They were at it again!

She seriously began to wonder if they were purposefully trying to drive her to the brink of insanity, or if that was just going to be a nice little byproduct of the night's events.

"Ah...hmm...fuckinghell...yeahbaby!"

She beat her fist on the wall behind her bed. There was a murmur from the next room and a small chuckle, but they quieted, all except for the squeaking and creaking of the bed that was ten times louder than it should have been. Unfortunately, the headache she was nursing seemed to be amplifying every sound in the apartment.

"Oh...SHIT-AH!" With the loud groan, all went still and quiet and Molly breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe they were finally through. Since the two had noisily made their way into the apartment and into the room three hours before, they had been going at it. Five times would certainly be enough! Surely!

Slowly, she relaxed and was so close to drifting off. So close! And suddenly she heard a loud panting noise. A moan. And the race was on. AGAIN!

"Mama Cass, I'm gonna kick his ass!" She grumbled as she threw the covers off of her and jumped out of bed. "JUSTIN!" She threw open her door and walked the three feet to her brother's. Politeness out the window, Molly slapped her palm against the door several times, calling her brother's name loudly.

There was a rustling behind the door and she could imagine him pulling on clothes. As if he were suddenly modest. Wearing only a pair of sweat pants, Justin threw open the door and frowned. "What?"

"What? What!" She rolled her eyes. "You dick! I have to be up for school in like...um, three hours! I have a test, if you care at all. And you and your little trick-of-the-week aren't helping my sleeping situation!"

Justin bit his lip and looked contrite. "Sorry Mol. I guess we got a little carried away."

"We? That's funny! I could have sworn that you were the only one screaming at the top of your fuckin lungs," Molly heard a familiar voice say. She stared into the darkness of Justin's room, letting her eyes adjust to the lack of illumination, until she finally made out the form of the person casually propped up on the wall behind the bed. Smoking and naked as the day that he was born.

"BRIAN!" Heedless to the man's state of undress, she rushed past Justin and climbed onto the bed, beside him. She hugged the older man and laughingly covered his lower half with the comforter that had been lying on the floor at the foot of the bed. "When did you get back? Justin, why didn't you tell me he was back?"

Brian had been out of the country for nearly two weeks, working on an international ad campaign. The one that, for the last three years, had continued to earn him innumerable awards. It was his pet project and he was the only one he trusted to do all of the leg work for it.

Justin smirked, "I didn't know. He surprised me at work this afternoon."

Brain stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray on the bedside table and grinned. "I got back this morning."

"Hmm...so I'm interrupting the conjugal visit then." She cast a disapproving look over both men.

Justin sighed and slid under the covers on the opposite side of the other man. "I thought you needed to sleep. School in three hours. Remember?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Molly shook her head and kissed Brian's forehead before standing and backing out of the room. "G'night you two. Don't do anything you'll regret in the light of day."

"Too late!"

She wasn't sure which one of them had said that, but she could hear both of them laughing hysterically. She pulled the door shut and returned to her own bed. "Freaks."

And that's what they were. Two idiotic freaks. Fools in love. Yet neither was willing to give in to it. Both worried that anything more than the fuck-buddy status that they held one another to, would ruin everything they did share. And neither were willing to take the chance. To throw caution to the wind and become the men that they longed to be. Together.

If she ever shared this opinion, everyone thought she was talking out of her ass. That she didn't know enough about the situation. But she knew. The last seven months had proven to be extremely enlightening. How could she not know?

Her mother had remarried the previous summer, to a wonderful man. He was a successful lawyer. One of Melanie's colleagues. And though Molly missed Jennifer desperately, she knew that her mother was happy, living her new life with her new husband in her new home. In California.

She could have gone with them. Might have gone. But she was only months away from graduating. And it made no sense to change schools at that point. So her mother and brother had come up with the solution that she would live with Justin and finish out her senior year at St. James Academy. Then she would be off to college and would have to relocate anyway.

So...for seven moths she had been living with Justin, in his apartment. And for seven months she had watched trick after trick, pass through. The beauties and the brainless. It had been an endless parade of gay goodies. And there was never a repeat. Never one guy that she saw more than once. Except for one.

Brian Kinney.

She knew their history. Who, that graced Liberty Avenue, didn't? They had lived together on and off for years. She could remember that much on her own. After Justin had been bashed in the head at his prom, Brian had broken all of his own rules for her brother. And then it had gone downhill. Though Justin loved Brian, he began to realize that he had started to settle down without even having experienced half of what he might have, if not for being in a relationship. So he had followed the promise of romance in other places. And of course, it had ended badly. Yet...they had never stopped seeing one another. Never stopped supporting each other, financially or emotionally. Never stopped...fucking.

