The following day, Molly spent a dreary day at work, trying to concentrate on the tasks at hand rather than the fact that her heart was aching. Several times she wondered whether she had made a mistake in breaking off her engagement to Tom. She could have had a stable family life with him, children even. But each time her thoughts went in that direction, she had to tell herself she had done the right thing, for Tom's sake as well as her own. Nobody should have to be a second choice.

Now the years stretched ahead of her, promising nothing but loneliness. Perhaps it was time to buy another cat to keep her company, she thought, as she arrived home after work.

It was with some surprise that she received a text from John out of the blue the next morning. She hadn't heard from him since Sherlock's "funeral" two years earlier. He had been grieving the loss of his friend, and she had not wanted to spend time with him, in case she would have been tempted to disclose the truth about Sherlock still being alive.

His text explained that he knew she had helped Sherlock fake his death and understood now why they had not stayed in touch. He had no hard feelings about it. He also mentioned that he and Sherlock were now friends again and that they had just completed a case where Sherlock had prevented a terrorist plot to blow up the Palace of Westminster. Parliament had been in session the previous evening to vote on a new anti-terrorism Bill. It was a lengthy text, and Molly's mouth opened in astonishment when she read the last section of it.

Anyway, I was thinking it might be nice to have a little celebration at Baker Street this afternoon at three o'clock. Sherlock mentioned you were with him a couple days ago visiting a fellow about a man who disappeared from a train carriage. Anyway, that case ended up being what led to him figuring things out about the impending underground terrorist attack. It will be a double celebration because I have just become engaged. Sherlock told me you have just suffered a broken engagement, and I am sorry for that. Perhaps spending some time with friends will ease your heartache. Hope you can make it.

Molly stared at her phone for a few seconds after she had finished reading. John's words had been rather strange - "suffered a broken engagement; ease your heartache" - it appeared as though Sherlock had told him she was the one who had been rejected. She supposed she'd have to set Sherlock straight on that, and it would actually be nice to see John again after so long. She thought quickly and sent off a response.

Congratulations on your engagement. It will be lovely to see you again and meet your fiancée. I'll see you this afternoon.

His response came back soon afterwards.

So glad you can come. Mrs. Hudson will be there too, so I'll let her know she should leave the front door open and you can just come on up.

Molly spent the next few hours in nervous anticipation. She changed her clothes twice, trying to decide on an ensemble that was not too casual, yet not too formal either. Finally, she looked in the mirror at her appearance. The pink dress looked rather nice, she thought, and she had left her hair down as well. It was always a pleasant change to do that when she didn't have to work.

She headed over to Baker Street, but the taxi had to drop her a little way away from the flat because there were reporters all along the block, apparently waiting for an interview, so she arrived a few minutes past three o'clock.

The door was open as promised, and Molly climbed the stairs to 221B. She opened the door and found Greg Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson, John, and a woman she did not know who must be his fiancée, Mary. Sherlock was standing at the window, looking out.

"Hello everyone," she said, smiling at the small assembly. It was good to see them again after so long.

She was a little disappointed that Sherlock barely spared her a glance as he said, "Ready?" to John after he turned around, and they walked downstairs, presumably to deal with the reporters.

Molly accepted a glass of champagne from Greg Lestrade and took a seat on the sofa. She joined in the conversation Mrs. Hudson and Mary were having about wedding plans. If things had been different, she would have been talking about her own wedding, she reflected. Mary seemed very nice, and Molly was glad that John had found someone with whom to share his life. She wondered how Sherlock felt about that, if he'd be lonely now that he no longer had a flatmate. Then she thought even if that were the case, Sherlock would never say so aloud. He was not one to discuss his emotions. The closest she had come to knowing how he felt was the night in the lab when he had requested her help, where he had said he was not okay. Or perhaps it was when he had told her she mattered the most to him; that had been a rather out-of-character admission.

When Sherlock and John returned upstairs a few minutes later, Molly looked up. Her gaze locked with Sherlock's for a moment, but then he looked away and seated himself in his chair, as far away from her as possible. He obviously did not wish to speak with her and she had to blink away the sudden tears that blurred her vision. Instead, she concentrated on enthusiastically discussing how spring was the perfect time of year for a wedding.

Eventually John insisted that Sherlock recount the details of what had happened the previous evening. It amazed Molly how Sherlock had not only deduced things and solved the case of the disappearing man, but had also saved the lives of hundreds of people.

