He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Forever In Bloom

"I've got it!" Hamish called excitedly, running to the door to greet their first guest. "Who are you?" John heard him say as soon as he answered it. Must be Greg then. John walked over to the door to see that, indeed, Greg was standing in the doorway. In jeans and a Nirvana tee shirt. As soon as he saw John's outfit his face fell, looking very guilty for dressing down.
"Was this a formal event?" he wondered nervously.
"Nah, I'm just wearing a suit because I feel fancy." John shrugged.
"Oh good." Greg said with an air of relief.
"Yes it's formal, you idiot!" John insisted, but he laughed as he said it, inviting Greg inside.
"I've never been in your house before, it's nice. Looks a lot like mine." Greg decided, looking around. Well, they were cookie cutter houses, but John wasn't going to be the one to bring that up.
"Well come on in Greg, we've got some snacks out from everyone's favorite grocery store." John pointed out with a smile. That job was miserable, it really was.
"Oh, didn't you hear the news?" Greg said excitedly, practically hopping down on his toes as he said it.
"What?" John wondered.
"The manager got fired!" Greg said happily. John couldn't help but scream in delight, and for a moment they hopped around the floor like two excited teenage girls.
"You're kidding me, what happened?" John wondered.
"Oh you know," Greg sighed heavily, as if it were some great tragedy, "COCAINE!" he said loudly, and they jumped around again, squealing in excitement. John had never been so happy to hear that someone was on a drug before. The rest of the guests trickled in slowly, Molly showed up with a basket of muffins, Mrs. Hudson with some sort of yummy looking desert. Both women had managed to get the formal memo, and they were wearing nice dresses with their hair all done. Molly looked super excited, and she kept smiling at John every so often, who would smile right back. The mingling was all very nice, they ate chips and talked about things, John kept making sure the ring was still in his pocket just in case it had fallen out or something since the last time he checked. He couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous, because what if Sherlock said no? What if he messed up the line, what if he fell over, what if Sherlock passed out? There were so many things that could go wrong, John just wanted it to go right, he wanted this to work out so much better than the last time. The last time he proposed he had no idea he was making the worst mistake of his life. John noticed that Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson were talking to each other in hushed voices over by the fridge, not too far away to raise eyebrows but enough away from the crowd that John had to be a little bit suspicious. What were they discussing, what could be so important that John couldn't know? Oh dear, this night had the potential to get real bad real quick. Hamish was walking around and helping everyone refill their glasses and plates, shoving bowls of chips in their faces when they weren't eating. He had no idea what was coming either, and John was really excited to see his reaction as well. Oh well, he'd just have to wait until dinner, something that seemed impossibly far away.
"Um, before we eat, I want to show everyone my new flowers." Sherlock said loudly, breaking off any conversations they might've been having. John groaned internally, now dinner would be even farther away, and if he was out looking at Sherlock's flowers then the food might burn!
"I thought you just planted them?" John wondered.
"Yes but they're wonderful, I want everyone to see them while they're here." Sherlock shrugged.
"Can't we do it after dinner?" Greg asked, looking over at the oven longingly.
"Chips?" Hamish suggested, shoving a bowl of corn chips in Greg's face. Greg sighed in a passive sort of way, but took a handful of chips and moved towards the backdoor.
"Alright then, let's go." He decided, as if his word decided the whole thing. Molly gave John a bit of a weird look but he just shrugged, he knew as much as she did at this moment. Sherlock was looking rather nervous, as if everyone's opinions on his flowers mattered so much. John was sure they would be pretty, but for as much pampering as they were getting, he really didn't understand it. Redbeard barked at his heels, circling Sherlock as if he knew exactly what was going on. Sometimes that dog showed more human traits than some of John's coworkers, which was really saying something.
"Alright then, so I planted these yesterday, they're roses actually, I know that's kind of cheesy, but I thought they would look beautiful on this bank." Sherlock admitted, leading everyone to the little dirt bank outside the kitchen window. There was a tarp over top of course, but that didn't seem to worry Sherlock too much.
"Very nice." Greg muttered, crunching down on his corn chips and looking like he wanted to go inside. Sherlock was looking even more nervous than ever, fiddling with his jacket and looking at John nervously.
"Hamish, why don't you take that tarp off for us then?" Sherlock wondered.
"Alright!" Hamish cried excitedly, seeming thrilled to be given something to do.
"What's he doing?" Molly whispered to John.
