A/N: Sorry this took so long. I promise I'll be better about it :)
Molly was quickly running out of breath. She had understood that the Holmes manor wasn't exactly close to town, but she didn't realize how far away it was. Her boots and the hem of her skirt were turning a dusty brown from all the dirt she was kicking up. When she was about to give up, the path made its way out from under the trees. She could see the town, and the sight almost made her want to cry. She huffed and puffed her way to the nearest store, which happened to be a butcher shop.
"Can you tell me-" huff "- if you've seen a-" huff "-tall man with dark hair?" Molly asked, her face red and sweat running down the side of her face. She wasn't able to say her sentence looking forward, because she was too busy trying to catch her breath.
"Um, I have seen one…but are you alright?" Molly looked up from the ground to see that there were two men standing behind the counter. One had salty hair and whiskers, but the other was younger with brown curls. The younger seemed to be the one that had spoken.
"I'll be fine if I can sit down." Molly replied. She had the odd sense that she had seen the man before. He looked incredibly familiar. Just when the light bulb went off in her head, it went off in his.
"Is that you, Molly?" the man asked, his face lighting up. "You probably don't remember me, but I was at the orphanage with you."
"Tom? My, you've grown." Molly grinned back, looking up at Tom. "Of course I remember you. We used to climb trees and worry Mattie by wondering off."
"Yes. She used to get so worked up every time it happened." Tom laughed.
"So what have you been doing since I last saw you?" Molly asked.
"Well, I became a butcher."
"No shit." The older man behind the counter interrupted. Molly had to stifle a giggle.
"That's Jacob. He owns the shop. He's friends with my adopted father." Tom explained, turning towards Jacob to hide his red face.
"So everything is going well?"
"Yeah. What about you? What have you been doing?"
"Well, I became a nurse…now I'm here to take care of an injured solider."
"Really? Who is it?"
"Sherlock Holmes."
Both Tom and Jacob seemed to choke on their own spit. "You're taking care of Sherlock?!" Tom said, his voice louder than he meant it to be.
"Why the hell would you put yourself through that kind of torture?" Jacob asked, completely serious.
"He's not that bad-" Molly replied, feeling self-conscious. She knew Sherlock was a handful, but he really wasn't terrible.
"I saw just saw the police cart him off to the jail." Jacob said.
"What?!" Molly yelled as an old woman entered the butcher shop. The lady gave her a look as she went up to the counter. Jacob indicated to the door and Tom ushered Molly out.
"I'll show you where they went." Tom said, taking her arm and guiding her.
"Why on earth did policemen take him to jail?"
"Apparently Sherlock was harassing some man about how he was cheating on his wife…in front of the guy's wife."
"Jeeze…" Molly said with a sigh.
"They won't retain him. I think they just wanted to get him off of the street…trying to make sure he doesn't cause any more trouble."
Molly nodded and they went on in silence. Molly realized that Tom was still holding onto her arm. She wasn't sure if she should wiggle out; that would be rude. But she didn't want to give Tom the wrong idea. 'He's just doing it to be helpful.' Molly reminded herself. 'It doesn't mean anything'. Soon they camp to the police station.
"Well, here we are." Molly said, trying to not wiggle her way out of Tom's hand. He quickly dropped her arm, his cheeks going red. He's face got even redder when he realized that there were splotches of animal blood on his hands that had gotten onto Molly's shirt.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry…" he reached out his hands to try and rub the blood off before realizing that his hands were the source of the problem. So he limply dropped his hands to his side.
"It's fine, Tom, really it's fine. I'll-I'll see you're around, I guess."
"Yeah. Bye Molly." Tom gave a little wave and a hesitant smile.
Molly gave him a quick grin before walking into the police station. There wasn't anyone standing there, so Molly went up to the desk.
"Can you tell me where Sherlock Holmes is? I'm here to take him home."
"I don't know if we're allowed to release him." The man replied sheepishly. Molly gave a loud sigh and began to glare slightly at the man's freckled face.
"And why is that?"
"Well, um…he's here to learn a lesson….and I'd have to ask one of the superiors if it was alright."
"Ok, you do that." The man gave a quick nod and scampered off. The second he was out of sight, Molly made her way down the other hallway towards the cells. She passed three empty ones before she found the one with Sherlock in it. He was sitting on the floor, facing away from her, twiddling his thumbs.
"Is this going to become a usual occurrence, because I would rather not have to come get you out of jail every day. The run from the house was exhausting."
"Only if people are going to be dull and predictable." Sherlock replied, turning to face her.
"If they were so predictable, why are you sitting in a jail cell?"
