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Chapter Text

John Watson (17) has failed Chemistry 1, once already. Since he failed, he had to redo the class all over again.  Not wanting to fail the class, he asks Mary (17),who is his girlfriend, to do it for him. Mary is  getting annoyed about this, so she is going down the pathway of getting him a god damn tutor for the life of her.

Sherlock Holmes (17) has never once did tutoring for  fun, unless he is being forced to. He tries to stay away from everyone, since they call him a “egoistical know- it all arsehole”. His only friend is Greg Lestrade, a decent young man. Gavin even suggested he should try out tutoring more, he shoots the idea down immediately, of course. Until he heard a rumor, that Geff knows a special person who needs tutoring.

Chapter Text

“Sherlock.”

“No.”

“Sherlock.”

The younger of the two Holmes’ lays idly, body sprawled across a long couch, fingertips poised together, eyes closed. The older of the two sitting in an armchair across from him, staring over him. Sherlock’s eyebrows furrow, “I’m. Not. Tutoring. Anyone.”

Mycroft, clearly persistent in his task, “Do it.”

“No.” “Mom wants you to do it. Do it.”

“No.”

Mycroft sighs, “I’ll pay you.”

At this point, Sherlock perks up. Laying on his elbow now, he bites, “Why?”

“Because,” Mycroft stands up and heads over to the spacious living room's window, “Mom’s getting concerned.”

“What does that have to do with tutoring anyone?”

“Obviously, little brother, you wouldn’t understand.”

Sherlock rolls his eye at this, “But there comes an age where people get friends.”

“And how would you know?”

“I’m familiar with the concept. Not fond of it. But it’s you we’re dealing with.”

Sherlock groans, and flaps his arms about him, returning back to his resting state. “GOD. What does this have to do with me? Get to the chase Mycroft.”

“Mother has been feeling concerned as of late. She’s been contacting me non-stop about how much of a social-outcast you have been in at your school; no matter how much effort on her part.”

“Social out-cast?” Pulled from moving Sherlock’s potted plants on the window’s counter, Mycroft smiles back at his younger brother.

“My wording of course.”

Sherlock shoots him a glance again, “Of course.”

“So, brother of my mine, do me a favor and stop mother from contacting me more than she need. I’m busy enough as it is climbing the ranks of the government job, I recently managed, without having her on my back all the time.” “

And you’re willing to pay with this new government job of yours for me to willingly torture myself?”

“Precisely. I’m glad you understand dear brother.”

Sherlock scoffs, “Besides this is the only incentive I know will work on you. Mom can’t afford your obsession with your precise interest in knowledge, and I should think these plants will suffer as a result.”

Mockingly, Sherlock spoke, “Mm. Let me think about it. No.”

“I’ll throw in a violin.”

“Fine.

Chapter Text

“Maybe you should get  a tutor”, Mary murmured, as she worked on John’s homework. 

“What do you mean?” John nervously chuckled. “You are my tutor.”

“You’re just lucky I completed Chem. 1 and 2  ” Mary teased. “Darling, why don’t you find an actual tutor who helps people with difficult subjects?”

John sighed heavily as he picked at the strings of his shirt. “Everyone knows me as the popular one, It would be embarrassing if this even gets public that I need help with THIS! It’s supposed to be so simple, but why is it so difficult?”

Mary then looked at John, with  his head lowered down, and him picking at his sleeves. She then got out of her seat and went over to kiss the top of his head.  “Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses.”  

She cupped her hands around John’s face, he leaned into her touch.” Maybe you are right about this. But I might not consider it though!!!” 

“I know I'm right.” Mary teased and stuck out her tongue, which caused John to pull Mary down onto the couch with him. They both giggled as they stared deeply at each other. 

“Do- Do you know anyone who tutors?“ John whispers, still ashamed that this fact is needed. 

Mary nodded. “Yes, my parents have this co-worker at their work. His name is Mycroft Holmes, and he said that his little  brother would be up for tutoring if the situation occurs.” 

“Do I have to go?” John groaned. “This subject doesn’t matter anyways, if I am already good at my other subjects!” 

“I know  dear, but if you fail this year, then you’ll have to do the subject again; and then get held back next year!” Mary explained gently which caused John to muffle his whine with one of his free hands. 

“I mean I come with you?” Mary suggested.

“‘No! No! No! That’s the final answer to all of these questions!”

Mary gave John a look which is her ‘ I'm begging you to go, I don't want you to not graduate’ slash ‘ you will go to this, if it’s the last thing i’ll do!’

“Ugh!! Fine, i’ll go!”  John groaned as Mary smiled at him, with content, like she won this argument. John then blurted out. “Do you think it can be a private session?”

Mary sighed before answering . “I’m sure it will be, but  I’ll  ask for you.”  

“Okay, good. Now can we drop this subject until later on ?” John asked her which Mary nodded; before they snuggled  up to one another, the rest of the night.

The next day, school went by excruciatingly slow, however once school was over he saw the person. He spotted him in the library, which Mary had vaguely informed him of, as he was reading some books . John didn’t know if the books  were for school, or if  he just wanted to read, in general. Which of course,didn’t matter to  John. 

John grabbed his book bag,right as he took a deep breath in, before entering the room…

Chapter Text

As Sherlock was at a library table reading “All That Remains: A Life in Death” by Sue Black, he saw someone in his peripheral view. That person was fidgeting with his backpack straps and looking around nervously. Ah, that must be my tutee.

Sherlock already got a read on this person. It was so obvious, his thoughts were so visible to Sherlock.He slightly felt bad for him; that he had him  as his tutor.  This person was wearing a varsity jacket that had embroidered letters of “221” on it. Although,it didn’t seem to fully fit him, since the sleeves were engulfing his hands.  He did not seem to be the type into sports, but he did have the physique structure for athleticism, which made Sherlock wonder about it.  Rugby,perhaps?

His hair was messed up, sticking up all over. He was pulling at his hair all day.Probably worried about this session.  He could see from all the way from his spot, that his  fingers were picked at. Definitely a nervous habit.  

Besides his physical appearance, his mental and emotional  state was all over the place. His face was betraying him, he had anger, confusion and sadness all written over him. He seemed like he didn’t want to be there, which honestly, was understandable. He was taking his time venturing over to Sherlock, making him seem like he was embarrassed to get help he needs.

Sherlock had to stop making deductions since the stranger finally came over to the table. “ Are you my tutor?”

“Indeed I am”  Sherlock replied as he got up and secretly studied him, more.

The stranger cleared his throat, “John Watson”. He extended his hand out for Sherlock to  reciprocate back. Sherlock noticed this, and shook his hand; as he tried to make a good impression.

Sherlock had not fully caught up with what was happening,afterwards. Since,he was dealing with his sensory issues. John’s hand was clammy and warm, which made Sherlock want to put his hand into boiling chemicals; to get this feeling to go away. However, because  he was in public, he had to suppress that thought and bury it until later. 

“Sherlock Holmes”, Sherlock finally responded after what seemed like a century. 

John nodded politely, before motioning between the two of them and asking,” So.. um how’s this going to work?”

Sherlock bit his tongue, holding back a sarcastic remark at John. “Well, I suppose I’m here to help you learn more about … Chemistry?”

John nodded in agreement .  Sherlock smiled. Well, this is going to be fun. I do hope he is a fast learner, and not like Anderson. 

“As soon as you understand this and truly comprehend this subject, we can stop if you like?” Sherlock suggested, he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

John nodded and then motioned that they should sit down. Sherlock followed and then moved his books out the way. While he was doing that, he saw John arch his eyebrow at him, intrigued.

“Did you bring a textbook?” Sherlock asked, looking at John.

John sheepishly shook his head no. How predictable. 

Sherlock  groaned internally,as he realized what he would probably have  to do. Lending out his favorite  chemistry textbook to John. Sherlock then grabbed a textbook, notebook, and pencil out of his giant bag, filled with everything he ever needed.

“Do you know anything about chemistry?” Sherlock asked as he got situated again. 

John chuckled lightly, which was the best sound ever to Sherlock. “I mean I did fail Chemistry before, so I should say.. no?” 

Sherlock let out a huff exasperation , “ Okay, I guess the beginning it is!”

An hour into Sherlock teaching John about Chemistry, his binder kept pinching against his ribs. He looked at John writing down all the notes, Sherlock was telling him.  So, he thought it would be a good time to fix his binder.

He wanted to be subtle about it, because he couldn’t  really lift up his shirt in the library. Not because  there were people there, but because Sherlock didn’t want John to know, that he was trans. 

His plan was to; smooth down his shirt, so the binder would smooth down, and not be bunched up,again. However, that didn’t go exactly  to plan, since John noticed his predicament.

“Is everything okay?” He queried, concerned.

“Yeah, it’s just this shirt” Sherlock half- lied, as he faked a smile.

It wasn’t entirely a lie. Sherlock’s shirt had been bothering him all day. The scratchy shirt material was getting more and more irritated to his skin; but he didn’t like to show his overstimulation in public, so he bottled it up.

He really needed the laundry at home, to be done soon, so he can wear better clothes. 

“Ah.” John gave him a grim smile. “As soon we are done, you can change outfits!”

Sherlock gave him a small smile. At least he is an optimist. 

Sherlock thought they were stuck in the library for HOURS, but eventually time flew by, and then they were packing up their materials. They gave each other a curt nod of a goodbye and went different ways. 

As Sherlock walked out of the building, he saw a SUV waiting for him in the parking lot. He was almost one hundred percent sure that that was Mycroft’s idea. His suspicion was correct when his phone rang.

“Get in the car” ,Mycroft’s voice crackled over the phone.

“Well, hello Mycroft '' Sherlock's voice not filled with any pleasantries anymore, his voice dripped with exhaustion. “ I’m sure this is your bidding?”

“Yes it is, now get in the car, so you can go home and take a  nap. Your voice is laced with exhaustion,resting will help it.” Mycroft explained, he almost sounded… concerned  for Sherlock, which of course, would never happen.

“Okay.” Sherlock gave in as he walked to the car slowly.

There was silence between the two, before Mycroft broke it. “ How long have you been wearing your binder today?”

“uh…” Sherlock uttered, trying to think. “ Almost 15 hours?” 

“Take it off immediately, when you get home!” Mycroft ordered him, which was amusing to Sherlock.

“You’re not the boss of me, bro.” Sherlock mocked, he already could see Mycroft over the phone, pinching his nose in irritation. He loved annoying his brother, that was the best thing ever for him. 

“I’ll tell mommy.” 

Even though Mycroft can’t see Sherlock, he knew he got him. Sherlock gaped. Asshole.

“Fine.”

“Great, see you at home.” Mycroft said before ending the call.  Sherlock scoffed as he got in the car and saw passing a blur of colorful lights and buildings through the window. 

He rested his face against the cool window, for a second; before he was getting woken up, and realized he’s home. 

Sherlock then thanked the driver and went inside his house. Sherlock’s mommy smiled as she saw him, and came over and asked him if she could give him a kiss.  Sherlock smiled and nodded, and so she gave him a light kiss on the top of his head. 

Sherlock liked  how his mommy asked before she did things that might make him uncomfortable, than doing it anyway without his consent. 

“ You seem tired?” His mom said lightly. “You should try to take a nap, supper will be ready soon.” 

Sherlock nodded before going to his room. He took over his shirt before trying to pull off his sweaty binder that has been sticking to him for HOURS. Sherlock then found a half- cleaned towel on the floor, he used that to clean off all his sweat; before putting on a different shirt. 

He then flopped onto his bed as he felt his eyes drooped with more exhaustion. He thought sleeping on the car ride home would have helped, but that just made it worse. He thought this time it would be better.

His “quick” nap turned into much more of a nap.  He woke up and saw how dark it was outside his window. He rubbed his eyes, as he went out of his room, and down to where everyone else is.

“Hey, darling.”Sherlock’s mother called out  to him,”There’s leftovers for you in the fridge”

“Thank you.” Sherlock replied  softly, as he realized he hadn’t eaten in a while.  As Sherlock was warming up his food, Mycroft asked how tutoring went.

Sherlock let out an auditory groan, loud enough, so everyone knew his opinion of tutoring people.“ He didn't know anything about Chemistry. It was SOOOO exhausting trying to teach chemistry to a newbie.” 

“I’m sorry. Hopefully it won't be this bad next time.” Sherlock’s mom said, trying to sound cheerful, but it didn’t fully make it.

“ Yeah, hopefully.” Sherlock sarcastically muttered to himself, before the microwave beeped; ready.

Sherlock then grabbed it out and immediately inhaled the lasagna they made. It was the perfect lasagna, the right ratio between pasta, meat, and sauce, which made him very happy. 

Sherlock then washed his plate and put it into the sink. Before he went to see what what everyone else was doing; in the living room area. His family was watching the news. Boring.  

Sherlock stayed there with his family, besides the fact they don’t have the same iq as him, and didn’t have the same interests of him, he did cared for them. Hence, him not actually listening to what was happening, and  was just fixated on his phone. His favorite author just released a new book, which he was already  giddy about.

“Hey mom…” Sherlock asked hesitatingly, he was worried that his mom would say no  to getting the book. 

“Yes?” She turned to look at Sherlock. Sherlock averted his gaze elsewhere, because; one he was worried about her reaction, and two he didn’t have to mask at home. 

“ Can I get this new book?” Sherlock asked, he could already feel his anxiety boiling up.

“Of course, do you need the money for it?” She chirped out, as she was waiting for his response.

“Yes.” 

“ Just let me know when, okay?” She smiled at him before turning her attention, back to the screen.

“Okay!” Sherlock grinned to himself.

Sherlock stayed there for a couple more minutes, before he got up and went to his room. 

He then  finished the ”All The Remains:A Life In Death” since it was a short book, and switched his gaze over to his phone, as he endlessly scrolled through the media. 

After two hours, Sherlock finally went to sleep, as his final thoughts were about John Watson and what he would do with him.

Chapter Text

John was lucky he didn’t have Rugby practice that day, as he stared through the glass window and into the library. John inhaled deeply, before he pushed the doors open. 

The grip on his backpack straps made his knuckles white.He didn’t want to do this, he could’ve just looked up chemistry on WikiHow, instead of getting a tutor. He could’ve done it, and lied to Mary. No, that would be mean. She did seem a bit annoyed with doing my homework. 

John was looking around to see who might seem like a tutor. There weren't that  many people in that library that day, so he thought it would’ve  been easy to narrow it  down. 

He spotted a  boy sitting at a library table. His hair was the color of dark chestnut  with his curls stuck to his face as he was reading a book intently. John did think that man looked…. attractive. Of course he would have  never acted on it, because he had Mary. 

He still looked around, to see if there were any more people, who looked like they could teach.  John saw a girl and boy speaking quietly to each other, and another boy on the computer. Not having other luck, he turned his attention back to the first boy.  Well, I guess  he is my tutor. 

John slowly trudged over by that attractive man,  he was beginning to pick at his fingers, but stopped. He was trying to stop this habit, but seeing this man made it harder for John. So, instead of picking at his fingers, he shoved them into his varsity sleeves. 

He was upset that the varsity jacket he paid for didn't fully fit him. Unfortunately, he didn’t want to pay more money to get a new one, therefore he stuck with the one he got. 

He didn’t realize that he was in front of that man, until there were vibrant grey- blue eyes looking up at him. “Are you my tutor?” John asked, trying to confirm his suspicion.

“Indeed I am” a deep but slightly cracking voice uttered, as he got up out of his seat. Which sent goosebumps down John’s spine.

John cleared his throat trying to get rid of this feeling, “John Watson''. He extended his hand out for his tutor to shake.

The man reciprocated the act to John, which sent John into more of a frenzy. That man’s hand was slightly bigger than John's, it was rough with callouses, but also soft at the same time. He, of course, just realized that his hands were sweaty from nerves. Fuck. 

He thought the man noticed as well, since his face was distorted; probably because of John and his stupid sweaty hands. After a while, the man said “Sherlock Holmes.“ 

Ah, that must have been what Mary was talking about. Mycroft’s brother. Although, she didn’t say anything about what he looked like? It’s a good surprise though ! John thought. Stop it.

John then motioned between them, oblivious to how tutoring sessions work. “So.. how’s this going to work?” 

Sherlock responded with, “Well, I suppose I’m here to help you learn more about … Chemistry?”

John nodded in agreement, which made Sherlock crack a smile. John suppressed his thoughts, as he waited for Sherlock to answer him.

“As soon as you understand this and truly comprehend this subject, we can stop if you like?” Sherlock suggested- which made John disappointed, for a reason he didn’t know, yet.

Well, I didn’t know tutoring could be this simple? But then again, John never had a tutor before. John then motioned them again, to sit down at the table. As Sherlock was scrambling to put his books aside, a flash of a book appeared. It looked like something about death John didn’t know Sherlock was into that type of thing. 

“Did you bring a textbook?” Sherlock asked as he turned to look at John.

Shit.

John sheepishly shook his no, and he already sensed what Sherlock was thinking. Popular kids don’t give a fuck about their education integrity, only thinking about their  sports integrity.   Which wasn’t exactly accurate, but the  large percentage of jocks, make it hard for others to believe.

Sherlock bent down to get some supplies out of his backpack. “Do you know anything about chemistry?” 

If only you knew why this was the reason I am here.

John chuckled lightly to himself. “I mean I did fail Chemistry before, so I should say.. no?”

“Okay, I guess the beginning it is!” Sherlock  uttered, before he grabbed John’s attention by explaining the basics of Chemistry.

As John was catching up from all the notes Sherlock was spilling out of his mouth, he kept seeing Sherlock fidget around. He kept pulling on his shirt, which got John’s attention. 

John turned to Sherlock, “Are you okay? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, it’s just this shirt that’s bothering me, that's all.” Sherlock answered, as he cracked a smile, that John knew was fake. He used that type of smile all the time; to get out of awkward locker talk situations. 

John didn’t fully believe Sherlock, that it was his shirt that was bothering him. There had to be something else that got him this agitated. However, since he was helping him out, John didn’t want to upset him. 

“Ah.” John commented. “As soon we are done, you can change outfits!” 

John then caught a glimpse of a smile from Sherlock, before he continued teaching him.

Soon after, the session ended and they were quietly packing  up their supplies. As John was putting his notebook back into his backpack, he had a thought. “ Hey, Sherlock?” 

“mhm” Sherlock said, distracted by something that caught his eye.

“ When will our next session be?” John asked as he fidgeted with his hands, to keep busy.

Sherlock thought for a moment, before answering. “ Does next Wednesday work, or would you like it sooner?”

Sooner, please.

“Next Wednesday, can work just fine. I usually don’t  have practice on wednesday and tuesday anyways, so it works out  perfect” John smiled at Sherlock.

Sherlock then gave him a small nod, before he grabbed his things and left the room. John then grabbed his backpack off the floor, before he headed towards his locker to get his sports bag. 

When he got everything he needed, he headed outside, towards his car. Since it was late, the buses would have been gone by now.  John’s phone beeped, as he looked at who texted him. Mary.  John smiled as he replied to her.

M: Hey, darling, how was your first session?

J: It was good, Sherlock helped me with the basics. Although, he did seem annoyed by my non existing knowledge.

M: I’m sure he didn’t think that. Tutoring just can be stressful. That’s all.

J: Yeah, you’re right. 

M: Of course, I am. Love you 

J: Love you too ❤️

John heard a muffled conversation in the parking lot that he was in. He looked around, only to see Sherlock talking on the phone. John couldn’t make anything out of what they were saying. Sherlock did look upset and exhausted. Did I cause this? Of course I did, who am I kidding?

John shook that thought out of his head. Sadly, he dealt with those types of thoughts all the time. He tried to be a good person, but it didn’t always work out the way he wants.

He then got in his car and drove home. His home wasn’t as big as Sherlock’s but big enough for a small family to be able to live in. When he walked into his house; he heard muffled footsteps coming his way, before he felt a hand tug on his shirt. He looked down to see his eight year old sister, Emma, looking up at him excitedly. 

John barely had enough time to put his bags down, before he was dragged to play pretend and talk about his day.  John smiled as his tea cup was being refilled by imaginary tea, before sipping it again. “Mhm, it’s so good!”

“ It is!” Emma exclaimed,as she clapped her hands happily.

“So.. was school okay today?” Emma asked hesitantly. She didn’t know what school was like for John, since he  didn’t really tell her. 

“Yeah it was okay,” John said. “ I had to stay  late today, and get help..”

“Why do you need help? You are so smart!!” Emma tilted her head toward her brother. 

“Well… I’m not really good with science.” 

