He was at their wedding.
Bell proposed after an agonizing two years of watching them
greet each other at the door, kissing outside the brownstone, and horrifying
mornings where he would accidentally run into the detective. How hellish it had
been, greeting him in the kitchen and offering him a coffee, Bell totally oblivious to the fact that this
was an awkward situation.
As soon as he proposed, Joan moved into his apartment, and
that really hit home. She was leaving him. Of course, did he expect her to
never live with her future husband, or for Bell to move here? But it still bothered him,
still made his heart break as she packed up her things, kissed him on the
cheek, and left. He still saw her at work every day, but he no longer got to
ride home with her and order pizza and listen to her rant about his
eccentricity. Instead, they parted ways, and he always lingered long enough to
see her hop into the car with Bell,
laughing about something he stopped caring about.
Now he stood in front of a floor-length mirror, adjusting his
cufflinks and wondering why the hell he agreed to be the maid of honor. The
femininity of the role wasn't what bothered him—Joan had once made him watch a movie where
Patrick Dempsey had done the same—he really didn't care if he stood among a bunch of
pastel-adorned women. But he had considered not even attending the wedding in
the first place. He had to, of course, because Joan and—for the most part—Bell were his
friends. It would definitely not be easy, however, to stand right near the
woman he loved as she wed. Yet he was still here, preparing to go and see her
before the big day that he wished didn't exist.
Joan and Bell
were marrying at the Plaza, a venue that had taken much bribery to acquire.
Despite himself, Sherlock had to admit that the wedding was going to be a
beautiful one, especially with Joan as the bride. As he made his way down the
carpeted hall, florists and caterers rushing past him, he considered trying to
talk her out of it. A foolish idea, but one he couldn't help but entertain.
That would be the perfect scenario, wouldn't it? Him and Joan, ditching the
wedding at the last minute, Bell standing at the altar like an idiot,
reassuring all the guests that, "Oh, she'll come. We're in love, after
all." Nothing like this would ever happen, a fact that became clear as
soon as he entered Joan's suite and saw the happy look on her face. God, he
loved it when she was happy, when she was wearing that smile that
lit up the whole damn room. If only she weren't wearing that white dress,
though she looked absolutely ravishing in it.
"White, Watson?" he asked, leaning against the
door. Joan turned in his direction, her eyes brightening when she saw him.
"You're fooling no one." Rolling her eyes
like the good old Joan Watson he knew and loved, she smoothed out the skirt of
her dress. "Oh shut up," she half-retorted, half-giggled. Trying to
emit anticipation for the day's events, he approached her. "Putting aside
the deception of the fabric, you look beautiful." He kissed the top of her
head and faced the three-paneled mirror with her. "Look at you,
Watson," he whispered, holding back tears, much to his own dismay. Crying?
Come on! She bit her lip and turned around, unexpectedly throwing her arms
around his neck. "Don't cry," he mumbled, patting her back. "I
saw the bill...you paid that make-up artist a bit too much. I could have done
it for free." He heard a muffled laugh, then a small whimper. "I told
the other bridesmaids to wait in the other room," she explained,
sniffling. "I wanted to...to wait for you.
Because..." She looked up at his face, the face that he kept frozen in
a expression that didn't convey the absolute longing he felt to kiss her.
"I love you." He stiffened. "You're my best friend." Oh
God, no.
Putting his head on top of hers, careful not to mess up the
curls, he sighed. "You're my best friend too, my dear
Watson. And...I'm happy for you." She pulled away, smiling and wiping
her eyes tentatively. "And as your best friend," Sherlock continued,
"if you wish to...I think the proper vernacular is 'bounce,' I can go call
a cab." She laughed whole-heartedly, except it had only been a partial
joke. Being piloted off to the brownstone, where he could kiss her and tell her
he loved her...too good to be true, which it was. She was getting married, and
showing no signs of cold feet. "My dad should be here any minute,"
she said quietly, checking the mirror to see if she had smudged her makeup.
"I think, right before we walk down the aisle, I'll tell him how much this
all costs. He doesn't know yet." He grinned. "That's quite the
scheme, Joan." They both froze. He had only referred to her as Joan in his
head. Very rarely had he been on a first name basis with anyone, formality
being his strong suit.
"Joan," she said quietly. "I like it."
SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

Much to the wedding coordinator's horror, he didn't proceed
down the aisle to the rubbish "rhythm" she had taught everyone
involved in the procession. Instead, he fast-walked, dragging Gregson, the best
man, behind him. Along the way, they received plenty of strange looks from the
guests, which Sherlock waved off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah,
we're not important anyway."
"Holmes!" Gregson hissed. "What the hell are
you doing?" At the altar, Bell
watched with wide eyes alongside the minister, who seemed to look up and utter
a prayer that this wedding would work out okay. "Getting the show on the
road," he replied, wanting to laugh at how the piano player sped up the
tempo of the song to go along with their brisk pace. He practically shoved
Gregson over to where the groomsmen stood, all of them looking disapprovingly
at the maid of honor. "You messed everything up!" one of the
bridesmaids whispered angrily. "Piss off," was all he had to say.
When Joan stepped onto the aisle, he noticed two things: 1)
She was an absolute goddess, and 2) Her father was looking as white as her
dress. She must have just told him about the wedding's total price. They
continued their steady walk, the bridesmaid growling, "See, that's how it's done!" He ignored
her, totally fixated on the glowing Joan. She whispered "hello" to
multiple people, waving to little children who obviously adored her. Who
couldn't? Bell,
of course, looked almost as captured as he, but he didn't pay attention to him.