"Oh my god, I love this movie", Molly said, after Brian and her had watched Jim Carrey's "Liar, Liar". "I've watched it so many times and I still can't help but almost pee my pants from laughing."
Brian was still chuckling, too, when he said: "Hey, that's my couch you'd pee on, you better be careful."
"Aww, don't worry, Bri. I'm a big girl, I'm house-trained." Molly grinned.
Brian returned the grin: "Hey, do we still have some of those...ya know...aw man, I'll never learn what they're called."
"Palacinke!" Molly laughed. (Author's note: it's the Croatian word for crepés! In case you also don't know what THAT is: it's a type of really thin pancakes.) "Yeah, we still have plenty. I made a lot of 'em." Brian's and Molly's late breakfast had not only consisted of the fruit salad she had made, but also of above-mentioned pancakes that they covered with jam, peanut butter, fruit slices, cinnamon or whatever else they wanted. Now it was late afternoon, but they still had food left over.
"I'll get another one. Want one, too?" Brian asked, as he walked back into the kitchen.
"Nah, thanks, I've had enough" Molly replied. "Hey, B.!"
"Yeah?"
"You know, as you're second best female friend after Leighanne, I should have a couple of advantages, huh?!"
"What do you want?" Brian grinned, as he came back.
Molly smiled cheekily. "Mandy told me she's already heard about five songs from Millennium, whereas I..." She let the sentence linger.
"Whereas you were spending time with a certain Backstreet Boy", Brian laughed. "Didn't AJ play you any songs from the album?"
"Would I be pleading now if he had? Besides - gee, we had better things to do!"
Both laughed, as Brian said: "I don't even wanna know!"
"So? Can I pretty please have some sneak peeks?" Molly smiled innocently.
"Sure, babe. Anytime." Brian walked towards his stereo, asking: "Up-tempo songs or ballads?"
"How about both?" Molly suggested. "Let's start off with something up-tempo though."
Fifteen minutes later, after Molly had given her praise and critique to Brian for the songs he had played so far, he decided to play "The Perfect Fan" for her. Before the song was halfway through, Brian noticed with worried looks that Molly's eyes got red and she seemed as though she was about to start crying. It didn't take much longer, before she actually did. Brian knew that she was in tears because of her mom, and he felt bad for being the one who caused her sudden outburst of sadness.
He put an arm around her, as Molly wiped her tears silently. She tried to calm herself again, but one look at Brian's face was enough to make the tears fall again. She forced a smile for him, but didn't quite succeed.
"Hey girlie, please don't cry", he said softly.
Molly nodded, swallowing down the lump in her throat. "It's a very beautiful song", she told him honestly.
"I must've done something wrong with it - all women I play it to start bawling like babies!" he smiled in an attempt to cheer her up a little. "You look just like my mom, when I played the song to her the first time!" He gently stroked her back, feeling her body shaking with the last silent sobs, as she got control over her feelings.
She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes. "You haven't done wrong a single thing with this song. It's so...I don't find words to describe it. It's so true and beautiful and...I wish I could've played it for my mom just once. It says exactly how I feel about her." Tears slipped from both her eyes.
Brian pulled her close to him again, rocking her back and fourth lightly. "I'm sure your mom knew all that. How you felt about her and that you loved her!"
"It comforts me a lot to know that that is true", she sighed. "My mom and I always knew that we loved each other!"
With his fingers, Brian erased the trace of tears that were still on Molly's face. He smiled, and this time she could smile back at him. "I guess you could use another up-tempo song?!" he said.
Molly chuckled a little. "Yeah, Give me one where my man sings a lot!"
AJ arrived at 4pm to pick Molly up at Brian's. AJ came in to stay for a little while, and Brian teased the other two, when they shared a kiss.
"How was it in the studio?" Brian then asked.
"Great", AJ replied. "Kev wants you to call him later, by the way. What have you two been doing all day?"
"We had a lot of fun", Molly grinned.
"Molly taught me how to throw pancakes", Brian said, which made Molly laugh.
AJ raised an eye-brow at them. "You threw pancakes?"
"Not exactly", Molly said. "I taught him how to turn the pancakes in the pan by throwing 'em up, so that they turn in the air, and then land in the pan again."
"Really?" AJ asked impressed. "Wow, I didn't know you can do that."
"Believe me, honey, there's a lot you don't know about me yet", Molly smiled.
AJ smiled back, before he turned to Brian: "So, bro, how many are glued to the ceiling now?"
Brian laughed, admitting: "Two fell to the floor, and I let one burn. But we still have some. You gotta try one."
"I'm starving anyway", AJ grinned, following Brian into the kitchen with Molly.
