Stealing Glances

After their semi-awkward lunch with John and Molly, Jake and Jamison headed back to Ruby Red Studios and setup the recording room for their podcast with Pat Monahan of Train. Not soon after, Pat, his assistant Pergo, and his band mate Jerry arrived to set up their equipment. They all sat around the table they had set up in the recording room with their headphones on and began the infamous podcast.

“I’m here at Ruby Red Studios and we’re with some good friends of mine who are super talented and just good people in general—Jake Sinclair and Jamison Song who both make up the duo Sin & Song.” Pat said, reading off his notes. “They both have worked with our band Train, Fall Out Boy, Butch Walker, Brendan Benson, Panic! At The Disco, P!nk, Paramore, Maroon 5, Matt Nathanson, and New Politics just to name a few. I am super excited to have them here on Patcast, without further ado let’s welcome Jake Sinclair and Jamison Song.”

“What an intro…” Jamison chuckled. “Thanks for having us…”

“I just need to put this out there—I always say it’s all about personality when it comes to being a band and how good of a person you are and I couldn’t be more excited about you two doing this project band together. Like I saw this on Patcast all the time about Jake but I truly believe you are going to go down as one of the greats in the industry and Jamison, you are one of the nicest most sweetest and talented people I’ve come across in life, gosh it kind of blows my mind how young you are.” Pat smiled looking at Jamison as he said the latter statement. “You two are just good people.”

“We’ll give you the 100 bucks we owe you for that scripted compliment.” Jake said into his microphone jokingly causing everyone to laugh.

“I remember meeting Jamison for the first time when Butch introduced us at some event and I just thought to myself, “did Butch adopt some kid?” but you really kind of blew me away when I saw you work in the studio.”

Jamison chuckled, as she recalled the exact moment Pat was talking about. “That feels like forever ago—I was just like starting out then…” She said, with a smile.

“Then Jake, I also met you through Butch when you both toured with us and helped us on our record.” Pat said, looking over at Jake. “Can you tell us about your beginnings in the music industry and how you guys became Sin & Song?”

“Sure.” Jake said, “I was in the band called The Films—which consisted of Michael Trent who is now in the band Shovels & Rope with Cary Ann Hearst, who is also his wife.”

“Cary Ann and Michael are some of my favorite people ever.” Pat gushed, “They are just lovely.”

“Aren’t they just wonderful?” Jamison said, looking at Pat with an expression filled with admiration and love.

“Also in the band was Kenneth Harris, who is now playing with Panic! At The Disco and our drummer Adam Blake is now in the design industry but we had like two albums and toured around a lot—we were pretty popular in Europe—especially Germany.”

“Which blows my mind cause it’s impossible to have a following there for artists now.” Pat said, with a chuckle.

Jake nodded in agreement, “I know, it’s weird to even think about…”

“Are you guys still close?”

“We’re still really close—they are my brothers.” Jake answered, giving a nod. “Jamison was actually helping with our first album, which Butch produced and that’s how we met. And like after a decade of friendship we finally decided to make music together… I don’t know it just happened starting as a joke.”

Pat looked over at Jamison who was listening attentively. “Awesome, how about you Jae?”

“I started when I was 14 working with Matt Squire and then Butch Walker, Neal Avron, and Brendan Benson… and that’s about it for me.” She said, nodding her head.

“You know your story is much much more interesting than that.” Pat chuckled at her modesty, “What were your initial impressions of each other?” He gestured between the two who looked at one another with a smile.

“I honestly thought to myself—man, this band looks like a group of male models.” Jamison admitted, bursting out into laughter.

Pat let out a howl of laughter. “No way!”

She continued laughing while putting her hands up as if she were surrendering. “I swear…”

“What about you Jake?”

“Damn, she’s young.” Jake chuckled, as Pat began laughing hysterically once again.

“I wasn’t even legal when I first met Jake…” Jamison said, reminiscing on what seemed to feel like a lifetime ago.

After a lot of talk about Sin & Song, the music business, touring, and everything in between they had taken a music break and played “Broken Two” with Pat and Jerry. Before diving back into their conversation.

“You two… I have to say everyone that has met you both for the first time always thinks you two are dating.” Pat said, looking at the two knowingly as they both laughed at the comment. “I’ve had some people tell me you guys are like the BJ Novak and Mindy Kaling of the music business.”

