The Gravity of Love

by Thomas, Anne

  Shrugging, Molly began to pace across the floor. "Red is half of me; half of my life, half of my soul. He's the only guy I can stand talking to for hours on end and who I eat with my almost every meal. The only one I share my deepest thoughts with since I first had deep thoughts. He's inspiration and my support in everything I do. He understands me and expands upon all my wildest dreams and constantly pushes me to do more and better. He's who I run to when I'm hurt or something goes wrong. Why would I try and mess with what's already so perfect? Why jinx my great luck? And why add lover to that list?"

  Marty shook her head in disbelief. "No Molls, no! What you just said is the perfect reason why you should make him your lover and probably even more!"

  A tall frame filled the doorway then, showing Harrison's arrival. He cocked an eyebrow, backing away slowly.

  "Why are the two of you staring at me like that?"

  Molly threw a silencing glare at Marty to make sure she wouldn't say just why they were. Then Molly focused her attention back on Harrison.

  "What brings you here, Harry?"

  He tilted his head, studying her for a moment. "You call me Harry a lot lately." He commented.

  "Well...I supposed I'm just exercising my privileges. I mean, when you're the only person who's allowed to call you Harry, besides you're mother, you get an odd sensation that you just might be special."

  He chuckled and winked. "You know it! So, can I take my special girl out on a weekend adventure tomorrow?"

  "What do you mean, weekend adventure?"

  Harrison walked out of the apartment and back in to the hallway. When he returned to the girls' sights, he was carrying two fishing poles, his favorite fishing hat upon his shaggy curls that were trying to escape. "Gee...I don't know. You have any ideas?"

  Her mouth flew open in delight. "Midnight fishing!" She squealed, running towards him and claiming the fishing pole that she always used. She ran her finger along the scarlet handle and emerald green spinner. "We haven't went fishing since the first week I got here."

  Harrison nodded. "Which is why we should go now. I'll take you up to that lake we went to before. Middle of nowhere with creeks and rivers and forests...remember how clear that yellow full moon was last time?"

  She bit her lip, her eyes beaming. "Yeah, it was great."

  "Good, so you're free tomorrow night?"

  She threw out her arms. "I'm always free now."

  "Well then, perfect! I'll pick you put around five, okay? We'll get some food on the way, drive two hours, set up camp and we'll be fishing."

  "Sounds like fun." Molly assured. Leaving the poles there, Harrison made a display of trying to tip his bucket hat, then walked out.

  Marty made a noise and Molly turned to her. "Well, it looks like someone is taking a helping hand in all this break up stuff."

  "What, Harrison? No, he's just being Harry."

  "Yeah, and the last time you two did anything like this was two years ago you said so yourself."

  She shrugged. "Well, you know how busy a principal like him can get." She said sarcastically with a laugh.

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  With her stomach full from a quickie mart ham sandwich and a full bag of chips that she had shared, Molly leaned back in relaxation. Crickets chirped all around her, reminding her that this was how it used to be how it should be. The lake's reflection shown the full, bright moon as it rose steadily in the sky as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played on their famous tune about fishing in the dark on the radio.

  Harrison switched his pole to his other hand and grabbed his cool beer, swinging his head back to gather a strong gulp. When he put the long neck bottle back down, he looked over at her with a grin. "Feels like the old days, huh?"

  She nodded eagerly. Back in Vermont, they'd do this near every night in summer. Just her, Harrison, and sometimes Harrison's brother Aiden would tag along. Occasionally, they'd go full out and Harrison would invite all his friends mostly guys and a few of their annoying girlfriends and they'd all camp out through a three day weekend.

  But it was just Molly and Harrison who would come rain or shine and stay for days. Camping, making fires, hiking, fishing, and cooking anything they caught. Harrison had learned when he was young how to gut a fish, and he taught Molly well.

  "But Vermont never was this warm in winter." Molly commented.

