassery, another reason as to why Michael officially likes her better than Hunter and Ben combined.

“Just watch the instructional videos and do the class,” Hunter asks her, pleading, “And if you still don’t want to do it, you don’t have to. But I think you would like it. It’s really fun. Think of it as a gravity experiment.”

“Don’t think you can use my love of science to get me to say yes,” Molly mumbles, but stands up and starts walking over towards the instructional room regardless. And it hurts for Michael to watch. For Molly to be brainwashed all while Hunter gives Ben an excited grin before practically skipping after his girlfriend. It leaves Michael alone.

“Babe…” Ben starts before Michael holds up a hand.

“I don’t like science so the experiment bullshit isn’t going to work on me. That was always Brian’s subject. He helped me cheat on tests. So Hunter may have been able to possibly persuade her. But you can’t persuade me.”

Ben looks down at him fondly, almost amused, before leaning down to speak gently into his ear, “It will be the closest we’ll ever be to Zephyr and the Professor, flying down from the sky like superheroes, just like out of one of your comic books.”

Michael stares up at Ben, who has this hopeful, excited, but also all-knowing look on his face. Because Ben knows just where to press in order to get Michael to change his attitude about something. And within seconds, he finds himself walking towards the instructional room as well.

----------------------------------------

I’m not supposed to be on a plane until Tuesday.

That’s the first thing Molly thinks to herself when she finds herself getting into one before going up into the air to fly over some open field. She doesn’t know why she agreed to this. She had three damn hours to back out. Maybe it had been Hunter’s puppy eyes as he begged her to just take the course. Maybe it had been the fact that Hunter taught the course with enthusiasm and confidence. Maybe it had been the fact that she would be strapped to his chest and she subconsciously craves a specific kind of intimacy that can only be achieved while diving towards a possible (albeit unlikely) demise.

“Ready to go first?” Hunter calls out to her over the sounds of the rotor blades.

“No!” Molly yells out but lets Hunter finish strapping her to his chest, like she’s his four month old infant. Being strapped to his chest means that she is the one walking to the edge first and, fuck, it makes her lose her breath for a minute.

“Last chance to back out,” Hunter tells her as they dangle from the edge, “I won’t judge you too much if you tell me not to jump.

Molly can’t even describe the sounds of nervousness and panic coming through her mouth. She probably sounds insane. In fact, she probably is insane because the first words to come out of her mouth that are understandable are:

“Just do it!”

Molly doesn’t even have time to regain her sanity before they are flying through the air. She can’t describe what she is feeling right now. Debilitating fear? Yes, that is the one emotion she is sure of. But beneath that fear, there is a myriad of emotions: wonder as she looks down at the rural southern California countryside, amazement at herself and the fact that she is currently freefalling from 14,000 feet in the air. But there is also a prominent surge of affection as Hunter yells out his pure delight in the adrenaline gained from falling, pride as he calls out, “You did it! You fucking did it, Molly!”

She has never wanted to do this, has never even been curious about it. And now she’s never been happier to take a risk.

After a little over a minute of freefalling, Hunter pulls the shoot and they begin to float towards the ground, something that should still be scary but after free falling it almost feels relaxing. As their speed slows down and Molly is able to calm down just enough to appreciate the good view: clear, sunny skies, green grass beneath them, and houses off in the distance. And even though she can’t see Hunter right now - finally silent and Molly imagines he’s taking in the view himself - he’s part of the good too. He had pushed her to do this, made her leave her comfort zone, and she’s never going to regret doing this with him, even if this whole thing with him doesn’t last.

She pushes the last thought away quickly. The mere thought of this relationship possibly being short-term threatens to take away the euphoria she’s feeling right now. If she weren’t so euphoric, it would probably feel like a punch to the gut. She doesn’t want to look too closely into that reaction, especially when her experience of floating through the sky is coming to an end soon.

So she embraces the good. She embraces the fact that she flew here on a whim to see a boy she’s only been involved with for two months. She embraces how he makes her feel. She embraces that he can get her to do things she hasn’t thought of doing for anyone before. And she embraces the last few seconds she’s airborne before the ground touches her feet.

Hunter takes most of the impact, probably used to it as he steps forward with her several feet before slowing down. His certification and experience shows through the fact that they never once fall over in a heap. As soon as they stop, Molly takes a few deep breaths while the adrenaline catches. She barely registers Hunter reaching over her shoulders and waist to undo all of her belts and straps until she looks down.

“What would you have done,” Molly starts, watching Hunter’s hands unbuckle everything, “If we had jumped out and all of the straps holding me to you broke, causing me to plummet to my death?”

Hunter snorts as he pulls the harnesses off the both of them, “‘What would you do?’ That game? You’re such a girl, Molly.”

“‘What would you do’ is a great psychological game-’”

“I suppose I would just have to leave my parachute cord alone and fall towards my own demise,” Hunter says in a heavy voice as she turns around, “The guilt and grief would be too much for me to bear. Then my fathers would land and find our destroyed bodies lying in this field. Great times.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Molly tells him as she turns around to put her arms around his neck, “And amazing. That was awesome. I’m glad I didn’t die.”

Hunter bites back a smile, “I’m glad you didn’t die too. It really would have put a damper on the day. Broken hearts all around.”

“It would have been terrible,” Molly agrees, “You would have had to tell my mother. Probably Justin too.”

“No,” Hunter tells her slowly, “I thought we established that if you’re dead in a field, I’m dead in a field.”

“If you jump, I jump, remember?” Molly quotes sarcastically before her eyes become soft, “Thank you. For pushing me out of a plane. There’s something about you that makes me go out of my comfort zone and I never regret it.”

Hunter gives into his grin and presses his forehead against hers, “Really?”

“Really,” Molly answers before smiling too as she puts her hands on Hunter’s cheeks and brings him in for a kiss.

