Hi All, I'm back with another chapter.

First things first, thanks go to amyutz who is a bit of an English Language expert. She beta's this chapter for me so I could see how I was faring with my grammar etc. Let's just say, I now know I have to use A LOT more commas. I will endeavour to do better going forward.

Aside from that, I am so glad that you are all enjoying the fic and that I fooled so many of you with the first couple NOT being John and Sherlock. We left Molly and Sherlock having just clapped eyes on each other for the first time in months…shall we see how the reunion goes…

Chapter 3

Time seemed to slow down and the noise of the room faded away. She was vaguely aware of John at his side but all of her concentration was on Sherlock, who stood right there in front of her. All flesh and blood wrapped up in an expensive, fitted, dark blue suit with a matching blue shirt. He was like a dream come true and she hadn't realised just how much she had missed him until she saw him again. His eyes were bluer than she remembered, his hair darker. He was perfectly clean shaven and it had her longing to touch his cheek to see how soft his skin would be and she wondered if he would still smell the same. Did he use the same cologne or had he changed it? Her mouth felt dry, her heart thudded in her chest and she knew she was probably looking as shocked as he appeared to be.

She saw his eyes widen as he saw her, his gorgeous Cupid's bow mouth fell open slightly and his stride faltered.

It was John who broke the spell. 'Molly, is that really you?'

Finally, she turned her gaze away from Sherlock and onto John whose face was lit up with joy.

She stood on shaky legs and nodded, reaching for him so that they could embrace for the first time in months. Yes, she'd FaceTimed him and Rosie, and spoken to him on the phone at least once a month but it was just so nice to see him.

As he let her go she turned to Sherlock and felt suddenly awkward. How do you greet the man you ran away from? The man you were still so desperately in love with?

'Molly, it's good to see you.'

His voice seemed colder than his words and the expression on his face was somewhat forbidding but they both seemed to lean into each other at the same time and he pressed his lips against her cheek, his hands resting on her upper arms for a moment. She felt the press of his fingers onto her skin and it sent shudders down through her body.

For a moment they held there and she could smell his familiar cologne and it had her heart clenching in her chest; he was the same...he was just the same and God she'd missed him.

'I... I thought I saw someone that looked like you when I boarded the ship a couple of hours ago...walking along the port... sorry, I mean the starboard side towards the fore, wearing a light coloured suit.'

Sherlock nodded. 'Yes, that was probably me. John was being irritating so I came to the bar to get away and have a drink.'

He pulled the chair out next to her and sat himself down even as John huffed and complained.

'I was not being irritating, I was simply trying to get you to unpack. I don't know why that was such a problem.'

Sherlock rolled his eyes. 'Boring.'

And just like that Molly felt her life shifting back into position. Listening to the two of them bantering, hearing Sherlock's deep baritone voice and familiar refrain, it just felt so perfectly natural and right.

'Well aren't you two just the sweetest couple. I'm Rob and this is my husband Jay. How long have you been together and how do you guys,' he pointed his finger between John, Sherlock and Molly, 'all know each other?'

Molly couldn't help but chuckle as she saw John already shaking his head. 'Oh no, we're not a couple. Just friends that's all.'

She saw Rob raise an eyebrow in disbelief as Sherlock called one of the waiters over and ordered another bottle of the red that she'd been drinking.

'OK, if you say so, though it is 2021, no need to be shy about it.' Jay winked and Molly saw John huff in frustration and it just seemed like she'd never been apart from them.

She decided it was time to introduce everyone and as she did she explained their back history.

'Sherlock and John live in London. I used to live there too and we all kind of worked together and became friends as well. I haven't seen either of them since I moved to Cardiff last year. Honestly it's just so good to see you both.'

She looked at them and saw Sherlock's eyes narrow. He didn't look happy. 'If you missed us that much, how come you left in the first place?'

For the first time Molly's mood dipped, she didn't really have an answer for him; at least not one that she particularly wanted to share with him or the rest of the table, though she knew John had a pretty good idea. It was why she'd avoided saying goodbye to Sherlock before she'd left all those months ago.

He was obviously thinking the same because he went on. 'And if we're such good friends, how come I didn't even know you were leaving until you'd gone?'

Molly felt her face heating up and she saw John put his hand on Sherlock's arm. 'Come on mate, leave it.'

At the same time she heard Rob saying 'Ooh tension.'

'I...I'm sorry Sherlock, it just seemed easier.'

'Easier for whom?'

She looked away, down at the table. 'Me, easier for me.'

There was a silence for a moment but then Jay broke it.

'Hang on, your name is Sherlock? Are you Sherlock Holmes? That guy who faked his own death a few years back... the detective?'

She finally felt Sherlock's eyes leave her and she was grateful to Jay for the distraction and change of subject, whether it was intended or otherwise.

As the men talked she took a sip of her drink and remembered back to how she'd felt all those months ago when she'd made the decision to leave. It had been off the back of Mary's death, Sherlock's descent into drug use again, and finally culminated in that hideous phone call where he'd forced her into revealing her feelings. When she'd finally found out that it had all been for some bizarre experiment set up by his sister, it had just felt like the final straw.

She'd been headhunted about the same time by the main teaching hospital in Cardiff, and when they offered to cover her relocation expenses and put her up in a flat just a fifteen-minute walk from the hospital until she had a place of her own, she had just leapt at the chance.

Using up her outstanding leave had meant that she'd been gone within a month and Sherlock had been absolutely right; she hadn't told him. She didn't even tell John until the day before she was leaving, as she hadn't trusted him not to tell his best friend. It wasn't because she thought he'd care about her leaving so much as he wouldn't want to lose her skills.

