Chapter Text
Had Molly known that two years after entering a relationship with Sherlock Holmes she would be cheated on, she never would have fallen in love with him to begin with.
Now, as she scrambled to pack her things, her mind flicked back to the horrible scene she had witnessed an hour ago. Was it really such a short time ago?
She had been out shopping, a little alone time out in the city since Sherlock had told her he would be busy with a case for the next few hours.
Apparently, sitting across from a dark haired, curvaceous woman as she tugged him closer by his tie and kissed him with enough force to rattle the window pane they sat next to was a case. The woman hadn’t even been dressed properly for the fancy restaurant they had been in. Her boobs - much bigger than Molly’s own, she compared drearily – had all but toppled out of her dress as she leaned over the table to get closer to Sherlock.
Molly shuddered in disgust and shoved the memories away as she zipped up her suitcase. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand for what felt like the thousandth time in the last hour and picked up her bag. She was leaving. Nothing would change her mind.
And then she heard the front door close. Her face paled. No. No no no. He could not be home already. She did not want to see him, now or ever again. She hadn’t even had time to catch Toby and get him in his carrier.
Oh well, she wasn’t staying to be torn apart by his eyes and his denials and lies and everything else she had been certain Sherlock would never do to her. She’d have John gather the rest of her things later.
She listened carefully, suppressing her cries with the back of her hand. She’d never get by him unnoticed. She’d just have to bolt for the door.
Except now, the handle of their bedroom door was turning.
Sooner than she ever wanted – which was never – Molly was met face to face with Sherlock, who paused minutely at the door as he looked her up and down, taking in every detail of her. Molly did the same. She flinched in disgust. The woman’s lipstick was still smeared across his face.
Sherlock, catching her lingering eyes, brought his hand up and wiped it across his face before pulling back to view the obnoxious dark red color.
“I can explain.” He said, lowering his hand. He didn’t look the least bit regretful, though perhaps just a little sheepish.
Molly’s eyes turned cold, and for the first time in years, there was no love in them for Sherlock Holmes. “No, Sherlock. I s-saw you. I am done. After everything I’ve done for you, I should have known that this was just another game, another way to make me cooperative in the lab – Don’t touch me!”
She backed away, putting her suitcase between them as he drew closer.
“Molly, you don’t understand. What you viewed – “
“No, you don’t understand. What I saw was my bloody boyfriend snogging another woman!” The tears ran freely, but Molly didn’t care. Let him see the hurt he had caused.
Sherlock actually seemed to flinch at her words, but he never stopped drawing closer, just as she never stopped retreating, until she was pinned against the wall, and he was effectively blocking her escape. He took the suitcase from her, and she let it go just so she wouldn’t have to touch him. He set it down behind him before placing his hands on either side of her face. She refused to look away, still glaring through her pain.
“Molly, I was not snogging he-“
“I know what I saw!”
Sherlock shook his head calmly. “She was snogging me. I did not initiate the action, nor was I a willing participant.”
Molly snorted her disbelief. “Let me by, Sherlock. I’m leaving.”
“Not until you listen to me.” Finally, the calm facade dropped, and Molly shivered, pressing her back against the wall. How she wished to just disappear in that moment.
“That woman means nothing to me. Her name is Irene Adler. She is manipulative and cold and that was just another way to try to get me to do what she wanted. She told me she had a case for me. I said I would meet her to discuss it. When I told her I was uninterested in helping her, she used the method you saw to try to persuade me. I said no, and left her there.”
Molly shook her head. “No. It’s been an hour. It doesn’t take that long to get from Angelo’s to here. I’m not stupid Sherlock.”
“I went to see Mycroft first, to tell him that Adler was back. Nothing more.” He raised her chin slightly, to meet her eyes. “Molly, I am not a cheater. I do not do sentiment and feelings and romance for anyone. Except you.”
Again, Molly shook her head. “I wish I could believe that Sherlock, but I don’t. Let me go.”
Sherlock stayed the fore just an instant more, before he seemed to shut down. His eyes went dark, devoid of all emotion. “Very well Miss Hooper.” The formalness of his tone made her shiver as he stepped away and left the room.
Molly stayed there, against the wall for a long time, simply crying.
She grabbed her suitcase and left the room to gather Toby up in his carrier, carefully avoiding the couch, where Sherlock had gone, his back facing the outside world.
She said goodbye to 221B, her heart was in pieces with no hope of repair.
Little did she know that another heart broke, curled up on the couch in the flat she had just left as he clutched at the velvet box he had kept hidden when he came home. A ring was nestled inside, the words ‘You will always count’ engraved into the band.