Today was Molly's birthday. I'd phoned her at eleven o'clock in the morning to say happy birthday, and to tell her that Sherlock, John, our (my and John's) parents and I would be going around to her flat at two o'clock sharp with the presents that we had each got her.

My present to her was a pearl jewellery set, complete with earrings, a necklace and two bracelets. I just hoped she would like it. I had no idea what Sherlock had got her; apparently the rest of us would have to find out at the same time she did. Mum and Dad bought her the Polaroid camera she wanted so badly (their reasoning was that their future daughter-in-law deserved something extra special).

The idea was that either John or I (depending on if John's present worked according to plan) would take her out somewhere, and the rest of us would transform her flat into a party room. We'd go prepared with streamers, banners, balloons, everything.

We all knew it was a rather childish thing to do, but we wanted to give Molly some time to enjoy herself. With all the autopsies and dead bodies she saw every day, and the argument with John, we figured it was about time she let her mind run free and stopped stressing about things.

If all went well, John would start thinking about moving himself from 221b to Molly's flat. We'd all have to pitch in and help, as Molly's flat was only two bedroomed and all she had were two single beds. If they worked things out, I'd start browsing for a double bed for them both and Dad and John would move Molly's bed into the spare room. Then they'd assemble the double bed in the room.

Sherlock would have to start thinking about rearranging the things in his own flat, as he'd be the only one living there for the first few weeks. I had decided to rethink the choice of my living space, only if my future encounters with Sherlock turned out to be positive. Anything negative would only serve to push me back a step in my decision and I knew I wouldn't be getting anywhere like that.

I stood in front of my wardrobe at twelve thirty. Almost all of my dresses were strewn across the floor or my bed, with shoes lying everywhere. I had one hour and fifteen minutes before Mum, Dad and I would have to start our trek to Molly's place and I was stressing. Dad could take the car but he'd decided we would all have to walk, since Molly's place was only a fifteen minute walk from ours. No amount of pleading that my feet (in heels) wouldn't be able to walk that far had been able to sway him from his decision.

I had decided to wear something… not so revealing, this time around. (Normally, parties were times when I absolutely let myself go. Well. Almost absolutely.) But that was proving to be more difficult than I thought, since my only ankle length dress was backless and my dresses with sleeves and a full back only came up to the thigh.

I growled, flopping myself onto my bed. Someone knocked on my door. 'Come in!' I called irritably.

The door opened a crack and John poked his head in. 'You OK in here, sis?' he asked nonchalantly.

I glared at him. 'Why the fuck are you even in my room?'

John entered my room fully – decked out in some expensive suit, might I add – and closed the door. 'Whoa, Kodi, calm. Stay calm, OK?'

'Why?' I asked more forcefully. I didn't know why but this was really stressing me out.

'Sherlock claimed your thoughts were distracting.'

'My thoughts?' I repeated, my anger well and truly fuelled for some unknown reason. 'OK, what the hell, is this guy like a psychopath or something?!'

John pretended to think. 'More like or something. He says he's a high functioning sociopath.'

'John,' I hissed. 'In case you haven't noticed, I am in the middle of a fashion crisis. Now, I don't care if Sherlock's a psychopath or a sociopath or if he can read my thoughts. Just get the fuck out of here.'

'OK, OK, jeez. I'm leaving.' With an eye roll, John opened my door. 'But he can't read your thoughts. He uses what's around him to deduce them.'

I narrowed my eyes. 'John, I am this close to throttling you, do you know that?'

'Alright, sorry. Just hurry up. People are getting restless.'

With any further comment, John left the room. I sighed in relief.

I looked around the room, cringing in disgust at the mess I'd created. 'Right,' I muttered to myself. 'This is just a party. It's not even a date so stop stressing, Kodi.'

I closed my eyes and extended my arm. I gripped the first dress that my fingers came in contact with and snatched it off the floor. I opened my eyes again and had to fight the urge really hard not to roll them. I had picked up my ankle length, backless, purple dress.

But I decide to try it on a second time. And when I did, I groaned. It was too tight. I mean, it was comfortable enough but it hugged my curves too much. Too revealing. But I decided to leave it alone. No one would care. Right?

Wrong, it seemed, when I had finished my hair and make-up, and gone downstairs. Sherlock legitimately couldn't keep his eyes off me. I am serious. I walked into the kitchen and that's when his eyes latched onto my figure. They didn't leave when I walked over to the fridge to get a drink. They didn't leave when I walked back around and sat at the table.

I tried to ignore it at first, but then when John and my parents caught on, I couldn't leave it any longer.

'You're staring,' I replied, sounding ridiculously uninterested, though in actual fact, my heart was doing somersaults at the idea of this gorgeous hunk finding me attractive enough to stare at for this long.

He shook his head. 'Oh… Oh, I'm… I'm sorry. I… I didn't realise,' he stammered. I smiled fondly as he ran a hand through his hair.

'Relax, Sherlock, I'm kidding,' I said gently. 'Actually, I find it quite nice.'

'Really?' he asked, suddenly sitting up straighter.

