Fight for Me

Chapter 74

Lydia heaved a sigh as she tossed the dress aside, deciding it was too formal for the occasion. It seemed all she had in her wardrobe was either too casual or too fancy for dinner with Sherlock's parents. Sherlock had no such problem, he always wore clothes suitable for this very such occasion. After the embarrassing outfit she had on when they had first met her, she really needed to make a better impression at dinner.

The door to Sherlock's bedroom creaked open, Lydia still rummaging around her wardrobe helplessly. He snaked his arms around her waist and spoke into her ear, "what's taking you so long in here, Lia?"

She leaned back into Sherlock's embrace, "I'm trying to figure out something to wear. I don't seem to have anything suitable."

"I didn't think you were one to obsess over your outfit, it wasn't like you had many choices while you were touring."

"Well I do when it's dinner with your parents," Lydia exclaimed, wondering how Sherlock couldn't understand how important it was to Lydia for Sherlock's parents to like her. She already had disappointed his brother, she didn't want his parents to object as well. Sure, Sherlock probably didn't much care what his parents thought of her, but having their support would make future dealings with Mycroft a lot easier.

With a sigh, Sherlock detached his arms from around her and turned to the clothes now strewn across their bedroom. After a moment's deliberation, he picked up a fallen dress and handed it to her. "The restaurant is not incredibly fancy and they are already in love with you, Lia. This should be entirely suitable for the occasion."

Lydia flashed him a thankful smile, accepting the flower-printed ruffled dress from him before ushering him out of the room so that she could get changed and freshen up her makeup. The material of the dress was soft against her skin and had a very feminine look. Originally purchased so that she had an outfit for when she was going out for more innocent roles, Lydia was grateful that she had it as it easily became a costume behind which she could hide her less than innocent past.

Styling her chestnut waves, that now reached neatly past her shoulders, Lydia decided to leave it down, liking it when Sherlock played with it. She aimed for a slightly more done-up look with her makeup, but still tried to keep it natural looking, then stuck her faux diamond earrings in and left Sherlock's bedroom.

"What do you think, John?" Lydia asked him, trusting his opinion more so than Sherlock's. Not that Sherlock didn't apparently have an eye for fashion, she just suspected he would say that she looked beautiful regardless of what she was wearing so that she would let the topic go. That and it seemed his affection for her had blinded him to her faults, both physical and otherwise.

John looked up from his laptop and gave her a kind smile, "you look lovely, Lydia. I'm sure Sherlock's parents will love you."

"They already do," Sherlock interjected, realising that Lydia was ready to go and standing from his armchair.

John's eyebrows furrowed as he looked up quizzically at Lydia, "have you already met? Hang on, Sherlock did they know about you two getting together before you told me?"

"Don't be ridiculous, John. My parents only found out because Mycroft let it slip, they stopped by this morning to meet her. The only people who knew before you were my brother, Lestrade, and because of Lestrade, probably the whole of Scotland Yard."

"You told Lestrade before you told me?" John exclaimed, both shocked and offended by his friend's confession.

Sherlock frowned, "of course I didn't tell him, he walked in on us kissing once. I had meant on keeping it from everyone a bit longer."

"Alright boys, enough arguing, I don't want to be late to the restaurant. Sherlock, you have all of the reservation details, yes?" Lydia cut in, taking Sherlock's arm and guiding him towards the door.

Sherlock gave a nod as John called out, "have fun, you two!"

"Not likely," Sherlock muttered under his breath, earning an elbow in the side.

Lydia glanced back at their flatmate with a smile, "thanks, John! I'm just going to have to make sure that Sherlock refrains from being a complete arse."

Lydia and Sherlock took a cab to the restaurant, Sherlock taking Lydia's hand about halfway through the ride when he noticed her nerves. He didn't understand what she was so worried about when it was clear that his parents adored her. Of course, she was not present when his mother had rung him up to confirm the details about dinner and had ended up just gushing about Lydia the entire time. He wouldn't admit it, but he enjoyed his mother's enthusiasm for his partner, even if he did pretend to get annoyed. The truth was that Lydia was all his mother said she was and more. It made him happy to know that others could see just how incredible the woman he had ended up with truly was.

"Can I get the name of your reservation, please?" The maitre d' asked as Sherlock escorted Lydia into the restaurant.

"Holmes," Sherlock replied robotically, his eyes scanning the man before them, clearly deducing him. Lydia shoved him lightly and shook her head, not wanting Sherlock to stir up any trouble even if he did discover that the maitre d' was having an affair with his wife or was secretly a murderer. She just wanted dinner to go smoothly and not have Scotland Yard have to get involved.

The maitre d' was oblivious of their interaction as he scanned the list before giving the two a nod, "right this way, Mr. and Mrs. Holmes."

Lydia's cheeks heated up as the maitre d' assumed she and Sherlock were married, but as Sherlock made no effort to correct him, she decided not to either. They had a table reserved in the back of the restaurant already set with the five chairs, Sherlock and Lydia having their pick of where to sit considering they were the first to arrive. Sherlock gave a nod of thanks to the maitre d' and then pulled out a chair for Lydia, surprising her a bit with his chivalrous action.

"Thanks, Sherlock," she flashed him a smile as he took the spot next to her.

"Anything for my wife," he teased, causing her to giggle.

"You don't think we should have corrected him, do you?"

He shrugged, "it didn't really bother me."

This caused a wide smile to break out across Lydia's face, but she quickly turned away so that Sherlock couldn't see it. The truth was she could see herself as his wife someday, if he even supported marriage. But they certainly had not been involved for long enough to seriously consider marriage. Still, the idea that Sherlock did not object to her being misidentified as his wife filled her with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Though, to be fair, that feeling was almost always present whenever Sherlock was around.

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(A/N): Just started my new courses today (again, really not w fan of this module system but this should be the last time I have to deal with it) and let's just say that music theory is already giving me headaches. Anywho, I am now going to ignore all of my work and just do some writing to decompress! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and are excited for the dinner!