John and Mary were the first ones to stand up to leave. John explained they had dinner reservations. That seemed to be the cue for everyone, as Mrs. Hudson and Greg stood as well.

"Can I get a taxi for you, Molly?" asked Greg from the doorway. Molly bit her lip. She felt very uncomfortable with the way things were between Sherlock and herself, and she wanted to at least make sure he knew she had broken off her engagement with Tom rather than the other way around.

"Thanks for the offer, but you go ahead, Greg. There's something I wanted to speak to Sherlock about first."

He gave her a curious look, but nodded. He left, following the recently departed John, Mary and Mrs. Hudson.

Now, Molly was alone in the flat with Sherlock, who had once again been standing at the window.

As the door closed behind Greg, Sherlock turned. "Why are you still here, Molly?" he asked, and his voice was cold, remote, even as his expression was one of aloofness.

Molly blushed and twisted her fingers together nervously, but decided to go on the offensive with him. "Why do you think Tom broke off our engagement, instead of me?"

He looked a little surprised at that. "When I arrived at your flat, I saw you had been crying. I perceived that your fiancé was not happy about you spending the day with another man, and thus ended your engagement." His brows drew together slightly. "Was I in error?"

Molly took a step towards him. "Yes, Sherlock, you were. I'm the one who ended things with Tom. The reason I was crying was because I knew I was hurting him, not because he was hurting me."

Sherlock blinked, as if he were trying to process this new information. "You… ended it?"

Molly let out a slow breath. "Yes, Sherlock. That's what I just said, didn't I? I just didn't want you to labour under the misapprehension that it was he who broke it off."

"Such a formal way of speaking, Molly," he noted, and his eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. "You sound positively Victorian."

Molly flushed. "I read a lot of romance novels from that era," she mumbled, blushing. Then she frowned a little. "You speak that way all the time yourself, did you know that?"

Sherlock's brow furrowed. "I do? I suppose I never really considered that. I guess I do prefer the more formal type of speech myself, it's more elegant than the colloquial nonsense that seems to proliferate the English language so much these days. Snogging, shagging, such crude terms. All these modern words have turned our language into an imitation of the way it used to be."

"I...like the way you talk, Sherlock," she ventured shyly, wondering if he would make a comment on her earlier words about ending things with Tom. She waited a few moments. Apparently not; his eyes seemed slightly unfocussed, and she supposed he was thinking about his next case or something like it.

Finally she had to end the silence between them. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know what happened between Tom and me. I guess I'll see you later." She turned away, feeling tears form in her eyes again as she walked towards the door.

His quiet voice arrested her progress. "Wait, Molly. Don't go."

She blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the threatening tears, then turned back towards him. "Why?"

This time it was his turn to step towards her. "This changes things, Molly."

Suddenly he was right there in front of her taking her hand and she looked up at him. There was an expression on his face she hadn't seen before, a look in his eyes that suddenly sparked hope within her.

"Tell me what caused you to end your engagement, Molly." His turquoise eyes bored into hers with an enthralling intensity that matched the sound of his voice.

And Molly couldn't keep it in anymore. It was as if a dam had burst within her and she had to tell him the truth. "Well, you can't marry someone when you're in love with someone else, can you?"

Her gaze dropped, and his one hand tightened on hers while his other reached to lift her chin upwards. His expression was infinitely tender. "Are you in love with me, Molly?"

"Yes," she whispered. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest as his hands dropped to pull her close and his lips descended on hers. She closed her eyes and drank in the wonder of it. His lips were uncertain at first, as if it was something he was not familiar with, but as she responded and reached her arms up to curl them around his neck, he seemed to gain confidence, kissing her with more intensity.

Their kiss seemed endless, and she luxuriated in it. Here she felt the passion which had been lacking with Tom, the intoxication of an all-consuming love she felt for this man.

After what could have been minutes or hours, Sherlock raised his head. He lifted a hand to stroke her cheek gently, wiping away tears of happiness she did not know she had even shed.

"My Molly, my love," he said, and there was a caressing note in his voice to which she responded.

"You love me too?" She couldn't help asking, feeling the need for reassurance.

He let out a short huff of laughter and took her hand, leading her to his chair. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap. "Let me explain when I realised I was in love with you." She rested her head against his shoulder, feeling him stroke her hair, and waited expectantly.

She felt the vibration of his voice through his chest as he spoke. "Following our afternoon together, I perceived that I had developed strong feelings of attraction for you. There seemed to be some sort of connection between us that I hadn't noticed before."

