Bingo Card Fill: Firsts

[mirabilelectu]

Fill for a cottoncandy_bingo  card. 

Title: A Night Like This
Creators: mirabilelectu , amaliak 
Fandoms: Cabin Pressure, Sherlock
Prompt: Firsts
Ship: Martin/Molly
Medium: Fanart, Fanfiction

 

This evening had been perfect.

Well, almost.

It had started off beautifully at least. Molly could not have asked for a better end to her work day, nor a surprise that she would more excited to receive than to have her long-distance boyfriend show up unexpectedly in her office with flowers in his hand and a smile on his face to whisk her off on an impromptu date. She had not even known that Martin was going to be in London for another several weeks, but apparently neither had he until this morning when their flight had been re-routed and he decided to surprise her on the spur of the moment. And what a wonderful surprise it was, so good in fact that she had nearly knocked her desk over in her mad scramble to run over and throw herself into his arms for a hug.

The feeling of having his arms wrapped around her again was wonderful beyond words, and one that she had not felt in far longer than she cared to remember as she melted into his embrace. Their relationship had never been anything resembling easy or typical, living so far apart as to nearly be worlds away and dealing with prolonged separations thanks to Martin’s job that really did take him worlds away from her. Early relationships were difficult enough to manage even when they did not have to be carried out entirely though text messages and emails with only a few dates in between to tide them over, but somehow through determination and a steadfast desire to just make this work, Martin and Molly had muddled through. For almost five months now, they had been growing closer despite the distance between them, and now tonight they were reunited for the first time in weeks and things were shaping up to be magical.

Dinner had been first, once the necessary business of greetings and questions and answers had been dealt with, and after Molly had composed herself enough to finish up her last bits of paperwork and hastily freshen up before leaving the hospital. Neither of them were dressed for anything particularly elegant – Martin still in his uniform shirt and tie and Molly in a plain top and the purple cardigan she had thrown on this morning on her way out the door – and they were only worried about catching up with each other at the moment, so in unspoken agreement they had headed to a cozy and casual Italian restaurant near the hospital. Time seemed to fly by in a flurry of conversation and laughter and easy companionship, with perhaps just a touch more wine than usual flowing along with it. But that was fine, it was all fine, it was all lovely in fact, and Molly could not remember having a nicer evening.

But it was on the walk home, arm in arm and drunk on each other’s company (and just a bit tipsy on the wine as well), it was then that Molly realized that no matter how wonderful tonight had been, it was not perfect. No, none of the times they had spent together so far had been perfect, and it was because of one very simple reason. Even though they had been together for five months, even though they were comfortable and happy in each other’s presence, and even though Molly was fairly certain that Martin felt just as much attraction to her as she did for him, they had not yet kissed. It was a side effect of spending so much time apart, certainly, as well as the relative passivity of both their natures, but whatever the case Molly had been Martin’s girlfriend for five months now and she had not been kissed by him once.

And from the look of things, it probably wasn’t going to happen tonight either. It was just a guess, really, but Molly had a very definite feeling that tonight was going to end the same way as their other dates had – with an awkward shuffle, refusing to meet each other’s eyes, and then a quick hug before one or the other of them walked away quickly with burning cheeks and horrific shame. It shouldn’t be this hard, should it? Shouldn’t it be natural for two people who were attracted to each other to simply just kiss and get it over with? Apparently not, or at least that’s the way it seemed for the two of them. But tonight, Molly had had enough. The gentle glow of the wine in her veins gave her courage that she had not possessed before tonight, as well as the realization that she was tired of waiting. She had spent her life waiting for other people, waiting for them to notice her, to appreciate her, to give her life meaning and purpose and happiness. And she was always left alone and still waiting, left without anything to show for her patience or her diligence. Well, that was going to change.

They were drawing close to her door now, the moment drawing near when they would have to choose whether to yet again end their evening with mumbled embarrassment or perhaps take the step that neither of them had yet been willing to make. Molly’s heart was racing with anticipation, climbing ever higher since she had made the decision in her own mind to take the initiative for the first time in her life and pray that the outcome would be good. It had to be, didn’t it? What could go wrong?

“Molly, I…” Martin began uncertainly as they drew to a stop in front of her door, his face flushing a dull crimson and eyes sliding down to the pavement. “I had a really good time tonight. With you, I mean. It was really nice seeing you.”

“Yeah, it was really nice. Thank you so much for surprising me like that, it was lovely.” She smiled warmly, hoping that her encouragement would give him some measure of the bravery he so clearly needed.

Whether it was the result of gifted courage or not, Martin did manage to meet her eyes and flash a quick but genuine grin in response. “I’m really glad you liked it – it was so last minute and I wasn’t even sure that you liked surprises but I thought it was worth the risk to be able to see you.”

“It was. It definitely was. And you know, it’s good to try new things sometimes even if they are kind of scary.”

Please get the hint, oh please just get the damn hint.

He didn’t get the hint. Or if he did, he wasn’t going to act on it anytime soon, and as the moment stretched on between them Molly could feel her chance slipping quickly out of reach. If she didn’t act now, there was no telling when she would get the chance again and she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she gave it up now. Taking a deep breath for fortification, Molly made up her mind and in one swift movement closed the space between them by grabbing Martin’s tie and pulling him in close. In moments they were nose to nose, neither moving or daring to breathe lest everything be ruined by a sudden movement. Martin’s eyes had gone wide with shock when Molly grabbed him, but he was staring at her now with some mixture of wonder, indecision, and oh yes there it was – desire. But still they had not closed those last few precious centimeters, hovering so tantalizingly close and yet so carefully apart in the warm evening air.

“Oh just kiss me already” Molly breathed, hardly more than a whisper and yet louder than a shout in the silence between them.

Martin kissed her. Needing no further encouragement he leaned in, erasing all distance, all barriers, all hesitation the two of them had shared as lips and bodies met at last. It was gentle at first, testing, questioning that this was indeed ok, but it did not remain so for long. Months of separation and frustrated longing vanished with the press of lips and reverent touches and wordless joy, until any and all reasons for waiting for so very long vanished never to return. By the time they pulled apart, Molly felt as though she were floating a thousand feet above the pavement, giddy beyond belief and filled with such incredible excitement that there was only one thing that she could possibly say now.

“Do you want to come inside?” she asked breathlessly, earning a decisively eager nod in return.

If this was the sort of thing that came of her taking the initiative, Molly was definitely going to need to start being more forceful in her life. And there was no time like the present to get started.