Alexandria and Sherlock got to the crime scene before the police photographer even began. It was in the middle of a huge field, a body face down in a puddle of rain. Sherlock solved the case in minutes, even though there wasn't even a foot print.
"Well that was a long trek for nothing." Alexandria complained as they turned back to see the main road they'd come from almost a mile away. She sighed dramatically and started following Sherlock.
Not three steps later, her foot sunk into a mud puddle disguised by grass. Alexandria went flying forward, throwing her hands out to stop her fall and accidentally grabbing the back of Sherlock's coat. He took a step backward in an attempt to steady himself and only stumbled farther back, tripping over her outstretched arms and landing beside her.
Alexandria scrambled frantically into a sitting position, her eyes wide, waiting for Sherlock to explode.
He laughed.
After she got past the initial shock, that Sherlock Holmes even knew how to laugh, she realized: It was the single most beautiful sound she had ever experienced in her entire life. And it was ridiculously contagious. An enormous grin immediately spread over her face. Alexandria planted her hands, trying to stand up, but her feet slipped and she smashed right back down into the puddle. A fresh peal of laughter came from Sherlock as she tried to flick the hair from her face, but it kept sticking to the mud on her shoulders. She again tried standing up and only ended up flicking mud all over Sherlock's face.
Her jaw dropped open and her eyes widened as his eyes narrowed. Then a mud ball went from his hand straight onto her shirt, leaving her completely coated in mud.
"You did not!" Alexandria gasped, gaping at him as his eyes widened innocently. At that precise second, it started pouring rain. Alex's eyes narrowed as she scooped up a handful of mud and leaned toward him. Then, very slowly, she squished the slimy, smelly mud into his luxurious curls.
Finally managing to stand up, she turned tail and bolted toward the car.
"I don't think so." Sherlock growled, scooping up more mud and nailing her retreating back. Just as he started giving chase, she yelped and disappeared. All traces of amusement disappeared from Sherlock's face as he hurried toward where she'd fallen. He reached her just in time to see her gasping and coming up from a reed covered pond. Long, stringy plants in her hair, soaking wet, and still partially muddy, Alex pulled herself to her feet. Sherlock bent over, leaning on his knees to keep himself upright, he was laughing so hard.
Alex lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his waist and successfully body slamming him into the pond. She intended on pushing him over and standing haughtily over him, but he grabbed her hand while he was going down and she ended up with her face buried in his shoulder. Alex tried desperately to push herself off him and sit up, but her hands kept slipping, and he wasn't helping.
Then she noticed something. The way he smiled….The shine in his eyes when he looked at her, the beautiful sound of his laughter…
"Sherlock Holmes!" she exclaimed, finally able to sit up. He sat up beside her, still recovering from laughter, but he sobered quickly when he saw the shock on her face.
"What is it, Alexandria?" he asked innocently. A delighted look appeared in her eyes when he called her by her first name instead of her last, as he usually did.
"Dilated eyes…." she muttered. Said eyes widened nervously as Alex grabbed Sherlock's hand, her cold fingers wrapping around his wrist, but her small hands not being able to reach all the way around. "Accelerated pulse…" her eyes narrowed as she studied his face. "Do you have something to tell my face, Sherlock Holmes?" she demanded.
Sherlock fidgeted nervously, not looking at her.
"Hm?! Spill your guts, mister!" she demanded. Alex refused to hope. She was wrong, she told herself, she was so wrong. "Are you so out of shape that that run made you tired?" She swallowed back the welling excitement. No, Alex, no, she thought. You're wrong, so wrong.
"Um… well," Sherlock stuttered. Sherlock never stuttered. What was happening to him? He was the cool confident one. But then again, she'd always made it harder for him to hide his emotions. Even with John he wasn't this weak. John had never been able to make him give in so much as to let himself have fun. Oh gosh, fun. He hadn't had fun for….for years. But then she came along and broke down all the things he'd work so hard to build up. Alone protects me, his logical mind protested.
Screw protection, his heart argued. Oh gosh, his heart. He never listened to his heart. She'll call you a freak, his logical mind added. Who cares, his heart replied. Hold her, his heart said. Tell her, it pleaded. Do something, his heart commanded.
Alex started to hyperventilate a little. She couldn't read him, couldn't tell what he was thinking when his eyes brightened. His lips parted the tiniest bit, his breath coming in short huffs.
Go, said his heart.
Hope, said her heart.
Sherlock leaned forward. Alex's eyes widened. His eyes closed. She leaned to meet him. His lips and hers.
Yes, said his heart, yes.
Yes, said his mind, yes.
Yes, said her mouth, yes.
Yes, said her hands, yes.
Alex pulled away first. They shared the breath between them.
"You're sure." it was barely even a question.
"Obviously." He whispered.
"What happened to you kids?!" Mrs. Hudson demanded.
Alex and Sherlock stumbled up to their flat, still soaking wet and dripping mud. No matter how they tripped or stepped, their hands never separated. Sherlock's laugh echoed down the stairs, making Mrs. Hudson grin in confused delight before she ran for the phone and called Mary and John.
Alex stumbled over the door mat into the flat, draggin Sherlock by his warm hand. The door shut behind them and Sherlock pushed her against it, his hands running down her sides to rest on her hips.
"Who are you and what have you done with the real Sherlock Holmes?" Alex whispered playfully as her fingers curled into his hair.
"Oh he's here. I just got rid of the fake one for you." his smile lit up the room.
John and Mary came bursting into Mrs. Hudson's kitchen not ten minutes later.
"What is it, Mrs. Hudson?" John gasped.
"You were awfully cryptic on the phone!" Mary added, repositioning baby Sherly on her hip.
"Sherlock….and Alexandria!" Mrs. Hudson managed through her fierce grin.
"What?" John shook his head, eyebrows scrunched as he tried to figure out what she was talking about.
"Upstairs…..!"
John and Mary shot up the stairs and John practically tore the door from it's hinges.
Sherlock and Alex split apart, looking up from their spot on the couch, guilt barely appearing on their blissful faces.
"Well it's about bloody time!" Mary exclaimed.