Two instances where Sherlock Holmes is confronted face to face with Molly’s love

 (Sherlock meta by sherlollysmooch)

There’s another instance in the series of Sherlock where Sherlock Holmes is confronted face to face with Molly’s love, and I think that’s the first time he ever realizes that she has more than just a crush on him, and feels more than just attraction for him.

I feel like his reaction to Molly stating that the fact she loves him has always been true in The Final Problem is a bit similar to his reaction to her Christmas gift in A Scandal in Belgravia.

He deduces her and her presents scathingly until he finally sees that the gift is actually for him after reading the sweet tag Molly has placed there on the bow. His deduction stops before he can even finish it, and he looks shocked, and he even paces a little since he isn’t at all sure how to go about the situation now. He royally fucked up, and he feels bad, so he apologizes. It’s the first apology we ever see out of him, and it appears as if he means it.

The level of shock that we see there in his face has always made me think that up until this point Sherlock never knew that Molly loved him. He knew she liked him and found him attractive, and in the first season he used that to his advantage, but this new revelation leaves him speechless until he finally pulls himself together and says he’s sorry for what he’s done.

Back to The Final Problem, at this point Sherlock knows that Molly loves him, but to hear her say that it’s always been true is still a breaking point for him. Like he said in his best man speech, he never expected to be anyone’s best friend, and I feel like he never expected to be loved so wholeheartedly by a brave, brilliant, and kindhearted woman such as Molly Hooper.