And that’s how they stay. Kissing in the middle of some field on the outskirts of Los Angeles, with a fallen parachute at their feet and the sun shining down on them. Michael’s shrieks from the sky don’t even get them to break apart.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The rest of Saturday goes smoothly and any initial awkwardness with Michael and Ben being there for the weekend disappears after they all bond over being daredevils. While Hunter is probably right in regards to it being too soon to do the whole ‘Meet the Parents’ spiel, it’s nice to get to know them. She hears stories about Hunter that have him going red. She hears stories about Justin during a time where she really didn’t know her brother that well at all. The time spent with them is actually valuable and she makes sure Hunter knows that every time he awkwardly tries to give her an out when it comes to his dads.

Besides, it isn’t like they are staying at Hunter’s. Molly appreciates that they have remained truthful when it comes to giving them time alone, which is good because they are extremely productive when it comes to their time alone. Incredible sex, a long early morning hike, and exploring the city’s night life on Sunday all prove to be more fun than Molly’s had in a long time. After they finally settle down enough to go to bed, she falls asleep practically as soon as her head hits the pillow and Hunter’s arms are around her. She has never felt more happy, sated, and at peace.

So when her phone begins to ring at 2 am on Monday morning, she isn’t expecting it.

The first thing she thinks as she opens her eyes is it being her normal school alarm but her phone is smart enough to take note of the time change on its own. When she’s more coherent, it stops ringing, only for it to immediately ring again. This time she is awake enough to realize someone is calling her. Even if it is someone on the East Coast, 5 am is too early to get a casual call from one of her friends, her mother, or Justin. The only thing she can think is that it has to be something bad. Maybe there is something wrong with her grandfather or something wrong with Justin - who has been silent despite the fact that this is the weekend their dad is supposed to come in and see him. It could be bad news regarding Nathan or her mother or Tucker. And maybe it is because this weekend has been fucking perfect, but she doesn’t pick up her phone to look at it until the third ring.

(412) 555-3196

Pittsburgh number. Something about her dad? Despite her feelings regarding the man, the thought of him hurt or worse makes her stomach feel like it has sunken to the floor.

“Molly?” Hunter mumbles, lifting up his head, “What’s that noise?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she tells him quickly, leaving the room, “Go back to sleep. You have to be up in two hours. I’ll take it out here.”

Before Hunter can say anything else, Molly leaves the bedroom, answering the phone before it can go to voicemail as she walks to the living room.

“Hello?”

There’s nothing on the line at first, possibly the sound of breathing but Molly isn’t sure. But the longer the waits, the more uneasy she gets as she greets the person on the other line again.

“Hello? Who is this?”

Another pause, but this time the breathing is unmistakable before the person speaks.

“I miss you, Molly,” the voice on the other line says, “Wanted to hear you before you went off to work. But you don’t have work today, do you?”

Molly clenches her teeth. It has been months since Seth last called her - months - and of all weekends, he’s calling her on this one. And how does he know she’s not working today? Is he keeping track of Monongalia County School District’s break schedule? Logically, she knows it would be an easy find. All he would need to do is to go on the district’s website and pull up the calendar. But even that easy enough of a task from him creeps her out.

“What’s it to you?” Molly bites out, “According to my caller ID, you’re in Pittsburgh now. Completely different state. Unless this number is fake as well.”

Seth laughs softly on the other end of the line, “So smart. I miss that. I want to see you again.”

Molly holds back hysterical laughter, “Feeling isn’t mutual. Don’t call me again.”

“Don’t you dare hang up! You are such a fucking whore-”

Molly ends the call before he can start with the threats or the little tidbits he’s found out about her life god knows how. The phone immediately starts vibrating and ringing in her hands again and she declines the call. She declines it again and again and again and she tries to turn off her phone but he’s redialing her number so fast that the command to turn off won’t even go through-

“Who’s calling you?”

The lamp next to her turns on as soon as she turns her head at Hunter’s words. She can immediately tell that he knows exactly who is calling her, even if he doesn’t know Seth’s name. The way his eyes are glaring at her phone, he isn’t exactly subtle.

“How much of that did you hear?” Molly has to ask, turning the ringer off before tossing the still constantly vibrating phone on the coffee table, despite wanting to toss it out the window.

“Enough,” Hunter says, before walking over towards the couch to sit next to her, “How long does he keep this up?”

“It depends,” Molly answers hesitantly, “Sometimes a few minutes. Sometimes hours. Six months ago, I managed to get my phone turned off, turned it back on again later in the day, and his calls were immediately coming back through, as if he never stopped. I ended up smashing it against the kitchen floor and had to get a new one. This piece of shit isn't any better. It went downhill fast."

“What’s his name?” Hunter bites out, his fingers interlaced and pressed against his mouth as he keeps staring at the phone with a frightening intensity, “I want his fucking name.”

“Hunter, stop,” Molly groans as she throws herself back against the couch.

“No, Molly!” Hunter yells, suddenly standing up, “Fuck that! He doesn’t get to terrorize you like this! That’s bullshit!”

Molly looks up at him, pointedly ignoring the constant ringing and buzzing, “Seth is not as bad as he used to be. I haven’t seen him face to face in a year. That was brief and he was gone as soon as I spotted him. He pulls this shit maybe once every couple of months.”

Hunter is breathing heavily through his nose, as if it is taking every bit of control he has not to go apeshit over some asshole he’s never even seen. But before Molly can stand up to diffuse him or talk him down, Hunter leans over to grab the phone off the coffee table.

“Don’t answer it!” Molly shouts, jumping to her feet to make a grab for the phone, “Hunter, please.”

“Someone needs to fucking scare him off!”

Molly shakes her head, both of their hands on the ringing phone, “It won’t work. You could probably describe how you are going to murder him in great detail and he wouldn’t stop this shit. You’ll just make it worse.”

Hunter looks offended by that and Molly doesn’t want him to feel that way so she elaborates, “Okay, say you answer the phone. You tell him to fuck off, maybe you even throw out some macho bullshit about not messing with ‘your girl’ or whatever. Most reasonable guys who hit on girls at a bar would take a hint and back off once a guy gets involved even though they should have listened to the girl in the first place, taken or not. Seth isn’t like that, at least when he’s like this. If he gets a rise out of me or a boyfriend or even just a guy friend, he becomes more obsessive, doesn’t stop with the calls and could potentially start harassing you too. Whenever he gets like this, he sees it as some type of game. If I respond - or if someone else does - then he it’s like he perceives that as me wanting to play along. If I keep the responses to a minimum, he eventually stops. Please. Just ignore him. Don’t let him ruin our last full day together.”