Molly was happy for this though. She had always loved Brian. He was so candid and had never bullshitted her like everyone else had. She respected that and had come to see him as another...more hip...hotter brother. So for this, she could overlook the unusual situation and be happy for her brothers, that they could find happiness in whatever form available.

Snuggling deep under the warm blankets, she finally began to drift off to sleep, when she heard a soft thump. Then another. And another. Then a sigh. Then another thump. Then a moan.

Oh good grief!

She gnashed her teeth and covered her face with a pillow. It was going to be a long night.

***

Justin woke with a start. For a moment, he couldn't figure out why he had been pulled from his sleep, but then he heard a car door and realized that it must have been Molly leaving that had jarred him.

"Hmmm," Brian hummed in his sleep. Justin smiled and relaxed back into the arms that were wrapped loosely around his torso. "Wha..."

"Go back to sleep," Justin whispered, pressing his lips softly against Brian's collar bone.

For a moment, it seemed as if Brian might do just that. He was close to the brink anyway. But his eyes only continued to widen. He looked down at Justin and smiled a sleepy smile. "G'morning. What time is it?"

Justin peeked over Brian's shoulder, checking the bright red numbers on his alarm clock. "Seven forty."

"Too early!" Brian groaned and rolled onto his back, bringing Justin with him until his head was resting on Brian's chest.

It was his favorite place to be. In the arms of the man he loved. Listening to the soft thud of his heart beating beneath his ear. "Tell me we don't have to leave," Justin sighed. "We can stay in bed all day. All week."

"Can't. I have a brunch with a client around ten." Justin bit the inside of his cheek and nodded mutely. Brian frowned. "Don't."

"�Don't' what?"

"Don't get all frustrated or whatever it is you get. You know I can't just cancel. Besides, you have a class at noon."

Justin pushed himself up to rest on his forearms and smiled at Brian to let him know he wasn't too upset. "Yeah...but I don't mind canceling that."

"Hmmm. I bet you don't. And I bet your students wouldn't mind either." He rubbed Justin's back absently with splayed fingertips. "How about we have dinner tonight?"

Justin perked up at this. Brian was making plans which were more than three hours in advance. Always a good sign in that cosmic mystery that was their non-relationship. "Where?"

"Loft? I'll even...hmm...let you cook."

Justin laughed lightly and nodded as he began placing small, delicate kisses along Brian's neck. "Now.." Kiss. "...Mr. Kinney..." Kiss. "...Let's..." Kiss. "...make the most of..." Kiss. "...what time..." Kiss. "...we have..."

And the rest of his words were absorbed by Brian's mouth as it melded with his and they lost themselves in one another. Again.

***

She walked down the hallway of school, just as she did every day. Straight out of Anatomy, Chem, and Trig - the triple trauma of senior year - she could now manage to smile as she made her way towards her English Lit class. Today they would begin a section on poetry.

Keats, Byron, Shelley, as well as the great Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Sylvia Plath...if she was lucky. It was better than any high that the school slackers got off of those cheap low grade joints they smoked behind the gym. Better than any touchdown, goal or home run. Finally she was going to be in her element.

As she entered the classroom, the other students rolled their eyes at her. Though she was used to it, she still lowered her gaze and scurried to her seat that was located in the very front on the far side of the class.

"Hey freak," she heard one of the girls call out snidely.

"She's not a freak," one of the guys replied. "No...she's just a dyke. Right Taylor?" Laughter erupted around her.

Molly bit her lip, experiencing the metallic taste of her own blood, but never once did she open her mouth. God help everyone when she couldn't control her response to the neanderthals that were her peers. As it was, she simply reminded herself that she was a bigger person than any of them. She would simply ignore and avoid the unnecessary drama. Four more months and she would be history anyway.

The taunts quieted as their teacher, Mrs. Barnes, stalked into the class. Her wire-rim glasses were slipping down the bridge of her nose and thick strands of her salt and pepper hair, were falling free from the tight bun that she wore on top of her head. As unkempt as the woman looked, she was as sharp as a tack and Molly's appreciated the older woman's views on literary comparison. "Ms. Taylor, I'm betting you're looking forward to our next section."

Molly pushed her hair behind her ears, as was her nervous habit, and smiled timidly at the teacher. "Yes ma'am." Her voice was just above a whisper.

