Silver, Blue & Gold

"What? Me?" he asked. "Sorry?"

Molly couldn't help but laugh gently at the confusion on his face. "I didn't mean to be nosy. It just looked like something was on your mind while we were at Cameron's. Even though I talk pretty fast, I'm a decent listener, if you ever want to talk about it."

"Thanks," he said. Then, out of nowhere, he found himself telling her everything about the breakup. He told her how Chelsea had started pulling away not long after they moved in together, and he'd put it up to the stress of the change. She insisted on only the toniest restaurants and kept saying that he needed to "dress the part" if he wanted to succeed. How she called him Jacob all the time, instead of Jake, as though even his name was too informal. At first he hadn't minded, but after a while it had made him feel like the butler.

Then he'd come home to find her waiting on him only to tell him good-bye. "But it was so weird," he said. Molly listened to it all intently, saying nothing, waiting for him to get it all out. "In between all that, she would say she thought about getting married. Things would be different, she loved me, and all the problems would go away. Then all of a sudden, she decides it's not going to work. And she leaves. Just like that."

Jake took a deep breath, stunned that he'd poured everything out to Molly. God, she must think I'm a complete nut, he thought. He was almost out of breath from having said it all and it took a minute to get his bearings. When he dared look at Molly, he found her staring at him with a hint of sadness, but no pity, in her blue eyes. That was good, he didn't need pity. He'd managed to find an endless source within himself.

Cameron was right. It was tiresome.

"I am so sorry," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean... I had no intention of saying all of that. You didn't need me to lay all that on you. I'm really sorry."

"It's all right," she said. "You needed to say it, and I didn't mind listening." He noticed that any nervousness seemed to have left her. She was calm and her words weren't tumbling out on top of each other.

"Okay, then," he said as they resumed walking. "Hopefully, the next time I see you, I'll make a better impression." He gave a short laugh. "Honestly, I don't usually regale pretty girls with a sob story like that."

Molly blushed when he called her pretty. "You made a fine impression," she assured him as he walked her to the door of her apartment building.

"I did?" He grinned. "Well, that's a load off my mind."

Molly laughed. "Glad to help." She bounced on her feet for a minute, then impulsively reached up and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for the walk, Jake. I appreciate it."

"You're very welcome," he said. Part of his brain was stuck, repeating Hey, she kissed me in a loop. He tried to work past it. "Stop in the office anytime. Cam and I are always looking for an excuse to procrastinate."

"Yep, that sounds like Cam," Molly agreed. Jake smiled and watched as she went inside.

Things seemed just a little bit brighter as he walked back to his place.

x-x-x-x

Molly found herself regularly stopping by Cam and Jake's office on her way to or from work, depending on the shift. If she had a morning start, she'd often bring them coffee. In the evenings, they'd return the favor.

Much to her relief, she stopped talking to them as though she was under deadline to use up a certain number of words. It bothered her, and she had tried many times to change it, but it was an uphill battle. Eventually she gave up. It would have been easier to stop talking all together, she had thought despairingly. She still had her moments, but less so in front of Cam and Jake as they got to know each other.

It had been a stroke of luck, running into Cam. She had taken the job at the hospital with no hesitation, but when the reality of moving to a town where she knew no one finally hit, she had been apprehensive. She and Cam had been good, but not close, friends in high school. They got along better now, she thought. She considered that at certain points in life, people just wouldn't mesh, or not mesh all the way. Give them some time and some seasoning, and that could change.

How much time would Jake need to get over his break up? That thought occurred to her with distressing frequency. Maybe I should talk about it with Maddy, she thought. They'd become fast friends, much to Molly's delight. Maddy was a petite, red-haired firecracker with dancing blue eyes and a ready sense of humor. Molly thought she matched up well with Cameron, who was taller and calmer, although he couldn't quite hide the mischief in his eyes.

What would she tell Maddy, though? She wondered with a sigh. Maddy, I've got a crush on Cam's best friend. Help me out, here. She smiled wryly to herself. That would certainly be direct, and it had the added advantage of being true.

Since that first dinner at Cam and Maddy's, she and Jake had become friends in their own right. They went out to dinner occasionally, usually if she had a shift ending around that time and stopped by the office. He had never really made any moves or done anything Molly could interpret as wanting more than friendship, no matter how she tried to. You're just scared, she admonished herself. That was true, too.

