ONE MONTH LATER

Andrew picked up his phone as it buzzed, seeing Caroline's name flash across the screen. "Hello?" he asked.

"Andy, its Caroline. I've got to see you," the voice on the other end replied. "Are you at home?"

"With my parents. What's wrong?" Andrew asked, running his hands through his hair.

"I'll tell you when I get there," Caroline said.

He could hear a sense of urgency in her voice and he wondered what was going on. He didn't have to wonder the long because he got an alert a second later from the front gate and her car came to a stop between his parents' and Molly's in the driveway shortly after. Andrew barely made it to the kitchen door before his manager burst inside.

"Caroline, what's going on?" he asked.

"Have you seen the Sunday Times?" Caroline asked, shrugging her coat off and pulling her bag over her shoulder.

"No...why?" Andrew asked. "Tea, Caroline?" Seeing his manager in such a state had him concerned and he wanted something to keep his hands busy.

"Yes, that'd be grand," she replied distractedly, looking at her phone. "Is Molly about?"

"In her office," he said. "Revising, I think."

"Could you get her, please?" Caroline asked. "Are your parents through here?"

"In the front room," he nodded as the kettle dinged. He poured water over the tea bag and picked up the hot mug and carried it through to the front room, knocking on Molly's office door as he went. "Hun? Caroline's here. She says she needs to talk to you about something," he said, sticking his head in the room. "Sounds urgent."

She looked up from her textbook. "Yeah. I'll be there in a second."

He found Caroline standing in front of the fireplace, hands on her hips. "Caroline, have a seat and tell me what is happening. Did someone die or something?"

"I'll tell you when Molly gets here," she replied, taking the hot mug from his hands.

"Must be serious if you came all the way out here on a Sunday," his mother said.

"Hey Caroline, what's up?" Molly asked, coming into the front room and sitting next to Andrew on the sofa.

His manager produced a copy of the Sunday Times, flopping it onto the coffee table wordlessly. Molly read the text on the front page and felt her stomach drop to her feet. Hozier's Dating a Gypsy! stared back at her in large block letters over top of a photo of the two of them taken back in Los Angeles, walking down the street hand-in-hand.

"What is this?" Andrew asked, picking the newspaper up with shaking hands and flipping to the story.

Musician Hozier, who is informally known as Andrew Hozier-Byrne, has a new lady in his life and her origins will shock you. Molly Stanley, 29, hails from Los Angeles, California where she was a successful solicitor for a legal aide organization there. However, what is most interesting about Ms. Stanley's past is not the fact that she is American or that she was a successful solicitor; rather, the fact that she is 100% Romanichal gypsy.

It turns out Ireland is not the only country that struggles with the presence of gypsies on our streets. The gypsy populations in American cities like San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Portland, and Ms. Stanley's hometown of Los Angeles have a history of petty crimes. Molly comes from a family that has been established in the Los Angeles area for decades.

It would appear from fan accounts that have followed Andrew and Molly's relationship that the two have been together for at least a year. The pair met through the legal aide organization Bright Horizons, whom Molly worked for until this past July. Andrew was the organizations second-largest donor with a donation of $800,000. He was beaten only by American Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who has been a regular donor to the organization since its creation. Did Molly convince him to donate so much of his multi-million-pound incone?

Molly attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where she got her BA in Sociology in 2014. She was accepted into UC Berkeley School of Law in 2014 and graduated with her Juris Doctor in 2017. In 2017, she accepted a position with Bright Horizons and developed quite the reputation for being the organization's brightest mind in immigration, criminal, and family law cases. She was instrumental in obtaining a complete appeal of a death sentence handed down in the case of Rogers v. State of California, where a man was wrongfully convicted of murdering three women.

Since leaving Bright Horizons, Molly has enrolled at the prestigious Trinity College Dublin, another place familiar to Hozier. The singer was forced to drop out of his music education course due to conflicts with exam schedules. Classmates of Ms. Stanley describe her as bright and well-versed in international law.

Ms. Stanley's origins wouldn't be as big of a problem if there weren't already a growing level of concern and tension over the Gypsy population in Ireland. The National Party have repeatedly praised recent attacks on Gypsy people by Irish nationals, suggesting that 'the first step toward a better Ireland is removing undesirable people who cannot contribute to Irish society in a productive manner."

