CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
[CROSSFIRE]
"Happy birthday!" Molly says excitedly, before embracing Bonnie in a big hug.
Bonnie returns it, and as Molly looks around, she sees the Salvatore house covered in banners and ribbons. Molly turns back to Bonnie confusedly. "I thought this was a low-key thing?" She says.
"Me too." Bonnie inhales sharply. "Caroline's idea."
"I'm not surprised." Molly says, she walks into the living room to see Caroline on a ladder hanging up a banner over the fireplace.
It had been four days since the full moon, Molly had spent those days letting her body heal and recover. She hadn't seen or heard from Kai since then— he hadn't been returning her calls, and no one knew where he was.
The curse still lingered in her body, but she felt significantly different.
Caroline glances at Molly. "Hi." She smiles, then points at the table. "Could you hand me the tape?"
Molly reaches forward and gives the tape to Caroline. "What's going on?" She asks.
"I'm throwing a party." Caroline smiles.
Molly glances at Bonnie and she shrugs. "Like a party party?"
"Yes, a party party." Caroline scoffs. "I invited like pretty much all the frats from school."
"Oh." Bonnie says, raising her eyebrows.
Molly holds in her laughter, and as it dies down, she sits down on the couch. "Do you think a huge party is the best idea right now? With like everything going on?" She asks.
"Yes." Caroline says, climbing down from the ladder and examining the banner. "We deserve to party every once in a while."
"I ordered the kegs!" Elena says, walking in from the kitchen. "Hi, Molly." She smiles at her, and Molly returns it. "Did Caroline tell you about that Sigma Nu guy?"
Molly narrows her eyebrows at her. "What Sigma Nu guy?"
Bonnie and Elena hold in their laughter and Molly widens her eyes. "What Sigma Nu guy?!" Molly repeats.
"Well." Caroline begins. "This guy Dakota in my econ class told me he thought you were really cute— and he's coming tonight and—"
"Please tell me you're not trying to set me up with another frat boy." Molly sighs. Bonnie and Elena begin to laugh.
"This one's different!" Caroline says. "I've only talked to him like once but he's different. And he's really cute. Like really cute."
"Jesus." Molly laughs and shakes her head.
The girls continue talking but Molly fell quiet as she processed things. She didn't know where her and Kai stood— at all.
"Molly?" Elena says.
Molly snaps out of her thoughts and looks up. "What's up?" She says.
"We asked if you were settled back in okay?" Elena says. "Like, with Tyler and everything?"
"Oh." Molly says. "Yeah, I guess." She shrugs. "I really miss having my own place though because bumping into Liv and Tyler all the time is getting very awkward."
Bonnie laughs. "Have you guys heard anything from her?" She asks. The girls shake their head. "Me neither. I'm sure she's completely freaked out about what happened with Luke and Kai."
"What even happened to Kai?" Caroline asks. "Did he just up and leave?"
"He got what he wanted— who knows where he is now." Elena says.
"Probably already back in Portland." Bonnie says. Molly looks at her concernedly, opening her mouth to say something but Elena begins to talk.
"Enough about Kai." She says. "People are going to start showing up soon and I'm not drunk yet."
—
The Salvatore house didn't look anything less than a frat house as it was full of drunk college students dancing on top of each other. The music was so loud Molly could feel the bass in her heart as if pounded against the floor, the neon lights swirling around her as she pushed into the kitchen to the keg.
"You all give me headaches." Damon sighs, leaned against the counter.
Molly rolled her eyes as she filled up her red cup. "You're a hundred years old— what are you still doing at a college party?" She says sarcastically.
"Very funny." Damon smirks at her. "Despite what you might think, considering your little girl gang is here pretty much all the time, this is my house." He smiles. "And I'm here to make sure no one breaks anything."
A crash sounded from the living room and the two snap their heads toward the sound. "You're doing really good." Molly sends him a thumbs up before he groans and walks into the living room, pushing his way through the crowd.
Molly liked parties, but she didn't like getting bumped into every three seconds, and she didn't like the flashing lights, and she definitely didn't like beer.
"Molly!" Someone yells. She looked around the crowd she was stuck in to see Caroline pushing through them with a boy latched onto her arm. Molly widens her eyes, and tries to pretend she didn't see her but she couldn't push through the crowd quick enough. Caroline pulls the boy to her side and gestures towards him. "This is Dakota." She smiles widely.
Molly internally screams at Caroline before turning to look at him. He was extremely tall, and built— and he had really nice blonde hair. "Hi." Molly smiles at him awkwardly. "Sorry she dragged you into this." Molly turns back to Caroline with a stern look on her face.
Dakota laughs faintly. "It was my idea." He shrugs.
"Oh." Molly nods, she panics as she tries to find something else to say. The conversation falls painfully silent and Caroline leans into Molly's ear.
"Well." Caroline says, interrupting the silence. "I'm gonna go." She scratches the back of neck and walks past Molly, leaning into her ear. "Try not to be awkward."