“Oh god, really? That’s hilarious.” Jamison said, bursting into another fit of laughter.

“I’m obviously Mindy in this scenario, right?” Jake asked, in mock seriousness.

Jamison looked at Jake with the same mock seriousness he had. “Obviously.”

“So, humor me for a moment…” Pat began, “If you guys did get together, what would that be like?”

“It’d be like it is now… share a house together, work together, and give each other shit in the most loving way.” Jake answered, with a chuckle.

“We would get government benefits? Tax breaks?” Jamison joked, looking over at Jake with a smirk.

“Good thinking Jae.”

“Do you guys get along so well cause of your line of work and personalities being similar?” Pat asked, elaborating a bit more into the subject.

“We’re similar in many aspects but we’re actually quite different. Jake likes riding horses, bikes, and being active.” She began, as Jake nodded his head in agreement. “I think that’s how this works so well, it’s not like I’m friends with a male version myself— if you think about it, how vain is that?”

“I’m vain so, I’m all for that.” Pat joked, “Was it like instant friendship?”

“I want to say we were fast friends—or it seemed that way…” Jake looked over at Jamison for confirmation of sorts at his statement. She nodded along in agreement. “I think being around each other so often and growing together really made our friendship what it is.”

“It was, and we got along well as friends and colleagues, which is rare…” She added, “But you know Jake, he like matches up to your level… like if you get snarky, he’ll shoot it right back at you.”

Pat nodded in agreement. “He’s very Elvis like Butch.”

“I totally agree.” She nodded, giving Jake a smirk. “It also works so well cause we always choose to stay in each other’s lives and make that effort.”

“And there’s been no secret harboring of feelings between you two?” He gestured between his two guests looking at them with a smirk.

“Minus that whole male model first impression, none that I’m aware of…” Jake shook his head, “What about you Jae?” He looked over at Jamison who was lost in her thoughts for a moment.

“Let me put it like this Jake is a super honest person and I don’t think Jake even knows how much he means to me. So, I think if he ever had feelings for me or vice versa. We’d be honest about it and have a discussion over some whiskey and figure out the logistics if it’s something we both wanted.” She began, looking over at Jake who gave her an agreeing nod. “But we both know what we have and don’t have— no matter what other people seem to think… I’ll admit our friendship is a bit weird with the closeness at times but we’ve never disrespected our boundaries with one another—especially when we were dating other people.”

“This is quite interesting to hear.” Pat said with a chuckle, as the two broke out into laughter from Jamison’s almost intense explanation of their friendship. “But do you really think it’s all about logistics from friends to lovers?”

“When it comes to friendships turned relationships—as unromantic as it seems, it kind of is especially if you’re close.” Jamison reasoned. “You share the same social circles and so on…”

“But you know, we joke and say when I hit 35 and we’re both single. We’ll get married mostly for tax reasons and deal with the “I told you so” speeches at our wedding.” Jake said jokingly, causing everyone to chuckle.

“Well, I kind of hope you guys get married now so I can make a speech saying, “I told you so…” in it. I think that’d be great.” Pat said, jokingly with a laugh.

“Get in line with like the rest of the world.” Jerry chimed in causing everyone to laugh. “Can we play another song together?”

“Sure, I’m all for that.” Jamison said, with a nod as Jake and Jerry began strapping on their acoustic guitars.

“How about “I’m Feeling You”?” Pat suggested, looking over at Jamison.

She nodded in agreement, “Sounds good.”

“How did this song come about?”

“I wrote this for Jake as a thank you for his friendship I guess…” She looked over at Jake with a smile. “People take it as a love song—which, I guess… I do love Jake. But this is more of a song to convey my gratitude for his existence in my life. This song is just another huge neon sign to our weird friendship. But that’s the beauty of music, people can take it how they want it.”

Pat nodded then looked over at Jake. “How did you feel when you first heard this song?”

“Probably, “about damn time! I wrote you a song forever ago.” or something…” Jamison answered, doing an imitation of Jake causing everyone to laugh.

“That’s exactly what I thought.” Jake said, sarcastically giving a thumbs up to Jamison’s answer.

“Okay, so this is us now attempting to play “I’m Feeling You” by Sin & Song with Jake and Jerry on the guitar and Jamison and I on vocals.” Pat said, as Jake and Jerry began counting off before playing the intro.