Hunter’s eyes never leave her pleading ones, his gaze hard but wavering under her words. Finally, he lets out a scoff, followed by a frustrated growl and sits back down on the couch as he puts her phone back on the coffee table to stare at it. Molly lets out a sigh and sits down next to him.

“Go back to bed,” Molly says as she reaches up to run her fingers through his hair, “You have a 6 am call.”

“I’ll fucking call off.”

Molly flicks his ear, “Don’t you dare.”

“I will.”

Molly lets out a groan, “I shouldn’t have told you anything.”

She stands up to walk away but stops in her tracks when Hunter picks the ringing phone up from the coffee table.

“Hunter-” Molly starts but Hunter holds his hand up to shush her.

Molly watches him as he studies the phone, all while it rings non-stop, call after call after call.

“They’re all different numbers,” Hunter says, frustrated.

“Rarely the same number twice,” Molly says, “Unless he wants it to look like he is calling from a specific place. My job, for instance, sometimes Justin’s gallery or the numbers of some of my close friends from college. I think he programmed some sort of number generator so that I never know where he is actually calling from and I can never block the right number. He probably doesn’t even call me from his phone. He most likely calls me through a computer with a VPN or something and has it do most of the work. Back when I had to get the police involved the first time around, they couldn’t even trace his calls and prove it was him. He’s fucking insane, but he’s unfortunately a genius. He was considered some sort of prodigy in computer programming and this is what he decides to waste his talents on. Guess I can’t judge.”

Hunter’s eyes leave the phone at that and settle on her as he frowns, “You chose to use your talents to teach children. He’s using his to be a fucking lunatic.”

“I’m sorry, what sane person do you know chooses to be in a room full of 10 year olds voluntarily?”

“You” Hunter retorts, sounding a little lighter but keeps looking at her phone, “I don’t like this, Molly.”

Molly lets out a sigh as she walks back over, “You and me both.”

Hunter glances up at her for a moment, the phone buzzing ever so presently in the background. Before Molly can try to awkwardly change the subject, he pulls her down into his lap. She puts her arms around his shoulders to steady herself as he holds her around her waist. She leans down to rest her cheek against his head before pressing a kiss against his hair, then puts her hand on his cheek to get him to look at her.

“Get some rest,” she says softly, “Don’t get me wrong, it matters a lot that you care and are worried, but I don’t want you to be. He isn’t worth it.”

Hunter shakes his head, reaching up to hold the hand that’s touching his cheek, “But you are. You’re worth it.”

“That’s sweet,” Molly murmurs, “I told you I’m not afraid of him though. It’ll be okay. Eventually there will be at least a few seconds in between calls where I can turn off the phone completely.”

Hunter looks frustrated again, “You shouldn’t have to do that. The fact that he’s trying to control you when you haven’t been with him in what? 4 years? It’s disgusting. It’s fucking criminal.”

“Yeah,” Molly sighs, “I try not to dwell on it though. Not giving him the time of day or the satisfaction of me showing any fear towards him seems to discourage him the most.”

Hunter is silent for a moment, his knee slightly bouncing underneath her, “You didn’t leave anything out the other night, did you? When you told me what he did to you?”

Molly lets out a breath and tries to think of a way to approach the topic without getting Hunter more upset. She had been truthful for the most part. She had only been with Seth for maybe three months. When they had first gotten together, she thought he was almost too good to be true. He had somehow been blessed with being traditionally handsome, genius smart, charismatic, and coming from a wealthy family. The only reason he didn’t go to somewhere like Harvard or Yale was because he slacked off in the subjects he hadn’t cared about in high school. They had about two good months together. She never figured out what had happened in that last month. She doesn’t know if it had been seeing one too many guys flirt with her or if some sort of mental illness had manifested or what. He had just started to become more and more controlling. He made her tell him everywhere she went if he wasn’t with her and would demand she not hang out with certain guys that had always just been friends to her. She still remembers the day she demanded to talk to him about it, unsure if their relationship would go any further.

And he had gotten physical in response. He yanked her back by the wrist, only to turn her around and backhand her. She had told Hunter that. She left out the tidbit of her punching him in the nose in return, only to get a hand around her throat and slammed into his townhouse wall. He had let go before any real damage could be done. It had scared her and, to give Seth barely any credit, it seemed to scare him. He had just stood there when Molly gasped out that they were over before walking out the door. He didn’t even try anything the first couple of months. She thought he had learned his lesson. Then he had started following her. Her place got broken into. She found a hidden camera in her bedroom. She had gotten beaten up and her dress ripped almost completely off outside of her apartment building at the time by a masked man around his size who never said a word.

No DNA evidence had been left behind for any of it. The reports were all considered circumstantial. Both of his parents were and still are high power attorneys and all of her suspicions and accusations got swept under the rug. The restraining order had been granted to ‘give her some peace of mind’. The year extension had only been granted since she documented every time she saw him in person and had managed to take pictures of him following her. After that, she is guessing that his parents managed to convince the courts not to accept anything other than hardcore evidence regarding the matter. She wouldn’t be surprised if his record had been expunged of the order all together.

Her mother, Justin, and Tucker knew about some of it, even though she has always downplayed her initial relationship with Seth. After she got attacked outside of her apartment, Justin and Tucker had come down and stayed with her for a week. Although both of them had refused to confirm it, she suspects they took shifts on staying awake during the nights they had stayed with her. She knows they had searched every damn inch of her apartment for cameras and microphones. It probably still remains one of the only times those two had truly bonded.

“Considering you are just sitting there quietly, I’m going to assume he did a lot more than what you told me,” Hunter ends up saying, his voice devoid of any audible emotion. The only tell that he’s getting more pissed is the tightness in his jaw and the way his free hand is moving, as if he wants to punch a wall or Seth himself.

“...It was a long time ago,” Molly tells him, “I don’t want to get you all upset, especially when you should go the fuck back to sleep-”

“I’m not going back to sleep,” Hunter tells her, “I already know I won’t be able to. If you want to go lie back down, then you should get some sleep. The phone and I will stay in here.”

