𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦 | 𝘖𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 2 ✔︎

Chapter XIX - I Heard You Were Back

The next few days at 221B felt empty without Clara there. Sherlock felt accustomed to her presence in the flat and missed her dearly. Not to mention, John had been spending most of his time with Mary, his new fiancee.

Sherlock was a mess. He rarely left the flat, and had begun his bad habits again. Smoking, nicotine patches, cocaine, morphine, whatnot. He only left the flat once a day, and that was to run to the Diner, to see if it was back. The last few days, it hadn't been.

Mrs Hudson was worried about him. She brought him tea every once in a while. But he just sat there, unmoving in his chair, his coat wrapped tightly around him and the stench of cigarette smoke in the air. Sometimes she tried to strike up a conversation, but Sherlock only answered with one word.

"How are John and Mary doing?"

"Fine."

"Have you heard from them?"

"No."

"Didn't they come over a few days ago?"

"Yep."

"For Christ's sake, Sherlock! Would it kill you to elaborate?"

"No."

But one lonely September morning, everything changed.

The flat seemed just as empty as it had been, until Sherlock walked up the stairs. The stairs were as creaky as usual, and it was just as silent, too.

Everything was the same. Except the sight he saw when he walked in the door.

There sat Clara, just waiting in John's chair. She looked the same as before. At first Sherlock couldn't believe his eyes.

"I see you've kept things cleaned up." Clara remarked. Sherlock stood in the doorway in awe, coat still on.

Hearing no response from Sherlock, she stood up and said, "But what is that smell?" glancing over at the mantelpiece and the fireplace, which were littered with cigarettes, she sighs. "Cigarettes, Sherlock, really? Again?"

Again? Sherlock wonders, what does she mean, again? I never smoked around her. He made a note to ask her later. "Why are you here?" he asked. Where have you been?

Clara walked towards him. "I heard you were back," she responds. "Thought I'd come and visit." she pauses. "Didn't you miss me?"

Did I miss her? Did I miss her? Of course I did! And what does she mean, 'visit?' "What do you mean, 'visit?'" Sherlock asks.

Clara shrugs. "I don't know, I just assumed that there was the fact you wouldn't want to see me."

It was like an impulse--something he'd been wanting to do for years. In seconds he calculated that she was close enough for him to reach out and...

In the most gentle way, his hand found her jawline as his lips found her mouth. Sherlock's heart thumped louder than he remembered and years seemed to pass before Clara kissed him back. Her arms reached up and around his neck and Sherlock felt her stand on her tippy toes.

The pair wanted the kiss to last forever, but Clara pulled away first.

"Yes," Sherlock said in his baritone voice. God, how Clara had missed that sound. "Of course I missed you. And... please stay,"

Clara leaned back and smiled the smile Sherlock had only dreamed of , arms still draped around his neck. "I have so much to tell you,"

That afternoon, Clara told him everything that had happened. How she had finally found the Doctor the night Sherlock left, and about their journeys through the stars. She told him that during that time, Ash had taken the Diner on holiday, and that now Clara was living with her Network.

But most important of all, Clara told all of the memories they both had lost, and how she had managed to find them again on their travels with the Doctor. She told about how she had been framed by Ash, and how Sherlock had her under house arrest. How she had solved a case Sherlock had been stuck on, and about her connections with Riley Moriarty. She recalled their confrontation with James Moriarty himself, and how he had forced Clara to erase their memories of each other. And then, last but not least, she told of her last words to him, and how he hadn't responded.

This, of course, was quite a lot of information for Sherlock to digest. And he was still rolling it over in his mind when they both went to bed that night. Together.

But it was in that moment, with Clara's beautiful face illuminated in the moonlight, did Sherlock remember something. Something important--and something he had come to fully accept.

"Clara," he began, "I remember what I was going to say."

Clara nodded.

"I love you." he finally said.

Clara smiled and felt her insides melt. "I love you too, Sherlock."

~~~~~