Sometimes, I imagine the world without you
But most times, I’m just so happy that I ever found you
It’s a complicated web, that you weave inside my head
So much pleasure with such pain
Hope we always, always stay the same

I’m feelin’ the way you cross my mind
And you save me in the nick of time
I’m ridin’ the highs, I’m diggin’ the lows
‘Cause at least I feel alive
I’ve never faced so many emotional days
But my life is good
I’m feelin’ you
I’m feelin’ you

You go, and then I can finally breathe in
‘Cause baby I know, in the end you’re never leavin’
Well we’re rarely ever sane, I drive you crazy and you do the same
But your fire fills my soul
And it warms me up like no one knows

'Cause I’m feelin’ the way you cross my mind
And you save me in the nick of time
I’m ridin’ the highs, I’m diggin’ the lows
‘Cause at least I feel alive
I’ve never faced so many emotional days
But my life is good
I’m feelin’ you
I’m feelin’ you

I’m feelin’ the way you cross my mind
And you save me in the knick of time
I’m ridin’ the highs, I’m diggin’ the lows
‘Cause at least I feel alive
I’ve never faced so many emotional days

Oh, I’m feelin’ the way you cross my mind
And you save me in the nick of time
I’m ridin’ the highs, I’m diggin’ the lows
‘Cause at least I feel alive
I’ve never faced so many emotional days
But my life is good
I'm feelin' you
I'm feelin' you
I'm feelin' you
Oh, I'm feelin' you

Oh, I’m feelin’ the way that you cross my mind
And the way that you save me in the knick of time
Oh I’m feelin’ the way when you walk on by
I feel light, I feel love, I feel butterflies
I feel butterflies

“That was pretty good.” Pat said, as Jerry and Jake played the final chord.

“Obviously, you’re the star.” Jamison teased, causing everyone to laugh.

“I try. I try real hard to outshine my guests on the show.”

“You did good.”

“Okay, so I thought I would end this Podcast with a few questions that my wife always wants me to ask.” Pat said, looking down at his notes.

“Awesome.” Jake said, shaking his head in excitement as he recalled Butch’s podcast he did with Pat.

“The first question is what is the best find you’ve found on tour—of all the places you’ve guys travelled where do you guys enjoy going every time you’re in a certain city. It can be like a record store, restaurant, just something you guys can turn people onto?”

“We’re in Nashville a lot for work—I think we always end up going to Hermitage Café if we’re having a late night.” Jamison said, “It’s a nice dive diner that opens at like weird hours—10PM till 1PM the next day.”

“It’s a great place that you go for the food, but you mostly go for the crowd.” Jake added, “It’s a good place to wind down.”

“We’re also big on Pitfire Pizza here in California.”

“Come to think of it, we eat a lot.” Jake chuckled, shaking his head in mock shame.

“I mean we both cook pretty decently but we do go on food adventures quite often.” Jamison chuckled, “We’re big on eating food good.”

“What are you guys a fan of lately—is there a TV show, artist, food, or record… something you guys are a huge fan of currently?” Pat asked, reading off his notes.

“Netflix” Jake answered, without any hesitation.

“House of Cards?”

Jake nodded, “Of course.”

“For me, I actually really like riding motorcycles lately.” Jamison answered, “Like I’m not in the driver’s seat or anything but I enjoy them.”

Pat looked surprised by Jamison’s answer. “Really?”

“I do… oddly enough. I used to be so terrified but now I’m all for tagging along rides.” She chuckled, looking over at Jake who was smirking at her.

“She’s caught the bug.” Jake teased, with a laugh.

Pat looked over at his notes before asking the next question. “Most memorable personal and professional moment?” He asked, looking at the two, curious on what their answer would be.

“Professionally, one that comes to mind is first record I made with The Films and making the Sin & Song EP with Jamison… my first Grammy nomination?” Jake said, finding it hard to answer such a question. “Personally… I can’t even just pick one.”

“Personally, Butch naming James after me and Brendan with Declan’s middle name after mine… or the male version of my name… and making Jake get friendship tattoos with me, what an idiot.“ Jamison looked over at Jake and chuckled. “Professionally? Three-way tie, my first record, the Sin & Song EP, and the short story series I wrote… I would put my first Grammy nomination up there too.”

Pat nodded his head as he approved their answers. “Both great answers.”

“These are harder than Butch told us they were…” Jake said, jokingly with a chuckle.