Molly pushes down her frustration and, as soon as she does, she feels immense guilt. Guilt over Hunter being worried, guilt over telling him about some of the stuff Seth had done in the first place, guilt over ruining his day.

“Hey,” Hunter says suddenly, his voice soft as he touches her face, “What are you thinking about?”

Molly shrugs and tries to look away, “I don’t know.”

“You look like you’re about to start crying.”

Molly chokes out a laugh, although it doesn’t sound much like one, “It’s just stress. I think I’ll manage not to.”

Hunter shakes his head, “You don’t have to do that, you know. Hide how you feel when you’re upset about something. Even if it’s about him. Or if you’re upset that I’m being an overprotective, stubborn dick.”

Molly dismisses the matter, “I’m just upset that I’ve made you upset. I feel guilty that you feel like my drama is on your shoulders now, which it shouldn’t be. We’ve only been talking for a couple of months and I’m already burdening you with this shit.”

Hunter frowns, “No. Molly, no. Yeah, I’m worried about you and pissed off at this fucking guy. If I ever see him in person, I will probably try to beat the shit out of him. But I’m not mad that you told me a little bit about what he did. What he’s still doing. I want to know if your safety is compromised by him or anyone else.”

“Says the man who strapped me to his chest and jumped out of a plane,” Molly says, sliding out of Hunter’s lap to sit next to him.

Hunter scoffs, “You had the time of your life. The fun outweighed the danger.”

“True,” Molly admits before stifling a yawn.

Hunter puts his arm around her shoulder and leads her down towards his lap, “Come here.”

Molly lets out a put upon sigh, “A blowjob at this ungodly hour?”

Hunter glares at her, “No. I’m not a fucking head pusher. Just lie down.”

Molly hesitates but gives in as she rests her head on Hunter’s thighs. Hunter reaches over and turns off the lamp, making the living room dark once more, the only light coming from the constantly buzzing phone. She tries not to focus on it. She tries to focus on Hunter’s fingers gently massaging the side of her scalp.

"I want to break my phone," Molly admits, after trying and failing to ignore it, "Again."

"I want to break your phone too," Hunter tells her, "We could, you know. We'll do it right now and I will just add a line to my plan as soon as AT&T opens this morning. He probably wouldn’t find your number if you had a California area code.”

“Ha ha ha,” Molly drawls.

“I’m being serious,” Hunter says, frowning slightly as the gears in his brain begin to turn, “I can add you to my plan.”

“I know you are being serious about that,” Molly answers - which is true, because she had already clued in on Hunter’s tendencies on romantic, impulsive gestures when he offered to fly her out for a day last month, “I just think it’s funny that you think a change of an area code will make it so he can’t figure out my number.”

“You’ve never lived in California,” Hunter counters, “He wouldn’t expect it.”

“He’d figure it out. I didn’t call him a genius to compliment him,” Molly sighs, “But the gesture means a lot. Besides, you can't go to AT&T this morning. You have work.”

“I already told you I am calling off.”

“No,” Molly says, “You’re lucky enough you only have to work until noon today and they are letting you come in after you drop me off at the airport tomorrow. You’re not going to compromise your job because I decided to come in unannounced.”

Through the dark, she can see Hunter purse his lips as he mutters, “I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone.”

Molly lets out a breath and takes Hunter’s free hand, interlacing her fingers with his, “I’ll be fine. This isn’t the first time he’s done this and it probably won’t be the last. And you were sort of right when pointed out the whole California thing. He knows I am not working but he might not know I am in LA right now."

"Might?"

"I am always at least a little paranoid about my emails and phone being hacked," Molly mumbles, leaning in to Hunter's touch before glancing up at him, "So the fact that I have still sent you nudes should tell you that I really, really like you."

"You really aren't convincing me to go to work at all," Hunter points out.

"Please, Hunter? Go. I will be okay. I promise. If I get too bothered by the constant ringing, then I'll go to the Santa Monica Pier or Descanso Gardens. Be a tourist. Or maybe I will go and jump out of a plane without you."

Hunter snorts a little at that and it makes Molly feel lighter. When he reaches over to grab her phone, she stills but calms when Hunter assures her that he's not going to answer it before taking the throw off the couch, wrapping the cell phone in it to muffle it, and stuffing it beneath the middle cushion.

"Until you get some sleep," He tells her quietly, "Just close your eyes."

She doesn't know if it is the fact that the buzzing can no longer be heard or the soft way Hunter asks her, but she shuts her eyes and actually drifts off.

------------------

Molly wakes up at 4:45 am as Hunter gently shifts out from under her. With bleary eyes, she watches him go towards his room and soon after, she hears the shower turn on from the adjacent bathroom. For a few moments, she states up at the living room ceiling, trying and failing to not think about the heated discussion she had with Hunter over Seth. If anything, she now feels even more terrible for Hunter finding out about the calls than she did when he got so upset about it. He hadn't gotten much sleep because of it. If he had gotten some rest after Molly fell asleep with her head in his lap, then he would have slept sitting up. He may not have a 12 or 16 hour shoot today like he usually does, but he still had to work and while his job requires him to be artistic and visionary, it also requires him to lift a bunch of heavy shit.

She hates Seth. With a passion. She may have told Hunter that he doesn't scare her anymore and that he isn't as bad as he used to be, but she fucking hates him for ruining this weekend and she hates herself for answering a 2 am phone call in the first place.

She reaches into the couch cushions and feels around for the throw until her hand hits her phone. It's still vibrating non-stop. She keeps her hand on it for a full minute in case its ringing might be a coincidence. When she figures out it isn't, it almost makes her feel nauseated enough to run to the main bathroom. Almost.

