Shout-outs: Fangirling4life, Cat, NiceNipps, Bucky5, Lothiriel84, znk99gg7, draegon-fire, emedealer, AJP910, lovebirds413, and Jessiekat89
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything.
Rated: T
.
Part II - Molly
Chapter 10
Two months later
"He's driving me crazy," Molly told Mary as they ate lunch at a little bistro down the street from St. Bart's. "I thought by now we would be more than husband and wife in name only."
"Oh Molly!" Mary laughed as she adjusted Charlotte in her arms and then took a bite of her salad. "Men like Sherlock can't figure these things out by themselves. They need a little help, a gentle little shove when it comes to matters like these. He probably wants to, but he's scared silly."
Molly shook his head and took a long sip of her diet soda. "He treats me more like a roommate than his wife. Sometimes I think he was just looking for a replacement John!"
Mary laughed again. "Oh Molly! I hardly think you're a replacement for John! He never looked at John the way he looks at you."
"And how does he look at me?" Molly asked. "When I'm looking all I can see is friendship and maybe a strange sort of admiration. And I can tell you, he isn't admiring me because I'm a woman."
"You don't know that."
"I do," Molly replied. "It's like he is immune to all women, except for Irene Adler."
"That isn't true," Mary insisted. "He married you not Irene. When did all these self-doubts start to creep in? You two seemed so happy two months ago, you were so sure of yourself and the choice you had made. What changed?"
"Nothing!" Molly answered. "Nothing's changed and that's the problem. I thought I could marry him and we could fall in love later on, but we're still friends and nothing else. I'm so frustrated Mary, I'm about to burst!"
"You don't like the situation you're in then change it!" Mary said. "Tell him exactly what you want and make him see reason! Make him an offer that he can't refuse."
Molly got a far off look in her eyes as she chewed on a breadstick. "An offer he can't refuse? But how would I even begin to do that?"
Mary smirked. "You'll think of something. Sherlock didn't choose you for nothing, you know."
.
Molly paced up and down the kitchen, waiting for Sherlock to come home from the case he had been working with Lestrade. It had been a three, but the DS had insisted her husband go along for the ride all the same.
She was glad, it had given her time to think about what she was going to say to get Sherlock to see her as more than his wife-in-name only. The only thing was, she had had hours to think about it and she hadn't come up with anything that would tempt him. She sighed, raked her fingers through her hair and told herself that she was a strong woman. She could definitely ask her husband to honor his marriage vows and she could do it without batting an eyelash too. It was her right to ask him to.
She startled when the door open and half hoped it was Mrs. Hudson coming to see if she wanted to share dinner with her since Sherlock wasn't home. But her fragile hope was shattered when Sherlock himself came into the kitchen, mumbling something to himself about Lestrade's stupidity and incompetence as a DS. (Something Molly knew that he didn't really mean.)
He straightened and smiled when he saw her standing in front of him. "Oh, hello Molly. I didn't know you'd be home already."
"I only had a half-day today, remember?" Molly reminded him. "I told you about it over a week ago, Sherlock."
"Ah, I suppose you did."
Molly sighed. "I guess you weren't paying attention. You were working on the Rolling case and you rarely ever hear me when the case is a ten."
Sherlock shrugged as if to say whatever and went over to the refrigerator. "Do we have anything to eat? I'm quite famished."
"I'm sorry?" Molly asked.
"I was just wondering if we had anything to eat," Sherlock repeated. "I'm starving."
"Oh dinner," Molly said. "Um, I didn't know what time you were going to be home so I didn't bother cooking. I could throw something together for you now, if you'd like or we could go out to eat . . . if you want something more than eggs and bacon."
"Eggs and bacon will be fine," Sherlock said, sitting down at the kitchen table.
Molly nodded and pulled out the ingredients for their quick dinner.
He was halfway through eating his dinner when she told herself to stop acting like the cowardly girl she was when they had first met and just tell him what she wanted.
She waited a beat and then took a deep breath. "Sherlock, I want to consummate our marriage."
Sherlock choked on his tea. "Excuse me!?"
"You heard me!" Molly said, not blushing for a second. "I think we should consummate our marriage."
"But Molly we agreed. . ." Sherlock trailed off, quickly schooling his features into a mask of cool disinterest. "We both agreed that we weren't going to do that. Our marriage is much more. . . you know how I feel about that."
Molly refused to be embarrassed by her request, refused to back down. "But Sherlock, we've both had time to think about it. And I'm pretty sure that I don't want to live like this anymore. . ."
"I've had time to think about it and I still like where we're at. Things like that only get in the way of more important things."
"More important things?" Molly repeated her mouth pressing into a thin line. "What do you mean it distracts from more important things!?"
Sherlock stopped for a second, getting the distinct feeling that he had just put his foot in his mouth, but that didn't stop him from continuing on. "More important things like crafting your mind and trying to build a handful of really good friendships. Because those are things that you can always count on."
"Not true!" Molly answered. "Your mind can betray you. Do you know how many Alzheimer's patients that I've had to do autopsies on? Do you know how many friends I've lost? Most of them are still alive and well, living their own lives."
"But if they were really your friends then they'd still be in your life!" Sherlock insisted. "Don't you see what sex does? We haven't even had it and we're fighting because of it."
Molly pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. "No we're not because I'm leaving."
"Leaving?" Sherlock asked. "That's ludicrous; you don't have anywhere to go. Besides, I'm leaving for California tomorrow. Who's going to take me to the airport?"
"I'll send John to do it," Molly said. "Maybe this trip is coming at a good time. We can take a break and reevaluate, figure out what we really want from this relationship."
"You're still going to join me in California though, just like we planned right?" Sherlock asked.
"I don't know," Molly answered, crossing her arms. "It depends."
And then she was gone, leaving a very confused Sherlock all by himself.
.
"I tried, Mary. I really tried, but he just isn't interested in me that way. That's perfectly clear after our conversation over dinner tonight."
"I'm sorry Molly, truly I am. But you're not going to let your marriage dissolve over an argument are you? I'm sure you two can work things out, you should work things out. You two are good together. Everybody can see that."
"Maybe," Molly said. "But would you agree to a loveless marriage?"
"No. But you did," Mary reminded her. "You knew what you were getting into when you agreed to marry him."
"Yes," Molly admitted. "Yes, I did. But I thought he would change his mind."
"Yes, John and I did too. But you should still wait it out and see what happens. Maybe some time apart will do the trick and then you'll be in his arms when you join him in California."
Molly sighed. "I wish I shared your conviction. But I'm almost positive that it won't happen."
Mary smiled and patted her on the knee. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see. Won't we?"
"Well, I guess so."
"Have a little faith, darling. You know, stranger things have happened."
"Stranger things than a man like Sherlock falling in love?" Molly asked. "I will only believe that when I see it, Mary."
TBC. . .
.
Author's Note:
Sorry for the delay in posting. I've had a bunch of stuff going on. All unrelated to the issues that kept me from posting in February, I am still dealing with that issue to but it is getting better. Anyways, I had a review from somebody and they said that Sherlock was out of character, which is half on purpose. But it still rankled me and took away some of my inspiration to continue on in this story, but here I am again. We're in the homestretch now, I hope you'll tell me what you thought of this chapter. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Love,
Holly, 4/14/2014_