Chapter Text
When he wakes up, the warmth of her body wraps around him like a blanket. His face is buried somewhere in the crook of her neck, and he inhales her scent—a mix of shampoo, soap, and Molly. Her arms are wrapped around his chest, her legs entangled with his, and he feels…oh, he feels so much.
It’s been a long time since he’s felt anything besides dread, pain, and disappointment, even before Val decided to end their marriage after so many years of…
Well, were they really happy, he wonders. In the beginning, yes, and for a couple of years after. He can’t pinpoint when things started to go downhill. Maybe it was a slow walk down a slippery slope that could only end in a disaster. Maybe he should’ve seen it coming. Maybe he was blinded by the idea of a great marriage, an illusion that reality couldn’t compete with.
Maybe he’d simply been a fool.
Rocker can’t tell what’d hurt more; that she’d left him in the first place, or her reasons for doing so. She’d found someone else, and maybe he should’ve been grateful she broke up with him first rather than cheating. There’d been questions; some he’d asked, some he’d rather kept to himself.
The answers he got, and the ones he made up in his head, didn’t change a thing, though. Their marriage was over, and suddenly, after almost two decades, he was single again. And he was…not alone, no. Lonely. Which is a big difference.
You can have friends by your side who try their damnest to cheer you up, wipe the doubts from your mind, and assure you that maybe this turn of events is for the better. It doesn’t help the draining sense of loneliness you feel the moment you walk into that shitty, way too small, way too impersonal apartment that’s supposed to be your home now, with no one there to kiss goodnight.
And then, fate had mercy on him, or maybe he was just lucky for once when he ran into her.
Now he’s lying in her bed, warm and comfortable and wanted in a way he hasn’t experienced in…probably forever.
Rocker smiles a little and allows himself a moment to simply be. He doesn’t just have his mojo back, like Tan says. He’s…yes, he is, in fact, happy. She says he makes her happy, too, and he doesn’t think he’s doing anything special, anything unusual that he didn’t do for Val as well. Maybe it’s different with Molly. Maybe with her, what he has to offer is enough.
“I can hear you thinking. It’s deafening.”
He’s been so deep in his thoughts that her voice startles him, and he earns a soft chuckle in response. Molly pushes her hair out of her face, pulls back a little until she meets his eyes. What he sees is warm and sweet. Not blank, not bored. There’s curiosity, and he knows she wants to ask what he’s been thinking about, but she doesn’t. Because she knows, he assumes, and how she lifts a hand to cup his cheek, then brushes a thumb over his cheekbone, is a good indicator that he’s right.
“Are you alright?” Molly asks eventually, and he believes she really wants to know.
“Yeah.” Rocker nods to emphasize his words and then, after a brief moment of hesitation, adds, “I’m happy to be here.”Her eyes are firmly locked with his, and he’s sure he can see she’s pleased with his answer.
“Good,” is all she says. His eyes flutter shut when she leans in, and when her lips capture his in the sweetest of kisses, he can feel the resulting warmth spread into every inch of his body. He can get used to this, he thinks, and when she pulls him closer, deepening the kiss, he could swear that for a moment, he forgets about the past and dares to hope for a future.