It angered her mostly, that the idiots in her class could reduce her to a shy little simpleton. As if her acting the least bit withdrawn would lessen their abuse. She had learned the hard way that they had formed their opinion of her long ago and that opinion would not be swayed.

She knew that she should be her own person. That beyond this point in her life, the jerks and jackasses of St. James Academy would cease to exist in her eyes. Though she would certainly have their influence over her head like some skeleton in a closet, they would no longer be a source of constant pain. But she was seventeen, and it seemed that even the ultra level-headed Molly Taylor couldn't escape teenage angst.

Hell, she'd had enough of that before she even made it to her tenth birthday. Her brother's teenage years had made a major impact on the young and impressionable girl that she had been. It had shaped her in ways that few could have predicted. Instead of becoming the bubbly, outgoing girl that the world had expected, Molly had shrunken into a shy bookworm that preferred the library to pep rallies and football games. At least that's what most people saw. Her family knew differently, but few people bothered to look beyond the surface anyway.

"Why don't you read the introduction to poetry on page three hundred in your book." Molly's eyes fell to her opened book and quietly she began to read. Her words were mumbled and quiet, and she was certain that there wasn't a soul in the room that had heard her. But as she finished, Mrs. Barnes grinned, thanked her and began searching the crowd for a new victim. "Now...hmmm...Mr. Hobbs. Why don't you try reading our first poem?"

Molly glanced back and Daniel Hobbs. Jock to the extreme. He fidgeted in his seat before glancing over the shoulder of the guy in front of him. Mrs. Barnes shook her head as the class waited for Daniel to find the page in his book. "Sometime this semester, Mr. Hobbs."

Daniel sent the woman a withering look and finally settled on the correct page.

""To the Virgins to Make Much of Time"?"

"That would be the first poem. Yes."

He cleared his throat and began aloud, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may," while Molly flinched at each mispronunciation and unsteady rhythm. It was a hack-job at best. He was tripping over and coughing out some of the most beautiful lines to ever be uttered and she was ready to hit him in the head with their very thick textbook, for crimes against literature.

It would be ironic to be sure. Her bashing him in the head just as his own brother, Chris, had done to Justin, only seven years before.

She was snapped out of her morbid thoughts of bloodied pages of poetry, by Mrs. Barnes high voice. "Now, would you like to tell the class exactly what you just read?"

Hobbs looked down at the book once more, as if the answer might be found hidden upon the page. "Um... To the Virg-"

"Not the title. The meaning." Her eyes rested on the ceiling above her head and the woman rolled her wrists, searching for a way to break it down for the young man. "What is the gist of what Herrick is saying?"

"Um...Well... He's saying...that you should gather the rosebuds...uh... Maybe, it's summer but you should make the most of summer, because Autumn will come soon...and the flowers will be dead?"

"Are you asking me?" Mrs. Barnes raised an eyebrow at him. "I was sure I was asking YOU, Mr. Hobbs." She searched the sea of young faces. "Ms. King. Would you like to take a stab at Herrick's meaning?"

Chelsea King was one of the smartest girls in the senior class. She was funny and beautiful and popular and thought that showing her brains would be the fastest way to having no life. She and Molly had once been best friends. And now Molly held her breath, knowing that Chelsea knew what the poem meant. Hoping against hope that Chelsea wouldn't fail her and remain on the side of the social barrier that had separated them in the first place. That had been placed between them as soon as they had entered high school hell.

Chelsea only shrugged and twisted a piece of her long blonde hair around her index finger.

Molly wanted to retch.

"Anyone? Ms. Taylor, would you like to enlighten your classmates?"

She grimaced. Why was it that her teachers always made a point of alienating her even further? As if she really needed any assistance. Yet she knew that this was her passion and like her brother's friend Em always said, if ya got it, flaunt it.

"Herrick is saying...why wait? �And this same flower that smiles to day, To-morrow will be dying', is referring to the transience of beauty. Time's passing you by and you aren't getting any younger. So while you're still young and fresh and beautiful and worthy of the attention,...make the most of it." She shrugged and tucked her hair behind her ears once again. "He's basically using it as a pick-up line."

Barnes nodded and winked at her, both ignoring the juvenile whoops of laughter and catcalls. "Very good, Ms. Taylor."

***

She allowed herself to release the breath she had been holding, as the final bell of the day rang, piercing her ears with the high-pitched clanging. Another day in the can and Molly was one day closer to freedom.

