The Shy Sherlock

Dedicated to echoesinthenight. Sorry it's very short.

It was always awkward for John to enter the morgue. Molly Hooper always found a way to flirt with Sherlock and most of their conversations ended with "you owe me, Sherlock Holmes." He remembers the first time he walked in with Sherlock to find him blushing as Molly bustled around the morgue and teased Sherlock.

"Hey, Molly," Sherlock said as he entered the room.

Molly looked up at him and smiled. "Good morning, Mr Holmes. Oh, I see you've found yourself a friend. We should throw a party." Molly laughed before walking towards John and holding out her hand to him. "Doctor Molly Hooper, Pathologist here at Bart's."

"Doctor John Watson, retired soldier and flat share of Sherlock."

"It's nice to meet you, Doctor Watson. I hope you make Sherlock very happy." Molly winked at the two men standing there causing Sherlock to blush.

"Uh, we're not a couple. I'm just his friend," John defended (for the second time, he'd always remember).

"Of course not. That's not at all why little William here is bright red, is it?" Molly asked before patting Sherlock's cheeks. "Hm, for a second there I thought I almost cut myself. Anyway…" Molly returned to the post mortem she was conduction. Her scalpel pierced the torso of the man and she began to hack away at him. "What brings the mysterious Sherlock Holmes and friend to Bart's today?"

"I-I was wondering if we could, erm, use the lab?" Sherlock stuttered out.

"Oh Sherlock. I still haven't cashed in the favours and you keep walking back. You should be running scared. If you're not lucky, I'll use them all on you at once. Then where will you be?"

"Probably following your boyfriend to find out who he's cheating on you with now," he muttered.

Molly smirked at the body and examined her work. "Well, Sherlock, you're correct again as per usual. But they aren't the type of cases you take. You'll probably be running around London at 4am trying to accommodate to my every demand. Nonetheless, you owe me, Sherlock Holmes," Molly told him with a wink and threw the keys to the lab over at Sherlock who caught them without effort.

"Thanks, Molly. I really appreciate it." Molly waved it off and looked back down at the body.

Ever since that day, John prepared himself for the awkwardness that would ensue.

The Disappointment

Dedicated to Spitefire303. My apologies- I don't think I interperated your prompt as you had hoped. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy. Sorry it's rather short.

There was only one thing in the entire world that Sherlock Holmes was afraid of.

Shhherlock. The voice would taunt him whenever he got something wrong. Shhhherlock, think about it, won't you? The little voice told him things he did not ever want to hear. Shhhherlock, people will die, Sherlock. Think about how disappointed they will be, Molly, John, Lestrade, Mrs Hudson. Shhherlock, think about it, please.

~oOo~

It was a thin line between pass and fail. Seconds, milliseconds, microseconds. It all came down to the clock.

"Wait!" Sherlock yelled as he realised the answer, moments too late.

"I'm afraid, darling Sherlock, you've just missed the mark," the criminal's voice called out to him.

Lestrade stood behind Sherlock in the warehouse and sighed. The detective had failed and people were going to die. His phone began to ring and he knew who it was straight away. "Donovan, what's the damage? Oh God. Yeah, I'll tell them now." He hung up and buried his phone in his pocket. "It was a school. Hundreds of kids were in there at the time."

Sherlock looked around at John and Lestrade. Disappointment, sadness and fear were etched on their faces. This was his entire fault.

~oOo~

"Are you disappointed in me?" Sherlock asked as he and John rode in the cab back to 221B.

"To be honest, Sherlock, yes. A bit."

Sherlock nodded and looked back out the window. The little taunting voice told him how Molly was going to have a terrible day tomorrow with kids being wheeled in and parents crying all day. Lestrade would go back to Scotland Yard and tell the others that Sherlock had screwed up. John was going to go home to his pregnant wife and think about how devastated he would be if their baby was at the school at the time.

Everyone was upset and Sherlock had just himself to blame. If he had thought 5% faster than he was, he would have stopped that criminal. Sherlock hated guilt. It hung about him for ages and tore him up inside. It became a thing he feared. The disappointment from his brother whenever he'd fail to deduce something in its entirety became feared and learnt. Disappointment from John filled him with guilt and the disappointed look from Molly would be heart shattering.

~oOo~

There was a meek tapping on Molly' front door late that night. She opened the door to see her favourite detective staring at the ground.

"May I please come in?" he muttered.

"Of course, Sherlock. What's wrong?" Molly motioned him to enter and closed the door behind him.

He took his coat off and hung it up before looking at Molly with red eyes. "I did something really bad today," he confessed before beginning to cry.

"Come sit down and tell me what happened." She guided him towards the couch.

Sherlock sat beside her and let her rub his back. "I didn't think fast enough and a school was bombed." Molly's jaw dropped as she looked at Sherlock.

"Wait, a criminal killed innocent children?" she asked.

