7

Sherlock knocked on the door to room 134. After a couple of minutes he knocked again harder and this time the tall blond man opened it. "Forgive the inconvenience, Jordan" he said, "I just come by to give you this" he added showing him a small key he held between his thumb and forefinger. "Your girlfriend is waiting for you in my room…" Sherlock twisted it around in his fingers and then offered to Jordan, "You'll need it. Well, you might not want to use it…it depends" he stated with an amused glint in his blue eyes as Jordan took the small object and looked at it trying to figure out what it would open.

"Handcuffs, Jordan! Do keep up! You should know your girlfriend's fantasies!", Sherlock raised an amused eyebrow at the astonished gaze of the half-dressed man, "Feel free to use my room as your own". Sherlock started to leave but then stopped, "Oh, I almost forgot! In half an hour they should bring a bottle of champagne to be drunk romantically in the tub" he chuckled, "Enjoy the evening!" he said aloud walking briskly to the lift in the hope of being able to stop Molly from catching the train.

Molly inserted her key into Baker Street's main door and entered the foyer a few minutes away from 8 am. She had decided to drop by instead of going to her flat in order to collect her few belongings before Sherlock was back from Edinburgh. She would also take the opportunity to tell Mrs Hudson the two of them would meet directly at the physiotherapist's office at five o'clock that afternoon.

As Molly pulled the key out of the bunch to return it to Mrs Hudson, she thought she would take advantage of Sherlock's absence to take a nice hot bath as she had barely slept during the train ride and was sore all over her body. As far as she knew, Sherlock was still asleep in Janine's arms, "Damn him!" she muttered through clenched teeth as she struggled with that damn key that didn't want to get out.

The night's travel hadn't helped her much, she kept switching between anger and doubts. Her mind and her heart were in earnest disagreement. The latter told her to trust him, surely there was a credible, if not excusable, explanation for him to give in to Janine's seduction. Her mind reminded her that Sherlock, while not ordinary, was still a man who had given into Janine in the past, not to mention that until recently he'd been texting with Irene Adler!

However it was self-defeating to think about it anymore, she had to confront him face to face and clear things up between them. They were adults, weren't they? She had entered their romantic friendship on tiptoe, well aware of who he was, hence she was ready to accept that he might have an afterthought. Liar! An inner voice said to her.

"Molly, dear" the shrill voice of Mrs Hudson who appeared out of nowhere in front of her, made her jump. "Oh, dear God!" Molly exclaimed putting her hand to her chest, "My girl how are you? You look a little upset" said the old woman looking at her with attentive eyes, "Hi, Mrs Hudson. I'm fine, don't worry, I just had an uncomfortable trip". The woman nodded "Yes, I see. But didn't you have to come back in the afternoon? Did something happen?".

Molly stopped messing with the key and looked at her suspiciously "Did you talk to Sherlock by any chance?", Mrs Hudson turned away from her in a rush, avoiding giving her an answer and disappeared into her flat saying to her "Why don't you go upstairs, dear? I'll be right back with a nice cup of hot tea!".

Sherlock slipped his white shirt into his trousers and looked at his watch. She would arrive shortly thereafter. Ten minutes, twenty at most, depending on whether she had decided to take a cab or the Tube. His mind couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful she was the previous night with her bright brown eyes and her dimpled smile.

She had every reason to slap him as she had long ago, proving once again what she was made of. She had had a million opportunities to tell him to get out of her way in all those years they had known each other. All the times he had underestimated, manipulated, insulted, made fun of her and all the times he had crossed the line hurting other people, especially himself.

But no, she had never abandoned him. She never stopped loving him, despite everything. She was, without a doubt, the strongest woman Sherlock had ever known, capable of giving love without asking to have it back. And she was the one who better than anyone saw him deeply and understood him without even making an effort to do so.

