Hello, my sweet people!

So.. back to back posts. This one really shooketh me. I had a hard time writing it because my eyes kept watering. It's the allergies. I swear. Alright, enough from me. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. I appreciate your love and support. Oh Kudos! Don't forget to leave 'em coz I love 'em.

xx,

Tumbleweed_professor

MOLLY

After berating herself for overthinking, Molly determinedly put aside her panic and focused on the paperwork that was due on Monday. She was busy typing away feverishly on her laptop when Tom finally resurfaced. She grinned at him.

"Feeling a bit human now?" she called out cheerfully.

Her grin faded when he turned to look at her. Alarm bells went off in her head but she put her laptop aside and asked casually,

"Are you okay? You don't look well."

Tom didn't respond immediately. He walked into the kitchen to swallow some aspirin. He dallied there for a bit before he brought the water bottle along with him, and lowered himself on the armchair facing her. He gave her a sad half-hearted smile. Trepidation roiled nastily in Molly's stomach.

"Um... yeah... Yeah, I'm okay."

He twisted and untwisted the cap on the bottle in an unsettling manner and Molly shivered even though it was stuffy and hot in the living room.

"John told me last night that you and Sherlock have been friends for more than a decade."

She froze. She simply didn't know how to respond to it since it was neither a question nor a casual remark. The significance of his words sat heavily on her mind. She worried the ring on her left hand and silently willed Tom to stop saying more.

"Molly, um.." he glanced at her quickly before bowing his head again. She held her breath. "Did you and Sherlock... Um.. you know... Did you guys-"

What-?

Molly flushed and shook her head so hard that her neck cricked. She felt a stream of incoherent words bubbling to the surface.

"What happened, Tom. What did he tell you?"

Anger replaced anxiety quickly and it pulsed dangerously in her veins as she tried not to overreact. This is exactly what she had feared. A few hours with those two had Tom asking her things he had never asked her before. She bit down the impulse to march down to Baker street and shoot those idiots.

"Molly, I want you to listen to me," Tom started, but Molly was still staring at her clenched hands. She heard a small thud beside her as Tom took a seat next to her. "Please look at me," he pleaded gently, taking her hands. She took a deep breath. After a few seconds, she raised her head enough to look at him and felt her heart sink even deeper.

"I sort of remembered what happened last night." He paused for a second to give her hand a small squeeze. "I always thought I imagined the tension between the two of you. But I never doubted you, Molly. Not once. I always trusted you." Guilt had her rooted to the spot and she bit her trembling bottom lip. Shame spread through her and she quaked in the wake of it.

He jerked his head up and ran a hand through his hair. Abruptly, he walked over to the fireplace and stared at it as though it held the answers to all his troubles. She watched him silently. Tears sprang to her eyes, but she kept them at bay. For now.

"Molly, I think Sherlock Holmes is in love with you."

Molly goggled at him, shocked. The threatening tears faded and her mouth unthinkingly curved into a small grin of disbelief. Of all the things she thought Tom could have accused of her, the last thing she had expected to come out of his mouth was this. Her brain malfunctioned and all of a sudden she couldn't stop laughing.

"Oh, Tom! Where did you even get that idea? That's just bizarre," she chuckled as quiet relief washed over her. Clearly, Tom was in the wrong. Why would he even assume something so absurd? She shook her head at him but he looked utterly unamused. Her smile faltered as he simply stared back at her.

"I wasn't joking," he said and his voice carried a slight edge to it now.

Molly rubbed her neck wearily as the insane need to continue laughing dissipated. Is Sherlock always going to ruin things for her? She hardened herself to study this new piece of ridiculous information like a fresh cadaver. No matter how many times she looked or analyzed it, the prognosis remained unchanged. This had to be a terrible joke. She gave Tom her final report.

"Tom, Sherlock is not the type of man who fancies himself to be in love. He is a maniac. A junkie who needs some form of fix. Which is why he is constantly working. Because if he is not, he will turn to drugs. That's who he is. Don't let a night of drinking make you question our life."

Tom gave a half chuckle and pressed his fingers to his temple.

"See, that's the problem, Molly. He was very lucid ." But Molly refused to accept Tom's reasoning.

"What do you want me to say? That we were in love? Because that's not the truth. He and I are hardly even-"

"Were you in love with him?" Tom interrupted her and Molly's heart simply stopped. When she remained silent, Tom gave a hollow laugh and shook his head despondently.

"I should have known. God, I was so blind."

And out of nowhere, Molly felt herself getting furious with him. She was furious with all these men deciding on behalf of her. She was furious that she was being manipulated once again.

"Fine, I was! Yes! But it was so fucking long ago, I really don't see how this is going to affect our future," she snapped indignantly.

"Why didn't you tell me? I thought we didn't have any secrets."

Molly let out a humourless laugh.

"Because it was not mutual, Tom! It was all on me. I had feelings. That's all. Are you telling me that you've never had feelings for someone who didn't feel the same way about you?"

Tom remained silent and Molly desperately wished for him to pick a fight with her than talk to her in a calm, placating way. Somehow, his steadiness only managed to shake her.

"So if he was right about you, then who is to tell he is wrong about how he feels about you now?" Tom questioned her finally.

"Because Tom, I know him! I know what kind of a man he is! He is extremely intelligent. He knows how to exploit human vulnerabilities. He can be cruel and fucking heartless. So yes, that's how I know!" she yelled, letting those angry tears fall freely now.

