With Every Small Disaster, Let The Waters Still

[Alisha]

Take me away to some place real
'Cause they say home is where your heart is set in stone
where you go when you’re alone
Is where you go to rest your bones
It’s not just where you lay your head
It's not just where you make your bed
As long as we’re together, does it matter where we go?
Home
Home

The summer passed slowly for Molly, but whizzed by at warp speed at the same time. To her heart, every day was lived with painstaking detail. But, to her head, it seemed so surreal that it was already August, and classes were starting in less than two weeks. It blew her mind that in less than a month, she'd officially be a teacher. Molly also grew more and more excited because the day was coming very soon. The day that he would return home. She looked down at the ring on her finger with a wistful smile and fingered the silver band. The first few days it had rested where he placed it, she had been unable to take her eyes off of it. She was definitely eager to be back in his arms... and jump his bones.

Molly had just put the finishing touches on her classroom bulletin board, complete with her student's names and was ready to head out for the afternoon when her cellphone began ringing. She fished it out of her pocket eagerly, but frowned when she realized it was a number she didn't recognize. She sent the call to voicemail, if they left a message, she would check it later. Not long after, she locked up the classroom and made her way home. It was early evening when she finally checked her voicemail, and what she heard stunned her. This message also angered her. Of all times, why now? She knew she couldn't let him come sweeping in and destroy everything they had built. These thoughts nagged at her when she sat on her bed later that night, reading a book as she awaited her daily call.

[Kelli-wa]

For Tad, the summer had passed quickly and there was never a dull moment. From when Axle got lost in a shopping center on one of their days off, to the day Jude actually fell off stage, there was not much time to sit around, aside from the time set aside to sleep. He had found time to keep his promise to Molly. He always found time for her daily call. Today, the free time just so happened to be right after they got off stage. They cleared their equipment and Tad excused himself to the back alley of the venue they were playing in that night. He dialed her number and waited as the phone rang, leaning up against the brick wall outside.

[Alisha]

She had finally become engrossed in her book, all thoughts of David were out the window, when her cellphone began to ring. Without looking away from the book, she felt around for the small object with her hand. But, when that didn't work, she said to hell with it and tossed the book aside, frantically searching for the phone in the massive pile of blankets she had been sitting in. She finally found it, wedged into one of the folds, and snatched it up, answering the call just before it went to voicemail. She answered with an out of breath, "Hey, you." Molly smiled into the receiver and lowered herself from her kneeling position, sitting indian style on the bed. "How was your day?"

[Kelli-wa]

Tad laughed as she answered, sounding exasperated. "Well goodness, been exercising?" he asked with another chuckle. He shook his head gently, she was so cute. "It was good. The show was amazing tonight, we had a pretty rowdy crowd, considering where we are. There are a lot of people here, which surprised us. Really cool kids, too. They were excited to see us. Apparently word is getting around." He switched ears with his phone and smirked, "So how was your day? Get much work done in your classroom?" he asked, hoping that she had. He wished he could be helping her, although he probably wouldn't be much help. He wasn't exactly crafty enough to make bulletin boards, but he could follow directions, given they were clear enough. "Anything exciting happen to you today?"

[Alisha]

Molly smiled, reaching over to pick up the book and attempting to find her page. "Something like that." She said, laughing. "Oooh! That's great, baby. I'm so happy for you." Once she had found the page, she shoved the bookmark into it and closed the book, setting it down beside her. Molly wanted to squeal at the mention of her classroom. She was beyond thrilled with how things were turning out. "Yeah, the classroom is going great. I've got to get somebody in to look at it and make sure I'm not going overboard. I think it may be almost done, though, if I would quit moving things around." She paused, frowning when he asked about the days excitement. She wouldn't exactly call it exciting. Molly debated on whether or not to tell him, he was having such a good time and she would hate to ruin it with the mention of her ex. Molly sighed softly. "Yeah, there's actually something I should talk to you about. David called me today."

[Kelli-wa]

Axle came out the door just hanging around the edge, "There's some people in here who are looking for you. You've got fangirls," he said, teasing.
Tad laughed, "Alright, I'll be in in a minute." He stopped and listened to Molly'd story about the classroom and grinned, "Oh good. I hope you get it how you want it, though. What grade are you teaching again?" he asked, he knew she'd told him a hundred times, but he couldn't get it to stick in his mind. She paused for a moment before answering his last question and he raised a brow. When she told him what had happened, he knew why she paused. "David? What the hell did he want?" he asked, already getting a bit defensive of his family.

[Alisha]

Molly bit her lip, instantly regretting relaying the newly learned information to him. She hoped there wasn't going to be anything to worry about, but with David's request, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of unease. "Uh, I didn't speak to him directly, but he left me a message." Molly said, treading the waters lightly. She knew just how territorial Tad could get, especially when she and Julian were involved. "He said he's in town visiting his parents and wanted to get together and have lunch." She paused again, closing her eyes with her last words. "He also said that he wants to be a part of Julian's life."

