Sherlock sat in his chair, thinking. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there. Ten minutes? An hour? Longer? Time was relative when he was lost in thought. And the thoughts going through his mind, the feelings churning inside of him, were all foreign. Or, at least, had been foreign before her. Before she dropped into his world, shaking his beliefs, giving him something he never had before…hope.

That's what she did. She was a light in the darkness. A darkness he'd lived in his whole life. She drew him out of the darkness, pulling him into the sun, but he wasn't used to it and there were times he wanted to crawl back into the safety of that darkness. The familiarity, but she wouldn't let him.

It had been six months since the incident at the abandoned movie studio. Six months since the Doctor left. Six months since he said those words, baring his soul for the first time in his life because he couldn't hold them back. Not after what she said. I want to stay here, with you. The idea that she'd choose him, over everything, it filled him with so many emotions, happiness, hope, love, foreign things, but strong, strong enough to banish his rational mind and the words were out before he could stop them and then, she'd done something he never expected. She repeated them, gave them back to him and that, that was more than he dreamed possible. And he knew in that moment she'd given him something. Some small part of her.

He'd been afraid those words would change things between them, and they had, but not in the way he expected. It drew them closer, united them, in a way he'd never felt before. He wasn't alone. Not anymore, and when he looked into her eyes he knew she'd never leave him, just as he would never leave her. He couldn't because without her there was no life, without her there was only darkness.

He fingered the box in his hand. Small. Red. Wrapped in velvet. Soft like her skin, but not as beautiful because there was nothing on Earth that could compare to her, nothing in the universe. He didn't do these things. These ordinary things. But for her, he could. For her, he'd do anything.

-0-

Dinner, something they usually did, not routine, not mundane, because nothing with her was ever mundane. He ordered in, knowing that she deserved more, more than dinner at her flat, more than this life, more than him, but this is what she wanted, even if he couldn't understand why he was what she wanted.

He knew these things were usually done in public. Horrendous displays. But to him this was something between him and her. Even knowing that she would never leave him, his heart threatened to beat its way out of his chest as they time drew near.

"You're unusually quiet," she mused, catching his eye, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"Am I?" he asked.

She raised her brow and he knew she was becoming suspicious. She was clever, caught onto things quickly. It was one of the reasons he'd fallen for her. He cleared his throat and tried to still his heart, but found that a nearly impossible task.

"Are you all right?" she asked in concern.

They were sitting next to each other on the sofa and she turned to him.

"I'm…um…I'm…" he cleared his throat again. He couldn't put this off. It was time. He took her hand, catching her gaze. "Rose, you…you mean everything to me." Her eyes became confused, as if she wasn't sure what he meant. "I was barely surviving before I met you, living constantly on the edge, knowing at any moment I could slip, fall, and I honestly didn't care, hell, part of me wanted to fall, wanted it to be over." Her eyes misted over and he reached out, cupping her cheek and at that moment he realized she wasn't the only one holding back tears. "But then you came, my ray of sunlight and you pulled me back from the edge. I fought like hell against you at first," She laughed through her tears and he found himself laughing with her, "I never imagined I could be this person. A man who could love, but you made me this person, this man, because for you I would do anything." He took his hand from her cheek and dropped down on one knee. He watched her as he slid his hand into his pocket and he could tell she had an idea about what he was going to do. He pulled the box out of his pocket. Small. Red. Wrapped in velvet. She covered her mouth with her hand and there were more tears. He almost hesitated, not sure why she was crying. Was she happy? Sad? He looked into her eyes. Happy…at least, he thought she was happy. He opened the box and showed her the ring. A small, delicate, white gold band with a tear shaped diamond in the center and smaller stones trailing down the sides of the band. The diamond had been hand crafted and with a little help from him would now catch a rainbow of colors in the light, well, ultraviolet light, like sunlight. It was as close to perfect as he could get, but not nearly as perfect as the woman who would wear it. At least, he hoped she would. He pulled the ring from the box, took her hand, and held it poised to slide on her finger. "Rose Tyler, will you marry me?" he asked. She smiled and he couldn't help being struck by the way her eyes lit up.

"Yes! Yes, of course," she exclaimed. He slid the ring on her finger and then she threw herself into his arms. "I love you!"

He wasn't sure who initiated the kiss, but in the next moment he was kiss her or she was kissing him. Her lips were soft. He pulled her closer, barely registering that they were sitting on the floor and she was in his lap. Her fingers wove their way through his hair and he slid his thumb down her neck. She made a noise that nearly drove him mad. He deepened their kiss and felt the pulse in her neck rise. He smiled, knowing he was the cause. He knew he was inching over the edge, but a different sort of edge, one that he would gladly leap over with her and this time there was no John stop them.

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