You should just take the chance, she thought. You took a chance on your career, and that worked out. Well, yes, she answered herself, but that was different. If a faceless admissions board rejects you, it's not quite the same as having the guy you like turn you down.

Going in circles with those thoughts, she walked to work, sipping her coffee. Then she shook her head and tried to focus. She went over her day, trying to lay things out as best she could, given the uncertainty of her schedule. After her shift, she was going to Cam and Maddy's for the jewelry demonstration Maddy had suggested. That would be fun, she decided. She had picked up a lot of different colored beads and various chains to put them on. There should be plenty to play with, and she was looking forward to meeting Maddy's friends.

Focusing on work and the evening, she managed to push her feelings for Jake to the back of her mind. That, she noted grimly, was getting to be a habit.

x-x-x-x

"Cam, you free for a ball game on Saturday?" Jake asked. "A client had tickets he couldn't use and gave them to me. Cardinals and Phillies, should be fun."

"Sorry," said Cam with genuine regret. Cam loved baseball and went to games every chance he got. "We have to go visit Maddy's parents this weekend. I'll have to settle for watching it on TV."

"Okay," said Jake. "I can go myself and leave the extra ticket at the box office, I guess. Or find someone who needs one."

"No scalping," warned Cam. "We're lawyers, you know. It wouldn't look good if you got busted for illegal ticket sales."

Jake laughed. "No worries. I'm not even sure where the seats are. I wouldn't know what to charge." He looked up at the clock when the hourly chime sounded. "Four already?" He gave a low whistle. "Time flies when you're buried in motions."

"Sure does," Cam agreed. He stood and stretched. "I've been sitting in that damn chair all day trying to answer emails and contact people. I would have been better to go knocking on doors."

"Think Molly will stop by today?" Jake asked. If she had come by in the morning, he missed her, having gone to the court house to sort out some of the never-ending paper work.

"I don't know," said Cam. "She didn't stop this morning, must have started early." Then he narrowed his eyes at Jake. "Why?"

"I thought maybe she'd like to go to the game," Jake said warily. "That okay with you?"

Cam sat back down and tapped a pen on his desk. "Depends," he said. Jake raised an eyebrow inquiringly. "I think she really likes you, Jake. If you don't like her that way, you should let her know."

"Oh." Jake blinked. He didn't know quite what to say. He liked Molly a lot. He also knew he was making an effort to keep things light, to hold her a little bit away. It had been nearly a month since Chelsea had left, and although the hurt was fading, Jake still wasn't sure how he felt. He told himself that he was protecting Molly by taking things slow, keeping everything platonic. But now he wondered if he was protecting himself instead.

"I don't know," he admitted. It was Cam's turn to give him a questioning look. Jake sighed. "I do like her, I do. I just don't know if I should do anything about it. I'm not dumb enough to ignore the fact that I recently had a bad end to a long relationship. That probably has me messed up."

"You were always messed up," Cam said helpfully.

"Thanks," said Jake wryly. He became serious again. "I mean it, though, Cam. I'm sure my perspective is skewed. Molly is great, she really is. She's sweet and funny and I'd hate to hurt her."

Cam was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Hurt is always a risk. Maybe you should let her take it if she wants to."

Jake was about to reply when, just like the first time he'd seen her, Molly whirled in through the door. She was wearing her nursing scrubs, but they were just as colorful as anything else she wore. Her pants were plain blue but her top had stars and teddy bears on it. She was also carrying her TARDIS purse, as Jake now thought of it. He continued to be leery of it, sure that if he reached in he would come out lacking fingers.

"Hi, guys," Molly said with a smile.

"Hey, Molly," they both said. Jake saw that despite the smile, she was tired. She hid it well, but he noticed the slight dark circles under her eyes, and the way she didn't talk quite so much. Even her smile seemed a little dimmer, which tugged at him a bit.

"Long shift?" Jake asked, and she nodded, rubbing a hand over her eyes. She looks adorable, Jake thought. With her teddy bear top and her hair in a pony tail held by a silver scrunchie, she looked like she was ready to curl up with a blanket and drop off to sleep. How nice it would be, Jake mused, if she was curled up next to him. That thought brought him up short and he was grateful that Cam continued the conversation.

"Are you sure you're up for the jewelry thing?" Cam asked her. "I'm sure Maddy would understand. She and the others wouldn't mind at all."

