AN: Alright I don't usually do these but upon reading this chapter I realised something that made me hesitate to upload it. I've tweaked what I can but I feel I should still put up a warning here:
If outing is triggering for you please take caution reading this
I did not intend to write outing as a plot point which is why it was not telegraphed at the start of the fic and I have tried to make my intentions as clear as possible in the text but I felt I should be transparent. I wrote Molly and Libby in this fanfic without much thought to them being an LGBT couple and how that would have different implications to a straight one. While the actions in this chapter are bad, they were never supposef to be worse than a simple invasion of privacy. I apologise for not thinking through the implications of my writing more thoroughly. At this point in the story I feel I have done all I can to minimise the potential impact without rewriting previous chapters, but please take care regardless if you are sensitive to such things. My apologies.
"Got any corner pieces?"
"Hmmm. Nope. You, Molly?"
"Uh, let's see..." The trio were sprawled in various positions of sloth on the floor of Book Marks The Spot. The bare frames of a puzzle lay in-between them, surrounded by piles of puzzle pieces and half open books Libby had attempted to get Scratch into.
Molly lay on her back, with her feet propped up on one of the two bookshelves narrowly enclosing them. Usually they'd sit on the armchairs out front, but Libby said she always felt rude taking those spots during business hours, so had instead taken them to her 'secret hideout' at the end of the rarely explored gothic poetry section. The Thai girl sifted lazily through her pile of rainbow coloured pieces, eventually pulling out one displaying what looked like half a cloud. "Noo, but I found the last edge piece."
Scratch lazily extended an arm from where he lay on his stomach on one of the higher shelves and put the piece into place. Libby let out a drowsy yawn.
"Oh Libby dear!" Mrs Stein-Torres' slightly-shrill voice rang through the shop, making the two girls sit up. Even Scratch, despite being hidden snuggly between section W and X, reflexively turned invisible at the noise.
"Yeah?" Libby called out and the trio noticed the elder woman lean around the corner of one of their shelves. "Sorry to interrupted your play time, girls- but ya got a letter!"
Confused, the girl tilted her head. "Really?"
"Yup! And it looks like its from a friend, too!" Mrs stein-Torres said excitedly, lifting proudly aloft a familiar looking envelope. "Look:" she said, showing a now pale Libby the letter and pointing. "Turtle sticker! They know you so well!"
"Haha..." The girl laughed the most forced and empty sounding laugh ever laughed. "Yeah..."
"Well, I'll let you open it- I got books to unpack. Molly, do you need anything?"
"No, Mrs Stein-Torres."
"Alright, keep having fun, girls. If you need me I'll be in the back, ok Libs?"
"Yeah." She said, voice hollow.
As soon as the woman was out of sight, Scratch turned blue again and the two crowded her.
"Ohh no, Libby!" Molly exclaimed worriedly, taking the envelope from her hands, much to her panic. "They sent your letter back! Did they not read the address right-?!" Her eyes glances to the stamp, briefly (Scratch leaning over her shoulder and following her eyeline) before she shook her head. "No, no, it's ok, we can fix this! It's too late to send the letter back b-but-"
"Yeah! Thats right!" Libby exclaimed suddenly, grabbing the letter back and holding it to her chest. "Oh no, now they'll never read it." She held a hand up to her forehead with some of the worst acted sadness ever seen on a person. Scratch narrowed his eyes. "I guess I'm going to the dance alone. Oh well, what a shame-" before she could put the letter in her back pocket, Molly grabbed her arm.
