First of all I want to say thank you for all of your kind words and condolences for the loss of my pet Alli Ann...she was a precious cat and I appreciate your thoughts so much!

I am glad and relieved that you all enjoyed the previous chapter...I was so down when I wrote it, I was afraid it would be too angsty...this story is supposed to be fun also, not just sad :)

Thanks for reading! Thanks for your reviews and follows!

John listened intently as Sherlock regaled, in tears, what Molly had said to him. He glanced at Mary who shook her head, looking pitying at Sherlock as he spoke.

When Sherlock had finished, he looked up at John with wide, helpless eyes. "What do I do John?" he asked quietly.

"You do nothing," John said.

"What!" Sherlock shouted as he jumped to his feet. "But-but-but…"

John held up his ha d to silence him. "Let me finish Sherlock. You went to see her after a week Sherlock…you only gave her a week. She is still shell shocked by how you treated her…how did you honestly expect her to react?" Sherlock started to speak again, but John silenced him again. "Hush and let me talk," he admonished Sherlock. "She said some hard things to you, some hurtful things. But Sherlock, even you have to admit that most of them were true. You are introverted; you are uncomfortable and impatient around other people. You have been known to sneer at people that you deemed less intelligent. However," John said quickly as Sherlock's face fell even more. "She was also wrong about many things. She is hurting Sherlock and sometimes people say things that they don't men when they are hurt. And sometimes when someone is hurting, they say things that they might feel are very real at the time, but are nothing more than a reaction to their pain."

Mary moved from the chair and sat beside Sherlock, wrapping her arm around him. He laid his head against her shoulder. "So what can I do?" Sherlock asked miserably.

"As I have said, you do nothing," John repeated. "Nothing but be yourself."

Sherlock blinked. "But she said she didn't like who I was…that I was never the man she thought I was."

"You are the man she thought you were. You are exactly the man she fell in love with. But just like any crush or infatuation, only seeing the good in someone never lasts. She's beginning to accept that you have faults. That she can't make excuses for your behavior because you are in fact a cock, but that does not mean that you are not also the man that she loves," John said smiling. "Look Sherlock, it can be very painful and disappointing when a person who has put someone else on a pedestal comes to finally realize that said person is just as flawed and messed up as the rest of us. You are human Sherlock. You make mistakes, you have faults, you have issues, but you are also an extraordinary man."

Mary turned Sherlock's face towards hers. "And that what's Molly has been focusing on for the past years…she has only been seeing the part of you that she wanted to see. Why else would she take so much of your crap? You have never let her really see how kind you can be or how loving that you can be. You have never allowed her to see your droll sense of humor or that you can indeed, be vulnerable and weak like the rest of us."

John nodded. "And worst of all, you have mistakenly assumed she was a weak woman because she did not stand up for herself, but you are wrong. She is strong and she always has been. You don't see how she is with other people Sherlock. If Mike or a coworker talked to her the way that you have, she would put them straight very quickly. Often times we put up with things from the people that we love in the hopes of making them love us back." He shoved the magazines from the coffee table and sat down in front of Sherlock.

"She's disappointed and angry with herself for not realizing this before. She has spent years hoping for you and you never ever looked her way," John said. "So what she said to you yesterday, much of it she meant, but some of it she did not mean. She is angry, confused, and hurt by not only you, but by her own emotions."

"So she hasn't really given up?" Sherlock asked hopefully.

Mary bit her lip. "Well…she probably meant that. I am sure that right now, she probably feels like she doesn't care anymore and she is going to try and let you go," she said. "But…that doesn't mean that with time, you could show her that you are all of the things that she always felt you were…but like everyone else, you have faults. But you will have to change your behavior Sherlock. You're going to have to grow up. You can't try to control her or manipulate her anymore. You cannot insult her when she does something that makes you angry. And you must accept that she has another man in her life at the moment."

"You have to treat her like a person, her own individual person, with her own mind," John said. "You can't walk around and act like she's yours and that…"

"But she is mine," Sherlock said softly. "She's my little pathologist."

Mary ran her hand through his curls. "Okay, she's your little pathologist. But right now she doesn't know she is nor would she believe it. She wouldn't even welcome hearing it at this point," she said.

Sherlock looked from John and Mary with a confused expression. "So…I should allow her to see all of me?"

Mary and John nodded, smiling at him. "Yes, but you can't force it Sherlock," John said. "It must be done naturally. Right now, she's only willing to see you in a work capacity, so you will need to utilize that time wisely. Be respectful of her and her work. Try to pay attention to her needs…bring her a cup of coffee once in a while or maybe a sandwich from the cafeteria."

"But not too much, too quickly," Mary said. "This has to look natural, not contrived. And you can't get angry if she doesn't respond at first or refuses your kindness. Just smile, be thoughtful, and go on about your business."

"You're going to have to repair the damage to your friendship before you can go further Sherlock. You cannot force this. You have to go at Molly's pace. This is about her comfort level and learning to trust you again," John said.

"And most importantly, it's about showing her who really are Sherlock, all of you," Mary said. "This will be a good thing for you to, because you will also get to know Molly, all of her. And that is important when you are trying to see if love could possibly grow between the two of you."

Sherlock frowned. "This is going to be hard," he said looking at John. "I'm a bastard."

"Yes you are," John readily agreed. "But you're also a good and wonderful man."

Sherlock wiped his eyes and sniffed. He seemed to feel better and he smiled at Mary. "I am an idiot," he said.