Not that she didn't like St. James Academy. It was just wonderful, ranking second on her list of favorite tortures. Surpassed only by having your fingernails pulled out with pliers.

The hallway was overflowing with students. She had to push her way through a group of guys that had nothing better to do than simply stand around looking bored and reeking of pot.

Despite the uniforms that were supposed to keep them on some equal level, Molly could see - feel - the difference between her and the people that surrounded her. They could see it too. She could tell. In the way that the boys ignored her and the girls despised her. She was different and that was the difference. She wasn't a cheerleader. Wasn't a brain. Wasn't a slacker. Wasn't even a nobody. She was a nameless, faceless being that floated amongst her peers feeling utterly detached and completely alone.

Shaking her head, she cleared her mind of the consuming negative thoughts and focused on navigating the maze of bodies that lead to the exit.

Just as she started down the steps in front of the school, she heard a hiss from behind her. "Hey Taylor."

Whipping around, Molly came face to face with Gregory Thompson, school bully and a bastard to boot.

She raised an eyebrow, sporting a bored expression that would rival even Brian's. "Can I help you?"

He leered at her and crossed his arms. "I dunno. Can you?"

Molly turned away from Gregory, only to run straight into Ross Brighton, another of the school's illustrious students. He, like Gregory, was at least six feet tall and both had over a hundred pounds on her. They were blocking her escape quite effectively and Molly wondered what they thought they were going to accomplish. "Move," she ground out, struggling not to lose her temper.

"Make me,...lesi." With a swipe of his large arm, Ross knocked her bookbag from her hands, sending it flying. She watched as it landed a few feet away with a loud thud.

Molly gritted her teeth in frustration. "Ya know...If all I have to look forward to in a man is someone like you,...then I guess I'll just have to become a lesbian."

"Feisty!"

Suddenly, Ross was backing away from her. No....he was being pulled away from her. "Knock it off, guys!"

Gregory turned on Molly's defender. "What's it to you Hobbs?"

"It's not a thing to me. But Principal Grant just walked out the front door there. And I'm thinking this isn't the time to get kicked off the team."

Both guys looked at each other before backing away, only after throwing a thankful glance at Daniel and an evil, smirking glare at Molly.

Daniel picked up her bag and handed it to her. "Not even going to thank me?"

She looked at him as if he were insane. This was, after all, the same guy that had put gum in her hair the year before. And had super glued the pages of her textbooks together the year before that. "Um...thanks. I guess." Seeing Brian's jeep in her peripheral vision, she started in that direction.

"Wait...um..." She slowed down and waited for Hobbs to spit out whatever insult he was working on in his tiny little brain. "I was wondering... I mean, I know we've all treated you like...well complete shit really. I'm...I am sorry."

"Uh-huh. Could you speed this up? I have to get to work." Hobbs looked so taken aback that Molly actually smiled. "Sorry. I don't mean to be a bitch. But I do get tired of waiting for you people to come up with new things to call me."

"Oh. No. I-I wasn't going to-" he shrugged. "I was just wondering, since you're so good at that poetry stuff. I was thinking that you could maybe...help me?"

"Help? YOU?" She laughed.

The boy scowled at her. "Fuck it. I knew I shouldn't have bothered."

"No...wait..." she said between giggles. But he was already turned and halfway across the school yard. Just then, she heard Brian blow his horn impatiently.

"You trying to scam on the high school boys again?" Brian smirked as Molly climbed into the jeep.

"Sure. Took lessons from you didn't I?" She kissed his cheek in greeting and fastened her seatbelt, knowing what kind of driver the man was. "Where's my brother?"

"Hi to you too."

"Sorry. Hi." Molly sighed and slumped down in her seat, a small smile playing on her face. Brian could always make her smile. Which was interesting because he seemed to provoke the opposite reaction in just about everyone else in the world.

"Justin had a last minute meeting. He called and asked if I could take you to work instead." He lit a cigarette and rolled down his window, knowing that she hated the smell. "I would have been here sooner but I had a ten o'clock brunch with a client and they finally left about twenty minutes ago."

"Twenty minutes ago? But...it's four o'clock."

"I know. Fucking big mouth breeders." He glanced at her and rolled his eyes. "No offense."

"Please! No offense? Since when do you care about offending someone?"

Brian smirked. "Since I'm being threatened with sensitivity training at work."

Molly laughed loudly at this. Brian Kinney in sensitivity training! "Now that is funny. I think you've cheered me up for like...the rest of the millennium! I mean...if I just had a little pixie dust...I could fly, I could fly, I could fly. Because that's definitely a happy...happy thought, Peter Pan!"

