Until You Met Me

Tugging the material of Gerard's sweatshirt a little tighter around herself, Molly sunk a little deeper into the chair she sat in, her stare settled on Gerard who was still sound asleep in the bed ahead of her, his snoring disturbing the otherwise silent bedroom around them. She didn’t have to be anywhere. For the first time in a long time, she didn’t have a reason to get out of bed and leave Gerard's home before he was really awake, and for a little while, she just wanted to appreciate it.

They had been missing one another for a while. With most of Molly’s weekends taken up by Sofia’s wedding, and her weeks filled up with work, the chances for her and Gerard to spend more than a couple of hours together had been few and far between, but it was something that Molly was determined to make up for. They had some time. Molly’s school holidays and Gerard's off season overlapped for a couple of weeks, and those were weeks that Molly intended to make the most of. She didn’t want to entertain the possibility of the two them of the drifting apart.

Lifting a hand to her face, she yawned into her hand softly before she glanced back over at the bed, her lips curving into a soft smile when she found Gerard looking up at her, a sleepy smile of his own brightening his face. “Hi” she greeted shyly.

Gerard's grin widened a fraction as he blinked sleepily, taking in the sight of her, dressed in his sweatshirt. “Hi” he replied “You’re still here” he added.

“I am” Molly confirmed.

“You don’t have somewhere you need to rush off to?” Gerard asked impishly “No dressing fittings, or last minute problems with the wedding band?” he added.

Molly shook her head, ducking it slightly so that she could hide her wide smile. “No” she answered.

“So you can stay?” Gerard asked as he shuffled across the bed, sitting on the edge of it in front of where Molly sat “All day. I can have you to myself?” he added.

“Is that something that you want?” Molly prodded, glancing up at him through her eyelashes.

Gerard didn’t hesitate to nod his head, his playful smirk softening into a more tender smile. “Of course it is” he said.

“Then, I have good news for you” Molly mused as she leant forwards, touching a light kiss to the corner of his lips “I have nowhere I need to be. I have told my friends and family to only call me if it is really necessary, and I don’t have to go to work tomorrow. I can stay here all day, and all night, if that’s OK with you” she added, smirking slightly as she pressed a kiss to the other corner of his mouth.

Gerard tipped his head forwards, pressing their foreheads together as he let out a slightly awed laugh, his hands gently guiding her back into the bed. “I can think of nothing I would like more” he replied.

~#~
“Do you want me to bring you anything back?”

Gerard, who was quietly dozing against the headboard of his bed, blinked slowly, turning his head to glance at Molly who was stood at the foot of the bed, pulling his sweatshirt back over her head. They hadn’t made it far. After he had tugged Molly back into bed with him, they had made no attempt to leave it again, but Gerard doubted that he could have come up with a better way to have spent a morning. It hadn’t hit him how much he had missed doing nothing with Molly until they were laying against his pillows, talking idly about the little things that they had missed. He knew that they had spent less time together, that he had been busy with trying to figure out the proposal, and that Molly had been busy with helping Sofia, but he hadn’t noticed how much he had missed her until he had had her to himself again.

“Hm?” Gerard hummed.

“I was going to grab something to eat” Molly clarified “And given that you look like you’re about to fall asleep, I figured you weren’t coming with me. Did you want me to get you something?” she asked, smiling at him playfully.

Gerard shook his head. “I’m OK” he answered.

Molly nodded. “Can you do something for me before you fall asleep, then?” she asked.

“Depends on what it is” Gerard answered, getting slightly more comfortable.

“I just need something to wear” Molly replied “I left some stuff here, but you moved it. Find it for me?” she asked.

Gerard made a show of huffing, but the smirk on his face gave him away, causing Molly to laugh before she turned and walked out of the door. “I will be right back” she called after herself.

Gerard nodded to himself before he reluctantly climbed out of the bed. Pulling a t-shirt over his head, he yawned as he wandered into his closet, pulling open the drawer that he had placed Molly’s things into. Collecting a clean set of clothes, he laid them on the top of the dresser before his stare settled on another drawer. Sending a slightly cautious glance over his shoulder, he pulled it open before he collected the small box from inside, flipping the lid open.

He was still trying to work it out. Despite the help he had gotten from Poppy, Julia and Ava, he was still not entirely clear on how or when he was going to the pop the question, but it was slowly getting clearer. He knew he wanted it to be just the two of them, and that he wanted to do something that made Molly feel slightly nostalgic, but exactly what he hadn’t worked out completely. He just wanted to make sure that it was something that Molly would never forget.

“I know you said not to get you anything, but I did it anyway” Molly’s voice surprised Gerard, causing him to turn around before he could think about it.

Molly, who was stood in the doorway, quickly spotted what was grasped in his hand, causing her to lift a hand to her mouth, trying, and failing, to stifle the soft gasp that fell out of it.

Gerard's stare bounced between his hands and Molly a couple of times, his ears buzzing with static, before finally, he slowly sunk down to one knee. “Molly” he murmured.

Molly’s eyes lifted back to his face, wide and full of tears.

Gerard's lips lifted into a lopsided smile that was part nervous, and part embarrassed. “Will you marry me?” he asked.