A.N: Hello My Mollcroft fans!

Firstly thank you so so much for the reviews. I tried to reply to each of you individually, you are just so special to me, always bringing a smile to my face.

This chapter is a bit of a filler but it is a necessary evil next chapter will be explosive I promise. A HUGE thanks to Jo for proof reading this chapter.

I still don't own Sherlock or its character.

Please review and let me know what you think!

Steffy

Chapter 10:

Molly was in a very good mood for the rest of the week. She knew that Mycroft coming back to her place and kissing her the way he did was a huge step for him, maybe one of the biggest he ever took on such a personal level; and she couldn't help but smile to herself.

"What are you smiling for?" asked her friend Jane, as they were shopping during their lunch break.

"Why wouldn't I? It's a beautiful day and I get to do some shopping with a good friend, it's a good day!"

"Okay…." Jane trailed off. "Except that I have been asking you to join me for shopping almost every week for the past two years, and I had little hopes of you ever saying yes."

"Well everything changes." Molly said with a simple shrug. She wanted to share with her friend what had happened with Mycroft, but really what did happen? Just a quick kiss, nothing to get excited about in normal people's books. It was not really newsworthy when you were not in grade school anymore.

Moreover, she was not sure how much she could share about Mycroft. She knew his job and identity were somehow a secret. Well, not really a secret, but it was something he clearly didn't want exposed.

Molly let her eyes wander to a store window, and stopped dead in her tracks, mesmerized. Jane kept on walking a few steps before coming back.

"Earth to Molly, are you with me?" she asked, trying to see where Molly was looking.

"I, yeah… sorry."

"No, it's okay- you looked like you just froze and your brain needed to reboot. Did you see Benedict Cumberbatch or what?" asked Jane with humor.

"No, I saw that." said Molly, pointing to the dress on the mannequin.

"Okay sweetheart, three things-" said Jane, wrapping her arm around Molly's shoulders. "First; the store is Alexander McQueen so unless you won the lottery you better move on. Secondly, why would you need a dress so fancy?" She snorted. "No offence, Molly, but your social life is the one of an 80-year-old woman; and thirdly- it's green, so damn green."

"I like it" replied Molly, crossing the street to get closer to the store.

"Honey, if you wear that thing, you will look like Kermit the Frog's long-lost sister."

"That's the point" Molly replied with a small smile, as if she was sharing a very private joke.

"Okay, so if your point is looking like Kermit, we can do it for much cheaper than that."

"We don't even know the price yet! What if it is pricey? I don't own anything nice. We only live once!" Molly replied, walking into the store.

The two saleswomen looked at her with disdain, and it took all Molly's courage to walk into the store. Molly knew that right now she didn't look like much with her ratty jumper and old pair of pants. Her inexpensive tastes and meagre needs and hobbies were what actually could allow her to buy a scandalously expensive dress today without causing any damage to her bank account.

She believed Mycroft when he told her he didn't care how she dressed, but she also knew they came from two completely different worlds. She had seen it when he had tried to eat the pizza. She had seen it when she stayed at his mansion or when he took her to the wedding. He did buy her a dress and accessories for the occasion and she knew that, even if he did it for her benefit, she didn't want herself to be the source of mockery or judgment when they went to dinner.

"May I help you?" asked one of the saleswoman, coming toward them. Molly clearly heard in her tone the implied 'I think you are in the wrong store'. Luckily for her, Jane always looked like she had stepped out of a fashion magazine. She spent most of her nurse's wages on clothes anyway.

"Indeed you may. I would like to try this dress on" Molly replied, pointing at the dress in the window.

"Ah, yes, I see…" the saleswoman scrutinised Molly from head to toe. "Not sure we have your size…a 12 isn't it?"

Molly stood straighter, trying to pretend the woman's disdain didn't affect her. "10-12 yes, depending on the cut." (10-12 UK is actually a 6-8 US)

"Ah, yes, I will need to check. We do have limited numbers of the larger sizes."

Molly almost wanted to punch the woman in front of her. She hated the fact that she subconsciously tightened her jacket around her. Okay, she was not a bag of bones- but in which universe was a size 12 big?

"Oh, we do have it in a 12…" said the woman by the rack, sounding almost sorry she had found it. "You see, this is the current collection."

"Molly, we'd better go." Jane whispered in her ear.

