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Hey everyone. Well, before you read this I would recomend reading the one-shot 'Underneath the Mistletoe' because the two stories are somewhat connected. I'll be writing a one-shot for all the Belling sisters and each on will be put out sometime around a Holiday. Well, enjoy:
"Your red dress?" Molly repeated in a questioning voice and 17 year old Courtney nodded.
"Yeah, I already asked Grace-Ann and Natalie but neither of them had it..." Courtney said, referring to Molly's triplets (Grace-Ann was older then Molly by 20 minutes and Natalie was older then Molly by 7).
"Do you think mom has it?" Molly offered as she hopped off her large canopy bed and onto the floors to head towards her closet.
"She doesn't like the color red."
"But its Valentines Day, so are you sure the rules still apply?"
"Molyyyy, she doesn't like the way that red looks on her and we both know that she's going to want to look good for Harold." Courtney said the name in disgust.
"Henry." Molly corrected with a sigh. "Harold was the name of husband number five, Court." Courtney frowned and looked away; all the Belling girls hated the way that their mother ran through men but Courtney hated it the most seeing as how she was the youngest and a product of husband number three while all her sisters where from husband number two causing the triplets to only be her half-sisters.
Courtney glanced over at Molly and watched her half-sister flip through her closet. Another reason that Courtney wasn't exactly pleased with her mother's personality was because she blamed her mom for the way Molly was.
Molly was, what some would call, a semi-party girl. She loved to party the nights away, was a bit insecure, and sometimes saw drinking as a sport. The thing with Molly was that she also maintained a 'B' average in school, wasn't unfaithful to her boyfriends (who-ever he may be at the time), and was always there for her sisters when necessary.
Still, Courtney didn't like staying up until 2 o'clock on Sunday nights worrying about her older sister. Molly didn't get drunk because she has an abnormally strong hold on her liquor and she knew when that hold was about to break so she was able to stop drinking in time. This worried Courtney because she was always dead afraid that her sister would end up with alcohol poisoning or something since she could drink so much of it without the worry of getting drunk.
"Ahh, here we go." Molly said as she pulled a mid-thigh length halter designer red dress from her closet and handed it over to her younger sister.
"Thanks!" Courtney said with a smile and her eyes raked over the dress.
"You're going out with Cole tonight, right?" Molly asked as she leaned against her vanity table; Courtney nodded. "So how are things going between you guys? I have to say...I was surprised when I got on Christmas to see you two on the couch watching a movie. It was so funny because Nate looked about ready to murder Cole the second he recognized him." Courtney laughed and Molly smiled at the thought of her boyfriend.
Nathanial Palette was Molly's boyfriend of three years today; they started dating on Valentines Day in their junior year of high-school and now they were both sophmores in college. Molly at the time was still the beautiful semi-party girl and Nathanial was the ever-so-popular 'bad boy' of the school. With his messy black hair, stunning hazel eyes, annoying smirk that was permanently planted on his face, and his admirable motorcycle, it was hard for Molly (and the rest of the female population) not to fall for him. As a matter of fact, when it came out the two were dating; Natalie (who happened to be Nathanial's best friend) had to spend a lot of time convincing Nate to not go out and do something about the jealous vixens who found it necessary to spread nasty rumors about his new girl.
It was obvious that Nate and Molly were perfect for each other; they were so alike which sometimes caused them to drive each other crazy because it's just the natural human nature to get annoyed when you spend so much time with someone whose so much like you, but it also caused them to get along wondrously most of the time.
It was easy for the two to fall in love with each other.
Molly got along with Nate's friends and vice-versa and they attended the same prestigious college. Nathanial who grew up as an only child was already familiar with the Belling family and that explained why he wasn't too happy about seeing Cole with Courtney – he knew what had happened between the two and a brotherly instinct came naturally to him when it came to the fatherless, brother less, sisters of Molly.
The entire Belling family liked Nathanial because he was the first person who was able to really stop Molly's new-boyfriend-a-month thing that she had going on. Nathanial's whole family liked Molly because she, like him, stopped his one-girlfriend-a-week thing. Actually, the only person of whom Nate had relations with who really hated Molly would be his mother, Joyce.