Molly's past doesn't stop at her Gypsy ancestry though. According to several sources, she was employed as an exotic dancer for several years as she worked her way through university. Molly rubbed elbows with Hollywood's rich and famous from the time she was eighteen until twenty-two, regularly attending exclusive parties in the Hollywood Hills as the entertainment!

As for our man Hozier, this journalist is wondering if he has fallen prey to Molly's gypsy wiles. Molly was first spotted at Hozier's Los Angeles residency in September of 2021. The two appeared very friendly at a Halloween party at girl group Haim's home. Molly even joined Andrew on his European tour, being spotted by fans leaving the venue in Vienna after a birthday celebration. She was further spotted at the giant American music festival Coachella alongside Andrew and his band backstage as well as at Andrew's most recent shows in Dublin at the end of the summer.

Hozier is notoriously private about his relationships, though he's been linked with famous women such as Taylor Swift, Saoirse Ronan, and Anya Taylor-Joy. With his atmospheric rise to fame here and across the globe after the release of his last album, the rumor mill regarding his relationship status has only continued to spin.

I have to wonder if this is truly love or if its simply a case of a gypsy taking advantage. After all, Hozier is a national treasure and the last thing we want is for him to fall victim as so many of us have in the past. At the time of print, Hozier's rep only gave this response: "We do not comment on or speculate about Andrew's private life out of respect for his wishes."

Perhaps Andrew thinks he's better than the rest of us and doesn't care what the future of our country holds with so many foreigners filling the streets. Up to this point, the normally-outspoken Andrew has said very little about the attacks on gypsies in recent months and one has to wonder if Molly is the reason why.

Andrew felt his heart stop as he looked at the photos spread across the page. Pictures of them walking around Los Angeles, photos of Molly leaving the Vienna show with Alex, several paparazzi-style photos of them at Coachella shot long-range, the picture from Haim's Halloween party, a photo of them kissing against a brick wall in Dublin. The final straw was one taken of Molly as she walked across the quad at Trinity.

He jumped to his feet and threw the paper down on the coffee table with a loud slap. Molly jumped at the sudden movement. She picked it up and read through it herself as he paced in front of the fireplace, struggling to contain the rage boiling up inside of him. His friends would say he rarely got angry. And he'd tell them that very little was worth getting truly angry over.

This was one of those things. He spun on Caroline.

"They asked you for a comment and you didn't think to let me know?" he demanded, hands on his hips.

"Andy!" John exclaimed in shock. "Don't talk to her like that!"

Andrew bit his bottom lip and turned away from everyone, trying to contain himself.

"I didn't think they'd publish it this quickly," Caroline replied softly. "I thought I'd have time to call you and warn you. I certainly didn't expect this to rock up on the newsstands this morning! I thought they just wanted to know if you were seeing anyone and I gave them the same automatic answer I give everyone!"

"What is going on?" Raine asked, moving to sit next to Molly on the sofa.

Andrew turned around and crossed his arms over his chest. "These fucking...journalists - if you can even call them that - basically outed Molly to the whole fucking world," he spat, gesturing to the newspaper in Molly's hands.

Raine took the newspaper and skimmed it, her expression darkening. "How can they do this?" she asked. "Where did they get this information?"

Molly bit her lip and crossed her arms over her own chest, retreating into herself. It was done. There was no more hiding. An odd wave of relief washed over her as she watched Andrew argue with everyone else in the room. The noise blurred into a wall of sound and she pressed her chin to her knees in an effort to ground herself.

"Andrew, I did my best!" Caroline insisted. "I can't control what they post!"

"This is the type of shit I pay you to manage and keep tabs on, Caroline! Because of you, Molly has a fucking target on her back now!" Andrew yelled, his voice bouncing off the chandelier. "After the fucking exposé on my house in 2016 and now this shit?! I want to sue the fuck out of them!"

"You can't sue for libel or slander or anything else if its true," Molly said softly. Andrew turned to look at her. "Its all true, so you can't go after them for it."

"This isn't even fucking journalism," Raine said, drawing a surprised look from Andrew at her language choice. "Its just shite." She only cursed when she was angry.