"I don't know, but I hope it doesn't take long." John whispered back, far enough behind the group that they wouldn't be overheard. Sherlock stood up next to the tarp, facing the group of people while Hamish ran around to the other end, grabbing one end of the tarp and pulling. John almost didn't watch, but he was glad he did. They were very beautiful roses of course, but it was only until he looked more closely did he understand why this was such a big deal. It was only until Sherlock sank to one knee did he realize just what was going on. The roses were planted in letters, beautiful red letters that spelled out Marry Me? John's legs felt numb as he stumbled up to where Sherlock was kneeling, opening the ring box with trembling fingers and looking like he was about to cry. There was a shriek from Molly, who seemed so stunned that she was going to be the one to pass out.
"John Hamish Watson..." Sherlock said, his voice cracking with nervousness. "Will you marry me?" John closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, his heart beating so loudly that he that he might have a heart attack. But there was a smile on his face, the biggest smile humanly possible. Sherlock had managed to answer John's question with a question of his own. The silence was almost deadly, and when he opened his eyes again the hope on Sherlock's face was staring to crack, starting to turn into fear. He was shaking in nervousness, the ring shining in the box, reflecting the dying sun.
"Sherlock..." John muttered, taking the ring box out of his own pocket. "Sherlock I thought we agreed I was going to be the one to ask?" Sherlock gave a whimper of relief, a tear sliding down his cheek as he tried to control his emotions. John had no idea what he was feeling himself, something along the lines of wanting to laugh, wanting to cry, wanting to kiss the life out of Sherlock, wanting to scream with all of the power in his chest...but he realized that this must be what love felt like. He realized that this must be what it felt like to truly fall in love, and to now realize there was nothing standing in your way of having the love of your life for the rest of your life.
"You...you actually bought..." Sherlock was looking like his head had exploded, and slowly he rose to his feet, taking a cautious step closer.
"I was going to ask you tonight." John agreed, holding the box guiltily in his hands.
"Well then, ask him!" Molly called from the crowd. Sherlock just laughed a terrified little laugh, more tears falling down his face as he realized just what was happening. He realized that he had his answer. John got down on one knee as well, smiling up into Sherlock's face, feeling his eyes welling up as well.
"Alright then, William Sherlock Scott Holmes..." John started, breaking into a fit of nervous laughter before he could even finish his sentence.
"YES!" Sherlock screamed, not able to contain himself. John could only laugh, staring to laugh so hard that he could barely get back on his feet, steadying himself on Sherlock's shoulders and for a moment they just laughed together, crying tears of joy with their rings in their hands.
"Yes Sherlock." John agreed. "Of course I'll marry you." And with that he could finally lift his head, with that he stared into Sherlock's watering kaleidoscope eyes and he didn't see the gardener. He didn't see his neighbor, his friend, or even his boyfriend. For the first time in his life, John was able to stare into the eyes of his husband. And he was beautiful.
"Kiss already!" Hamish yelled from the side, and Sherlock just laughed.
"Well, if they insist." John agreed, wrapping his arms around Sherlock's neck and kissing him as passionately as he could. The first kiss they shared as fiancés, the first kiss they shared that would take them into forever. There were cheers, there were tears, and Mrs. Hudson had recorded the whole thing. But as they took turns putting the engagement rings on the other's fingers John knew that this was right. For the first time he knew that this ring wasn't going to weigh him down. It was going around his finger, not around his neck. He knew, right then and there, that Sherlock Holmes was indeed his soulmate, and that their paths had been made to intersect at just the right time, with just the right number of mistakes. And John also knew that from now on, his path was going to be covered with a lot more flowers. 

A/N: Ahh! Sorry I forgot to write this until now, honestly I don't know how I forgot this is like my favorite part about completing a story. Ah whatever, finals are getting to me. Anyway ya...it's over. So now I can finally admit, this was my least favorite story. Like...ever. I know a lot of you people enjoyed it, but as I got farther and farther into writing it I realized that I literally had nothing for the characters to do except talk and eat, two things that make me really bored. So ya, it was kind of just...normal. As for the happy ending, you guys know I hate those too. Overall, however, this is probably one of the best relationships I've written, so pure and innocent and adorable, I mean it bored the death out of me but it as healthy, so that's good. Anyway, the next story is so much more me, it's pretty creepy and really disturbing, more my speed. So ya, have a very nice day, and I'll see you guys on Wednesday!