He looked at his watch again as he walked from his bedroom to the front room putting on his jacket. It was on her resilience he was counting now to make up for his stunt from the past night. His want to punish Janine for just thinking she could crawl into his bed after he clearly told her that he and Molly were together had been stronger than him. Handcuffing her to his bed and then leaving seemed like a brilliant idea, one that made her realize once and for all that he was not interested in her in any way.

Sherlock stood in front of the window, near the sofa, and glanced down again at his watch. According his calculations she should have arrived in a few minutes. He felt for a moment he had stepped back in time to exactly when, just back from his two-years assignment to dismantle Moriarty's crime network, he had invited Molly to solve crimes together. He felt the same eagerness to see her, the same insecurity about her reaction, and the same nervousness in fear of screwing everything up.

As expected, less than two minutes later Molly, dragging her small wheeled suitcase behind her, walked up the building. She had chosen the Tube, then. Sherlock saw her fiddle with her shoulder bag in search of the keys and then disappear from his sight. He heard the door close and after a moment her and Mrs Hudson's voices.

Sherlock's heart raced as he heard her footsteps on the stairs. He faced the door, trying to calm his nerves. "You hurt her…once again" he scolded himself, "And you deserve whatever she tells you".

And there she was. Molly had circled under her eyes clearly showed she had slept little and, as was evident in the tension of her shoulders, badly. This made Sherlock feel even more guilty for thinking it was more important to teach Janine a lesson than to get rid of that pain in the arse and devote himself entirely to Molly.

Molly reached the top of the staircase and saw Sherlock standing. She took a few steps towards the door looking him straight in the eye unable to hide her immense surprise at seeing him there. He had been in the flat for some time judging by his clean and well-ironed clothes, his hair still damp from the shower, the unmistakable smell of the fragrance of his sandalwood's cologne. Molly felt her mouth water and butterflies in her stomach and if she hadn't been so mad at him she would have run into his arms and pepper him with kisses.

"Oh, no Molly…you won't let him knock you off your feet that easily!" berated herself keeping to hold his gaze as she distressed her brain to seek answers to her silent questions. How the hell had Sherlock been in London before her? Why had he left Janine and Edinburgh in hurry? Or maybe she was there too. And Sherlock was waiting for her, to tell her in person that it was over between them? It was evident he was not at ease, nervous nonetheless.

"The helicopter. I woke up Bradley, the pilot, who arranged the flight in an hour" he said obviously deducing what she was thinking, "Yeah, sure, of course…a quickie" Molly scoffed as she crossed the threshold with more self-composure she really felt. "A quickie?" Sherlock replied blinking in confusion, "Don't pretend to be naïve. You didn't seem to be at all last night" she said without bothering to hide the irritation in her voice.

"M-Molly" he stammered as he took a step toward her, "Stay where you are" she ordered as she raised a hand to prompt him to stop. A flicker of dismay crossed Sherlock's eyes as he froze in place and bit his lip, his face crestfallen. Molly's heart was pounding. She hated being hard on him but it was known Sherlock needed to be brought back in line from time to time, and this was one of those times, especially if it was her feelings that were being trampled on.

There had been a time when instead of standing up to him, Molly dropped the ongoing discussion or even ran out of the room. At that time Sherlock had the power to turn her into a small, shy and introvert mouse. Then there had been that hideous Christmas where, right there in that room, Molly had found the courage to silence him in front of all their friends. At that precise moment she had told herself that no matter how in love with him she might be, she would never again keep quiet in the face of any of his outrageous behaviour.

"I owe you an explanation" he whispered, putting his hands in his trousers' pockets. Molly faced his gaze defiantly as she sat on the arm of her yellow chair "You owe me more than just an explanation, Sherlock" she demanded crossing her arms over her chest and crossing one leg over the other, in a clear nonverbal language stating her will to defend herself.

"Fair is fair" Sherlock nodded and Molly noticed he was having a hard time as if he didn't quite know where to start. "I was an idiot last night" he agreed seeking Molly's eyes with his, and he seized the exact moment Molly raised an eyebrow in approval of what he had just admitted, "I'm all ears" she stated firmly "Go on".