"Got it." Molly says sarcastically as Caroline walks away. She turns back to Dakota with a forced smile. "Do you want to go somewhere quieter?" She yells over the music.
"What?" He yells back.
"Somewhere quieter." She motions to her ears and he finally catches on. Molly and Dakota push their way through the living room toward the hallway by the front door. Which was still full of people, but it was as good as they were gonna get. Molly finds a place to stop and takes a drink of her beer before speaking again. "Are you having fun?" Molly wanted to punch herself in the face for being so awkward— she wasn't drunk enough for this.
Dakota shrugs. "Yeah."
Then she wanted to punch Caroline for setting her up with this guy. "Cool." Molly says, nodding slowly. "What's your major?"
"I haven't decided yet." Dakota shrugs. Molly desperately looks around for anyone to save her from this conversation.
"Cool." Molly repeats, not really hearing what he said. She turns back to him and takes a deep breath.
"What about you?" He asks.
"Mathem—" Molly's word grew quiet as she glanced past Dakota to find Kai leaned against a doorway down the hall, a red cup on his hand. Molly quickly turned back to Dakota. "Will you excuse me?" She smiles, she didn't wait for a response before she stormed past him and towards Kai.
Kai's smirk grew bigger as Molly grew angrier. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the study, shutting and locking the door behind her. "What are you doing here?!" Molly widens her eyes. "There are about six people here that want you dead."
"I was bored." He shrugs, taking a drink from his cup, and sitting on the large desk that sat in the corner of the room.
Molly narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you drunk?" She says.
"No." Kai shakes his head. "Maybe."
"How long have you been here?!" Molly asks.
"Long enough to see that lovely conversation between you and that questionably interesting guy." He raises his eyebrows and laughs.
She rolls her eyes. "Well— you need to go."
"Relax." Kai says. "I have a cloaking spell on— and you're the only one that can see past it. Everyone else sees me as the new Kappa Delta pledge." He smiles proudly.
Molly shakes her head and scoffs. "You ignore me for four days, and then show up at Bonnie's birthday party wasted." She says. "I'm not sure what else I expected."
He cocks his head to the side. "Are you mad at me?" The corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk.
She clenched her jaw. "No."
"You sure?" Kai asks, taking a sip from his cup.
"Positive." She inhales sharply.
"Alright." Kai nods, standing up from the desk. "I'm gonna go get me a drink. Have fun with Dakota." He walks past Molly with a smile on his face, leaving her in the study completely dumbfounded.
Molly spun around and walked out to the hall to see him heading towards the kitchen. "I will!" She yells, Kai didn't respond. And she let out a frustrated sigh, before turning to find Dakota looking at her confusedly. "Sorry." She says, smiling faintly.
"Here." He says, handing her a tiny shot glass. She didn't hesitate before grabbing it and throwing it back.
"Do you want to go dance?" She asks. Dakota nodded quickly and she grabbed his hand, dragging him into the living room where everyone was.
The music filled her ears again as she stumbled into the crowd of dancing people— the alcohol already kicking in. The red and purple lights danced on everyone's skin as they moved along to the music. She tried to avoid bumping into the people having make out sessions, but gave up as it started to feel impossible.
Elena and Damon danced against each other as Molly passed by them. Damon hands Molly the flask in his hand and she happily accepted, taking a huge drink as she began to move to the music with everyone else. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back off her shoulders as everything drowned out at once.
Molly moved in slow motion. Her hands twirling around in the air, not bothered by the constant feeling of people pushing into her. She opened her eyes as an overwhelming presence of someone's lingering stare interrupted her.
Kai stood in the crowd, watching her intently as she moved. People moved all around him but he didn't take his eyes off her— and she just kept dancing.
Molly felt Dakota come up from behind her, his hands gently holding onto her hips as he began to dance with her. Molly moved with him, not pulling her eyes off of Kai.
Kai clenched his jaw and took a drink from his cup, setting it down and moving into the crowd. He had a painful feeling in his heart— it was sadness, it was anger. He didn't like seeing that guys' hands on her— and he didn't like the way he looked at her. Like she was a toy. Like she was something created for his own amusement.
He didn't like how he couldn't put words to his feelings— he didn't know how to explain it. But he wanted her to feel what he felt— see what he saw.
It didn't take long for two girls to latch onto Kai, his arms wrapped around both of their shoulders as he struggled to keep his drunk-self upright. The girls talked to him but he didn't listen, he just looked up with heavy eyelids to find Molly feeling that same thing he did— and he felt pleased.
One of the girls grabbed the side of his face and turned him towards her. Kai scoffed at their desperate attempts of attention, and soon began to pity them. The girl ran her hands through his hair as they moved together, the other girl played with the assortment of necklaces that hung around his neck.
Molly quickly pulled Dakota's hands off of her, saying nothing before she stormed out of the crowd— not caring who she shoved into. Kai didn't even look away from the girls as she walked past him.
"Hey!" Some girl yells, as Molly knocked her drink out of her hand.
