Until You Met Me

One Hundred & Six

It took a moment for Gerard to place Tiago’s face, and another for his stare to move towards Molly’s closed hotel room door before he finally took a step backwards, trying, and failing, to ignore the lump that had formed in his throat. He couldn’t grasp that he was looking at Tiago. The idea that Molly’s last significant boyfriend before him was stood in front of him, in the corridor outside of Molly’s hotel room just a matter of hours before he and Molly were due to get married was one that he couldn’t wrap his head around, and it meant that, for a long moment, he did nothing but stare, trying to come up with any other explanation for his presence besides the obvious. He didn’t want to believe that he had stumbled across Tiago leaving Molly’s bedroom in the middle of the night.

“Gerard?”

Gerard lifted his stare, meeting Tiago’s wide eyes. “Get out of here” he said lowly.

“It’s not...”

“What it looks like?” Gerard finished for him, his voice sharp “Just get out of here, Tiago” he added, visibly struggling to control his voice. He didn’t want to shout. The corridor that he was stood in was lined with rooms that housed Molly’s friends and family, and the last thing he wanted was to disturb anyone and bring attention to the fact that Tiago was there.

Tiago opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, but he couldn’t force anything out of his mouth, something which caused Gerard to scoff before he stepped past him. “Get out of here, Tiago” he repeated as he stopped outside of Molly’s door.

Tiago hesitated for a split second before he walked down the hall, something Gerard watched out of the corner of his eye before he turned and focused on the door in front of him. Taking in a deep breath, he tried to compose himself, before he reached out and knocked on the door. Stuffing his hands into the pockets, he watched the door until it swept open, allowing Molly to peek around it.

Almost immediately, the slightly worried expression on her face disappeared, morphing into a warm surprised smiled. “You know it’s after midnight, right?” she quipped “That means that it’s our wedding day, and you’re not supposed to see me until I walk up the aisle. It’s bad luck” she added.

Gerard didn’t smile. “You know what else is probably bad luck?” he asked “Me bumping into your ex-boyfriend in the hall” he added.

All of the brightness in Molly’s expression disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Can I come in?” Gerard asked.

Molly nodded her head before she let go of the door and walked up the hall.

Gerard followed after her, closing the door quietly behind himself, before he turned to look at her. “Tell me he wasn’t here to see you” he said “Tell me that it was just same insane coincidence and he happened to be visiting someone else who’s staying here. Tell me that I didn’t just bump into the last guy you loved as he was on his way out of your bedroom on the night before out wedding” he added, his voice caught somewhere between pleading and bitter.

“Gerard” Molly protested softly.

“Tell me” Gerard’s voice was a harsh whisper.

“He just wanted to talk” Molly said “I think he wanted closure. I don’t know why he showed up tonight, but I figured it was better to talk to him tonight rather than run the risk of him showing up and causing problems in the morning. I know what it looks like, but I swear to you, it wasn’t like that. We just talked” she insisted.

Gerard rubbed his jaw frustratedly. “He was in your room, after midnight” he retorted.

“Did you hear a word I just said to you?” Molly pressed, frustrated that he didn’t appear to have taken in a word that she had said “It was a conversation, Gerard. It was barely five minutes. He wanted closure, he wanted to hear me say that I was happy with you, and close the door on us, and that’s what happened” she added.

Gerard glared at the floor. “Do you really expect me to believe that?” he asked.

Molly took a hesitant step towards him, coaxing his stare up towards her face. “It’s true” she said.

Gerard’s eyes searched her face for a long moment before he looked away again, causing Molly to sigh gently as she took a step backwards. “What do you want me to say, Gerard?” she asked “I’ve told you the truth. I can’t make you believe it” she added.

Gerard didn’t look up at her.

Molly rubbed her forehead gently. “I need to get to sleep” she murmured.

Gerard nodded his head wordlessly.

Molly looked at him for a long moment before she stepped towards him, pushing herself up onto her toes so that she could press a soft kiss against his tense jaw. “I’ll see you in a few hours, won’t I?” she whispered “You’ll be at the end of aisle?” she added.

Gerard’s eyes closed at the feel of her lips against his skin, a soft sigh escaping his lips. “We need to get to bed” he murmured.

Molly noticed that he didn’t answer the question that she had asked, but she didn’t press it. Instead, she gently kissed the other side of his jaw and his lips before she took a step away from him, offering him a shy smile. “I love you” she said.

Gerard’s tense expression softened into a slightly wistful smile. “I love you, too” he said.

Molly smiled up at him for a moment before her smile dissolved into a yawn, causing Gerard to shake his head. “Go to bed, Molly” he said “Get some sleep” he added before he padded back up the hall and ducked out into the corridor.

Molly watched the door as Gerard pulled it closed before she turned and padded towards her bed. Pulling the duvet back, she climbed inside and curled up against the pillow, squeezing her eyes shut. She could only hope that, when she woke up in the morning, things didn’t seem as bad as they did then.