Until You Met Me

Pushing himself up onto the kitchen counter, Gerard sipped on the drink in his hand, his eyes following Molly as she padded around the room, preparing dinner for the two of them. Something felt off. When she had left him that morning to go and meet up with Ava for coffee, Molly had been fine, and when she had come back, she had been a little quiet, but Gerard didn’t quite know how to ask her what was wrong, or if he wanted to. He was scared that if he asked, he’d find out that Ava had said something that had changed Molly’s mind about the two of them. He knew how much Molly valued Ava’s opinion. Whenever Molly needed someone to talk to, and Gerard wasn’t around, she went to Ava, and he knew how much of an impact a negative reaction from Ava could have on them. If Ava thought they were making a mistake, and her opinion of Gerard led him to believe that it was a possibility, then there was a chance that Molly could second guess their relationship.

“You know, I will come and get you when dinner is ready. You don’t need to watch me”

Gerard, who’d been staring into space, looked at Molly, finding her smiling up at him amusedly. “Hm?” he asked.

“Why are you sitting there?” Molly asked, laughing softly.

Gerard huffed out a laugh before he shrugged, settling his glass down onto the counter next to him. “You seemed distracted” he quipped “I guess I was kind of hoping that if I sat here long enough, you’d tell me why” he added.

Molly, who’d moved to drop something into the pot onto the stove, shook her head. “I am not distracted” she replied.

“You are” Gerard countered as he slipped off of the counter and walked towards her, settling his hands on her waist “I know you are” he added.

It took a moment, but Molly did lean back against him, a soft sigh falling out of her mouth.

Gerard pressed his lips to her temple. “Did Ava figure us out?” he mumbled.

“No” Molly replied “Honestly, I don’t think you even crossed her mind” she added.

Gerard’s lips curved upwards into a slightly worried smile. “Should I be offended by that?” he asked.

Molly must have heard something in his voice because she turned around to look up at him. Reaching up, she gently pushed his hair back off of his forehead before she hooked her hand behind his neck. “Ava wouldn’t think of you because the last time she tried to talk to me about how I feel about you, I made it very clear that I wasn’t brave enough to tell you how I felt” she explained.

Gerard’s forehead creased. “Why?” he asked.

“Because I thought it was a sure-fire way to ruin a friendship that I have had in my life since I was a kid” Molly replied with a slightly baffled laugh “Because you’d never given me any indication that you felt the same way. Because I was terrified” she added.

“Molly” Gerard protested softly.

Molly shook her head, smiling embarrassedly. “It doesn’t matter now” she quipped “I mean, we are here now, aren’t we?” she added.

Gerard nodded his head, but the frown on his face didn’t fade. “If it wasn’t that, what did Ava say?” he asked.

Molly didn’t answer for a moment, turning away to glance into the pot on the stove top, before she shrugged her shoulders slightly. “She didn’t really say anything” she replied “I did what you said to do. I was vague, and I didn’t really lie, and she was just curious, but she did venture one guess about who it was. She thought that maybe I was back with Tiago” she admitted.

Gerard blinked a couple of times. “Oh” he breathed “I know she liked him” he added.

“She likes you” Molly retorted.

Gerard snorted. “Does she?” he mumbled.

“Yes” Molly insisted “But that’s not the subject we’re talking about now. She mentioned Tiago, and it made me think about something. I just...I don’t know if I should say it. This...us, it’s really new, and I know that we’re trying to avoid putting too much pressure on it too soon, and...” she trailed off when Gerard closed the space between them, pressing his lips to hers.

Making a soft noise in surprise, she lingered in the kiss for a few moments, something which caused Gerard to smile softly against her lips before he drew away. “Say what you need to say” he said gently.

Molly brushed her nose against his, taking a moment to think of the right words, before she leant back a little. ”I just...I don’t want to ask you for some huge commitment, because that’s insane” she stumbled out “And I don’t want you to have some kind of map of our future, because that’s ridiculous too. I just...I want...Tiago was always about taking things day by day. We never really talked about what we both wanted in the long run, and you can see how that ended. I guess I just want to know that, when it’s not ridiculous, we’re going to be honest and talk to each other. I guess I want to know that...”

“That this means as much to me as it does to you” Gerard finished for her.

Molly nodded once, her eyes determinedly avoiding his.

Gerard’s lips curved upwards into a grin as he reached out towards her, gently guiding her to look up at him. “I adore you” he said softly “And if it means avoiding what happened between you and Tiago, we can talk all the time. I can’t promise that the conversations won’t be awkward, but I have a track record of not shutting up, so we’ll probably get there eventually, right?” he quipped.

Molly laughed despite herself, something which made Gerard dip forwards, kissing the corner of her mouth softly. “It’s going to be different” he said softly “We’re not strangers. I know what you wanted from Tiago, and whilst we’re still figuring things out, I want to hear what you want from me when you know what it is. We’ll talk, and we’ll figure out where we are going. That’s what a boyfriend and girlfriend do” he added.

Molly gripped at the front of his t-shirt to stop him from moving back as she allowed the words to settle between them, making Gerard grin at her warmly. “That’s what we are, right?” he teased.

Molly didn’t hesitate to nod her head, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug that Gerard was happy to return.