A Sign Of Two

5 - Sentiment

"You mean to say you faked your own death for two years?!" I exclaimed in utter shock, after hearing about Sherlock's leap of faith off the top of Bart's hospital.

"Well, I had to make sure everyone thought it was real." Sherlock chuckled, amused by my reactions to his storytelling.

"That's insane" I said to him, wondering how I, Eliza Moore, had managed to become acquainted with such an interesting person. "Do you want a drink?"

"No...thank you" Sherlock mused. He appeared to be staring at me, scanning me almost. And the funniest bit was I wasn't at all uncomfortable under his gaze, I just would have liked to know what exactly he was looking at, or what he was looking for.

I got up from our table and walked over to the bar in the restaurant, ordering myself a white wine before happily sitting back down with Sherlock.

We carried on talking, mostly about Sherlock, although he tried to change the subject to me a few times, I found his crime solving way more interesting.

We chatted about the detective's many peculiar cases, and my one glass of white wine became two, which soon became three, which shortly became an entire bottle. And before I knew it, my vision had started to blur and all that was coming out of my mouth was utter nonsense.

"And that" I slurred "was the first time I ever solved a rubiks cube!"

Sherlock chuckled, obviously noticing that I was completely bladdered and definitely ready to go home and sober up.

"Come on, Eliza" Sherlock said to me with a sigh, standing up and pushing his chair under before walking over to my side of the table. "Lets get back to Baker Street"

I put my arm around Sherlock's waist, as he was too tall for me to get to his shoulders, and he supported me as we walked out into the street in search of a cab.

Who knew he was this much of a gentleman?

He was warm and comforting, everything about Sherlock made me feel safe. I wondered if he was this kind to all his friends.

"You know Sherlllly" I giggled, looking up at the gorgeous man as he held onto me and i clung onto him. "You have really great hair. Very curly."

"Good deduction" he joked softly, smiling down at me. I'd never seen him smile so much.

We waited on the side of the street quietly for about 5 minutes, looking out for a cab, when Sherlock finally spotted one.

"Taxi!" he yelled, holding out his arm.

(((SHERLOCK'S POV)))

Eliza and I sat in the cab silently, it was only 5 minutes or so back to Baker Street, but she was in no state to be walking anywhere. Anyone else would have been unbearably annoying by now, but there was something about her that drew me in. I enjoyed spending time with her.

I looked over to Eliza, who had somehow managed to fall asleep after a minute of being sat down in the taxi. I let out a sigh.

As she slept, I looked at her. Although she was drunk and she muttered funny things in her sleep, the way her hair fell effortlessly over her face, the way her mouth moved slightly as she let out quiet breaths, she looked quite...beautiful.

Wait a minute Sherlock...Beautiful?

We were back at Baker Street in no time. I paid the cabbie and managed to haul Eliza out of the car. She was in a deep sleep and showed no signs of waking up any time soon. I made a mental note to make sure she didn't drink so much next time.

Next time?

I picked her up Bridal style, and walked past her flat, carrying her up the stairs to where I lived as she slept peacefully in my arms.

John would bully me to death if he saw this.

I decided it was best to keep an eye on her, in case she threw up or forgot where she'd been the past 4 hours. Maybe it was best to watch over her for a while. Maybe I was just making excuses to keep this person as close to me as possible.

I carried Eliza into my flat, and lay her down gently on the sofa, before grabbing a blanket from my bed and laying it carefully on top of her. I trudged over to the sink and poured out a glass of water, setting it down on the coffee table next to the sleeping girl.

As I placed the cup down, I watched Eliza closely. On the outside she was normal, mediocre, ordinary, as I had deduced on the first day of meeting her. But on the inside she was...something else.

Her mind was like a clock, with thousands of tiny cogs that worked perfectly in sync with each other to give this woman the most enchanting personality, which was starting to prevent me from keeping away from her.

We worked brilliantly with each other today, whilst I deduced the victims and the crime scene, Eliza deduced the motives. She could do things that I couldn't.

And suddenly I remembered something I had said to Irene Adler a long time ago.

"Sentiment is a chemical defect found on the losing side"

Or is it?