I sat in Tara's room, on her bed, thinking. I had gone over for our proposed apology. That was now over and done with and now I was supposed to be helping her with her photograph rearranging for her nursery job, but I obviously had other things on my mind.

Harry.

Or more specifically, yesterday afternoon with Harry. Where I'd felt as if we were running over that first hurdle. She'd told me she loved me; something she hadn't done since… years ago. It had been years since she'd confessed something like that to me.

It had made me cry. I had cried happy tears. All I could think was: finally. Finally, I'm getting what I'm dreaming of.

And I knew that it was such a tiny little step, but it was still a step in the right direction. The best direction. And that was all I could hope for.

'Alright, Kodes,' Tara said, breaking me off from my thoughts. 'What's going on with you? You've been so out of it today.'

She reached for another of her photos and the glue stick. She opened the stick and smeared the back of the photo. I watched her as she stuck the photo down on the page of her book. 'I'm just… thinking. That's all.'

I picked up the black permanent marker. I pulled off the lid and positioned the pen on the inside of my left wrist. 'Thinking about what?' Tara replied.

I started drawing two hearts entwined with the pen as I thought about how to word my answer. Unfortunately, Tara took my silence to mean that I was uncomfortable in some way. 'Kodi? What happened?' she asked me softly, forgetting about her photo album briefly.

I smiled to let her know that I was fine. 'Nothing, I'm just thinking about Harry.'

'She OK?' The soft tone was still evident in Tara's voice.

'Harry's fine. It's just… she got drunk yesterday.' I saw Tara's face melt into a frown. She didn't try to ask questions. 'So then Mum and Dad put her to bed. And when I went to check on her, she told me that she loved me.'

Tara gasped. 'You mean as in…'

I shook my head, smiling as I ridiculed the idea. 'No, stupid. I mean in a sisterly way. She's got Clara for the other kind of love.' I rolled my eyes.

Tara gave a sheepish laugh. 'Yeah, that would be just hella incestuous. Not to mention gross.'

'I know. But what I guess I'm really trying to say is that… I'm glad she did. I'm glad that we stepped over the first hurdle together.'

'But you say she was drunk?' Tara asked as she continued sticking, annotating and writing.

'Yeah. She got annoyed for some reason that I don't know so she decided to drink off the pain.' I shrugged.

'Then do you think she meant it? She might have just been saying it. That she loves you, I mean.'

I shook my head. 'Tara Grahams, have you never heard the infamous quote?' I asked her, smiling.

She looked at me, confused. 'Infamous quote? No I haven't. Please, do enlighten me, Miss Watson.'

'Drunk words are sober thoughts? Ever heard of that one?'

Tara shook her head. 'Nope.'

I shook my head once again. 'T, what am I going to do with you?'

'I don't know, love me like the best friend I am?' she grinned.

I laughed. 'You wish, T!'

'Anyway, how's John? Last I heard from him was when he called to tell me what happened with Sherlock.'

I smirked, knowing what Tara's eventual reaction would be if I told her what was going on with my brother. 'He and his girlfriend are on the verge of splitting up, I think. He made the mistake of asking her what ring she'd like him to propose with and in the process driving her to think that he's cheating on her.'

Tara winced. 'How bad is the wound?'

'Real bad,' I replied. 'Molly won't talk to him and it's literally driving him crazy. He asked me talk to her and even in the texts she sent me I could see that she was proper angry.'

'Did she try to understand? I mean, if it was just a mistake then…'

'I know. I think it'd be best to give them both some time to calm down. And anyway, it's gotten so bad that even Sherlock's worried about him.'

Tara raised an eyebrow. 'What d'you mean?'

I fished in my dress pocket for my phone and pulled up Sherlock's text. I showed it to her and watched her face mould into a smile. 'Oh my god… that's so sweet.'

Her smile was contagious. 'Yeah, I know what you mean. And I think that both Sherlock and I want them to work it out. They've been going out for a year now and it'd be a shame for it all to come crashing down because of a tiny little mistake.'

'This is why I don't get attached,' Tara explained, putting the finishing touches to the photo album. 'All this heartbreak is so not worth it, I believe.'

I laughed. 'Are you still the ever glorious single?' Tara grinned, nodding. 'When will you learn, woman?' I teased her.

'Hey, don't look at me like that, you're still single,' she pointed out.

'Doesn't mean I'm not looking,' I countered. 'I still need to find the right person.' I shrugged.

Tara's expression suddenly turned serious. 'What?' I asked her.

'Don't get offended when I ask this because I don't mean any harm. Does it ever bother you that you're the only straight child in your family?' She paused and then added, 'And just ignore the fact that I called you a child. Just answer the question.'

'Not really, no. I don't really care – I mean, it doesn't really bother me – that my brother's bi and my sister's lesbian. It's their own choice, just like I choose to be straight and you choose to be single.'

'Don't you ever wish that they were normal?' Tara asked.

I frowned. 'Normal? Nothing is ever normal, T,' I answered.

'Being straight is normal,' she said.

'No, Tara. Being straight is just common. Not normal.'

