Author's Note: Hey guys! So happy you all enjoyed last chapter! It was a fun one to write, and to watch your reactions to. Violet and Siger always go down well. This chapter is a little short. I'm sorry about that but I almost had nothing at all and a day or two ago was thinking about taking an extra day off as a recovery day. Those of you who follow me on Tumblr know why, the rest of you just issues with my sister. Family seemed to settle down with enough time for me to do the thing I enjoy most – and that's write – so I managed to get this done. It's another thing that people have been asking about for a long time, so I thought why not? Please read, review, and most importantly; enjoy!

Disclaimer: Clearly I don't own Sherlock. The show is the baby of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, while Sherlock Holmes itself is the creation of Arthur Conan Doyle.

The First Time She Admitted It To Someone

For the past few weeks Anthea felt as if she had heard about nothing but weddings. James and Jamie's nuptials were extremely close, so close that Anthea could practically smell the flowers. Being the Maid of Honour meant that Anthea had to attend a ridiculous amount of wedding related tasks and events with Jamie. The events were being scheduled around work, and work was being done around appointments. Anthea had banned Mycroft from buying her any flowers until the wedding and honeymoon were long gone. It was one of the very few ways Mycroft liked to express his fondness for his assistant, but the man was too amused by it to argue. He'd offered to dispose of Anthea's orchid for her. She'd said no, she loved that thing, and offered to delete any record of what the following month's schedule was supposed to look like if he so much as touched it. Mycroft had laughed and walked away, enjoying Anthea's passive aggressive reaction far too much.

Today was all this times ten. In an attempt to increase her business – after hearing Anthea talk about her engaged friends – Jamie had insisted upon Anthea setting up a meeting with Mary Morstan and Molly Hooper to discuss hair and makeup packages at Jamie's salon. Jamie's high end salon. For friends and family rates, of course. So, not only had Anthea heard all about the latest fashion and styles in weddings this year, but she'd also been used as a model by Jamie and her hairstylist friend. She'd had at least five different shades of lipstick on and her hair done in two different buns, one half up style, and then re-curled to look – and quoting a word used by Jamie, herself while styling it – "luscious and silky compared to usual".

At the very least Mary seemed to be interested in Jamie's rates for services. Molly however appeared to be only politely listening as she played with the ring on her finger absently. It was no secret to Anthea that Molly wasn't so gung-ho about marrying Tom compared to Mary and Jamie with John and James. Not that Molly had actually said anything, but Anthea knew exactly what it was like to settle for ordinary when you saw the extraordinary every day. Settling because you're expected to never lead to excitedly making plans together. Poor Tim might never gain the nerve to ask a girl to move in with him ever again.

Coffee at Speedy's is what followed next for the group of women, Jamie having finished up work for the day with that appointment. For a decent amount of time the topic managed to shift. Careers were discussed, so too was how annoying Sherlock could be when he asked for your professional help and then disregarded anything you found for him as busywork. Jamie had been privy to some wonderfully jerky Sherlock Holmes stories that the public would never hear. That led to Jamie talking about her little brother, and Molly talking about her family. Anthea and Mary simply listened, Anthea being an orphan, and Mary masquerading as one. But eventually Mary complained about having to find a bridesmaid dress that suited different shaped women. Jamie excitedly told her where she found her dresses and promised to take them some time. Molly passed on the idea, saying she still hadn't a clue what her colours were even going to be.

"Ugh," Anthea rolled her eyes, rubbing her eyes. She felt tired, mostly just from all this talk. "Everyone around me is getting married or something, and I haven't had a serious relationship in years." She huffed, pulling her almost empty coffee up to her mouth. Maybe the last few mouthfuls could make her feel better. Molly gave her a knowing smile, looking perhaps as tired as Anthea felt. Jamie sneered in the direction of her best friend.

"What are you talking about? You're in a serious relationship." She laughed in disbelief.

"It's not serious, Jay." Anthea sighed, placing the cup back down on the table. She didn't need to look up to feel all three women's eyes on her. "We haven't done more than kiss."

"You're always at his." Jamie scoffed. "And last weekend when I came over on your request, he opened the front door." She paused for dramatic effect before adding "that's crazy!" Anthea rolled her eyes.

"I was in the shower, Jamie. Did you want to wait outside?"

"Oh, don't even get me started on the fact that he was at your place and hadn't left when you started getting ready for me to come over. That's commitment from him." Anthea picked up an empty sugar packet and threw it at her friends. As Jamie flinched and overdramatically recoiled Anthea felt a little bit of revenge.

"This all sounds pretty normal." Molly added quietly with a light shrugged.