Sherlock nodded and sighed. "I feel so guilty. The look of disappointment on John's face… and Lestrade's…. oh Molly, what am I going to do?"

"It wasn't your fault, ok? You don't have to feel guilty and those men are not allowed to blame you! Did you personally bomb that school? No. A criminal did. That criminal can feel guilty but it is not your fault. You didn't know what was on the line and you couldn't have possibly have known kids would die if your brain didn't think faster than it usually does. Sherlock, this is not your fault."

Sherlock nodded and stood up. "Thank you, Molly. I probably should go home."

Molly rolled her eyes and stood up with Sherlock. "You're not sleeping alone tonight. I can't let you," she said before taking his hand and guiding him to the bedroom.

~oOo~

Sherlock woke up with Molly's arms around his torso. She wasn't disappointed in him and that made everything feel a little better. The guilt wasn't heart breaking. He realised it wasn't his fault. He feared disappointment from those he loved but Molly was never disappointed with him. She was the one who made him feel better on a dreary day and he was the one who comforted her during storms. Sometimes, all Sherlock needs is a hug from Molly and her reassuring smile to realise it's ok and everything was going to be alright in the end.

BONUS: The Sherlock One Shots: The Silent Solution.

Then: *Carry On My Wayward Son plays*

Sherlock sighed as he finished the latest case and texted Lestrade the details. "John, get some coffee, I'm exhausted." John rolled his eyes as he got out of his seat and hurried away to fuel the demon. "Molly, you make my life complete."

Molly dropped all the paperwork she had in her hands onto the ground and crossed her arms at Sherlock. "Stop it."

"What?" Sherlock asked, raising his hands.

"All this ridiculous 'you're my best friend', 'you make my life complete', 'you'll be a great mother', 'you look sexy today'. Just don't, Sherlock. Please. You don't understand that you hurt me so much when you say that. You just take a knife and stab me in my insecurities, laughing it off as if it's nothing. Please, Sherlock, stop it. Stop this. Just leave me alone."

Sherlock couldn't only see the tears welling in her eyes, he could see them streaming down her cheeks.

"Molly, I-"

"I don't want to hear it, Sherlock. Please, leave me be."

He got up and walked towards her. She took a step back and pointed to the door. He stood in the doorway and sighed.

"For the record, Molly, there's a book called 'The Girlfriend Tips- 10 fool proof sentences that will have her swooning'. I'd suggest you have a look at that before you decide to give up on me."

Now:

Molly sat on her couch that night, chewing her lip as she thought about what Sherlock had hinted and what the books said.

I think we need to talk. You should probably come over. –M.

She waited for a response or for Sherlock to arrive in silence. Toby wasn't clattering around and the only noise was the clock hanging on the wall. Molly began to feel a little anxious about what was going to happen.

~oOo~

There was a loud knock on Molly's door and she jumped in her seat before rushing over to answer it. The detective stood in her doorway and his face lit up when he saw her.

"Good evening, Molly, it's splendid to see you again." Molly felt her face heat up as Sherlock smiled down at her. "What do we need to talk about?"

"A-about the books," Molly responded, feeling her face heat up even more.

"What about them?" he asked, his voice getting softer and almost closer to Molly.

"You know perfectly well. I just want to know if that's really what you felt or not."

Sherlock placed a hand on Molly's cheek and stifled a laugh. "Of course, Molly. There's something about you that both attracts me and scares me."

~oOo~

Molly jumped as her phone beeped in her hand.

Whatever do you mean? –SH.

We should talk about the books. You told me to take a look at that book. –M.

Oh, yes, that. Why do we need to talk about it? –SH.

Is that what you feel? –M.

I don't think I'm quite following. I thought we were experimenting our newfound flirting techniques on each other…? –SH.

There was a few moments of silence in which Molly didn't reply.

Of course, I just wasn't sure if that's what you realised was going on. –M.

We're always on the same page, Molly. Let's be honest here. Now, I have to go. John ordered Chinese. –SH.

Molly stared down at the phone and sighed. Of course. Of course Sherlock was experimenting on her. When wasn't he?

A/N: Hey guys!

Just wanna let you know that I'm thinking of making a YouTube so I can keep you (irregularly) up to date on the stories. Also, you may or may not learn a little more about me. I don't know if that actually interests any of you... oh well! It'll also be linked to my Tumblr.

Anyway, my apologies for this spam of short stories. They're not even 1K words each :( I hope you enjoyed them anyway.

Don't forget there is a poll at the moment about what I'll post over next week. Choices are 'Toby', 'Coffee?' and 'If Molly said no.' (which is about TRF). May or may not contain traces of Moriarty. You get to vote on 2 and it's not a blind poll.

Write a review or PM me for any ideas for poll prompts. Please specify if it's a poll prompt or just a prompt.

Bye!

x