"Aren't we gonna have dinner soon?" Molly asked. "Although..." She looked at her watch. "It's a li'l early, huh?"
"We actually have to drive a while, before we can have dinner", AJ replied. "If we leave soon, I'm hoping we'll be there by six, at the latest."
"And where would 'there' be?" Molly grinned.
"Surprise..." AJ smiled, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.
They stayed at Brian's another half hour, before AJ announced that he and Molly should get going. As Molly was dragged out by AJ, she laughed: "Brian, if I'm nowhere to be found tomorrow morning, you know where to send the cops to!"
"Will do", Brian grinned. Then he said: "Oh damn, Molly, I can't. I'd lose my job without that whacko. Can't afford that, babe, sorry!"
Both AJ and Brian laughed at Molly, as she made a frown. "As long as you can afford losing a friend..." she joked, then got into AJ's black Mercedes. Brian waved, as AJ pulled out of the driveway.
After the two had stopped chuckling in the car, AJ asked: "So you had fun today?"
"Yeah", Molly said, but AJ didn't overhear the little sigh that lay underneath.
"Yeah?" he asked for confirmation.
"Well, mostly we had a great time. But we had...umm...a little drama moment", Molly admitted. There was no reason to hide it from AJ.
"What happened?"
"Nothing major. Brian played 'The Perfect Fan' and I guess you could say my reaction wasn't exactly the usual one."
AJ immediately clued in to what had happened, and turned to her: "Are you alright?"
Molly laughed: "I'll be, if you keep your eyes on the road."
"I see you haven't lost your humor", AJ grinned, concentrating on the traffic again, but squeezing Molly's hand gently. "Do you wanna talk about it?" he then asked. "I'd like to hear more about your family."
"Not now, ok?" she said. "How about later?"
"Whatever you want", he smiled. The radio was playing, but AJ didn't like the song, so he started switching the channels. When he started back at the first one and continued, Molly asked:
"Why don't you just play a CD?!"
"Yeah, why don't I?" he chuckled. "Choose one."
"Ok", Molly grinned, and began going through the CD's. She finally settled on Montell Jordan's album.
"Montell!" AJ smiled. "Very good choice."
"Yeah, well", Molly grinned. "You should know by now: I have marvelous taste in music and men!"
AJ laughed and nodded. "Oh yes, you do, if I may say so!"
"Hey guys", Mandy greeted, as Nick and Araysa came bouncing into the garden of Caroline's house, where she was working on her tan.
"Hi", Araysa grinned brightly, hugging Mandy shortly.
"Hi Mandy", Nick smiled.
"So, how was Tampa?" Mandy grinned at Araysa.
Araysa beamed. "Awesome. I'll tell you everything later", she said, winking at Mandy. Mandy could already guess what her friend had to tell her and just winked back.
"Where's everyone?" Nick asked.
Mandy shrugged. "God knows where. Brian and Molls spend the day together, AJ and Kev were or still are in the studio, Sarah is...I think shopping or something."
"Oh, alright", Nick replied. Then he bent down to plant a kiss on Araysa's lips. "I'll be back later, ok?"
"Yeah, great", she smiled, pulling him in for another kiss. They broke away when Mandy started snorting. "What?" Araysa grinned.
"Get that grin off your face, woman", Mandy smiled. "There's a single girl around."
Araysa's eyes had a gentle expression in them, as she looked at Mandy, sensing that Mandy had a little something to talk about as well. After Nick had left, the girls got comfortable next to the pool with some iced tea and strawberries, enjoying late afternoon's sun.
"Now spill", Mandy said excitedly. "What happened? Did IT happen?"
Araysa's face was answer enough, but for confirmation she sighed happily: "Yeah!"
"Oh my god!" Mandy exclaimed. "Tell me! Oh...god. I'm so happy for you!"
Araysa brushed some hair out of her face. "Oh Mandy, it was awesome", she began dreamily. "HE was awesome. We had...just...a really, really nice evening, and then one thing led to the next. I wish Nick had been my first, he is such a wonderful lover. I'm sure I wouldn't have been disappointed with him in the least. Oh well, I wasn't disappointed this way either." She chuckled a little. "Mander, he is...I'm in love. I'm so in love." Araysa continued telling Mandy all about her time with Nick, and how she had only met Nick's pugs today, because a friend had been dog-sitting them. When she had finished her story, she said: "Your turn. What's bugging you?"
"What do you mean?" Mandy asked back.
Araysa shrugged. "That little comment about you being single had a definite undertone", she stated. "Is it Brian?"