“ I’ll help you get better! Then we can hang out more. ‘Cuz, you are always with Mary.” Emma beamed at John, excited about her idea.

“Not always-“

“Mary this! Mary that! Mary is so nice and amazing! You will love her!” Emma mocked John, which caused him to chuckle.

“Okay, I think I got your idea! But when people get older, they may get a girlfriend whom they like to spend time with ” John explained to his sister, in the simplest way. 

“What about a boy… friend?” Emma quizzed.

John looked down at his teacup, trying to hide his smile. “Yeah, they can have boyfriends as well.” 

“ Oh, okay!” Emma grinned at John.

Her face immediately got distorted with a new thought. Which caused her to start putting away her teacup.

“Emma what’s wrong?” John asked as he came closer to her.

“Jay today told me that I am not a baby anymore, and I should play with dolls, than tea parties”  Emma glanced up at Jonn, tears brimming her eyes.

“Oh, Em.” John sighed softly, before wrapping his arms around her, tightly. Emma started sobbing into his chest, as he soothed her back.  “You are never too old to play pretend.” 

“Really?” She sobbed out the word instead of talking normally.

“Absolutely! I  really do love our tea parties,Em ! However, if you want to play with dolls, we can absolutely play with dolls! Nothing is too childish!” John explained lightly, hoping he was succeeding in cheering his sister up.

He did successed when he heard a small “thank you” and his body being squeezed into a hug. John smiled to himself, he loved his sister and did not like when she was upset.

He pulled away with a boyish grin on his face. “Do you wanna get something to eat?”

Emma nodded, as she followed him out of her room. “Is pizza, good?”

“Yeah!” Emma chirped out. Pizza was one of her favorite meals. 

John sighed in relief. John isn't the best cook and his parents aren’t going to be home until after Emma was asleep.  They left immediately when John came home. John turned to Em and smiled at her while he pulled out pizza from the freezer.

While the pizza was cooking, he grabbed their cookie jar off the counter; and handed it to Emma to take. She took three, while John grabbed a few before he put the jar away.  While Emma was distracted, John go to create a salad bowl. John knew Emma might not eat the salad, because that’s how kids are. However, if she wanted some, she could’ve tried it. 

The timer went off and Jonn immediately pulled the pizza out of the oven. The pizza was amazing, the cheese melted perfectly and the crust was rising and falling. 

Emma tried to see what the pizza looked like, but because she wasn't tall enough to see; she waited until it was on the table. She then smiled when she saw the pizza, and was impatiently waiting to get the pizza in her mouth. 

John laughed at this, ” Calm down, it’s very hot!”

“mhm” she muttered as she bit into her pizza before she tried to cool her mouth off from being hot. John just shook his head, I tried to tell her.

******

John cleared the table off as Emma was watching cartoons in the other room. After he was done, he went to Emma and sat by her, as he scrolled on his phone. He was tempted to look up Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes but he was also scared at what the results would show.  

While he was going through an internal monologue, he felt a head hit his lap. He saw Emma falling asleep. He smiled as he pulled a blanket over her before he rested his eyes as well. He would do his  homework later on. 

He didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He groaned as he opened his eyes, as he saw his mother smiling tiredly at him.

“Hi.” John whispered quietly, as Emma was still asleep on his lap.

“Hi Johnie. Was Emma okay today?” His mother asked as she gently picked up Emma off his lap. 

“Yes, she got a bit emotional earlier- someone was being mean to her. I calmed her down, but  I think she  seemed really tired,so I let her rest.” John explained as he rubbed his eyes. “And I apparently fell asleep as well.”

“Thank you!” John’s mother replied before she turned to put Emma into her bed. 

John sighed, as he checked his phone. 

9:50 pm.

I guess I can get my homework done, it’s not that much.

John groaned and got up to go to his room. He blew through his algebra homework easily, before he finished his english essay, that was due the next day.

The idea of looking up the Holmes’s brothers fronted to his brain again. While it was disrespectful and inappropriate, he really was tempted to figure out who Sherlock Holmes was.

He shook his head before he changed into pajamas and flopped backwards onto his bed and fell asleep. He dreamt of Sherlock Holmes that night, wondering who he truly was.

Chapter Text

Sherlock leaned against Gavin’s locker as he waited for him to get out of his previous class. The swarm of people that were  coming at him was enormous and made him feel unsteady. However, since he saw Jeff coming to his locker,he ignored that feeling of uncomfortableness.

“How was leadership class today?” Sherlock asked him.

“It was alright, kinda helpful when it deals with  my future career.” Greg answered as he undid his lock to get all the materials for his next class.

Sherlock snapped his fingers.” Ah Yes, you being a detective.” 

“Yes, and then we can both work together! You being a consultant with your amazing deductions; and me being a regular inspector!” Gavin rambled onto Sherlock. 

Sherlock was about to say something but then saw a couple making out in the middle of the hallway. Sherlock rolled his eyes. Fucking, Allosexuals. 

Greg noticed  his discomfort and reached out hesitantly, and comforted him. Greg didn’t think Sherlock was weak, actually he thought the opposite. He made Sherlock  give consent while respecting  his boundaries. “We are almost to class anyways.” 

Sherlock nodded in agreement and continued walking to their last class, Forensics. As soon as they both sat down at their assigned desk. Molly chirped out “ Hey, Greg! Hey, Sherlock!” 

They both turned to look  at her and proceeded to smile at her. Molly was wearing a different shade of lipgloss that day, which intrigued Sherlock. She obviously was trying to get somebody’s attention, but he didn’t know who. 

After the teacher broke down the lesson plan, the teacher then made the students go into groups of three, for a lab experiment.   

As they all went into the lab they were met with: a long strip of  yellow crime scene tape covering the area of the pretended crime. Viable footprints on the ground that they could extract, there was blood splatter everywhere. Spread over  the lab table were; a coffee cup, shattered beakers, science magazines containing conspiracy theories and Covid, microscopes, glasses and a wedding ring. 

The teacher wanted their students to observe what was in front of them; aka their “pre” crime scene. And make  a paragraph to essay length hypothesis  containing the scene, including evidence provided in the lab. 

Sherlock was already giddy about this, he felt his stims trying to rise to the surface. He didn't know how long they could be compressed.  He had been compressing them for almost a day, and it was very draining. Since he didn’t want to be known as the “freak”; he masked a lot. 

However, if news spread; he wouldn’t just be the ‘boy who switched genders’ - everyone would see him as who he truly was; autistic . double the freak to society. 

Greg saw  how excited Sherlock was and smiled to himself, he loved seeing his friend happy. “How are you feeling Sherlock?” 

Sherlock fidgeted with his hands. “ Amazing! I already have so many ideas, and I already know Anderson has such  lame ideas.” 

“Really? What do you think happened?” Molly asked as she peeked out behind the boys.

Sherlock crept closer to their “scene” and analyzed everything inside his mind palace.  Glasses-female.Wedding ring- very clean, taken off recently. Covid  239 magazine - an acute respiratory illness in humans caused by a coronavirus strain. Definitely read recently. Shattered beakers- Break in. Fight. Blood- ? Conspiracy Theory magazine - ? FootPrints- Perpetrator.  Mug- still warm and not fully drunk.  Microscope-definitely used by researchers  or scientists.

Sherlock, not realizing he was stimming, until he felt a wave of energy go through him.

“What are you excited about Sherlock? This is a simple case. It’s obvious the FBI had involvement in it. “Are you being watched?” be damned.” He heard a familiar obnoxious voice say. Anderson.

He froze, not because he didn’t have a comeback for Anderson; but because he unmasked for a second. He only liked unmasking in safe environments, and this was not it.

“None of your business, Philip.” Sherlock heard Gavin grumble. 

Sherlock put his hand on Gavin’s  shoulders as emotional support. “No, it’s okay Gavin-“ 

“Greg.”

Sherlock felt a smile crept on his face, he always did love messing with Gavin. “… Greg. Why I was jumping up and down, Anderson, is that I know what happened. And it’s not the  csi nor the fbi, that medicore idea doesn’t make any fucking sense so shut up.” 

“Language-“  the teacher announced to the class, which everyone ignored.

After the encounter, he heard Anderson scoff and turn back to his group. Sherlock then turned back to his group that was waiting for an answer about the case.

“Our victim was female - mid 30’s, married,she was a researcher studying bacterial viruses. She was interrupted by a perpetrator  when looking at her microscope slide. The perpetrator caught her off guard, and a fight broke loose, which caused there to be broken beakers and blood there.  There was a high chance he didn’t want her body there as evidence, so he brought her with them when they left.” Sherlock explained, as if it was the most simplest thing ever.

“But why did they attack her?” Molly asked, Sherlock detected she was upset. Ugh, human beings and their feeable emotions. 

“ They didn’t want the truth to come out. The truth you might be asking; is that  Covid 239 is very important to understand, to destroy, to defeat. If somebody stops the research process, the antibiotics will be delayed. Yes, another researcher might continue the study, that is true ; however they won’t have all the answers they are looking for, if the person is dead or missing.” 

“ Wait wait Sher- '' Gavin announced to the group. “ What about the ‘ Are You Being Watched?’ Magazine? It doesn’t make sense!’“ 

Sherlock rubbed at  his face aggressively. “Yes, I don’t know yet. It’s getting me irritated.However since most of the evidence works for our hypothesis, let’s just go with this plan.” 

There was silence between the other two,before they both agreed and started writing down everything,  on their observation note guide. Sherlock quickly scribbled words down on the paper, so he wouldn’t be marked down. 

Observed: 

Everything in the scene; Glasses, Ring,Beaker, Blood, Magazines, Mug,Microscope. 

Not Observed:

Perpetrator, intrusion, body. 

After that, Sherlock began typing away at their essay. Molly and Greg know that they should just allow Sherlock to do the entire thing without them. If they typed something incorrectly, Sherlock would have  made  a big fuss out of it, and pointed it out to them. So they just give  him their information to use for their assignments. 

As  Sherlock was typing away, he was making almost non audible verbal stims. Greg noticed that, but didn’t say anything. Greg loved when Sherlock stimmed; he loved that he felt comfortable expressing his energy and emotions in unique ways. 

As Sherlock finished, the bell rang. He smiled to himself as he got up and packed up. He said goodbye to Gavin and Molly and headed outside to the parking lot. He was searching for his brother’s minions, however he couldn't find any, so he walked to his car that was parked.

 His car was very simple, black, and medium sized. High enough so he wouldn’t hit his head against the roof of his car, and long enough so he will have enough leg room. 

He drove out of the parking lot to drive home, as he was deep in thought. He loved his car, but he missed taking the bus home. Before his brother took on the government job and him taking on a part time job, helping his brother out with cases.

However, ever since that stalking incident, Mycroft firmly told Sherlock never to ride that bus again.

Sherlock’s fingers  tapped on the steering wheel as he waited for the light to change.

*****

He heard a  dog bark and then blinked. He looked around his surroundings and saw he was in his driveway. He wondered how long he was parked. Probably not that long, since Redbeard barked just then.

Speaking of Redbeard, Sherlock got out of his car and ran toward him. He buried his face into his fur,and breathed in deeply. He always had a soft spot for Redbeard.  

They then played fetch for a while before they headed inside their house. Sherlock’s mom smiled as she headed towards him. “ Did you get home, safe?”

“ Of course.” Sherlock replied before he dropped his bags off into his room.  Before he then got called down for supper.

He ate his chips and fish fast before he went to his room. He stared at his computer screen as he tried to find an answer on why that  magazine was important. He then got the answer he was looking for, before he grabbed his phone and checked the time.

5:40pm.  Damn. I’m sure Jeff is done with practice anyways. I can call him and tell him what I learned.

 On the third ring, Gavin finally picked up. “ Gavin great- finally! I was trying to call you!” 

“… Greg.” 

Sherlock brushed it off as he began typing away at his computer.”Mhm okay, as I was saying, I know what’s with the magazine. Okay, to understand the magazine, we need to backtrack with her being the scientist. I mean, scientists get threats all the time, but if the perpetrator knew her-“ Sherlock spewed out words, faster than the speed of light.

“ Sher. Sherlock. Sherlock! Slow down, breathe!” Greg exclaimed as he tried to interpret what Sherlock just said to him.

Sherlock did what Gavin instructed him to do, while he continuously typed faster.  

There was somebody whispering in the background which got Sherlock intrigued who was on the other line with Jeff.

Greg then spoke again. “Hey, Sherlock, I'm getting ready to go home from practice. Why don’t you tell me it when I’m home?”

Sherlock’s nose scrunched slightly. “ Because I thought you wanted to know. I mean… I wanted to share that information with you, because, while you don’t have the same iq as me. I will never say this ever again; but I appreciate your input and basic silly commentary.” 

“Oh.. I’m sorry. Okay. That’s fine, you can go at it.” Greg uttered, now realizing how important this was to Sherlock.

Sherlock grinned to himself before he continued his rambling.  “As I was saying, If the perpetrator knew the scientist already. Then the  woman must have been on high alert as she  thought that   she was being stalked.  While that obvious magazine is a conspiracy theory, probably containing ``pigeons being spies to the government” or something similar to it. Which is incorrect, and not even funny. However, It could also be used in her case, thinking that she was being watched by her prepentrator.” 

“Brillant. Nicely done!” Greg exclaimed. Greg literally would never have  thought of that, he was impressed with how smart Sherlock really was. That also might’ve helped since he has dealt with these types of cases before, and got to the bottom of it. 

“ Thanks.” Sherlock uttered awkwardly, waiting for Gavin to say something else. He didn’t want to interrupt his train of thought, if he was still  talking. 

“Did you type that out yet?” Gavin asked Sherlock. 

“Yes, Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Sherlock asked, confused as to why G didn’t know that. 

“Just wondering.”  Greg replied politely. 

“Oh Okay..” 

Sherlock could feel himself  mentally crashing, he had to finish this. Before he  put on his headphones, to listen to classical music, and fall asleep.  

“Well goodbye.” Sherlock said before he pressed end.

“Wait Sherlock-“ was the last thing he heard from Gavin on his end. Sherlock felt too exhausted to call him back to see what he wanted to say. Instead he finished part of the essay that was missing.

He then changed into his comfort clothes, before  pressing play on his phone and falling asleep. Completely forgetting his homework that was due the next day. 

Chapter Text

John could only hear the sound of his loud heart beat pumping in his head; and the feel of the rugby ball in his hands as he ran down the side of the field. Before he knew it, he was being tackled; waist down, to the ground. Luckily, he was able to drop the ball mid tackle 

John saw a hand in the air right in front of him. He looked up and saw Greg grimace at him.  He mumbled “c’mon” before the game started again. This time he wasn’t the one being the runner, but him being the quarterback.  

He then handed the ball to Greg because he knew Greg was fast on his feet and on his head.  Everyone lined up to the side of the field and waited until they saw the ball in the air. 

Everyone then went on defense as Greg pushed through the other  group.  John was worried because he saw another team mate catching up to Greg. John was tempted to tackle him, so it would give Greg enough time to make it to the end of the field. But, he also knew that would be a penalty on their team, so he thought against it.

John trusted Greg’s instincts and knew he can do it. While  Greg might not be everyone’s favorite player,  John knew for sure, Greg can outrun anyone. 

Before John knew it, Greg was on the other side of the field. And that’s how John knew his team won at practice. John ran up to Greg and congratulated him with a goofy smile.

Greg smiled back at him the same way. They locked eye contact , however John was the one to pull away.

He can’t have a crush on Greg.

The other team mates brought John back into reality, as they cheered for Greg. John stayed for a bit before he walked to the locker room.  

John pulled off his sweaty team  jersey and pants before he went to take a shower. When he turned off the shower head, and grabbed his towel, he realized he wasn’t alone.

Greg was there.

John blushed hard as he saw Greg turning to look at him. The grip of his towel started to slip on his waist, so he immediately grabbed onto his towel, until his knuckles turned white.

“Good job out there on the field ” his gravely voice spoke which sent goosebumps to John’s spine.

John cleared his throat. “ Me? Don’t you mean you! You killed it out there! You are incredible!” 

Greg flushed slightly which made John internally grin at that thought.

John then followed Greg out to the locker room area and got dressed. He then turned around to grab his pants and pulled them on his waist.

Well.. here goes nothing!

“Hey.. I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner with me sometime?”

” I-“

Before Greg could finish his sentence, his phone rang, which made John annoyed.

I what?! I like you too, let’s get dinner? I don’t like you the same way, please leave me alone. WHAT?!

John then heard Greg say his own name. John’s eyebrows scrunched up. 

Who the fuck is saying Greg’s name wrong?!How hard is it to say? It’s a pretty easy name… Maybe he doesn’t know Greg that much. Mistakes happen. 

Greg looked concerned before turning towards John and said  “Sher”.

Did he just say sure?!! As in sure let’s get dinner?! John’s stomach was doing flips just thinking about getting dinner with Greg. Greg was attractive, kind and such a wonderful team mate and a friend to have.

” Sherlock!!”

Oh.

Wait how does he know Sherlock?!

Chapter Text

“ Sher. Sherlock. Sherlock! Slow down, breathe!” Greg exclaimed as he tried to interpret what Sherlock just said to him.

John’s curiosity got the best of him when he asked,” How do you know Sherlock?”

Greg whispered “best friend “ before going to back to his phone. “ Hey, Sherlock, I'm getting ready to go home from practice. Why don’t you tell me it when I’m home?”

John heard muffled noises on the other line. He wondered what Sherlock was saying.

Greg then listened to Sherlock explain the reasoning to him. “ Because I thought you wanted to know. I mean… I wanted to share that information with you, because, while you don’t have the same iq as me. I will never say this ever again; but I appreciate your input and basic silly commentary.” 

“Oh.. I’m sorry. Okay. That’s fine, you can go at it.” Greg uttered, feeling guilty about trying to stop him.

Sherlock then continued his rambling.  “As I was saying, If the perpetrator knew the scientist already. Then the  woman must have been on high alert as she  thought that   she was being stalked.  While that obvious magazine is a conspiracy theory, probably containing ``pigeons being spies to the government” or something similar to it. Which is incorrect, and not even funny. However, It could also be used in her case, thinking that she was being watched by her prepentrator.” 

Greg patiently listened to Sherlock’s reasoning,  as he  put up his hand to John to indicate to wait for him.

“Brillant. Nicely done!” Greg exclaimed as Sherlock finished his exclamation. Greg literally would never have  thought of that, he was impressed with how smart Sherlock really was. That also might’ve helped since he has dealt with these types of cases before, and got to the bottom of it. 

“ Thanks.” Sherlock uttered awkwardly.

“Did you type that out yet?” Gavin asked Sherlock. 

“Yes, Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Sherlock asked, confused as to why Greg didn’t know that.

“Just wondering.”  Greg replied politely.

“Oh Okay.. Well goodbye then” Sherlock said before he pressed end.

“Wait Sherlock-“ was the last thing Greg said before he got hung up.

Greg light heartedly shook his head. He wasn’t mad at Sherlock as he knew that Sherlock gets to the point of everything and when everything is solved, he will be done with socialization.

Greg then turned to John as he smiled at Greg. “So.. what will it. be?”

“I’m sorry John, you’re not really my type.”

Oh.

It’s fine.

…right?

maybe it’s for the best?

John sniffled, “ Can I ask what your type is?”

“Brunettes”

Yeah.. definitely for the best.   

John nodded, internally groaning to  himself.

“Although.. I think I know someone who might be your type”

John’s eyes widened. “Who?!”

Greg smirked to himself. “ You already know him.”

John rolled his eyes. “Not helpful”

Greg smiled lightly. “Sorry, you need to figure out on your own”

“But you COULD tell me now, so i know!” John uttered in frustration.

Greg patted him on his back before he head out of the locker room.  His voice faded out of the locker room as the door opened again and John saw his other team mates came in.

What does Greg mean though? Who even likes me? I know a lot of people!! I have to narrow this down, some way. Maybe I’ll ask Sherlock in our next tutor session; what Greg meant.

Chapter Text

Sherlock checked his  watch. 4:30 pm. He was an hour an half late. The doors then burst open and a panting John Watson  walked over to his table. Sherlock immediately found hickeys all over his body.

Sherlock scoffed. John was the one who wanted to get better at Chemistry, but here he was an half of an hour late because he wanted to be kissed around by some random girl.

“I’m sorry about being late. I lost track of time.” John said chuckling nervously.

“I bet you did.” Sherlock responded blunt.

“Girls, am I right?” John smirked to himself. Sherlock had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“Girls?… Girlfriends? No, not really my area.” Sherlock answered, tried to sound vague; not wanting to come out to his acquaintance.

