He was surprised at the sight in front of him.
When Molly told him that she had had rubbish last few daysand needed the evening alone to wind down and relax, he expected her to be reading or watching crap telly, with a hot cup of tea for company. He was specifically banned from appearing at her flat tonight. She had actually bolted her front door.
That's why fire escapes were so useful.
Entering her flat, in spite of specific instructions not to, wasn't something new to him. Since when did he follow instructions anyway. And he didn't expect Molly to be doing something unexpected, like a voodoo ritual or animal sacrifice.
Good music was playing, from what he heard earlier, it was the same number on repeat.
But he didn't expect the site in front of his eyes.
Wearing pajamas and an old T-shirt, Molly was dancing. Rather her movements were a hybrid of ballet grace and hip-hop jerky motion.
It should have looked ridiculous.
It looked wonderful.
Molly had her eyes closed and was moving without any inhibition.
His first instinct was to turn around and get out the way he had come in. This was way more private than even catching her in her shower, like he had done when he just had to know where she had hidden her Colombian coffee.
He ignored it.
Molly was an expert at the autopsy table, her movements precise and smart.
But here she was swaying away, moving to the tune. He was surprised to see how graceful she was and he was expecting her to bump into the side tables or her sofa any time. But it looked like she knew her space.
Sherlock knew he was invading what seemed like her favourite private relaxing rituals, but he couldn't move.
And he loved the music.
And then she removed her hair tie and with her hair flowing around, danced with a smile on her face and without any inhibition.
This was a new persona he was watching and it was fascinating.
Sherlock was mesmerized.
And then the spell was broken by her phone ringing. It startled her so much that she lost her footing and was about to trip on her side table.
That's when he moved. She let out a yelp when he held her arm and pulled her close.
It was a reflexive action, nothing premeditated.
But he didn't let her go. This was a new side of Molly he had never deduced before and to be honest, he quite liked it.
She gasped out his name, surprised at finding him in her flat, at him rescuing her from a fall and then holding on.
Her eyebrows went up when instead of releasing her; he started swaying with her to the music.
Nodding, he simply said, "This music is wonderful."
Dancing with Molly in his arms was the last thing he had expected to do when he decided to use his bolt hole to relax and think over a case.
What he really meant was that the moment was wonderful and he didn't want to think why he was prolonging it as much as he could.