Molly has no idea how important she is to Sherlock

 (Sherlock meta by broomclosetkink)

I’ve always understood Sherlock’s reaction to Molly in this particular scene [at the hospital in TRF] to be him being truly BAFFLED by the fact that she has no idea how important she is to him. Because if you look at their relationship from Sherlock’s point of view: they not only work together in the lab, they work WELL together, which is rare; she is obviously kind to and thinks well of him, which would be equally rare for him; in his own, stunted way, Sherlock does his best to be kind and good to Molly Hooper, though in series 1 and 2 he’s just a raging dick because he can’t get over the fact the world does not, in fact, revolve around him (while simultaneously being filled with self-loathing this man I can’t even); he not only trusts her opinion, he respects her work and intellect; Molly may well have been the closest thing he had to a friend before John came along. We know they had interaction before John showed up and the show started, because of the way they work together.

So when Sherlock just sort of blinks at her you can see his brain going “ERROR ERROR INFORMATION DOES NOT COMPUTE FILE CORRUPTED”, he is truly STUNNED that she has no idea of how highly he thinks of her. Of how far she’s been allowed into his life. Of what, exactly, she means to him. (In truth, I think that at this point in the series, Sherlock himself doesn’t fully understand how much Molly means to him.)

And when she offers him chips but then shoots his stunned agreement down because she knows he doesn’t really want any... [...] He’s trying. He doesn’t try for just anyone. I mean, like, ever. But for Molly Hooper? You bet your sweet ass he will. And it’s for a case. There’s no motive behind it. He just wants to make Molly happy. 

[...] The very first time I watch this scene, I just paused it and cried. I mean like full on gross sobbed, fogged up my glasses, went through God knows how many tissues. Because Molly is fucking heartbroken and she wants so desperately to help, even though she believes Sherlock thinks about as much of her as one might a tolerated pet. She’s just good. And Sherlock can’t believe that she, who sees so very clearly, DOESN’T see what is right in front of her face (to his mind), which would be how he feels about her. That they are friends.

And he’s hurt by it. Look at his eyes. Look at his expression. Go back and watch The Great Game, when Molly storms out. Watch his face crumple and his eyes go all wide and hurt. He was trying to be kind to Molly. And I feel he does that often with her; tries to be kind, fucks up royally, hates himself for hurting her worse.

[...]