Until You Met Me

“So, how did your mother figure us out?” Gerard called as he took a pace backwards, glancing around the bathroom door towards Molly who was sat at the foot of his bed, folding her clothes into her overnight bag. He knew that Julia and Poppy knew. The previous night, before he had headed to bed, he had received a text from Molly, simply reading ‘they know’, but when he had tried to call her back in an attempt to find out what she meant, her phone had gone to voicemail, meaning that he had had to wait to speak her. He wasn’t completely surprised that Julia and Poppy knew. They had tried to be subtle, to keep things between them as normal as they could so that no one would feel the need to ask questions, but it had been inevitable that something would eventually slip through the cracks. They were both smitten, and it was only a matter of time before people started to ask who had captured their attention.

Molly looked up, fixing him with a playful glare. “Someone puts too many romantic emojis in their texts these days” she quipped.

Gerard feigned a gasp as he ducked back into the bathroom to drop his toothbrush back in its holder. “It was my fault?” he squeaked.

“Mostly” Molly played along “But it was also partly my fault for leaving my phone on a table when I left the room and trusting that my mother wouldn’t try and sneak a look at my texts if it buzzed. She took one look at the little hearts and kisses and she figured it out” she added.

Gerard laughed as he padded back into the room, climbing into his side of the bed. “How did she take it?” he asked.

Molly busied herself for a moment, drawing the zip around on her bag, before she shuffled up the bed, settling her back against the headboard. “She was very excited” she admitted carefully “I might have freaked out a little bit, but my mother, and Pop, were both really happy for us” she added, tucking her feet under the duvet.

Gerard watched her for a moment, his lips quirking upwards when she started to fuss with the blanket, before he shook his head. “What scared you?” he asked “Was it about them maybe not being happy for us, or was it about them maybe being a little too happy?” he asked.

Molly let out a slightly surprised laugh. “How do you keep doing that?” she asked.

“Knowing what’s bothering you?” Gerard asked “Molly, I have known you for a very long time and that means that I have a pretty good idea how this works” he added, gently prodding her temple with his finger.

Molly huffed out a laugh, something which made Gerard lean over, pressing a soft kiss against her head. “Talk to me” he murmured into her hair.

“It’s going to sound stupid” Molly protested as she leant into him.

Gerard gently buried his nose in her hair, kissing her head against. “I bet it won’t” he said “Even if it does, I still want to hear it” he added.

Molly gently twisted her fingers in the hem of his t-shirt for a moment before she let out a quiet sigh. “I want to tell everyone about us” she murmured “And I want them to be excited, because we’re excited, and honestly, I think a lot of people will be, but I am also scared that once people know, they’re going to have really high hopes for us, and I am scared of somehow letting them down. My mother said that she was going to let us do things our way, and in our time, but I...I know that she’ll be thinking of everything this could be, and if it isn’t...”

“Then you’re scared that you’ll let people down?” Gerard mumbled.

Molly nodded once, letting out a soft sigh when Gerard gently tucked her hair off of her face.. “Told you it was stupid” she muttered “Because I know that that isn’t what this is about, and that everyone just wants us to be happy, whatever that looks like. I know that my mother won’t care about what happens between us if, in the long run, we both end up where we’re supposed to, but I just...I don’t know. I think it just hit a little close to my anxiety about all we’re risking by trying this” she explained.

Gerard’s hand gently rubbed her back in small, reassuring circles. “All we can do is try” he said “And hey, if it doesn’t work out, I am sure that you will meet someone amazing someday, and that amazing person is going to be so very lucky to have you” he added, flashing her a boyish grin.

Molly didn’t want to smile. She wanted to shake her head, and insist that he shouldn’t be saying things like that, but she couldn’t resist it. The impish grin on his face was enough to coax her into grinning back at him. “You’re really silly” she said, prodding his stomach playfully.

“You knew that” Gerard scoffed playfully “You knew what you were getting into when we started dating” he added.

Molly rolled her eyes, laughing quietly to herself.

Gerard gently tucked her hair aside again before he touched a soft kiss against her jaw. “It’s scary” he murmured “Because you’re right. We’ve put 20 years of friendship on the line for something that we can’t predict. I don’t know how it’s going to go, how it’s going to end, and I am in the relationship, but those outside of it are, probably, going to get carried away, and that’s going to bring pressure, but I still think it is worth a shot. I’d rather have tried, than lived my life not knowing” he explained.

It was overwhelming. Despite all of their optimism, and the happiness that they had both felt since they had started to date, there was a fear that it could fall apart, and in doing so, tear down their entire friendship with it, but it was something that, in Gerard’s opinion, they had to chance. They had both wasted a lot of time wondering, thinking that the other felt differently to them, and trying to tiptoe around the elephant in the room, and now that they had confronted it, they had to try, even if it failed. Knowing that it wouldn’t work was better than always wondering.

Molly’s eyes fluttered closed at his touch, something which made Gerard smile against her skin. “Admit it” he poked “You’re a little relieved that someone else knows now. Now you’ve got someone to gush to about how great your new boyfriend is” he added.

Molly smiled. “I normally just gush to you” she quipped “Even before Ava and Sofia, or Poppy” she added.

“I know” Gerard replied “I’ll tell you now. I didn’t love how smitten you were the first time you talked about Tiago” he added.

Molly feigned a gasp. “You were jealous?” she poked.

“Maybe” Gerard muttered.

Molly looked up at him, her eyes studying his features for a moment, before she gently took his hand, guiding it to the hem of her t-shirt. Gerard gently took the material between his fingers, toying with it for a moment, before he looked back up at her face, waiting for the tiny little nod that Molly gave him.