John wondered out loud, trying to decipher what Sherlock was trying to tell him. “Oh, right. Do you have a boyfriend?”

Sherlock then gave him a sharp side eye as he pulled out some practices that John can use.

“Which is fine, by the way.”John added on, wanting to clarify that he wasn’t one of those boys.

“I know it’s fine” Sherlock said, getting tired of this subject.

“So you’ve got a boyfriend then?” John continued to ask as he pulled out his own notebook.

“No.”

John’s small smile demised. Sherlock sighed heavily. “John, um ... I think you should know that I consider myself married to my education and trying to help you get better with chemistry. And while I’m uniquely flattered by your interest, I’m really not looking for any..”

John shook his head as his eyes widened at the accusation, Sherlock was assuming. “No. No, I’m not asking. No. I’m just saying, it’s all fine.”

Sherlock stared at him, dumbfoundedly trying to figure out John Watson.  Sherlock inhaled deeply, already ready if he was going to be attacked for what he was going to say next. “Good. Thank you, because that would be pretty awkward for me since i’m Aroace .”

“Aro.. ace?” John tilted his head confused. “I’m sorry, can you explain that to me?”

“It’s when someone experiences little to no romantic or sexual attraction”, Sherlock explained it to John, not surprised John didn’t know it. There is barely any representation for that sexuality, so people might not know what that is.

“Oh! I remember it; it’s like asexual and the anti romantic sexuality combined together!” John exclaimed excitedly bouncing in his seat. “ Wait!..Yes, I remember! It’s Aromantic!!!”

Sherlock smiled slightly before nodding in agreement.  John’s eyes looked very blank like he was far away before mumbling,” Can i ask you something?”

Sherlock narrowed his eyes, with a hint of curiosity, before uttering a “sure”.

“So, can you still be in a relationship?” John bit his lip as he waited for Sherlock’s response.

“Well, it has to be nothing  to do with romantic tendencies or anything. But yes, Aroace people can still have relationships but  it would have to be platonic, you understand, right?”

John grinned to Sherlock “ Yes, I understand.”Sorry, can I ask you one last question?”

“mhm..” mumbled Sherlock as he watched John write down chemical imbalances.

“ Greg-“

Sherlock’s eyes widened in recognition of his best friend’s name. “ How do you know how Jeff?”

John’s eyes twitched in annoyance at Sherlock saying their friend’s name wrong, probably on purpose. “ Greg…”

Sherlock waved John off, “He loves when I say his name wrong. He knows I’m not doing it in malicious intent, but just teasing him.”

“ As I was saying, Greg told me yesterday, that someone I know is my type aka they  would want to date me. I was going to ask you if you knew anyone who might like me. But since, you are Aroace you might not be in any help…” John explained lightly, not trying to hurt Sherlock’s feelings as he said that about him.

Sherlock locked eyes with John. John gulped, he awaited Sherlock to yell at him and say that wasn’t okay to say. However to his surprise, Sherlock smirked at him.

“ I might not know anything about romance, but I do love a good mystery,  so I will help you!”

John chuckled slightly. “ Thank you sherlock.”

Sherlock stared John up and down trying to figure out some key details about him that might make people to like him. “Well, you are popular, a jock which brings many fans that obsess over you.”

“Not many..”

“Hush.” Sherlock lightheartedly said as he continued his observation. “ However, you got a little secret, huh?”. A huge smirked crept on Sherlock’s face. “ A little solider in the making. People will love that.”

John looked around to see if his military pamphlet was visible to the eye; it was not.John then looked back at Sherlock gaped, “ How did you know that?”

“You pretend to be a Jock as a facade, yes you like the sport, but you don’t really want to be this sort of jock. What you really want to be is a solider, more specifically a medic.”

John looked gaped. “ Are you sure, you didn’t see the pamphlet?!”

Sherlock chuckled so hard that his ribs started to hurt. “ Positive.”

John  looked at Sherlock with admiration as he breathed out, “That’s brilliant. That’s fantastic even!”

Sherlock turned his attention back to him. “D’you know you do that out loud?”

John embarrassed said, “Sorry. I’ll shut up now”

A hint of a smile reappeared on Sherlock’s face before he disagreed with John’s statement. “ No, it’s ... fine.”

“ So, any contesters?” Sherlock asked John afterwards.

“ Uh.. Maybe my girlfriend, Mary?”

Sherlock felt embarrassed that he didn’t figure that out. “ Maybe, that’s what was what….Greg was saying. Mary is your type, you’re-“ He scoffed saying this cliche. “true love.”

“ I don’t why, I didn’t think about that. I’m such a shitty boyfriend, that I didn’t even think about my girlfriend.” John groaned he threw his head into his hands.

Shit. Shit. How to comfort someone. Shit. Remember it Sherlock!!  Mind palace activate!

“It’s okay, people forget in the heat of the moment, or whatever normal people say”, Sherlock said comfortingly as he patted John’s shoulder.

“ You’re right. I guess mystery solved then, right?”

“ Yep. Mystery solved. Now let’s get back to what we are for; for you to not fail chemistry class!!”

John groaned, “Alright, put me to work.”

Sherlock grinned brightly, “Gladly.” Before they got to work, from Sherlock spewing out elements and John putting them into equations form or writing out their chemical imbalances.

After two hours, they were exhausted for two different reasons. Sherlock was exhausted from socialization and John was exhausted from studying. But at the end of the day, it was worth it for John. For he, then knew chemistry a little bit better. But for some odd reason in the pit of his stomach, he was upset that their sessions will be ending soon.

The boys then went their separate ways before saying goodbye to one another.

Before they fell asleep that night, they thought of each other.

Chapter Text

Over the span of a couple weeks; the duo, Sherlock and John were learning more about each other.

Sometimes they  even got entranced in conversations, that they forget that they were there for ; tutoring.

Which John quickly realized that their in depth conversations, upset Sherlock since he was just there to tutor John; not be his friend. Which John accepts and tries to keep things neutral with Sherlock.

Over the weeks, John learned that Sherlock wants to be a private detective with Greg. In addition, he is severely smart, like John already knew he was smart but he was shocked to hear that Sherlock has a 190 IQ.

What Sherlock learned from John was nothing…. Well that’s what Sherlocks wants others to think and not the fact that John is a older brother to his younger sister, Emma.  Very sweet story there.

He was a boyfriend to the very popular; Mary Morstan.  Her parents worked with Mycroft. Small word, huh?

Even though it’s not really small, it’s huge! Gigantic, even!

—————————————-

While they were mid session, trying to get practice in.  John cleared his throat,” I have a  rugby game this week”

Sherlock looked up at John, “Yeah? When?”

“November 15. So, I was wondering if you wanted to come see it?”

“No,thanks” Sherlock replied, looking back to his textbook.

John frowned, he knew that they weren’t exactly friends, but he was sure this was an okay thing to ask.

“Can I ask why?”

“Too loud. Pep band, people screaming overly loud, etc. I get overstimulated very quickly.” Sherlock mumbled.

“Oh, I didn’t know that.” John whispered almost to himself. John tried to think of an alternative, but Sherlock stopped him.

“John, it’s okay, I promise! You can tell me all about it in our next session.”

“Alright then….”

Sherlock feeling bad, wanted to change the subject. “How did your chemistry test go?”

Sherlock saw a smile creeping on John’s face which caused him to smile as well. John’s smile is contagious.

“I got a B!” John giddily bouncing in his seat.

“You got an B?!” Sherlock repeated, shocked at John’s improvement in Chemistry.

“Yes!!” John screamed so loudly he got shushed by the librarian.

“John! That’s incredible!” Sherlock exclaimed, and before he knew it their bodies were colliding. He never hugged someone, truly. Yes, he accepts them occasionally, but he never ignites them, the other person does it for him.

I guess John is different….

Sherlock was hugging him. Sherlock. Hugged. Him.

Don’t panic! Don’t panic! That’s what people do when they hear good news! Don’t freak out! He’s your associate, that’s it.  We  could never be together.  He doesn’t even like me, even platonically.

Sherlock was the first to move away from John. John was upset, but didn’t say anything. He still felt his touch on his shoulders, as it still lingered there.

Sherlock cleared his throat,” Sorry about that outburst “

John absolutely shook his head,shooting down Sherlock’s attempted apology. “ It’s alright, don’t worry. Excitement gets the better of people.”

Sherlock’s smile slowly faltered. “I guess, it does.”

John looked down to his phone and realized the session is almost finished.

Sherlock tilted his head at John, noticing something is up with his behavior. “What’s wrong?”

“I just realized it’s almost time to go.  I was having fun talking to you.” John replied.

“ You have fun talking to me…?” Sherlock stuttered.

John chuckled, “Of course I do! I alway love talk to you, Sher!”

Sherlock’s cheeks had a tint of blush on them, as he heard John’s nickname for him.  Before realizing what John just said. “ You like talking to me..?”

John just shook his head, not in annoyance; but in the way of not understanding why Sherlock isn’t believing him. “ Yes!  As I said I love talking to you. I actually was nervous to ask you if you wanted to be my friend?”

Sherlock almost dissociated. He couldn’t believe what he just heard. John wanted to be his friend. His actual friend. He thought John was too cool for him to be friends with him.

I never expected to be anyone else’s best friend  besides Greg.

“Are you okay Sherlock”, John asked, he was going to touch him again but thought that might make it worse. John thought he might have had an internal panic attack, or something similar.

So, John just stayed with Sherlock, until Sherlock seemed to gain consciousness again.

“Are you okay?” John repeated again to Sherlock.

“Yes, I am fine.” Sherlock gave him a small smile trying to comfort John. John looked so worried for him, which made Sherlock believe that John didn’t deserve him.

“Okay, well before we go, would it be okay to exchange phone numbers?” John asked before immediately clarifying his intentions. “ So we can text to set up next sessions, and so I can tell you how the game went?”

Sherlock grinned to himself, “Of course!”

John smiled back as they exchanged phone numbers, and waited for each other’s notifications.

Hi  John.

-S

 Hello :)

-John

They grabbed their supplies, and walked in sync as they made it out of the school and into the parking lot. Where they both said their goodbyes and went their separate way.

As they both made it home, it was dinner time, and then studying.

But at 9:46pm Sherlock got a notification.

Did you do the math homework?

-John

Yes. Did you need it?

-S

Sherlock waited for John to respond, the bubbles appeared and disappeared many times, before he got this message:

Maybe.. Or we could call, and then you could help me out with the problems?

-John

Sherlock grinned to himself as the moonlight hit his face in a certain way. He  sat up on his bed, flicking on his magnifying glass lamp before responding to John.

Sure

-S

Immediately, afterward Sherlock sent that, John’s number popped up on his screen. Sherlock chuckled to himself before answering his phone.

An hour afterward, they weren’t talking about homework, no they were talking about everything and anything.

During their call, Sherlock noticed John fell asleep, with his soft snores that made Sherlock so soft in the chest.

Sherlock stayed with him until it was getting  too late an could slightly see the morning light through his window.“ Goodnight John, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He ended the call,  before he himself, went to sleep.  He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he dreamt of John, again that night.

What was with John being in his dreams, recently?It was getting annoying. Well, I mean… he was very nice so I wouldn’t consider it annoying… but  more frustratingly confusing.

Chapter Text

Sherlock was glad the weekend came along as fast as it did. He disliked socialization; people were so….. normal…. so boring. (He was none of those things by the way). Although he did miss talking to Greg and deep down in his heart, John. 

Such an extraordinary and intriguing boy,  John Watson was.

And on that thought, his phone buzzed.

John W. : 

Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place and want to watch Knives out 1&2 with me. I thought since you like detective stuff, you might like this? :)  

                             delivered  1:10pm

His phone buzzed once again:

It’s okay if you’re busy and can’t come, btw!  

      delivered 1:10pm

John saw Sherlock’s typing bubbles go and then stop, before  disappearing. He was nervous, thinking he worded it wrong. He meant it in a friendly way, but he knows that  type of phrasing can get miscommunicated. He hoped he didn’t scare off Sherlock.

 On the other side of the screen; the  typing cursor  kept tempting Sherlock,  as it kept blinking at him, awaiting a response. At that moment, his  mind was spiraling.

Friends do this right? Of course, friends do this! It’s just like hanging out with Jeff! Plus what he said intrigued me, so why not watch detective films? …. Even though  I prefer books over television.

After what felt like a millennial for John, he finally got a response from Sherlock.

Sherlock H. :

Sure, that sounds fun. When?

                              delivered 1:15pm

John W. :

I was thinking 2pm,today? D:  

                               delivered 1:16pm

Sherlock H. :

 I will go  ask my parents if we have anything planned for today.

                              delivered 1:17pm

John W. :

Okay. Let me know if it’s possible. 

                              delivered 1:18pm

And so Sherlock went downstairs and asked. His mom immediately agreed with a smile plastered on her face. Mycroft looked at Sherlock  with an raised eyebrow and smirk forming on his face. Which immediately got smudged off  by Sherlock flipping him off. 

Sherlock hopped back on his bed to message John again.

Sherlock H. :

My parents agreed with us hanging out.

                               delivered 1:24pm

John W.:

Great! :D Here’s my address: [ address linked]. Emma is home so she  might nag us, just letting you us.  

                               delivered 1:25pm

Sherlock H. :

Thanks. I will let you know when I arrive at your place.  It’s alright I’m used to nagging siblings,myself, my brother was bothering me just a couple minutes ago haha.   

                delivered 1:27pm

John W. :

You’re welcome. Haha Siblings,  right?

                              delivered 1:28pm 

Sherlock H. :

Definitely. 

                            delivered 1:28pm

Five minutes later, he got up and packed his bag. Headphones were a necessity for him. He didn’t care if John considered him a weirdo for that; since they were just watching movies, he  knew himself and his socialization limits.  

An oversized jumper that was 3 times bigger than his usual clothing size; when he does take his binder off. Mycroft initiated this new annoying “binder rule” -  where Sherlock is only limited to wearing his binder, for a certain amount of time. Six was the minimum limit; seven  for school, depending if he had sessions that day.

He also brought along a tiny fidget toy that he could easily fit in his pocket, if needed to. 

After packing, he said his goodbyes to his family with Mycroft screaming at him about that stupid rule before he closed the door and headed to John’s place.

It took much  persuading but he was allowed to drive home on his own , and not get personally driven around by Mycroft’s newly added chauffeurs. 

He hopped in his medium sized car and drove off. Before sending John a quick text that he was on his way. 

It was actually a  quick drive. It was a  15 minute drive into  the city,  from his hidden rural house. He then pulled up to John’s place and was shocked with how different his place is compared to his place.

Sherlock sent John a quick text that he was there. Before he admired John’s place. 

John’s  house was smaller in size than his, which he didn’t mind. Sherlock’s house was maroon with  soft  paneling. John’s was hard red brick.   Sherlock had a railing and a porch, John’s had a balcony. Sherlock had fields of yards, John had a small patch of grass near his flat.

He found Watson’s door number on the side of the brick wall, and  rang the doorbell, before being  buzzed in. He walked up the stairs slowly,as he tried  to pace himself to not be  out of breath.

Before he knew it, he came to Watson’s door and knocked. What felt  like forever, but probably just a couple minutes, the door opened, showing John in the doorway. 

John gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry about the wait. Emma won’t let go of me!” 

A child-like giggle escaped from an unknown voice. He looked around to find where the voice was coming from. Before  he looked down and saw a blonde-haired girl with blue eyes. She was gripping John’s leg, probably either  wanting him to play with her, or to not leave her.

She looked up at him with big eyes, with a hint of curiosity in her eyes . “John! Is this the boy  you always talk about?”

John’s face flushed red. “This is Sherlock, my friend.” John motioned between the two of them. “Sherlock, this is my little sister, Emma.”

Sherlock bent down before he extended his hand out to her, silently hoping Emma wasn’t sticky or sweaty. Lucky, for him, she wasn’t. “ Nice to finally meet you, Emma.”

“Same”, Emma replied, as she loosened up her grip on John’s leg and stood up. She brushed her clothes off from any dirt.  She tried to appear mature and natural;  even though she clung on to John when he wanted to answer the door, a couple minutes ago. 

She then appeared to remember  something, since her mouth was hanging wide open. 

“Wait!'' Emma exclaimed, which got the boy's  attention.  “Don’t you do that thing? Where  you can read people?”

“Deductions”, John corrected her. Sherlock arched a brow at him.

Since when did John become an expert on science?

“Ah”

“And yes, I can do deductions, to answer your question.”

“Can you do me! Can you do me pleasee!!!” Emma asked as she jumped up and down.

Sherlock looked at John who just shrugged, which pretty much gave him permission.

“Alright.” Sherlock responded with a small nod.

Sherlock then looked at her, trying to look for the littlest details, before answering.

“While you don’t wear a lot of blue, your favorite color is blue. Your finger pads are worn down probably from a repetitive action or activity. Probably tea cups, as I can see.” Sherlock motioned to the set of tea cups nearby on a shelf. 

“Your best friend is John, since you just clung to him, just a few minutes ago. Your fingers are picked at, probably caused by a nervous habit or from what someone said to you.I’m guessing a bully. Bullies are the worst! Anyways that’s pretty much it…”

Emma just looked up at Sherlock with amazement written on her face. Sherlock gave her a small smile.

I guess being amazed by intelligence runs in the family.

His thoughts were interrupted when John questioned Emma. “Did Jay say something else?!”

“Just the same thing as last time - she kept saying that I should move on from tea; and that I should make believe with dolls, instead.” 

John clenched his fist up, before he unclenched it. He can not harm a child even though she hurt his baby sister’s feelings.

Sherlock then caught up and knelt down to Emma. “ You wanna know something,Emma?”

“hmm?”

“When I was a bit younger than you, I wanted to be a pirate.” 

“ I thought that was normal?” Emma tilted her head at Sherlock.

Sherlock looked at her with sad eyes, he didn’t have the heart to tell her, it wasn’t. Normal girls didn’t want to be pirates. 

Well, he wasn’t normal, was he?

“Not what the world had in mind as a career choice.” Sherlock offered as a response. 

Sherlock continued on. “So, since I wanted to be a pirate so badly, my brother and I would play pretend, and fight each other. He would of course win, since he was taller and faster. “

John looked at Sherlock with curiosity in his eyes, with a hint of amusement. As he learned more about Sherlock. 

Emma giggled at Sherlock. “ Do you still want to be a pirate?”

“No, now I want to be a detective. My point being is that you can do whatever you want, no matter what the world says. If you want to play tea, just play tea, that’s all that matters.”

“Wise words.” Sherlock turned to the new voice.

Sherlock then noticed an older woman with dirty blonde hair. She was leaning against the door frame, staring at them with a warm smile written on her face.

“Thanks…”

The woman then walked over and extended her arm out to Sherlock. “I’m Meredith,John’s mom, it’s nice to finally put a name to face .” 

Name  to face?! … what??! 

Sherlock tried to keep his face neutral but confusion was written all over him.  

“John talks about you a lot.” She continued on. “ I was hoping to see you at John’s game, but John said you don’t like big crowds.”

Sherlock gave her a curt nod. “Indeed.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, in a safer environment, Sherlock.” Her smile never dropped even as the topic changed. 

“Supper will be ready in a few hours. You can just relax here.”

“Thank you!” Sherlock gave her a small smile.

“Of course! And Emma leave them be, please!” 

“But mommmmm!!” Emma whined out, with a pout etched on her face.

“The boys want to watch a movie together, they don’t want any more distractions. Especially if you bother them.”

“Fine.” She grumbled underneath her breath.

“Thank you, sweetheart!,” Meredith called out before turning back to face  Sherlock and John. “ I made some bowls of popcorn, If you want some.”

“Thanks!” Sherlock's smile grew more and more. He was starting to like  Meredith. She seemed nice. Plus free food.

They both took the bowls of popcorn and made their way to Jonn’s room. John’s room was much different from his. He had posters on the wall, rugby trophies on tables (collecting dust), a desk with a chair in the corner, a tv stand with a medium sized like tv standing on it. Not too big, but not too small. Almost like he bought it on his own. 

His bed was big enough for both of them to sit on. It was pushed against the wall, facing opposite of it was the tv.  

Smart Layout. 

They  were leaning against soft pillows, their backs to the wall. A large blanket covered  between the two of them  as John was searching for the movie. 

The room was lit by only the nightstand lamp. Sherlock then glanced at the picture of him and Mary that laid near the lamp. 