'Mm.' I nodded.

I finished off my drink and looked at my parents. 'We need to leave soon if we want to get to Molly's for two o'clock sharp.'

John cleared his throat. 'Kodi, are you sure this'll-'

I rolled my eyes. 'Work? Yes, I'm sure this will work. Trust me, OK?'

He sighed. 'Fine, fine. But… can I have a moment alone with her before you all go in? Please?'

I looked at my parents and Sherlock. Mum and Dad smiled, Sherlock merely nodded. 'Yes, I guess so. We can wait around the corner.'

John had gone on to ring Molly's doorbell. I saw her parents' car parked in front of the flat and crossed my fingers.

John was on his knee, the ring box held open in front of him. I held my breath. I glanced over at Sherlock and my parents. Mum and Dad were as anxious as I was. I looked back at Molly's flat. The door was now open and I could hear John speaking.

'Molly, I know I've been a right shit bag recently. This fight between us wouldn't have happened if I was just a bit more careful. But now I'm asking if there's any possibility that you could put all of this in the past, forgive my stupidity and do me the honour of becoming my wife. Please?'

I bit my tongue, listening carefully. 'Oh John, yes. Yes, yes, yes.'

John slid the ring on her finger and stood. I exhaled, relieved. All was great. Everything was good.

'Can we go in now?' Sherlock asked, sounding annoyed.

'Yes, alright,' Mum said.

With her word, I turned the corner, Molly's present bag clutched in my hand. The door was open so I walked right in, calling, 'Moll?'

Molly walked into the hallway. 'Happy birthday, future sister-in-law!' I exclaimed.

Molly laughed and gave me a hug. 'Thanks, Kodi.' I gave her the present bag and looked at John, who was standing just behind his fiancée.

'Didn't I tell you, big brother? Didn't I tell you this would work?'

He chuckled and wrapped me in a hug. 'OK, OK. You were right, Kodes.'

'Congratulations, John,' I whispered.

I heard my parent's talking to Molly and her parents and I was just about to follow John into the living room when I heard my name.

I looked to see Sherlock standing in the doorway. He was in that purple shirt John mentioned when I first met him. 'Yes?' I replied.

'Does this mean that… John is leaving Baker Street?' he asked me quietly.

'Yeah, I guess so,' I said as I walked over to him.

'OK. That's all I need to know. You go on. I'll join you all in a moment.'

I raised an eyebrow. 'Are you sure?'

He nodded. 'Yes. Go.'

'… OK,' I said slowly, walking away.

'And Kodi?'

'Hmm?' I turned back around.

'You look absolutely beautiful today.'

I beamed. 'Thank you.'

I walked back into the living room and saw Molly in the midst of wrapping paper and boxes.

'Oh wow…' she whispered as she held my present in her hand. 'This is beautiful, Kodi! Thank you.'

I smiled softly as I sat next to Mum. 'I'm glad you like it.'

Sherlock came into the room just then. I glanced at him but he avoided my eyes. What was that about?

Molly opened Sherlock's present and held a book in her hand. She opened it and a grin lit up her face. 'Oh my god… you remember…' she breathed.

'Of course I remember. Some of my fondest memories happened that day.'

Molly smirked. 'Didn't know you'd be one to be sentimental.'

'I keep hold of some of my… better memories.'

Molly stood up from her chair and walked over to Sherlock. 'Thank you so much,' she whispered as she gave him a hug.

And there was the anger again. I didn't know what it was about Molly and Sherlock hugging each other that evoked this reaction in me.

'I didn't know you could draw, Sherlock,' John stated as he held the book in his hands. He turned it around for us all to see.

On the one page, there were drawings of both Sherlock and Molly together in full colour. They seemed to look younger than they were now. Three in all. One of him and Molly taking a selfie by a park, another of them having food at a restaurant and the last of them sitting at the foot of a tree.

'You don't know a lot of things about me, John,' Sherlock stated flatly. He'd leant against the doorframe after Molly sat back next to John and crossed one foot over the other.

'Was this before I knew you?' John asked again, turning the book for him to see. He flipped through the pages, evidently amazed.

'Yes, John. And no, before you ask,' he said. 'This wasn't when you and Molly were dating. This was in 1997.'

John smiled, like he knew that Sherlock had thought ahead. 'Alright, alright.'

'August 15th, if I remember clearly,' Molly said.

'What was the occasion?' I asked lightly.

'Molly had a day off in university,' Sherlock started saying. 'And I think it was because she and John weren't talking for some reason or other that she decided to consult me. I myself was bored out of my mind and decided it wouldn't hurt to go and relax for a little while. Of course, I had a case the very next day so I was annoyed. And it gave her the impression that I didn't care.'

'You didn't, though,' Molly corrected.

'I did. Just not too openly.' Sherlock shrugged and my heart started leaping.

Sherlock was able to have fun. Sherlock was able to let himself go. And I liked that. I was moving forward slowly once again.

Hope you liked this chapter. In the next one, John is moving to Molly's place. This chapter took place on January 10th, 2015.