Until You Met Me

The bathroom was quiet for a while.

Molly had sunk happily into Gerard’s side, and Gerard, aside from moving every now and then to press the cool cloth against her still warm face, sat next to her, content in their embrace, but they both knew that the silence couldn’t last, no matter how much they wanted it too. They had to talk about the previous night, and they had to talk about what had happened that morning.

Fiddling with the cloth in his hands, Gerard glanced at Molly out of the corner of his eye before he let out a quiet sigh, tossing the cloth onto the floor. “Did you really think that I could just leave you?” he asked.

Molly didn’t look up at him as she gently pushed herself away from him slightly, pulling her knees towards her chest. She had known that the question was coming. As sweet as Gerard had been since he had slipped into the space next to her, she could practically see the question in his eyes, but it didn’t mean that she had an answer for him. It was all she had thought about. After the relief of seeing him in the doorway, her attention had quickly turned to why she had been worried in the first place, but the more she thought about it, the less clear her answer had gotten. It shouldn’t have crossed her mind. Regardless of their fight, Molly knew deep down that Gerard wouldn’t just leave her, but she had thought it, even if it had only been for a second. She had really thought that he could just disappear.

Twisting the material of her pyjama t-shirt around her fingers, she took in a deep breath before she looked up, her stomach dropping at the expression on Gerard’s face. He looked so hurt, and confused, and it hurt her to see it. “For a split second” she murmured “I...I thought that you could leave me for just a split second” she clarified.

Gerard ducked his head, nodding it slowly. “Because of how I left things last night?” he asked.

“What was I supposed to think?” Molly countered.

“That I am not a complete asshole?” Gerard shot back, just about stopping himself from yelling.

Molly flinched, something which caused Gerard to deflate, a heavy sigh falling out of his mouth. Shuffling across the floor, he gently pried Molly’s hands away from her legs before he twined their fingers together, squeezing them gently. “I’m sorry for snapping” he said “I just...I can’t believe that you could really think that of me. I know that I wasn’t exactly reassuring last night, but I would never...I’d never just go, Molly. You know that” he added.

Molly glanced up at him through her eyelashes. “I hurt you” she murmured “I know how you feel about Tiago and...”

“I don’t care about Tiago” Gerard interrupted firmly “You said you just talked, and I believe you. I believed you last night. I was just...surprised, and a little upset, and massively nervous about today, so I acted like a child. I am sorry for that, too. But right now, I just...I want to talk about us. I want to sit here and tell you all of the reasons that I could never just leave you. I want to know that when your sister comes to scare me out of here, I am going to be leaving you knowing that I adore you, and that I can’t freaking wait to watch you walk up the aisle towards me. Can we do that?” he pressed, the starts of a lopsided smile pulling at his lips.

Molly blinked a couple of times in surprise before a soft, slow smile spread across her face. “You can’t wait?” she asked.

“No” Gerard answered without hesitation “I know it’s going to be one of the best things I have ever seen. You’re going to look so beautiful, and I am going to know that, out of all the guys in the world, you’re going to stand up in front of that crowd and declare that I am your favourite” he added.

Molly shook her head. “You don’t know how beautiful I’ll look” she countered.

Gerard scoffed playfully. “Of course, I do” he chirped “You look beautiful now, and you’ve been throwing up for most of the morning” he added.

Molly tried, and failed, to stifle her laugh, something which made Gerard smirk at her. “See?” he quipped “You’re the only one who laughs at my awful jokes. How could I just walk away from that?” he added, his voice growing slightly more serious.

Molly’s soft smile dimmed a little. “I was just scared” she murmured “And nervous, and tired, and maybe a little hormonal, too. I know that you’d never go out of your way to hurt me like that. You once broke up with me to try and prevent me from getting hurt by you” she added.

Gerard offered her a rueful smile. “That was really stupid” he said “But I was trying to protect you. I know I have done a lot of really stupid things, but a lot of it was in an attempt to make you happy. For a long time, I have just wanted to make you happy” he added.

“You do make me happy” Molly said.

“Yeah?” Gerard prodded.

“You exasperate me, too” Molly continued, her lips quirking upwards “And you’re not as funny as you like to think you are, but mostly, you make me happy” she added, her voice caught somewhere between soft and playful.

Gerard shook his head with a laugh before Molly let out a soft noise, gently tugging his hands towards her stomach. Flattening his palms against her t-shirt, he smiled at the little fluttering movements before he lifted his head, pressing his lips against her forehead gently. “You’re my favourite person” he murmured “And you have been for as long as I can remember. You are what I want, both of you” he added, dipping down to press a kiss against her stomach.

Molly gently weaved her fingers through his hair, keeping him close until she spotted movement in the doorway, causing her to glance up at Poppy who smiled down at her softly. Offering her a grateful smile in return, she gently tugged Gerard away from her stomach and tipped her head towards the door. “You need to go” she said “You’ve got a wedding to get ready for” she added.