No one knew for sure why Joyce hated her, but Molly, Grace-Ann, and Natalie (who had a long talk about this one night while waiting for Courtney to come home from her '17th birthday date' with Cole) thought it may have something to do with their mother. While Rachel Belling may have looked like Courtney, she used to act like Molly but on a worse level seeing as how she couldn't hold her liquor nearly as well as Molly could. Maybe a long time ago, Rachel made a drunken mistake that scorned Nate's mother for life. Maybe she stole her boyfriend or something. They didn't know for sure, all they knew was that Nathanial's mother didn't like Molly Belling in the least.
"So you never answered my question, how are things?" Molly pressed as she glanced at the clock.
7:00 is what it read, so she and Nate would be meeting up in 30 minutes.
"They're alright...he's still trying to make things up to me and show me that he's not going to mess up again but I can't help but worry a little bit...you know?" Molly nodded with a sad smile because she did know...she knew all to well.
Although Molly hadn't told anyone, she and Nate had had a little falling out a few months ago. They were at a Halloween party after having a stupid argument over something Molly couldn't even remember anymore; anyways, Nate proceeded to get drunk and Molly walked in on him making out with some random girl who was visiting the party's host from out of state.
Molly was crushed, told him it was over, and proceeded to try and walk home. She had been walking for about an hour and was half-way home when Nate pulled up in his car besides her and with remorseful eyes, tried to coax her into the car (he had given up the motorcycle about a year ago). She refused so Nate parked his car at the side of the road and walked with her. He proceeded to apologize at least 50 times and allowed Molly to scream at him, punch him in the chest a few times, hit him in the eye once (which left a nasty bruise), before she finally broke down and cried into his chest, soaking his shirt.
He had somehow calmed her down and kissed away the few remaining tears before he pulled her to him and promised to make everything up to her. She had simply nodded and allowed him to carry her back to his car where he buckled her into the passenger seat and drove her home. Nate ended up spending the night with her as he watched her sleep.
True to his word, Nate had made it up to her and Molly was over those events, but they both knew that there was always that lingering fear in the back of her mind that he would do something stupid like that again. Because of this, he stopped drinking so much and tended to stick by Molly more often when they were out partying – he also stayed home after fights instead of going out. He really did love her and this had proved it to her.
"Anyways, what about you? Are you going anywhere with Nate tonight?" Courtney questioned with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Molly laughed.
"Yes, we're meeting up at the V-Day festival in town."
"But that’s what you guys do the every Valentines Day!"
"It's where we had our first date which happened to be on Valentines Day, Court. Now shut up and go change so I can get ready." Molly pushed Courtney out her bedroom door and Courtney laughed as Molly rolled her eyes and shut the door. She had taken a shower before painting her toenails so she took her light brown hair out of the messy bun, ran a brush through it and let it dry and curl on its own. Molly ran over to her closet and pulled out her favorite red cashmere sweater with a plunging neckline and a pair of black jeans with red flats before grabbing her purse and heading out the door to her car.
Molly glanced at the car clock and sighed before speeding off when she realized that she was going to be late...again, but at the thought, Molly couldn't help but smile.
She had been late on their first date too.
Nathanial Palette shoved his cellphone into his jeans pocket and crossed his leather jacket clad arms as he leaned against the picnic table. He ignored the constant lustful looks he was getting from females that passed him by and instead focused on keeping his messy black hair out of his eyes.
He felt a presence next to him and quickly glanced over only to end up letting out an irritated noise when he saw some girl smiling at batting her eyelashes quickly while a small group of girls obviously her friends giggled and pointed from a short while away.
"Hi, I'm Sarah-"
"And I'm not interested. Plus, aren’t you a little young?" She looked to be about 15 or 16 and flushed at his question before she mumbled a reply and slunk away. Nate rolled his eyes; while girls' initial attraction to him used to cause him great pride, he was now so used to it that it no longer had any effect on him – it didn't even inflate his ego any longer which, according to Molly, was only true because his ego had already met its maximize capacity a long time ago.
Nate clenched his fists at the thought of his girlfriend. He wasn't at all happy with her at the moment and while the two of them were usually somehow able to work out their problems, he knew that this new rift in their relationship was something that he wouldn’t be able to get by. Not this time.