They looked so happy together. John had his arm around Mary as they both were laughing at something.  It was probably a hot day then, since there was sweat covering his forehead.  They stared at each other as if they were the only thing that mattered. 

Sherlock then cleared his throat, which got John’s attention. “Why did you want to do this with me?”

“I mean… you are my friend and I thought this would be something you would like.” 

“No.” Sherlock fidgeted with his fingers before he said what was on his mind. “I mean, why couldn’t you do it with Mary?”

“Oh..” John  cleared his throat.  John was a bit shocked that  he was asked this, but it was alright.  Sherlock was right, he could do this with Mary, but he just wanted to hang with Sherlock. 

“In all honesty, Mary doesn’t like crime films or anything related to crime. She likes romance films or miscellaneous stuff.”

“Really?!” Sherlock stared at him with incredulous amounts of disbelief. 

John laughed at him so hard that his ribs started to ache. “ I am serious. She isn’t a fan of blood and murder.” 

“And you are?”

John shrugged. “It fascinates me. I am not going into the forensic field or anything, but I do find it cool. Something about solving a mystery case and being able to close it. You understand, right?”

Sherlock smiled at John before he nodded. “ Definitely!” 

John smiled back at Sherlock before he exclaimed. “Oh, it’s starting!”

The boys turned their attention onto the screen as they threw popcorn into their mouths. 

—————————

Once the movie ended, Sherlock and John just chatted to one another about it.

“…..It’s interesting, how um…” Sherlock trailed off, trying to remember the character’s name. “Marta’s whole thing was she can’t lie. But at the same time.. I hated it so much!!”

John turned his body to Sherlock, confused but allowed Sherlock to continue. “ In what way?”

“When she kept throwing up. I  hate bodily fluids!”

“You do?”

“Yeah, it just freaks me out. And it looks so disgusting!”

John nodded. “ That’s understandable.”

” Did you know that twenty eight percent of murder homicides  are killed by someone they know?” John commented, feeling giddy about sharing a forensic fact with Sherlock. “There also is a link between drug use and homicide- eighty six point four percent.” 

“I heard about that, yes.” Sherlock answered before realization started to hit.

How did John know about forensics?!

“ Did you look it up or something to impress me?” Sherlock asked smugly , as he tried  to figure it out.

John barked out a  laugh. “ Actually, no. I do admit I did take  a forensic class or two.” 

Sherlock gaped  at John, shock and admiration filled his eyes.

“Is that so surprising?” John asked. 

“Yes!” Sherlock exclaimed, which caused a giggle to escape John’s lips.

Before they were able to talk about the film more, they were called for dinner. As they were walking out of John’s room, and into their small kitchen and dining area.

Sherlock gaped as he saw what the meal was. Lasagna.

Sherlock grinned to himself, unknowingly. “ You made lasagna?”

Meredith smiled at him before she explained. “ Yes, John said you liked Lasagna and thought this would be good and safe for all of us.”

Sherlock turned to John. “When did I tell you that?”

John awkwardly rubbed his neck. “ I overheard you talking about that to Greg, and how it's one of your safe foods. “

Sherlock nodded, still in shock with everything and how well John’s hearing was. “ Lasagna and Chips are my safe foods.”

John’s father, whose name was Hamish, clapped his hands together. “ Well, let’s eat!” 

The meal was wonderful, Sherlock thought so and expressed his gratitude to Meredith for making it. 

“It is nothing, Sherlock.” 

“So, Sherlock.” Hamish spoke, Sherlock still wasn’t used to how deep his voice was. “How is your bother, Mycroft? What is he like at home, the same at work, or different? I heard from Cheryl that he works for the government, is that right?” 

“Depends on how he acts at work.” Sherlock retorted which got a low chuckle out of Hamish. 

“Mycroft is … Mycroft. Being his  annoyingly older brother self; who indeed works for the government and has many federal secrets that he WON’T share with us. It’s so frustrating, trying to pull federal like strings out of him. However, he did basically  confirm once that Princess Josephine’s death was a set up.” 

“IT WAS?!” John exclaimed with shock.

Sherlock let out a deep chuckle. “ Yeah. I mean it makes sense with everything. Plus the Queen didn't like Josephine. Plus the whole affair and all.” 

“Affair…What  affair?!” 

“Oh John….You’re so vacant. Is it nice not being me and unknowing?” Sherlock hummed to himself, before he noticed John’s face distorted into unpleasantness. 

“No, no, no, don’t look at me like that. I practically say that to  everyone.” Sherlock tried to reassure him, but it didn’t go so well, so Sherlock moved on. “Prince Harriet had an affair with Charlotte.  Josephine found out and then she was rumored to have an affair with a different man as well before she got killed.” 

John gaped at him which caused Sherlock to laugh more. Sherlock thought of what the expression was. He hoped he used  it in the right context, at that moment. “Close your mouth, John. Or else you will catch flies.” 

John just playfully rolled his eyes at Sherlock. “This is the first time I heard about that information. It’s pretty daunting to hear about it. “ 

Sherlock shrugged. “I suppose it is.”

—————————

After that conversation, Sherlock cleared off his plate before giving it to John’s parents, since he didn’t know  where things went in  their flat. 

Sherlock excused himself and asked to use the restroom. John then followed him and pointed him to the room.

Sherlock motioned to the door with one hand as he  gripped  his bag, which he grabbed from John’s room. 

John looked down at what Sherlock motioned at, confused but didn’t say anything to him, which Sherlock was thankful for. 

Sherlock’s binder was pinching against his ribs the whole time at dinner, even when he  watched  the other half of the ‘Knives out’ movie.  While he tried to subtly move his binder, pulling it down or moving it, it wouldn’t budge. It still pinched Sherlock, to the point he couldn’t handle it. 

Sherlock shrugged  his jumper off  before he took off his binder, not looking in the mirror when he took it off. He then threw his jumper over his head; again. As he was fixing his hair, he noticed his chest. 

Even when the jumper was swallowing him whole being that big, he still felt dysphoric. He still felt that his chest was visible. While some might say he was imagining it and that he was crazy, he could still  see the outline of his chest, at certain angles. 

Sherlock sighed as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He hated everything about himself. 

He wished he had a flat chest. He wished his jawline was sharper. He wished his cheeks weren’t as pudgy and feminine.  He wished his voice was deeper and didn’t crack. 

He wished he was someone else.

In the midst of his self hatred, he didn’t realize he started crying.  

He wished he wasn’t as emotional. 

Sherlock then heard a gentle knock on the door. Sherlock tensed before he heard a familiar voice. “Are you okay in there, Sherlock?”

“Yeah.” Sherlock cleared his throat. “I will be out there soon.”

“Oh okay. Just checking. I am going to grab us more popcorn before we watch the second movie.”  John’s voice was filled with concern, he hoped Sherlock hadn’t noticed. Sherlock barely noticed it since he was busy trying not to cry again.

“Thanks.” 

“Of course, Sherlock.” 

Sherlock rubbed the tears that fell from eyes, roughly. His eyes were red and puffy. He knew he couldn’t go out there, looking at this. He couldn’t even lie and say he was high, because wasn’t.

He was nicotine free for 2 years and drug free for 6 years. The last time he tried drugs was when he realized he was a boy, and couldn’t stand being in his body anymore. So he grabbed a random bottle from the cabinets and emptied it.  

After Mycroft found him on the ground, he immediately forced their parents to get him on puberty blockers. Before he officially got on testosterone at age 14. 

He smoked nicotine for a year, trying to deepen his voice. Only to realize it didn’t really help, in the way he thought it would. He fucked up his lungs so badly that he  couldn’t bind for months until Mycroft deemed it was safe for him.

He took deep breaths and waited until the redness went away before he walked out of the bathroom.

Sherlock walked back to John’s room,he had a feeling he was in there. His feeling was correct when he spotted John looking at him. John looked at him with shock before he laughed, shaking his head .

Sherlock scrunched up his face, anger and confusion seeped into him. “What?!”

“That jumper is swallowing you, fucking whole, you do realize that, right?” 

Sherlock sarcastically laughed. “ Haha, very funny. I didn’t in fact know that.” 

“What happened to your other shirt?”John finally gave in and asked Sherlock the question that nagged at him.

“It somehow got stained.” Sherlock lied. Sherlock felt slightly bad for lying to his friend, but he wasn’t ready to tell him. 

“Really?” John's eyes filled with amusement.

Sherlock rolled his eyes.” Yes, these things happen, you know.” 

John nodded.“ Yeah. I hate when that happens. Here come sit down.” 

Sherlock noticed John patted the spot next  to him on his bed, with a smile on his face. Sherlock smiled back and went to where he was motioning before laying back. 

John did the same, before he handed Sherlock his own bowl of popcorn.  John then pressed play on the movie as the introduction played in front of their eyes.

The boxes  from the movie; were interesting and intriguing to Sherlock. Sherlock was one hundred percent certain he would be able to solve it in under five minutes. Probably less.

Over the course of the movie, Sherlock seemed very entertained with the whole storyline. He was enjoying it more than the first movie.  As he was watching it, He noticed the character Miles switch his alcohol glass with another character named Duke. 

A couple minutes later, Duke died. Sherlock grinned to himself before he spoke up again. “Milo switched the glasses.”

John paused the movie right after it was explained how the character died. Sherlock frowned slightly, he enjoyed this movie, he didn’t want it to be paused on his behalf because of his commentary. 

“How did you notice?! It took me a couple rewinds to catch that!” John turned to look at Sherlock in shock.

Sherlock hummed softly. “ I pay attention to the littlest details, that’s how I am able to make deductions.” 

John nodded.” That makes sense, I should probably get better at it.”

Sherlock shrugged. “ It’s not ideal for everyone. It just helps when I make observations in order to create deductions.  How many times have you watched this movie, now that I ask?”

“Uhh…” John trailed off, trying to mentally count how many times he watched the sequels. “ About three times now.” 

Sherlock laughed to himself, as he shook his head. “ Oh, wow.” 

“Yeah!” John laughed with Sherlock, because his laugh was so contagious. 

——————————-

“SHE HAS A TWIN?!?!” Sherlock screamed so loudly, that Meredith had to come into the room; and remind him that other people live there as well. 

John let out a bellyache of a laugh. “Yes, she has a twin!” 

“How did I not notice that?!” Sherlock gaped, looking between John and the screen. 

“They did a really good job with hiding it in the movie up until now .” John commented. 

“They lead up to this moment.” Sherlock now understood, everything was coming to climax, why not add a plot twist into the making? 

John nodded enthusiastically. “ Yep!” 

Sherlock then sat up straight. “That changes things! John press play now!!!!”

John laughed at Sherlock’s intensity and excitement at the plot twist. Sherlock tried to reach for the remote, but John moved it out of his grasp. 

Sherlock let out an exasperated sigh. “ Damn it Watson. ‘mon  and press  play!” 

John was shocked that Sherlock called him by his last name. It felt weird for him; with not knowing what to do - he gave in and pressed play on the remote. John fidgeted with his hands after the conversation.

As the credits rolled out, Sherlock looked at the screen, jaw wide open. His eyes filled with intensity and excitement.

John saw that and smiled softly to himself as he watched Sherlock. 

He then cleared his throat before he teased. “ Close your mouth, Sherlock. Or else you will catch flies.” 

Sherlock scowled when he glanced over  at John, before he playfully punched John in the arm; which caused John to laugh.

John was really giddy and giggly that day, he wondered why. He didn’t think he was ever that giggly, up until that day.

“Whatever.” Sherlock rolled his eyes. Sherlock felt self conscious of how he was reacting and he looked. He just now realized that he  was starting to unmask  around John. Part of him wanted to go back and start masking again, but the other part felt comfortable around John. Sherlock felt as if John wouldn’t be disgusted or annoyed by his actions and what he does. They are friends after all. 

“It was a good movie!”

John hummed softly. “ It really was!”

“I really liked and related to Benoit Blanc and his backstory!” Sherlock exclaimed.

John nodded. “ What do you like about him?” 

Sherlock’s hands felt clammy. He didn’t know what to say.

We both are gay??? We both are autistic??  We both love  mysteries???

“We both love solving a  good mystery.” Sherlock settled on.

“You both do.” 

Afterwards, Sherlock grabbed his phone to check the time, but ended up seeing someone he didn’t want to talk to.

Hycroft Molmes:

When are you coming back? You have been over at your student’s house for a long time. I wonder, are you starting to form a friendship with him?

              delivered 8:20pm

Sherlock H:

Fuck off.           

                               delivered 8:21pm

Hycroft Molmes:

You do, don’t you? Oh wow, Sherlock. I’m surprised you are talking to other humans.

delivered 8:23pm

When Sherlock didn’t respond to Mycroft. Mycroft smirked before he sent this: 

Hycroft Molmes:

I’m going to tell mom about this new discovery! 

delivered 8:25pm

Sherlock H:

DON’T YOU DARE TELL MOM!

                            delivered 8:25pm  

Hycroft Molmes:

You aren’t here to stop me, are you?

                             delivered 8:27pm 

Sherlock H:

FUCK OFF.

delivered 8:29pm

Mycroft laughed to himself, as he sat in his comfortable chair, content on  terrorizing his little brother; with the thought of telling their mom about him being friends with John. Sherlock told them he didn’t like John a couple weeks ago and now they are hanging out together. 

Ironic isn’t it?

When the room fell into uncomfortable silence, John looked at Sherlock with concern. “Is everything okay?”

Sherlock looked at John with daggers shooting out of his eyes. “ I am going to kill my brother.”

John chuckled nervously. “ What happened?” 

Sherlock snapped. “He got on my nerves; that’s what happened. Now will you help me kill him?” 

“Isn’t that against the law, or something.”

Sherlock shrugged. “Or something. No one will have to know!”

John barked out a normal laugh;  that time. “His work and associates will notice him missing .” 

Sherlock snapped his fingers, as he tried to work out all the details. “ I could just say he moved? They wouldn’t suspect a thing!” 

“I don’t think they will believe that.”

Sherlock smugly smirked. “ I am a really good liar.” 

“Are you?”

Sherlock frowned. “ Fine, I will kill him myself- since you are no help.”

John let out a playful sigh. “ I’ll help and be your alibi.” 

Sherlock grinned. “That's what friends are for!”

John’s thigh nudged against Sherlock. Sherlock had to control his breathing after that. Sherlock was panicking, for two reasons. One that he was gay and another guy that he considered almost close with, touched him. And second, he… he is touch starved. He will admit. Mostly  because of his autism, but also not  a lot of people touch him.  

He had a weird feeling when the sensation went away.  He almost felt empty. 

Strange.

“Indeed, so!”

———————-

“You’re heading out?” John asked as he walked him in the hallway. He felt upset with Sherlock leaving even though Sherlock was with him most of the day. Life won’t be the same without him. 

“Yeah.” Sherlock gripped his bag,  ready to go home. “ I have to go home, eventually. I do miss Redbeard.”

John’s face scrunched up. He never heard of the name redbeard. “ Who or what is that?”

Sherlock turned to face John before he uttered: “ My dog.”

John gasped. “You have a dog?!?!”

Sherlock nodded which caused John to almost beg Sherlock to show him what Redbeard looked like.

John was staring at a picture of an irish setter, his fur curly and full. He was wearing a red scarf around his neck. As he was staring up, almost lovingly, at Sherlock with his mouth wide open.  Sherlock was staring back down at the dog, sharing the same amount of love in his eyes. 

John got distracted by the picture of Sherlock. His black curls falling down over his eyes as his eyes crinkle. His smile was huge and full. 

“Adorable!” John then shook his head of the thought before he exclaimed. 

“I know right! I love him so much!” Sherlock nodded enthusiastically. “ I bet he is missing me right now.” 

“Well, I suppose you must be off, then!”

“You sure?”

John was upset with Sherlock leaving but it was for a good cause. Dogs.

“Yeah, I’ll text you if I need anything!” 

“Okay!” Sherlock formed a small smile, John smiled back at Sherlock.

Before Sherlock could leave, he felt tiny hands around his waist. He looked down at Emma, her face squished in between his legs.  

“Thank you.”  She whispered so quietly that only Sherlock, himself, could hear.

He cleared his throat. “Of course!” 

Once Emma let go, Sherlock left the  flat and went to his car, for the drive home.

Once he arrived home, Mycroft teased him relentlessly about him and John. Sherlock flipped him off, before he went to say hello to his parents. He talked about his day with his family. Leaving out certain details. Such as the bathroom situation, before he headed up to bed.

Sherlock was exhausted. Today was a long day for him, socially. His social battery was running very short. 

He dropped his bag on the ground, before he flopped onto his bed. He sent John a quick text saying he is going to bed, since he was exhausted.

He immediately reassured John that it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t have any brain power to explain further. So he just left it as that. 

He turned off the lights once he changed into comfortable pajamas ; before he snuggled up  to his Zurlock stuffed animal. 

He clinged onto it before he drifted off to sleep…

Chapter Text

John didn’t know what was wrong with him. He was missing Sherlock, dearly, even though they met up for their session  just three days ago.  Plus, they engage in  small conversations in the hallway when they pass each other. 

John mostly initiated the conversations, but he was glad that Sherlock conversed with him. He would have thought he would ignore John and go in the opposite direction. 

Sherlock was still a bit wary with the ruby members as they  passed by the duo. But Sherlock was  a bit comfortable in his presence. Which was all that mattered to John Watson.

Now that it was Saturday, he wanted to hang out with Sherlock. More than a student-teacher mode. 

Because of that, he then grabbed his phone and pulled up Sherlock’s number;  before he sent him a text about coming over to watch films with him. He didn’t even check if his family was busy that day, he just wanted Sherlock. 

John then sent him another message reassuring that if he is busy that day, it would be fine.

They could just try another day.

As time passed- with no message back, his anxiety increased. His leg kept bouncing, hitting the bottom of his bed each time. John didn’t care that his leg was starting to be bruised, all he cared about was Sherlock’s input.

Did I overstep? Of course you overstepped you big dimwitt! He hates you now! You fucked about your friendship with him! No I didn’t… Yes you did! Plus who would even want to be friends with you? Plenty of people! ……Sure.

Five minutes passed (which felt like millennials)  and John finally felt his phone buzz from a notification. He looked down and his heartbeat rose, when he saw Sherlock respond back to him.

Sherlock H. :

Sure, that sounds fun. When?

                               delivered 1:15pm

John’s finger’s immediately hit his keyboard when he sent his next text.

John W. :

I was thinking 2pm,today? D:  

                               delivered 1:16pm

John looked at the time for the second time that day.

Shit.

It was cutting it close; he hoped that Sherlock could still make it. Another buzz pulled him out of his thoughts. 

Sherlock H. :

 I will go  ask my parents if we have anything planned for today.

                               delivered 1:17pm

John W. :

Okay. Let me know if it’s possible. 

                               delivered 1:18pm

As John was waiting for Sherlock to return, his anxiety came back. He definitely can’t go ask his own family if Sherlock could come over then. He was in no shape to ask.

His legs were bouncing vigorously, non stop, he was trying to control his breathing so he didn’t have a panic attack. 

Which wasn’t working to his content.

His brain was starting to feel fuzzy, he then  gripped onto the side of his  headboard to keep himself grounded.

The feeling slowly started to drift away over a span of minutes , and he was starting to know what his surroundings were. He was back in his room, his phone right next to him on his bed. 

Oh!

 My  phone!!! Did Sherlock respond when I was out?!

 He did. 

John rubbed his hands over his face and groaned as he picked up his phone, to see what he said. 

Sherlock H. :

My parents agreed with us hanging out.

                               delivered 1:24pm

John let out a sigh of relief that he didn’t realize he kept in until then. He swiped at  his keyboard and sent Sherlock a reply with a hint of giddiness in it. 

John W. :

Great! :D Here’s my address: [ address linked]. Emma is home so she  might nag us, just letting you us.  

                              delivered 1:25pm

John chuckled lightly as he saw Sherlock’s next reply:

Sherlock H. :

Thanks. I will let you know when I arrive at your place.  It’s alright I’m used to nagging siblings,myself, my brother was bothering me just a couple minutes ago haha.   

                 delivered 1:27pm

John slowly started to feel like himself again when he texted back saying: 

John W. :

You’re welcome. Haha Siblings,  right?

                              delivered 1:28pm 

Sherlock H. :

Definitely. 

                            delivered 1:28pm

When John didn’t get a message back he got the impression that Sherlock is on his way.

FUCK! I didn’t tell my family about Sherlock coming over yet!

John scrambled out of his room and into the regular portion of his flat; where he knew  his family usually was at that moment.

