"Important day, Watson?" Holmes asked, facing his deal-top table.
Clinking of glass and swirl of a poured chemical filled the brief silence.
"You noticed that I marked my calendar."
"Yes. And I confess I am curious."
I looked out the window. "Reichenbach was four years ago."
"Oh? so it was," he replied evenly, stirring his concoction. "And that would make it one year since my return." He paused, then resumed stirring. "Sometimes I just can't understand how it would have mattered if I hadn't come back."
"What!"
"Honestly, you'd have built up a secure practice, most likely gotten married again...I'm just a small piece of your life, and would have been replaced."
I checked the flash of hurt that arouse from his casual mention of my first marriage, knowing he meant no harm. Instead, I focused on the last sentence, which in a way hurt more. "Holmes, you listen to this. You are more than a person to split rent with. When I thought you were...dead...I didn't sit down on a rock by the fall and brainstorm where I'd live next."
He added some powder to a test tube.
"I don't want you to ever think your death would have been forgotten," I concluded firmly.
Holmes did not look away from his beakers.
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A/N: I tried to inject a bit of coolness into this one; I'd like to avoid too much fluff. I was also more daring than I usually am, with referring to important dates. I actually almost wrote that it was one year since Reichenbach. Um...no. DX