"Nate!" Nathanial looked up and his hazel eyes caught familiar blue ones which caused his heart-rate to speed up a little bit; he chastised himself and reminded himself that if he wanted his plans to succeed then he'd have to get rid of all these exciting feelings that overtook him whenever Molly was near.
Molly pushed through the heavy crowds and smiled when she finally made it to her boyfriend; however, her smile slowly faded when she noticed the look of distain on his face.
"Hey, Nate what's wrong?" Molly asked as she reached up to cup his face; he pushed her away and turned his back to her before he started to walk away. He motioned for her to follow and with confusion and hurt etched onto her face, she did.
They walked for about five minutes before Molly got sick and tired of it all, therefore causing her to latch onto her boyfriends arm and turn him arm to face her.
"What?" He asked through clenched teeth; Molly didn't even flinch.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Where are we going?" She asked exasperatedly.
"Well, I was trying to find someplace private-"
"We're at the V-Day festival. Privacy is not usually what people expect to find here." Molly comment dryly causing her boyfriend to glare. What's wrong with him?
"Fine then. We'll just do this here."
"Do what here?" Molly asked incredulously as she glanced around; they were in the center of the food plaza.
"This: Molly, we need to break up." Molly's eyes widened as she snapped over to look at him. She hadn't been expecting that. She could already feel her throat constricting and her breathing un-evening as she fought back the emotions that were trying to let loose and show of her face.
"What? Why?! Nate, things were going so well! What did I do?" Molly cried as she searched his hazel eyes for an answer. They gave none.
"You know what you did." He told in a cold voice; Molly raised her eyebrows.
"What?"
"Last Sunday? Movie theaters? The movie 'Juno'? Any of this ring a bell?"
"...No...should it?" Molly pleaded in honest confusion; Nate let out a frustrated noise.
"Last Sunday you were sitting in the movie 'Juno' with your tongue stuck down some guy's throat. And it just so happens that that 'some guys throat' wasn't mine." Nathanial hissed as he crossed his arms. Molly's jaw dropped.
"Is this a joke?" She asked in amazement.
"Obviously not."
"Says who? I was most definitely not at the movies cheating on you!"
"You probably wanted to get back at me for what I did in October. Man, I worked so hard to show you I was sorry but that just wasn't enough, was it? You couldn't be mad any more so you got even."
"Are you listening to me?! I didn't do it!"
"How do you expect me to believe that? Like mother, like daughter." Molly's throat went dry and her blue eyes went blank. Nathanial, even through his anger, realized that he may have gone a little too far so he decided to continue with his explanation. "My mother saw you two together last Sunday. She told me about it before I left the house today..."
Molly swore she saw red for a moment. She was wondering where a crazy story full of complete bullsit like that would have come from and now she knew: it could only come from a person full of complete bullsit.
"And you didn't even bother to ask me about it..." Molly said quietly as she crossed her arms and looked down, light brown hair falling around her.
Nathanial saw that she had something to say and remained silent, all the while keeping himself from taking her up in his arms because she looked so sad. She cheated on you, don't forget that. A tiny voice in his head reminded him and his resistance against her was renewed.
"Last Sunday...I wasn't at the movies. I was in New York City with Natalie. You know how she and Alex broke up and decided to be friends, right? Well, she decided to help me shop for your gift at this really cool place that my mom used to be obsessed with – she always got her anniversary gifts from there." Nathanial watched with wide eyes as Molly silently grabbed a medium sized red, gift bag from her purse and held in her opposite hand. She also pulled a receipt from her purse and quickly handed it to Nathan while making sure that their hands didn't touch. "Read the top of the receipt." She mumbled.
Nathan read the name of the place Memoirs & Things and stopped when he came to the date: February 10, 2008.
"Last Sunday." He breathed and quickly felt the guilt and regret settle in. Shit...he had made a huge mistake...but his mother had claimed to have seen her! He opened his mouth to speak when Molly continued.
"So your mother said she saw me?" She asked as she looked down at the pavement; Nathanial could hear her voice starting to crack.
"She did." He answered quietly to keep his own voice from breaking.
"Well did she tell you what the guy looked like? Or what I was wearing? Or even what she was doing watching a movie like Juno when she's so dead set against teen pregnancy?" By now he could hear her sniffling and voice was starting to become a little wobbly...a little more sad and desperate. "Or did you just take her word for it?" She finally finished quietly.
