It had been almost two hours since Sherlock had found the invitation and in that time he hadn't moved once. He sat on one of Molly's sitting room chairs with his hands brought to his chin like he was praying and he sat with his back perfectly straight. At first Molly had thought that he had fallen asleep and was taking a nap but when she moved closer towards him she could hear him murmurings words to himself quietly. Molly rolled her eyes remembering his mind palace or whatever he called it that he visited when he needed to think.

She left Sherlock in the living room, picked up the dress from beside him and moved onto the bathroom. Hanging the dress on the hook, Molly started the shower and after a moment stepped in letting the hot water and steam take over her surroundings. She stood there for awhile letting the water drops roll down her body, hoping that the hot water would somehow take away the feeling of pain and guilty that she had felt since this morning. She gave up hope after a minute and started washing her hair with her usual strawberry scented shampoo and began lathering it into her scalp.

She was running through the motions of her usual showers, wash hair, condition it, shave her legs…however this time it was different. Yes she was doing the exact same thing she always did but he mind wasn't in it, neither was her heart. She thought of herself as a robot in that moment, just going through the motions never stopping to think about what she was doing or wondering why she was.

Molly turned off the shower as she felt the hot water slowly turn a much colder temperature and began to towel off when she heard the sounds of Sherlock's voice. She wrapped herself in the first towel she found and silently opened the door a peak to listen to what the detective was saying.

"How could you not tell me?" Sherlock voiced angrily. "All this time you never once mentioned anything about John and Mary! How could you-"

From the one sided conversation Molly could only guess that he was on the phone with someone, possibly the mysterious Mycroft, his brother who despite all her efforts she never got to thank for keeping him alive all those years. One day, she told herself, one day she would give that man the proper thanks he needs and then maybe even a hug, or a scone; maybe a scone.

The sound of Molly's ringtone suddenly snapped her back to attention. Wrapping the towel tighter around her body Molly crossed the room to where her mobile was charging and without looking at the caller ID answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"MOLLY I'M GETTING MARRIED IN FOUR HOURS WHERE ARE YOU?"

Molly giggled. "Mary! You don't need me for another two hours! I'm getting dressed I told you I'd be there and I will!"

Molly could hear Mary sign on the other end of the line. "Molls, you are my maid of honor, you should be here instead of John's sister! My god if she keeps going on about some girl she met at the pub I'm going to drive her head through the wall, come please! We're still at the salon; you can get your hair done here!"

Biting her lip Molly took Mary's offer into consideration. She should be with Mary especially since she was her best friend and her maid of honor but the thought of Sherlock sitting her alone tugged on her heart strings.

"Mary, I want to come but I have to settle something before I come, okay?" Molly hated lying but she couldn't tell Mary the truth! Not that she would believe her but still, she didn't deserve this. "I'll be there as soon as I can! I can do my own hair don't worry!"

"This isn't a work thing is it? You promised me you had it off!"

"No don't worry it's not that! It's just I have-"

"MOLLY HOOPER DO YOU HAVE A BOY AT YOUR FLAT?"

Molly could just picture Mary sitting there with rollers in her hair sitting in the salon with the rest of her bridal party jumping up and down at the thought of Molly with a boy at her flat. Molly smacked her hand to her forehead and shook her head. "Mary no it's not like that, it's hard to explain!"

She could hear her friend giggle on the other end of the line. Great, she thought, now Mary thinks I have some bloke in my flat. "Alright Molly, whatever you say! Be here in an hour though 'kay?"

Molly shook her head and sat on the edge of the bed, Mary can think whatever she wants it's her day after all. "Alright I'll be there in an hour okay! See you then!"

Molly hung up the phone and tossed it back on the dresser then sunk down into her mattress. What was she going to do with Sherlock? She couldn't leave him here in her flat all alone, she had left him alone here before but this time was different. How could she leave him here all alone with nothing but his depression to keep him company?

A knock at her door interrupted her thought, getting off her bed she once again tightened the towel around her and answered the door only to be greeted by Sherlock.

"Oh, Sherlock I just got out of the shower, I'm not dressed."

"You've been out for twenty two minutes, more than enough time to get dressed yet you still aren't." Sherlock's painfully flat voice said. Molly could feel Sherlock's eyes lingering on her brightly coloured towel, feeling self conscious she wrapped her arms around her chest as if to protect herself against his words. "Also more than enough time for you to listen in on my conversation with my brother," Molly blushed slightly but that didn't stop Sherlock from speaking, "I don't care what you heard I'm sure you will hear more of it in the future. I came here to ask you a question though."

