A/N: This story has 35 followers! Wow that's a lot! Thank you all very much for following and flavoring. I don't usually do this but I would like to say a special thank you to marshmallowdeviant for following my two stories and reviews and all!

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~Chapter 5: Advice on Thawing~

P.O.V: Sherlock Holmes

After the experiments he tried to deduce an answer. However, the answer he kept arriving at was undesired. Every route told him that he was – in fact – jealous of the men that eyed and spent time with Joan. I mean Watson! Watson. He repeated to himself. He was becoming very frustrated with himself for lacking control over his emotions that were reemerging.

Every time he tried closing his eyes and clearing his mind his brain would recreate the closeness that he had felt with Watson. How he had the urge to not just hold her elbow but to pull her into an embrace that would surely cross so many lines. He had been living with this woman for eighteen months, the longest he's ever lived with anybody, without things going astray. He's become accustomed to the sound of her in the brownstone. If he were to cross lines, it could be the very thing to push her over and make her leave. Sherlock did not want Watson to leave. He needed to talk to someone, and Watson – this time – was not an option.

Sherlock found himself at Alfredo's home. He was staring at nothing in particular while he tried to collect his thoughts. Try to find the right ones to express what was going on.

"So when did all of this start?" Alfredo asked.

"A few days. She had come home injured. That's about when these…emotions began to develop."

"I hate to burst your bubble but I think you're just realizing these feelings now."

"That's impossible! I would have known about it sooner."

"Maybe her being injured weakened your mental guard, allowing you to actually feel."

Sherlock pondered this without giving a response. Trying not to give away any signs that he was considering his words. He reanalyzed all of their interactions with this new thought in mind.

"Come in," the low voice that was Captain Gregson's said in reply to the knock. Sherlock entered and closed the door behind him. The Captain had glanced up from his work and saw Sherlock enter. "I don't have any new cases right now, if that's what you've come looking for," he said as he looked back down at his work.

"Actually, Captain, I have not come by to enquire about that. However, I would like to talk to you. If you have a moment." Captain Gregson looked up from his work suspiciously.

"Take a seat," he said. Sherlock does so. There's a silence that falls between them.

"Captain, I have never regarded marriage as something important, rather it being a trivial thing that has long lost its use. However, working with Watson – as a partner – has made me realize the importance of it. What I would like to ask is, why did you marry your wife?"

"Why the sudden interest?" the Captain asked already with a good idea in mind as to the reason why.

"Come on Captain, both you and I know that you're a smart detective. You should be able to figure why I'm asking."

"So you like her, huh?"

"I do believe that the term like is unsuitable to describe this."

"So you love her?" Captain Gregson asked. Sherlock remained quiet. "So what are you going to do about it? Sit by and let her be taken by that guy she's been seeing? My suggestion is that you act now before somebody else does. Because you may have your views on marriage but I'm pretty sure if things go well and he asks Joan to be his wife, that's it. She'll move out and whatever you have with her will be gone. I don't know how much of you has changed but you may want to revisit certain assessments."

"Ha! I was right," Detective Bell said as a big smile took over his face. Sherlock didn't want to admit it, so he didn't say anything. "Okay so you want some inside information about her and Jeff right?"

"Affirmative."

"Well when I last spoke to her, she seemed pretty happy that he had brought her food. I wouldn't say that a proposal is around the corner but they're pretty far along. Just be careful with how you decide to home wreck. You don't want the opposite effect. I suggest that you just try to go with a classic, try to sweep her off her feet. Something she'll like."

"I may have a few ideas of how to go about this."

"I guess you do have a heart under all of that," Detective Bell said. Sherlock felt strange. He would say that he has always had a heart but understood the other meaning the Detective was implying. He most certainly was a different man than he was about eighteen months ago.