"Well...she's my mother! I never thought..." Molly looked up into his hazel eyes and Nathanial realized that he had been wrong. She didn't cheat on him. He should have trusted her. "Oh my god, Molly...I'm so sorry. I know you didn't...I was stupid...I shouldn't have...oh god, I'm sorry." By now he was breathing heavily and continuously running his hand through his black hair. Molly was the best thing that had ever happened to him...she had him wrapped around her finger, she was his favorite person in the world and he had just let her go because his mother had lied to him. "I should have checked with you...I...I..."
Molly smiled sadly and raised her left hand to hand over her Valentines Day gift. He took hold of it and as his fingers brushed over Molly's, they both felt the radiating warmth of their touch and Nate's guilt settled in a little deeper. It was nearly suffocating.
"Happy Valentines Day." She said as tears started to run down her cheeks.
"Molly..." Nate said helplessly as he tried to reach out to her; she stepped back. "Molly, please. I'm so sorry, I love you so much. Please don't block me out." He pleaded but Molly merely shook her head as more tears started to make there way down her face.
"Nate...I...I'm not my mother and I may be a party girl but I'm not a cheater. And if you don't know that then...then I have to go." She told him honestly as she backed away.
"But I do know that! I made a mistake! Molly!" He yelled as she backed into the crowd; he watched as she became lost in the sea of people. He had contemplated going after her but realized it would do him no good right now; instead, he looked down at the wrapped present, tucked under his arm, and headed to where he had parked his car as guilt and regret ate away at his heart.
Molly entered the house with a face full of tears; Natalie looked up from the couch and gasped when she saw her sister.
"Oh my...Molly, what happened?!" Molly ignored her and stumbled up the steps into her bedroom. She glanced over at her nightstand where a picture of her and Nate stood and without a second thought, she put the photo face down. With a heavy heart and wet eyes, Molly crawled into bed fully clothed and welcomed the sleep that would overcome her and whisk away any thoughts of a beautiful hazel eyed boy.
"Mother." Nathanial said in a monotone voice as he entered the kitchen; his mother hovered over the stove with her red hair pulled up into a bun and her brown eyes focused on the chicken she was cooking. However, at her only child's voice, Joyce looked up and smiled at him.
"Nate! How did things go with Dolly?"
"Molly, mother." He hissed and she raised an eyebrow before shrugging and turning back to her dinner.
"Doesn't matter. You broke up with her anyways, did you not?"
"I did."
"Good. Never liked that girl, you could do so much better, Nathanial. You know, Jessica from across the street has always had a thing for you. It was a pity that you were with Molly all this time-"
"Did you lie to me?" Joyce stopped talked and sucked in air.
"What?"
"Did you lie to me? About Molly?" Joyce looked at him for a moment before sighing and rolling her eyes.
"What kind of lies is that girl feeding you now? I'm so glad you two are done; good ridden-"
"She didn't lie. She had proof of what she was doing that day. Please don't lie to me mom, I'm going to ask again. I'm not asking for details, I just want a straightforward, yes or no answer. Did you lie to me about Molly?" Joyce stared at her son, a look of desperation in his eyes.
He didn't know which answer he was dreading the most:
If his mother said yes, she had lied, then it meant that she really, truly hated his relationship with Molly enough to make up stories to break them up and that he had fallen for it. It meant that Molly was never unfaithful and he had broken both their hearts for no reason.
However, if she said no, she hadn't lied, it meant that he had done the right thing in braking up with Molly but it would still suck because the girl who still had his heart had broken it and his mother was correct in disliking the girl.
It was a lose-lose situation.
"Yes." Joyce finally muttered.
"Yes what?"
"Yes, I did lie." And with that, she turned back to the chicken. No explanation, no nothing. "Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes."
"Not hungry." He hissed as his heart dropped lower then ever before; he stormed out of the house. He jumped into the car and drove the familiar route down to the Belling Manor; he parked and jogged though the courtyard and to the front door where he knocked and waited. It was only a few seconds before the door was opened...unfortunately; it wasn't opened by the Belling girl he was looking for.
"Why do I have a feeling that you're to blame for my sister's current state?" Natalie asked her best friend as she crossed her arms and leaned in the doorway.
