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“Ah, Molly! What a sight for sore eyes!”
Molly looked over to see Mrs. Stein-Torres putting a few new books onto a shelf. She was intending on heading upstairs, but a quick chat with Libby’s mother wouldn’t hurt.
“Hi!” Molly waved at her and grinned. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
"Are you here to chat with Libby again?" Mrs. Stein-Torres asked.
"Yeah, actually! She said she wanted to hang out with me over the weekend."
Mrs. Stein-Torres adjusted the position of one of the books she'd put onto the shelf in front of her. "Well, be careful when you head over to her room. I'm pretty sure she's taking a nap right now."
"A nap?"
"Yeah, everything with school and softball and the Wilder Scouts, stuff like that, it makes her awfully tired over the weekend. Heh, and I can't blame her. Running this bookstore makes me exhausted sometimes, and I'm just a bit more than thirty years older than her!"
"Pfft, I feel that. I mean, I have insomnia." Molly walked over to the stairs that led to the second floor. "Well, I'll see you later!"
"Bye, kiddo!"
Molly began to run up the stairs, but stopped in her tracks as soon as she realized how loudly they were creaking.
"Ah, geez, don't wanna wake her up," Molly muttered.
Eventually she reached the second floor, and walked through the hallway until she noticed Libby's door.
Molly slowly opened the door to Libby’s bedroom, trying her best not to startle her. Yep, she was asleep alright. She was nestled underneath the covers, clad in pale green pajamas. Her back rose and lowered with each relaxed breath, and her long hair obscured her face. Why would she be so sound asleep at such a bright time? Molly didn’t question it much as she quietly crept over to her friend and nudged her softly, enough to wake her up but not enough to scare her.
“Hey, Libby,” she whispered, “it’s me.”
For a moment, Libby didn’t respond, until she shifted her position a bit, and groggily lifted herself up. She turned around, drowsily rubbing at her tired eyes as she gave a low whine. The first thing that jumped out at Molly was an object of some sort hanging lazily out of the corner of Libby's mouth. Was...that a pacifier?
"Mmmn…" Libby groaned, not even really seeming to notice Molly at first. Suddenly, her eyes went as wide as saucers. "Molly?!"
"What?" Molly said, her voice full of confusion.
Libby scrambled to yank the pacifier out of her mouth. "I SWEAR, THIS ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"
"Wait, what would it look like? I'm just confused about the nuk."
Libby froze. "You aren't disgusted with me?"
"Yeah, of course not. Why would I be disgusted?" Molly scratched the back of her head. "I mean, I'm sure you have your reasons."
"...Molly, do you know what age regression is?" Libby asked.
"Uhhh, no? What is it?"
"It's...basically reverting back to a younger mental state, usually out of stress." Libby looked back at the pacifier she held in her hand. "I do it to cope with my trauma."
"Oh." Molly remembered the stories Libby had told her before, of the seven years of harassment she endured from her peers. She couldn't imagine being able to live a life where kids tried to stab her with forks in the cafeteria, or recorded her in bathroom stalls. And her father… "That makes a lot of sense, actually."
Molly sat down on Libby's bed, settling herself next to her friend. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"
"It was supposed to be something my mom only really knew about me at first," she began, "since a lot of the time people think age regression is weird, or...or gross. But then you came along, and I just didn't know how I'd be able to tell you. I was so scared of losing you too quickly, like all of the other times I've had friends cut me off…"
"Aw, Libby," Molly wrapped her arm around Libby's shoulders, "you know you can tell me anything, right? And I won't be upset with you over it."
Libby wiped at her eyes with her sleeve, sniffling, and smiled. "Yeah, I...I guess I can tell you anything."
"...seriously, though." Libby pondered the pacifier again. "Being a woman is so much harder than I thought it would be. Sometimes I just...need some time to wind down, and be young again."
Molly let out a breath-laugh. "I feel like we all have moments like that sometimes. Anyway, are you gonna put that back in, or…?"
"Y'know what? Yeah, I will." Libby slipped the teat of the pacifier into her mouth and snickered as Molly held her close.
____
Molly decided to come back over to Libby's place the next day, hoping that Libby would be more comfortable with being regressed around her. And she was; the first thing Molly saw when she walked into her room that day was her lying on her stomach, sucking on a pacifier and playing with a gray stuffed cat.
"Hi, Molly!" she said as Molly opened the door, her words sort of muffled through the pacifier in her mouth.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Molly crouched down next to her. "Do they have a name?"
Libby giggled. "Mm-hmm. He's named Rory. And I'm really happy right now, 'cuz you're here."