Sherlock glared at her, and pointed to her sleeve.
"I see you got comfortable with the butcher."
Molly's lips formed a tight line. "That's not exactly important right now, is it? He's an old friend and he told me where you had gone!" Sherlock rolled his eyes and was about to say something when his attention was turned to the police officer that came to stand besides Molly. It was the same officer from before and he gently put his hand on Molly's arm.
"I'm sorry miss, but you can't speak-"
"Can I take him home or not?" Molly interrupted, shaking his arm off.
"Well, I'm-"
"As I understand it, he told a woman that her husband was cheating on her, correct? So the way I see it, he has just saved a woman from years of heartbreak. Now I know the woman was probably devastated, but better to be sad earlier than later, right?"
"Well, I suppose so." The man shark back from Molly, a comical sight to Sherlock. Thankfully, he was able to contain his laughter.
"Then Sherlock hasn't done anything wrong, has he?" The policeman shook his head.
"Can you let him go?"
"I guess so." The man looked incredibly confused and unsure as he began to unlock the cell door. Sherlock stood up, stretching and walked out of the doorway, trying to stay as far away from Molly as possible.
"Thank you officer. I hope I won't have to see you here again anytime soon." And with that, she walked back to the front and walked out of the door with Sherlock following behind her.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Molly yelled. The minute both Sherlock and Molly were back on the dirt path that led to the house, her demurer had changed completely. "What you did was completely stupid and-"
"I was under the impression that you believed I was saving a woman from heartbreak." Sherlock said, his voice like ice.
"You know that's not what I'm talking about." Molly said, squashing the urge to hit him. "Why did you run away from John?"
"He was being boring. I needed somewhere to think."
"And you couldn't have done that in your room?! Why lie to him?"
"Because I needed to think alone!" Sherlock snapped. "He was buying a ring, and though I'm socially inept I think I know what an engagement ring looks like!"
"Why is that a problem?" Molly asked, her tone louder than she meant it to be.
"I don't want to talk about it." Sherlock began to take longer strides, trying to leave Molly behind. She had to jog to keep up with him.
"What's wrong?"
"Why do you care?!" Sherlock spat, his eyes staring straight ahead.
"Because I care for you…as does everyone in that house. If your mother hadn't needed to be distracted, both Mary and John would have run to find you. They love you and they were worried about you, Sherlock."
"See, that's the problem!" Sherlock suddenly stopped and turned to face Molly. "I never asked to be loved. Sentiment is a chemical defect found in the losing side, Molly Hooper." He turned on his heel and continued to walk briskly away from her.
"Just because they're getting married doesn't mean you won't see John again." Molly called after him. He suddenly turned around, his face sent in a deep frown.
"What did you just say?" His voice was like steel.
"You heard me." Molly replied, hoping her courage didn't fail her. "You don't have to be afraid of losing John Watson. Yes, things will be different when he is married, but that doesn't mean he'll be void from your life. Both John and Mary love you and want you to be a part of their lives." Molly saw Sherlock take a breath "And don't try to deduce me, please. I already know you use it as a defense mechanism."
Sherlock stood rooted on the ground and watched as Molly began to walk away. He was utterly astonished that this women who had only been in his life for a short while seemed to understand him better than anyone else.
"How on earth did you come to that conclusion?" Sherlock ran ahead of Molly, blocking her path of movement.
"I-I don't know I just did." Molly stuttered, her courage used up. "Now, can you get out of my way?"
"No." Sherlock stated simply. "I want you to talk me through your deduction."
"Well, um, you mentioned the ring and John. John's your best friend and you love him. When people get married they usually move in together and take less time to be with anyone besides their significant other, at least for the first year or so. So…you're afraid of losing John Watson." Molly ended meekly, unsure if that was what Sherlock wanted. She watched as his brow creased and he began to study her like some foreign specimen. Molly could feel him drinking in every detail about her appearance and probably her life. She couldn't help but squirm a little. His eyes shot back up to her face and he made eye contact. Molly felt her eyes widen as she noticed the detail in his eyes; the gold speaks and the way his eyes seemed to waver between blue and green. She felt heat rush up her face as he moved slightly forward, inching closer to her.
"Very good deduction, Ms. Hooper." Molly gulped as she heard his deep voice reverberate and his breath tickle her face.
"Thank you." She replied.
"Best be on our way, then?" Sherlock took a step back, feeling light headed. He tried to squash all the voices in his head saying all of the things he had noticed about Molly and felt a blush creep onto his face when words like 'beautiful' and 'amazing' kept popping into his mind. Sherlock cleared his throat and began making his way towards the path with Molly following at his side.