Molly took a step toward the saleswoman. "I want to try it."

" The dress is £1200. "

Jane gasped but Molly simply shrugged. "So what? I might not look like much but I have more than enough money to buy this dress." she added, losing her cool and patience.

The saleswoman blushed ever so slightly, maybe because Molly had been able to read through her pretence so easily.

Molly grabbed the hanger from the woman's hand. "And where is the changing room?"

The saleswoman pointed mutely in the right direction.

Molly tried the dress and it fitted very well. The side zipper had been a bit hard to close, but the slight tightness had the extra advantage of showing her small breasts to best advantage. It added definition to a barely existing cleavage.

"Can I see?" Jane asked from outside the room.

Molly came out, but she knew that whatever Jane told her, she was going to buy that dress.

Jane nodded with appreciation. "I like it, I actually like it a lot. It does look better with a model that actually has some shape."

Molly snorted. "Are you saying an actual human being?"

Jane laughed too. "And as strange as it seems, even the colour suits you, but-"

"But?" Asked Molly, twirling slowly in front of the mirror.

"It's green, so very green." Jane added, wrinkling her nose with disgust.

"But except for the color, you do like it."

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll buy it." Molly said.

By the time Molly got home that night with the dress, she wanted to call or text Mycroft. A part of her was worried he might not like the interruption. She knew the man was not big for banalities, even if he seemed to make a herculean effort with her.

The day he had kissed her and left, she found out from the news that the Syrian crisis had intensified. There was an emergency meeting organised by the German chancellor and the UK was part of this meeting. Molly hadn't needed any confirmation to figure that Mycroft had been in the special plane designated for the British officials.

She had received a quick email from his PA a couple of days later confirming the date and the time of pick up but nothing since then.

Molly sighed, playing with her phone. She was supposed to see him tomorrow night and she still felt somewhat shy about it. If it had been any other man, she would have texted him but it was a Holmes, and above all Mycroft Holmes (or 'secret agent man' as she liked to call him.)

The next day Molly was fully dressed and ready to go when her phone rang, and her now favourite caller marked "private" appeared on the screen.

She smiled widely as she answered, expecting Mycroft to tell her he was on the way.

"Miss Hooper?"

Molly frowned, not expecting a woman's voice. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry to trouble you, but it's Anthea, Mr. Holmes' PA. "

"Oh hi! Yes, sorry, I didn't recognize you!" Molly said, much cheerier now.

"I'm calling you on behalf of Mr. Holmes. He wanted to apologize but he has to cancel your plans for the evening. " Anthea said.

Molly sat down on her bed, both surprised and angry. "At this time?"

"Yes, I appreciate it's really short notice; but it is something completely out if his control."

"And I presume he was just too busy to call me himself." Molly said, feeling hurt as well as angry.

"I'm sorry?"

Molly shook her head. She knew that Anthea had heard her; she just didn't want to answer. Molly stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. "You know what, it doesn't matter, just-"

"Just what?" Anthea asked.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Molly asked, out of the blue. She didn't even know where the question came from. She knew she should retract it and apologize for even asking it. She had no right to ask her that. Mycroft and she had barely kissed. He had never promised exclusivity- hell, he didn't promise anything at all, except that it was stupid and bound to end. He had been right on both accounts….it actually finished before it had even started.

"I believe it is a question you should ask him." Anthea replied.

Molly nodded. "I would if I could. Well, thank you for calling. Goodbye." Molly added, before disconnecting the call. She was all dolled up, there was no way she was going to sob on her sofa. She decided to call John Watson and go out.

John was more than happy to go out to dinner with Molly.

"You're very pretty! You should have told me you were dressing up, I feel completely out of place now!" said John as he reached the restaurant by Molly's house.

"You look dashing, John, don't be silly," she replied as he pulled her into his usual bear hug.

He chuckled. "I will take your word for it. I've missed you."

"I know, I'm sorry. It's my fault, work has just been insane." she replied as they entered the restaurant. She had missed the four last weekly drinks, mostly due to the hours she had to do in order to have more time off for herself and the little impromptu moments she had been spending with Mycroft. That was something that wouldn't happen anymore. Her phone started to vibrate in the pocket of her jacket. She looked at it and rejected the call that said 'private'. It would be better from now on.

John smiled. "Well, you will be here on Friday, right?"

