Until You Met Me

Letting the whisk in her hand drop against the side of the bowl, Molly huffed out a defeated sigh, glaring at the lumpy mixture which had resettled at the bottom of the bowl. It wasn’t her first attempt. In the sink behind her, two bowls of similarly lumpy mixture sat, and she knew that she was only moments from adding a third, frustrated that her attempts had faltered at the same stage again. She knew that it wasn’t a big deal. When Gerard had asked if she was free that night to celebrate the fact that they had been together for three months, she had gotten the sense that he was just teasing her about the prospect of making a big deal out of it, but still she wanted to do a little something to mark the milestone, even if it wasn’t the biggest. To her, the fact that she and Gerard had made it to three months was worth a little celebrating.

Staring at the bowl for a moment, she let out another soft sigh before she picked it up off the counter, moving to drop it into the sink.

“What was it supposed to be?”

Molly, who’d moved to fill the bowl with water, smirked a little at the amusement in Gerard’s voice before she looked up, finding him stood in the doorway, an impish smile on his face. “You know, for someone who complains at me for using my spare key to your place, you’re pretty keen to use yours to mine” she quipped.

“It’s only fair” Gerard played along “I have lost count of the amount of times that I have gotten home and found you on my sofa. I figured I could let myself in on occasion” he added with a nonchalant shrug.

“Do I need to take my key back?” Molly asked.

“I’d like to see you try” Gerard teased.

Molly rolled her eyes playfully before she padded towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I was trying to make dessert” she mumbled “I know you were teasing earlier when you were talking about celebrating being together for three months, but I thought I’d still do something small. You can see how successful that was” she added.

Gerard’s arms folded around her, allowing him to lean forwards and press a kiss against the crown of her head. “What makes you think I was teasing?” he murmured into her hair.

Molly huffed out a laugh, her finger poking his side gently. “I know you” she quipped “Three month anniversaries aren’t your kind of thing” she added.

“You don’t know that” Gerard chirped as he pulled out of their embrace slightly “I mean, I knew it was today. Doesn’t that say something?” he added, his expression caught somewhere between playful and sincere.

Molly stared up at him for a moment, her eyes searching his face, before she quirked a lopsided smile. “Happy anniversary, then” she quipped.

Gerard gently tugged her close to him again, his nose lightly brushing against hers. “Did you get me a present?” he chirped impishly.

“Did you get me one?” Molly played along, giggling when Gerard dipped down and pressed his lips to hers.

“I asked you first” Gerard quipped, stealing another quick kiss as he guided her backwards out of the kitchen.

Molly stumbled over something on the floor, causing the two of them to laugh before they continued down the hall, heading towards Molly’s bedroom.

~#~
Pressing a soft kiss to the top of Molly’s head, Gerard quirked a soft smile, watching as she stretched out slightly, a sleepy grumble falling out of her mouth. He was tempted to wake her. Before they had gotten carried away, and ended up in Molly’s bed together, they had been preparing to have dinner together, and he knew that she wouldn’t have eaten since she had gotten home from work, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, too comfortable in their embrace to contemplate disturbing it.

It was still strange. Despite the two of them having been together for three months, the sight of Molly laying across the bed from him was one that he still wasn’t quite used to, but there was a little part of him that hoped that he never fully got used to it. He liked the little hit of butterflies that happened in his stomach when he opened his eyes and found her there.

Gently twirling a strand of her hair around his finger, he watched her sleep for a few more seconds before he gently dropped another kiss against her head, trying to edge away from her slightly. Slipping out from beneath the duvet, he let his feet settle on the floor before he heard the duvet rustle, causing him to glance over his shoulder, smiling softly when he found Molly blinking up at him sleepily. “Go back to sleep” he murmured “I am going to go out and get us some food. I will wake you up when I get back” he added.

“I can come with you” Molly mumbled “I just need five minutes to get dressed” she added through a yawn.

Gerard’s answering laugh was soft. “I think I can handle it” he said “I won’t be long” he added.

“Kiss?” Molly asked.

Gerard leant over, pecking her lips a couple of times. “Three months” he murmured “Feels longer” he added.

“You’ve been putting up with me for a lot longer than three months” Molly replied “The only difference now is the kissing” she added.

Gerard snorted out a laugh before he padded out of the room.

Molly stayed where she was for a few moments, listening out of the sound of the front door closing, before she shuffled out from beneath the duvet. Tugging on a set of pyjamas, she padded out of the bedroom and into the living room, sitting down on the couch as she collected her phone from its place on the coffee table. Leaning back into the cushions, she scanned a few emails and dismissed a few texts before she felt her hand still, her eyes drawn to the number that was at the top of her inbox.

She recognised it. Even without the cute nickname and the emojis that it had been saved with before she had deleted it from her phone, she knew who the message was from, and it was enough to cause her stomach to drop even before she had opened the message. Letting out a slightly ragged breath, she hesitated for a split second before she opened it, feeling her stomach drop again as she read the message that Tiago had sent to her, telling her that he had been thinking about her, and asking if there was any chance that they could talk.