Hello everyone! Happy New Year! Sorry it's taken me so long to get a new chapter in. I was busy with school and work. Thank you all for for reading my story feel free to review! I want to thank my wonderful beta for looking over my work!

enjoy!

Chapter 7

Molly had seen less and less of Sherlock as the days following Irene's visit occurred. He was starting to come home at all hours of the night and sometimes not at all. It made her worry. She had known that the war had become a difficult topic for Sherlock and perhaps everything that was going on around him was finally starting to get to him. It made Molly feel bad, she even tried to avoid asking him anything on the days he was home, for fear of causing more stress in his life. That was all until she found out where Sherlock had been sneaking off to.

Molly sipped tentively at her tea as she sat in the armchair, facing the fireplace.

"Did Sherlock come home last night?" she asked the fire demon curiously. John gave her a look and hummed.

"Yes," he said slowly, in a tone that frankly, Molly didn't like.

"Why are you saying it like that?" she asked curiously.

"Well…" he began, "Not sure if you'll like what I tell you."

Molly rose a brow. "Oh? Don't tell me she's here," she said with an eye roll.

Janine. Molly had, she had to admit, taken a dislike for that woman. She tried to be friendly, but apparently the woman had proved less than receptive. She had met her only once. She had just managed to put Billy to bed, and she was exhausted from a long day when Sherlock waltzed into the castle with an arm around a giggling woman's waist. It seemed the two had returned from a party and Sherlock was clearly very drunk.

"Are you drunk!?" she had asked him.

"Me? I can assure you, I am cold stone sober," slurred Sherlock. He giggled and let go of the woman, only to hold onto Molly, causing the woman to whine and Molly to blush.

"Sherllll!" she pouted lightly.

"Oh – oh!" said Sherlock in realization.

"J-Janine! This – this is my-my Molly, er-no! She's my-my umm…" He flashed her a goofy grin, causing Molly to raise a brow. "C-Cleaning lady!" he said suddenly.

Janine nodded slowly and shot her a look before completely disregarded her, and turned to Sherlock. "Sherl, I don't want to stay in this boring old place, let's go back to my place."

Sherlock nodded and the two swayed out of the room. Molly scowled as she remembered that night, but her thoughts were broken by John's laughter.

"Molly, don't tell me you're jealous!" he said with a grin.

Molly blushed and frowned at the fire demon. "Me? Why would I be jealous?"

She glared at the fire demon who only laughed in return.

" John Watson," she said warningly, "keep your mouth shut before I dump this tea on you."

"I'll die!" he whined.

"That's the point."

"If I die then so does Sherlock," he grumbled pointedly. Molly let out a sigh. Her thoughts went back to Sherlock. It wasn't like she was jealous of his new relationship with Janine. She was happy for him. She seemed… lovely. She sighed and glanced at John only for him to look at the direction of Sherlock's bedroom, where they could hear the door now opening.

The dark haired woman exited the bedroom, clutching one of Sherlock's robes against her chest to cover herself up. John groaned, annoyed at her sudden appearance and Molly glared, causing him to pull back, eyes wide and overly focused on the tea in her hands. Janine wandered through the kitchen as if looking for something. Molly was almost tempted to ignore her, but her being, well, her, she had to say something.

"Uh-" she began.

"Coffee," Janine said suddenly. "Where do you keep your coffee?"

Molly closed her mouth and blinked. "Er, I could make you some if you'd like," she said with a polite smile.

"No," she told her. "Sherl told me not to let the cleaning lady make the coffee."

Molly's brows knitted together. "Why not? He always has me make him coffee…"

The woman let out a bored sigh and shrugged. "Maybe he just doesn't like the way you make it…"

Molly could hear John mutter something that sounded like "Bloody hell!" in the background, but Molly ignored him. Instead she pointed to the pantry.

"It's in there," she said before making her way back to where she had been sitting.

"Sherlock loves your coffee," said the fire demon reassuringly. "Trust me, I know."

Molly smiled at him.

"You're very sweet," she told him, "If my lips wouldn't burn off, I'd give you a kiss."

Molly giggled at John's reaction. He seemed to turn a darker shade of red, and Molly could swear the all powerful fire demon was blushing.

Molly muttered angrily to herself as she cleaned up the kitchen.

"If she would just had let me made the bloody coffee I wouldn't be cleaning this mess up," she grumbled under her breath. Molly heard the soft click of the Sherlock's door unlocking and heard two voices talking.

"I had fun," said Janine.

"I'm glad you did," replied Sherlock. The two entered the kitchen, Janine dressed in a pretty blue dress while Sherlock was dressed in a red dress gown. Molly scowled lightly as Sherlock led Janine towards the door and followed a ways behind before settling beside the fire, who was wearing the same expression as the old woman.

"I'll see you later," purred Janine as she wrapped her arms around Sherlock's neck.

"Yes you will."

Molly heard John make a disapproving noise as Janine leaned in to kiss Sherlock on the lips. Both Molly and John exchanged looks while they watched the two and honestly it was awkward and something in Molly made her mad. She wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps John was right with his earlier words, maybe she was jealous? The thought made her even more upset.

She sat in her chair and watched Sherlock settle into the one across hers, a smug look gracing that handsome, annoying face.

"Do shut up, John," he said suddenly.

"What! I didn't say anything!" whined the fire.

"You were thinking it." He waved his arm dismissively. "It's annoying."

John muttered an insult but Sherlock ignored him, and he looked over at Molly with a raised brow.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Molly blinked.

"You shouldn't be bringing strange women home!" she blurted out.

Both John and Sherlock looked at her curiously.

"I can do whatever I want," replied the wizard suddenly. "You're not my mother, though—" he gave her a grin, "You are around the same age."

Molly frowned and opened her mouth to retaliate, but Sherlock quickly interrupted.

"Anyway, why do you care if I'm bringing home strange women," he said curiously.

Molly bit her lip and blushed. "Well…"

"Are you jealous?" he said with a smug grin, causing Molly to blush even more.

"What!? N-No!" She stared at him with wide eyes.

"B-Billy!" Her sudden outburst of the young boy's name caused Sherlock to shoot her a suspicious look. She shifted in her seat and cleared her throat. "I don't feel comfortable with strange women being around him."

Sherlock rose a brow and laughed.

"Sure," he said with a slow nod.

Molly scowled. "Plus, I don't want to have to clean up after your messy girlfriends."

"But that's your job isn't it? That's why I pay you," he said in a bored tone.

Sherlock swung his legs and lifted himself up from the chair. Molly watched him, her scowl deepening.

"You don't even pay me!" she growled.

Sherlock proceeded to ignore her and walked to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Molly let out an angry huff and got up and began to pace.

"Sometimes I bloody hate that insufferable wizard," she muttered under her breath.