[Kelli-wa]

"Seriously?" Tad asked rather harshly. "Right now? Right now, he decides he wants to do this? He just all of a sudden wants to be a part of his life?" He didn't realize how angry he was getting, but he really couldn't help it. Tad only had three more shows left, but he wanted more than anything to leave and kick this guys ass. "You aren't going to do it, are you? Have lunch with him?" he asked. It wasn't fair, sure, but he didn't like the idea of this creep being around Julian or Molly and he definitely didn't like him doing it when he wasn't around to monitor what he was doing. "I'm coming home. Right now. The bassist from Anderson Waves can play for me, I taught him all the songs already. I'm getting a cab and I'm coming home."

[Alisha]

Molly grimaced with his tone. She knew that it wasn't completely directed towards her, though it probably would be when she told him she was considering it. "I know, I know. It's awful and it's horrible timing." She said, dropping back onto the bed with in inaudible thud. Molly stared at the ceiling, the light casting while spots into her vision. "I'm considering it." She answered quietly. "If I ignore him he's not going to stop. He's persistent." She wasn't about to lie to him and say that she wouldn't go, after all, it was only lunch. Molly shook her head when he told her he was going to come home. "You are not coming home early, Tad. I mean it." She said, her voice forceful. "You have less than week left."

[Kelli-wa]

"What the hell, Molly? You're really going to have lunch with this guy? The one who left you alone because you wouldn't abort your baby?" he asked, his agitation growing even more. He realized it wasn't fair for him to be mad at her for this, but he couldn't help it. There was no way this guy was going to come into his fiance's life again and fuck everything up. It wasn't fair to any of them. "That doesn't matter. If you're going to do what that asshole wants then I'm sure as hell not staying here. What if it isn't just lunch that he wants, Molly? Did you think about that?"

[Alisha]

She fought back a sigh, remaining silent in her room during his tirade. She had a feeling it was going to take a lot more than a few words to calm him down. Molly would have to get let him be angry, get it out of his system. "I said I was considering it." She said calmly, "I didn't say I was going to." She didn't mention that David knew where she lived, withholding that piece of information because if it got out, then he'd be on his way there for sure. "You think I haven't thought about that? I can take care of myself, I'm a big girl." Molly spoke, a bit annoyed, her arm shielding her eyes from the light raining down on her. "It's not that cut and dry. If I don't do it this way he could take me to court and get visitation or worse. Do you want that?"

[Kelli-wa]

Tad let out a frustrated groan. "No, Molly, I don't want that. Who in their right mind would take a kid away from his mom, though? He takes you to court over it and what will they say? A guy leaves his pregnant girlfriend and her baby because she wouldn't abort it. Doesn't come back for almost three years. Who's side do you think they'll be on? Not his, I can tell you that." It wasn't that simple, but he couldn't think any differently right now in his fit. He shook his head. "Why can't you just let me take care of you? I know you're a big girl Molly, but I want to help you. I told you the first day that I would help you through any of this shit. He's a jerk, babe. People don't fucking change."

[Alisha]

Molly ran a frustrated hand through her hair. She didn't correct him about her and David's relationship status either. It didn't matter that they had been engaged. Not right now. "He didn't leave me." She said quietly. "I left him, not that it really matters now though, does it?" Molly hated arguing with him, especially when he was so far away. His kind words softened her resolved a little, but she wasn't going to just give in. "I know you want to help, trust me, I understand that. But, there isn't much you can do right now. He's not a bad guy, some people just aren't ready for the kind of commitment I was demanding at eighteen." She hated that she was defending the guy that had given her no choice but to walk away. "What about Julian in this whole thing? He's bound to have questions someday, if not already. I need to keep that channel open."

[Kelli-wa]

"God, don't defend him, Molly. He wanted you to kill Julian. That doesn't sound like a good guy to me," he said. He wanted her to agree with him, but he knew she wouldn't listen. She was Molly, she would do hat she wanted. He laughed lightly, "You're demanding now." He turned around to face the wall, pressing his palm against the brick. He sighed. She had a point. He knew Julian would want to know about his real father, he had just kind of been hoping that he could be enough, but he knew it was good to know where you came from. Really came from. He let out a frustrated groan. "Just... Don't be stupid about it. Think it through. If you go with him, tell Cole and be careful. I just don't want you to get hurt. You or Julian." He licked his lips and turned back around, kicking at a tuft of grass growing in a crack on the asphalt.

[Alisha]

Molly rolled over on the large bed, wishing more than anything that he was already home, next to her, instead of in some other city miles and miles away. It was hard to have this conversation over the phone. She understood exactly where he was coming from, but that didn't mean she agreed, at least not completely. Molly smiled a tiny smile at the sound of his laugh, she missed him so much. She was confident that if she were to go through with the whole lunch proposal, that David wouldn't do anything, but she told him she would anyway. Anything to make him feel a little more at ease. "Okay." She said softly. "I'm sorry about all this. It's the last thing you need to be worrying about right now. I never expected him to show up like he did."