─ excavation of the heart, s.h.

Chapter Seventeen

Sherlock just smiled at her. He was unbelievably proud of himself. Not because of his massive ego (although that was very much still there), but because he had managed to find a woman who was practically perfect for him in every way. 

First off, she matched his intelligence almost perfectly. Of course, everyone knew that no one could meet Sherlock's level of know-it-all except for Mycroft, but Georgia came fairly close to achieving it, far closer than anyone else ever had. He had even told her so, the first night he met her. 

Secondly, she wasn't scared off by his work. She appreciated that sometimes he had to rush away on a case, and that she wouldn't hear from him for a couple of days, or maybe a week at the most. But when he came back, she always welcomed him with open arms, and she provided him with the comfort that he had been missing for so long, and didn't realise he needed until he had it. 

Overall, he couldn't imagine his life without her, not now. But that just showed how grateful he was of her, and how much he treasured her as a big part of his life. And Georgia could see that too, which made her indescribably happy, a feeling she thought she would never experience. 

"Very well then. I suppose I'll just have to hold on to you for a while longer then." He spoke, pulling her back down to lie with him. 

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Once Donna was sure that Sherlock had left Georgia's apartment, she made her way up to the flat, letting herself in with the key that her best friend had given her last year. She could hear Georgia in the shower, so she sat down on the sofa, stroking Elio as he came over and sat on her lap, curling up on her legs. 

Just as Donna was about to get out her phone, the shower stopped and Georgia came walking out of the bathroom, towel drying her hair. She looked up as she made her way into the living room, clearly not seeing Donna. 

"Hey." She spoke nonchalantly, making Georgia jump and reach for a kitchen knife. "Woah, calm down mate, it's just me!" She laughed, raising her hands in mock surrender. 

"Jesus- don't do that!" Georgia exclaimed, putting the kitchen knife down and holding her hand over her heart. 

"Well I won't scare you anymore as long as you stop hiding your relationship from me." She countered, standing up so she could see Georgia's reaction. Her eyes widened, and she stood there, her jaw dropped. 

"How do you know about that?!" She asked incredulously. Donna just laughed, picking up an Apple from the counter and started playing with it. 

"I have my ways..." She answered suspiciously, although she failed to keep the smile off her face. Georgia raised her eyebrows at her best friend. "Okay fine. John and I were at Baker Street when you came to drop Sherlock off today, and let's just say that we saw your little...moment. Or moments, because you were snogging for quite a while..." Donna just had a chance to duck before a stress ball was thrown at her head. 

"Oh GOD STOP." Georgia exclaimed, burying her head in her hands. "I can't believe you saw that!" 

"Of course I did, and I'm pretty sure that half of London did too!" Georgia sighed. 

"The reason we didn't tell anyone is because we just wanted to...keep it to ourselves for a while. You know how all of my other relationships have ended, and when he asked me out, I asked him if we could keep it a secret for a while, just so I could be sure that this one was going to hold up." She paused for a moment, before speaking again, albeit quieter this time. "I really like him, Donna." 

She was speechless. Georgia really liked him. Properly liked him. 

"And do you lo-" 

"Not ready for that yet!" Georgia held up a warning finger, trying to keep her quiet. "We haven't done that 'l' word yet, but...yes. I think I do." 

"And do you think he does? Love you?" Georgia paused for a moment, thinking. 

Of course she knew that Sherlock liked her, that much was clear from what they had been doing earlier on in the day and from their relationship. But did he love her? She honestly didn't know. He could, but who really knows with Sherlock Holmes? Seen as she was his girlfriend, the one person who was probably the closest to him right now, she knew a lot about him that other people didn't. She understood him in a way that other people probably didn't. And that though made her happy, because it shows that there's a special Sherlock reserved for her. The one that lets go of the sociopathic mask, the one that just acts like himself. The one that nobody else gets to see. 

So there was no doubt that Georgia loved him. But she couldn't say the same for him. Not because she was doubting his feelings for her, but because who ever actually knows what's going on in that mind of his?

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"I can't believe you thought you could hide this from me. I'm your best friend!" John chucked himself onto his chair, breathing out loudly. "I mean, what made you think that I wouldn't find out?" 

"It's not that I never wanted you to find out, it's just that we were keeping it a secret for a while. i don't think many of her past relationships have worked out that well - which I'm thankful for, because then I wouldn't have her - so she wanted to keep it private for a while until she felt comfortable enough to tell people. So yes, now you know, but please don't go around telling everyone else." 

John looked at his friend for a few moments.

"Sorry. I didn't realise there was a reason behind keeping it quiet. But I am happy for you, mate. So, who else knows apart from myself and Donna?" Sherlock internally blanched for a moment, not wanting his best friend to know that Lestrade found out before him.

"Um...n-no one. No one else knows." John raised an eyebrow at Sherlock. 

"You just stuttered. You don't stutter unless your really nervous. So come on - spill." Sherlock breathed out heavily.

"Fine, Lestrade found out. Well, I say found out, he called me for a case just as Georgia and I were..." He hesitated for a moment. "Preoccupied, and he noticed and turns out he's not that bad of a detective after all." 

John sat there for a moment, desperately trying to get the weird image out of his head, while also trying to wrap his head around the situation as a whole. 

"Right. Okay then. Oh, I should also tell you that we found the photo you have of you and Georgia at the cinema. That's the main reason we suspected something in the first place." John gestured to the table, where the photo was sat. Sherlock smiled at it slightly and picked it up, looking at it. 

"You love her, don't you?" Sherlock's eyes stopped scanning the photo, and he had to get his thoughts together for a moment. 

"Of course. Of course I love her."   

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Author's Note !

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Hey there! I hope you enjoyed this chapter - I absolutely love that Donna and John found out - I just couldn't wait for them to know about the babies :') 

Next chapter is going to have a bit of angst in it, so beware of that (but not between Georgia and Sherlock though, don't worry!) 

Abbie x