"Yeah, who is this guy?" Mary had a focused looked in her eyes but an amused smile on her lips. A look that Anthea had seen on many agent's faces when they were having fun trying to solve a problem. Jamie smoothed down her hair where the packet had hit it.

"You two are Sherlock's friends, yeah?" Jamie pointed between Mary and Molly. Mary leaned forward and gasped, pulling a hand up to cover her mouth.

"No!" She laughed. "Not?"

"The Iceman?" Jamie grinned and began nodding frantically. "Yeah."

"Mycroft?" Molly asked.

"Mycroft Holmes aware that another human being exists." Mary leaned back in her chair once again, grinning. "That's brilliant."

"He's always known Anthea exists." Molly added. "Her and Sherlock."

"So can you tell me, what does he wear to bed?" Mary asked, jokingly. "Suits?" Anthea let out a breath, pushing her curly hair out of her face.

"For Mycroft's sake, I'm not going to answer that." The brunette PA felt like scratching her own throat out. Jamie scrunched up her features.

"Did he make you sign an NDA over it?" That time the blonde earned herself a proper whack with the back of Anthea's hand. That wasn't funny now, and it would never be funny. Not to Anthea, not after all she went through with that. If Jamie wanted to keep using it as ammunition against Mycroft, she in particular was not allowed to make light of it.

"So, how did this happen?" Mary asked yet another question. This time it seemed less out of amusement or for the sheer sake of joking, but like she was genuinely interested. Anthea sniffed a laugh and shook her head.

"Seriously?" She asked, receiving a nod. "He got jealous when I went out on a date with someone from work and insisted that we had an understanding." Mary laughed, Molly rolled her eyes and heaved a heavy sigh.

"That is just like Sherlock or Mycroft." The resident of Bart's hospital bit her lip as she shook her head. "They don't understand what they're feeling and they just take it out on everyone else. They should know better."

"Their mum has tried to teach them better." Anthea added. Jamie groaned through the lip of her cup. She placed it down and swallowed before she began to add something.

"You want to hear how weird they are about it? I had to send them two separate invitations to my wedding even though I know they're just coming together." Anthea shrugged, refusing to explain once again to Jamie why this was a good idea for work reasons. Mary would get it, and Molly wouldn't quite get it but she'd know it was a weird Holmes thing.

"John wants to invite Mycroft." Mary added, smirking. "Do I have do that too? Send him a plus one instead of inviting you?"

"Mr. Holmes would appreciate it." Anthea answered in her work persona, making Mary's smile grow.

This, sadly, led to further wedding and marriage talk. Anthea zoned out, focusing on analysing everyone in the diner, while Mary seemed quite focused on neatening the sugar, salt, and pepper packets. Anthea loved her friends, she enjoyed the company of everyone at the table, but there is only so much you can pretend to be interested in different shades of white.

By the time they began contemplating actually stopping by the boutique Jamie had found her bridesmaid dresses at, Anthea wasn't the only one completely done with the idea. Molly had insisted on getting some water for the table and asked Anthea to help her, taking her fellow brunette by the hand as she stood up. They walked over to the counter but well away from the line of people waiting for service. Molly turned to Anthea, looking at her in the eyes, and heaved a breath, rolling her own soft eyes.

"I don't think I could look at dresses today." She talked in a hush tone. Anthea threw her a lopsided grin.

"You don't think you could? I've been there five times and I'm not even close to getting married." Anthea could tell you which dressing room's lock would stick, and what dresses were only on order. She could tell you when their last sale was, and how many kids the plump little woman who did alterations had.

"Do you want to do something else?" Molly asked. Anthea looked from side to side and took a step closer to Molly.

"You can get us out of this?" She asked in a harsh, eager whisper. Molly nodded.

"Come on." Anthea followed the pathologist back to the table, the girl looking at her phone.

"Sorry guys," She sighed. "Sherlock's got a body he needs me to re-examine. I've got to go." She turned to Anthea. "It looks like it's a case for Mycroft. Do you want to come so you can report back to him?" Ah, a Holmes emergency, the best type of emergency. It required urgent care, lest one of the geniuses hurt themselves. So brilliant, so simple, so very well done. Anthea, playing along, chewed on her lip, before nodding reluctantly and pulling out her phone.

"I better." Anthea groaned. "It's always a good idea to keep tabs on Sherlock's progress."

They'd apologised to their friends. Molly promised to make a raincheck with Mary, and Anthea had promised to call both of the blonde women later. Let Jamie talk Mary through more wedding stuff.

