Thanks, M Sherlock for beta'ing.

Author update 11/18/18,I have just replaced the title cover with a wonderful manip by kstewmanipulaation from Tumblr, who very kindly gave me permission to use it for a cover picture - isn't it wonderful? Don't you wish this had been canon in the show?

In addition, because I needed to change this chapter to add the information on the new picture, I have removed the dream italics.


Sherlock was pacing the floor of his sitting room. Why? he wondered silently, the word repeating itself in his brain. Why?

For months now he had been keeping out of Molly's way as much as possible. He didn't seek her out to talk with her. In fact they had only spoken if he was working on a case with a corpse for which she had done a post-mortem. To be honest, he missed the camaraderie they had once shared, when they had talked easily with one another about trivial things as well as ones related to work.

Ever since she had been engaged though, he had felt unable to be himself with her. It was as if the invisible presence of her fiancé stood between them. Molly was no longer his pathologist, she belonged to Tim or Todd - whatever his name was.

When he wasn't busy with cases, Sherlock had been helping John and Mary, mostly Mary, plan her wedding. Yesterday she had reminded him about John's stag night, and that it was his responsibility to do something for it. Then she had said something in passing that made Sherlock get a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh, here's an acceptance for the wedding from Molly and her fiancé. Here we are, finalizing the details for the wedding, and Molly hasn't even set a date yet for hers. Isn't that odd?" Sherlock knew that Mary and Molly would talk on occasion. They had seemed to get on well when they had met that day when Molly had brought her fiancé over to Baker Street. Neither of the women had any relatives to speak of, so he supposed it wasn't really surprising that they had bonded over their mutual aloneness, in a way.

After Mary's comment however, Sherlock had mentally calculated how many months Molly had been engaged. It had been at least seven months, even if she had only gotten engaged just before he returned to London. Surely that was an unreasonably long time to be engaged without setting a wedding date?

Much as he tried to push Molly from his mind, he was finding it more and more difficult. He didn't just miss their friendship, he missed her. It was time to figure out why she was dragging her heels. Sherlock decided he could use his hastily constructed plans for John's stag night as a pretext to talk with Molly.

His mind made up, Sherlock set off for the hospital where he knew Molly was working today. He managed to get through his little decoy speech about the stag night, unintentionally offending her in the process. It did, however, lead to an opening for him.

"You look...well." Actually she didn't look any more or less well than she usually did, but it was part of his plan to draw out some information from her.

"I am," she responded with a little smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"How's..." He searched his mind palace desperately, wanting to get the name right for once, to show that he paid attention to things which concerned her. His mind flashed back to that conversation when she had told him her fiancé's name. Ah yes, that was it, at least he was fairly certain of it - "Tom?"

"Not a sociopath." He deserved that little dig, especially after his comment about her not always falling for sociopaths.

"Still?" he responded, nodding sagely. "Good."

He was just trying to think of what to say next when she volunteered, out of the blue, "And we're having quite a lot of sex."

Immediately he was suspicious of that. Was she baiting him? Trying to get a reaction? A tiny spark of hope flared within him, maybe things were not quite as they seemed between her and this Tom character. What possible motivation could she have had for saying what she had said if she didn't want to get a reaction?

He wasn't going to give her that though. So he merely said, "Okay," and proceeded to tell her what he wanted her to do in regard to calculating his and John's alcohol intake for the stag night.

He walked to the door of the lab and then deliberately turned, wanting to catch Molly off-guard. "So, Molly, I was wondering - why haven't you set a wedding date yet?" He raised a brow casually as he asked the question.

He knew he had succeeded in his quest when she stammered her response. "I, uh…well, I've been busy."

He took a step back towards her. "You've been too busy for seven months to set a date?"

"Eight months," she mumbled, then looked up at him. "Why do you care anyway? You haven't shown the slightest interest in talking to me outside of work since I became engaged. I feel like we're not even friends anymore."