She hasn't had that reaction to Seth in a long time, a reaction of such strong nervousness and dread that it physically impacted her. Maybe it's because it has been a few months since he's done this or maybe it's because she has gotten so used to ignoring it and not even telling anyone when this does occur. Anyone close in her life finding out that Seth is still pulling this shit becomes concerned at best. Then there are people like Jerome, who pick up her phone to threaten Seth, only to get his social media hacked. Hazel had done the same thing, only for her nudes to get leaked. Both instances couldn't be proven, of course, but she had fought harder for them than she had for herself in years. Justin hasn't witnessed a call marathon from Seth for close to a year but he had gone apeshit the last time he had. If Nathan hadn't been there to help her talk him down, she wouldn't have been surprised if Justin went out to track Seth down himself. She couldn't stand the idea of Seth pulling something in retaliation that would negatively affect Justin and Nathan. So when Justin occasionally asks if Seth has harassed her lately, she lies and tells him she hasn't gotten any calls from him in a long time.

And just like with Justin and Nathan, she can't have Seth begin to target Hunter. At least with Justin and Nathan, they are more obligated to associate with her and like her. Hunter isn't obligated to have a relationship - or whatever this is - with her. He shouldn't feel compelled to have one either, especially with all of this being so new and being introduced to this shit so early. It doesn't matter that they've talked every single day since New York and she feels more rested when she falls asleep to the sound of his voice on speakerphone. It doesn't matter that she feels more open with him than she has with any other guy.

Regardless of it not mattering, if Seth fucked with his bank account, privacy, employment, or reputation, she might agree to meet Seth to fucking slaughter him. And it is a legitimate concern. Back when Seth was more actively stalking her, he had specifically targeted any boyfriends she had. Her last real boyfriend had his tires slashed, his car spray painted on, his bank account emptied, and anonymous false accusations made against him to his boss. None of which, of course, could be linked to Seth.

It's why she barely has a social media presence. She has Snapchat but she hardly shares her username with anyone and doesn’t accept requests. She has Facebook to keep in touch with some relatives and some friends from college but never updates it and often untags herself in other peoples' photos as soon as they're posted. It's a sort of a shame, because she would be perfect for Instagram or YouTube. Beauty and Science hacks all in one profile. But it's for the best. Keeping her social life a mystery makes it so Seth doesn't feel like he needs to target anyone except for her.

Getting particularly depressed by her thought process, Molly gets up and goes into Hunter's room to sit in the center of his bed. She doesn't go into the bathroom - she wants to give him some space - but her thoughts are making her feel lonely and sad and being closer to him, even if there is a wall between them, makes her feel a little better. Safer, somehow. She doesn't want to think about it too much.

The shower turns off and Molly watches the door for a few moments before Hunter comes out, unfortunately fully dressed. His eyes go from preoccupied to tender when he sees her and, while that makes her feel a lot better, she probably doesn't deserve it after her situation stressed him out so much.

"Hey," he says, coming over to kiss her head, "You going back to bed officially?"

Molly shrugs, "I don't know. Did you get any sleep after I turned your legs into a pillow?"

"I closed my eyes," Hunter answers vaguely, "I'll be fine."

Molly looks away, "I'm sorry you got like two hours of sleep because of me."

"It was not because of you," Hunter says, not leaving much room for argument, "It was because of that dick. That conversation isn't finished, by the way. I know you're downplaying it, even though what you have told me is fucking horrifying."

Molly groans, "We talked about him for a solid 30 minutes. I'm done talking about that dick."

"We won't talk about it until later, even if it is on the phone after you're back home," Hunter sighs, "I need to get to work. My parents should be here in about an hour. You can sleep until noon and ignore them for all I care but I called them and asked them to stay here until I come back."

"Oh my god, Hunter," Molly groans, "Why? What did you tell them? Michael is my brother's collaborator and if you freaked him out enough he might tell Justin and Justin really doesn't need the stress this weekend-"

"I didn't tell them everything," Hunter interrupts, "I just said that an old ex of yours had been harassing you in the middle of the night and kept trying to call, even when you told him not to call you. That it made me more nervous than it made you. And for the record, I told them not to talk about it with anyone but us."

Molly stares at Hunter, still annoyed. Hunter lets out a breath, "I'm sorry. I didn't do it to betray your trust. But that phone was ringing non-stop while you slept. I unwrapped it a couple of times to try to turn it off but your phone really is a piece of shit. It took everything I had not to go against you and answer it. But you have to know what he's doing isn't normal. It is erratic and he could be dangerous. I am going to work because you want me to but I really don't want you alone right now. I'm compromising."

"...Fine," Molly eventually answers, "You're overreacting but I guess it comes from a good place."

Hunter gives her a small smile before tilting her chin up for a kiss. Their lips meet twice before it deepens, but before they can get too into it, Molly gently pushes Hunter away.

"Go. You'll be late. I'll see you for lunch."

Hunter strands up straight and takes a few steps before turning around, "If you need to get a hold of me or anyone else, I left the login info for my laptop on the desk. Just message me on Facebook or something. Also, I’m taking your phone to AT&T as soon as I get off work so if you can’t find it, it’s because I’m going to go get it from inside the couch and put it in my pocket.”

“Hunter, no-”

“Molly, yes,” Hunter interrupts, “They should be able to connect it to something and reset it or forcibly turn it off since your phone doesn’t want to do either. Maybe they’ll figure out why you can’t turn it off when a call is coming in.”

“Phones die,” Molly points out, “I bet it will die before you even get to AT&T.”

“It might,” Hunter agrees, “But just in case it doesn’t.”

Molly rolls her eyes and flops down on the bed, “Whatever. Take the damn phone.”

“So gracious and sweet,” Hunter sighs, “Have a good day, sweetie!”

Molly gives him a sarcastic smile, “Wouldn’t have anything less, pumpkin!”

“You’re the ginger, not me,” Hunter calls out.

“You have red in your beard and you know it,” she counters.

“Touché. Later.”

After Hunter’s apartment door closes, Molly thinks about going back to sleep but even though Hunter told her she could sleep through his parents’ arrival, she doesn’t feel like she should, especially since they are coming here to protect her or offer solidarity or whatever Hunter asked them to do. So she gets up, takes a shower, blow dries her hair, and does her make up. By the time she’s finished and leaves Hunter’s bedroom, Michael and Ben are unlocking the door.

“Hey!” Ben calls out, a little too cheerful for 6:30 in the morning, “Look at you, up and ready. Michael and I thought about stopping to pick up some breakfast to bring over but we didn’t know what you would like. But if you are feeling up to it, maybe we can go out here in a little bit once more places open up.”

