Give His Heart a Break.
Authors Note: Did you guys really think I'd leave you on an ending like that? It was blunt. I am so glad that you all enjoyed it even if it made you feel a little bit heartbroken. No one really understood what I did. A few people edged towards what I did but no one got it. You were all seeing but no one was really observing. ;) So, anyways… here is the one thing you hadn't been waiting for. ;) I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: For the final time now, I do not own Sherlock!
Epilogue.
It had been six months since that day.
Six months since he had watched those doors open at the end of aisle.
She had been beautiful.
His heart had nearly stopped.
He felt like the happiest man in the world.
That was before he saw her face.
She looked absolutely distraught.
It didn't take him long to figure out why.
His eyes had slipped to his best man beside her.
For once, he wasn't even trying to hide his emotions.
He was flabbergasted.
Sherlock Holmes looked… sad.
John Watson had rarely seen his friend show emotions.
Even when he did, they were ones of excitement and they over a case... not this.
He frowned.
They were shuffling towards him now.
Each looking sombre.
Each looking as if they were at a funeral.
He laughed, bitterly, to himself at the sight of them.
They almost looked… made for one another.
As they drew closer he noticed Sherlock's lips looked slightly… pink.
Pink?
John's eyes strolled over to Molly's and he gasped aloud.
The colour was the same as on Sherlock's lips.
He could tell his friend had tried to wipe it.
It was on one of his hands.
He almost laughed aloud again.
Sherlock really had no experience in this division; he couldn't even get her lipstick off properly.
Why hadn't she told him there was lipstick on his lips?
Had she wanted him to see it?
His eyebrows raised and his eyes fell to her.
She really did look beautiful.
He felt queasy.
It then sunk in to his head.
He wasn't mad.
He wasn't even fuming that they had kissed.
He was thinking about why she hadn't told him what was on his lips.
He gasped, aloud.
No one seemed to notice.
Their eyes were all on Molly.
Here in front of him was his future wife and she had clearly just been lip locking with his best friend… yet he didn't care.
What did that mean?
Did he not love her?
He suddenly felt unsure of the answer.
How could he marry her when he felt unsure of the answer?
He looked at her lovely face once more.
She wasn't even looking at him.
He could see her eyes were on him.
The sight in front of him broke his heart.
They looked devastated.
Molly looked as if she had just realised what she was doing.
Sherlock looked as if he had just realised what he was losing.
But neither seemed like they were going to stop it.
He opened his mouth to speak; this entire thing was an absolute… sham!
He stepped forward and held up his hand.
Sherlock and Molly stopped in their walk.
Each of them had a frown upon their face.
Although Sherlock seemed aware of what John was about to do.
"I-I can't do this." He spoke gently.
The audience all turned to look at him instantly.
Had he really said what they thought they had heard?
"W-why?" Molly stumbled over the words.
"You know why, Molly!" He exclaimed.
She flinched.
"I do-don't, J-John."
He smiled at her softly and stepped towards the pair.
Who would have thought they would make such a perfect couple?
"What were you thinking about before those doors opened?"
Molly looked down, blushing.
"You." She murmured.
"How excited I was to see you."
John rolled his eyes.
She was such a poor liar.
"The truth, Molly; I'm not mad."
Her eyes flickered up to his and she bit down on her lip, smearing some of her lipstick across her front teeth.
"Sherlock."
The man in question looked towards her with shocked eyes.
That caused John to laugh.
Had he really not noticed?
"What were you thinking about Sherlock?"
Molly looked away from the man whose gaze was sending shivers through her spine.
"What it would be like if I was marrying him today…" She began to trail off in a whisper when she hit the word 'marrying.'
From the few nearest to them he heard shocked gasps.
She looked towards John, out of the corner of her eye; he was smiling.
"What did it feel like?"
He knew.
He just needed her to admit it aloud.
It would hurt his heart to hear it.
But it wouldn't break.
He wasn't in love with her.
He realised that now.
They were in love with one another.
They needed admit it aloud to one another.
"It was the best feeling I've ever had… indescribable."