"No, thanks," said Molly, dropping into one of their chairs. "It was hectic, but I'm better since getting out. Besides, it'll be nice to see some people. I feel like all I do is work, go home, eat frozen dinners, and go to work again."

"I know those days," Cam agreed.

"Absolutely," Jake said, able to focus once again. "I think you just described my entire last year of law school. Except we alternated between pizza and subs." Molly chuckled at that.

"It's a wonder you graduated at all, with a diet like that," she teased. Then she sighed and stood. "Well, I'd better go. I need to go get the beads and all for tonight. See you."

"Molly, wait," said Jake. He ignored the look Cam was giving him and walked over to the door. "I'll walk a little with you, okay?"

"Sure," she said, nodding. What is this? She wondered, and refused to let herself hope Jake was finally going to ask her out. You're pathetic, she thought. You could just ask him yourself. Women's lib and all that. They stepped outside and started towards Molly's building.

"Are you busy Saturday?" Jake asked.

Molly's heart tripped a little but she kept her voice steady. "No, actually. The scheduling gods smiled and gave me Saturday and Sunday off. I'll have to pay for it with tons of double shifts, I'm sure, but I'll take it when I can."

"Do you like baseball?" he asked. Molly nodded. "I have tickets to the game on Saturday afternoon. Would you like to come with me?"

Molly wanted to say, "Would this be a date?" Instead she said, "That would be fun. I haven't been to a baseball game in ages."

"Great." Jake was more relieved than he expected to be. "The game's at one, maybe we could do lunch before or dinner after?"

"Sure," said Molly. Her heart had settled down, but now her stomach was fluttering. Stop it! She ordered herself. It's just a game, not a date. "It might have to be dinner," she said and felt the words building up to come rushing out. "I'm not sure how late I'll be on Friday because a lot of times I end up working extra hours with no notice so I may end up sleeping pretty late to make up for it and..." she sighed and dropped her head.

"Molly," Jake said gently, putting a hand on her arm. She looked up at him and he was lost, for just a moment, in her deep blue eyes. "I didn't mean to make you nervous. Dinner on Saturday would be fine. I know you work hard, and your hours change. Don't worry, we'll work around it."

"Thanks," Molly said softly. This time, she indulged her urge to hug him. He was so understanding of her work and schedule. Her family had never even tried. Her mother would go on for days when Molly had to beg off an event because of her shift. She had no concept of Molly's job or of the idea that there was a nursing shortage. Molly's hospital was luckier than most, but even so wasn't carrying a full compliment of nurses.

Jake, she realized, had never been upset when she'd had to cancel dinner at the last minute because of an emergency. She hugged him tighter for it.

When Molly's arms went around him, Jake instinctively brought his own up and wrapped them around her. He wondered why it had taken him so long. Well, if I'd known how good she'd feel, I would have, he thought. He had a feeling things had taken a turn, and found he wasn't as worried as he thought he would be.

x-x-x-x

Molly had a great time with Maddy and her friends, Ginger and Sharon. She hadn't had a girl's night of any kind in forever, and they all got along famously. Not a lot of jewelry got made, but they had a blast anyway, and made tentative plans to do it again.

"Oh, that was fun," Molly said with a happy sigh as she helped Maddy clear away some wine glasses. "I haven't done anything like that in so long."

"Really?" said Maddy. "That's too bad." She picked up a tray with the decimated remains of a cheese selection. Cracker crumbs were left like rubble between the chunks of cheese. "It seems like the kind of thing I'd do with my sisters."

"My sister thinks it's a waste of time," Molly said as they walked into the kitchen. "She told me she doesn't know why I bother. Other people make it better, and with more expensive materials, and what was it? Oh, yes. There was no need to go around looking like I shop in a thrift store."

"No offense," said Maddy, "but I don't think I'd like your sister very much."

"None taken." Molly put the glasses down carefully. "I don't like her much, myself, a lot of the time. I think it's pretty mutual."

"I know someone who likes you," Maddy teased in a sing-song voice.

"Who?" Molly looked at her with genuine curiosity.

Maddy laughed. "Jake, silly."

"No," said Molly, disbelieving. Then, with a hopeful note, "Really?"

Maddy laughed again, a clear, pleasant sound. "Absolutely."