“Maybe explore a little too,” Michael adds, “Do whatever you want to do because you deserve to have a good day.”

“Jesus Christ, what did he tell you guys?” Molly asks, stepping back a little.

“Too much?” Michael winces, “Ben, I think we’re scaring her.”

“He didn’t tell us a lot,” Ben tells her softly, “But he did sound very worried and upset for you. He doesn’t want you to be alone and just wants you to feel safe.”

“And who better to call to fight someone off than me?” Michael says, smiling a little, “Ben provides some good backup too.”

Molly has to laugh at that, just a little, “Well, I doubt there will be any need for a physical altercation or even a shouting match. Hunter decided to take my shitty phone with him this morning. Overprotective dick.”

The insult comes out of her mouth before she can stop it, but before she can feel too guilty about it, both Ben and Michael give her wide smiles.

“That’s our boy!” Michael boasts proudly.

“We raised him well,” Ben adds.

Molly rolls her eyes good naturedly and the three of them go to the kitchen, where Michael puts on a pot of coffee. And then? They just talk. They talk about Rage and how Michael is glad that he’s becoming closer friends with Justin again. She and Ben talk about teaching. He talks about how much he’s come to love it now that he’s in a higher position at a University. While she talks about the programs she’s pushing with the school board that just got passed and that she loves the kids, she does end up admitting how she has been feeling for the past year.

“I’m bored of it a lot of the time,” Molly says to them, “The projects and assignments I have to give are too simple, although there are a couple of kids who are very advanced and eager to learn, so I really like teaching them. But I also like the kids who can’t sit still, talk back, and have behavioral problems. It’s rewarding when I can connect with them because some of the other staff just don’t have the patience for them and kids can sense that. It’s just the average kids. Most of them are sweet but they’re so boring.”

She can tell Michael and Ben are trying to hold back laughter as Michael clears his throat instead, “So your ideal child would be an overlooked genius who gets into trouble all of the time?”

“Basically,” Molly shrugs, “It’s not THAT funny.”

“No, no, it’s isn’t,” Ben agrees, yet still laughing, “It’s just that you described our son to a T. At least when he was a teenager.”

“Getting in trouble, running away,” Michael lists off, “Talking back to teachers who got even more mad at him than they would at other kids because of his witty comebacks.”

“His initial report cards were shaky,” Ben admits, "He had been out of school. There was obviously a lot of trauma he had experienced as well as various adjustments and transitions that he was going through when he officially moved in with us. Lower grades were to be expected. Then he took a statewide test his junior year and scored in the 98th percenttile”

“Then the school board thought he cheated, so they made him take it again,” Michael adds.

“And he did even better the second time,” Ben tells her proudly.

“They made him take it a third time too,” Michael says, “Ben and I were so pissed at the board members. Hunter was too. He ended up taking it but just bubbled in the options to spell out ‘Fuck You’ so it couldn’t even be graded.”

“That sounds like Hunter,” Molly answers, while nodding, “But they definitely deserved that ‘Fuck You’. I can tell you from personal experience that some school board members suck and don’t deserve to have their jobs.”

“So can we,” Michael and Ben say in unison, which is cute and almost gag-worthy all at once.

The conversation topics vary but eventually and inevitably, they do come back to Seth. It’s why they are here with her this morning.

“Have you talked to the police when he calls non-stop?” Michael asks, finishing off his second cup of coffee.

“Yeah, a couple of times,” she says, “To their credit, a couple of cops came over once to see what was happening for themselves and eventually answered the phone but Seth didn’t say a word. They tried to trace the calls with someone on site at the station but they get pinpointed to random areas throughout the country. They can’t prove anything, not even enough for a search warrant or to bring him in for questioning. I don’t even know if they know where he is. I haven’t seen him in person for about a year and that was on the other side of some bar.”

“There should be a registry for stalkers,” Ben says quietly, “Hunter’s right. His recurring obsessive behaviors and ability to hide where he is make him dangerous. Do Justin and your mother know that he’s still doing this?”

Molly lets out a sigh, “They know he has done stuff in the past. They were made aware when he was physically following me around. Justin and Tucker stayed with me for a week after one particularly bad incident. But I don’t want to bother them with it anymore, especially with my grandpa going downhill. I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t tell either of them that this happened.”

“Molly…” Michael starts, hesitating, “Look, I’m not going to say anything to Justin if that’s what you want but they should know. I know if this was happening to Hunter, we would want to know.”

“It sort of did,” Ben says, “Not with an ex and nowhere near this bad. It wasn’t really a stalking situation. But his mother routinely tries to get a hold of him and track him down, which often turns into harassment on her part. That started a couple of years ago when she saw that he won that Independent Spirit Award.”

“She’s after his money, which is kind of funny because he didn’t get paid that much for the movie he got that award for,” Michael tells her bitterly, “But he is doing really well for himself. The independent film community loves him and he has a significant following. He is one of the higher paid DPs under 30. It's not hard to figure out that he has money. He's never said, but we think he might have taken the camera operator job he started out with on this show to throw her off and even then, he couldn't keep himself from getting promoted to second-in-command after the first season. But he’s surprisingly good with money and the job he has now pays him really well. She figured that out. She wanted nothing to do with him once she learned about him being positive but now that Hunter is successful?”

“She wants a relationship again so that she can make a profit from him,” Molly fumes, and fuck, she feels pissed, protective as fuck, and she wants to punch Hunter’s mom in the face. Suddenly, she understands where Hunter was coming from this morning a little better.

“We try not to speak negatively about his mother around him, even though he would agree with everything,” Ben says, looking irritated, “But that’s all the woman has ever cared about. She wanted him back when he was a teenager so that she could get more money from the state. She...She...”

“Regularly sold him to pedophiles to get drug money when he was a kid?” Molly finishes, clenching her jaw, “He hasn’t told me a lot but he told me that much a few years ago, in his own way, back when he was in New York on a shoot while I was doing an internship and we were just hanging out. She deserves to rot.”