“I’m making it harder to ruin your lives.” Pat deadpanned, then chuckled. “Is there anyone you want to be more like?” He looked at Jamison for her answer.

“I wish I was more like Nora and Brittany.” She admitted, as Pat looked at her in surprise.

“Butch and Brendan’s wives?”

“Yeah… they are just… yeah I wish I was just Zen like them.”

“You seem Zen.”

“I do music.” She chuckled, “You know we’re nothing of the sort.”

Pat laughed, nodding his head in agreement at her sentiment. “True.”

“I wish I was more like my little brothers and sister.” Jake said, with a smile nodding at his answer.

“They’re better looking and have better teeth than you.” Jamison teased, punching Jake on the shoulder.

“My parents obviously love them more cause they got braces and I didn’t.” He said, as Pat began laughing before looking at his notes once more.

“This life and career you both live, do you think you guys you choose to do this or do you think it chose you?”

“I think this whole thing, I was meant to do it but to get to this exact point was my choice. I think there could’ve been different scenarios played out but it would have all panned out within the music realm.” Jamison answered.

“I agree with that sentiment.” Jake said, nodding his head in agreement.

“Is there a standout moment that has lead you here? Was there a like “no” or “yes” moment that made all the difference in the world?”

“To this exact moment?” Jamison asked, curiously.

“Yeah or just to this point in your life.” Pat clarified.

“Without a doubt, if it wasn’t for the breakup I had gone through to make “Your Favorite Song” I wouldn’t be at this point in my life exactly.” Jamison answered with a confident nod, her expression becoming a bit more serious.

“What happened with that exactly?” Pat asked, with a look of curiousity.

“I mean I’m not going to get too detailed— that’s for my therapist.” She said, jokingly.

“Right, of course.” Pat said, light-heartedly as he and Jake watched her intently as she thought how to answer the question carefully.

“More than anything, it was the fear of what it was going to become for me. I was moving to Australia for work and then going on tour and things… the fear of just resentment if we had waited for each other and long distance in general took over—so I ended things then this album was made and inspired thanks to him.” She explained, with a nod as a rush of memories and feelings washed over her.

Pat looked at her in astonishment. “And that one guy inspired an entire album?”

Jamison nodded her head, “That entire album is about him and our time together—it’s our story.”

“Has he heard it?”

“I actually have no idea. Maybe, maybe he uses it as like a coaster or something.” She said, with a laugh trying to deflect the thought of John even owning the album.

“Dartboard.” Jake added, in mock seriousness.

“Totally.” She said, mimicking Jake’s tone. “I would use it as a Frisbee.”

“What do you expect or hope his reaction would be about the album?” Pat asked, wondering what her answer would be.

“I don’t except anything from him—I don’t think I deserve that… but I kind of hope if he did listen to it. He’d understand where I’m coming from and I now understand how he must have felt.” She answered honestly, as Jake watched her get lost in her train of thought.

“I gotta say, if you broke up with me and made this record. I would forgive you and be honored you broke my heart.” Pat said, sounding completely genuine with his words.

“Thank you.” She smiled.

“So, to end this podcast where can we find you guys on social media?” Pat asked, looking at the two.

“I’m just Jake Sinclair—one word on twitter and instagram. I don’t go on it as much as I should. I do have a site jakesinclair.com for my producing stuff.” Jake answered, then looked over at Jamison for her answer.

“I’m Jamisong it’s just Jamison with a g—for twitter, instagram, and facebook fan page.” She answered, “I do have jamisonsong.com for tour dates and stuff then there’s sinandsong.com for Jake and I’s current project.”

“And you guys will be on tour with Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and The Maine for the “These Friends Are… New Friends Are Golden Tour” this spring.” Pat said, reading off his notes.

“Yes, please join us… it’ll be a party.” Jake said, enthusiastically. “There will be little guitars, which we all know means party.” He chuckled, as her referred to Butch’s infamous mandolin comment—“little guitar means party” mantra.

Jamison laughed, nodding her head in agreement. “It will… Peter’s coming on tour to film us.” She said, referring to their mutual friend who had made Butch’s documentary and behind-the-scenes videos for Train while they made their latest record.

“Oh that’s great.” Pat said, “I know Fall Out Boy and Panic! very well but how are The Maine?”

“Great band… great guys. I think you’d love their live show. It’s very old school with modern elements.” Jamison said, giving a nod of approval, as Pat looked intrigued by her statement.

