Thank you so much for all your reviews, it has made me so happy to see how well this little fic has been received. As many of you have said it seems that Molly just can't give her heart to anyone else as it already belongs to Sherlock.

Thank you also for the snippets of information about how your being affected by the virus outbreak. It's fascinating to hear and it proves that we really are a global Sherlolly community. Stay safe xx

Chapter 2

As they drove away from the church it didn't take long for Sherlock's mood to crash. It was hard to stay happy when Molly looked so forlorn and upset and he started to have doubts about whether she still felt the same way about him and whether he should even tell her about his feelings at all.

When she started to wipe away tears with her fingers he dug his hand into his pocket and passed her his handkerchief.

She gave him a half smile as she took it with a shaking hand. 'Thanks...oh God, Sherlock, I've made a right mess of things haven't I?'

'No, I doubt you have. I suspect you've made the right decision for you. So, what happened? I've deduced you broke things off...that wasn't hard.' He gave her a wry smile which had her weakly smiling in return. '...but I haven't deduced the how or the why.'

She gave a large sigh and looked out of the window for a moment.

'What can I say? I've been having doubts from the get go but I think I was in love with the idea of marriage and settling down more than I was in love with Tom. Don't get me wrong he's a lovely man...'

Sherlock let out a snort of derision and Molly frowned at him.

'No, he is. He's perfectly lovely and...oh God, his face when he realised I couldn't do it...'

She dissolved into tears for a minute and Sherlock felt useless...unsure as to how to comfort her.

In the end he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him and she sobbed against his chest, apologising as she did for getting his shirt and jacket wet.

'I got to the top of the aisle and saw him waiting at the front and I just couldn't move...I just stood there with everyone watching until the music ran out and people started whispering. Then John, bless him, came up and asked me what was wrong. I just blurted out that I couldn't do it...that I couldn't marry Tom and then I fled to the cloakroom at the back of the church.'

She took a shuddering breath and wiped her face and Sherlock was glad that the tears had stopped for now. It wasn't normal for Molly to be upset like that and he'd hated seeing it.

'Well, it was bedlam after that. Mum came in and tried to change my mind, then I had to see Tom and try to explain it. All the while John was talking to the guests and getting them to leave...to go on to the reception or to go home. Tom was the last to leave...must have only been moments before you arrived. I just needed a minute to myself before me and Mum left and that's when I walked into the church and saw you...'

Sherlock hugged her a little closer and heard her sniffing again.

'Thank you for being there Sherlock...for rescuing me. I mean I know it doesn't mean much to you but it does to me.'

It was at that moment that the cab pulled up outside Baker St and Sherlock handed over some cash as Molly made her way to the door. By the time he'd caught up with her she was looking around nervously, especially at the people sitting outside the cafe next door eying her and Sherlock, enjoying the prospect of a bit of drama with their tea and cake.

'Hurry up and let me in, I feel a right idiot standing here in a wedding dress.'

Sherlock moved passed her and started to open the door. 'Why? It suits you.'

She rolled her eyes at him and hurried in through the open door and he frowned wondering if it hadn't come across as the compliment he'd meant it to be.

They made their way up the stairs and he waited in the doorway watching Molly and wondering what he should say or do; she looked lost.

'Maybe I shouldn't have come...this was a mistake. I haven't even got anything to wear and I can't stay in this.'

Here at least was something he could do and he made his way to his bedroom gesturing for her to follow him. 'I can probably find you something. A t shirt or one of my shirts...something like that.'

He went into his room and shrugged off his jacket before rummaging in his wardrobe. He brought out a purple coloured shirt that he hadn't worn in a while.

'I know it's not ideal but I can always pop over to your flat and pick up something more suitable tomorrow.'

Molly seemed a bit flushed as she looked at the shirt though he couldn't quite work out why but she nodded and smiled. 'Thanks.'

He was about to leave when she called him back. This time she definitely looked nervous.

'What?'

'I'm really sorry to have to ask but can you help me take the dress off.' She blushed even more as she said that and then she turned around. 'It's the buttons...Mum had to do them up this morning because I can't manage them.'

There, in a shining line were lots and lots of tiny pearl buttons going all the way from below her shoulder blades down to the curve of her backside. Even just looking at her body in this figure hugging dress was turning him on and removing it was going to kill him. So he concentrated on the buttons quickly counting them.

He started at the top struggling at first with the size of them but soon starting to get into a rhythm.

'42 Buttons.'

Molly smiled at him over her shoulder. 'Yes, I chose that number specifically.'

Sherlock raised an eyebrow as he put two and two together in his head. 'Douglas Adams, the answer to life the universe and everything...to remember your dad.'

This time Molly turned to face him pulling the dress out of his fingers. 'Yes, how did you...'

