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The rain poured down on London, washing away the accumulated grime and dirt of a long dry spell and blanketing the city in muffled silence.
Molly listened to the light patter of the raindrops hitting her window, smiling gently to herself as she watched the lights of cars flash by in the darkness of her bedroom. There was no reason for her to be awake at this absurd hour of the morning, but after Toby had pestered her to be let out of the room at 2 AM she found that she could not fall back asleep no matter how hard she tried. So instead she sat in bed listening to the rain, enjoying the peace, and watching the man next to her breathe steadily in and out with a smile on her face.
Martin was dead to the world, sleeping so soundly that Molly was almost certain that it would take a bomb blast to wake him. He had just returned from a grueling flight from China, one beset with delays and bad weather and some mechanical problem aboard GERTI that had the whole crew at each other’s throats with stress and worry. But even though he had been on the verge of sleeping where he stood, he had still driven all the way from Fitton to London to see Molly just because he had promised that he would. Silly man. She had told him that he didn’t need to, told him that he needed sleep after such a long trip and that he could just drive up in the morning. And yet here he was, asleep in her bed with a faint smile on his face even as he slept.
That same smile seemed permanently fixed to both their faces nowadays. She was happier than she had ever been in her entire life, and she suspected that Martin felt the same. She’d had no idea it was even possible to be this happy, but here she was feeling like her joy and contentment would overwhelm her at any given moment. It was like the sadness of her life before was melting away, fading under the warmth of Martin and the happiness he brought her. Because there had certainly been enough sadness before - loneliness and pain and despair had been part and parcel of her life until this man had come along.
There were so many things she was happy to forget, so many memories that she was more than willing to finally let go of and move on from. The endless heartbreaks, being told again and again that she wasn’t worth it, wasn’t good enough, wasn’t right. Yearning for some kind of companionship, love, anything to let her know that she was not alone in this world. Pining after a man who never even noticed her, a man that barely even registered her existence as she helplessly threw herself after him time and time again. A small stab of pain returned, faint this time, as she remembered that horrible day in the lab just over a year ago. The day she had walked in to check on how Sherlock was doing, only to see John lean over and give him a quick but gentle kiss. Thankfully they had been too wrapped up in each other to notice her standing there, because in that moment she had shattered. She fell to pieces, dashing out of the room with a sob as she felt her heart breaking for all the things she had wanted so desperately, but would never have.
But Martin had fixed that. With his shy smiles, his nervous stutters, his gentle awe of her, he had mended her shattered heart and made it stronger than ever before. He looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the entire world, like he could not possibly believe his luck in finding a woman like her. It made Molly feel strong, and powerful, and happy beyond all measure. She of course felt the same way - she had no idea why a man as kind and smart and fantastic as Martin would ever feel anything for her, but she did not want to question it. Instead she smiled with all of the joy that spilled out of her every time she saw him, and the smile she earned in return was brilliant enough to wash away any doubts.
So let those other memories fade. Let them disappear with time, and distance, and happiness. She was making new memories now, memories to be treasured instead of held at arm’s length. Memories like the one from earlier this evening, the newest addition to her small but growing collection of fierce joys that made her giddy with the slightest recollection. Martin had stumbled into her flat nearly half-dead with exhaustion, eyes sunken from lack of sleep and limbs tripping over themselves even more than usual. Molly had taken one look at him and immediately scrapped any plans she’d had for the night, instead bundling him off to bed despite his feeble protests of wanting to spend time with her. When she had finally gotten him out of his uniform and into bed and crawled in beside him, he had immediately wrapped his arms around her with delicate tenderness as if she were a precious object that needed to be kept close and safe. As he lost consciousness he brushed a gentle kiss on her forehead and murmured a soft “I love you”.
He never heard it, but after he had fallen asleep and Molly had regained her composure she whispered back “I love you too”. That was alright. There would be plenty of other times that he would remember.
The rain came down on London, washing away memories that were ready to be forgotten.