Until You Met Me

Pressing a damp cloth against her face, Molly sunk back to the bathroom floor, grimacing at the sound of the toilet flushing next to her. It was the first time she had been sick. For weeks, she had woken up, feeling like she was going to vomit, but it had never actually happened before, and Molly could guess why. It wasn’t every morning that she woke up, nervous about a wedding that she couldn’t guarantee was going to happen.

It shouldn’t have been a question. After hours of tossing and turning, trying to ignore the fact that Gerard hadn’t answered her when she’d asked if he was still going to go through with the wedding, Molly had reached the conclusion that not slamming the door in Tiago’s face had been the biggest mistake she could have made, but she knew that she couldn’t take it back. It had felt right. All Tiago had wanted was to talk, and all Molly had wanted was to keep him from appearing on her wedding day and causing trouble, but it had backfired on her anyway. Instead of worrying whether Tiago would appear and make a scene, she was worried about whether Gerard would show up at all.

She wanted to believe that he would have calmed down, that in the light of day, he would see that she had been honest with him, and that he’d forgive her for having been a little naive, but she knew that there was only one way to find that out, and as optimistic as she wanted to be, she couldn’t bring herself to pick up the phone. She didn’t quite know what she would do if she called, and Gerard didn’t answer.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she pressed the cloth to her eyes until she heard a gentle knock against the bathroom door, something which made her sigh as she looked up at it. She’d known that it was only a matter of time before her parents or sister arrived to check on her, but she had been hopeful of a little more time to herself. She knew that as soon as someone set eyes on her, they’d see that she’d barely slept and the questions about why would start, and she would be forced to admit that she was terrified that there was a chance that Gerard wouldn’t appear at the end of the aisle. “Hello?” she called out reluctantly.

“Can I come in?” Poppy called back.

Molly wanted to say no, but she was denied the chance to when Poppy pushed the door open. Exhaling another sigh, she let her head fall back against the wall before she draped the cloth over her eyes. “You can’t be here to get me out of bed” she grumbled “It’s barely seven in the morning” she added.

Poppy’s lips quirked slightly as she stepped further into the room. “I’m not” she mused “Though, you look like you’ve been up for a while anyway. Did you get any sleep?” she asked as she crouched down, gently peeling the cloth away from Molly’s eyes.

Molly grimaced, shying away from the bright light that hung overhead. “Poppy” she complained softly “What are you doing here?” she added.

Poppy gently dabbed the cloth against Molly’s forehead. “Your soon-to-be husband told me that you tend to get really nauseous early in the morning” she replied “I promised him that I would stop by as soon as I woke up to check on you. I bought the stuff he told me to bring, too. Do you want anything?” she asked.

Molly let her head sink onto Poppy’s shoulder, shaking it slightly. “It’s passing” she mumbled.

“Has the morning sickness been bad?” Poppy prodded.

Molly shook her head. “I’ve felt nauseous a lot” she answered “But I don’t think bump’s entirely responsible for this” she added, the tips of her fingers ghosting over her stomach.

Poppy smiled, her fingers following Molly’s over her small bump. “You’re nervous” she said.

“Weren’t you?” Molly countered “When you and Felipe got married” she added.

“You know that I was” Poppy quipped with a soft scoff “Although, maybe you didn’t notice. You were pretty busy making eyes at one of Felipe’s grooms-men. Do you actually remember my wedding at all, or is Tiago the only thing that you registered that day?” she added impishly.

Molly didn’t smile like Poppy had expected she would, something which caused the older woman’s smile to fade into a slightly worried frown. “Molly?” she prodded gently.

Molly stared at the floor for a moment before she looked up at Poppy, her eyes shining with tears.

“What’s happened?” Poppy pressed.

Molly wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Tiago...Tiago showed up last night” she stumbled out “He just...I don’t know what he wanted really. He wanted to talk, and I let him in. I know how stupid that was, but I just...I thought that if someone saw us together in the hall...it was really stupid” she added.

“Molly...”

“Gerard saw him leaving my room” Molly interrupted “We got into a fight about it, and when he left last night, he didn’t exactly reassure me that when I walk up the aisle later, he’s going to be waiting for me at the end of it” she added.

Poppy didn’t know what to say. The idea that there was any chance that Gerard could leave Molly at the altar was one she couldn’t get her head around. Blinking dazedly, she slowly turned to look at Molly who had sunk back against the wall, her fingers twisting in the material of her pyjama t-shirt as she attempted to keep herself from crying. “You really think that he could do that?” she asked tentatively.

Molly didn’t look up, but stopped fiddling with her shirt for long enough to wipe at her eyes. “No” she whispered “I don’t know” she added.

“Molly...”

“He saw Tiago sneaking out of my bedroom, Pop” Molly interrupted sadly “He jumped to the conclusion that anyone would have jumped to. I tried to tell him that all we did was talk, because that’s all we did, but he wouldn’t...he didn’t seem to hear it. He left, and whilst nearly every part of me is saying that I shouldn’t be worried, there’s one tiny part of me that can’t stop worrying. You know how he feels about Tiago” she added.

Poppy nodded her head slowly. “Do you want me to go and see if I can find him?” she asked after a moment of quiet.

Molly hesitated before she tentatively nodded her head. “Please” she murmured.

Poppy pushed herself up to her feet. “Is he a morning person?” she asked.

Molly smiled slightly. “Not particularly” she answered.

“So he’s going to be pissed at me for waking him up?” Poppy chirped “Fun” she added sarcastically.

“Sorry” Molly murmured “It’s probably nothing. I just...”

“You want to know” Poppy finished for her “I get it. I’ll risk his wrath if it means showing you that there’s nothing to be worried about” she added before she walked out of the room.

Quickly, Poppy made her way towards the elevator and took it the one level up to the floor that Gerard was staying on before she moved to find his room. Stopping outside of the door, she knocked loudly a couple of times before she took a step back, waiting for it to open. A few moments ticked by in silence before she moved back towards the door, knocking again. “Gerard” she called “Come on, open up. You can go back to sleep in a second, but I need to speak to you right now” she added.

“Poppy?”

Poppy jumped at the sound of her name, turning to look at Cesc who’d shuffled out of a room down the hall.

“You know it’s early, right?” Cesc chirped “He’s probably still asleep” he added

“I know” Poppy replied “But I just...I really need to speak to him. It’s pretty urgent” she added.

Cesc frowned. “Is everything OK?” he asked.

“Probably” Poppy answered, knocking on the door again.

“I’ve got a key” Cesc said.

“Can I borrow it?” Poppy asked.

Cesc nodded, disappearing back into his room for a moment before he reappeared and put a key card into Poppy’s hand. Poppy offered him a brief smile before she swiped the key in the door’s lock and pushed the door open. Slowly, she walked up the hall, before she came to a stop just inside of the bedroom, her stomach dropping as her stare landed on the empty bed in front of her.