“Awesome, thanks again guys for doing this. This was one of the most fun podcasts I had.” He smiled, giving a thankful look at both Jamison and Jake.

“Thanks for having us.“ Jamison said, as she gave a smile.

-----------

John woke up the to the sun shining upon his face to a beautiful bright California morning. The minute he woke up he felt really good, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt the way he did. He remembered the previous night, take-out food, a John Hughes film, making out like he was a teenager again, and taking a step further in bed. Granted, it hadn’t been the first time for them together as a couple but as time went on for them as a couple, John quickly grew fonder and fonder for Molly. Which was something that surprised him more than anything.

John looked over at the empty space next to him in bed, he quickly got up and looked around for a moment before the smell of bacon and eggs ran through his nose. He walked out of Molly’s room into the kitchen to see her working over the stove in one of his t-shirts. In John’s eyes, at that moment it was a sight for sore eyes for him—his girlfriend in his shirt.

He walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and watched her for a moment before resting his head on her shoulder. Molly turned and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before focusing her attention back on the breakfast she was making them.

“Good morning.” She said.

“Good morning” John said, kissing her cheek and snuggling closer into her body like he was molding himself to her.

Suddenly a familiar melody and voice ran through the speakers of Molly’s apartment.

Well, maybe I'm a crook for stealing your heart away
Yeah, maybe I'm a crook for not caring for it
Yeah, maybe I'm a bad, bad, bad, bad person
Well, baby, I know.

And these fingertips
Will never run through your skin
And those bright green eyes
Can only meet mine across the room filled with people that are less important than you.

John hadn’t even realized that album had been playing while he was greeting Molly.

“I know, I know I should be listening to my boyfriend while making breakfast but this album is so good.” Molly said, looking at him with a smile.

“Yeah…” He mumbled to himself.

“It doesn’t fit the bright early morning mood—I’ll change it.” She said, as she picked up a remote that was an arms distance away from her and clicked it with Maroon 5 suddenly filling the speakers.

John suddenly felt a pang of guilt rush through him. He was always struggling with the internal battle of telling Molly about Jamison. But how was he supposed to go about it? Tell Molly, “The girl who screwed me up is actually the girl who I am going on tour with for 3 months… oh and you know her—and like her!” he wasn’t completely sure if he should even open up a can of worms. But then the other part of his brain reminded him that one of the most understanding, sweetest, and the most un-LA, LA girl was his girlfriend. He shouldn’t hide his past with her, especially when she had been so accommodating with him all this time to even get to this point.

“Molly, I need to tell you something—“ John began, as he felt like his heart was in his throat.

“Hold that thought.”

Molly grabbed John by the face and pulled him into a kiss, the kind that left no room for misinterpretation with how she felt. She pulled back leaving John speechless for a moment before he gathered his wits.

“What was that for?” He asked, losing all the words and thoughts that were in his head a moment ago.

“Just cause you are a great guy and I am very happy to call you my boyfriend.” She said, happily before biting her lip.

“You’re great.”

“I try.” She giggled, “What were you going to tell me?”

He decided to keep a good thing going…

“You have no idea how good that smells.” He said, quickly looking over her shoulder at the food that was in the pan.

“Thanks… and I do know.” Molly said, cheekily causing John to chuckle. “So, what do you want to do on your last day here before you go back to Arizona tomorrow?”

“I just kind of want to spend time with you, I mean I’ve been here all week and we’ve spent a lot of time together but somehow it doesn’t feel like that.” He admitted, feeling like this work vacation was filled with more work than vacation.

“Probably cause all the press I made you do…” She said, sheepishly giving him an apologetic look.

“You mean well.” He said, assuring her he didn't mind much.

“Thank God you feel that way…”

John chuckled, before mulling over his thoughts for a moment. “I feel like the beach today…”

“Beach it is…”

After eating breakfast and getting ready, Molly had driven John to Santa Monica beach where the two just lounged on the beach in a comfortable silence together and letting the sunrays shine and ocean breeze be apart of their company.

“Tell me something that would surprise me.” Molly said, breaking the silence and looking over at John.

He looked at her curiously, “About me?”

“Yeah.”

He thought for a moment before a smirk came upon his face. “I once brushed my teeth with Jack Daniels.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” She said, with a laugh looking completely unimpressed by his confession.