He moved still closer. "I do care, Molly. That's why I have been giving you your space. It would seem to me that most people would have set a date for their wedding by this time. Some of them would already be married. Look at John and Mary, he pointed out, drawing his brows together thoughtfully. "You became engaged at around the same time and their wedding is coming up in just over a month." He reached her and took her wrist, placing his fingers over it gently.

Molly flushed and snatched it back from his grasp. "Leave me alone."

"Fine. Will you bring these papers back to Baker Street tonight?" He gestured at the papers he had left with her, to aid her in determining the correct alcohol intake for creating a lightheaded effect with alcohol.

She sighed. "I'll text you when I'm on my way."

"Thank you." He left the lab feeling rather smug. He had detected her accelerated pulse. She was still affected by him. It was time to make Molly Hooper realize she deserved better than a pale imitation of Sherlock Holmes.

At home, Sherlock decided he should make a list with the reasons why Molly should not marry Tom. When she came over later, he would present it to her and make a case for himself. He opened his laptop and began to type.

He thought a moment, and decided to use the title, Reasons why Molly should not marry Tom. He looked at the title then decided to change it, to make it more personal. He wanted her to read it as if it came from him rather than a third person, which of course it did. He altered the title to read, Reasons why you should not marry Tom.

Then he began to compile the list.

1. In eight months, you have still not set a wedding date, therefore your affections are obviously not engaged as they should be for the man to whom you are promised.

This is self-explanatory, he thought to himself.

2. Tom is too immature for you.

Okay, he didn't really know Tom, but the guy was obviously several years younger than Molly, which would imply he did not have her maturity level. Of course he himself was not the most mature of men, but he was trying to improve himself of late. He had almost written that Tom was too young for her, but thought that might be a bit insensitive, to highlight their obvious age difference. Sherlock was not trying to push Molly away from himself as well, after all.

3. He is too tall for you.

This was a bit of a stretch. Sherlock himself was about 9 inches taller than Molly, but he remembered Tom being a good 3 inches taller than he was. He wondered what it would be like to kiss Molly. Would he bend down to kiss her, or would she stand on her tiptoes? Maybe they would do both?

The thought kept him intrigued for several minutes, daydreaming about doing just that. He had the feeling it would be very enjoyable to kiss Molly, but it also worried him because he lacked the practical experience of it.

He was lacking in any type of expression of sentiment, for that matter. The most he had ever done was kiss her cheek. Oh yes, he guessed he had bent down to do that. She had such a soft cheek. Would her lips feel that way too?

He suddenly realized that daydreaming about that was causing his own pulse to quicken. He did not have time for that. He needed to make sure the list was finished before she arrived.

It was time to start making comparisons between the other man and himself.

4. Tom does not appreciate your line of work the way I do.

He was fairly certain this would be accurate. Most men were not very comfortable with Molly's profession. Sherlock, on the other hand, enjoyed the way they could talk intelligently together about corpses and causes of death. Their professions were in perfect alignment.

5. Tom doesn't appreciate you, the person, the way I do.

Of course, he really had no idea if that was true. He just wanted Molly to know that he did truly appreciate her, cared for her even. It was as close to a declaration of emotional sentiment he could manage on paper. Would that be enough to make her consider breaking off her engagement?

His text alert sounded and he glanced at it. Analysis complete for correct alcohol intake. Bringing over the results.

He smiled and texted back, Come right up, the door will be unlocked for you.

He headed downstairs to unlock the door to the street, in preparation for Molly's arrival.

Twenty minutes later, Sherlock heard the unmistakeable sound of Molly's footsteps coming up the stairs. Suddenly he felt a little nervous, and he took a few deep, calming breaths. It was show time. Now he just had to convince Molly Hooper that he, not Tom, was the man for her.


Author's note 2: This is the first chapter of my second Realizations of Love Dreams series, which follows Sherlock's True Pressure Point.

Are you curious to find out what happens next? Any guesses? Next chapter is a Molly POV.

Reviews (even guest ones) appreciated.