Mandy sighed. "Of course it's Brian. Aww, man, don't get me wrong - I'm so totally happy for you and Molls, and about all that's happened, but I fell so madly in love myself, and here I am all alone. I wish that Brian had felt the sparks as well, 'cause...phew, I'm practically on fire and he's...not feeling anything. It sucks. Even though he's being such a wonderful friend."
"I wish there was something I could do about it", Araysa replied. "Maybe...maybe you just gotta give it time, you know. I mean, for Molly and me things went really unusually fast. Love takes time, so don't give up. At least not so soon. If Brian won't come around to see what an awesome girl you are, heck, then he doesn't deserve you." She placed a hand on Mandy's arm and grinned: "I'll personally kick his ass, until he realizes he should be with you."
Mandy bit her lower lip and smiled. "Yeah", she chuckled. "Tell me when you're gonna do it. Wouldn't wanna miss that, would I?" Both laughed and hugged, before Mandy once again started asking Araysa all about her time with Nick.
"Oh my!" Molly exclaimed. "Alex, is this what I think it is?"
He chuckled. "Well, what DO you think it is?" Both stood in front of a 60's-style-diner, which was their destination. It was called "Nickels", and as a huge Celine Dion fan Molly knew that Celine was one of the owners of the diner.
"Is this Celine's?" she asked, turning to AJ with sparkling eyes. When he nodded, she let out a small squeal and hugged AJ. "You're the best! How did you get that idea?"
"You told me once in Minneapolis that you're a fan, so I thought you might like coming here for dinner. It's just a small surprise, I hope you aren't disappointed" he said.
"No way", she said, kissing him. "This is so cool, thank you, babe!"
AJ took her hand and said: "Let's go in then, I'm still starving."
They found a table in the back quickly and sat down. AJ could tell from the way Molly took in her surroundings that she really liked his surprise. She was in a happy mood the entire time they were there, and AJ found himself just staring at her a couple of times. He had already gotten used to the way she talked with hand and feet and realized how wonderful she looked doing it. He loved it that he could read her face like a book, because it was never emotionless. Either she was grinning brightly, or her eyes would water when she thought and talked of something sad, or she would put on that sly smile, as if she was trying to seduce him, before she would burst into laughter again. He was also always amused about the fact that she sung along to every song that played anywhere, because she knew the lyrics to most of them by heart. But what fascinated him most were her eyes. They weren't eyes that attracted attention necessarily - no color of diamond blue, or an emerald green or something pretty like that. But they were fascinating in their own way, he found out.
The color of Molly's eyes was a mixture of brown and green, with touches of gold. She had once told him she described it herself as "dirty lake water", but he didn't think that was a good description. The fascinating thing about her eyes was that the color changed, when her mood changed. When she was happy, they would sparkle and the green came out brighter than usual. When she was sad her eyes turned so dark that he believed they turned a very dark shade of blue. He had never seen her really mad so far, but during a fierce discussion they had had, he swore her eyes had been brown and grey.
He was pulled out of these thoughts, when Molly started waving her hand in front of his eyes. She raised an eye-brow at him and said: "Don't start being like my bro!"
"What?" he asked.
"He never listens to me, either", she said. She looked at him shyly: "Am I that boring to you?"
AJ shook his head and grabbed her hand on the table. "No, I'm sorry. Does it comfort you to know that I have been thinking about you?"
"I'm not sure", she replied. "Depends on what you've been thinking."
"Does someone in your family have grey eyes?"
"What?" Molly laughed, totally surprised by that question.
"Did you know that your eyes change their color from time to time? Depending on your mood."
"Umm, no, not really. I don't spend THAT much time in front of a mirror."
"Well, they do", AJ smirked.
"What color are they right now?" Molly asked curiously.
AJ smiled: "Pretty green!"
"Oh really?" she asked excitedly. "I always wished they were green, and not that stupid color that they are. They're so plain."
AJ raised Molly hand to his face and kissed it lightly. "They're not plain at all."
"Well, you have beautiful eyes yourself, hun. You're just hiding them too much."
AJ laughed: "Bad habit!"
"Wanna know something else?" When AJ gave her a questioning look and a nod, Molly continued: "Someone who doesn't know you would never think you laugh as much as you do - and as beautiful as you do."
AJ raised his eye-brows: "Huh?"
"Yeah, 'cause... Do you know how hard it is to find pictures of you where you're smiling really brightly, or even laughing? You always gotta have that tough image going, it sucks. I love to see you laugh."
AJ looked at her intently, a small smile playing on his lips. He intertwined their fingers and said: "Maybe I didn't laugh that much, before I met you."
Molly squeezed his hand in hers lightly, returning the tender gaze. "Maybe. I hope not though. But I guess the only thing that matters is that I can keep you happy now."
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