Lestrade was in his office, working on some paperwork when his phone that was lying on the desk chimed with an incoming text. He glanced at it, then immediately grabbed it up when he saw the message.

Tom and I broke up last week

"Holy shit," he said out loud to no one, leaning back in his chair, astonished. That bastard, he then thought, Sherlock was right. Just about two weeks on the dot. He had not heard from Molly since the wedding. Now he knew why, things had not been going well for her.

How to answer. Conflicting thoughts and emotions battled for supremacy, ranging from sympathy to glee. He didn't have any information to go on, only knew they broke up. He settled on something conventional.

I'm sorry, Molls

Her answer came back shortly.

No you're not

Nobody liked Tom

Especially you

He let out a snort of laughter. Well, that was true enough. He hated that guy. That had come out loud and clear at the wedding. He texted back, now more serious. Probably this was hard for her.

Are you ok?

A minute passed before her answer came back.

I'll be ok

He thought about what to say next. What was the proper amount of time to respect the mourning of a dissolved relationship? Probably shouldn't dive in headfirst yet, although there were a lot of things he wanted to say to Molly Hooper.

Do you need anything?

The response came back a few minutes later.

Time to sort things out

Shit. Not the answer he was looking for. A better answer might have been back massages, regular supply of take-out coffee to the morgue, bad jokes. He would have been much better at providing that sort of thing. Time. Well, ok, so be it. He texted back.

I'm here, if you need anything

He thought back to the wedding, and the series of events that had unfolded there. He hadn't really planned to confess so much. It just...happened. He had wanted to tell her, at least just once, that she was beautiful. He had wanted to dance with her, at least just once. Just once before she was married. He did not expect to be so overcome by holding Molly Hooper in his arms so close to him that night, her fitting so perfectly. It had gone to his head. It confirmed everything he ever thought. She was perfect for him, and he was perfect for her. It's hard to know what he might have said to her, if Tom had not intervened. On the other hand, would he have said anything at all, if Tom had not provoked him. All water under the bridge now.

He wondered exactly why they broke up. Probably a lot of things. He hoped he wasn't too much a part of that, he would not like to think that the scuffle and what happened after it at the wedding ruined an engagement that she might have wanted. He was no homewrecker. He was a little sensitive to that issue, having been on the other side of it in his own marriage. On the other hand, at least she knew what he felt. Maybe he should look at this as her having the information she needed to make an informed choice about her future.

Oh, who was he kidding. He was glad Tom was gone and he didn't care how or why. His altruism only went so far.

He texted Sherlock.

Molly and Tom broke up

Exactly when you said

The response came back immediately.

Naturally

Not hard to predict

Statistics show struggling relationships often end

soon after attending weddings

Too much pressure

And then after that;

Good luck