"So why are you walking down this aisle to me then?"
Her eyes widened.
He heard her breathing hitch.
A smirk slowly glided its ways on to his lips.
He turned his attention from them and to their family and friends.
"There will be no wedding today… unless you two are up for it?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
His eyes turned on to Sherlock's.
Sherlock narrowed his eyes on him.
She was no longer holding Sherlock's arm; their hands were entwined together in a gentle lock.
"No thank-you, John."
Before Molly could even speak, Sherlock was dragging her with him out of the church.
That had been the last time he had seen his best friend and his once-to-be wife for two weeks.
John had come home from working at the clinic one day to find Molly and Sherlock sitting comfortably on the couch.
Sherlock's head was in her lap; his eyes were closed.
Molly was reading a book; she appeared engrossed with the words it held.
He noticed that her fingers, that weren't holding the book, were tangled in to Sherlock's mass of curls, stroking him softly.
They were oblivious to his presence in the room.
He let his keys clatter to the kitchen table.
Molly looked up.
Sherlock stayed in his position; his eyes didn't flutter or open.
He was obviously locked away in his mind palace.
"Hello, John."
Molly was smiling.
He found it odd really.
He hadn't seen her since the day of their wedding and yet here she was pretending like none of it had happened.
"Hello, Molly."
He'd expected it from Sherlock.
Sherlock was above caring to an extent.
John had called the wedding off after all.
He'd called it off because of them.
"I hope you're OK with me being here. If you aren't just say so; I'll leave."
She looked down at Sherlock.
John thought she looked as if she were blushing.
She probably was.
This was Molly after all.
"No you won't."
Molly seemed to jump at the voice from the man whose head was resting in her lap.
"I won't?"
"You won't."
He sounded slightly irritated by the conversation taking place, John noticed.
"Why won't I? If John's uncomfortable..."
John had moved out of the kitchen now and could see Sherlock's eyes blink open.
"You won't because John called off the wedding; he wanted us to… be… together. There's the first reason. The second reason being that this is my flat, too, and if I want company here he'll have to deal with it; God knows the amount of times I've had to put up with his incipient girlfriends."
Molly gasped and smacked Sherlock's arm lightly, teasingly.
"I was one of them incipient girlfriends you are referring to."
Sherlock looked up at Molly with a look in his eyes that John couldn't decipher.
Whatever it was had Molly smiling back at him in a love struck manner.
"You were different."
"Why? Because I can give you access to dead bodies?"
Sherlock laughed.
John felt shocked.
He'd known this man for quite some time now and yet he'd barely seen him laugh.
Molly really was different.
"That and the fact you whip up a decent cup of coffee."
She giggled and rolled her eyes.
He closed his own again.
She went back to her book.
John didn't know what to make of the scene he was seeing.
It was so… natural and yet… unnatural.
He decided to ignore it and get on with his day.
"I'm making tea. Would anyone like one?"
"No, thank-you." Molly murmured.
She was becoming lost in her book again.
John got no reply from Sherlock, he hadn't really expected one.
That was how it had been for the past six months since the almost marriage.
John, strangely, found himself used to their weird routine.
Whenever Sherlock was on a case and he needed to think, he always demanded Molly be there.
He didn't want to talk.
He just wanted to lie down in her lap, eyes shut.
This had caused himself and Molly many arguments.
John found it rather amusing each time he heard them on the phone.
Molly finally stood up to him.
She told him she was at work and couldn't just leave because he wanted her to.
He'd complain and tell her this was more important.
Molly would growl at him and tell him that just because he didn't deem her work important, all the time, didn't mean he was right.
She'd then hang up the phone.
Sherlock would be angry for half an hour.
He'd try lying down on the couch alone, thinking; he never seemed to be able to enter in to his mind palace though.
Eventually, he'd leave Baker Street and hop in to a cab to St. Bart's.
He'd sit in the morgue while Molly worked; he found he could enter his mind palace with Molly simply in the room.
Four months after the wedding day, John had witnessed a moment he never thought he would see between Sherlock and Molly.
