I'm glad you're all enjoying the story! It's a breath of fresh air from all the dark and spooky stuff I've been writing so far. I'm really enjoying all this fluff! I'm loving all your theories on Christopher, you'll all just have to stick it out and see what happens. Anyways for this chapter, I all the things I mention about the festival is purely our of research, if I'm wrong on anything I apologize in advance.
Reviews are highly encouraged! I love hearing from you all!
I do hope you like this chapter! Enjoy!
Two days later Molly woke up to the brightness of the room and a knock on a door, Molly lifted herself up into a sitting position and rubbed the sleep with from her eyes, the person at the door knock again.
"Come in!" she said while she stifled a yawn.
Antonio entered the room and smiled widely at her, she noticed a phone clutched tightly in his hand.
"Good morning, signorina. Signore Kingsley is on the phone for you."
Molly extended her arm to him and Antonio handed her the phone, he left to give her some privacy. Stifling another yawn she pressed the phone to her ear.
"Hello, darling." she said in a cheery voice.
"Hello to you too, my love. Are you having fun?"
A smile appeared on her face "Yes, I wish you were here to share in the fun, though." she said in almost a whine.
She heard him chuckle on the other line, Molly hopped off the bed and walked to the balcony and stared at the beautiful view of the lake, she could spot many boats gathering up on the tiny island off the shore , Chris was saying a few words but she wasn't really paying attention.
"I'm sorry." she then heard him say.
"For what?" she asked curiously.
Another chuckled was heard "Sweetheart weren't you listening? I said I'll have to delay meeting you for at least a few more days."
A sudden disappointment flooded her body, the whole purpose of the trip was to spend a little time with her fiancé without the worries and their busy lives back in London.
"That means you're going to miss my-"
"Birthday, I know. I'm sorry, but I promise I'll make it up."
After exchanging a few more words Molly got off the phone and let out a sigh, she didn't know why she was feeling so down, she understood that Christopher's job required his full attention, but sometimes she felt a little... neglected as if his job mattered more than she did. A breath escaped her lips, the two weren't even married yet and she was already accusing him of putting his job before her needs, Molly rolled her eyes and made her way to get a change of clothing, she needed a distraction today.
A distraction was exactly was exactly what Molly had gotten when Antonio told her about The Sagra di San Giovanni a festival taking place in town, according to Antonio the festival was amongst the oldest that took place in town, it included dancing, boat races, and a grand fireworks show to end it off. Molly stood silently to the side as Antonio spoke rapidly in Italian to one of the locals; since her Italian was a little rusty she could only make out some parts of it... He was either speaking about cheese or saying something about needing to sneeze... maybe she did need to brush on her Italian. The petite woman swung her hips slowly to the music that was playing, she could spot many women and children dancing to the beating of drums, they wore elegant head dresses that looked way to heavy. Being the clumsy girl that she was she'd probably tumble into the lake and drown wearing one of those. Her eyes suddenly caught the now familiar bundle of ginger hair leaning casually against one of the walls in the far end; he eyed her amusingly and motioned her to come over. Molly turned her head to look at Antonio; he was still talking to the man and paying no attention to her. Without a sound she slipped into the crowd and went over to meet the man.
"Hello there." she said happily.
Sherlock lifted himself from the wall and took a hold of her hand.
"Would you like to hang out with me today?" he asked her.
A smile tugged the corner of her lips as she nodded a little more than enthusiastically, she quickly remembered about Antonio and looked over her shoulder; he still hadn't noticed she was gone.
"Are you concerned about your ward?" he asked curiously.
Molly turned her head to face him and stepped back a little, she hadn't expected him to be so close. Molly stared at the reflection on his sunglasses and nodded.
"He'll be a little mad at me, if I ditch him." she admitted.
"Let him."
"You're going to make me get in trouble." she said sounding a little more childish than she would want to.
Sherlock smirked and tugged on her hand leading her towards his motor scooter.
"Come on, Molly Hooper. What's one day of breaking the rules going to do to you?"
Molly suddenly felt like a teenager again, well she felt like what a teenager would probably feel like. She had never been the type to break the rules, all her teenage life she had spent inside stimulating her brain with reading and science experiments. Not that she was complaining, it certainly made her more clever and it did earn her a PhD. Molly finally nodded and followed Sherlock, she climbed on the motor scooter behind him and took the helmet he handed her, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her head against his back.
"If I get yelled at, Mr. Holmes. It will be your fault, and I shan't ever forgive you." she said in amusement.
She heard the baritoned chuckle through his back and smiled to herself, and the two were soon zooming down the crowded cobblestone street.
"It's a good source of protein, Molly. Just try it."