"I'm aware of that," Caroline sighed, massaging her temples. "Listen, the time to put out a statement is right now. Don't let it get any further in the news cycle. As far as I see, the American press hasn't picked it up yet, so if we hurry we can control the narrative."

Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose, arms crossed over his chest. "I'm too fucking pissed off to make a statement right now." He moved on his feet again. "I need a minute."

He left the room and everything in it behind as he walked through the kitchen and out into the courtyard. He sighed heavily and raked his fingers through his hair, trying to grasp any kind of calm ashe shook with rage. This was exactly what Molly had been afraid of when they first started seeing each other again and when she'd moved here. And he'd sworn to protect her against it.

Control the narrative. Caroline's words echoed in his head. So many things were running through his mind. How did the press find out about Molly's ancestry? Where did most of the photos of them come from? Since when was Molly an exotic dancer? She never told him about it. The only thing he could think of was how angry he was.

Angry over the story being published. Angry at Caroline for not alerting him or even shutting it down. Angry at the journalist for writing something so disgusting. Angry at Molly for not telling him about her full past. His heart was racing and he steadied himself on the back of one of the wooden patio chairs.

Control yourself, he thought. Go inside and apologize to Caroline and everyone else. Breathe. One problem at a time.

A gust of chilly October air blew through the courtyard, sending fallen leaves scuttling across the stones. He closed his eyes and listened to the wind in the trees, rattling mostly-bare branches. His heart slowed down and he took several deep breaths, letting the cold air fill his lungs fully.

He steeled himself and turned to go back inside. He made himself a cup of tea with jittery hands, splashing water down the side of the mug as he poured it. After clearing up the mess, he went back into the front room. One problem at a tine, he reminded himself.

"I need to talk to Molly. Alone," he said, looking at her.

Molly sighed and stood up. Andrew followed her into her office, mug of tea in hand, and shut the door after himself. Tension hung between them like a curtain. She sat on the edge of her desk and waited for him to speak.

Seeing his reaction had scared her more than the article. She knew the truth would come out sooner or later. But watching him shout at Caroline had shocked her. Andrew never yelled. They'd had several arguments in her time with him and he never shouted like that.

He took a sip of tea and sat in the armchair in the corner. "I guess the first thing I should ask is if you're okay," he said.

She took a sharp breath. "I think so. It was going to come out eventually. At least now we don't have to hide it."

He nodded and stared at the floor. His expression was hard to read. He blinked several times. "Why didn't you tell me about the dancing?"

His tone was measured and controlled, but she could see his knuckles turning white as he gripped the coffee mug in his hands.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't think it was important," she answered. "It was something in my past."

The image of Molly - his smart, vivacious, ambitious Molly - being reduced to a piece of meat on a pole while drunk horny men stared at her made his stomach roll. He wasn't sure his reaction would have been any different if she'd told him first, but this was definitely not the way he wanted to find out.

"I wish you had told me before," he replied, tense. "I...it would have been nice to know."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Are you seriously upset about that right now? I mean, really? So I didn't tell you I worked as a pole dancer for a few years. So what?" she asked, staring him down. "I was a grown ass adult. It was good fucking money and it kept me from doing a whole lot worse to pay my bills."

"Molly, you lied to me!" he exclaimed. "I asked you when we first met what you did to pay for school and you told me student loans," he said, recalling the day on the beach years ago when they had first met.

"Excuse the fuck out of me for not wanting to tell a total stranger every aspect of my life!" she excalimed, not caring if Andrew's parents or Caroline could hear her.

He shook his head. "I have asked you half a dozen times what you did in college and you never thought to bring this up? Christ, Molly, you could have fucking told me so I didn't have to find out with the rest of the fucking country that you were a fucking pole dancer!" His voice echoed off the walls, despite the sound cancelation panels.

"Why does it matter?!" she demanded. "Why does it matter if I was a pole dancer? Does it change the way you look at me, Mr. Feminist? Hmm?"

He scoffed and stood up. "Don't fucking start that Molly. Its not about what you were doing. Its about the fact that you didn't tell me. You kept it from me! I had a right to know because of how it could have gone in the press - how its clearly going in the press!"

Molly rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Of all the things you could be upset about related to that article, this is what you're going hard for, Andrew. Really?"