Michael nods in agreement, “Anyway, he didn’t tell us about it for a while and we were upset he felt the need to protect us from that. If you think Justin and your mom are going to see your situation as an annoyance or a burden, they’re not. They’ll care deeply and be upset, but not with you for letting them know.”

Molly sees where they are coming from and she knows they’re right, but she shakes her head, “It doesn’t need to be their business. Seth tends to fuck over friends and family who get involved. It’s why I told Hunter not to answer the phone. Look, it’s fine, okay? I’m used to it. My mom and Tucker are going through a lot with moving to Connecticut to help my grandmother with my grandfather and my brother has a lot going on right now as well. They don’t need to know. Besides, he should stop after a few days.”

Michael opens his mouth, most likely to give her a counter argument, but she sees Ben pat his hand and try to smile, “It’s your choice. We’re not going to say anything. We’re just worried. Hunter cares about you a lot and when he’s worried and upset, we tend to get worried and upset.”

“And we can’t blame him, because this Seth guy seems like a psychotic prick,” Michael says.

“Well, we can agree on that,” Molly says before grabbing their mugs to put them in the sink, “So are we going out for breakfast or not?”

Since Molly doesn’t have her phone, Michael and Ben look up places that might be of interest. She really doesn’t care very much when it comes to where they go, but she vetoes some cereal bar because she isn’t going to pay four dollars a bowl for cereal when she can pay less than that for a whole box. Since Ben and Michael rented a car, they end up going to a diner near Warner Brothers Studio, which leads to the three of them taking a tour. The tour ends up being three and a half hours, but Molly enjoys it, even though she would have preferred to watch Hunter geek out or correct the tour guide if he were with them. By the time they are out of the tour, it’s 12:35 pm.

“I missed a call from Hunter,” Ben says, after checking his phone.

“He’s probably wanting to meet up,” Michael says, “I missed a call from him too.”

“I’m giving him a call back,” Ben tells them before he puts the phone to his ear, “...Hey! Sorry we missed your calls. We just got out of a studio tour...Yeah, Molly’s with us, where else would she be?...Well, she didn’t sleep through us being there. We’ve spent the whole morning together...Warner Brothers, but we can meet you anywhere for lunch…Yeah, that’s fine...We’ll see you in a few.”

Ben ends the call and puts his phone back in his pocket, “He’s apparently 10 minutes away from us and asked us to meet at a Mexican restaurant nearby. You both ready?”

The place ends up only being an eight minute walk to Don Cuco Mexican Restaurant so they opt to do that rather than find parking again. Despite walking, they make it there before Hunter. Hunter doesn’t arrive until the complimentary chips do.

“Gracias,” Hunter tells the waiter, putting his backpack underneath the table before sitting next to her, “¿Puedo tomar agua con limón?”

“Si,” the waiter answers, “¿Qué quieres comer?”

“Lo decidiré en unos minutos,” Hunter says before the waiter walks away.

“When the fuck did you learn Spanish?” Michael asks, baffled. Going by Ben’s expression, he is just as confused.

Hunter shrugs, “I did take it in High School. And two semesters in college. Not that I retained much. I was bored last summer. Lily forced me, Gus, and JR to learn the alphabet and some random words when you stuck me with the kids during Mel’s birthday and I figured it would be useful here so I decided to keep working on it.”

“You should have talked to her in Spanish when we saw them at Christmas,” Michael says, smiling a little, “She would have loved the idea that she inspired you to learn more.”

“Maybe next time,” Hunter tells him before reaching under the table, “Molly, I got you something.”

“Why?” Molly asks.

Hunter snorts as he opens his bag, “I think a more appropriate response is, ‘Ooh, what is it, Hunter?’ or ‘Hurry up and give me my damn present’ but to answer your question: I wanted to.”

Hunter pulls a white AT&T bag out of the backpack and puts it on the table in front of her. Molly takes one glance inside the bag before pushing it back towards him, “Nope. Too much. Don’t want it.”

“Don’t be stubborn,” Hunter tells her, pulling the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus box out of the bag, “I asked the guy at the store to look at your phone - which was still fucking ringing non-stop at noon, by the way - and he said that while your battery is amazing, the controls and hardware on your phone are on the fritz. He had to connect it to a computer and force it to go into airplane mode so that the calls would stop coming through long enough for him to look at it. He said that you should be able to turn it off during a call but there’s something wrong with your home button and control button corresponding. It could potentially be fixed but would cost a few hundred dollars for a minor issue. He recommended this phone so that calls only appear at the top of the screen, You can swipe them away, keep doing what you are doing on the phone, and even call other people while he’s calling in.”

“Hunter-”

“I’m not even paying much for it,” he insists, “I added a line to my plan and it’s fifteen dollars a month total to do that. I know you’re not going to agree to take a new number under my plan, but the guy said the SIM cards could be switched. I have the stuff to do it right now.”

“God, you’re so manipulative,” Molly complains, “Really, Hunter, it’s sweet that you want to help with this but I can’t accept that. It might not be costing you much up front but that is a $700 phone.”

“Which I can easily afford to pay up front,” Hunter points out, “But I’m not because you’re prideful and stubborn.”

“Hunter,” Ben starts, seeming like he doesn’t want to get involved, “If she doesn’t want you to buy her a new phone, then that’s her-”

Hunter pulls her still vibrating phone out of his pocket and hands it to Ben, “Try to end the call and turn it off.”

Ben lets out an exasperated sigh and holds her phone out in front of him, looking more and more disturbed as the calls keep coming through. Holding down the home button and the control button, he realizes it does nothing.

Ben clears his throat and hands the phone over to Molly, “You should take the new phone. Maybe the new number too. He might not figure out a number with a California area code.”

“That’s what I said!” Hunter says, gesturing towards Ben.

“He’ll figure it out,” Molly says, “Whether it is through hacking my accounts or my employment records, I’d rather not give him a reason to do that - again - especially when no one can ever prove shit and he gets away with everything.”

Ben and Michael keep looking like they are getting more concerned by the second - she wishes they would stop that - but Hunter, while she has obviously touched a nerve with the information, looks like he is just more resolved in getting her to accept his gift.

“I’m going to show you what a difference there is between this phone and your phone,” he tells her.

