2014-01-27 - Dating 101 - Asking Him Out

It was chilly, but at least it was warmer than yesterday. Above freezing, if only barely. Adam is taking advantage of it by running in Central Park. He had avoided going home the previous night, choosing to pass out in his bunk at the Academy, because as much as he wanted to catch up with his foster father, he really didn't want to deal with... yeah.

So. He planned on heading home, but a workout was needed. So he was running. And occasionally leaping up on benches or bouncing off trees. Gotta keep in shape, right?

Running, running, running. Then when he takes a moment to break he hears a familiar voice. "Hey... cmon stop a second!" And that's when Molly catches up. "You run too fast." She perks up and says. "Hi Adam! Um.... remember how I said I had an idea on how to show that I can be a good girlfriend?"

Today's hat is a panda ears hat. What's it with this girl and weird headwear anyway?

Molly holds up a finger. "So um... so I was thinking I'll join the Young Avengers and I told my friends about the idea and they were like 'I don't know cause we want our independence' and I was like 'we could have our independence and still be part of a group with all sorts of other friends our own ages' and they were like 'well maybe as long as there are no grownups telling us what we have to do' and they wanted to make sure Leapfrog could be there as well then we could all be in the same group and you'd see how I can ba really helpful as a girlfriend and stuff."

She must have super stamina to make with all those run-on lonnnng sentences.

Adam skids to a stop as Molly's voice echoes in his ears. He blinks, listening to her... and then facepalms. "Mols..." he uses Clint's name for her, then his phone buzzes. He peeks at it, blonde eyebrows lifting in surprise. "Huh." Then he looks back at Molly with a sigh. "You don't have to join the Young Avengers, Molly." The hat. It makes her look years younger, and the urge to slip into a big brother role rises as he looks at her wearing it.

Ugh. Next to awkward in Urban Dictionary is a picture of this moment.

Molly Hayes fidgets as she looks up at him. "But I want to. I want to show you that I can be a good girlfriend for you and umm..." More fidgeting. "And um I thought maybe if we could go to a movie or a restaurant or something you could see that I'd be super awesome to you, cause .. cause you deserve someone super awesome since you're super mega cool and stuff."

Molly Hayes rubs her head. "And I like you, and I mean like I LIKE like you and I think you like like me too, you do like like me right?"

Adam swallows. This is totally not a good time for this. She's actually cute, when she doesn't look, you know, six. Warring urges of big brother tendencies and normal teenager hormones are not the best thing for him right now. And...

He mutters under his breath. And reaches forward for her, tugging the panda off her head. But then he pulls out the fish hat from his pocket, firmly setting it on her head. He boops her nose with a fingertip. "Any guy," he starts with a sigh, "That needs you to prove anything to him, Mols, ain't worth your time."

Molly Hayes bites her lip as he takes off the panda hat and puts on the fishie hat and does the nose boop. "You are though. You're totally worth proving that I can be a good girlfriend. I've never had a boyfriend before and you're like the best person ever to be one. Can't we just go to the movies and stuff? I promise I won't embarrass you and talk about marriage and I promise I'll get bigger boobs cause Karolina said that's something that'll happen but I'll have to wait for it to happen."

It was getting all touching until she started talking about boobs. Again.

"Your boobs are fine," Adam says, flustered. Dammit. Wait.

"Dammit, Mols." He slumps onto the bench. "...we can go see a movie." He rubs his temples. "But you don't... don't need to prove anything. That's stupid." His tone is big-brotherly and almost angry. "You shouldn't let other people's view of you mean anything."

Molly Hayes smiles. "They are?" Wait till she tells Karolina! Then she shakes her head. "I don't. I mean except you. I mean I used to care what Wolverine thought of me but he was a mean jerk so I punched him but now I don't care what he thinks cause he's a mean beerface jerk."

Whatever 'beerface' means.

"We can go see the LEGO movie or um.. if you want we can see a more grownup movie and I'm gonna go home and ask Karolina for help on getting prepared for our movie date!" She pauses. Then quickly gives Adam a kiss on the cheek and backs up quickly and stands there for a moment. Then asks, when you're still slumped on the bench, rubbing your temples. "Do you have a headache?"

Adam actually blushes when she kisses him. "Ugh. No. It's not that. I just..." he leans forward, snagging the hat off her head. Then he sighs, standing up, and kisses her forehead.

Resigned to his fate, he mutters, "All right. Lego sounds fine. Tomorrow night, okay?" And he puts the fish back on her head, then waves the panda at her. "I'm keeping this one. You'll get it back tomorrow night, only if you don't wear another one when we meet up, okay?"

Molly Hayes smiles when she gets kissed! Sure on the forehead but it's a kiss from a boy! And she kissed him before on the cheek. So that's like... totally kissing.

Molly Hayes looks at the hat, then feels her fishie hat on her head. "Oh... oh okay! I mean I guess I can do that. No hats for the date." She smiles at the panda hat. "It's super cool though isnt it?"

Adam swallows again, sighing. "It's... it's something, all right," he allows, not wanting to hurt her feelings. "Look, just... we're not boyfriend and girlfriend, okay? Not now. Let's just see how things go, okay?"

Molly Hayes pauses. "You mean like... we're not girlfriend and boyfriend until we have three dates or something? Cause I heard that there's some sort of rule about having three dates."

"Something like that, but not exactly. Let's just see how..." Adam grumbles, "...things go. how. You know. If we even like each other. And stuff."

Molly Hayes smiles happily. "I already know I like you. LIKE like you. And I'm gonna make sure you like like me too." Then she runs off. She even skips a bit. Cause she's happy. "Woooo! Gonna have a boyfriiiiiiiiiiiiennnnnnnnnnnnnnd...."