"Friday?" Molly frowned.

John looked at her as if she had lost her mind" It is the one year anniversary." he said, not able to conceal the sadness in his voice.

Molly cursed herself mentally. She had slipped up. That was an important day for anyone who thought Sherlock had actually died. She nodded." Yes of course, sorry I…Work is something crazy." she replied lamely.

John nodded, but she didn't miss the disappointment in his eyes.

"What is new with you?" she finally asked, trying to get onto something else. Her phone vibrated again. She quickly looked at the screen, rejecting the private call again.

John shrugged. "Not much, I started working for a clinic not too far from my new place."

"Oh that's fantastic! I'm so glad you got back into medicine; you know we could always use a doctor like you at St Bart's. Just say the words and Mike will –" Molly sighed with exasperation as her phone started to vibrate yet again.

"Maybe you should get that." John said nicely, jerking his head toward her pocket.

"No, no I really don't need to-" she said, taking her phone out and turning it off completely.

"Is everything all right, Molly? You know you can tell me anything, right?" John said, reaching for her hand from across the table.

Molly nodded, her heart aching. John had been such a faithful friend, always here for her. Sometimes she felt like a liar and a cheater with him. She opened her mouth, about to reveal the truth about Sherlock, but she knew it would be the ultimate betrayal. Instead she simply smiled and said the only truth she was allowed to say. "I miss him too, you know." And it was true, she missed Sherlock's condescension, his barely hidden vulnerability, his unbelievable naivete. She knew he was alive, but she didn't know if she would ever see him, not after everything that had happened.

John took a deep breath as his eyes filled up with tears. "Me too, sometimes I am in bed at night and I can hear his violin like he is in the next room. It seems so real, except that he is not here and he will never play again. Who would have thought that it was the most irritating things that I would miss the most?"

Molly nodded, knowing only too well what he meant. "I know, when my father passed away what I missed the most was hearing his snoring…Once he was gone, the house was just so quiet, so empty… I realized that his snoring was actually what helped me to sleep."

They were in the middle of their meal when Molly spotted two men in black suits entering the restaurant. One stayed by the door pretending to check a menu, while the other one reached for his cell phone.

"I'll be back in a second," she said to John, before walking toward the toilet. As soon as she was sure John's eyes were not on her any more, she took a sharp left and went to stand by the man holding the menu. "Just tell your boss I'm fine and that if I am not answering it's because I have nothing to say."Molly said quietly.

"Excuse me?" the man asked, apparently dumbfounded.

Molly couldn't deny that he was playing it well. She sighed, shaking her head. "Okay, let's pretend you don't understand and let's pretend I am crazy. Just tell them to back off."

"I'm sorry I have no-"

Molly waved her hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter." By the time she reached her table and sat down, the men were gone. She smiled to herself.

The evening went well otherwise. She actually forgot how she loved to spend time with John. She finally realized it was time to go when she realized the restaurant was empty, and the waiters were waiting for them to leave.

"I really enjoyed the night out, thank you so much! I really needed it." she said sincerely to John as he walked her home.

"You are very welcome, it's good to go out and have a change every once in a while." John said.

"It's so easy with you, you're so normal." she said, almost with regret.

"Normal compared to whom? The Queen of England?" he asked in an attempt to joke with her.

Molly laughed. "Yes, you know Elizabeth and I, it's always something."

John stopped when they reached her door and pulled her into a hug. "So Friday? His favourite fish and chip shop…6:00?"

Molly nodded. "I will be there. Do you want me to call you a cab?" she asked, turning on her phone and seeing 23 missed calls and 3 texts.

John shook his head and gestured to a cab parked not too far from her house. "See you soon."

Molly smiled, going into her house, deleting the texts without even reading them. She had no idea what Mycroft wanted to tell her but she was sure he was not happy with her, and she really didn't feel like dealing with him.

It was clear now that she didn't matter to him, not really. Maybe it was the best he could do. Maybe for him that was his way of caring, but she realized that she had to protect herself. She had been constantly hurt by Sherlock, not voluntarily but it had hurt just the same. A part of her screamed that somehow Mycroft would be hurting her even more.

Molly needed a better instinct of self-preservation, and for the first time she decided to listen to the voice that told her to just stop trying to have any kind of relationship with Mycroft Holmes.