"But... they're snails..."
Molly made a face of disgust as she watched Sherlock ingest the snail meat, when Sherlock had suggested a place to eat she really didn't think he'd be making her eat snails.
"It's a festival tradition." he told her.
"What do they taste like." she finally said.
Molly picked up one of the stuffed shells and examined it closely.
"It tastes like chicken."
"Why do I have a feeling you're lying?"
Sherlock took the stuffed shell from her hand and stabbed the meat with his fork; he scooped out the meat and directed the fork towards her mouth.
"Just try it." He urged her.
Molly stared at the meat on the fork and leaned in with a hesitation she opened her mouth and quickly chewed the snail meat. It tasted nothing like chicken, the chewy texture felt strange in her mouth, but the taste was actually not that bad, after swallowing she locked eyes with an amused Sherlock and Molly frowned.
"That tasted nothing like chicken, you liar." she muttered.
"I still made you eat it didn't I?" he said with a smirk
After having to endure the ghastly snails, Sherlock took Molly to the boat races on the tiny island off the shore, she had been really afraid when they had entered the tiny speedboat that they had to take to the island, Molly had insisted they stayed and watched from the side they had been, but Sherlock told her "it wouldn't be the same" because the view was much better, after admitting defeat Molly got on the boat clutching onto Sherlock's arm for dear life. She hadn't let go until she had sure she made it safely on shore, the weather was hot that day, maybe it was due to all the running around she was doing, but she was happy when Sherlock bought her an ice lolly, coconut flavored, which was a new flavor to her. The two sat on one of the stone walls facing the clear blue water, Sherlock was right, about the view being better on the island. The young pathologist silently ate her ice lolly as she waited for the races to begin, too much of her luck half of the lolly tore off falling on her lap, Molly let out a small shriek and picked up the cold substance from her lap she licked off the melting liquid from her fingers and caught Sherlock staring at her. Molly blushed lightly and extended her arm to offer him the half that was still on the stick.
"Do you want some?" she asked him curiously.
Sherlock cleared his throat, Molly could see a hint of red on his cheeks as if embarrassed that he had been caught staring.
"Uh, no thanks." he told her.
"Come on, it's good." she urged him.
Sherlock finally nodded and took the lolly from her hands; he took a sample lick and nodded at the taste.
"It's good."
"Have it, I'll eat this half."
The two ate in silence as the horn signifying the start of the races began.
The two stayed on the island way after the races had ended, the sun had long dipped into the horizon and Molly looked up at the first shot of the fireworks exploded in the air. Molly stared in awe as the variant colors exploded into view; she smiled widely as one of the fireworks exploded into a cartoon character.
"Wow! Did you see that one!" she said as she tugged at Sherlock's sleeve lightly.
Molly turned her head to look at Sherlock, he stared at her with soft eyes, another firework exploded causing his hair skin to beam with colors, Molly smiled at him, this was a side of Sherlock she never thought she'd see, he looked relaxed and completely focused on her.
"Molly..." he said softly.
"Yes, Sherlock?"
The two leaned in closer, her heart was quickly beating through her ears causing all other noises to drown out, even the loud noises of the fireworks. Sherlock's eyes focused on her lips and Molly's eyes did the same, as they got closer her heart beat began to increase and her breath became rapid.
"Carnation for your wife, Signore?" said a voice suddenly.
Both Sherlock and Molly pulled back; Molly cleared her throat and blushed while Sherlock looked up at the flower vendor.
"Uh, No, we're fine, thank you." he stammered.
The vendor grinned at both Molly and Sherlock and took out a red carnation and held it close to Molly.
"But it looks so beautiful next to your wife." he suggested.
Sherlock let out a sigh and shrugged "Yes. Yes, here. Now go."
they exchanged the currency for the carnation and the man left, happy to had made a sell. Sherlock stared awkwardly at her before looking down at the carnation in his hand, without a word he tucked the flower behind her ear and let his hand linger there for longer than necessary.
"We should get you back." he commented.
Molly couldn't find her voice so she just nodded; he took her hand and led her back to the boats.
xXx
Later that night, Molly laid in bed replaying what had happened in her head over and over again. Sherlock almost kissed her, she had almost kissed Sherlock Holmes. And she was sure she would have gone through with it, she was both fortunate and mad at the vendor for intervening, although she had strong feelings for Sherlock she belonged to another, and Molly Hooper was always faithful, but a part of her regretted not kissing him, she wanted so much to feel his lips against hers, she wondered if they were as soft as she had always imagined them to be... Molly shook her head against her pillow, it didn't matter what she thought, but she had to push aside her feelings because despite the feelings she was having she was still engaged to Christopher.