"Well I'm glad to be with you, too!" She hovered a hand over the cat plushie's spotted fur. "Can I pet him?"
"Hehe, yeah!"
Molly smiled, and stroked the stuffed animal's fur. "Ooo, he's soft. Where'd you get him?"
"Hmm…" Libby tapped the shield of her pacifier as she sat up. "I forgot."
"Huh. Well, that's okay." Molly scratched the plush behind its ears. "I was just wondering where I could maybe get one of my own."
"Maybe my mom can get you one, she gave him to me." She paused for a moment. "Wait, I got more!"
Libby ran over to her bed, and pulled two other stuffed cats out from her headboard. One of them was a bright red-orange color, and the other was white with patches of black and orange. She kneeled next to her friend and held the stuffed animals out towards her.
"This one's Roxy," she said, "and this one's named Maple."
Molly clapped a hand to her mouth. "Oh, sweet baby corn, cuteness overload! Are they all friends?"
"Kinda," Libby shrugged, "I dunno. Rory and Roxy don't like each other."
They spoke for a few minutes, Molly petting the stuffed cats and Libby eagerly telling her about them. Suddenly, a question came into Molly's mind.
"...hey, do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Mm-mm. It's okay with me." Libby made Rory and Roxy swat at each other in her lap.
"What...does it feel like?" Molly asked. "You know, being regressed like that."
Libby stopped playing with her plushies, not saying anything for a moment. "It's...I dunno, it's...it's like, your body is big, but you're not. You're little inside. I dunno how it works."
"Oh, so like, do you need anybody to take care of you or anything when you feel like that?"
"Uh-huh, my mom does that." She went back onto her stomach, looking at the two stuffed cats in her hands, but not really doing anything with them. "You can do that too, if you want…" She trailed off, and her voice got softer.
Libby was silent for a bit, still not playing with Rory and Roxy. Molly figured she was just tired, but when she looked closer, she noticed Libby's eyes glittering, as if they were filled with tears.
"...Libby? What's wrong?"
Libby buried her face in her soft sleeves, letting out a shaky whimper. "Molly, I don't wanna feel bad about doing this…"
Oh. That wasn't good.
"It...makes you happy, Libby. Why would anybody ever think it was bad?"
"Cuz…'cuz, just…" Libby sounded like she was trying to find a reason of some sort, but she just couldn't in the headspace she was in. She began to sob. "I-I-I dunno! They just do!"
"...oh, Libby…" Molly ran her fingers through her friend's hair. "It's okay, it's okay…"
Suddenly, Libby sprang up and wrapped her arms around Molly, wailing. Molly reciprocated the hug, patting the other girl's back comfortingly.
"Shh, it's fine, everything's okay," Molly whispered. "You're safe with me...shhh, shhhhh..."
Soon, Libby's sobbing slowly became just some shaky hiccuping, although she still seemed pretty upset. Molly looked over at the cat plushies behind her, and got an idea.
"Hey, I know what'll make you feel better," Molly said. "Do you have any other plushies?"
Libby sniffled. "...yeah…"
"How about you show them to me and tell me about them, huh?"
"Okay…"
And so Libby did just that, talking about her other stuffed animals, most of which were either turtles or cats. It certainly seemed to boost her mood, her previous frown turning into a soft smile. She seemed particularly fond of Shelly, a ragged turtle plushie, with numerous stitches holding the faded fabric together. Molly assumed she'd had that one for a long time considering the state it was in.
Eventually, Libby started to play with them all, and Molly decided to join in. Libby was most of the turtles, and she let Molly play as the cats.
Libby moved one of the stuffed turtles, Joey, around with her hand, and did his voice in a cute falsetto. "Everybody! I just saw a ghost!"
"Hey, that was me!" Molly replied as Rory, and chuckled.
"No, it was a ghost, and it looked just like Rory!" Libby paused for a moment. "...oh. That was Rory."
"See, I told you!"
Libby laughed, and then let out a yawn as she rubbed her eyes. "Mmmph...I'm sleepy…"
"Oh, do you wanna go to bed?"
"...not right now, I wanna stay with you…" She yawned again.
"Hey, I'll still be with you when you wake up, Libby. I'm not planning on leaving so soon."
"Y...you won't?"
"Yep! I'll even tuck you in, if you want me too."
"Oh...okay…"
Libby lumbered over to her bed, and practically buried herself in the covers, her eyes fluttering. Molly straightened them out as she tucked them into the sides of her bedframe, and ruffled the weary girl's hair.
"Sleep tight," Molly purred.
"...mm-hmm…"
Libby closed her eyes, and sort of sank into the mattress as she fell asleep. Molly giggled, and sat down next to her bed. Today had been a great day.