Brian tried to frown but a subdued grin still tugged the edges of his mouth, "You've been hanging around your brother too long."

***

As soon as Molly crossed the threshold, entering Liberty Diner, she was greeted with a loud, "You're late."

"Sorry Deb!" She called out equally as loud, knowing that Deb could be anywhere within the small restaurant. "I started talking to a boy after class and lost track of-"

"Boy? What boy?" Suddenly Deb was directly in front of her, squealing and beaming at Molly like she might burst from excitement at any moment.

She rolled her eyes. Deb was too predictable sometimes. "Just a guy. No one special." She brushed past the woman and darted into the kitchen to retrieve her apron.

Her shift passed quickly, as it always did, and before long, Justin and Brian entered the diner followed by Michael and his lover Ivan. As they predictably slid into the usual booth, Molly grabbed four glasses and a pitcher of water.

"Good evening. And welcome to Liberty Diner. My name is Molly and I'll be your waitress. Can I get you something to drink? An appetizer to start, perhaps?"

Amidst the chorus of chuckles, Brian turned to Justin. "See. Four-star service for one-star cuisine. Just like I promised."

Justin's eyes never left his menu, which they all knew he had memorized. They all had it memorized. Not that it mattered. They always got the same thing. "I'm not speaking to you, remember?" her brother said in a flat, but not necessarily angry, tone.

Brian rolled his eyes and smirked. "How could I forget? You tell me every five minutes."

Molly looked to Michael and Ivan for an explanation but they seemed as clueless as she.

She gave them a wide-eyed smile and held her pen poised over the order pad. "Well then...what'll it be?" As if she had to ask.

"Usual."

"Usual."

"Same."

"Hmm...I think...I'm going to have the Mahi."

The group eyed Justin as if he were insane. "Jus...as your sister, and the person responsible for serving you while you're here, not to mention the one that's going to have to clean up the table one you're gone, can I suggest...um...not that?"

Brian laughed and put his arm around Justin's shoulders. "And as the person that's going to have to sleep with you tonight...I demand �not that'."

Justin shrugged. "No one said that you had to sleep with me."

The other man pulled his arm back and held up his hands. "Alright. Do what you want. But don't bitch to me when you feel like shit for the diner-served fish that's sitting in your stomach."

It was nearing nine, an hour later, when she noticed him in the doorway. Daniel Hobbs. Jeez! Was she seeing things? She HAD to be seeing things. Then he nodded at her and smiled uncertainly. It was definitely him.

She nodded back and watched as he slid into an empty booth, in the corner nearest the door. She was going to have to talk to him. No tactics to avoid were possible.

But first...first she had to make sure that her brother got out of there without seeing him. Not that Justin would make a scene about it. But she knew that he would be none too happy that he was there. That he was talking to her at all.

"Ready for the check?"

Brian looked at her and raised a questioning eyebrow. She was asking them if they were ready to leave and he knew it. Usually she would have begged them to stay until her shift ended so she would have someone to talk to, or walk to Babylon with.

After she took their money and grabbed their change from the register, she forced herself to slow down. They hadn't seen him yet. Probably wouldn't. And Brian was already suspicious. "So...hitting Babylon next?"

"No. Woody's. You coming?"

She smiled at Justin. He was pretty cool as far as older brothers went. He never minded that she went to Babylon or Woody's. Never minded if she hung out with his friends. He welcomed her. But when Brian wasn't there and Justin was on the prowl, she was persona non grata. But of course she understood that. No one wanted their siblings around when they were trying to get into some guy's pants. Which was exactly why she was so keen on getting Justin the hell out of Dodge.

Of course...she wasn't trying to get into Daniel's pants. No. It was completely different. But...still the principle was the same.

"Yeah, I'll be there." She checked her watch. "I get off in about...half an hour."

"See ya there then," Ivan squeezed her arm as he moved out of the booth. Michael hugged her, even though he would be seeing her within the hour. For some reason, since he began seeing Ivan the year before, he had turned into a huge hug freak.

Justin threw a ten on the table for the tip and turned towards the door, making an obvious show of not waiting for Brian.

Brian shook his head at his departing figure. "Drama queen."

"What was the fight about this time?"

"As usual, I have no clue."

"And as usual, I'll have to be the one that has to hear it. I think I should be charging him by the hour. Or maybe I could just pay you not to piss him off."