  "Yet that never stopped us. I bet everyone you know would be shocked to learn your old camping habits. How you and I survived on next to nothing when we did those week or two long camping trips."

  "Just to get away from the stress of daily life and get back to the basics. Being in the middle of nowhere was never so appealing."

  "We should do this more often."

  Molly didn't speak for a moment, playing with the fishing line on her pole. "Harry...why did you bring me here?" She finally asked, keeping her voice soft.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, you have a girlfriend. Why didn't you take her?"

  "Take Candy Grey, the famous model? God no. She wouldn't last a minute out here. She's not made out of the tough stuff like you are."

  "But...you've never even suggested going and doing anything like this for two years. And now out of the blue...?"

  "It's not out of the blue, Molls. I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I've just been busy."

  "So it has nothing to do with me breaking up with Ephram? This is for you and I and old times...no pity party, right?"

  "Of course. Just you, me and old times. And yeah...maybe a little...comforting to you. For recent happenings. But it's nothing different from what you used to do for me.

  Remember Susan Wrinkler?"

  Molly grinned. "The girl who you loved since you were nine. She broke your heart on your sixteenth birthday. We drove out to Nowhere's Land and stayed until every last feeling for

  Susan had drained from your system. It took two and a half weeks." She recalled.

  "Well, you're twenty-eight. You really liked Ephram and he broke it off for another woman. So I'm repaying you for Susan."

  "Oh God, we're not staying here for a week and a half, are we? Because it was fine when we were teens, but now...?"

  Harrison laughed. "No, not that long. Just until you're okay."

  "But I'm okay now. I never really loved Ephram. I kept a space between us for this occasion so it would be easier to break it off sooner or later. Really, I'm fine."

  Just then, Harrison's pole gave a few tugs, and he started reeling in his line. "Well, let's pretend you're not because I'm having a pretty good time here and nowhere near ready to go back."

  "Ditto." She whispered softly, watching a furiously flapping fish come out of the water.

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  Monday came too soon. And with it, a fresh batch of rumors, settled upon Molly and Harrison.

  "Have you heard how much we're madly in love with each other and how we're planning to run away and elope sometime within the next two weeks?" Harrison asked at lunchtime, leaning against the doorframe of the classroom.

  Molly rolled her eyes as she looked up from her pop quiz papers. "You mean we're not married already? Geez, these guys give us too much credit." She teased.

  "I know you got really upset over the rumors last time. I thought I'd just stop by before making an announcement."

  But Molly just shook her head. "No...it's okay. Just let them talk they'll get tired of it soon enough."

  His eyebrow perked up. "You mean you don't mind?"

  "No, not really. I just got a little carried away last time. As long as Candice knows the truth, I see no real harm done."

  Harrison nodded slowly, thinking it over. Or rather, thinking over her behavior. "Okay, that sounds fine with me. But hey, you miss the wedding, I'm blaming our marital status on you."

  She giggled. "I have papers to write, Mr. I'm a strict principal. Get out so I can finish before
my class comes back."

  He offered her a wink, then turned and left her to her solitude.

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  Chapter 9 And Share Your Dreams with Me

  "What is with you lately? You hardly ever talk and that's very weird for someone like you." Josiah said as he watched Harrison pace before him. "You've been like this ever since you came back from that fishing trip with Molly three weeks ago. Actually...I think it was a little before that. And you're happier too. What the hell?"

  Harrison chuckled, shaking his head. "What the hell about me being happy?"

  "Yeah. You're never this...daydream."

  "I don't know...really I don't. I just think...I feel...like things are changing. Like it's a whole new beginning for me. I don't know how to react half the time I'm so happy I disgust myself. Other times I'm miserable and I want to pound something or someone in to a pulp. I never visited a gym until two weeks ago, just so I could beat the hell out of a punching bag."

