Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. I just like to toy around with them in my imagination before putting it to paper.
A/N: This is my first Sherlolly, although I've been apart of this fandom for a bit of time now… It's been really playing on my mind lately to write something and this just came to me just this hour so I decided to write it out. Let me know what you think.
A Rather Unusual Proposal
It was a simple explanation of Molly's that had him proposing, sans ring, on the spot, in the middle of what technically should have been their third date. Somehow, over dinner, they had gotten onto the topic of couples that passed away at the same time, one of Molly's latest cases, due to what Molly romantically called heart break and Sherlock passed off as the subset of same living patterns, conditions, and styles leading to a similarly timed death. Nothing romantic about it. Just science.
"It's the Broken Heart Syndrome, Sherlock." Molly exasperatedly explained.
"It's stress and a weak heart further weakened by the shock of a loss that could have been avoided altogether if people weren't so avid about having longstanding companionship." He sniped, immediately realizing that his words were a bit not good when Molly looked down at her mostly eaten meal.
"But… If you're so sure that it is truly a case of broken heart, I suggest we move this date to St. Bart's and you can show me the hearts of the couple. If there's no sign of long-term heart condition, I may merit your hypothesis." When her eyes twinkled at him, he knew that not only was he in trouble due to the strange flip in his stomach, but that he had also just saved their date from a potentially disastrous end.
MHSHMHSHMHSH
They were in the middle of their experiment, Sherlock dressed in an unbuttoned white lab coat, protective eye-wear dangling around his neck, and one hand gloved as he repositioned the light so that they could better see into the chest cavity of their second deceased patient. The first, the wife who had past away shortly before husband, had died of old age. Natural causes. Nothing suspicious there. After careful inspection and reviewing his medical charts, they concluded that the male patient, the deceased woman's husband, had no history of heart problems and had been in tip-top shape prior to his death.
"How very curious…" A very put out looking Sherlock mumbled. He didn't like it when science didn't solidify the answer he had initially deduced.
"There's nothing curious about it Sherlock… Imagine…" When he gave her a somewhat bemused look, she gave him a hard look in return. "Seriously, Sherlock. Close your eyes, enter your Mind Palace, and imagine this for me as vividly as you can."
Molly patiently waited until a reluctant Sherlock did as she instructed. She watched as his eyelids covered his beautiful blue-greens and his face went still as it usually did, but she could tell he was still listening (something he didn't typically do when he was truly locked within his Mind Palace).
"Think of a person that you love unconditionally and unwaveringly. Think of the very first time you met this person, the words you exchanged. Recall the first moment this person spiked your interest or surprised you… Now flash forward to when you realized how irreplaceable this person is to you…" She paused before continuing. "Now, imagine the future. Imagine a life that you've shared with that person. The greatest moments, the worst moments, and in the end of it all you have each other. You've seen each other the best and the worst, the happiest and the most miserable… You've aged and grown together… Shared intimacies unimaginable… And then one day, they draw their last breath before you're ready to say goodbye and instead of having to do so, you know that with their passing it is your time as well… That's the Broken Heart Syndrome, Sherlock… That's love… When you've loved someone so deeply that continuing on without them isn't even an option…"
When she finished, it took a moment for Sherlock to open his eyes. They gleamed in the fluorescent morgue lights and the tenderness of the look he gave her stole her breath away. What she couldn't know that was within his Mind Palace, Sherlock had already constructed a wing for her and in reach room was a stage of their life, many rooms yet to be filled, but saved for future instances. The idea that one day, he would enter his Mind Palace shortly after she passed and be left alone to gaze upon all of their life and all of their love without the solace of exiting it to be in her tangible presence was too much for the man who used to pride himself on an avoidance of sentiment.
"Molly, I… In sixty years, give or take the lifestyles we lead and notwithstanding any unforeseen medical conditions, I would most like it if it were you and I on these tables… Side by side… I… I think I'd quite like to know that I lived a life of love with you so full that I could not go on without you or you without I…" Sherlock's voice although steady and self-assured as it always came through held an air of vulnerability as he confessed this to her. The glossy look in his eyes could now be found reflected in hers before the dam broke and the tears began to stream down her face.
"Are you asking me to spend my life with you, Sherlock?" She asked, because it was a dream she'd had since she met the man and it was just a little too good to be true.
"Yes. I am asking you to become my wife, because I see no other method in maintaining this happiness that I've found and should I die of Broken Heart Syndrome, I wish to only after sharing many years with you first… Marry me, Molly?" He asked, not even considering that this was probably the most unusual marriage proposal.
"Yes… Oh, Sherlock." Molly slowly moved forward towards him and he lifted one still gloved hand to her face then the other ungloved before bringing his face down to meet hers. Their lips met and on that third date, in the cold morgue of St. Bart's, they sealed a proposal of marriage.