"I felt it too." She reached a hand to link her fingers with his.

She felt him kiss her hair before continuing. "Anyway, after I dragged John out of that bonfire, I couldn't stop thinking about you, and the way I would have felt if it had been you in that bonfire. I thought about how much you've done for me over the years, how I've trusted you, how I couldn't imagine my life without you. And that's when I realised what I felt was more than mere attraction, it was love." His voice held a wondering note in it, as if he couldn't quite believe it himself. "So, I went to your flat to see if you reciprocated my affections."

He paused and his hand tightened on hers almost painfully until she squeaked and he relaxed his grasp again. "Sorry, love. Anyway, when I got there and saw you had been crying and found out that you had just broken off your engagement with that rather pale imitation of me," here she made a sound of amusement, "I thought I must've been mistaken in thinking perhaps you had feelings for me as well."

Molly raised her head to look up at him. "Is that why you told me your reason for coming no longer existed? Because you thought I didn't care for you after all?"

He nodded. "Yes. I just wanted to go home and lick my wounds and forget about you." His lips quirked. "Unfortunately, my plans were derailed when John decided on this little party and insisted you be invited."

Molly sighed happily. "Guess we'll have to thank him for that."

"Indeed." He dipped his head to give her another lingering kiss that excited her, this time moving his mouth afterwards to kiss the hollowed indentation beneath her ear. "Now tell me-" his voice was husky, and he placed his lips close to her ear, "-when you decided to break things off with that other man."

Molly turned slightly so she could place her hands around Sherlock's neck and toy with his curls in a way she had always wanted to do as she spoke. "It was when you were talking to that poor woman whose stepfather was posing as her online boyfriend. You were so kind to her, and when you looked over at me and talked about how she thought he was the love of her life, that was when I knew once and for all that you were the love of my life. I knew then I couldn't marry Tom, even if you never felt the same way about me. He deserved someone who could love him with her whole heart, and mine already belonged to you. Then, while you were busy collecting that hat to return to the train guy, I took off my engagement ring and put it in my pocket."

"Ah, that explains the lack of a ring. I thought perhaps my powers of observation were slipping." Then he grimaced. "Although that was still apparently the case, if you were wearing the ring until that point. You were wearing your gloves when you arrived at my flat, but not during the client consultations."

"I guess it was quite a shock for you to find out I had been engaged when you came to my place." Molly bit her lip.

Sherlock traced a gentle finger over it. "It was rather an unpleasant one, I'll admit."

Molly's stomach chose that moment to gurgle loudly and Sherlock grinned at her when she blushed. "How about we go out and get that dinner now that you wanted the other day?" he suggested, and her breath caught at his next words. "We have a lifetime together to plan."

Reluctantly, Molly got off his lap and stood, reaching her hands out to help him up as well. "So," she said, looking up at him, "what do you think John will say when we tell him we're together?"

He gave her a lopsided grin and her heart leapt at what he said next. "Oh, I think he will be extremely surprised, but even more so when I beat him to the altar."

Molly put her hands on her hips and gave him a mock frown. "Well, if that's your way of proposing to me, Sherlock Holmes, I think you'll have to do a lot better."

"Don't worry," he said, and his tone was serious, "when the time is right I'll do it properly. I'm just making my intentions clear for now so you don't get any ideas about leaving me for anyone else." She thrilled at the promise in his words.

Molly reached out to pull his head down towards her. "Never gonna happen, Sherlock. I'm yours, always, always."

Their lips met once more in a sizzling kiss filled with anticipation of future happiness. Finally, she was with the right man, and she knew it.

Holding hands, they left the flat to have dinner and make plans for their future together.

Author's note: So, now you can see what Sherlock had been planning when he went to visit. Did you see the other little piece of canon I inserted from The Sound of Music? Show me how clever you are and point it out Hint: it is one of Molly's lines.

It always does my heart good to think of Sherlock and Molly getting together at this point. If that had happened, I feel none of the traumatic events with Magnussen would have happened as Molly would have been by Sherlock's side to figure out how to deal with it. Perhaps Mary's dark past would have remained hidden and she could have been happy with John. So many possibilities!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little story and are willing to share your thoughts about it with me. If you also read From Revelations to Celebrations, which story did you prefer? Do you enjoy reading Sherlock's POV or Molly's more?

Until next time!

GoodShipSherlollipop