  Josiah looked at him with moonshaped eyes. "Oh my God...what's wrong with you? What have you done to Harrison? I know...Molly killed him on that fishing trip, right? She was so hurt by Ephram's betrayal that she took her rage out on the real Harrison and buried him with the fishes. You're just his clone that's covering for them. But what you didn't expect is that I know my best friend better than anyone I can see right through this disguise. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

  Harrison groaned, plopping down on the sofa hard enough to make it groan under the impact. He rubbed his forehead in circular motions with his fingertips, his eyes closed. "I'm not a clone, Joe."

  Josiah faked a gasp. "Really? Great, thanks for the confession now tell me what's up? What's been going on?"

  "It's...it's..." Harrison growled deep in this throat. "It's Molly, alright?"

  "What about her?"

  "She's...different."

  "No, you're the one who's been different Molly's been fine."

  "You don't understand. Molly is the same. She's acting like she always is. But she's different...to me. I see her differently lately, and it's driving me out of my freaking mind."

  Josiah was taken aback, staring at his friend for a few minutes in comprehension before daring to talk. "Red...are you...are you saying you're falling for Molly? Our Molly, the one I know? As in, Molly Edwynn Radcliffe? That's Molly?"

  Harrison gave a slight nod. "I think so. God...I don't know. I have no clue. It's all so...weird. Sudden. Strange. I never had any kind of feelings for Molly outside being her best friend. I've always been very protective of her. I've always been fond of her. We've been great and I've always had deep feelings for her. But never like this. Always before it was more like a cross between a best friend and a sister. Now...now I don't know."

  Josiah still couldn't believe his ears. Getting up from his chair, it was his turn to pace. "I can't believe what I'm hearing here. Are you serious?"

  "Try being a little sympathetic here, Joe!" Harrison yelled.

  "Since when did being in love need sympathy?"

  "Since it involves my Molly."

  "Oh, you're already adding possession?" Joe hinted, starting to enjoy his friend's pain.

  "She's always been mine! That's beside the point."

  "Well what are you going to do? I mean hello you already have a fabulous girlfriend. A cheerleading captain, super model, gorgeous and adoring girlfriend. You can't seriously, in your right mind, let that one go!"

  Harrison stood up, stretching his back muscles. "I'm not sure if I'm in my right mind, Joe. I'm not sure if I've been in my right mind for weeks. It's a scary world, the way I've been looking at it."

  "Then you better start looking at it differently and quick before you actually get carried away with this idea."

  "...I...I think I already did."

  "Then I'll have to take away your license and your job and check you in to a mental hospital."

  "You think it's not possible to really be in love with Molly in my sane mind?"

  "No. I just think...you're going to make things weird. You have to decide for yourself if it's worth the risks of hurting and changing your friendship. It could make it better or it could kill it. Molly's pretty damn unpredictable. Be sure of your new feelings for her before you act upon anything."

  Harrison nodded. "Maybe I'll just try to make it stop. I'll ignore it. I never said I loved her I just said I have weird feelings going on. They're probably not love at all. No, in fact, I know they're not. It's not love. It's just a bit of infatuation. She's been really sweet to me lately and since Ephram left, we've been spending a lot of time together. I'm probably just confusing it with that, I'm sure."

  Joe nodded, but he didn't really believe it. "Yeah well, you sleep on it. And speaking of which, I have to get some shut eye too it's getting late and I have work early tomorrow. We're starting on constructing a new house on fifth avenue. The whole team's pretty excited the blueprints are amazing. But I rather not drill a screwdriver through my hand from being dizzy with sleep vision."

  Harrison waved his hand in dismissal, already heading back to his bedroom, his eyes weary and heavy from need of sleep. It's not like he'd been getting much since Molly's breakup anyway.

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  Harrison twisted and turned, his legs getting caught up in the sheets.