He gently turned her back around. 'I saw the books in your flat once, they looked dog eared and well read. I checked the fly leaf one day and it had "Frank Hooper" written inside. So, your dad's favourite books, passed to you when you were young, along with his love of sci-fi...ergo you chose a number that's important in those books.'

'Yes but knowing about the books is one thing, you'd have to read them to know about the number.'

'I do my research Molly.'

He was about half way down now and Molly's satin smooth back was slowly being revealed to him and he ached to slide his hands across her skin. He hadn't realised that they'd fallen silent until Molly spoke again.

'Why were you at the church Sherlock?'

The one question he'd hoped she wouldn't ask.

His mouth felt dry and he saw his hands shake a little with nerves. This was the moment of truth.

'To stop the wedding.'

He felt Molly stiffen a little but he just carried on undoing the buttons.

'Why would you...are you that desperate to keep me as your pathologist that you'd try to stop me getting married?'

Sherlock frowned as he undid the final button. 'What? No, of course not. I just didn't want you marrying that idiot.'

Molly turned to him holding the front of her dress to stop it falling away. She looked furious. 'Tom isn't an idiot and you would have had no right.'

He was about to answer when she held her hand up. 'You know what...it doesn't matter. Just...would you give me some space, I need to get out of this ridiculous dress.'

Sherlock sighed and nodded his head. He needed a drink.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

He poured himself a whisky and then perched on the corner of the kitchen table as he waited for Molly to come out. He couldn't leave things as they were; he had to make her understand. At least the whisky helped to take the edge off his nerves a little, though it did nothing to dispel the image of Molly's back as he'd undone those buttons. If he closed his eyes he could see it all again, imagining it being their wedding day and him being allowed to touch her.

His eyes snapped back open as he heard his bedroom door opening but he wasn't prepared for the sight he was about to see. If he'd thought Molly looked beautiful in her wedding dress with her hair intricately pinned up with sprays of tiny white flowers it was nothing compared to how breathtaking she looked in his shirt, falling to mid thigh, with her hair down around her shoulders in soft waves.

He put his glass down and beckoned her forwards. 'Come here, you missed one.'

She still looked a little angry with him but she came and stood between his thighs and he couldn't stop his body from physically starting to respond to her, all he could do was try to ignore it and hope Molly wouldn't notice. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel under pressure.

He turned her head slightly and then started to unclip the final pin in her hair, taking his time so he didn't hurt her. When he'd removed the last clip and thrown it to one side he took hold of her hands to stop her moving away.

'Molly, when I said I didn't want you to marry that idiot what I actually meant was that he isn't the idiot you should be marrying.'

He finally looked up from her hands and found her looking confused.

'OK, so which idiot should I be marrying?'

This was it, his moment of truth and he found he felt calm all of a sudden rather than nervous. This was his Molly and she gave him strength...always, even if she didn't realise it.

'Me...you should be marrying me.'

There was a couple of seconds of silence and then she smiled, chuckled almost and she freed one hand so she could cup his cheek...letting her thumb slide along his cheekbone.

Somehow this wasn't the response he'd been expecting.

'Oh Sherlock, you can't marry me just to keep me available to you. I just can't marry you. Yes I love you, we both know that now but I want so much more from marriage than just friendship and convenience. I want love and sex and romance, maybe even children one day. These are all things that you can't give me.'

Now it was his turn to be confused. 'I can't? Why can't I?'

She chuckled again and waved her hand at him. 'Well, because you're you.'

He realised that he needed to spell it out for her.

'Molly, I'm in love with you. I realised it the moment I said it in that phone call but I thought I had time to come to terms with it.'

He put one finger up against her lips as he saw her trying to protest. 'No, I don't just mean platonic love.'

He carried on, ignoring the look in her eye which told him she didn't believe him.

'As for sex, I am actually human and a man, I have physical needs and I assure you I can and have had sex. Granted I probably won't be any good at romance but I'm prepared to try...for you. And after seeing John with Rosie I'm open to the idea of children. I want to see what you and I mixed together would create.'

She was shaking her head now and her eyes were filled with unshed tears. 'Please Sherlock don't do this...I can't bear to hear you saying the things I've always wanted to hear you say when you don't mean them.'

'Dammit Molly, what do I have to do to prove it to you?'

She shrugged and her hands fluttered at her sides. 'I don't know, Sherlock, I just don't know.'

And then all of a sudden it was plain to him what he needed to do to convince her and he gave her a slow, blisteringly hot smile as he looked at her and said 'well I do.'

Whaddya think he's going to do to convince her? Hope you're enjoying the progression and the reason for the buttons. Any other Hitchhikers fans out there? Anyway I'll be back soon xxx