“Guys!” John exclaimed, which got everyone’s attention. 

“Is everything okay, sweetie?” John’s mom asked him before  she came over to him to put a hand over  his forehead.

A small smile   formed on John’s lips, he always loved his mom’s  concern containing him, even when he was okay.  

Mother’s love and all. 

“I’m alright mom!” John responded honestly as he lightly took her hand off of his head. 

“So… what’s up?” John’s father asked him with a huge whiff of curiosity. 

“I was wondering if my friend could come over today?” John asked. 

 Oh my!

He didn’t realize how stressed he got, just to ask to have him come over. He wiped his clammy, sweaty hands on his sweatpants.

“Of course, love!” His mother exclaimed as she ran her hair through his snarly hair. 

“Maybe, brush your hair beforehand!” She suggested  which caused John to blush in embarrassment.

“Who’s the friend?” Emma asked with a shy smile on her face.

“His name is Sherlock!” John smiled back at Ems.

“Oh, yeah!” his  mother exclaimed, grinning wide at the mention of Sherlock. “I think I remember you talking about him. Your chemistry tutor, right?” 

John nodded. “Yes, we are starting to be friends now!” 

“That’s great, sweetie!” she smiled softly at John.

“Does Mary know him?”, Emma asked with suspicious eyes.

“Mary was actually the one to suggest to me that I should go to Sherlock and get help! So, yes, Mary  knows of him.” John explained.

“Oh..” Emma mumbled. “Cool!” 

“Darling, you should get ready before your friend comes over? He does know our address right?” John’s mom asked softly.

“Shit!” John exclaimed as he gripped his hair,  force of habit from his anxiety. Causing his hair to be more messed up.

“Language!” His dad uttered. He narrowed his eyes, slightly displeased but never angry. John even thought he noticed a hint of amusement in his eyes. He might be seeing things, because that could never happen.

“Sorry.” John mumbled underneath his breath before he turned to look at his mom again. “And yes, he does know our address, I sent it to him!”

After that conversation, John immediately ran to his room to change. He  felt like Sherlock wouldn’t like his state of clothes. John was currently wearing a pajama shirt and sweatpants. 

John then looked through his dresser before he picked out a colorful jumper and some black trousers. He combed his hair back before deciding it was good enough.

He huffed out a breath before smelling it. He then determined his breath was alright and came out of his room  and sat down by Emma, as he awaited for Sherlock’s arrival. 

“He better not replace me.” Emma muttered under her breath, snarky. 

John heard her and turned his body towards her. “He isn’t replacing you, Ems!”

“He stole our time!” Emma scoffed.

John scrunched his eyebrows, confused by what she just said. “What do you mean?”

“Remember? Saturdays are always tea time!” Emma uttered as she started picking at her cuticles.

Shit. I forgot about that. I am such a shitty brother! 

Yes, indeed , you are!

John put his hand over her hand, stopping her from picking at her hands more. He was worried about her. She doesn’t need to worry about anything. He wanted to take the thing that was causing her this much stress, away.

“I am sorry, Ems!” John huffed out a sigh. His shoulder sagged  which got Emma’s attention. “I truly mean it! I just wanted to hang out with Sherlock! If I am going to be honest, I am kinda intimidated by him and want him to be friends with me. Because…. I envy him.” 

Emma gaped. “You envy him?! Look at how cool you are! What’s so special about this Sherlock person, anyways?”

John didn’t even notice himself bouncing up and down on the couch. If Emma noticed, she didn’t say anything to him. 

“He does this really cool thing Ems! So, Sherlock can read people!” 

Emma tilted her head, in disbelief. “…Read… people…?”

“Yes! Like he just somehow knew I wanted to be in the army! I never even told him and he never saw anything in my bag about it!” John explained, his hands twiddling by his side. 

“Army?!” Emma gasped.

“Yeah, Ems. I want to help  and heal people!”

“You can do that at the hospital, not  at war and be in danger!” Emma retorted, her lips pinched in annoyance, her eyes narrowed into him.

John had to  stop himself from laughing at Emma’s reaction. This was serious for Emma, but oh man, can she be so fiery, sometimes!

“Do mom and dad know?” Emma asked.

“No, they do not, at the moment.” John answered her as he noticed a small smirk form on her face.

Oh no.

“I won’t tell them, if you let me hang out with you and Sherlock!”, she raised a brow to taunt John.

Joh gaped at Emma, his mouth wide open. He didn’t suspect that. “Are you trying to blackmail me?” 

Emma nodded proudly. “ Yep!” popping the ‘p.

John rolled his eyes. He was amused by her tactics, but had to stay annoyed by her in an  older brother way. “Whatever. We’ll see.” 

“Yay!!” she clapped her hands excitedly, getting her way.

At that moment, their intercom buzzed, he heard a deep voice crackle through the tiny  intercom speakers that were attached to  the wall. “Hey, John. It’s Sherlock! I texted you that I’m here, but I didn’t know if you saw it or not. That’s fine, if you didn’t…. Um… Can you let me in?” 

John frowned and looked down at his phone, and noticed that Sherlock indeed texted him. He was busy with Emma to even notice his phone buzz. 

He then got up and was about to walk over near the door to buzz him. Until he felt a grip on his leg. He looked down and saw Emma gripping onto him. Damn. She might be small compared to him, but her grip was like iron. She didn’t even let go.

“What are you doing?” John asked as he tried to trudge to the door, but it  felt like trying to swim away from an icy current. The ice was pulling John back, and not forward. The ice in question; was  Emma. 

“Not letting you replace me!” Emma cried out. John felt conflicted. He wanted to comfort his little sister, but also wanted to meet his friend again. 

“I… I am not… replacing you!” John gritted out as he tried to walk towards the door again. It was a fail, since he fell backwards onto the ground. 

John then noticed his mom buzzing Sherlock in. He mouthed ‘thanks’ to her, she then smiled before going back into the kitchen to make dinner. He learned that since dinner takes hours to cook, his mom gets prepped and prepared for it beforehand. Smart move. 

She stopped at the doorframe of the tiny kitchen before she looked back at John. “Do you know what Sherlock likes to eat?

John thought back to him as he walked past Sherlock and Greg in the hallway. He remembered Sherlock talking about Lasagna and how much he loves it.

“Lasagna”, he responded  from the other room.

“Thank you, love!” his mom called out. 

He muttered out a ‘ you’re welcome’ when he heard a knock on the door. The sound was music to his ears. Motivation. He trudged through every step, he now is in the playroom of the living room and sooner than later, he made it to the door.

He panted heavily, as he caught his breath, before he opened the door.  He threw the door open, and all the air that he had left vanished when he saw who was at the door. 

Sherlock ‘fucking’ Holmes!

John felt undressed. But for Sherlock-  He looked… Perfect. Sherlock was smiling  at John with a mop of unbrushed brunette curls that were  stuck upon  his forehead, which were covering up his beautiful blue and green heterochromia eyes. Sherlock  was wearing a purple button up dress shirt and black trousers. John’s lip’s pinched slightly in confusion because of the outfit. It was just them watching movies, nothing too formal. But by any means, he can go for it, the color definitely suits Sherlock.

John ran his hand through his hair, already ruining his nearly fixed hair  before he shot Sherlock an apologetic smile. “Sorry about the wait, mate. Emma won’t let go of me!” 

Before Sherlock could say anything, Emma let out a mischievous giggle which made John look down at her, annoyed by the fact that she still wouldn’t let go of him.

Emma noticed John’s displeasure and  turned to look up at Sherlock, for the first time that day. “Wait John! Is this the boy  you just talked about?”

John’s eyes flared up, of course Emma would tease him like that. Emma took  any advantage she could to annoy John. On  any other day he would be proud of her tactics, however today wasn’t the day.  

John’s face was flushed with embarrassment before he introduced the two. “This is Sherlock,my friend who I indeed talked about earlier.Sherlock, this is my little sister, Emma.”

Sherlock bent down to Emma’s level on the ground before he  put out  his hand for her to shake. “Nice to finally meet you, Emma.”

“Same”, Emma replied, as she finally  loosened up her grip on John’s leg and stood up. She brushed her clothes off from any dirt.  She tried to appear mature and natural; which was amusing to John because of their arrangements just a couple minutes ago.

Emma turned to look at John, mouth wide open. John knew that look. That’s her “wait, I remember something” look.

“Doesn’t he do that thing? Where he can  read people?” Emma questioned.

“Deductions”, John corrected her with proper terminology.  He didn’t fully explain it to Emma beforehand, just the basic gist of it though.

Emma gaped at him. “Ohhh!” 

She then turned to ask Sherlock if he could deduct her. Sherlock looked at John shocked by the request, John just shrugged and allowed Sherlock to be able to do it.

If John thought Sherlock knowing he wanted to be a medic was amazing, he didn’t know what Sherlock had in store for him when he deducted Emma.

“While you don’t wear a lot of blue, your favorite color is blue. Your finger pads are worn down probably from a repetitive action or activity. Probably tea cups, as I can see.” Sherlock motioned to the set of tea cups nearby on a shelf. 

“Your best friend is John, since you just clung to him, just a few minutes ago. Your fingers are picked at, probably caused by a nervous habit or from what someone said to you.I’m guessing a bully. Bullies are the worst! Anyways that’s pretty much it…”

Both Emma and John gaped at Sherlock, impressed by his abilities to deduct someone just from the littlest details.

Then reality set in with what Sherlock just said out loud. John turned sharply to Emma before he asked; “Did Jay say something else?!”

“Just the same thing as last time - she kept saying that I should move on from tea; and that I should make believe with dolls, instead.” Ems answered him.

John’s blood began to boil, his jaws and hands began to clench up.  He had one thing on his mind and that is violence. However, he can not harm any child even if they hurt his baby sister’s feelings. 

John took deep breaths before he began to speak again, but  Sherlock intervened before he got the chance.

“You wanna know something,Emma?” Sherlock asked as he bent down to her with a small smile on his lips.

“What?” Emma muttered, barely inaudible but loud enough that the boys can both hear her.

“When I was a bit younger than you, I wanted to be a pirate.” Sherlock answered.

“I thought that was normal? All boys do that sort of thing” Emma tilted her head at Sherlock, confused.

There was sadness in Sherlock’s eyes that John wanted to take away and make him happy again. He wondered what must have caused that sort of change in reaction.

 Before he got too lost in his thoughts, Sherlock explained to Emma that was indeed not normal. Which John found confusing, he remembered as a kid, he wanted to be all sorts of things: wizard, firefighter, pirate, detective, medic etc you name it! 

Why did Sherlock say that?

Sherlock went  on. “So, since I wanted to be a pirate so badly, my brother and I would play pretend, and fight each other. He would of course win, since he was taller and faster. “

John smiled at the thought of mini Sherlock dressed up as a pirate and sword fighting with his older brother. Sherlock being upset that his brother always won, instead of him. John thought that sometimes Mycroft let Sherlock win on purpose, to be a good older brother. 

He himself thought that mini John and mini Sherlock would be best friends and would play dress up and make believe all the time, as they would stay over at each other’s houses. John was really a pirate boy, more of a soldier. But John was sure that Sherlock wouldn’t mind it. Pirate soldiers! That sounds fun!

Emma giggled at Sherlock which startled John out of his fantasy thoughts. “ Do you still want to be a pirate?”

“No, now I want to be a detective. My point being is that you can do whatever you want, no matter what the world says. If you want to play tea, just play tea, that’s all that matters.” Sherlock explained to Emma with a serious face as he gave her a light shoulder squeeze. 

Wise words.” John’s mother said which startled the living daylights out of Sherlock. 

The trio turned and noticed her as she  was leaning against the door frame, staring at them with a warm smile written on her face.

“Thanks…” Sherlock replied awkwardly.

Great. Way  to make the guest feel uncomfortable and awkward mom!  

John looked at her annoyed which then led to her greeting Sherlock as she extended an arm out  for him to reach. “I’m Meredith,John’s mom, it’s nice to finally put a name to face!”

Just by the look on Sherlock’s face, John just knew he was confused by what that meant. Poor mate. John understands not knowing what phrases mean sometimes or even mixing up phrases, himself.

“John talks about you a lot.” She explained. “ I was hoping to see you at John’s game, but John said you don’t like big crowds.” 

Sherlock gave her a  nod in agreement. “Indeed.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, in a safer environment, Sherlock.” her soft smile was still not dropping yet. “Supper will be ready in a few hours. You can just relax here.”

“Thank you!” Sherlock gave her a small smile as   he was about to  follow John into his room.

“Of course! And Emma leave them be, please!” Meredith interrupted before they left.

“But mommmmm!!” Emma whined out, with a pout etched on her face.

“The boys want to watch a movie together, they don’t want any more distractions. Especially if you bother them. 

Emma gaped at John. He promised her after all that she could tag- team them but now she can’t. She had tears in her eyes. “You promised, Johnnie!” 

John looked between their mom and Ems. Meredith seemed content that Emma wouldn’t bother him and Sherlock. He didn’t want to fight his mom, so he just gave her a small shrug.

“Fine.” She grumbled underneath her breath, sniffing to herself as she stomped away.

I am most definitely am going to pay for that. 

“Thank you, sweetheart!,” Meredith called out before turning back to face  Sherlock and John. “ I made some bowls of popcorn, If you want some.”

“Thanks!” Sherlock grinned at Meredith before he ran after John as he was already making it to his bedroom.

As John was pulling up the first film, he noticed Sherlock take in the view of his room. Sherlock nodded in approval which made John happy that Sherlock approves of his living arrangements.

Sherlock stared at a picture of John and Mary. The room was filled with uncomfortable silence. John just wished Sherlock to say something, anything to stop this silence. However what he heard next, was not a topic  he had on his mind. 

Sherlock then cleared his throat, which got John’s attention. “Why did you want to do this with me?”

“I mean… you are my friend and I thought this would be something you would like.”  John uttered confusedly, he thought that was an acceptable thing to do.

“No.”  Sherlock spoke as he fidgeted nervously. “I mean, why couldn’t you do it with Mary?”

Oh.

Because I like you. I respect your input. I want to impress you. I want to make you happy. Because I don’t know what’s wrong with me and why I am distancing myself away from Mary. Why am I feeling these emotions for you? I should be happy with Mary, but for some reason you are my main happiness lately.

“In all honesty, Mary doesn’t like crime films or anything related to crime. She likes romance films or miscellaneous stuff.” John explained on the spot, which was actually true.

“Really?!” Sherlock stared at him with incredulous amounts of disbelief. 

John laughed at him so hard that he knew his ribs were going to ache the next day. “ I am serious. She isn’t a fan of blood and murder.” 

“And you are?”Sherlock smirked.

John shrugged his shoulders, a little bit embarrassed. “It fascinates me. I am not going into the forensic field or anything, but I do find it cool. Something about solving a mystery case and being able to close it. You understand, right?”

Sherlock’s smirk dropped into a  smile as  he nodded at John. “Definitely!” 

John smiled back at Sherlock. As  he stared at Sherlock he felt  a new feeling: butterflies.  

John turned to face the screen. “Oh, it’s starting!”

The boys turned their attention onto the screen as they threw popcorn, from their popcorn bowls, into their mouths.

When the movie was playing, John noticed Sherlock was fidgeting with something underneath their shared blanket.

John noticed it was small and green. It had little buttons on either sides of it. John recognized it was a type of fidget. John didn't know Sherlock liked fidgets! He should have said something to John, he would have gladly given some of his to Sherlock. John didn't have a collection of fidgets, per say. But he had a few which helped him stay present when his anxiety kicked in or when he was zoning out from his undiagnosed adhd.

John smiled to himself, as he thought of an idea. John would get him a “Rainbow Slug” or whatever they are called. He was sure Sherlock would gladly like it. John heard great reviews about it of how it is very good for someone who is neurodivergent. John hoped Sherlock was also neurodivergent as well, or  else this would  be awkward. 

John was thinking of buying it for Sherlock’s birthday  which was in a couple months, or buy it for Christmas ( he hoped Sherlock celebrated Christmas or else he would have to do some other research beforehand.) 

The end credits rolled up, John heard muffled noises, he turned to find where the sound was coming from, and realized it was from Sherlock the whole time.

“…..It’s interesting, how um…” Sherlock’s voice was starting to come more clearer  which startled John out of his thoughts. John blinked as he realized that  Sherlock was talking about the  film. “Marta’s whole thing was she can’t lie. But at the same time.. I hated it so much!!”

John turned his body to Sherlock as he listened to Sherlock ramble about the issue that bugged him. “In what way?”

“When she kept throwing up. I  hate bodily fluids!”

“You do?” John asked him.

Of course not everyone likes vomit or bodily fluids, but John thought Sherlock would be okay with that, since he does deal with forensics.

“Yeah, it just freaks me out. And it looks so disgusting!” Sherlock replied.

John nodded. “That’s understandable, I suppose.”

”Did you know that twenty eight percent of murder homicides  are killed by someone they know?” John commented, he felt that this fact would be okay to share; since it contained the movie. “There also is a link between drug use and homicide- eighty six point four percent.” 

 “I indeed did know that. Did you look it up or something just to impress me?” Sherlock asked smugly .

  So egotistical.

“Actually, no. I do admit I did take  a forensic class or two.”  John uttered, feeling very self- conscious about himself right then;  like he just told Sherlock a deep secret.

Sherlock gaped  at John, shock filled his entire face.

“Is that so surprising?” John asked, then feeling a bit concerned. 

“Yes!” Sherlock exclaimed. John rolled his eyes trying to be unamused, but didn’t last long since a giggle escaped his lips.

Before they could talk any longer about the movie, they got called for dinner. The duo went out of John’s bedroom and into the  small dining room; a kitchen just a couple feet away.

When they arrived at the table, Meredith just put the pan on  the center of the table. Perfect timing and all.  John watched as he waited for Sherlock’s reaction to what the meal was.

He gaped at Meredith,  shock and  happiness filled  his eyes.  “You made lasagna?”

Meredith  explained with a small etched on her face. “Yes,  I hope it’s alright.  John said you liked Lasagna and thought this would be good and safe for all of us.”

Sherlock turned to John, confused. “When did I tell you that?”

John replied bashfully. “ I overheard you talking about that to Greg, and how it's one of your safe foods. “

Sherlock nodded. “Lasagna and Chips are my safe foods.”

Note to self. Sherlock likes lasagna and chips.

John’s father; Hamish, clapped his hands together. “Well, let’s dish up!” 

While they were all eating; Hamish and Sherlock were talking about Mycroft, Sherlock’s brother. John partially listened into the conversation while it went out the next; since he was zoning out at the dining room table.

However, Jonn’s ears perked up when he heard of the name Princess Josephine. He hadn’t heard that name in a while. Apparently her death was a set up which shocked John greatly. 

Sherlock continued on. “….Yeah, I mean it makes sense with everything. Plus the Queen didn't like Josephine. Plus the whole affair and all.” 

“Affair…What  affair?!”  John was  shocked with all this new information that Sherlock was telling him. 

“Oh John….You’re so vacant. Is it nice not being me and unknowing ” Sherlock uttered, which made John frown.

John knew he wasn’t as smart as the others but to hear it come out of Sherlock’s mouth, it made John feel insecure with his abilities and rightfully upset.

Sherlock must have noticed John’s reaction before he quickly tried to reassure John that it wasn’t in that manner. “No, no, no, don’t look at me like that. I practically say that to  everyone.” 

“Prince Harriet had an affair with Charlotte.  Josephine found out and then she was rumored to have an affair with a different man as well before she got killed.” Sherlock explained.

John gaped at Sherlock which apparently Sherlock found amusing. “Close your mouth, John. Or else you will catch flies.” 

John just playfully rolled his eyes at Sherlock’s comment. “It’s all  pretty daunting to hear about it for the first time.“ 

Sherlock tilted his head to the side in thought before he gave a subtle shrug.“I suppose it is.” 

After dinner, Sherlock excused himself to the bathroom. John then  showed him the way, as they walked, he felt Sherlock’s presence right behind him.

When they made it to the bathroom door, John turned to face Sherlock and noticed him holding straps from his bag in his hands.

  Why did he need to bring his entire bag into the bathroom? Does he read a book when he takes a shit or something? 

John looked  at  Sherlock   confused but didn’t say anything to him, before he went back into his room.

It had been a while and John was starting to get antsy. His anxiety kicked in and kept making up the most disturbing ideas of  why Sherlock was taking so long.  

Those said thoughts were so intense that John could  feel bile begin  to form  in his throat. He winced at the sensation; he always hated that feeling.  The bile sensation (which usually occurred  from his anxiety); usually always lasted for a couple minutes or hours at best!

