Wow. I was overwhelmed by the response to the last chapter. You guys are fantastic. In every single way. Unfortunately, things aren't quite perfect for our lovebirds just yet. With these two when is anything quite the way it should be? I hope you like this chapter.

Owner of nothing, and extremely grateful for it.

Chapter 12

Molly woke up about an hour too early. She looked over to her right and was pleasantly surprised to see Thomas lying next to her. She had forgotten that he had spent the night, both of them crashing after having finished a Lord of the Rings marathon. For so long, even the idea of his sleeping over was taboo, because there was always the possibility of Sherlock walking in and needing a kidney transplant or something. There were definitely some perks to his being alive again, she decided.

She walked out to the kitchen and searched the fridge. Once again, it was basically bare. Guess that cereal would just have to do, she thought, reaching to grab a box from the top of the fridge. However, she had pulled down something else instead.

She stared at the box of knick knacks that Sherlock had left behind. It had slipped her mind quite a bit recently, getting lost in all the excitement that had been happening. She supposed she ought to give it back, now that everything was over and done. Funny, it seemed so long ago that she had been cleaning up after him. In reality, it had only been a matter of weeks.

She looked through the box one last time, laughing again at the randomness of the items inside of it. What significance could the plastic rose and the tacky keychain possibly have to the brilliant Sherlock Holmes? She couldn't even imagine why the insulting detective would have left these things at her flat. They seemed so unlike him, and yet with Sherlock you never really knew what to expect. He was full of surprises, not all of them good, but he always kept you on your toes.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a voice. "Do you love him?" She looked up to see Thomas standing a few feet away with a pained look on his face. She started to respond, but he didn't let her.

"Don't deny this, Molly. I know what that box is. I know why you light up when you see what is inside it. People don't normally get that look from a box of cheap trinkets unless they mean something to them. I may not be the world's only consulting detective, but I know that much."

Molly looked at him in shock. How many times had she heard this speech before? She knew what came next, and yet she tried her hardest to fight it. This couldn't happen. Not with him. "Thomas, this isn't anything. It's just a box of stuff he left behind, it doesn't mean anything. I love you. I love you so much."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I know that, Molly. Really, I do. But it's not enough, is it? Believe me, I wish it was. More than anything in the world. But I am not him, and I will never be anything like him. I don't want to have to share your heart. We both deserve better than that."

Molly couldn't believe what was happening. Tears were falling fast from her eyes and she kept protesting as she watched him pull the engagement ring off of her finger. He pressed it into her palm. "Molly you know that this is the right thing to do. I love you so much, and I wish I could be everything you want. But I can't make you happy, not enough. So let me go."

Thomas kissed her softly, tasting the tears on her lips. It was heartbreaking to see her like this. But he had to be strong. Thomas had to do the best thing for both of them. Eventually she would be happy again, and wasn't that what really mattered? He turned, grabbed his jacket, and walked quickly out of Molly Hooper's life, blinking back the tears that threatened his own vision as he hailed a cab.