Molly ignored her, and kept walking until she got to a clear spot in the house, charging her way up the stairs. She wanted to scream— this feeling ate at her skin like a disease, and she wanted nothing more than to tell her friends about it, but she couldn't.
And she knew the alcohol made it all worse.
Molly wiggled the doorknob of the first door she saw, locked. "Fuck off!" Someone yelled from inside. She groaned and tried another one, locked.
Molly kept trying doors until one opened up, she slammed it behind her, and stormed over to the dresser of the bedroom she found herself in.
She couldn't stop herself before swiping all of the decorations off the dresser with a frustrated groan, the sound of breaking glass filling the room. She spun around and ran her hands through her hair in an attempt to calm herself down.
One, two, three, four, five.
She counted in her head, like her therapist taught her. But her therapist also didn't know that her emotions were amplified immensely by a fucking werewolf curse.
Six, seven, eight—
The door swung open and she turned to see Kai walk in. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Please fuck off." She spoke, before opening her eyes back up.
"You're not seriously gonna try and tell me I'm the one who should fuck off, right?" Kai scoffs, shutting the door behind him. "You were the one all over your new frat boy—"
"You told me to go have fun with him!" Molly yells, widening her eyes.
"Yeah well I didn't mean it!" Kai yells back.
"You think I particularly enjoyed seeing you shove your tongue down those girls' throats?!"
Kai flails his arms out to the side. "I didn't even kiss them!" He yells. "God you are so infuriating— one day you hate me and then another you act like we're in love!"
"It's not my fault you act like a whole different person everyday!" She yells back.
He doesn't speak for a second as he tries to plan out his next argument, anxiously tapping his foot. "Maybe I act like this because I can't fucking feel anything unless I'm with you!" He yells. "And I never wanted to feel this way— because I know all the shit that comes with it. And— and— you're literally all I fucking think about now and I have this fucking— fixation with you that I can't fucking get rid of—" His words came out faster than his mind could process. "But I can't have you. And you're— not mine to claim— and— you feel too much— and I don't feel enough— and all I'll do is drag to hell with me and—"
"I love you." Molly interrupts.
Kai blinks a few times, lifting his chin up slightly. "What?" He spoke quietly.
"I love you." She repeats, not ashamed, not regretful.
He let out a sharp breath and scratched his forehead. "You're drunk." He scoffs, beginning to turn towards the door.
"I'm not that drunk." She shakes her head.
Kai stops in front of the door and clenches his jaw. "Molly, you're drunk— and you don't know what you're saying." He spoke, his back to her.
"I love you, Kai Parker. And I have loved you and— I don't want to live if I can't live with you." The words fell from her lips and she felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her.
"Molly." He spoke quietly, his back still to her.
She cut him off before he could say anything. "I am completely in love with you and there's nothing you can— do— or say— that will change my mind—"
She was interrupted as Kai quickly turned around from the door and rushed over to her, grabbing her face and connecting their lips.
His kisses were all taking. Like he was drawing something out of her with soft little jabs of his chin. She brought her fingers up to his hair, and she couldn't open her eyes.
They molded together, fitted against one another with stunning perfection. Molly had never felt as she did now, exploring the taste of him. Feeling the strength of his arms around her. Inhaling cologne and alcohol and sweat. She felt as though she'd found a moment of forever. Like this was how they should've always been.
She moved her lips against his, wanting more, but more of what, she didn't know. He steps closer, until their bodies touched, then his other hand comes up, grasping her waist, pulling her even closer. All her defenses disappeared.
He quickly took off his jacket, not daring to pull his lips off of hers. But then quickly backed her up against the door and held her there by his body. His kisses trailed down to her neck. She felt his lips against her collarbone, passionate yet gentle— so much so she could almost believe it was the kiss of cold breeze and not a boy.
He lifts her hands above her head, pining her arms to the door. He has the briefest moment of satisfaction at the pure shock and lust on her face, before his body presses against her.
Kai pulls away and quickly lifts Molly's top over head, before not letting another second pass that he wasn't kissing her. Molly pushes off the door and turns around, walking towards the bed. Kai wraps his arms around her so quickly that she almost toppled to the ground. They laugh into the kiss before Kai pushes her onto the bed and stands above her, taking his shirt off. Molly brought her hands up to his chest as his lecherous gaze grew. He leaned down towards her, the necklaces on his neck falling with him. He brought his lips down to her neck again, then down to her chest.
Molly closed her eyes and let every one of his kisses succumb her. Drowning in all the feelings she'd finally set free.
a/n (edit 4/19/21)
- at the time i was writing this chapter writing detailed smut made me super uncomfortable lol i thought ppl would understand that but i get 'robbed' comments literally everyday fhfhdhfht
if u want detailed porn go on tumblr u bunnies. or idk go outside touch some grass and get laid
jk
but fr i get you were 'robbed' but i wasn't comfortable writing smut at the time
villains of circumstance is much smuttier if you haven't already read that
now LEAVE ME ALONEEEE
- jane