A/N: This is dedicated to my good friend, Goodshipsherlollipop, who has been missing my fics. Enjoy, my dear!❤️
The sound of a familiar crooning voice met Sherlock's ears when he opened the door to Molly's flat. It was definitely a Christmas song and once he walked further into his girlfriend's flat, he smirked knowingly. She was listening to Nat King Cole again.
Molly loved to listen to Christmas music all throughout the year. It was one of her idiosyncrasies. Sherlock had gotten used to this particular one rather quickly and in his honest opinion, he thought it was quite charming. Then again, he was a little biased when it came to Molly Hooper.
His smile grew even wider when he saw his pathologist in the kitchen, dancing with a ruler in her hand. Molly was clearly in her element and having a good time from the way she moved.
It was very cute and for a moment, Sherlock just gazed his girlfriend, forgetting about the fish and chips in his hands. Eventually, Molly saw him and she squealed, jumping a few feet in the air. The ruler fell to the ground with a clatter.
"Sherlock!" She touched her heart and began to breathe slowly and evenly. Once her heart stopped pounding, she paused the boombox that sat on her kitchen counter. "What are you doing here?"
"We're supposed to have lunch together, remember? My treat?" He held up the bags and a look of recognition appeared on Molly's face.
"Oh, right! Sorry. I guess it slipped my mind."
He placed the food on the coffee table and walked around the couch to stand in front of her. "I'm sure it did since you were having the time of your life dancing to Nat King Cole." There was no admonition in his voice of course, but light teasing.
Two red spots showed up on Molly's cheeks. "I can't help it. This is one of my favorites."
"I know. You've played it often enough." Sherlock winked and picked up the ruler she dropped. "Although, I wonder how good of a dancing partner a ruler can be."
"Well, there was no one else for me to dance with, so I had to improvise."
"Mm. Understandable, but since I'm here, perhaps I could dance with you instead?"
Her eyes grew wide. "Are you serious?"
"My dear Molly. I never joke about dancing." Sherlock removed his scarf and bel staff, draping them on Molly's couch, then he pressed the play button on the boombox and took his pathologist into his arms.
Molly felt her heartbeat in her ears, stomach and feet as she swayed with Sherlock, their bodies moving in sync as they danced out of the kitchen and into the living room. She let her head lie on the detective's chest and sighed contentedly.
There weren't many people who knew of Sherlock's dancing prowess, but Molly had always been privy to it. She never saw him dance before, except at John and Mary's wedding years ago and that had been the one and only instance...until now. She loved being in his arms like this. It made her wish that she'd had the courage to ask him for a dance a long time ago, but the past didn't matter anymore. The good thing is they were here, now.
Sherlock seemed to relax as they danced, his cheek was against her forehead and his hands covered hers. Molly reveled in his gentleness and it truly thrilled her to see this side of him.
"I hope you plan on dancing with me many times in our future, Mr. Holmes," she said, sliding her hands around his neck.
"I do, darling. Forever and always."