'But-'

'Tara, just stop. You're crossing the line here.'

She reeled instantly. 'OK, I'm sorry. Really.'

I smiled sadly. 'It's OK. I guess that this is just a sensitive topic for me.'

As Tara opened her mouth to reply, my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and was once again surprised as it was John.

I answered the call. 'Hello? John? Everything OK?'

I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. 'Molly actually spoke to me, Kodi! She actually spoke to me!' But something was off. Like John's happiness was strained, forced.

Even so, I laughed at his excitement. 'That's great John! What did she say?'

The smile was gone. 'She said that she really, really wanted to forgive me but she's still not sure that it was just a mistake. I said to her that it was a mistake, but she said that she needed a bit more time.' John sighed, and I knew he was shaking his head.

'So I take it you're not moving to hers any time soon, then?'

'Doesn't look like it, Kodes.' He sighed again. 'It does mean I can stay with my best friend a little while longer, though.'

I shook my head teasingly. 'How can that man be your best friend? He's just so…'

'Annoying?' John substituted, stifling a laugh.

'Yeah.'

'Well, I've lived with him for a year now. I've seen his soft side, his annoying side, his beautiful side…'

I grinned, knowing what he was getting at. 'What side would that be, John Watson?'

'His backside,' John said simply, chuckling straight afterwards.

'I knew it! You do know you have a girl-'

'Don't!' John said urgently. 'Kodi, just don't. I don't wanna talk about her. Please. Just distract me. Please.' He whispered the last word.

I clenched my fist. Stupid. 'OK, OK, I'm sorry. John, I'm sorry.'

My brother chuckled sadly. 'Always one for apologies, eh, Kodes?'

I smirked. 'I get it from my big bro, honey.'

'Honey? Seriously? I get that I'm seriously gorgeous but I am your brother, y'know.'

'I know, Mr Watson, jeez. And it's perfectly fine to call your brother 'honey'. Harry used to say it to you all the time.'

'Harry's a year older than me.'

'And?' I retaliated.

'And I find it weird when my younger sister calls me 'honey'. If anything I should be saying that to you.'

I raised my eyebrow. 'You find me weird?' Before he could answer, I smirked and said, 'Well then, goodbye,' and then hung up.

Tara was smiling at me, shaking her head. 'You hung up on him because he called you weird?' she asked incredulously.

'He'll ring me back – I know my brother well enough to know that he will,' I replied.

Then my phone bleeped.

You hung up on me because I called you weird? - JW

Talk about freakish. I showed the text to Tara and she burst out laughing.

Yeah well. I was joking. But that doesn't mean I like it. ;) - KW

John replied straight away.

Hey, can you do me a favour? Are you free? - JW

Yeah, sure. What's up? - KW

Can you go and talk to Molly? Like go and physically talk to her? - JW

I sucked in a breath. 'He wants me to go and talk to his girlfriend, T. What do I say?'

Tara shrugged, leaning over to take a glimpse of my phone screen. 'Depends what he wants you say to her, to be honest.'

What do you do want me to tell her? - JW

Tell her that it's all a massive mistake. Tell her that I love her. Tell her to come back to me. - JW

I sighed, shaking my head sadly.

John, I can tell her that until I lose my voice but it's her own choice whether she wants to come back to you. Sorry, I wish I could magically make things alright again, but this is up to you two. But give it some time. I know that she loves you and I know that you love her. Everything will work out just fine if you give it time. - KW

I just didn't know how horribly wrong that last line of my text was.

I could just imagine John's heartbroken face as he read my text. But oh well. It couldn't be helped.

Oh, I forgot to say, I'll probably go and visit Mum and Dad this week, so yeah. See you in a week or so. - JW

Is Sherlock coming with you? - KW

Tara stood up off the bed, saying she was going to get drinks. 'What would you like?'

'Anything there is, apart from water,' I replied, waving her off.

No. Do you want him to? - JW

Did I want Sherlock to come? After everything? Finally I had my answer.

Tell him he can come if he wants to. - KW

Tara came back with two cans of Diet Coke. 'Here you are,' she said, handing me a can before she set herself up on the bed.

'I told John that he can bring Sherlock along to ours if he wants to,' I said vaguely.

'You did what?' Tara replied, her voice disbelieving and shocked all in one.

I failed to meet her eye as I spoke. 'I'm just curious, that's all,' I muttered.

I popped open my can, taking a sip before I finally gained the courage to look Tara in the eye. 'But Kodi…' she trailed off. Her eyes were sharp, staring at me, her gaze unfaltering. 'He hurt you, remember?'

'I'll never forget. But, like you said, this is the first step to getting better. Right?' I finished my sentence, grinning.

Tara threw her arms around me. 'Of course. And if you need me to help you, you know how to get hold of me.'

I hugged her back. 'Yeah. I do. And I'm really grateful.'

Hey, Chapter 5 is complete! Sorry for taking so long to update, school and life is just annoying.

'I just didn't know how horribly wrong that last line of my text was.' Take that as a piece of foreshadowing.