Hunter takes the new phone out of the box and Molly can see that it is much more superior than the phone she has now, not that she’ll tell him that. From the box, Hunter takes out a SIM card key and takes both SIM cards out of the phone, causing her phone to finally stop buzzing. He quickly switches the SIM cards, powers up the new phone, sets it up with her info, and waits for it to connect to the network. As soon as it does, it begins to ring again.

“Look,” Hunter tells her, leaning over so she can have a better view, “Only at the top of the screen. You can browse on Chrome, look at your texts, call someone, play fucking Candy Crush, and turn the phone off.”

Molly lets out a breath and finally takes a hold of the phone that Hunter is holding out to her. It’s fucking tempting. Way too fucking tempting. It would make her life a whole lot easier when Seth gets like this.

“I guess if I can play fucking Candy Crush,” Molly mutters, rolling her eyes.

"All the Candy Crush you want," Hunter confirms, his eyes bright and happy, "So you're taking it?"

"If it means that much to you," Molly sighs, before easily and successfully turning the new phone off, "We should stop somewhere so I can buy a case and not break it the first day though."

"Already done," Hunter says, getting into his bag again to pull out a mint green OtterBox, "I thought this color would go well with your hair."

"You…" Molly starts then shakes her head, taking the case, "Whatever, you're weird. Thanks for the new phone."

They eat their food without one vibrating phone between them.

---------------------------------------

After the four of them explore Santa Monica Pier, they head back to Hunter's so that Ben can cook them a Tibetan inspired meal for dinner. Molly honestly thinks she's never eaten more in her entire life than she has today but the dinner he ends up making is light and extremely healthy so she doesn't feel too guilty eating it. She risks turning her phone back on after the dishwasher is loaded and the calls have thankfully stopped, although the notification of having 207 missed calls makes her feel sick. She doesn't have the time or the patience to see if anyone who isn't Seth might have called but she doesn't really have to when she sees a text from Justin.

Hey, tried to call a couple of times but it went straight to voicemail. Can you give me a call when you see this?

She feels a sense of nervousness when she reads it and she also feels like a piece of shit because she hasn't checked in with Justin once during this long weekend to ask about how seeing their dad after ten years is going.

"Hey," she says softly as she goes over to Hunter, "I'm going outside to sit by the pool for a few minutes. I need to call Justin back and see how he's doing."

"Yeah, of course," Hunter tells her, looking a little concerned but doesn't say or ask anything else about the matter.

Molly walks outside, takes her flip-flops off, and sits at the edge of the pool before selecting Justin's name from her contacts. It only rings twice before Justin picks up.

"Hey," Justin says as he picks up, "It's past 10 o' clock. What took you so long to call back? I was getting worried. Your phone was off."

Molly lets out a sigh and opts for, "I just needed to disconnect. I was busy today and didn't want to be distracted. How is everything going?"

"It…" Justin starts, his voice already sounding strained, "Good in some ways, bad in others. He's genuinely sorry and is a different person now. I can see that. Nathan and I have actually had him in the guest room the last couple of nights. But Jesus Christ, Molly. Why didn't you tell me he was this bad?"

Molly tries not to feel annoyed but that's all she can feel right now. She doesn't want her last night here to end like this.

"I didn't think you would care," Molly answers honestly, "Every time I have brought up Dad asking about you, you've brushed it off. The only time you ever talk about him is when you tell me you don't want me to stop having a relationship with him because of you."

"Of course I care," Justin chokes out, "Of course I do. Fuck, Molly. What the fuck is wrong with our dad?"

"I don't know," Molly answers, trying not to get emotional herself, "I really don't."

"He needs help," Justin stresses.

"You're probably right."

Molly listens to Justin's breathing on the other line for a few moments before he clears his throat.

"He's flying back to Pittsburgh tomorrow afternoon. I...I don't want him alone at the airport. He's not doing well with crowds. He had a panic attack in the subway station. His flight should be in by 2 pm. I need you to pick him up and get him back to his house."

Molly can't help it. She might be selfish but she's fucking sick of her weekend being ruined. She can't even say no, because she is supposed to get to the airport by 12 pm tomorrow. She's probably lucky that she's getting in before her father. If she wasn't, then she would have to explain to Justin why she couldn't get him. She would have to explain that she flew off to LA to fuck Justin's collaborator's son and jump out of a plane.

"Molly? You there?"

"Yeah," she says curtly, "I'll get him. Talk to you later."

"Wait wait wait," Justin says quickly, keeping her from hanging up, "Are you mad at me for asking you to do this?"

"It's fine!" Molly says a little too loudly, "I am the only one who put up with him before so why wouldn't it be me to go fucking pick him up now?"

"Molly-"

"I said it's fine, Justin," Molly sighs, suddenly feeling tired, "I'm just stressed."

And that's true. She's stressed about her dad, she's stressed about Justin's weekend with him, she's stressed about Seth's undying obsession with her, and she's not only stressed, but suddenly dreading leaving Hunter in the morning. And it's a fucking intense dread, Hunter makes her feel good, less stressed, safe, and if this thing between them were older, probably loved.

She feels none of those things in West Virginia. It took coming here to fully realize that.

"What are you stressed about?" Justin asks, concerned, "Besides Dad."

Molly thinks about it. She thinks about telling him everything about Hunter, the new phone, Seth, even Principal Skinner being a fucking creep. Because the truth is, her brother makes her feel safe too. It took years for them to form a close bond but once they finally did, it felt permanent. She knows she can talk to him. She knows that.

"Nothing," she ends up saying instead, "I'm okay. I'll call you after I get him home, okay? I love you."

"Yeah, I love you too," Justin says quietly, "Call me tomorrow."

"I will."

She goes back inside Hunter's condo and forces a smile on her face that Hunter seems to see right through. Michael and Ben leave around 8 pm and both of them hug her, telling her how good it's been to see her and to stay safe. She and Hunter make the most of the time they have after, pretty much all of it spent in the bedroom. And when they're both too tired to go one more round, she lays her head on Hunter's chest and desperately tries not to cry.

Hunter can see right through her then too, but doesn't push her to talk. One glance up at him and Molly realizes that he doesn't seem like he's taking it much better.