ᴡᴀɪᴛɪɴɢ ɢᴀᴍᴇ • ᴋᴀɪ ᴘᴀʀᴋᴇʀ ✔️

30. EMPTY THOUGHTS

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Molly lets out, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You need to come home." Tyler says, clenching his jaw.

"I don't need to do anything." Molly says through gritted teeth.

Tyler glances at Kai and then back to Molly. "This is what you've been lying to me about for the past— what— month?" Tyler shakes his head. "Lying to all of us? All of your friends?!"

Molly scoffs. "Like they've even noticed."

Tyler raises his voice. "You have to stop throwing yourself all over the first person that gives you even the slightest bit of attention—"

That was the breaking point of her patience. At that moment, she was blinded by a five-course serving of rage that tasted bitter, yet surprisingly satisfying.

Molly didn't hesitate to bring her hand up and slap Tyler across the face. With as much as her palm burned after that, she wondered how hard she actually hit him.

Tyler turned back to Molly slowly as he rubbed his cheek. Molly breathed heavily as her anger resonated under her skin. "He doesn't care about you. He never will." Tyler snarled.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Molly says. "You don't know—"

"—You don't know him like I do'?" Tyler stops her mid sentence. "That's exactly what you said about Rebekah. And look where that got you."

Molly's lips trembled with anger, defeat. "I hate you." She whispered.

Tyler stepped forward angrily and grabbed her wrists, jerking her away from where she stood. Molly protested, pulling and squirming out of his grip as Tyler quickly pulled her back over to his truck.

Molly dug her heels into the mud and yanked her arms from his grips forcefully. She stumbled back at her force and looked back up at Tyler.

"You let him out, didn't you?" Tyler says quietly after taking a second to think. Molly clenched her jaw. "You're the reason he's out of his prison world?"

Molly didn't answer, she didn't need to. She raised her chin and took a deep breath before speaking again. "If you lay a hand on him or me again I swear to god I'll rip you to shreds." Molly says angrily. She waited for a feeling of guilt to pool in her mouth— but when it didn't happen, she spoke again. "I suggest you leave before I do it now."

Tyler lingered in front of her for a second, letting the lasting effects of anger exhale with his breathing. He doesn't speak, he just turns around slowly before walking back to his truck.

Molly spun around quickly, a feeling of panic shooting right back into her veins at the sight of Kai still on the ground covered in his own blood— while Tyler remained completely unharmed. She rushed over to him and bent down.

Kai weakly grabbed her wrist and muttered a spell under his breath. Before Molly could react, the two were transported out of the woods and in the living room of Kai's apartment.

He leaned his head onto the hardwood floors and let out a pained sigh. Molly didn't know what to say, or do. "Are you okay?" Was the only thing she could get out as she examined his fresh bruises.

"Been better." Kai says weakly.

Molly puts her arm under his body and helps sit him up. "Come on." She says, guiding him onto his feet. Kai squeezes his eyes shut to try and dull the pain of countless broken bones.

Molly leads him into the bathroom, switching on the light with the hand that wasn't wrapped around Kai's heavy body. "Here—" She mutters, sitting him down on the toilet seat.

Kai lets out an exhausted groan as Molly begins to shift through the cabinets in his bathroom. "What are you doing?" Kai says, leaning back and closing his eyes.

Kai's cabinets were completely empty, and she lets out a frustrated huff as the things she needed were no where to be found.

Molly was about one more mishap away from a complete mental breakdown. Her remaining thread of strength was beginning to fray and she didn't know how much longer she could hold herself together.

The feeling of not knowing what was going to happen next created a pit in her stomach. Tyler was going to tell everyone— tell them that she let him out, that she was the reason Luke was dead. That she'd been lying to them for months.

And the worst part was she didn't care— she didn't care about their feelings anymore.

Molly had for so long been the only source of positivity, of warmth and emotional comfort. She had for so long taken the brunt of cruel outbursts from her friends, designed to bring her self esteem to zero, to shatter her sense of self worth. After that she was expected to rebuild all the relationships from all sides, to make any sacrifices necessary and then recreate the positive atmosphere... still against that critical and cynical wall of sneering superiority that has become a woven part of who she was.

She grabs a towel off a hook and wets it with water, walking over to the bathtub and sitting on the edge across from Kai.

He weakly opens his eyes and watches her as she brings the cloth up to his face, gently wiping the blood from his cuts. Kai winces in pain and pulls away. "Hold still." Molly says frustratedly.

Kai turns back to her annoyedly. "I'm fine." He says, hugging his chest where his ribs felt like they were deteriorating into ash.

"Why didn't you fight back?" Molly asks, grabbing his face again and beginning to clean the cuts. "Why'd you let him do this to you?"

Kai clenches his jaw and stares forward at the wall as he just gives up and lets her try and fix him. "Because if I fought back— I'd kill him— and then you'd hate me."

Molly sighs. "You'd be doing me a favor." She takes the cloth down to his lip that was completely bust open.

"I promise you I wouldn't." He swallows. "No matter how mad you are at them— it still hurts."

Molly looks at his blue eyes, all surrounded by dried blood and yellow bruising. A knot began to grow in her throat as she lowered the cloth. "I'm so sorry." She choked out. Kai turned to her and his eyes sorted immediately, a sense of defeat washing over the two of them. "It shouldn't have to be like this." Molly spoke, holding in tears.

Kai leaned forward, resting his forehead on hers, and they watched each other hastily.

Her eyes have frozen over like the surface of a winter puddle, robbing them of their usual warmth. She's in there, he knew it, but it's like she just took a step back from life. He wanted to rekindle her heat but her insides are too damp with uncried tears. He always knew she had this pain inside, but now its visible on her face and he wished it would go away.