Until You Met Me

Holding her hand out ahead of herself, Molly felt her lips curve upwards into another smile, her stare fixed on the ring that sat on her finger, the only tangible reminder of what had had happened that morning. It felt surreal. The memory of Gerard kneeling down in front of her, ring box in hand, was etched into her memory, and she wasn’t likely to forget it any time soon, but it was also something that she hadn’t quite wrapped her head around. If it wasn’t for the ring that was on her finger, she was pretty sure that she could have been convinced that she had imagined it.

“It’s still there”

Molly ducked her head, trying, and failing, to hide her cheeks as they grew pink at the amused sound of Gerard’s voice. “I don’t know what you’re talking about” she countered.

“Yes, you do” Gerard quipped “You keep looking at your hand like you expect your ring to have disappeared. It isn’t going anywhere, Molly” he added, the teasing edge to his voice softening slightly as he glanced over at her, flashing her a soft smile.

He understood her amazement. When he had woken up that morning, he hadn’t expected that he would end the day engaged, and whilst he was just as awed as Molly was, he wanted her to know that it wasn’t something that was going to be taken back. It wasn’t what he had planned. He had envisaged that, when he asked, it would be a lot different from what it had been like, but it didn’t mean that he didn’t mean it. He had wanted to ask for a long time, and whilst the how wasn’t what he had expected, the why was still the same. He loved her and he wanted to marry her.

Molly glanced at him through her eyelashes. “Promise?” she asked.

Gerard didn’t hesitate to nod. “Promise” he quipped “Even if it doesn’t work out, you can keep it” he added impishly.

Molly lightly slapped his shoulder. “Not funny” she muttered.

Gerard apologised as he pulled the car to a stop. Slipping the keys out of the ignition, he unbuckled his seatbelt before he turned to look at Molly, a warm smile on his face. “Do you want a minute to prepare?” he asked “Because as soon as you pull your hand out of your pocket, they’re going to see that, and it’s going to be chaos” he added.

“You said you told them that you were going to ask” Molly countered.

“Telling them that I was going to do it was one thing” Gerard replied “Actually having done it is another. It was a possibility before, but now it’s a real thing” he added.

Molly nodded her head slowly, her stare drifting back to the ring on her finger, before she smiled slightly. “I don’t think I need to wait” she said.

Gerard let out a slightly surprised noise, but didn’t try and argue with her. Instead, he pushed the car door open and climbed out, meeting Molly on the stoop in front of her parents’ front door. Giving her a second to tuck her hands into her jacket pockets, he flashed her another tender grin before he pressed the doorbell, waiting for the door to swing open. When it did, Gerard blinked a couple of times. “Mama?” he asked.

Montserrat smiled. “Julia said that you two were dropping by for lunch” she quipped.

“What are you doing here?” Gerard asked.

“We’re having lunch with Julia and Xavi” Montserrat replied “We do that sometimes. You do know that we were friends before you and Molly were” she added impishly.

Gerard rolled his eyes. “I remember” he quipped.

“Come in, then” Montserrat said “Your parents are in the dining room, Molly” she added.

Molly smiled and ducked into the house, Gerard following behind her. Once they reached the door that led through to the dining room, they paused to share a look before they walked inside. “Baby” Julia cooed, rising out of her seat “You’re just about on time. The food is ready to go” she added, pressing a kiss to Molly’s cheek before she stepped towards Gerard, hugging him tightly.

Gerard returned the hug before he glanced at Molly, something which caused her cheeks to flush pink, her hand slipping out of her pocket. Without another word, she held it up, causing the excited chatter that had filled the room to fall silent. Glancing at the faces around the room, she quirked a tentative smile. “He actually did it” she announced.

“You say it like it was in doubt” Gerard countered amusedly.

“Well...”

“You’re engaged?” Julia’s voice was slightly shaky as she cut off Molly’s playful reply.

Molly nodded, turning back to her mother. “Yeah” she confirmed “We are” she added.

The silence in the room lingered for another second before Julia let out a squeal, quickly drawing Molly into a hug. Xavier was quick to join them, mumbling warm words into Molly’s hair, as Gerard's parents converged on him, saying their own congratulations. Gerard accepted them eagerly, and those of Julia and Xavier, before Julia looked up at him, beaming. “How did you do it?” she asked.

“It was more...spontaneous than I had thought it would be” Gerard admitted “It felt like the right moment, though” he added, meeting Molly’s eyes with a smile.

Molly smiled back. “It was perfect for us” she mused.

Julia nodded her head. They weren’t saying it, but it was obvious that, for the time being at least, they wanted to keep the story to themselves, and she wasn’t going to push to get it out of them. The how didn’t matter. They were engaged, and to her, and everyone else in the room, that was something amazing. “Xavi” she said “Do we have any champagne or anything?” she asked.

“I can go out and get some” Xavier replied.

“You don’t need to do that, papa” Molly objected.

“How many times do I have the chance to toast my daughter and her fiancé?” Xavier replied “I want to, Molly. I want to celebrate you, and Gerard, and the fact that, after a very long time, you two have finally seen what we all saw before you. You make each other very, very happy” he added, flashing her a doting a smile.

Molly couldn’t do anything but smile and nod, allowing Xavier to leave the room before Julia tugged on Molly’s arm, coaxing her into a seat. “Let me look at that ring” she cooed softly “It looks like a gorgeous choice, Gerard” she added.

Gerard, who’d sunk into the chair beside Molly’s, smiled shyly. “I’d love to take all the credit, but Pop helped” he said “I wanted to make sure it was right” he added.

Molly turned to look up at him, her eyes searching his, before a slow, soft smile brightened her features. “It came from you, didn’t it?” she asked softly.