"God damn it, Molly!" he shouted and the mug in his hand crashed against the wall as he threw it in anger, spraying tea all across the paint and floor. "Of course I'm pissed off about everything else! I'm pissed that private details of my life were once again released to the public without my consent. I'm pissed that this fucker dragged you into it. I'm pissed that they tried to make you out to be this horrible person just because you're Roma with this right-wing bullshit." He closed the gap between them. "But mostly I'm pissed because I feel betrayed by my own girlfriend, whom I thought had been completely honest with me so far! It seems its fucking betrayal on all sides today!"

Something in Molly snapped and she stood, moving toward the door. Andrew's hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist.

"Don't run away from this, Molly!" he shouted.

"Get the fuck off of me!" she yelled, yanking her hand from his.

Echoes of her father's rage tinged the edges of her vision as he stared at her.

He's no different, her mind raced. He's just like every other guy who can't control his temper.
Fuck him.

"Andy, what the hell?!" Caroline asked as she ran into the office at Molly's scream.

He came back to himself and blinked, looking at the faces around him. He saw the shock on his parents' faces as they stared from the doorway and the fear on Molly's as she stood in front of him.

What in the hell are you thinking? This isn't you. Molly's terrified of you.

"I need to get out of here," Molly declared, pushing past Caroline and into the kitchen.

"Molly, wait! I -," Andrew called, moving to follow her.

"Don't fucking come after me!" she shouted. Her voice echoed from the kitchen and he heard the jingle of her car keys as the door slammed shut.

John stopped Andrew with a hand on his chest. "Don't, son. Give her some time."

Andrew deflated and ran his hands over his face. What the fuck have you done? He looked at the broken mug on the floor and the tea dripping down the wall. Fear gripped him as he realized he fucked up.

"I - I don't...Caroline, I am so sorry," he said softly, looking to his manager as shame washed over him.

"Its okay," she replied softly. "You had a big shock. I get it."

"No its not okay," he insisted. "You are...exceptionally good at your job and I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I'm truly sorry."

Caroline walked over and hugged him. "Its okay, Andy."

He turned to his parents. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he apologized. "That is not who you raised me to be."

"Don't apologize to us, love," his mother replied. "Its Molly who's the real victim here. What were you two arguing over?"

Andrew sighed and sank back into the armchair. "I didn't know she was a...dancer. She never told me." He ran his hands over his face. "Don't get me wrong - its not the job that bothers me. She just...this is not how I would have liked to find out."

"Okay," Caroline said, pushing her hair back from her face. "We need to figure out how to handle this situation."

"What do you mean?" Raine asked.

"A response. A statement," Caroline explained. "The longer we stay silent, the worse it will likely get."

"Forgive me, but can someone explain to me why you need to respond at all?" John asked, wheeling himself into the room.

"The article not only stirs up anti-Roma sentiment, but it also suggests that Molly could be using Andy," Caroline explained. "Its also just a gross overstep of their privacy, Molly's specifically. It paints her in a terrible light and is just a bit of a PR nightmare for his image. If he doesn't say anything, it not only lets people think he agrees with the anti-Roma sentiment, but it also sets a precedent for any future articles that they can say anything and he won't respond."

"But he doesn't agree with anti-Roma sentiment," John said.

"I haven't said anything about the attacks. It comes out that Molly is Roma and I've said nothing? It looks bad all the way around," Andrew sighed heavily. "And not to mention that bull shit insinuating she's fucking trapped or tricked me. Its disgusting."

"Should I draft up a statement?" his manager asked.

Andrew thought for a second. "No. Not before I see what Molly wants to do." He looked at the tea drying on the wall. "Assuming she ever speaks to me again."

Molly didn't know where she was driving, she just drove. Tears blinded her so much that she had to pull over. How could he talk to her like that? How could he yell at her like that? With his oarents in the next room, no less? It was so unlike him that she would have assumed he was out of his mind with illness if she hadn't seen the entire thing unfold with her own eyes.

She didn't recognize him, yelling at her. Not like that. Her first instinct was to run, to put as much space between herself and him as possible. Her father's voice rang in her ears and it was all she could do to keep the car on the road. Flashback after flashback ran through her mind until it became nearly impossible to distinguish Andrew's face from her father's. She'd had enough of grown men yelling at her in her life.