John let out a speechless laugh by her reaction. “It doesn’t?”

She shook her head, letting out a giggle. “Nope.”

“Let me try again…” John thought again then pulled up his sunglasses and looked over at Molly. “I haven’t smiled as much and genuinely as I have since I met you.” He admitted, suddenly feeling vulnerable by the simple confession.

“Really?” Molly asked, looking completely surprised and touched by his words.

“Really.”

She pushed her sunglasses up to the top of her head and looked at him curiously. “What did the last girl do to break your heart so bad?” She asked, letting out a small laugh while shaking her head.

“What about you? Tell me something that would surprise me about you.” John asked, with a smirk as he quickly changing the subject.

“I was in science club for my freshman and sophomore year of high school…” Molly confessed, with a small laugh.

His eyebrows rose in complete surprised by her confession. “Really?”

“Really.”

“To see you be such an advertising PR maven of some sort. I find that hard to believe.”

She nonchalantly shrugged, “I just needed to get outside of my shell a bit.”

“I’m quite glad that worked out for you or we wouldn’t be here now.”

“Likewise.” She smiled. “I have to admit, it’s sad knowing you’ll be leaving in a few months for tour.”

“We talked about you coming out for a couple of dates and things—“

“Still… something about having thousands of girls screaming for you every night.” Molly laughed, sheepishly. “It’s intimidating to think about at times.”

John grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze before giving her a kiss similar to the one she had given him earlier in the morning.

“Hey, you know I only have eyes for you.” He said, trying to reassure her.

“I know.” She shook her head, “I’m hungry… I forgot what’s good to eat around here.”

“There’s a taco place around here.” John said, getting up from his spot and dusting himself off.

“Sounds great.” She said, as John helped her up. “How’d you find out about it?”

John walked into the studio quietly to see Jamison sitting at the soundboard with her headphones on intently working and completely in her own world. He quietly walked up and grabbed her shoulder in a sudden manner causing her to jump out of her seat and scream.

“Hi.” John chuckled, as she took off her headphones and looked at him like a wounded puppy.

“Oh jeez… you scared the crap out of me.” She said, clutching her chest with seemed to be beating rapidly.

“Sorry…” He said sheepishly before adding a smirk. “Not really.”

“What are you doing here?” She asked, giving him a proper greeting with a hug. “I was going to drive down to see you today.”

“I know, I thought it’d be nice if I surprised you at your place of work and if we went to the venue together.”

“A very welcome surprise despite almost dying of a heart attack.” She chuckled. “But that’s really sweet of you to do.”

“I was hoping if Butch would let me, I’d crash with you for the next couple of days since the venues are like an hour or two away from here. Plus, we have a day off in between San Diego and LA date. Get in as much time as I can before I am somewhere in the middle of nowhere for 2 months.” John said, giving her a hopeful look wishing she would take him up on his offer.

“You are more than welcome…” Jamison said, giving his arm a reassuring pat. “You really don’t have to go out of your way to do this…”

“I never have to, but I always I want to…” He assured her causing both of them to smile.

“You are a nice boy…” She teased. “I’ll buy you all the tacos you want from down the street. We can even eat it at the beach…”

“Sounds like a date.” He said with a smile while lacing his hand with hers.

“You know, all that traveling… you pick up a few things.” He answered nonchalantly as they were packing their things up.

“Alright, after this I know what we should do.”

“You’re the boss, applesauce.” He smiled. “I’ll lead the way.”

The couple spent the afternoon at the aquarium then roaming around the Santa Monica Pier like tourists doing all the cheesy things people would do. John hadn’t laughed or enjoyed himself that much in awhile with doing such simple things.

Molly began driving back to her place, and the two sat along listening to the music of Ed Sheeran filling the speakers of the car.

“I haven’t had that much fun in awhile, I felt like a kid again.” John said, looking at her with a thankful smile.

Molly smiled, “Got to keep the youth inside of you alive.” She teased.

“You’re like a ray of sunshine.” He chuckled, as he stroked her hair before grabbing her free hand and kissing her knuckles.

“I don’t think I am.” She giggled, “Maybe you’ve just had a cloud over your head for too long?” looking over at him with a curious smile.

“Maybe...” He shrugged, as he gave her a weak smile. “But this… it’s nice, it’s comfortable. It feels right.”

“Thanks.”

“No, thank you.”