When John couldn’t handle the thoughts anymore he walked to the bathroom and knocked gently on the door.Even though he wanted to break it down and see if everything was alright, and that Sherlock hadn’t gotten himself hurt or escaped somehow…… when there were  no windows… in the said room.

“Are you okay in there, Sherlock?”

“Yeah.” John heard Sherlock clear his throat.  “I will be out there soon.

Strange. 

“Oh okay. Just checking. I am going to grab us more popcorn before we watch the second movie.”  John suggested; he tried to keep his voice light but he knew it was laced with concern. 

“Thanks.” Sherlock replied.

“Of course, Sherlock.”  John answered, truly. 

When Sherlock came back into the room, John gaped at him.He wasn’t in his purple-button up shirt anymore; now he was in a creamy white colored knitted jumper that was HUGE on him! It was as if it was swallowing him whole! He looked adorable as the  jumper hung down to his knees, and Sherlock’ arms crossed  his chest as if he was self conscious. That sight alone  shocked John because why and where  in the world was Sherlock hiding this type of clothing! 

I bet all his clothes at home  are like Narnia!

To hide his weird feelings for Sherlock, John barked out a laugh. 

Sherlock looked at John annoyed which made him feel bad for laughing. “What?!”

“That jumper is swallowing you, fucking whole, you do realize that, right?”  John answered on the verge of smiling at Sherlock. 

Sherlock sarcastically laughed. “ Haha, very funny. I didn’t in fact know that.” 

“What happened to your other shirt?”John officially gave in and asked the question that bugged him relentlessly the minute Sherlock came back. 

“It somehow got stained.” Sherlock lied. John knew Sherlock was lying to him. John didn’t know why Sherlock would lie to him though? He thought they were friends. Not wanting to confront him on this yet, he decided he wouldn’t embark on the lie, just yet.

“Really?” John’s eyes were filled with amusement by this thought. John tried to bite his cheeks from grinning; but that failed  miserably. He looked like a goofy clown, grinning so much.

Sherlock rolled his eyes at John .” Yes, these things happen, you know.” 

“Yeah. I hate when that happens. Here come sit down.” 

John smiled up at Sherlock as he patted the spot next to him on the bed. Feeling content that Sherlock went and sat back down with him;  John then pressed play on the movie as the introduction played in front of their eyes. 

Over the course of the movie, John noticed that Sherlock seemed very entertained with this sequel. It seemed like he enjoyed it more than the first one. When the movie was reaching its climax, one of the main characters, Miles, switched his pineapple flavored alcohol glass with another character named Duke. Duke indeed in fact was allergic to pineapple.

A couple minutes later, Duke died. Sherlock spoke up, filling the duo’s silence. “Milo switched the glasses.”

Of course he would immediately catch onto that. He’s fucking brilliant, Sherlock was!

John paused the movie right after it was explained how the character died.  John gaped at Sherlock. He even noticed him frowning a bit; he wondered what was that all about.

“How did you notice?! It took me a couple rewinds to catch that!” John questioned. 

Sherlock hummed softly. “ I pay attention to the littlest details, that’s how I am able to make deductions.” 

John nodded slowly.” That makes sense, I should probably get better at it.”

Sherlock just shrugged at John like it was nothing. “ It’s not ideal for everyone. It just helps when I make observations in order to create deductions.  How many times have you watched this movie, now that I ask?” 

“Uhh…” John trailed off, as he tried to recall how many times he watched these films. “About three times now.” 

Sherlock laughed to himself, as he shook his head. “Oh, wow.” 

“Yeah!” John laughed with Sherlock, not because Sherlock’s laugh was so contagious  of course, but because he was shocked himself when he realized how many times he rewatched  ‘Knives Out’.

When Sherlock expected everything to be wrapped up soon, he then was off guard when Andi had a twin sister who went along with the original group to go on this trip and was seeking out revenge because of Miles. 

“SHE HAS A TWIN?!?!” Sherlock screamed so loudly, that Meredith had to come in the room and tsked at the boys to be quieter. 

John felt like  Sherlock wasn’t used to living in flats where he had to be wary of loud noises. John made up an imaginary fantasy of where Sherlock lived. He imagined Sherlock living in a mansion with old ivy coming up the sides of it. He thought that Sherlock had multiple rooms and that he had luxury space since Mycroft’s job pays well so he could be as loud as he wants.

John wheezed, barely catching a breath. “Yes, she has a twin!” 

“How did I not notice that?!” Sherlock gaped, looking between John and the screen. 

“They did a really good job with hiding it in the movie up until now. That plot twist was  the beginning of pinpoint resolution of the movie. That ‘Andi’ was actually just Helen.” John replied, not really knowing what else  to say.

“They lead up to this moment.” Sherlock who seemed to understand better what the movie’s storyboard was about.

John nodded in agreement. “ Yep!” 

Sherlock then sat up straight. “That changes things! John press play now!!!!”

John laughed at Sherlock’s sudden  excitement at the plot twist. Sherlock tried to reach for the remote, but John moved it out of his grasp to tease him. It was surprising to John that Sherlock  wasn’t  able to grab it out of his hands; even though Sherlock was taller and had longer limbs than him. 

Sherlock let out an exasperated sigh, annoyed at John’s teasing. “Damn it Watson. Come on  and press  play!” 

John was shocked that Sherlock addressed him by his last name. It felt weird for him; he felt a new wave of emotions hit him,  like a giant tide wave dragging him under.  With  not knowing what to do - he gave in and pressed play on the remote. John fidgeted with his hands after the conversation. 

As the credits rolled out,  John noticed Sherlock gaping at the screen. Sherlock seemed to be in shock, perfect time to tease him, again.

Hm.. let’s see… what was the expression he used? Oh yeah!

He then cleared his throat, trying to be in a very  serious tone, which was failing. “ Close your mouth, Sherlock. Or else you will catch flies.” 

Sherlock then turned to John and scowled right  before he punched John in the shoulder; which John knew Sherlock meant no harm and was just a bluff. 

He then laughed Sherlock’s reaction 

John was really giddy and giggly that day, he wondered why. He didn’t think he was ever that giggly, up until that day.

“Whatever.” Sherlock rolled his eyes after John’s laughter died down.  “It was a good movie!”

John hummed softly. “ It really was!”

“I really liked and related to Benoit Blanc and his backstory!” Sherlock exclaimed.

John nodded intrigued by what he might say. “ What do you like about him?” 

  Is he gay as well? 

“We both love solving a  good mystery.” Sherlock settled on.

Oh. Well… That’s fine. He probably is just straight anyways. No big deal. Hopefully now these strange feelings will go away!!!!

“You both do.”  John smiled up at Sherlock at an angle, since Sherlock was slightly taller than John. 

Sherlock’s phone buzzed which ended the energy that was surrounding them. Once Sherlock opened his phone; his face was creased with lines of anger and stress.

His fingers were going a mile a minute everytime which made John concerned as he fidgeted with the ends of the blanket, waiting for Sherlock’s conversation with whoever to be done.

When the conversation seemed to be over, John  mumbled softly. “Is everything okay?”

Sherlock looked at John with daggers shooting out of his eyes. “ I am going to kill my brother.”

John never saw Sherlock be this angry. John chuckled nervously. “ What happened?”

Sherlock hissed. “He got on my nerves; that’s what happened. Now will you help me kill him?” 

“Isn’t that against the law, or something.” John remarked.

Sherlock shrugged his shoulders. “Or something. No one will have to know!”

John barked out a normal laugh;  that time. “His work and associates will notice him missing, mate!” 

Sherlock snapped his fingers, as he tried to work out all the details. “ I could just say he moved? They wouldn’t suspect a thing!” 

John scoffed in bemusement.“I don’t think they will believe that.”

Sherlock smugly smirked. “ I am a really good liar.” 

“Are you?” John arched his brow, waiting for his answer.

Sherlock frowned, which was basically the answer John was expecting. “ Fine, I will kill him myself - since you are no help.”

John let out a playful yet exasperated sigh. “Fine!  I’ll help and be your alibi.” 

Sherlock grinned. “That's what friends are for!”

John’s thigh nudged against Sherlock. “Indeed,so!”

 John of course didn’t show it outloud but he started to  panic just by the spark of their touch.  

The duo then talked for another half of an hour before Sherlock suggested he should go home. 

You’re heading out now?” John asked  as he watched Sherlock walk through the narrow hallway. Even though Sherlock was literally with him most of the day, he felt as if part of himself is missing now that Sherlock is leaving him.

“Yeah.” Sherlock uttered, his voice tinted with exhaustion. “ I have to go home, eventually. I do miss Redbeard.”

John’s face scrunched up. He never heard of the name redbeard. “Who or what is that?”

Sherlock turned to face John confused as well before he said : “My dog.”

John gaped at him. “You have a dog?!?!”

Sherlock nodded which caused John to almost beg Sherlock to show him what Redbeard looked like.

John was staring at a picture of an irish setter, his fur curly and full. He was wearing a red scarf around his neck. As he was staring up, almost lovingly, at Sherlock with his mouth wide open.  Sherlock was staring back down at the dog, sharing the same amount of love in his eyes. 

  Man. Oh how he wishes to have a pet. Mom and Dad would kill me if I brought one home!!! 

John moved his untrained eye and got distracted by Sherlock in the photo. His black curls falling down over his eyes as his eyes crinkle. His smile was huge and full. 

  He looked gorgeous.

“Adorable!” John then shook his head of the thought before he exclaimed. 

“I know right! I love him so much!” Sherlock nodded enthusiastically. “ I bet he is missing me right now.” 

“Well, I suppose you must be off, then!” John exclaimed.

“You sure?” Sherlock hesitated which surprised John. 

While, John was upset that Sherlock  was leaving -  it was for a good cause. Dogs. The man’s best friend. 

“Yeah, I’ll text you if I need anything!” John replied to him with a small smile.

“Okay!” Sherlock smiled back at John. 

Before Sherlock could leave, he felt tiny hands around his waist. He looked down at Emma, her face squished in between his legs.  

  The most adorable sight ever. I knew Emma liked Sherlock! 

Emma whispered something to Sherlock, where John  barely heard her as she mumbled a “thank you”.

Sherlock then nodded at her with a soft smile.

I knew he had a soft spot. I bet they will be best friends very soon.

Sherlock then picked up his bag off the ground, where he dropped it and walked out the door. John heard a distant car engine roar before it drove off.

“As much as I want to play tea with you, it’s very late. You should get to bed, Ems.”  John turned to face his younger sister who was beside him. 

Emma whined. “But I am not tired tho!”

John laughed at his sister. He knew she was bullshitting. He could see her get  more tired every minute. “Come on! I will put you to bed, how about that?”

Emma pouted but gave in to John’s request. “Fineeee!” 

Emma and John walked to her bedroom. John waited at  the foot of her smaller bed,  as Emma got ready for bed in the bathroom.

Once Emma got all situated and into bed, the bed creaked underneath John’s weight  as he sat down, which he winced at in thought.

John scooted closer to Emma as she mumbled; “Sherlock’s  cool.”

John ruffled her  newly brushed hair making it messy all over again. Emma huffed out a puff as she swatted John’s hand in annoyance.

“Yeah, he really is!”

“Maybe I was wrong to judge him that quickly.”  Emma muttered quietly.

John hummed softly. “Maybe so. I think he likes you.”

Emma’s eyes widened in surprise as she chirped out “ Really?!

John nodded in content. “Definitely.” 

“But we barely talked though!”

John shrugged. “I think he likes you even with your shortened conversations.” 

Emma  hugged John  tightly which took him by surprise. John grinned  as he hugged her back. John pulled away as he lightly kissed her forehead. 

“Good night Emma.”

“Good night Johnie!”

John switched  off Emma’s light before he walked out and into the hallway again. As John walked back into the living room, he  noticed that everything was cleaned up. Dishes cleaned, messes cleaned up, everyone happy. John saw his mom  and dad watching tv as they whispered quietly to themselves on the couch.

John smiled at the sight of them. Not wanting to disturb them, he walked to his  room and flopped down on his bed.

A minute later his phone buzzed, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw a notification from Sherlock which of course, didn't make his heart flutter.

Sherlock H. :

Hey, sorry I am going to go to sleep now. But I just want to say thank you for today! It was amazing!

                                delivered 9:37pm

John frowned slightly at the  text message. 

John W. :

I’m glad you had fun just as much as I did. I do  hope though  I didn’t cause your tirednesses! 

                          delivered 9:40pm

Sherlock H. :

No. No! It definitely wasn’t your fault. I am just not used to that much socializing, if I am going to be honest.

                        delivered 9:42pm

Made it worse mate.

John W. :

 I get that. I do hope you can relax more tomorrow. I will see you on Monday!

                           delivered 9:44 pm 

Sherlock H. :

 Yep! See you on monday! 

                              delivered 9:45pm

When Sherlock didn’t text back any further, John got the hint that he went to sleep. John should have gone to sleep eventually but he couldn’t.  All he could think about was Sherlock.

I just need to focus my attention more on Mary. And then this little crush will go away.  It’s just a crush, it will go away soon. It’s so one sided he could see it. He just needs to get over it. 

Mary. Mary. Mary.  His girlfriend. His darling partner. The person he loves. Mary will conquer John’s feelings for Sherlock. John just knew it.

Chapter Text

“Did you know the diameter of blood- corpuscles in a full grown man can range from 1-2800th to 1-400th of an inch?” Sherlock rambled on about his new fixation; as he leaned against Gregory’s locker while Jeff got out books for his next class.

“I didn’t realize that.” George muttered as he rummaged through his locker.

Sherlock looked at him, vulnerably speaking quietly. “Are you even listening to me right now?”

Greg turned to  look back at him, he  smiled softly before  he lightly squeezed Sherlock’s bicep. “Of course I am listening to you, Sherlock. I always listen to what you ramble about.” 

Sherlock arched a brow, testing his best friend. Greg scoffed playfully. “You were talking about blood!” 

“Did I hear someone talking about blood?” a familiar voice came through clear like a burst of waterfall. 

They turned to look at John and his girlfriend, Mary Watson who was  clinging to his hand so tightly that it might burst a vein. 

“Yes Sher here is talking about his current fixation- blood.” Greg motioned to Sherlock proudly.

“Oh do tell me more!” John exclaimed, intrigued with what Sherlock has to say about it.

 “Really?”,Sherlock asked incredulously.

“Yes!!” John replied seriously.

Sherlock smiled at him before he continued on about blood.“Okay well different angles of a crime can cause blood splatter to occur differently; which can then cause the spectral analysis to detect blood that can occur years before or the different patterns of it. It was proven so in the 1864 case of the murder of Thomas Briggs.”

John rubbed his chin so hard that it left a mark, as he tried to remember what the case was about “Is that the murder train case?”

 “Yes!!! It was!!” Sherlock jumped up and down excitedly.

“That’s such a super sad case but helped with the development of the forensics and the identification of blood.” John explained and was happy to get Sherlock more  excited about the topic.

 “…Exactly.”

Mary cleared her throat which got the boy’s attention.“No wonder why John likes you.”

Sherlock blinked at her.“You must be John’s girlfriend, then?”

Mary smiled at him before she extended her hand to Sherlock, not knowing if he would accept it or not. After a minute, Mary noticed Sherlock’s throat bobbed before he took her hand in his.He had rough calloused hands but at the same time it was soft to the touch.

Sherlock nodded curtly.“Sherlock.”

“Mary.”

“Ah, the famous Mary Watson.”

Mary giggled.“Famous, you say?”

“John talked about you a bit.”

“Likewise.” Mary replied. She noticed he got a bit tense. 

“Nothing bad I promise! He just talked about how smart you are and how you both have things in common.”

Sherlock let out an audible sigh of relief.”Yeah, we do. As you probably figured out, we both like forensics.”

“I noticed.” Mary teased before the first warning bell rang, letting the gang know they should probably head to their designated class.

As Sherlock was distracted with Greg, John sneaked a kiss to Mary saying that he will see her soon. She grinned before exclaiming; “Bye boys, good to see you!” 

John then turned back to Sherlock only to realize that it was just the two of them left standing in the slightly crowded hallway. 

John and Sherlock then headed to their geometry class. John cleared a way for them. A bit ironic since Sherlock was taller than John so his attempts would be useless. 

“A fact I found interesting  from a book I read was when  professors developed a method to determine what is human blood and what is animal blood. They described it as saying ‘a rabbit was suggested with blood from another species, a defensive reaction to the other species’ blood would be produced in the rabbit’s blood.’ In addition ‘the serum from a rabbit previously injected with human blood would react to another such reaction exposure would react just as strongly to human bloodstains.’’” John continued on about the subject as they walked to their next class. 

Sherlock looked down at him.“That only works in cases where the species' blood has been exposed.”

“True. However it does help with determining what the source of a blood stain is.” John countered, which got an agreeing hum out of Sherlock. 

They then stopped in front of the doorway before walking into the classroom. Where most of their students were either: asleep, on their phone and ignoring everyone else, or just talking to their friends. 

Since Sherlock and John sat close to one another, they talked until the teacher got everybody’s attention.

Once the teacher went back to his desk, the students broke out, and went back to what they were doing and ignored the homework assignment that they had to complete.

Except John and Sherlock.

John looked down at his piece of paper and looked at Sherlock before looking back down more confused and embarrassed since Sherlock  seemed to understand what they were doing.

John cleared his throat, gaining Sherlock’s attention. His bright blue eyes staring back at John’s. “Do you understand what we are supposed to do?”

“Yes. And you would too if you weren’t half asleep when Mr. Gogo was teaching.” Sherlock retorted.

John gaped at him. “I wasn’t!”

“You totally were!” Sherlock mimicked John; his eyelids almost completely shut with him rocking back and forth in drowsiness.

“Oh shut up!” 

“Nope.” Sherlock said with an amused grin on his face which caused John to start giggling. 

John hid his face with his piece of paper as a cover; once they got lectured at by said, Mr. Gogo for being a distraction. 

Sherlock quickly tried to help John get through the practice only to realize John still hadn’t comprehended it. Sherlock could have given John time but  instead just did it for him.

——————————————-

“How can you not know that the earth goes around the sun?!??” John exclaimed as he walked with Sherlock to his locker. 

“Listen. My brain is my harddrive, and it makes sense to put things in there that are useful. Really useful.” Sherlock  annunciated, pointed aggressively at his forehead.

“Ordinarily people fill their heads with all sorts of rubbish and that makes it hard to see what truly matters. Do you understand?”

“But it’s the solar system!” John yelled, frustrated by his friend’s ability to know everything about forensics but not this.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Sherlock muttered under his breath.

“Maybe you can teach him?” Mary suggested as she caught up with them from her last class.

“That wouldn’t matter, would it Sherlock ?” a shudder ran down Sherlock’s spine before he turned around and saw who it was.

Charles Augustus Magnussen.

His old primary associate.

“What’s that supposed to be mean?” John asked accusingly.

“Nothing that means anything to you. But for Sherlock well… times have changed haven’t they?” Charles answered with a menacing smile on his face. “How long has it been?”

“Been what?” John looked between the two.

Charles started to calmly laugh as he rubbed his glasses onto his shirt. “You haven’t told him yet? Wow…”

“Told me what?!?!” John gritted out, growing annoyed by his lack of answers.

“Ask Sherlock about what happened to him in primary school, I’m sure he will tell you allllllllllll about it!”

“Hey! What the hell is going on?!” Sherlock heard Greg yell as he stormed over to them.

“Just a sort of chit chat of sorts.” Charles shrugged innocently.

Greg looked at Sherlock and became worried. His eyes were undiluted, he seemed like he was about to pass out anymore now. 

Greg gripped his hand onto Sherlock’s  shoulder to try to keep him grounded as he dissociated.

Sherlock felt his whole body being numb as if he was floating on clouds, he couldn’t think of anything since his mind felt like cotton candy. It was almost like a disconnection of his own body. 

Shit. 

“About what?” Greg growled out still holding Sherlock steady.

“Oohh protective I like that.” Magnussen grinned before answering Greg. “A blast from the past.”

Greg felt like his head was going to explode. Anger flooded his veins and he had to control himself from not getting in trouble. Or else he would have smashed Magnussen until he was left bloody and bruised and had broken lenses.

“Listen here you fucking cunt, and listen well. If you threaten Sherlock by any means necessary such as blackmail, physical or by manipulation I will come after you and I will not hold back.” 

Magnussen raised his hands up mock defensively amused by Greg’s reaction before walking away with his gang of friends.

