To be, or not to be… 

 (Sherlock meta by bassfanimation)

Something else interesting to note about Sherlock and Molly, and who they ‘pretend’ to be in the real world:

Sherlock only likes himself when he’s something he’s not. When he’s dressed up in his detective identity. He hates himself, or is terribly uncomfortable, as anything else.

Molly is only not herself one time in the series, during the Christmas episode. She dressed up in a ‘costume’, to try and be something she really wasn’t. It’s the only time we see her look completely and utterly uncomfortable.

In The Empty Hearse, when Sherlock shyly asks Molly to come and participate in a case with him, she asks him what John usually does. By this point, Sherlock knows Molly. He remembers the last time she was at 221B, trying so hard to be someone she wasn’t, for him. This time, he makes sure she knows all he wants is for her to be herself. “You’re not being John, you’re being yourself.”

Molly is only comfortable when she’s herself. Something I think Sherlock admires greatly about her.

Sherlock is never comfortable, never okay when he’s himself…except when he’s with Molly.

Sherlock trusting Molly enough to be himself with her is in itself a kind of love. It’s not an everyday romantic kind of love, but I think for Molly, it’s worth far more than any dinner date or night at the pub. To her, it’s pure diamonds.