Sobbing, Molly pulled her cell phone out of the cupholder where she'd put it. Her fingers automatically dialed Oscar's number, as they had hundreds of times when she was in crisis before. He answered on the third ring, groggily.

"Hello?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep. She realized the time difference then. "Molly?"

"Hi," she said, biting back a sob.

Oscar knew her too well. "What the fuck did he do?" he asked, suddenly perking up. "Is this a small scale or large scale ass-whooping?" Molly sobbed heavily into the phone at his voice. "Jesus, Molly, babe, what happened?!"

"They know," she managed. "They all know."

"They all know what?" he asked.

"The Sunday Times just published a massive story on me," she sobbed. "Everything. Where I went to school. That I'm Roma. That Andrew and I are together. Everything, Oscar."

She could hear him rustling around in the background. "Give me a second. I'm looking it up."

She wiped her eyes and sniffled, watching several cars pass by.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Molly. They all but said you were a gold digging whore," he replied a second later.

"Yeah," she sniffled, leaning over the steering wheel.

"Mol, I'm sorry," he sighed.

"Andrew found out about the dancing," she said.

"You hadn't told him yet?!" Oscar asked in shock. "Molly..."

"I know, okay! I know!" She shouted. "I didn't say anything because it wasn't important! He has no right to be upset with me over that."

"Was he, though?" he asked. "That doesn't seem like him."

"He was more upset that I didn't tell him," she said, wiping her nose.

"I mean, its a hell of a way to learn something like that, especially since he's...you know...famous and all that shit," he replied. "I'd be a little annoyed, too. His publicist or manager is probably freaking the fuck out about damage control right now."

Molly remembered the frantic look on Caroline's face. "Shit, I didn't think of that. Fuck!" she exclaimed.

While Andrew's image wasn't squeaky-clean (he'd always been known to be outspoken politically and socially), the idea of him dating a former pole dancer would eclipse her legal career, no matter how well qualified she was. And with his history as a feminist and supporting women's right, some people would only see him dating a pole dancer from Los Angeles. It was a nightmare.

"Do you want me to come over? I can talk to Michelle and catch the next flight," he said.

The thought of Oscar rearranging his whole life for her crisis sent guilt through her body. No. She didn't want him to bother. This was one problem she needed to solve on her own. She lived in Ireland. She wasn't Oscar's problem anymore.

"N - no," she sighed. "I'll handle this on my own."

"If you're sure," he answered.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said. "I need to do this on my own."

"Alright," he sighed. "I'll keep an eye out here to see what the media picks up on. Maybe you'll get lucky and the American press won't notice."

"Yeah, not likely," she said sarcastically. Her phone started ringing and she looked at the screen. Andrew. "Look, I'm sorry I called so early."

"Mol, don't worry about it. Call anytime, I mean it," Oscar replied.

"Yeah. Thanks," she said.

"Bye, love you," he yawned.

"Love you, too," she sighed, ending the call and answering Andrew's. "What?" she snapped.

"Molly, please don't hang up," Andrew asked hurriedly. "Please."

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice hard.

Andrew's throat tightened as tears threatened. "Can we please talk?" There was silence on the other end as she thought. "Please?"

"Fine," her voice sounded strained. He knew she'd been crying.

"Mol, baby, please come home. I'm sorry," he begged softly. "I swear to God, I'll do whatever you want. Please."

"Andrew, you scared me," she said, her voice barely audible.

"I know," he said, pressing the phone to his ear. "I'm so sorry, Mol. I didn't...I just...I don't know what happened."

His small voice echoed, even in the empty kitchen. He ran his fingers through his hair, leaning heavily against the island. He'd sent everyone away in case Molly came back.

"You're exactly like my dad, Andrew," she bit back. "You play nice until you don't hear what you want. Then you fucking snap."

"No! Molly, please, I'm so sorry," he cried. Tears formed in his eyes and he let them fall freely, not caring if she could tell. "Please come back," he sniffled.

"Why should I?" she asked after a second. "I can't trust you anymore."

"Yes, yes you can," he sniffled, rubbing his nose and spreading snot across the back of his hand.

"You threw a coffee mug at the wall because you were angry at me!" she yelled back. He had to pull the phone from his ear at her volume change. "Because I didn't tell you about something from my past that I didn't even think fucking mattered!"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You keep saying that, but what does it fucking mean, Andrew?" she demanded, her voice cold.

