Hello lovely readers. This is my first fic and I just had to write it down. Please leave reviews, I'd love to hear what you think. I really like this chapter even though it might not seem like a lot, and I have an end goal, but I'm not entirely sure about the middle. Stick with me if you like it!
*Disclaimer: I own none of the characters (and possibly not even the title? It was the first thing I thought of and I liked it but it also seems cliche... Sorry).
The worst part about organic chemistry was that Professor Hughes always ran late. Which wouldn't be an issue, except it meant Molly was always dashing off to her genetics lecture in an attempt to not be late. The two most important classes of her semester just had to be taught back to back.
She sighed heavily as she closed her notebook and shoved it into her bag, trying not to forget her jacket as she dashed out of the classroom. Of course, that meant she ran right into the cute guy sitting next to her.
"Oh god I'm so sorry," she said as she felt her cheeks burn red.
"Don't worry about it," he smiled, all charm, which only made her blush harder. They'd only had a few conversations, but she was way too into him. To her dismay, they began walking in the same direction. "Are you ready for this test?" he asked, the only question anybody in their OChem class was asking, since the tests had been known to make people cry on numerous occasions.
"Not at all. I was too stubborn to drop the class, so I'm stuck here now."
"Well if you need some help, I'll be in the library basement all weekend," he paused. "If you'd like to join me," he added, almost like an afterthought.
"Oh, that'd be great, if you don't mind me slowing you down," she said as she turned into her genetics classroom.
"It's a date," she barely heard him say. Her heart skipped a beat or two. If only he'd been a little less cute, a little less charming, and a lot less intelligent, it wouldn't be so hard to keep from thinking about him as she began to take notes on DNA transcription and translation.
She peaked her head into the cracked door of the study room in the library basement far earlier Sunday morning than she would have liked.
"Mind if I join?"
"Not at all," he said, barely looking up from the problem he was working on to clear some space for her at the table.
She sat down, spread out her notebooks and textbook and answer guide and syllabus and the multitude of other things one used in attempt to understand the unintelligible. They worked in silence for a while, only occasionally asking each other simple questions.
Around noon, he stood up, announcing that he planned to get lunch. Molly noticed that she was not extended a direct invitation, and decided to stay put for the time being.
He left the room, wrestling with his emotions as he walked to the bagel place a few blocks over. On the one hand, he wanted to invite her to lunch. And dinner. And home to meet his parents. And to their wedding. She was smart and she was funny and the way she acted around him was adorable.
On the other hand, he didn't do relationships. In fact, his one-night stand had still been there when he left that morning. Becky? Monica? Whatever her name was. He couldn't ruin Molly. And he didn't want to take time away from his studies to have a girlfriend. The word sounded terrible to him even as he contemplated taking her home to meet his parents. Which, as a matter of fact, also sounded pretty terrible to him. But that smile. And the way she hummed to herself while she did practice problems. It should have been annoying. It was annoying, dammit. He was trying to concentrate!
"Oh, its no use," he muttered to himself as he opened the bagel shop door. He was in love with this girl he sat next to in one class, that he'd only known for a few weeks and only ever talked to in passing. But he couldn't make a move. He'd have to be in love from afar.
"What can I get you?" the teenager at the cash register asked. Sherlock gave him his regular order, then thought for a moment. "Actually, make that two." Bringing her a bagel wasn't making a move. It was a friendly gesture towards someone he was spending the day studying with, since he hadn't even had the decency to ask her to join him. He smiled to himself. Maybe she would be grateful. Maybe she would interpret it as him being interested. If she made the first move, he knew he wouldn't be able to turn her down.
But he should turn her down! He grappled with his emotions all the way back to the library and into the study room, where he was surprised to see her snacking on a bag of grapes and sipping a soda.
"Oh, I um, I brought you a bagel?" he said, more question than statement.
"Oh thank you! You really didn't have to," Molly said, a hint of a blush once more.
"Well I figured you might be hungry, with all this…" he gestured to the table and let his sentence trail off. She accepted his bagel with a smile and they continued to work in silence.
Dinnertime came and went, both of them too absorbed in their studies to notice that they were hungry. The fact of the test and the idea of imminent failure had settled over them, making thinking about other things impossible. Well, for Molly anyway. Sherlock noticed every little movement Molly made, chastising himself every time.
"I can't make head or tail of unimolecular versus bimolecular substitutions," Molly broke the silence, almost causing him to jump. He must have looked at her blankly, because she continued on, somewhat hurriedly, "Every time I think I have it and then I try a problem and I'm wrong. Can you explain it to me?"
He leaned over with a blank piece of paper and began to explain, almost automatically. He wasn't focused on the words he was saying so much as how easy it would be to lean over and kiss her right there.
Oh god. His life was turning into a chick flick. This is what happened in those movies he sometimes watched when a girl wanted to pretend they weren't just fooling around. But Sherlock found himself unable to stop.
He looked down at the diagram and realized he was running off the page. He leapt up and grabbed one of the dry erase markers from the board that was kept in the study room specifically for moments like these. He started his drawing over and continued his explanation.
Molly felt herself nodding and taking in the words he was saying without processing any of it. Knowing she should stay in her seat and write some of this down, she got up and moved over towards the board.
"Does… does that make sense?" Sherlock asked, unsure of himself due to the huge distraction standing right in front of him.
"Yes, I think I understand it now. Weak bases and, and resonance structures…" she trailed off, aware of how close he was standing and beginning to babble. Her heart was pounding as she finally looked straight into those blue eyes without quickly breaking eye contact as she'd always done before. They were both aware of how alone they were in that moment.
Sherlock leaned in tentatively and kissed her on the lips. She responded timidly but enthusiastically, moving her hands to pull him closer. They stayed that way for a moment until he pressed her against the white board, probably wiping off half of what he had just written but at the moment not caring about anything except how good her lips tasted and how her hands felt and how he could not go any further with her. He didn't dare. She would just turn into another of his one-night stands. Instead he wanted her to be his- his- his something. His mind was racing when the shrill ring of a cell phone broke them apart.
Beet red, Molly quickly picked up the phone without checking the caller ID. "Oh, hi! No, sorry, I'm studying in the library. Can I call you back in just a moment?" She said this almost all at once, and then hung up the phone.
"I, um, I have to go. Thanks for explaining!" she said, unable to meet his eyes as she swept her things haphazardly into her bag and dashed out of the room.
She pressed the most recent call on her phone and waited for her boyfriend to pick up.
"Hi Jim. Sorry, I just didn't want to make a big fuss in the middle of the library. What's up?"