Work Text:
The day that was to change my life irrevocably began much like any other. I entered the sitting room of our flat in Baker Street to find my friend, Sherlock Holmes, seated at the table, evidently in a pensive mood. I poured him a cup of tea and placed it in front of him.
“Holmes?”
“Hm?”
“Tea.”
“Thank you, darling,” he mumbled.
I felt heat rush instantly to my face and turned away. All the feelings I had been pushing down for so long came to the surface of my mind. I moved to the settee and sat down, facing him again.
“Did I mishear you just now, Holmes?” I asked, surprising myself with how composed I sounded.
“I suppose you might have done,” he replied, raising his eyes to my face.
It took all my self-control to maintain a light tone as I continued. “I imagined that you called me darling.”
“Why should I do that, Watson?”
“I can think of only one reason,” I replied. “However, as you yourself have declared it to be impossible, I dare not hope.”
Some undefinable emotion flickered across his face before he responded. “Yes. The emotionless Sherlock Holmes. What if I no longer choose to play that role?”
Flickers of hope began to rise within me. “Whatever do you mean, dear fellow?”
He smiled. “John, if you did not know better, what would you hope to be the reason for me calling you darling?”
I swallowed thickly. “That you love me as I do you.”
Within seconds he joined me on the settee and swept me into his arms. He kissed me slowly and gently, more beautifully than I had ever imagined. When he pulled back, he brought a hand up to my face, lightly caressing my cheek.
“My darling,” he murmured. “You were exactly right.”
I smiled before closing the gap between us once again.