And so she'd fled, telling herself it would be a fresh start, that she'd be able to meet someone else and maybe fall in love if she wasn't in Sherlock's shadow. She'd been so wrong and seeing them... him, here brought that into even sharper relief.

She decided it was time to pick herself up and fake her happiness until it came back. To that end she turned to John and Sherlock.

'So, come on, how come you guys are here on this trip? Is it a case?'

John shook his head. 'No, we did have one over the border in Jordan, some work Mycroft needed doing, but that finished about two days ago and the timing was perfect to have a break and do something I'd wanted to do for years. I persuaded Sherlock...'

Sherlock broke in tilting his head and flattening his lips. 'Hmm, I think it was more guilt tripping and blackmail than persuasion.'

John smiled but ignored his friend. 'I persuaded Sherlock before we left London that, seeing as my sister had Rosie for a fortnight and we knew the Jordan stuff wouldn't take long, now would be the perfect time for a holiday.'

'I really don't see the point of a holiday.'

'No, you never do, but the rest of us mere mortals need them every so often.'

Rob and Jay had been watching this whole conversation in fascination as they tucked into the starter that they'd all received.

Rob interjected to ask the obvious question. 'So, given your mate's obvious reluctance, how did you guilt trip him into coming?'

Molly guessed at the answer and John didn't disappoint, but it had Jay almost choking on his food and Rob left open mouthed.

'I reminded him that he'd killed my wife.'

Rob turned to Sherlock in shock. 'You killed his wife?'

It was Molly who answered before Sherlock could make the situation worse. 'No, he didn't. His actions may have led to it but he didn't actually kill her. John, I thought you'd got past that?'

John scowled. 'Yes, I have...most of the time. I'm not averse to using it to my advantage when I need to though, and I needed this holiday.'

'You could have taken it without me.'

John shook his head and turned to his friend. 'Yes, I could have, but you needed a break too. Since Molly left you've been almost manic...we've barely stopped in the last year or so.'

Molly frowned a little and concentrated on her food. She wondered if there was a reason that John had linked her leaving to Sherlock's behaviour, but in the end decided it was just a coincidence... no doubt triggered in John's mind by seeing her.

As the meal went on she asked about their mutual friends as well as some of the cases that she'd read about on John's blog. It had been hard to read them knowing she could have been at the heart of them if only she'd stayed. With Sherlock sitting here right next to her, her reasons for leaving seemed less and less compelling. She wasn't going to stop loving him whether he was right in front of her or a million miles away, so why was she torturing herself?

When John excused himself, at the end of the meal, to nip to the loo Sherlock threw down his napkin. 'If you'll excuse me too, I think I need some air.'

Molly saw him stand up and knew she needed to settle things with him somehow. She pushed her chair back and smiled at Rob and Jay. 'Thanks for being such good company. I'll no doubt see you at breakfast.' Then she hurried off after Sherlock.

The two men watched her leave and when they turned to each other it was Jay who spoke.

'So, is your money on the girl or the guy? Gay or not gay?'

Rob sat back and sipped on his drink thoughtfully. 'On this occasion I'm going with Molly. He kept looking at her when he knew she wasn't looking at him. He just never did that with his friend, even though they did have all sorts of gay vibes going on, especially at the beginning of the meal. Tenner says he'll hook up with her before the end of the trip.'

Jay smiled and put out his hand and Rob shook it. 'Deal. Though I rather suspect I'll lose my money on this one.' He picked up the only bottle with some wine left in it. 'Another one?'

Rob held out his half empty glass. 'Why not...we are on holiday after all.'

MHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMH

Molly caught up with Sherlock at the bar where he was ordering himself a whisky. He looked down at her and sighed. 'What would you like?'

Tempted though she was to say 'for you to love me' she just requested a Baileys and smiled when he ordered her a double without ice. He still knew how she liked her drinks even after all this time.

Together they silently made their way out onto the deck and over towards a quiet part of the railings. It was dark now and Molly could see the lights in the houses on the shore on either side of them. They were definitely fewer and further apart than they had been earlier.

She soon realised that she was going to have to be the one to break the silence and she also knew that she needed to try to make things right with him.

'I'm really sorry Sherlock. I should never have left without talking to you and telling you. I was just...to be honest I was a bit of a mess. Between Mary dying, you being...not at your best and that phone call that your sister instigated...I just needed to get away.'

He was silent for so long that she wondered if he was ever going to answer her. She shivered a little from a cool breeze and he must have noticed because he balanced his glass on the railing and shrugged off his jacket; before she could protest he gently placed it around her shoulders.

She sighed and hugged it closer to her, appreciating the thought.

He gave her a slight smile. 'That phone call was hard for both of us Molly.'

'I know but it just tore me apart knowing that Mycroft, John and your sister were all listening in and laughing at me.'

He frowned. 'No one was laughing at you Molly. No one.'

She shrugged. 'It was just humiliating. Having my feelings out there for everyone to see...' her voice dropped a little. '...for you to see.'

He hesitated for a moment before he replied and when he did he was looking out at the water rather than at her.

'It was just as painful for me. It felt like she'd sliced me open and ripped out my heart, Molly. I told John at the time that it felt like vivisection. It was the only way to describe it. You see you are my...'

'Here you both are. The guys said you'd come out here.'

Molly jumped slightly at the unexpected interruption and she turned to see John smiling at them both, holding his own glass of whisky.

'Hey. We just needed some air.'

He must have sensed some tension because Molly saw him glance back and forth between them. He was about to say something but she cut him off.

'Anyway, it's late. I think I'll turn in. Thanks for the drink Sherlock. Umm...here's your jacket back. I'll no doubt see you both in the morning.'

He took it from her and she sensed him watching her as she made her way along the deck back towards her cabin.

So? How do you think it went? I'd love to know your thoughts on their reactions, so please let me know xx