Heck, he hadn't believed he would see it between Sherlock and anyone.
Molly was staying over, like she often did on a Friday night.
Even when they were on a case Molly slept here.
John had gone to bed about two and a half hours ago.
He'd woken up with a thirst and so he'd stumbled from his bed to the door.
He'd paused though.
There in the kitchen was Molly and Sherlock.
Molly was sat on top of the table; her hair was slightly ruffled.
Sherlock was standing in between her legs; his lips were slightly swollen.
Sherlock's hands were on Molly's hips and they were staring one another in the eyes.
"I really don't understand why you won't, Molly. It's the logical option."
Molly rolled her eyes.
John knew why.
Even after everything that had happened, Sherlock still remained faithful to logic.
"It's too soon, Sherlock." She sighed.
Sherlock's fingers began to circle patterns over her hips and he pulled her closer to him.
"Who says it's too soon? Society? Really Molly? I know you're a fan of those awfully dull novels by that writer… I forgot her name again…"
"Jane Austen," the girl supplied.
"Yes! Jane Austen! But we are not living in that era, Molly. No one is going to care. Why are you so bothered about people caring?"
"That's not the reason, Sherlock! I'm not a prude! It's only been four months since I was supposed to marry your best friend and now you're asking me to move in with you and the said best friend!"
John could see Sherlock's eyes roll in irritation.
"John will be fine with it! He no longer has feelings for you. He'll understand that it's the most logical option. You're here more nights than less and we are living in London. Rental prices aren't easy to afford. Why should you pay for something you hardly use?"
"Because!" She gasped, clearly exasperated.
He waited.
She never finished.
"That's not an answer, Molly."
She shoved him away from her and hopped down from the table.
"Well, it's the only answer you're going to get."
She stormed towards the living room where her shoes lay and began to slip them on.
The conversation must have been going on for quite some time now, she seemed thoroughly pissed off John noticed.
Sherlock followed her.
There was a frown settled upon Sherlock's face.
"You aren't really going to go home at this hour, Molly."
"Watch me."
John thought he heard a slight grow come from Sherlock.
"I'm not letting you leave this flat."
Molly stood up and glared at him.
She spoke nothing as she went and grabbed her coat.
He got between her and the door before she could even face towards it.
"I don't see what all the fuss is about."
"Of course you wouldn't!" She exclaimed.
"Enlighten me." He glowered at her, his tone dark.
Molly looked to him and glowered right back.
She certainly was no longer timid Molly around him.
"Have you ever thought that perhaps I might want to keep my place? That perhaps I might just like it?"
He stared at her for a few moments.
"Well do you?"
"No."
"Take your coat off, Molly."
They stood still for a few moments.
John wasn't sure what was happening.
But within the next couple of minutes, Molly's coat had been discarded to the floor and she was in his arms.
She had moved in the next week.
At first, it had been hard to adjust to the constant presence of a female in the flat.
Even though she had been there most days before she had moved in, it was just different now.
He found her belongings in the bathroom.
He saw her clothes in the washing machine.
He found romantic DVDs by the television.
He saw her magazine lying across the coffee table.
Eventually, he had gotten used to it.
You could even say he enjoyed her presence in the flat.
The place felt a lot warmer with her feminine touch.
Somehow, she had even got Sherlock to cut back on the amount of body parts stashed in their fridge.
She had made a rule of no more than two at once and severed heads were strictly not allowed.
Molly had changed a lot of things, really.
She had managed to get Sherlock to start eating regular, even when on a case.
She had managed to get him to start cleaning up after himself… well, most of the time.
She had managed to get him to start using his manners.
Yes, he did actually have them!
He'd shocked everyone the day he'd used them on Anderson.
It had especially shocked Anderson.
John was beginning to believe that Molly was the most unusual thing to happen to Sherlock.
But at the same time she was the best thing that could have happened to him.
That was all confirmed the morning he had awoken early.
He was going to meet a woman called Mary for coffee.
They had met at the clinic a couple days ago.
While getting ready to leave, he couldn't find his belt and remembered that Sherlock had been using it to test some ridiculous theory out the other day.