"Yes you are," she said, kissing him on his brow. "But that is why we love you."

Three weeks later

Molly watched Tom with his best friend and best man, Kevin. She watched them intently without even realizing it. She watched how they talked with one another, how their mannerisms were with one another, and their body language.

Gay…

Molly shook her head and narrowed her eyes, refusing to let his voice in her head poison her against her fiancé. She ignored the feeling that she had in the pit of her stomach when she would see the way that Tom and Kevin would stare into each other's eye's when they would talk. She ignored how their bodies would seem to automatically lean towards one another. She ignored how she had postponed the wedding twice already using work as an excuse. She ignored how they had only made love about four or five times since they began seeing each other and how it was his idea to hold of having sex until the wedding night.

Gay…

"Shut up," she hissed out loud.

"What's that, Molls?" Tom asked smiling at her.

She blinked and plastered a fake smile on her face. "Nothing…it was nothing…I just…I didn't say anything…"she said quickly ignoring the almost hostile look Kevin gave her.

Look at how his lover glares at you…What more proof do you need? Sherlock's voice asked in her head.

"Tom, I think I'm going to go back to the morgue to finish up some paper work," Molly said. "We had a busy day and I just want to make sure that I am caught up."

Tom blinked in surprise. "Oh…well alright then…"he said standing and coming to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. She peered over his shoulder and saw the sarcastic look of disdain Kevin seemed to have on his face as he looked at her. Tom leaned his head down and kissed her lips. "I'll see you when you get back. Please don't walk home…take a taxi. I don't like you walking home in the dark."

She smiled and cupped his face while Kevin coughed and rolled his eyes. "She fucking cuts up dead people for a living. I doubt anyone would mess with her. She probably wields a bloody scalpel…" Kevin said, with his voice laced with sarcasm. "Not to mention she probably smells like death."

"Shut your mouth Kevin, "Tom snapped, glaring at him. He turned back to Molly and kissed her nose. "You smell like your strawberry shampoo. Take a cab Molls, I'm serious," he said.

She smiled and nodded. "Alright," she agreed.

As Molly made her way down the late evening London Street, she was becoming more annoyed by the second.

Why didn't he drive you or offer to pick you up? Sherlock's voice asked in her mind. He has a bloody car. He went to pick up Kevin yesterday at the grocer's and then sun hadn't even set yet.

She shook her head. "Not listening to you…not listening…" she hissed through clenched teeth as she walked.

I would've come to pick you up Molly…Sherlock's voice said. I would never allow you to walk home in the dark nor would I suggest that you get a bloody cab.

"Shut up!" she snapped as she walked, causing an elderly gentleman that passed her to look at her. She flushed and hurried along.

He wanted to stay home with Kevin you know. He was glad that you decided to go back to work… His voice said.

"No!" she snapped.

You know I'm right…said her mind with Sherlock's voice.

"No!" she repeated.

Then why did you postpone the wedding…again…his voice asked.

"Leave me alone," she said as she finally saw St. Bart's ahead and quickly made her way towards it.

I can't leave you alone…his voice said. You know I'm right…I can't let you make a mistake…

Molly shoved the door open to the hospital entrance and quickly made her way down the hall to the lift. She stepped inside and pressed the button that would take her to her sanctuary. "All I need is to get my mind on work…" she said to herself.

It won't help…his voice said. And you can't get angry with me. It's not my fault that your conscious mind has chosen me to be its voice.

"Shut up and leave me alone," she snapped, practically running from the lift towards the morgue.

You can't run from your own conscious…his voice said. Your own mind is trying to show what you refuse to see…Tom is not only gay, but he's knobbing Kevin behind your back…you know I'm right…

She ignored the voice and pushed the doors open to the morgue. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him leaning over a body with his arm raised him, crop in hand.

"Don't!" she called out to Sherlock running over to him. "Put the crop down and step away from Mr. Parker. You cannot experiment on him."

Sherlock lowered his arm and looked at her, trying not to look so excited and relieved that she had spoken to him. She crocked her finger at him as she walked away from him, telling him to follow her. She walked over to the refrigerator and pulled one of the slabs out. "You can have Mr. Dvorkina."

"Thank you Molly," he said softly. She paused and looked up at him with an unreadable expression. Suddenly her brow creased and she opened her mouth to speak, but shook her head, huffed, and walked away.

"Did you need something Molly?" he asked, slightly concerned.

She stopped and looked at him with the same confused expression, opened her mouth to speak, but clamped it shut. She shook her head and walked away.

He cleared his throat and took a step towards her. "Molly…"he called.

She turned and looked at him. "Would you like a cup of coffee?" he asked. "Two sugars, no milk, right?"

She looked at him momentarily startled that he would ask to get her coffee, much less know how she drank it. He smiled inwardly, but said nothing.

"Yes Sherlock, thank you," she said softly. "That would be lovely." She turned and walked over to her desk, sat down, and began to work.

He stood there a few seconds and stared at her. Slowly the grin slid across his face and some of the tension left his body. He walked out of the morgue towards the break room. He felt invigorated for the first time in several weeks. Her response had been minimal…minute…barely anything at all, but she had responded. Sherlock was more than happy to take that, after all, it was a start and it seemed to be in the right direction.

I guess it's safe to say that I just CANNOT write a two or three shot...it always ends up being more because I keep thinking of things I can do with the plot...sigh...sorry about that...I think maybe 2 more chapters, but I obviously cannot guarantee that :)

Anyways, thanks again, and hugs.