"Molly, you wouldn't be this upset if a part of you didn't believe it to be true. I love you. I really do. But I can't go on believing that Sherlock would never come between us. I can't compete with a man who shares a history with you. I can't start a life with you knowing that one of your friends is still in love with you. Would you be okay if you were in my position? Would you trust me enough to go ahead with this wedding?"

Molly simply slumped back into the sofa and gave into those bitter tears. Her heart turned heavy and cold and she felt hopelessly alone. Her stomach ached with anguish and the tears just kept coming. She curled herself into a fetal position and let the hurricane of emotions batter her. A few minutes later, Tom pulled her into his lap as she continued to weep miserably. She curled into his arms and tried to take comfort in his warmth. He held her tight but said nothing. He simply ran his hands soothingly over her back until her cries turned into sniffling hiccups.

"Do you really want to believe Sherlock's words over mine? Is that where we are, Tom?" she asked. She sensed him go rigid underneath her.

"I don't know. I don't know what to feel or say anymore. When he said, what he said, I couldn't have imagined it, Molly. He will continue to be a part of your life and I can't wake up every day thinking, is today going to be the day Molly stops being in love with me. And just to make myself feel better about us, I can't ask you to give up everything just to be with me. It would be the most selfish and arrogant thing I could ask of you," he finished softly.

"This can't be it. It just can't. I can try to do better. We can work it out," she said in a colourless tone.

"Even if we did, you'll eventually hate me for it."

Molly's eyes continued to leak as she held onto Tom. A scared part of her didn't want to know what had happened last night and she hated herself for it.

A long time passed before she finally pulled away from him. Her mind was oddly clear as she turned in his arms to look at him.

"You are right. I would never be okay if the roles were reversed. But, here's the thing. When I said I know him, I meant it. I know him. I don't think my relationship with him would ever change. We are friends, I think. And we share a godchild. That's all. Yes, I should have told you that I was once in love with him. I didn't mean to be deceitful, it was something that just never crossed my mind. And I know I'm in the wrong but this simply can't be the end for us," she pleaded quietly.

Tom gave her a weak smile.

"Darling, I was with him when he said what he said. Believe me, even the great Sherlock Holmes is not that good an actor. Even if you believe things won't change, the thought is already in my head. I'm just human, Molly. I can't be strong all the time. I can't look at you both and pretend like nothing has changed. Besides, I might have been drunk last night, but I'm pretty smart, even if I'm slow to comprehend. You and I both know that even if we go through with this, he would be this giant elephant in our marriage."

Molly's lips thinned in contempt.

"You know, he does this all the time?" Tom gave her a bewildered look. "Sherlock," she explained, "he does this every time I get into a relationship. He somehow deliberately wrecks it. And before you tell me that's because he was or is in love with me or it's all in my head, I'll tell you why that's not true. He's not once made a move on me. He just likes my work, likes what I bring to the table. His quiet affable pathologist who does his bidding without a question. He knew I fancied him, but instead of being kind and gentle, he used it to get me to do things for him. It took me a very long time to understand that." She shifted away from Tom and pulled on a loose thread on her T-shirt. "And I've seen Sherlock mourn for a woman up close, and that woman wasn't me, Tom. So whatever he said, whatever you understood, please know that he wasn't talking about me."

"So if what you are saying is actually true, then why are you still his friend?"

The sudden tangent Tom aimed for threw her completely off balance. Molly felt wrung out. Physically and mentally. Yes, what she said about him was true. So, why was she his friend, really?

Because she also knew about his other side; the softer, much more sweeter side that only a few had been privileged enough to witness behind closed doors. She didn't know if she wanted to count herself lucky to be one among those few. After that horrendous Christmas fiasco, he had been more considerate towards her. Their relationship has slowly but steadily progressed into an off-kilter friendship. She would be lying if she disputed that or denied the joy she had felt knowing that she was one of his friends. But that didn't automatically negate the number of times he'd taken advantage of her or neutralize the sting she felt every time she thought about the Sherrinford phone call. And while he did give her valid reasons for it, Molly wholeheartedly knew he could have done better. Since then, their friendship deteriorated back to acquaintances who now shared a godchild. And right this minute, Molly simply didn't see the charm in discussing this with Tom. Her complicated relationship with Sherlock was certainly not his burden.

"Why do you want to be his friend? she retaliated in a subdued voice instead.

Tom barked out a laugh and gestured listlessly.

"Exactly. I've been wondering about the same thing for more than a decade and I still don't have any answers."

Tom gave a grim smile.

"What do you want to do now?" she asked again, even though she knew what was ultimately coming their way.

"I think we once again rushed into this heedlessly. We really can't catch a break, can we?" He shook his head dejectedly. "I…" He turned away and rubbed his face looking heartsick. "I'm going to stay with a friend for the time being. Let's take a break and reassess Molly. Maybe... Maybe with time, we'll know what we want."

Sheer pride stopped her from begging him. Instead, she stood up and fought off the need to succumb to tears again. She took his hands in hers and squeezed gently.

"This would be a lot easier if you had just yelled at me or accused me of adultery. At least that way I can simply resort to blaming you. But, here you are, quietly destroying me with kindness that I don't deserve in the least." A lone tear tracked down her face. "I'm so sorry Tom. I truly am. I can't believe I hurt you... again."

He pulled her into a hard hug and his voice was rough with emotions.

"You didn't. God, Molly, you didn't."

Molly's chin quivered when she pulled back. She pried the ring off her finger and placed it on the coffee table.

"Until we know what we want," she whispered as she hurried out of the living room and into the safety of her bedroom.

Was it a tear-jerker? Or did not care for it? Either way, don't forget to let me know!

I appreciate you all and my days are better because of this story and you!

xx