No way back - Crossing the line of friendship

Chapter 3

- Austin -

"You know she's going to kill you, right?"

Austin looked up at Jimmy who stood leaning against the doorpost in the kitchen. He knew exactly what Jimmy meant but decided to play dumb anyways. "What are you talking about?"

Jimmy nodded towards the package that sat opened on top of the kitchen table. Molly's costume had arrived yesterday, and it was perfect. Yes, she was probably going to kill him for it, but it would be good for her. She had to get over the asshole who was stupid enough to dump her. Thomas had never been good enough for her anyway. He was a boring chump and a stickler for rules. Molly deserved someone as fun and relaxed as her. "It'll be fine," Austin said, feeling confident in his ability to persuade her. Sure, the costume was a bit more revealing than her usual outfits. Molly was more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. But it was only for one night. "Did you talk to Coralee?"

Jimmy pushed away from the doorpost and walked over to the fridge. Grabbing a beer as he answered. "Yeah, she should be here in about twenty minutes."

"Good, good. Maybe having her here will help my case." Coralee was the girl Jimmy had been seeing for the past month and she was one heck of a make-up artist. Jimmy had asked her to help with Molly's look tonight. And with her here, maybe Molly wouldn't go totally crazy on him.

"So she's just gonna kick your ass instead of killing you outright?"

"Exactly."

The doorbell rang and Jimmy gave Austin an evil smile. "Showtime."

"Shut up and hide the package." Austin hissed and punched Jimmy on the shoulder as he walked by and out in the hallway. Plastering on his most charming smile, he swung the door open. "Hi, Molly!"

Molly stood with her arms crossed, her messy hair up in a bun and a frown, as she looked up at him with squinted eyes. "What are you up to?"

He had no idea how she was able to read him that well, but it was kind of scary. "Nothing." He lifted his hands up in from of him when she raised her eyebrows at him. "I swear. Are you gonna stand there all day? Pizza is on its way." Austin stepped aside as she took a step forward, still glaring at him.

"For some reason, I don't trust you." She walked past him, and he breathed a sigh of relief as she headed into the kitchen. He hurried after her to make sure Jimmy had gotten rid of the box. It was nowhere in sight and he smiled.

Molly was already sitting on her usual spot on the counter with a beer in her hand. "You know, the fact that you told me to come over without any make-up at all, kind of scares me. I know that none of you have any artistic talent whatsoever."

"Nah, you're good. Coralee is coming over to help you out." Jimmy grinned.

"Oow how exciting! I'm finally meeting the mystery girl huh?" Molly took a swig of her beer. "She knows I exist right? I don't want to be chased with a baseball bat again."

Austin cringed. That had been one crazy night, and also all his fault. A few years ago, one of his old hookups had unexpectedly shown up during a game night, thinking to surprise him, and Molly had opened the door. The bimbo had a lot of delusions in her head from the start. Her first mistake was thinking that they had more than a one-night, drunken fuck. He was always very clear on that point with the girls he hooked up with. Hi didn't do relationships. Her second was asking Molly if she was Jimmy's girl and when Molly laughed and said 'God no.' She didn't question it further. She turned and walked back to her car without another word. Three minutes later, the crazy bitch, literally kicked the door in, armed with a baseball bat, swinging for Molly's head. It was the first, and last time Austin had ever restrained a woman against her will, while Jimmy called the cops.

Jimmy chuckled. "Yeah, after that night, you are a first date topic."

Austin didn't really do dates, but he would find ways to bring Molly up in the conversation with girls somehow to avoid a repeat catastrophe. The three of them were a package deal. The three stooges. If the girls couldn't accept her, they had to go. His thoughts went back to Thomas. He and Molly had almost broken up at the beginning of their second year, when she had moved back after she graduated because he didn't like her spending so much time with him and Jimmy. Thomas had eventually backed down, but after that, it seemed as if they already had made plans whenever they invited Molly for anything. Thomas was a prick.

"That's good to know." Molly laughed. "So, where's my costume?"

Austin stiffened. He had to find a way to distract her. If she saw it now, she would never go along with it. She needed more beer and less time to overthink the outfit. Jimmy was staring at him and he knew he had to say something. The doorbell rang and saved him.

"That's probably Coralee," Jimmy said and headed out of the kitchen.

Molly's eyes shimmered and she had the biggest grin on her face as she followed him.

"Play it cool, will you?" Austin heard Jimmy whisper, followed by an "Aouch!"

She had probably slapped him in the back of his head and Austin chuckled.

An hour later, they were all sitting around the coffee table, the now empty pizza boxes taking up the whole tabletop. The girls were chatting away as if they had known each other for years and Jimmy had a proud grin on his face. Coralee had shown up, already in her costume, and the fact that it actually was skimpier than Molly's, would hopefully help a lot. Austin knew it was time to get ready and did a quick prayer that he wouldn't die in the next minutes before he rose. "Okey, I'm going to go and change, I suggest you do the same."

Jimmy chuckled. "Your costume is already in the main bathroom, Molly. Under the sink."

She frowned at him and Austin silently cursed. If she hadn't already figured out that they had been hiding her costume for a reason, she sure had figured it out now.

Coralee jumped to her feet with a squeal. "Come on sweetheart, let's get you banging ready!"

Molly followed her towards the bathroom and if looks could kill, Austin would be a dead man.

He grabbed his beer from the table and headed to his room. The pirate costume was laying on his bed and he started to change. He wasn't much for dressing up, but the ladies loved it. If he could please a ladies' sexual fantasy by dressing up in leather once a year, it was worth it. He had just pulled on the tight pants when he heard Molly scream from down the hall. "Austin!"

The heavy steps headed towards his room, made him chuckle. He grabbed the frilled shirt and was about to start buttoning it up when Molly slammed his door open.

"Do you think this is funny?" She waved the dress in front of his face and he laughed.

"Actually yes, I do."

"I can't wear this, Austin." She plopped down on his bed and looked up at him with her puppy eyes. If he hadn't known how good she was with them, he might have fallen for it.

"Of course, you can. It's a dress. Molly."

She shook her head. "You can hardly call this a dress... at most it is a long top. It's too small."

He frowned. "Did I get the wrong size?" He had been so sure he got it right.

"No... But I don't have the body for this kind of dress."

Shaking his head, Austin chuckled. "You're delusional. Everyone has the body for that dress. Now go get ready." She looked so sad with her puppy eyes and he felt his heart melt a bit. "If you really don't like it when you're all done, I'll promise we'll figure something else out. You got nothing to lose."

"Besides my dignity..." Molly mumbled as pushed herself off the bed.

"You lost that when we were thirteen and you pissed your pants running from Mr. Fuller."

Jimmy's laugh carried through his door on theother side of the hall, as Molly flipped Austin off before disappearing out ofview. Before the bathroom door slammed shut, he could hear Molly curseviciously.