By The Water Fountain

{Please listen to the song above before reading, so you get the context! <3}

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{She told me that she loved me by the water fountain
She told me that she loved me, and she didn't love him
And that was really lovely 'cause it was innocent}

Sherlock bites his lip shyly and kicks a bit of dirt up with his shoe. He had befriended a lovely woman by the name of Margaret Hooper, who goes by simply "Molly", a few months into his third year of University. She was in her first year, but they were in the same advanced chemistry class. Molly was a pathology and forensics major with her minor in Chemistry and Anatomy. She was an extremely smart person, especially in the sciences, despite her not sharing the same genetic genius that he had acquired.

Six months into the term and they had become confidantes, leaning on each other with life's troubles and on occasion making each other laugh, since both shared a more serious demeanor. However, Sherlock knew of her kinder, softer tendencies that she hid to get ahead in school. He supposes being a female in her field was tough and competitive, but she handles herself with such strength and toughness when necessary. He adores that she never hides her own pride at being good in her field, and fights for all the chances she gets to be chosen for special lectures or advanced field training at the local hospitals.

By a stroke of fate, they had ended up at the same water fountain in the main outdoor space of campus. When they had bumped into each other they had smiled and laughed, having not planned the short get-together. After taking turns getting a drink, they stood by it and made conversation for quite a while. Talked about the plans they had for after Uni and the hopes that they would stay in contact since they had become good friends.

That's when Molly's emotional side took over and she spoke about how much he would be missed when he had graduated, and she still had two years to go. Wondered aloud if he would care to still contact her when he had moved on from this endeavor to start an adult life. He assured her that they would keep in touch and that her number would remain in his mobile indefinitely.

That's when it slipped from her lips like a strike of lightning into his soul. Three words he had never been truly comfortable with and it made him speechless.

"I love you."

The moment that she had told him, her cheeks turned a deep shade of crimson in embarrassment. Sherlock, in all his boyish charm, looked at her genuinely struck and struggling with what to say next until he comes up with the only thing he could think of.

"I thought you had it bad for Lane Grant." He should have phrased it as a question, but it came out sounding like more of a statement.

Molly shakes her head slowly and averts her gaze to the mirrored shine of the water fountain handle. "No...I only pretended to like him because I didn't know how you would react to being the real man whose attentions I wanted, more than in a friendly manner." She looks up at him softly, her eyes looking into his. That's when it finally hit him. Molly was being completely genuine. She told him that she loved him, and she didn't love Lane Grant. It was /him/.

Sherlock bloody Holmes could think of what to do in the case of an explosion, a death, or any other unexplained or criminal scenario, but not one thing came to mind when his lovely, really truly lovely friend told him that she has loved him.

So he did the first thing that came to mind at that moment. Flight. He walked away in silence. It only took ten seconds to realize that he had royally fucked up.