  It was a good dream he was having, despite the sweat that was breaking out on his forehead. He was watching Candy Grey cheerleading in a little white and red uniform, watching from the bleachers and cheering her on. Running to greet her when the game she's cheering for is over. She's an amazing treat for the eyes and he can't wait to have her in his arms. But when he does, he's no longer holding Candice Greybill. Instead, he's holding Molly. She's beautiful and attractive, even though her body isn't shown off in a cheerleading outfit. Instead, it's covered in simple hiking gear long sleeved baggy sweatshirt with backpack straps going down and across to secure a heavy backpack. Normal fitting jeans that tucked in to heavy wool socks inside big hiking boots complete her wardrobe. Her hair was back in nothing but a simple, everyday pony tail, and yet she was still amazingly attractive. Her smile is radiant, and only for him. And suddenly he's thinking, "Candice who? What cheerleader? I don't have a girlfriend." But those thoughts get replaced by more intense thoughts of the woman snuggling in his arms, her face coming closer to his as he's leaning down. It's the first time he's ever been in this position and he just realized it.

  He never kissed Molly. Never like this. Never with these feelings racing through his veins. But just before his lips can reach hers, he wakes up with a start, finding himself now sitting straight up in bed. He's panting, he's breathing so hard in his shock as slowly the memories of what his mind had just conjured came back to him.

  "My God..." He whispered in disbelief.

  His blood was still pumping fast, leftover emotions still running their course from the dream.

  His thoughts were running fast enough to keep up with the rest of his body. Thoughts on the conversation he and Joe had carried on earlier. Talk about love. About how it wasn't true, but oh, how clearly it all seemed to him now. At this moment, could he deny for a moment that he hadn't fallen for his best friend of twenty-five years? Could he deny that the first time since it was made he recalled his pact of marrying Molly by the time she reached thirty if she wasn't in a relationship? Could he deny the screaming truth inside him?

  No. He couldn't even try to. Or to begin to. Because it was true. It was all true.

  And it felt like somehow, he'd burst any moment now if he didn't get it out. It was an overload and it all needed somewhere to go before his body took over and his feet found

  themselves running down the stairs and in to Molly's apartment to proclaim what he found out. And that certainly couldn't happen. Not for Harrison, it couldn't. Not for the man who's so desperately afraid of ever actually loving someone. Actually ge
nuinely caring for someone on that level. That kind of commitment. Frankly, it always scared the hell out of him. Not that he would let anyone else realize this, especially Molly, but it was true.

  He'd never actually loved a woman on such a level. Admiration, yes. Attraction, hell yes. Love? No, not once. And on purpose it was why he went through women as fast as he did

  and to the great dismay of Molly. He never got a chance to fall in love with them and that's how he liked it.

  He never suspected Molly though.

  His chest had that bursting feeling again. His feet hit the floor but it took the coolness of the wood boards to make him realize it and haul them back on to the mattress.

  Taking a quick escape, he grabbed a pillow and held it to his head, cushioning his face in to it as he screamed, "Oh God, I think I love you!"

  With that over with, he fell back on to the bed and closed his eyes, though no longer able to sleep.

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  "So...you're saying you seriously would want Molly over Candice?" Josiah asked as if his friend had gone completely mad.

  Harrison opened his mouth to say something, something seemingly wicked and vulgar from the gleam in his eye, but he stopped himself.

  "Joe...I've spent my whole life with Molly. And last night I realized something so amazing...I realized that I really love Molly. God, I think I've always loved her. I mean, I know I have in some way or another, but I think deep inside, I always knew that we'd end up together somehow. And right now it's all coming in so fast...these emotions are such a rush. I really don't know what to do!"

  Joe sat back, staring hard at his friend, all serious now. "Well...if you're really sure that you're in love with her, then you have to take the first step. You have to become single.

  Personally, I see a wonderful, perfectly able bodied woman with a hot resume. I don't know why you'd want to dump God's gift to men, but hey, we differ from opinions a lot.

  Just...do me a favor. When you dump Candy, tell her there's a willing shoulder right here that loves to be cried on by gorgeous women. Because I'm fortunate enough to have avoided falling in love so far."