It was in his room.
He sighed.
He'd have to go in there.
It was the only belt he had that went with this outfit.
He wanted to make a good impression.
He had a feeling Mary and himself would hit it off.
Silently, he moved towards the slightly open door and pushed it further.
He cringed at the slight creek, praying he hadn't woken them up.
He let his head tilt so he could see in the room.
He stilled as he took in the scene before him.
It was a scene he honestly never thought he would have seen.
They were still asleep.
They were still asleep on the bed that was once just Sherlock's but now belonged to Molly, too.
Molly's head was leaning on one of Sherlock's arms and his other was wrapped around her waist in a protective manner. He was lying on one side of his body, angled towards her and his head was lent in to the crook of her neck.
John could hear Sherlock softly sigh as he slept.
He'd never seen his friend so calm.
He'd never seen him so at peace.
It was then that John realised just how special Molly Hooper is.
That petite, timid mouse that lay before him had done two things that no one else had managed.
She had given his heart a break from the ache of grieving for Sherlock.
And she had given Sherlock's heart a break by showing him that it was OK to let feelings rule over logic.
He smiled and shut the door on the sleeping pair, belt forgotten about as he made his way out of 221B.
Yes.
Molly Hooper was quite special, indeed.
Authors Note: And that, my dears is the true end to this story. I cannot believe I fooled you all!
Now, the ones who kind of clocked on to what had happened were: ThisLooksLikeAJobForMe, ber1719, and MarvelDC superhero fan. You all had some inkling that was right but you all saw it wrong. Well done though! ;D
I decided that seen as no one really got the hints in the previous chapter I would write them out for you and so below are the answers:
-The italics
-At the beginning I wrote the words: "Perhaps he was wondering how it would have turned out between them if this had happened" which was me stating that in the past the option of marriage had been in their future. That obviously could have only been with John.
-"She knew she didn't deserve him."
-"She really wished he would smile more often."
-"She closed her eyes and relished in the feel of the future she could have had." (remember that even though he had confessed the feelings he had for her, she didn't know that they could have anything together and so this could only mean that it was John as their future was already planned out)
-"She felt him squeezing her hand in the lightest way; to anyone who was looking it would have gone unnoticed." "She squeezed his hand tightly; to anyone who was looking, they would have noticed." (Throughout this story I have used this as a Molly and Sherlock thing.)
-"He probably would have stood next to her with a smug smile on his lips. Of course she'd feed his ego on the day of their wedding." (Can you really picture John like this? It's more likely going to be Sherlock's reaction)
-"Her own fell to look at her hand that he was holding and slowly sliding her ring on to. Was he doing it to be teasing?" (John wouldn't do that! He'd be so serious! Sherlock wouldn't pass up the opportunity to make somebody squirm!)
-The fact she opens her eyes at the end… it links to the previous chapter. It was a clue that the story wasn't truly over… there wasn't a summary.
-I left the status of this story as 'incomplete.' ;)
There it is, darlings! There are all my clues in the previous chapter that stated it wasn't over. Since the beginning of the story I've been lying to you. At first I said there was going to be only fifteen chapters when I knew there would be sixteen and then of course, that changed to nineteen but I knew there would be twenty. I just wanted to bug you all. I hope you enjoyed my little twist!
Now, on to the part I've been excited for. I just can't believe how well this story has done. You are all the most fabulous people in the world! So, thank-you so much for reading and reviewing!
The current stats of my story are as follows:
-Reviews: 235
-Hits: 23,987
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When I began writing this, I honestly never expected all of that and so I thank-you all so much!
I have two readers I want to give a huge shout out to as they are the ones that really egged me on in writing this. So, kewellchick and Nocturnias thank-you! I love you two and you are amazing! I really could not have done this without the support of my lovely self-designated number one reader! You are a gem, my Australian friend.
Finally, thank-you for everything and keep an eye out for a new story! I have an idea I'm working on but for a few days, I am going to take a break.
Let me know what you all thought of the story!
Also, I'm sorry for such a long authors note: I really needed to thank you all!
Petal.