Molly and her beet friend, Kaitlyn were in the lab, working on finalizing some pathology reports.
"Did you know they are going to be having some special 20th anniversary screenings of Titanic? I was too young when it came out the first time, but David is going to take me to see it one evening next week. Did you see it when was out in cinemas the first time?" questioned Kaitlyn.
"Actually, I never got to see it at the time," replied Molly. "It came out right around the time my dad started getting sick, shortly before his cancer diagnosis."
As the women were talking, Mike Stamford walked into the lab. "Are those reports ready?" he asked.
"Almost," responded Molly.
"Did I hear you girls talking about Titanic?" the supervisor asked.
"Yes. I didn't get to see it when it was released twenty years ago. I never got around to watching it later either - rather embarrassing really, when most people my age have seen it," answered Molly.
"Well, tell your husband to take you to one of the special screenings, then. He went to see it when it came out."
Molly's eyes widened in astonishment. "Sherlock has seen the film? I can't believe he would have willingly gone to something like that in his uni days."
"Well, that was because of me, actually."
Both women looked at Mike in surprise.
"Oh, do tell us how that came about!" exclaimed Kaitlyn.
"Bit of a convoluted story. My younger sister was in one of the same classes as Sherlock. She had a bit of a crush on him, you see. I had a bit of a crush on my sister's best friend, so we made a deal. If I could get Sherlock to go out with her, my sister said she would bring her friend along for me."
"How intriguing," said Molly thoughtfully. "Sherlock always said he was not interested in anyone in his uni days."
"Oh, believe me, he's telling the truth. I was already working here, and your husband used to come into the hospital and ask if I could find him some 'spare' body parts to experiment on. All he cared about was his experiments. When this thing with my sister came about, I basically bribed Sherlock with a dead man's thumb and a big toe in exchange for going with me, my sister and her friend to see Titanic."
Molly giggled. "It's just as well you knew the right way to get Sherlock to go with you. So what happened on your night out together?"
"Oh, it went great for me and my sister's friend. In fact you've met Emily, who is now my wife. As for Stella though, it didn't go the way she hoped with Sherlock. He spent the whole film pretending to be asleep. My poor sister was heartbroken."
"Poor girl," sympathized Molly. She knew how cold and unfeeling Sherlock had behaved when she had first met him.
"It was a long time ago, and she and Ted are happily married now, just as you and Sherlock are. But you should definitely get him to take you to the film. Maybe you can give him a bit of grief about not telling you about his 'date' with Stella first. That should guilt him into it."
Molly and Kaitlyn laughed. "You have a nefarious mind," Molly told him.
That evening, when Molly arrived home, she decided to put her little plan into action. Sherlock had arrived home first, after being out on one of his cases, and he was standing by the open door, ready to greet her with a welcome home kiss, as was their custom.
This time, instead of lifting her face for said kiss, she put her hand on his chest and pushed him aside, stalking to the sofa and taking her usual seat.
Sherlock followed her, a look of confusion on his face. "Molly? Sweetheart, what's wrong? What has you upset?" He sat next to her.
"You told me you weren't interested in girls in your uni days. What about Stella?"
Sherlock looked blank for a moment, then realization dawned on him. "Stella? Mike Stamford's sister?"
"Yes, Mike's sister. He told me you went out with her to see Titanic."
Sherlock scowled. "Did Mike tell you it was a date? Because it wasn't. He bribed me into accompanying him, his sister and her friend to see the film. It was only once I swear, and I repeat, it was not really a date."
Molly couldn't fake being cross anymore. She reached out Sherlock and pulled him in for the welcome home kiss she had denied him earlier.
Sherlock was still for just a second as his mind processed the fact that he was not in trouble, and then he returned her kiss, putting his arms around her as well.
Then he leaned back a little to look into Molly's face and asked, "So what was all that about, then? And how on earth did that conversation come about? I assume you aren't really angry with me."
"Of course not," Molly assured him. "I just wanted to tease you a little. It was wicked of me, I know," she said with an impudent grin.
"It most certainly was," Sherlock told her gravely. "You will have to make it up to me later." He gave his wife a suggestive look which made her blush. "So tell me how you came to learn about Stella?"
"Kaitlyn and I were in the lab, talking about Titanic and how there are to be 20th anniversary screenings of the film. Mike overheard us talking, and said I should get you to take me to see it. I never saw it the first time around because that was when my dad got sick. So Mike told me about how he bribed you to see the film so he could go out with Stella's best friend."
"I remember now," said Sherlock slowly. "I resented being there, so I pretended to fall asleep, and then I really ended up sleeping. That film is insanely long. I kind of feel bad that I was such an arse to the girl, but I didn't want to give her false hope. Apparently, my ploy worked because she never bothered me again."
