Hi, apologies for the delay, things have been very busy at home and I've not been well. Thank you all for your continued support on this one, hugs to all. Hope you enjoy the next instalment.

J is for Jealousy and Jam

To say Sherlock was unimpressed by Tom was an understatement. He found the man tedious at best, and couldn't abide the jealous tone in which everything had been shouted at him. There was no logic to the man, why would Molly leave a secure relationship with a future for a sociopath with a dubious record of abusing her friendship? If Tom couldn't handle Molly having male friends (he'd heard about Greg and the laxative in the tea incident) then perhaps he'd have to be shown just how miserable his life could be if he tried to remove them from her life.

To say Greg was unimpressed by Tom would be about right. If he'd learnt anything from being married it was that a woman needed her friends, regardless of gender or age, and the last thing you wanted to do was upset your partner by insulting their friends without very good reason. If Tom and Molly's relationship was going to survive Sherlock, then Tom needed to be a lot less jealous, quickly.

To say John was unimpressed by Tom would be taking it a little far, he wasn't overly taken by the behaviour of the man, but then again, becoming accustomed to Sherlock took time. Especially adjusting to Molly's relationship with Sherlock, even John found it peculiar and Sherlock was his best friend!

These differences of opinion were how Sherlock, Greg and John found themselves seated in the lounge at Baker Street, the latter two trying to talk the former out of deliberately driving Tom to a remote part of the Yorkshire Moors and 'talking' to him. They eventually came to a consensus that something needed to be done for Molly's sake, as it wasn't fair to her to have to choose between her friends and her fiancé just because he wasn't overly fond of Sherlock's habits. The problem was the extent of the 'something' varied massively between each man, with Sherlock adamant that a short sharp shock to the system would get everything over and done with quickly, they could get Mycroft to deal with it so they wouldn't even have to do anything. As tempted as Greg was by the easy option, he thought that a slightly more subtle approach may sort it out without too much fuss, after all, the laxative in the tea seemed to have tempered Tom's reaction to him. John was moderately despairing of both men and thought they should speak to Molly who could then speak with Tom. This was even less effort than the other two and was the most socially logical- so naturally Sherlock was vehemently against it.

"So really, you want to get back at for him kicking you out of Molly's flat?" John sighed, he may not have the deductive powers of the consulting detective but he could tell when someone wanted revenge. Sherlock merely shrugged in reply, before turning to Greg with a creepy grin that could only mean one thing, he had a plan.

"I don't like the look of that face," Greg said warily, it was the sort of face that usually resulted in a lot of paperwork and having to speak to Mycroft.

"Me either, I don't fancy having to explain to Mary why I need bail money." John added,

"It's quite simple really, an experiment based on Pavolv's dog. Every time he tries to convince Molly against one of us, a member of my homeless network will throw jam at him." Sherlock explained, looking very pleased with his master plan.

"How on Earth is that in anyway going to help your cause, or at all practical?" John exclaimed, baffled by where Sherlock had got this idea from.

"Psychological John, insulting us ends up with him in a sticky situation," Sherlock's maniacal grin returned, creepier than before if that was possible.

"Did you just try humour?" Greg asked, taken aback by the bizarre nature of this plan, and the reasoning behind it.

"I didn't try Graham, I believe I succeeded!" Sherlock exclaimed running down the stairs, the others could only assume to fill his homeless network in on the plan.

Over the few days after Tom's spat with Sherlock, Molly kept an eye out for anything that could be construed as suspicious in her flat as it could have been placed to bait Tom, and the longer there wasn't anything the more concerned she became. This was until her and Tom went for a walk one evening, as neither really wanted to do anything but the weather was unseasonably pleasant. The conversation took its natural progression towards how work was going for Molly, and inevitably Sherlock.

"It's been a fairly quiet week actually, not too much extra to do," Molly said tactfully, she had developed methods of talking about her work and less legal side-projects without ever explicitly saying that she'd spent a whole day weighing dandruff for Sherlock or equally as preposterous endeavours.

"You shouldn't have to do any extra," Tom mumbled, before squealing in a manor a five year old girl would be proud of. "What's on my face?" He asked, his voice at a slightly higher pitch than usual. Molly looked at the side of his face, a confused expression crossed her features before she rolled her eyes.

"It's jam. Strawberry jam." She sighed, this was going to be the beginning of whatever Sherlock's revenge was.

"Why is someone flinging jam at me?" Tom's voice was shakey, he was too freaked out to notice that Molly was not worried, she was exasperated, and bearing an expression that was usually linked to Sherlock related activities.

"Why did you need to say all that to Sherlock the other morning?" Molly replied flatly, she was not enamoured by Tom's unnecessary panic, and decided that as they had to talk about it anyway, now was as good a time as any.

"Oh please, he deserved it- hey!" Tom exclaimed as more jam was flung his way, panic forgotten and replaced by aggravation.

"He's my friend, Tom, if he needs a sofa to sleep on, he can. Same goes for Greg, and John should they need to," Molly said, a hint of warning in her voice, trying to get across that if he gave in now the jam flinging may stop.

"Do I not get a say in this as your husband-to-be?" Tom cried indignantly,

"Fine, why should they not?" Molly asked, trying to be diplomatic

"Firstly, having Greg over is a little like having your dad to stay- awkward. Sherlock is just inappropriate at the best of times and you barely know John, you've only spoken to him since Sherlock re-appeared!" Tom ranted, trying to swat away the jam as it continued to fly towards him. Molly was torn between hysterical laughter and anger at this point, but the sight of Tom flailing whilst periodically being hit with jam was too much for her, and it just sort of… burst out. It was quite a spectacle, a man looking like he was fighting a swarm of bees whilst being pelted with jam, whilst his fiancée was bent double, tears streaming down her face.