"What is it?" she asked quietly. In her heart she knew the question and in her head she already had the answer, she just needed to hear it.

"Take me to the wedding," he replied his voice void of all emotion.

Molly sighed and shook her head. "No Sherlock you know I can't do that, especially to John. Not today, when they get back from their honeymoon you can see him but not today."

Sherlock stepped closer to her and placed a hand gently over hers, Molly could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks but there was nothing to do to stop her from blushing, after all there was only a towel separating her from him.

"Please Molly," he whispered.

He was begging her; the man who never begged in his life was begging Molly to let him come. A lump formed in her throat and no matter how hard she tried to swallow it, it simply would not cease to exist. She felt something tug inside her, yanking at her heart strings as she stared into those beautiful blue orbs, he was beautiful and he was desperate.

Molly shook her head and broke their embrace. "No Sherlock," she said quietly, "you know I can't do that, not to him especially not today, he deserves more than that. Now please leave me to get dressed I have a wedding to attend."

Molly shut the door but it was too late, Sherlock had already seen the tears fall down her face.

Thirty minutes later Molly emerged from her room wearing her peach dress that she had tried so desperately to hide from Sherlock. After she shut the door on him she allowed herself ten minutes to cry silently and after that she forced herself to stop and began working on her hair. At first she had straightened it but after she was done decided it was too flat so she curled it and made a simple bun on the side of her head just behind her left ear. She had put on minimal makeup; the most drastic feature was the bright red lipstick that Mary had bought her for Christmas last year. The peach coloured dress that she wore had an empire waistline and a low neckline accentuating her collarbone that stuck out, the one body part of hers that she would never hate. The dress hugged her tightly in her ribs and showed off her girlish figure that all of her others clothes couldn't seem to do. She twirled twice in front of her full length mirror and smiled, she looked gorgeous and no one would put a damper on that, not even Sherlock Holmes.

She picked up her matching clutch, put on her heels and headed out her bedroom door. She knew Sherlock was probably still sitting in her living room still sulking but Molly had better things to worry about, like getting to Mary's side before she killed her. She walked in her living room half expecting to see Sherlock there but was genuinely surprised when she did not see him there among her things. She felt the strings attached to her heart begin to pull but took a deep breath and walked out of her flat making sure to lock the door on her way and once out of the building flagged a cab giving the driver directions of the church ten minutes away.

When she arrived she was greeted by what must have been hundreds of lilies and white roses that lined the aisle that her friend would shortly be walking down. She had heard Mary say that she didn't need to worry about money when planning the wedding as the money Sherlock's will had left John would certainly cover it but Molly could only imagine how much of a dent this wedding would be putting in the account. It only took Molly five minutes to find the dressing rooms where Mary was certainly getting ready.

"Molly! Thank god you're here!" Before Molly could react she was pulled into tight embrace by Mary. "Oh Molls you look absolutely stunning! Didn't anyone ever tell you that you can't look better than the bride?"

Molly laughed and took in the sight of the blushing bride. She didn't have her ivory dress on yet but she was wearing her embroidered white silk dressing gown John had gotten her as an engagement present with the initials M.W over her left breast. Mary's golden locks were still up in their curlers and her makeup was only half done but she still looked beautiful.

"You look amazing Mary, you really do." Molly replied hugging her friend once again.

Mary sat back down in the makeup chair and began taking out her rollers slowly, carefully inspecting her strands to check and see if they were perfectly curled. "You just missed Harry, she went to go check up on John and see how he's doing. Oh and Mrs. Hudson was here just awhile ago, she dropped off some biscuits! God love her soul, she's such a wonderful woman!"

Molly took a seat on the sofa across the room and watched her best friend get ready. Mary continued to talk and during that time more people entered the room, some worked on Mary, some just stood in the corner but mostly they just went on and on about the wedding. Molly smiled every time Mary looked at her and politely answered questions or joined in group conversations but just like her shower, her heart wasn't there, her heart was trapped within the walls of her flat with a man who didn't even know it existed solely for him and with even beat it beat his name.

Okay so I know this chapter is kind of uneventful but I needed it to go along with the next chapter I'm writing so be patient!

Thank you for all your love and support, I honestly never thought I would have this many people like and read my work so thank you very much!

For a gift for all you guys out there I'm possibly going to upload the next chapter tonight depending on how well this chapter does!

Thanks so much and keep reading!

-Lemon