After five minutes went by, Sherlock blinked at Greg and what he had said only to realize they weren’t still in the hallway. Instead inside an empty classroom, Greg sat in the seat right next to him and John and Mary were off to the side. “Well, that was a bit over dramatic, don’t you think?”

“Sher!” Greg exclaimed as he  pretty much jumped out of his seat, to hug  Sherlock tightly, before breaking apart and apologizing for touching him. 

Sherlock brushed his apology off, while he didn’t like to be physically touched, at the time he needed it. Greg’s grip on him became enhanced with tightness as he talked to Magnussen which helped make Sherlock become lucid, again.

“Do I need to call Mycroft to pick you up?” Greg asked as he held Sherlock close.

“Probably.” Sherlock mumbled before suggesting: “You could always drive me home.  I didn’t drive here this morning anyways. Mycroft wanted me to be dropped off instead.” 

“You know Mycroft will get on my ass for not calling him first and telling him what happened.” Greg said.

“Let me handle Mycroft.” Sherlock winked at Greg. “I’ll just blackmail him with my sad face- he won’t stay bad for that long afterwards.” 

Greg chuckled,” Well you better be practicing that expression on our way home!” 

“I will!”

“Good.”

Greg and Sherlock walked out of the building together. Greg holding onto Sherlock’s arm, not fully believing that he can walk normally. 

While Sherlock leaned into Greg’s touch as he laid his head lightly on top of his head. 

——————————————-

“Well.. Sherlock seems nice.” Mary said, breaking the silence.

John smiled. “He really is. I’m glad to be his friend.”

Mary smiled back. “I’m glad. He seems like he needs more friends. Do you know what that all was about?”

 “No clue.” 

John watched the two go, his heart feeling heavy.  For some random reason John felt jealous of the two but he couldn’t tell by who though.

Maybe he wasn’t fully over Greg?

When the situation occurred with  that stranger, John felt weird.  When Greg laid his hand over Sherlock and the way Greg threatened that tall man - he wished to be Sherlock’s position. To feel loved for and protected. Of course he has Mary, but it’s… a different feeling. 

Mary loves John, he knows that. But Mary never cared for John the way Greg cared for Sherlock. 

But also at the same time he wished to be Greg. He wished to be hugged by Sherlock and wished to be leaned into.

Then he came to a realization. 

Wait. No. No. No. It can’t be. But… remember.

……

“….Can I ask what your type is?”

“Brunettes”

…….

     And when Sherlock mentioned that: “He [Greg] loves when I say his name wrong.”

……

   The way Greg is protective over Sherlock

……

The way he calls Sherlock;  Sher as a nickname like a pet name.

……

Shit. 

He is dating Sherlock Holmes isn’t he?

“Is everything alright dear,” Mary asked with worry  in her eyes since John wasn’t answering her.

“Yes, of course!” John smiled softly at her as he grabbed her hand to kiss her knuckles before interlocking them together. 

Mary then nodded, not saying anything of the matter before she started to lead them to the parking lot.

On the way there, John swallowed down his feelings for both of them and just focused on his girlfriend as she started talking to him about what happened to her today at school. 

Chapter Text

Mycroft has been worried. Sherlock hadn’t been going to school the last couple of days. Ever since Sherlock’s best friend- Greg Lestrade dropped him off. He was starting to get freaked out. Sherlock wasn’t being  his normal annoyingly smart and awesome younger brother self. 

Speak of the devil. There was a knock on the door. Mycroft got up from his seat, and opened the door only to notice that it was Greg himself, standing in the doorway. Mycroft gave Greg a small nod for letting him inside.

“Oh, I didn’t realize stopping by Greg!  Are you staying long? I’m almost done, making dinner for the  boys, you can join us!” Mummy exclaimed as she walked over and gave Greg a small  kiss on the cheek.

“No, I'm not staying long. I have to go home soon before Emma falls asleep. However, I’m just here to drop off Sherlock’s homework for the week.”

She smiled at him. “That's awfully nice of you to do.”

“I would do it anyway because Sherlock's my friend.”

Mycroft eyed Greg before realizing that he wouldn’t be an issue. Greg has been friends with Sherlock all these  years, that being the case, Sherlock never has  shown any  signs of wanting to date him. So Greg was just looking out for Sherlock. Being a good friend.

Greg then went upstairs to Sherlock’s room and closed it. Mycroft heard them sporadically for the last half of an hour. Before Greg came back down to  grab his jacket and leave. 

Greg said his goodbyes to mother and father. He then shook Mycroft’s hand before going out.

 Mycroft then caught up with him outside, before he stopped him by grabbing a hold of Greg’s wrist. Greg turned to look at him shocked before arching  his eyebrow.

“ Do you know what’s wrong with Sherlock?” Mycroft asked him.

Greg looked around nervously. “Nope.”

Mycroft glared at him. “I think you are lying.”

After getting stared at by Mycroft, Greg finally gave into his demand. 

Greg sighed heavily. “I tried to suggest that he should tell  you this. However, at the last second, he told me not to tell you, for some reason. He possibly felt embarrassed or something, which  both of us wouldn’t judge him for. But I feel this is important to share.” 

Mycroft listened to what Greg had to say, but got worried. “Tell me what?!”

“Sherlock got in an incident last week. The bully made a remark of his pre- transition. The whole interaction caused Sherlock to dissociate.”

“WHAT?!” Mycroft hissed out, righteously angered.

Greg, not knowing what else to say, just nodded. Mycroft  let out all his anger and then sighed. “Is this why Sherlock kept this information from me?”

“Probably yeah. Knew how you would react to this news.”

“Thanks Greg.” Mycroft patted Greg’s shoulder.

“Of course.” Greg said quietly. “ Are you going to deal with him?”

“Give me his name.” 

“Charles Augustus Magnussen.”

———————————————

Mycroft cracked his knuckles before he leaned backward in his seat and  stared at the information he found of this boy.

Charles Augustus Magnussen, an eighteen year old. A year older than Sherlock, who had previously been in his  primary school. His parents worked with the government just like Mycroft did; but they had more high level security.They probably could have covered up Charles’s past bullying incidents. However, Mycroft had the upper hand now, since he just uncovered something important. 

Magnussen just recently had an illegitimate child. With a girl named Elizabeth Smallwood.  They have a  three month  old… child.

Oh how sweet, indeed.

Mycroft then formulated a plan of attack. 

A visit.

A dinner party of sorts. 

——————————————

Mycroft leaned against the door frame of the living room. “Hey, I am heading out now!”

Mummy looked up and smiled at him. “Oh okay. Have a good time, Myckie!”

Mycroft groaned. “You know I hate when you call me that.”

Her smile faded. “Sorry love, but I just find it endearing.”

Mycroft felt guilty that he was  the result  of that reaction. He was still a Mommy’s boy, after-all.

Mycroft shrugged it off innocently before he murmured: “it’s alright.”

“Where are you going?” Mycroft heard Sherlock ask curiously. 

“Work Dinner.”

Sherlock scrunched up his brows in confusion. “You never went to a work dinner before in your entire life.

“This one is inevitable.”

Sherlock hummed but dropped the conversation, which  Mycroft was grateful for.

Because Mycroft told his driver off for the night, he  then went out to his SUV and headed to the Magnussen's household.

He pulled up to their house. A mansion in the UK, to be correct.

Huh. Who would have thought. 

 The house had all different types of paneling. On the left side of the house, there was a glass roof covering as well as glass doors and windows, that have a clear view of their  hundreds of fields with stairs leading down to them. Similar to that, right behind it was connected to another glass portion of the home, but this time, the formation was metal that held the weight of all the glass. 

The complete opposite occurred on the right side of the mansion. There was no glass paneling, besides the occasional glass windows. Instead, there was Milky White Brick paneling with a vertical black pattern print of a rooftop.

Mycroft then walked up to the nearest door he was at and rang the doorbell.  He heard a muffled yell that echoed so loudly across the house that it could be heard from outside.

The door then swung open and he saw a younger man, instead of what he thought would be a maid of sorts.

The man appeared to have  jagged blonde hair that was the length of his neck and styled  as a mullet. He also had high cheekbones and a strong jawline. He wore round glasses that fit him almost too tight that it left indentations on his nose and ears.

His clothing choice confused Mycroft. He would have thought Charles would wear something sophisticated, such as a suit or button up. Instead he wore a flannel with a white Henley sleeveless shirt and black plants. 

“Who’s at the door, Charles?” a slightly familiar deep voice asked.

“ I don’t know?” Charles called back. “Some guy probably from work?”

“Who?” A feminine voice asked a second later, probably followed behind the man.

“Oh! Mycroft Holmes - what a pleasant surprise!” She chirped out. “Let him in, Charlie!”

“Yeah, Charlie. Allow me to come in.” Mycroft facaded as he  grinned, baring  his  extra sharp teeth, at the young man. 

The young man then agreed and opened the door fully and closed it shut after Mycroft came though.

“I hope I didn’t come at a bad time?” Mycroft asked with fake concern. 

He was hoping he didn’t. He was going to enjoy what he had planned for Charlie. His case engraved into his head, by his intelligently super absorbent brain of his. 

“Oh! Absolutely not. Just another mouth to feed.”  Charlene, the wife, smiled at him as they walked through the slightly narrowed hallway. “I’ll just inform Samatha to get you a plate.”

Ah, there it is.

Mycroft threw her a smile. “Thank you so much, that would be appreciated.” 

Mycroft followed behind the trio as they walked across the hallway that felt like it was never ending. 

Until it wasn’t.

They then reached a larger  room that was considered their dining room area. A wide dining table that reached almost the entire length of the room. With multiple chairs surrounding it. Angus, the husband, sat on the head spot. Charlene in the middle of the table, not so far away that she wouldn’t hear what was said, but not so close to them. 

Charles sat closer to his mother than his father which intrigued Mycroft.

Mycroft then found an empty spot near Angus and sat down as he waited for his plate of food as well as the rest of them. 

Samatha, an older brunette, gave a small bow of her head when she delivered their meals, before she got excused to leave by a wave of hand by Angus.  

The room was filled with silence as they ate. Mycroft wasn’t totally used to it. 

Yeah, sometimes it was  quiet at dinner,  when Sherlock was having one of his bad days,  which everyone gave him space for.

 But this was a different level of quiet.

The only sound that echoed through the room was the scrape of the chairs moving and scratching the floor up; or the sound of utensils hitting and scrapping their plates. 

However the silence got interrupted finally. 

“So, Mycroft” Angus cleared his throat before he nodded at Samatha when she came and grabbed everyone’s plates of food before informing them that desert will be ready soon.

“While this  is a pleasure. I’m curious though, why you decided to come to our house now and have dinner with us.” He scrunched up his brows. “I don’t think you ever came over for dinner before, now that I think about it.”

Shit.

Mycroft cleared his throat, trying to calm his slight nerves. “I’ve realized we never really got to know one another. I mean we know each other from work but we are in two different departments.  I was just wondering if we could have a wonderful meal and conversation together.” 

Charlene turned between Angus and  Mycroft, before she landed back on Mycroft again and smiled at him.  “Well, that’s wonderful, dear. Why don’t we talk about our departments and the differences between us?”

Perfect. This is all going to plan.

Mycroft expected them to talk about work which is good because that’s where he will expose their precious   child.  Just a matter of time. 

Patience.

“Lets.”

“Our department works for the high security of the government, and we are entailed in information that we keep severely classified.  We know every associate that is involved itself into  the government.” Angus explained.

Mycroft nodded. “My department is high- medium security, whom keeps records and cases closed, similar to your department. I don’t know as many associates but I am involved with them when it comes to the financial and legal aspects of the department.” 

Charlene hummed at the information that Mycroft told them, which was true.

 He worked his way up the chain of departments. From his first weeks of Internship, to finally landing low security and after a couple years now medium security. Mycroft hoped one day he would be able to work for the highest level of security.

Samatha brought out the deserts when they were talking. A four layer Tiramisu was laid out in front of all of them, except for Charles.

Charles had a five layer piece of cake, brownies with ice cream and oreos with a side of glass milk to dip them in.

Mycroft arched his brow at the sight of that.

Spoiled piece of shit.

“What Charlie wants, we give it to him.” Charlene lightly tried to explain when she saw his reaction.

“You would do anything for your child, would you?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t we?” She frowned.

“May I speak to Charlie alone?” Mycroft asked, trying to change the stance of the argument.

Angus scowled. “No, anything you say, you will say in front of us.”

I mean, I would love to do it privately to see what he would say. But the thought of witnessing their reactions when I tell them the truth, is just so tempting.

“Children are just so precious.” Mycroft breathed out in an all- knowing smirk. “Especially when they are young….. say three months old?” 

They all gaped at him in shock, which Mycroft found deliciously amusing. He had to stifle a laugh because it was just so funny, as if he wouldn’t have found out about the truth. He  works for the same people, after all. Of course he would find ways to figure it out, one way or another.

Angus then narrowed his eyes at Mycroft in frustration. “I don’t know what you are talking about!” 

 “I bet you don’t.” Mycroft  rumbled lowly in laughter, before turning to Charles.  “Did you pick out a name for your daughter?” 

Charles didn’t say anything, probably from shock setting in.

“That’s nice. Names are so important. Especially in my family.”

Charlene gasped. “ How did you know?”

Mycroft shrugged. “ I have my ways.” 

Charles spoke up, his voice gone from being full and strong, to broken and crack-ly. “ Why?” 

“Why did I expose your dirty little whore of a secret?”  Mycroft answered with a click of his tongue. “Because I wanted to. And I just love sweet old revenge. Although, this is just the  lowest form of my type of  revenge.”

“What did I ever do to you?!?”

“Me? Nothing. However, my brother? Well, that’s a different answer.” 

“B- Brother?”

“You know.” Mycroft tilted his head at him innocently, knowing that his shock was just a facade to try to hide his guiltiness. “Sherlock Holmes.” 

“Oh that tr-“ 

Mycroft slammed his hands on the table so loudly that everyone shut up, even Charles. 

Mycroft’s blood boiled. Nobody disrespected his younger brother. Especially when they  went that low and called him transphobic slurs. Mycroft’s knuckles curled into one another as he dug his short but sharp nails into the palm of his hands. 

“Finish your sentence.” Mycroft sneered loudly. “ I dare you. Finish. Your. Sentence. Don’t fucking test me, boy.” 

Magnussen opened his mouth, before shutting it tight. 

“That’s what I thought.” 

Charlene cleared her throat. “ What can we do to solve this conflict?”

“I suppose keep an eye on your boy. If your special angel Charlie disrespects my brother one more time, well then I’ll spill his secret. It was plenty easy to crack anyways. It wasn’t air tight, unfortunate for you.” 

“ Disrespects him,  how?” Angus asked intrigued.

“Being blatantly transphobic to my brother. I will find out no matter what, I have many resources.” 

In all honesty, all he had was Greg. But so be it. He trusted Greg deeply. And if  Greg kept coming to him and explained to him about what  would happen to Sherlock on a  certain  day,then so be it. 

Angus nodded before glaring daggers at his son. “That’s understandable, we’ll keep an eye on him. I apologize that this situation occurred especially this way, and I want to say a big sorry to your brother, for whatever my son said to him.” 

Mycroft gave him a small smile before he stood up, and nodded at the trio before he walked out of the building and into his car.

The car ride home was silent, Mycroft deep in thought. He then burst out laughing hysterical to himself as he realized what had happened minutes prior.He stood up to the  Magnussen’s as well as blackmailing them. He never in his life would have done that. 

Until then. 

He felt so powerful. He enjoyed that.  Nobody would ever hurt his little brother, ever again.

Mycroft pulled into the driveway, his dark work shoes clanked against the concrete driveway as he  made his way up and into their house.  

When he turned his key in before twisting it counter- clockwise, the door creaked open.  Mycroft mentally cringed to himself with how loud the sound was. He slipped his shoes off on the shoe rack before he tried to tip toe upstairs.

All the lights were turned off, which indicated to Mycroft that everyone was asleep. He then grabbed blindly at their stair railing before he went and climbed up the multitude of stairs. His only light was the moonlight that shined through the windows.

He passed the bathroom  after he changed into comfortable clothes. He noticed light coming from one room.  He creeped slowly closer to the door until he realized it was Sherlock’s room.

Mycroft frowned before he looked down at his watch in a low dim lighting. It read near eleven. Sherlock should have  been asleep by then.

Mycroft knocked lightly before he heard a quiet “ come in”. 

The door squeaked open, under the pressure of Mycroft. Mycroft rolled his eyes afore he huffed out a response. “This house needs WD-40.”

Sherlock just hummed as he stared at Mycroft whilst he made his way towards Sherlock’s bed and sat down on the edge  of it. His mattress made a silent groan at the added weight, which Mycroft winced at. 

“How was dinner?”

Mycroft smirked. “Wonderful.”

“That’s your ‘ I’m a little shit and fucked with people’s minds’ face.” Sherlock stated in a matter- of fact tone. Thereby caused  Mycroft to laugh harshly, in order to not wake up their parents.

“True.” Mycroft hummed before he turned Sherlock serious. “Why are you up?” 

“I couldn’t sleep.” Sherlock uttered. 

What they both knew  and wasn’t said out loud, was that Sherlock couldn’t fall asleep because Mycroft wasn’t home.  Mycroft knew Sherlock slept better if he knew where everyone was.  Since mycroft wasn’t home in time, Sherlock hadn’t easily went to sleep like usual.

Mycroft frowned at that fact. “I’m sorry.”

Sherlock shrugged his shoulders. “No need to dwell on the fact. In fact, I demand you tell me what happened at your work diner to make it up.”

“I know what happened to you.” Mycroft whispered, which caused Sherlock to freeze. 

“Greg.”

“Greg is a good friend.” Mycroft responded.

“Traitor.”

Mycroft rolled his eyes in amusement. “Since  ‘Traitor Greg’ told me about what happened, I went to the Magnussen’s.”

Sherlock groaned as his head plopped into his hands in annoyance. “Tell me you didn’t.” 

“I did.” 

“Mycroft-“ 

“I had to.” Mycroft hissed out in anger. “After what happened….. I have it covered though, so you don't need to worry anymore.” 

Sherlock was quiet for so long that Mycroft started to get seriously worried. 

Moments like these made Mycroft think about what happened before. When Sherlock almost died on him…. Mycroft repressed a shiver at the thought of almost losing his brother, once upon a time because of bullies like Charles.

He let out a sigh of relief when Sherlock started to talk again. Mycroft almost didn’t catch what Sherlock said; he was that quiet.

“I hate being trans. I wish I hadn’t transitioned.”

“Don’t you dare say that.” 

“It’s true though. Life would be so much easier if I hadn’t transitioned.” Sherlock responded.

“You would be unhappy.”

Sherlock nodded abruptly. “True. But I wouldn’t have to deal with all… this” 

“Are these thoughts the result of Charles or a lead up to him?” Mycroft questioned because he really wanted to understand what was going on inside his little brother’s mind. 

“Both.” 

Mycroft groaned as he crawled his way up to the headboard of Sherlock’s bed and  laid beside him. He then leaned in towards him slowly, in advance if Sherlock didn’t want to be touched.  Sherlock didn’t move so he wrapped an arm around his shoulder. 

“True, it would make life so much easier for you. But guess what?” Mycroft explained. “ I actually wanted a little brother when I was young.”

Mycroft laughed at the confused expression on Sherlock’s face. “It’s true! I sort of knew that I would have a brother. When you came along… I don’t know… I felt lost and confused because I was so certain I had one. You acted so like me, I was  so giddy about that fact.” 

Mycroft felt tears filling up in his eyes, making his vision so glassy that he couldn’t see anything. “I loved when we played pirates together. I loved that you wore my hand-me-down clothes that were too big for you; that I helped fix up to fit you. I loved that you followed after me and played with my limited amount of friends. They accepted you so easily, before you transitioned. I was sure that you were a boy, no matter what. That you were my brother. When you overdosed….. I thought my life was done for. I thought I lost my sibling.  When you expressed that you were a boy, my heart jumped with joy. My wish truly came true. You made my life worth living for again. You brought me back to life.“

Mycroft felt hot tears  as they raced down his face. He didn’t care to brush them off at that point. All he cared about was to explain how much Sherlock meant to him. 

“So, while you so badly want this to be over and rewrite reality. I want you to know that your past that you so badly have been clinging to, doesn’t define who you are now. I have always loved you. And I always considered you my brother.” 

Before he could say anything more, an  oomf  happened. Sherlock crashed into his arms and started to  sob loudly and broken. He clung to Mycroft’s loose t- shirt, his knuckles turned white with how tight the grip was and buried himself in between his shoulder and chest. 