"Because I am to blame." He said guiltily. "How is she?"
"She wouldn't talk to me; she just ran up to her room about an hour ago. I checked about twenty minutes before you arrived and she was sleeping."
"So I can’t go talk to her?"
"I wouldn't have let you even if she was awake." Nate sighed and looked down as he nodded. Natalie could practically feel the sorrow radiating off of her friend; she glanced down at the red package in his arms. "Hey, what's that?"
"Oh...it's my Valentines Day gift from Molly...I never got to give her mine." He absent mindlessly reached into his pocket and pulled out his gift for his now ex-girlfriend; he subconsciously handed it to Natalie and started to pull at the paper from around his gift.
It was a silver picture frame with a picture of their first date at the V-Day festival. Nate could still remember that day perfectly; Molly was wearing a red v-neck shirt with a small 'M' engraved on the breast along with light wash jeans and black heeled boots tucked under her jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a high pony tail and her make-up was light but noticeable; she looked gorgeous. In the picture Molly was up on Nate's back as he gave her a piggy back ride and it taken from Nate's chest up. They were both smiling and Nate had a twinkle in his eyes that he had never had before – his friend had taken it and it was Nate's favorite picture of him and Molly.
The top of the silver frame had their names engraved and the bottom had the words February 14, 2005 – The Beginning of Forever engraved. Nate ignored Natalie's gasp of surprise when she opened the diamond ring box and exclaimed:
"You were going to propose?!"
Instead, he backed up until he was in the center of the courtyard and glanced over at the window that he knew to be Molly's room window and felt his heart warm a tiny bit when her blue eyes met his own.
However, that warmth was quickly replaced with an icy grip and sadness when she stepped away from the window. Nate glanced over at Natalie who was still staring in amazement at the diamond ring. The ring shone as the light from the house bounced through it and try as he might, Nate couldn't imagine ever placing that ring around any girl's finger except for Molly Kate Belling.
Determination filled him as he continued to stare at the ring.
"She's going to forgive me." He finally said and Natalie looked up at him wearily.
"What makes you think that?"
"She loves me. I love her. I'm going to make this up to her if it’s the last thing I do."
"I don't know, Nate. I mean, whatever you did...I mean, I know you guys broke up but whatever you did to cause it, it seems like it may be a hell of a lot of work to fix."
"I know and I don't care. I'll work, Nat. I'll go out of my way and do everything and anything possible to get her to forgive me. I'm going to do this; if I don't then...she's the only girl for me, Natalie. If she wasn't then I wouldn't have been prepared to propose after only three years...hell, I wouldn't have stuck with her for three years!"
"What about your mom?"
"She's not getting in the way this time. If she's happy for me and Molly then that's great...if she's not then, that sucks for her. I'm determined, Nat. I love her and I'm going to win her back." Natalie's blue eyes that so resembled Molly's looked into Nate's hazel eyes as she searched for any signs of doubt. After a moment, she smiled and nodded.
"I know. You do, and you will." Nate smiled.
"Alright, well I've got to go. I'm going to go home and find a place for this picture. Bye Natalie."
"Bye, Nate." Natalie watched and smiled as she watched her best friend walk from her sight. He was going to get her back, Natalie was sure of it.
Molly sat on her bed in the dark; Nate was at her house but thankfully, Natalie didn't let him in. Molly didn't know what she'd do if he came up to talk to her, she'd probably break down.
God, how she hated Nate's mother. Why did Nate have to believe her too? Why didn't he even bother asking Molly or bother looking into it before he went off and accused her of cheating.
"I'm better then that...aren't I?" She asked herself.
With a sigh, Molly lay back down and prepared to get back to sleep, suddenly tired of all the issues she was having. Suddenly tired of Nathanial and suddenly tired of thinking about their new status...broken up.
Molly knew she was in love but she promised herself that she'd get over it. Never again would she fall for the sweet words and loving actions of Nathanial Palette, she vowed. Never again.
Molly was determined to make it so that eventually what she and Nate had would be like those candy hearts and chocolate kisses that she loved to receive on Valentines Day:
Sweet and wonderful yet it melted away with time.
Minutes after lying down, Molly fell back asleep as dreams and thoughts filled with her favorite candy hearts and chocolate kisses warmed her broken heart.