Molly and Anthea hadn't lied, they did indeed go to the morgue. It wasn't for any case, though. Molly needed to go back to work anyway, and she'd enticed Anthea's interest when she'd promised to show the PA what a brain with multiple serious blood clots looked like. As long as the room didn't smell too much like bleach and sterile equipment, that was.

The smell of the room wasn't enough to make Anthea too uncomfortable, just enough that it was at the back of her mind, pricking her from time to time. Molly promised to bring in some tea for them almost purely to cover the smell of chemicals. She didn't ask why this needed to be done, she was just accepting of it. That was something about Molly that Anthea appreciated, she didn't always need to know why.

"I don't get how Jamie can just talk about the wedding all the time." Anthea whined as she filled in paperwork for Molly as Molly dictated it. The blue plastic clipboard was held against Anthea's chest whenever she wasn't writing, with the shadowy assistant resting her chin on the top of it.

"It's not her fault, she's in love." Molly seemed to glow as she smiled inwardly, moving the cold arm out of the way. Molly, far more of a romantic than Anthea had ever been, and far more of a quiet soul than Jamie would ever be. Anthea's brows furrowed, a bit insulted.

"But you're in love." Anthea offered, placing the clipboard down on the desk behind her. "I loved my ex-boyfriend but the idea of planning such an elaborate event just so his boring friends could applaud us kissing sounds like a waste of my hard earned money." But perhaps Tim wasn't a great example. Anthea found his friends to be extremely boring. Molly giggled and shook her head. She'd heard enough about the lawyer to know exactly which ex Anthea had been talking about.

"No. I mean they're really in love." She smiled at Anthea over her shoulder. "I think…" Molly paused in her work, tools in hand, resting them against the cool metal of the examination table. "When it's the right person, and you're planning something like this you just want it to feel like it's a real celebration of you two. Perfect for you." Anthea folded her arms across her chest, staring at the floor, as she bit the inside of her cheek. Molly continued to look at nothing in particular across the room as she daydreamed.

Anthea allowed this idea of the right person percolate in her head. Perfect? What was that? Tim was very perfect on paper. Robbie understood her perfectly. Anthea seemed to recall a kiss a long time ago that felt like two puzzle pieces fitting together. That kiss had felt more perfect than any relationship ever had.

"So, not someone who annoys you if you see them more than once a week?" She asked, with a light laugh at the end of her words. "Or someone who nearly matches what you want?" She'd made a point of making eye contact with Molly on that one. That was a girl settling for nearly. Molly had given Anthea something in between a stern look and a sad one before she shrugged with one shoulder, turning back to her work.

"I don't mean there's not problems." She tried to wipe some stray hair out of her face without using her gloved hands, relying on her wrist. "I mean, it just feels right." Anthea felt the hairs raise on the back of her neck and her chest fill with heat as she smirked at the floor.

She remembered that date Mycroft had planned, that date that had so perfectly been a compromise of both of them and had been absolutely amazing. She thought about that time eons ago where they played deductions in the park and she felt so comfortable next to him, making fun of each other, making comments on people. They'd always been a pair, Mycroft Holmes and his assistant.

"Like two puzzle pieces fitting together," she smirked. "Or feeling at home sitting in silence, or like they drive you crazy but you wouldn't know what to do without that craziness." She'd apparently forgotten to breathe, as Anthea finished she took a deep breath, still smiling to herself. Molly turned to look at Anthea once more.

"That sounds right." She nodded. Anthea bit at her thumbnail as she allowed all this to settle in. She knew this already, really, in her heart of hearts. She'd been aware of it for a while, but confirming it was another thing entirely. She had someone say it to her once, and she'd agreed, but that was the way someone thinks it's supposed to feel. She'd almost said it when she thought she knew how it was supposed to feel. Now she knew that what it was, what it was meant to feel like, she might be able to say it,

"Well then," Anthea spoke as she chewed at her nail. "I'm definitely in love, then."

A pause.

"Like, real love."

Molly steady her gaze on Anthea.

"With-?" Molly's voice cut off in her throat. Anthea nodded. "Wow."

"I know."

Author's Note: A lot of people have been asking for a chapter with all the girls for a while and I just needed the perfect scenario. This was pretty close to perfect timing for it. Of course, I couldn't make it entirely superfluous. I hope you had some fun with it. Let me know what you think! Anyway, time to thank the guest reviewers since I can't thank them personally. Thanks to; Guests x2, Corrine, Anna, Rielle, Wink, MinaCarlyle, Louise Pond, Carlene, and Nana. No ovejalucifer? Well, she gets a thanks anyway for talking to me while I teased her with spoilers. Thanks to all my wonderful readers and reviewers! Chapter 100 next time! Yikes!