"Yeah...that'll never happen. He'll get over it though, whatever it is." The two nodded slowly, the silence drifting in the air between them. "Now...go talk to your visitor. He looks like he's about to keel over."

"How did you...?" She began, before realizing that he had seen them talking together outside of school. At least Brian hadn't identified him. "Later," he said, already out the door.

Molly watched him leave, put the dirty dishes into a bus pan, collected her tip and finally allowed her eyes to settle on the boy in the corner. His head was down and his hands were in his lap. But his body, she could tell, was tense and on alert. He felt out of place, she realized with some satisfaction. He was on her turf now and somehow it made her feel bold. As if she might actually be able to deal with him.

"Hi. Can I get you anything?"

Daniel looked up at her with some relief. Happy to see the familiar face. "No thanks. I actually came here to talk to you."

She settled into the other side of the booth, the tray resting on her right knee. "Well I didn't exactly think you came here for the food. How did you know where to find me?"

He laughed and began tearing the edges of one of the napkins from the dispenser on the table. "You said you had to get to work. So I did what anyone would do. I snuck into the school office and stole your records."

"What?!"

His smirk told her that he was only joking. Molly laughed in spite of herself. "Nah, I asked Mrs. Barnes."

"So...why did you ask me?

"What? This afternoon?" She nodded and he shrugged one of his shoulders. "Well...you're good at English...right?"

"I guess," her voice was now filled with hesitancy. She knew his kind. She didn't trust his kind. Never had. Never would. They had made sure of that.

"Well...Mrs. Barnes said that you might be able to help me with it."

Quickly, Mrs. Barnes was looking less and less like her favorite teacher. Molly stood up, full bussing tray in her arms and sighed. Daniel looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. "I-I guess I could..."

"I'll pay you!" He said with finality. "It would just be an hour or so a week."

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you suddenly so concerned about English?"

Daniel scratched his head and looked around the crowded diner. "Well, I need to get an A on the next test to be able to stay on the team. Coach is cracking down on athletic academics this year."

Athletic academics? "Isn't that like, an oxymoron?" He looked at her in confusion. Molly pulled her lips in to keep from laughing. "Never mind. Yeah. Okay, I'll help you."

Daniel smiled at her. Not one of the flashy, winning smiles that he gave to the girls he dated. It was a genuine smile of appreciation. And she returned it easily.

Picking that moment to introduce herself to the new face, Deb snapped them from their stare and patted Molly on the back. "Hi," she greeted Daniel. "I'm Deb. Queen mum of the fags."

Molly rolled her eyes and shook her head. Deb was Deb was Deb.

Daniel, she noticed with amazement, took the introduction in stride. "Daniel Ho-"

Seeing the potential blunder, Molly interrupted him quickly. "Deb this is the boy that made me late to work."

"Ahh. Well. Daniel. Please do so more often." She bumped her hip against Molly's. "Twinkle toes here is a little too straight to enjoy Liberty Avenue to the fullest extent, if you know what I mean."

Daniel looked at Molly and smiled softly at the blush that she could feel heating her cheeks. "Well..." Deb looked at Daniel's smile and Molly's downcast eyes and nodded. "...I'll just...leave."

"Wow." Daniel said as soon as Deb had walked away. "She's..."

"A trip. A complete and utter drug-induced trip."

"Is she.."

"A lesbian? No. Just a great mom."

He didn't ask for an explanation for the comment and she didn't give it. Anyone could see from the way she was chatting with everyone in the diner, she was a woman that would be a mother to no one person. She was like mother nature, mother earth...a mother that saw a child's face and committed each one to her memory and her heart.

"So when do you want to do it?"

Daniel blanched. "Excuse me?"

"You want me to help you, right? So when?"

"Oh! Um...we can start next week I guess. I have practice every afternoon until six."

"And I have to work until seven."

He looked at the table, doing mental calculations of time in his head. "How about I meet you here at seven then?"

Molly nodded, somewhat surprised that he would choose to meet her there. A place where he obviously felt out of place.

The cynical side of her mind, reminded her that she was making a deal with the devil. It was simply the one place he was sure not to be seen by his buddies. Wouldn't want to be seen with Molly Taylor. Might ruin his reputation.

Then he looked at her with his stunning green eyes. Watched his beautiful full mouth curl up into a soft smile. Her heart sped up. Her breathing became shallow. And she knew that it didn't matter. Nothing did. She was definitely in trouble either way. With sudden clarity, she realized that she had the hots for Daniel �homophobic prick' Hobbs.

To Be Continued...