"Do you think you could bear to sit through the film again, with me this time? I'd really like to see it. If we sit in the back, you can play on your phone if you are bored."
"Hmmm, sitting at the back of a darkened cinema screening room with a beautiful woman? I could be persuaded, I suppose," murmured Sherlock, giving her a look that indicated he would be more interested in her than the film. "When do you want to see this film?"
"There's a special midnight showing at a cinema only ten minutes away by taxi, if you want to go tonight."
"Let me see if I'm free," he said, whipping out his phone and looking at his calendar. "You're in luck, Mrs. Holmes; it appears my schedule is clear. Fortunately, I do not have any cases to work on tomorrow, so a late night will not be a problem."
"And it's the weekend, so I'm off tomorrow as well."
The taxi dropped off the couple fifteen minutes before the show was due to start. The lobby was very quiet, and they were the only ones at the booth when they bought tickets. There were only two tired looking people manning the concession stand as well.
"Do you want popcorn and a drink?" Sherlock inquired.
"Yes please, it's a long movie, and I'm starving."
"You're hungry already? We had a late dinner and then you had a huge bowl of ice cream for dessert."
"Quit teasing me about my eating habits. The baby wants popcorn, and so do I," said Molly with a sniff, while patting her baby bump.
"A large popcorn and drink it is, then," said Sherlock with a grin, followed by a wince when Molly swatted his arm.
They entered the screening room to find it was almost empty. There were about ten people already seated, none of them further back than halfway down the aisle.
Sherlock looked around as he led Molly to the back row. "We'll have to come to see films in the dead of night more often," he observed with a wicked grin at Molly before setting down the popcorn on the unoccupied seat next to him, and the Coca-Cola in the cup holder between his and Molly's seats.
"Sherlock, don't get any ideas that we are going to spend the whole three hours here kissing like a pair of teenagers. I really want to see this film."
Sherlock pouted. "We can always buy the Blu-ray so you can watch whatever you miss here at a later time," he offered with a cheeky grin, reaching a hand out to stroke Molly's cheek and then leaning towards her.
"Good Lord, Sherlock! The lights haven't even dimmed yet!" exclaimed Molly, grabbing his hand and leaning away from him. "I'd like some popcorn, please."
"But the lights haven't even dimmed yet," he mimicked. "The popcorn will be gone before we are halfway through the film."
Molly glared at him, and thus chastened, he handed her the bag of popcorn.
The lights dimmed and soon the film began. Molly was totally engrossed in it for about half an hour. She had had a little crush on Leonardo DiCaprio in his younger days. "Leonardo DiCaprio was such a hottie back then," she remarked, and Sherlock huffed in annoyance.
"Perhaps you should have married someone with blonde hair like him if you think he's so hot," he said with a hint of jealousy in his voice.
Molly squeezed her adorable, curly black-haired man's hand. "You are utterly ridiculous. I was seventeen when this movie came out, and everyone had a crush on him. A crush is not love." Then she added, "although some crushes do turn into love." She looked at Sherlock, remembering the long years she had spent loving him and finding her love unrequited.
"You're not watching the film," whispered Sherlock huskily.
Molly's heart thumped in her chest. When he looked at her that way and spoke in his deep baritone, it still sent shivers through her. He was so impossibly handsome, her very own dark angel.
They were only forty minutes into the movie and suddenly Molly thought Sherlock's idea about buying the Blu-ray made complete sense. She carefully deposited the popcorn on the seat next to her, and moved the drink so it was no longer in between her and Sherlock. "What film?" she asked breathlessly as Sherlock took her in his arms and kissed her thoroughly.
The film continued to play, and the couple in the back row remained oblivious to everything but each other for some time. When they eventually parted for air, Sherlock asked with a gleam in his eye, "Do you really want to be here for another two hours when we could be in the privacy of our own home? I can order the Blu-ray from Amazon tomorrow. And we can take the popcorn home, too."
Molly grinned at her logical and extremely intelligent husband. He knew her so well. Without a word, she picked up the popcorn bag, took Sherlock's hand and led him out of the cinema.
Who cared about seeing a twenty year old film on the big screen anyway? There were so many more interesting things to do.
By the time the couple entered the front door of their flat, it was almost two in the morning. Sherlock took the popcorn from Molly's hand. "Bed?" he suggested.
"I'm not tired yet," she protested."Who said anything about sleeping?" was his response, and Molly blushed. Oh yes, there were definitely better things to do than watch an old film in the middle of the night.
Author's note: This story was inspired by me watching a television program last night where they talked about the movie's 20th anniversary. The 20th anniversary screenings are actually happening here in America. I didn't see anything about them taking place in London, so I used a bit of creative license there.
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Updated for better flow and corrections 7/9/18