Molly sighed and leaned against the counter. "I like him," she admitted. "But... well, I think it's obvious he's not quite ready to jump back in the dating pool. That was a tough break up."

"He told you about Chelsea?" Maddy asked, surprised. Molly nodded.

"It was the first night you had me over for dinner," Molly said. "When he walked me back, I offered to listen if he ever wanted to talk about whatever was bothering him. Then all of a sudden, he told me everything. I don't know why, and we haven't talked about it since."

"I can't imagine why," Maddy said dryly. "Geez, what a conversation to have on the first date."

It was Molly's turn to laugh. "It was hardly a date, just a walk home."

"You have to start somewhere," Maddy said.

"Well, maybe Saturday," Molly said.

"Do tell," Maddy encouraged with a wide smile.

"Jake invited me to a ball game," Molly told her.

"Oh, no," Maddy groaned and closed her eyes. "Cam drags me to those. It's like watching paint dry only less exciting."

"I like baseball," Molly said hastily. "That's not the problem. I just don't know if it's a game or a date. I think it's just a game." She waited a moment, then confessed, "I wish it was a date."

Maddy came over and squeezed her hand. Molly was so... open. She shouldn't ever play poker, Maddy thought. Out loud, she said, "Well, some people say dating is a game. Maybe you can make a date out of it."

"I'm not that clever," Molly admitted. She sighed and looked away. "I'll probably end up saying that to Jake, that I wish we were on a date. Then he'll go to get a drink during the seventh inning stretch and I won't realize until the ninth inning that he never came back and I'll feel like a complete idiot and probably sit in my seat until the ushers throw me out."

Maddy couldn't hide a smile as the words flew out of her friend's mouth. Molly had actually gotten much more comfortable recently and wasn't usually nervous around Maddy or Cameron. But when the conversation turned to Jake, Molly's speech tended to approach mach one.

"I hardly think Jake will abandon you at a baseball game, no matter what you say," Maddy told her. "It's really not his style."

"I guess you're right," said Molly, brushing her hair back. "I'm just such a flake and I know it. Jake seems so together. It hardly seems right that he'd be interested in me."

Maddy laughed loudly this time. "Jake could use a little flakiness in his life, not that you're a flake," she said. She patted Molly's hand. "Just go and enjoy it. And if anything slips out," she shrugged, "sometimes Jake needs a push."

x-x-x-x

Jake knocked on Molly's door, irritated that he was nervous. It's just a baseball game, he reminded himself. With a friend. A very cute, fun, female friend. He sighed.

"Hi," said Molly. Jake couldn't help but smile as he stepped inside.

"I think we may have a problem," he said, gesturing at her shirt.

"What? Why?" Molly looked down at her top, then back at Jake.

"It says 'Phillies,'" he observed. It looked cute on her, though, he had to admit. It was white with red lettering, and she wore it over a blue t-shirt sprinkled with silver stars. She'd left her hair down, and it caught him by surprise. It looked like a golden waterfall. He was so used to seeing it up in a pony tail -- her usual style for work -- that he'd forgotten what it looked like loose.

"Well, yes," she said, and could feel the words queuing up. "I'm from Philadelphia, so I'm a Phillies fan but if you think it would cause a problem I can go and change and..." To the surprise of both of them, Jake shushed her by placing a finger on her lips. Molly swallowed; it seemed more intimate than a kiss.

"No," he said, stepping back, "that's not it." He held up a shirt, and taking it in both hands, let it unfurl like a flag. Molly laughed as she read 'Cardinals' and saw the logo.

"We'll have to sit in different sections," she teased.

"Oh, I guess we'll manage," Jake said. "We Cardinals' fans aren't like you hooligans in Philly." He smirked. "No one throws snowballs at Santa Claus here."

"You don't have the guts," Molly said. She narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Besides, need I remind you who won the last World Series?"

"True," Jake agreed, then grinned slyly. "Nice of them to win two titles within a person's lifespan."

"Being a Phillies' fan builds character," Molly sniffed. "We have personality."

"You have a court in the stadium for drunks!" Jake protested.

"That's the Eagles," Molly corrected. "And I don't know if they still have that."

"Sobered right up for the new stadium, eh?" Jake asked dryly.

Molly arched an eyebrow. "You know, I don't have to put up with this kind of disrespect." Even as she said it, he could see her fighting to hide a grin.