"I love you, Molly. Please," he whimpered. "Please just come home so we can talk about this."

She was silent again. "I'll be back when I'm back," she said, ending the call.

Andrew held the phone to his ear for several seconds after it went silent. He sighed heavily and sat on a barstool before rubbing his eyes heavily. The only thing he could do was go to the liquor cabinet and pour himself a glass of the strongest stuff he had.

The afternoon passed slowly and Andrew got steadily drunk. His parents called, but he ignored them, not wanting to tie up the phone in case Molly tried calling again. He'd told Caroline that he and Molly would make a statement and send it to her for approval, but that he didn't want to discuss anything else. His phone kept lighting up as his friends reached out to him about the article, but he didn't respond.

It was dark by the time Molly pulled into the driveway. Andrew got a notification on his phone from the front gate and sat up in bed. He'd drank a bit more than he should have and he needed to steady himself against the end of the bed before he could move. He heard the kitchen door open and Molly's footsteps on the stairs. She appeared in the bedroom doorway and he almost burst into tears of relief at the sight of her.

When she saw him, she froze in place. He sank to his knees and crawled across the floor to her. Her hair was loose, hanging over one shoulder. She had on the same leggings and oversized t-shirt that she'd worn out. Her eyes were puffy and it was obvious she'd been crying. She looked down at him with red-rimmed eyes and his heart shattered.

"Molly..." he started, kneeling in front of her. "I am so sorry."

"I know," she replied. She could smell the whiskey on his breath, but he looked up at her so genuinely and with so much fear that she chose to ignore it.

"I swear to you, it will never happen again," he said, taking her hands in his. "Please forgive me." The whiskey was making him slightly more emotional than he expected, but he didn't care. All he wanted was her forgiveness, no matter what it took. "Please." He dropped her hands and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his forehead against her stomach. "I love you."

Her hands came up to tangle in his hair and he closed his eyes at her touch, pulling him closer to her. "I forgive you," she whispered.

She leaned forward, her hair falling across his shoulders like an onyx curtain. He was awash in the scent of oranges and ginger. He didn't care what he needed to do to make it up to her, but he'd do it. He'd swim across the ocean in one go if it meant she'd smile at him one more time.

"Anything you want, I'll do it, I swear," he said into her shirt. "Please, just tell me what to do to fix this."

Her hands pulled him away, forcing space between them. He looked up at her with wounded eyes and it almost killed her to walk away. He stayed on the floor while she went into the bathroom.

This is it. She's gone, he thought as he heard the tap run.

A second later, Molly reappeared completely naked. Before Andrew realized what happened, she crossed the room, wrapped one hand around his throat, and forced him back against the floor. He hit the carpet with enough force to knock the air from his lungs and he gave a pained grunt against her hand.

"Take off your pants," she ordered.

Since he wasn't in a position to argue, with her hand constricting his air supply, he obliged. He wasn't sure if he should be scared or turned on as she straddled his hips. He didn't dare touch her, so he kept his hands at his sides.

"If you ever speak to me like that again," she started, lowering her voice to a menacing tone. "I will leave your ass so fast, you will choke on the dust." Her hand tightened further and he was sure he might pass out. "Do I make myself clear?" she asked, her nose inches from his.

He looked up at her, gasping against her hand in surprise and confusion. Her eyes were nearly black and her breath was tinged with mint. Her finger nails dug into the delicate skin just below his jaw and he felt himself hardening underneath her.

"Yes," he grunted, eager to pacify her.

"Good," with that, she lowered herself onto his cock and he let out a shudder. He brought his hands up to her hips and she pinned both of them over his head. "I didn't say you could fucking touch me, Andrew. I'm angry as fuck at you."

Just shut up and let her do what she wants, he thought, the whiskey taking over. He was floating in a cloud of alcohol, sex, and confusion, and he didn't care one bit. Its the least you can do.

Molly began to move on top of him and he let out a groan. She yanked his shirt over his head and grazed her teeth across his collarbone roughly before biting the hollow of his neck. He gasped as she sank her teeth into his chest, leaving marks. She acted like she wanted to swallow him alive. He had a feeling things were only going to get rougher from there. He was right.

