If there’s anything you need

 (Sherlock meta by theleftpill)

Look at that first pair of stills. Remember the scene. Remember how Sherlock said that question: “what could I need from you?” This was in the height of the “I’m Sherlock Holmes the baddest bad-ass around I will wipe the floor with you” Sherlockian arrogance era. And when he asks this question, he does not ask it with arrogance and dismissal: “what could a worthless thing like you possibly offer a god like me?” He asks it with confusion and genuine curiosity. He wants to know what could he need from Molly? She’s thrown him. He thinks about it. He starts to reconsider her.

And then “What do you need? You.” Again - dramatic. Desperate. If he was not genuine here, he would have been all about Business, but he’s in over his head. He needs an anchor, a lifeline. He realizes what he needs and what she can offer (besides the fact that this scene is coded so completely Hollywood cliche romance-time it’s unbelievable).

He absolutely means it when he says “I love you” the second time. The first is Old Sherlock; he’s saying it to get what he wants. The second one is real. He doesn’t understand it yet, he doesn’t know how deep it goes, but this is the first moment he realizes it’s real.

It’s been building for years.