A/N: This was inspired by a prompt from welcometonightcourt - "two miserable people meeting at a wedding au." Set in an alternate version of John and Mary's wedding.
"You must be from the bride's side," a bored-sounding, deep male voice asked.
Molly looked up from her piece of the cake into the mesmerizing blue-green eyes of the handsomest man she'd ever seen. She was too stunned to say anything for a moment, but when his expression changed to expectation, she finally found her tongue. "Um, would you believe neither?" At his raised eyebrow, she sighed quietly. "It's a long, painful, and embarrassing story."
He looked mildly interested. "Does it involve murder?"
What an odd question. "Um, no, just heartache."
The man let out a heavy sigh. "I suppose that's better than nothing." He sat down in the empty seat next to her.
She held out her hand. "Molly Hooper."
"Sherlock Holmes," he said, ignoring her right hand in favor of taking her left.
Molly felt a tingle in her hand as he examined it and could feel her cheeks turning pink. She would've taken her hand back but she couldn't help liking the attention. He examined her ring finger and her chewed nails.
"You were engaged for almost a year, going by the tan lines on your left ring finger, but it ended quite recently and, going by your nails, quite badly."
"Um, yes. While my fiancé … former fiancé, Tom didn't leave me at the altar, he did leave me at our engagement party. Today was supposed to be my wedding day."
Sherlock's eyes widened slightly. "This was the Watsons' first choice of venue but it was booked solid until another wedding cancelled."
"Yes, that would be mine."
"My sympathies." It sounded more like something he was expected to say than something he actually felt.
"Um, thanks. The caterer, Marie, is a good friend of mine. She knew I'd be alone today so she suggested I come as her guest. At first, I thought she was crazy, but then I realized this is exactly what I needed – all the beauty and fun of a wedding without the pressure."
"And without the arsehole of a fiancé-turned-husband."
She smiled a bit. "Exactly. The last I heard, he was on the Continent, 'finding himself.'" She poked at her piece of cake. "What's left of my family was very understanding about my engagement ending. Most of them had told me not to marry him anyway. It's amazing how other people can notice a problem relationship before the couple themselves."
"You were too blinded by sentiment to see it."
"Probably – they say love is blind." She grinned as she started ticking off on her fingers. "Not to mention deaf, dumb, and brain-damaged."
Sherlock smirked. "I love meeting a fellow cynic."
Molly giggled. "Oh, it's just a phase for me. I'm sure I'll be back to my usual sunshine and rainbows before long."
"December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!)" started playing. Sherlock stood then held out his hand, smiling a bit.
"Then may I have this dance while we're both still cynics?"
She beamed at him. "I'd love that."