She rode him hard and fast, letting out loud moans that echoed from the ceiling as she bounced. He forced himself to remain still as she moved with one hand on his wrists above his head and the other at his throat. She barely noticed his presence; it was as if he was just an object she was using for pleasure.

He felt her tighten around him and he thought she might release him. Instead, she put all her weight on top of his wrists as she came, her mouth falling into a perfect 'O' and her brow furrowed in pleasure. Her breasts hung in front of his face like fruit he wasn't permitted to touch. He strained against her hands as she slowed, his eyes begging her to release them.

"Please, baby," he begged softly. His cock twitched for release inside of her.

She laughed haughtily as she looked down at him. "You thought you were getting something out of that?" she asked, bringing her hand back to his throat and squeezing slightly. "Think again." With that, she stood up, leaving him naked, cold, and gasping on the floor, his cock twitching as it stood erect.

"Molly!" he begged as she walked into the bathroom again.

"You've gotta earn it, Andrew," she replied lazily.

He let his head fall back against the floor with a clunk and a frustrated sigh. He was still gasping when she reappeared, fully dressed again. It was as if the previous ten minutes had been a fever dream.

"Are you sleeping on the floor tonight?" she asked casually, climbing into the bed.

He grumbled and made his way unsteadily to his feet. At least she was back and speaking to him again. Small victories. She was facing away from him as he climbed in next to her. He turned off the overhead light and settled in facing the other way.

"I love you, too," she said quietly.

Suddenly he didn't care if he never came again.

R/HOZIERFANS

U/SILICAGEL POSTED: Andrew finally made a statement about that Sunday Times article.

"Yesterday morning, a story about my private life was published on a large scale, revealing extremely private information about my partner, Molly. While its contents are true, my primary concern has and always will be her safety and wellbeing. Molly is an accomplished, highly-educated, beautiful person whom I have had the privilege of knowing for several years and Mr. McMahon hijacked her Roma heritage and weaponized it against her, painting her as less than she is.

"I have always been fiercely private and protective of my friends and loved ones and I can only express deep gratitude to those members of the press who have respected that. Additionally, I would like to extend my total love and admiration for every single one of my fans who has been so supportive of myself and Molly during this time.

"Finally, I would like to address the recent attacks on several members of the Roma community. My heart goes out to their family members and loved ones and I wish each and every single one of them a speedy recovery. Violence against others purely because they are different is not the way to solve our problems and I thoroughly condemn such acts.

"If anyone would like to help the victims of these attacks and their families, please consider donating to Pavee Point Traveler and Roma Centre."

I feel so fucking bad for Molly. She's just going along and some jackass decides to write an expose on her? Fucking hell.

U/LEPRECHAUNFARTS POSTED: I don't think people realize how important the Irish media view Andy as these days. After the last album, he became the equivalent of Bono in many ways. He's the biggest Irish export next to whiskey. I'm honestly surprised there aren't more photos of him by the paparazzi, to be honest. Its not a secret where he lives.

U/HOZIESSHOES POSTED: So she literally worked her way through school on the stripper pole? I mean...really? That's so stereotypical.

U/SILICAGEL POSTED: I just can't believe anyone would do something like this to Andy. He's sweet and generous and obviously isn't antagonizing anyone. So what the fuck gives, you know?

U/FROMEDEN1990 POSTED: I can't believe the American press picked it up. It was all over TMZ and everything.

U/HOZIESSHOES POSTED: I just have to say how proud I am of this fandom, for the most part. There have been a few 'fans' on Tumblr discussing Molly in a less than favorable way, but I'm glad that the majority of fans have been respectful. Andrew likes his privacy. I hate that he was essentially forced into confirming his relationship with her. But I love that the fans have been defending Molly and educating people on Roma culture. Its nice to see.

U/LEPRECHAUNFARTS POSTED: The leader of the Nationalist Party is baiting Andrew on Twitter. I don't think Andy will respond because he's not really into debates on social media, but here's hoping! 🤞🤞🤞

EDIT: HE RESPONDED!!!

You're not dragging me into a debate. Your disgusting beliefs have no place in Ireland's present or future. Exit whenever you'd like, mate, preferably pursued by a bear.

God I love this man. We stan a Shakespeare reference.