Mycroft clung to him as well. His arm wrapped tightly against his back, as he  soothed Sherlock with comfort. He was taken off guard when Sherlock fell into his arms, mentally and physically. Sherlock never really liked to be hugged or any sort of physical touch. Because of that, Mycroft took  that moment for granted and comforted his younger brother.

The two boys sobbed themselves to sleep, arm in arm. Sherlock laid his head on Mycroft’s chest, his arms around Mycroft’s waist. Mycroft laid his chin lightly on Sherlock’s tousled curls, with his arms that surrounded his back in safety and comfort.  Like they used to do as kids. 

Before Mycroft fell asleep, he whispered an ‘ I love you’ to Sherlock. Because he did. He loved his brother dearly and would do anything for him.

Chapter Text

It was the tenth of December when Sherlock came down with a cold. He was snuffly,  pukish all day long, just the thought of it made him almost vomit up all that he had left in his system.  

He was the literal definition of a plague. 

Mummy and Dad allowed Sherlock to stay home in order to get better and not spread the infection. Mycroft ordered Sherlock not to wear his binder. If he did, he would find out, and be very  frustrated at him.

Sherlock thought back to what he said earlier:

“If I find  out that you are binding, I will throttle you and steal all your binders and hide them somewhere you wouldn’t find them, before the minute you woke up.”

Sherlock snorted, he found his brother’s threats amusing, but he knew how much he cared for him. 

The Aftermath of the dinner party.

Him sobbing into his older brother’s arms and clinging onto him like he was his lifeline; as he explained that he always thought of Sherlock as his brother.

He shut his eyes tight, as he tried to stop the tears that were forming in his eyes.

However, there was no time to hide them since his door got opened and in came Mycroft.

“Hey, Sher, I am going to head out and grab you more medicine.” Mycroft narrowed his eyes at  him before he teased out -“Don’t make me buy you security cameras as well.” 

Sherlock put his hands up in mock defense which caused a bark of Mycroft’s laugh. Mycroft ruffled his head before he headed out.

Sherlock grabbed Mycroft’s hand before he left. Mycroft turned back concerned as he put his empty hand on his forehead to see if he had a fever again.

He seemed cooler so that wasn’t the issue.

Sherlock could see it on his brother’s face. 

The confusion.

“Thank you.”

“Of course. I don’t want you to stay sick that long. I know how much you love to stick it in the boy Anderson’s  face that you are smarter than him.”

Sherlock laughed softly. “ I do. But  I mean thank you .” 

Mycroft squeezed his hand and nodded at him before he let go and walked out of Sherlock’s bedroom.

When Mycroft left, Sherlock was stuck with his thoughts again. While Sherlock did believe Mycroft was being completely honest with his grossly heartfelt speech he made a week and a half ago.  

A part of Sherlock didn’t truly believe that.  That Mycroft was lying. That he just wanted him to feel better and for Sherlock to stop saying that kind of stuff.  Sherlock squeezed his eyes shut once again, this time trying to ignore those pestering thoughts of his.

Those thoughts didn’t go away as quickly as they did in the past. He shook his head violently, only numbing the thoughts a tiny bit, not the full extent. He tried to get up and sit up on his bed ready to pace around his room. Only for him to almost pass out from the sudden movement. 

He breathed heavily, before giving up and leaning back down in his bed and started to pick at his fingers to distract him.  Sherlock has had these types of thoughts before, the self destructive thoughts. Although, the more he thought about it, the more he realized it’s way more than being  self destructive.  Besides his mind being self destructive by itself, he destroys his little to no friendships because of them.  All because of these tiny little thoughts making its ways slowly into his head before time itself unraveled into chaos. 

He hummed softly to himself as he kept repeating the phrase Greg and Mycroft Taught him. It isn’t real.  Your mind is playing tricks on you. You are safe. We care deeply for you, we love you. 

Eventually as time passed, those thoughts became a numbing sensation in the back of his head. He left out a sigh of relief and started to slightly relax again. 

Because of all that sudden intensity, it caused Sherlock to feel utterly exhausted just by the only sudden movement that his body went through that morning. His eyelids started to feel heavy and before his vision started to close in around him, his final thoughts were: I fucking hate being sick. 

The next time he woke up was from a knock on his door. 

“Who is it?” Sherlock asked drowsily;  he felt as if he was laying on a cloud of feathers.

“Greg Lestrade.”

“Who?” Sherlock teased out.

Even though Sherlock couldn’t see Greg, he knew he had a smile on his face from his teasing. “Your best friend.”

“Ah, Jeff. Do come in.”

The door opened for him to come in with a playful eye roll and grin plastered on his face which Sherlock saw as he opened his eyes painfully slowly.

“Be careful!” Sherlock called out. “I am a walking plague. I could get you sick next!”

“You are so dramatic.” Jeff huffed out which Sherlock frowned at. “Anyways I got a mask with me.”

“Good. Very good.” 

“Are you still mad at me for telling Mycroft what happened?” he asked as he sat down on one of Sherlock’s nearby chairs in his room.

Sherlock sighed heavily. “No. You did the right thing.”

“O- Okay. So what’s with that heavy sigh?”

“I just don’t believe what he told me.”

“You had one of your moments didn’t you?”

Sherlock nodded slowly in the result of ‘sad puppy dog eyes’ Gregory.

“What happened?!”

“The night he came home from the Magnussen’s, he told me that he always thought of me as a boy and his younger brother.”

“Okay. Well that’s very good.” Greg replied with a frown etched on his face. “What seems to be the problem?” 

“The problem is that I don’t feel that I  believe him.” Sherlock gritted out, which caused a scurry of footsteps to stop in front of him. 

“You destructive self- deprecation of a man…” Greg trailed off, so frustrated at his best friend who doesn’t believe his older brother’s good intention. “I get you have trust issues and have a hard time believing people’s words. But get this. Sometimes people are actually telling the truth. Your brother is an honest and loyal brother. If he tells you he thinks of you as his own brother; believe him.” 

“I know. I know. You’re right.” Sherlock muttered under his breath.

“Uh Huh. What was that? What did I just hear you say?” Greg teased as he cupped  his hand to his ear.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Awww. Love you too!”  Greg smirked as he laid down next to Sherlock on his bed. Sherlock made a disgusted look at his response which caused Greg to burst out laughing. 

“You are going to get sick!” Sherlock screeched out therefore caused a big voice crack to occur which made him self- conscious. 

Greg noticed and rubbed his converter-  shown - shoulder in sympathy. “It will be worth it. To spend time with my best friend.”

“Well, that’s lovely.” Sherlock cooed out playfully; therefore was the cause of Greg punching him on his nearby shoulder. 

“But you are  co-captain of the rugby team.” Sherlock reminded Jeorge.

Greg shrugged it off. “John is the other co- captain. It would be fine.” 

There was silence after Greg talked about John.  Greg smirked to himself before deciding to talk about John  some more because he knew that his best friend wanted to date him. He might not  have known it then, but he would eventually. 

“John asked about you, today.”

Sherlock perked up. “Really?” 

“Yeah! I told him you were sick. He wanted to come over but I told him not to, because I don’t you don’t like that many people around while you aren’t… binding.” 

Sherlock hummed in agreement. 

“However, he did demand that I give you this.” 

“…Give me…What?”

Greg motioned to the items next to the chair that he sat down on previously. There was a stack of homework, from each class. Above that is a  cylinder paper- like tube that had a blue soup shop label over it. 

Sherlock smiled softly, Greg immediately noticed and smiled back.  Greg nudged Sherlock in the shoulders. “Do you like John?” 

Sherlock scrunched up his brows confused. “Yeah. He is a good friend.”

Greg narrowed his eyes at his not so subtle friend. “You know what I mean.”

Sherlock sighed before he shrugged. “I don’t know. Even If so.. one you know I don’t like anyone romantic or sexually and two he has a girlfriend.” 

“First of all, You know as well just as  I, that you can have platonic relationships. Just like ours. And agree to disagree about the last comment.”

Sherlock turned and narrowed his eyes back at his friend. “What do you mean? What do you know?”

“He doesn’t seem that much interested in Mary now that he has met you.”  Greg winked at Sherlock, Sherlock might not admit it but his face was the color of scarlet.

“You are lying.” Sherlock mumbled.

Greg shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. But  I don’t know…. They seem pretty distant lately. They have been all adorably couple- y for years now…. less. I don't know what happened to them and why they started to split apart. All I am saying, that perhaps he has feelings for you.” 

“Feelings…” Sherlock scoffed.

“Yes, feelings.” 

“Disgusting. Human Feelings.”

“Yes. That might be it.”

“……… why?”

“Because Sherlock, you are amazing, intelligent, funny, even if you don’t even know it, and a good looking guy.”

Sherlock gave him a suspicious, hesitant look. “Are you sure?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?! Of course you are! You are a fucking catch, anyone would be lucky to date you!”

“Sounds like you want to date me.”  Sherlock smirked.

“Oh fuck off!” Greg groaned as he lightly shoved Sherlock away from him. Sherlock giggled and snuggled back into Greg’s chest. 

They both stay like this in silence. Before Greg spoke up. “I think John thinks we are dating.”

Sherlock turned to look at his best friend as an amusing grin on his face appeared. “Seriously?!”

“Yeah!”

“Why?! That doesn’t make sense!”

Greg bit  back a laugh as he tried to appear serious, but failed miserably. “You are seriously asking  that?!”

Greg motioned between the two of them and their predicament on the bed. Sherlock smiled sheepishly. “Maybe he has a point…” 

Greg hummed softly to himself before a  plan formed in his head. “Hey… Sherlock?”

“hmm?”

“What if we fake date?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Sherlock parroted what  his friend said a  minute ago.

Greg shrugged. “Just a thought.”

“For you to play cupid!” 

“……. that too.” 

Sherlock groaned as he rolled his eyes. “You are a terrible person.”

“I am an amazing person! And an amazing friend! If this goes to plan, I might be correct with him and his feelings for you.”  Greg stared down at his friend as he played with his curls. They don’t normally do this. So Greg was enjoying the closeness between the two of them.  

Perhaps Sherlock should get sick more often for them to be like this.

Greg’s eyes then turned dark as he gritted out. “Better be platonic feelings for you.” 

“Okay Mycroft Holmes.” Sherlock snarked sarcastically.

Greg laughed as he pulled him closer to him. He sighed in content before they started to talk more about everything and anything else than this. 

Two hours later, Greg decided to  go home. 

Greg grabbed his jacket that was hanging on the back of the chair. “Okay, I'm definitely going to get sick now.”

“Maybe you should have worn your mask?” Sherlock bit back. 

“Whatever.” Greg rolled my eyes. “I’m bringing down your empty soup container.”

Greg motioned to it in his hand as he fidgeted with it.” Just think about what I said, okay?”

Sherlock nodded in response.

 “I hope you get better, Sher. I love you.” 

“Love you too.” Sherlock whispered quietly, but knew Greg would have still heard what he said. He was correct when he saw him smile softly before he headed out of Sherlock’s room.

Sherlock breathed deeply as he heard the fading footsteps of his best friend.

His phone then buzzed, he picked it  up from his lap and unlocked it to see who texted him.

John.

John W.

Just wanted to see how you are doing today. Well tonight, now, actually! I hope you get better and enjoyed the soup that I sent with Greg. :) 

                              delivered 11:25pm 

Fuck.

Maybe Greg was right about this. 

Maybe he should go with his plan.

He does love results. After-all. 

Plus the chaos is the best part of it.

Chapter Text

“Are you positive you want to do this, though?” Greg asked, as he turned to glimpse the man on his left.

“Yes!” the man groaned exasperatedly.

“Are you one percent  positive though?” 

“If you ask me that one more time, I will back out!” He gritted out frustrated at his friend’s second guessing his own fucking plan.

“Sorry.” He winced slightly before he grabbed Sherlock by his arms and shaked him excitedly.  He was jumping up and down and couldn’t stay still with his exhilarated mood.

Sherlock laughed at his friend’s excitement as they made their way into their Forensics class and sat down at their said assigned table. 

Molly turned and looked at the sight of the two boys behind her. Greg looked like he was vibrating  with excitement. Sherlock had a neutral face on, however she detected a slight fracture of excitement on his face as well.

She giggled.“What got you both so excited?” 

“Nothing.”

“Sorry Molls, We can’t say because it’s our secret plan!” Greg explained giddily.

“It wouldn’t be a secret, if you keep telling everyone about it!” 

“Sorry.” Greg pouted which made Sherlock contradicted his own point  and forgave him. 

He fucking did that on purpose, didn’t he? That little shit. 

While Sherlock mostly got his way with their friendship with how he can manipulate Greg to get his way. Greg also did the same thing with Sherlock with his exploitative tendencies.

Their conversations died down when their teacher- Mrs.Hudson went off and listed the groups for the lab experiment. 

“Donovan, Anderson.”

“Hooper, Emerson.”

“Frederick, Salem.”

“Victoria, Teresa.”

“Holmes, Lestrade.”

Sherlock turned to his best friend with a smile on his which immediately got erased off as he saw his friend’s reaction. Greg was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, Sherlock rolled his eyes playfully and punched him, which caused Gregory to stifle a laugh. 

Hudson listed off all the groups until none were left and told them to go and start their activity. If they needed any help, they should come to her for advice.

“So how should we do it?” Sherlock whispered to his best friend, because if he was being honest, this would be his first relationship, no matter how fake it was.

“I mean we already are like dating.” Greg explained as he leaned in closer for Sherlock to hear. “That’s what  others believe is true. Not my belief anyway. So I suppose we should become…closer to one another? Perhaps more…. dare I say….. couple-y?” 

Greg winced at the thought because he knew Sher was aroace and didn’t do that sort of thing. “If you want to back out or if it gets too uncomfortable, let me know!” 

Sherlock nodded in agreement, he was about to say something else but got interrupted.

“What are you lovebirds talking about?” Donavon asked as she and Anderson crept closer to the two.

Sherlock widened in surprise with how much her comment  threw him for surprise. Sher looked over to his friend; his expression on his face read ‘I told you so’.

Sherlock rolled his eyes but flushed at the thought of them dating.

“None of your business, Sally.” Greg replied politely although it looked fake, and strained,  even to Sherlock. 

“Jeez. Don’t need to be rude.” Anderson and his annoyingly obnoxious voice spoke.

Sherlock tilted his head over to Anderson and observed him and read him like a book.

“Anderson. While I don’t really care for you  and Donovan’s input about  our relationship, you shouldn’t be the one talking. Did she  stay over yours last night?” Sherlock suggested calmly.

Anderson’s face twisted into anger, his face bright red  while hers was in shock.“Now look: whatever you’re trying to imply.”

Sherlock blinked, unaffected by his words.”I’m not implying anything.”

“I’m sure Sally came round for a nice little chat, and just happened to stay over.”

Anderson turned to look away from Sherlock, livid by his accurate accusation.

“…..And I assume she scrubbed your floors, going by the state of her knees.” Sherlock explained as he stared at her knees and how bruised they were.

Both of their faces were the color of beets.  They were blubbering trying to cover up the truth.

Anderson grabbed her by the arm as they moved back to their lab table as he grumbled about how he hated Sherlock Holmes. Sally nodded in agreement and rubbed his arm in sympathy.

Sherlock turned to look back at his best friend and saw he bursted out laughing. It wasn’t a small laugh, but a belly ache of a laugh. He had to grab a hold of Sherlock’s arm to hold him steady as he leaned back and laughed hard.

“People are staring.”

Greg ignored Sherlock’s comment as his laugh transitioned into a wheeze.He gripped his other hand to his ribs as he toppled over. 

His laughter started to die down and wiped the tears off of his face by the back of his hands. 

“THAT WAS SO FUCKING HILARIOUS!” Greg exclaimed as he caught his breath.

Sherlock shrugged embarrassed. “I suppose..”

“When did you have in you to say that sort of stuff? You usually avoid that… subject of topic.”

Sherlock hummed.”That’s true. But I suppose If we wanted to act more like a couple,we would have to become more defensive towards others about us.”

Greg agreed to that statement. 

They should do that. If they want to be perceived as a couple.

“Plus the look on Anderson’s face made it so much worth it.” Sherlock explained, before the duo bursted out giggling to one another.

“Boys. You are here to do your project, not a giggle fit.” Mrs. Hudson spoke as she looked up from her desk, her glasses blocked her eye of sight since they slid down to her nose.

Sherlock rolled his eyes when he turned back to look at Jeff. He knew that Hudson didn’t really give a shit, but if she wanted to keep her license she had to be strict with her students on occasion. 

Greg muttered an apology before they turned back to their lab project. It was fingerprints.

While some might say this was easy work, in that year the class  was advanced. So in the past, using a type of fiber powder and using a brush in a back and forth motion before using lifting tape to lift a fingerprint off. Dusting.

There were new options such as  Mikrosil, a casting component.  The Mikrosil and the hardensing casting, mixed together to be used to pull fingerprints. Usually taking a few minutes to dry and being able to see the print in the cast. Or using a mixture of Molybdenum Disulfide to pull prints if the surface was wet or greasy. You spray the mixture to see the fingerprints and to lift them you would need to wipe it away with water, before trying to lift the print with tape.

There are other types with the mixture of fluorescent powder with other chemicals involved. 

Sherlock looked down to see what prints they had. “Plastic, Latent.”

Greg nodded in agreement. While Greg wasn’t an expert in Forensics like Sherlock was per say, he did know a thing or two about it. 

Sherlock pouted. “I wanted Patent prints.”

“I know you do, Sher. Maybe next time?”

“Maybe.” 

“You just want a bloody fingerprint don’t you?”

Sherlock smiled sheepishly.“…. possibly.”

Greg just rolled his eyes playfully before he went back  to scribbling down his answers as he went through their questions.

————————-

The bell rang, since it was Thursday, Greg had Rugby  practice after school.Greg suggested that Sherlock should walk with Greg before they went their own ways.To try to maintain their fake relationship status, especially in front of John.

Sherlock agreed with a small smile as he followed his best friend down to the sports hallway. 

“Are you having a  Christmas Party?”  George leaned into Sherlock like it’s a conspiracy.

Sherlock frowned. “Of course, I am having a Christmas party. We, Holmes, always do!”

“When? What time?” Greg asked as he narrowed his eyes at him.

“December 28, seven pm to nine or ten pm. My social battery isn’t that long but I would think it’s only you, so that would be fine. …. why?”

“What if we invite John and Mary?”

Sherlock groaned dramatically as he threw himself into Greg’s arm and melted into them like a puddle.

“Whyyyyyyyy?”

Greg put his arms around Sherlock’s body. “To convince them,silly!”

Sherlock pouted like a wounded puppy  as he looked up at Greg  from his position on his neck. 

“Fine. Eight pm at the latest for them. Is that better?”

“… Eight thirty.”

“Fine!”

Greg felt Sherlock tug into a smile as he fell back into the crescent of his neck. Greg rolled his eyes, Sherlock always got his way, just like Greg occasionally got his way. 

Greg pulled Sherlock away, Sherlock stifled a whine.  He missed his friend’s warmth. Greg was like a furnace while Sherlock was like Antartacia.They somehow fit together as friends. 

Plus it does have benefits to both sides. If one is too cold, or one is too hot. 

Sherlock looked around and he realized they were in front of the men’s locker room. Sherlock’s ears burned as he realized men were looking at him when they were coming in and out of the doors. 

Greg smiled as he hugged Sherlock one last time.Sherlock closed his eyes in content.

“I will text you later, okay?”  Greg said.

“Okay.” Sherlock’s breath tingled against Greg’s ear. 

Greg hesitated, but decided not to say ‘ I Love You’ to Sherlock.He didn’t want Sherlock to feel uncomfortable, since they usually say that in private.

Greg smiled one last time at his friend before pushing the door open and Sherlock was in his line of view, anymore.

As Greg was changing, John went over to him. Greg felt his presence and was waiting for him to say something, but nothing came out.

Greg turned to John confused. “….Yes?”

“What was going on with you and Sherlock today?”

“What?”

“Outside the locker room.” John muttered, as he stared down at the floor.

“Oh. I just said goodbye to my boyfriend, that's all.” 

“Oh.” 

Greg smiled huge. “Yeah.”

Greg noticed a change in John’s micro expression. It looked like jealousy, or perhaps hurt.

“Sherlock and I wanted to know if you and Mary are coming to his Christmas party next week on the Twenty-eighth?” Greg asked, trying to keep his face neutral, and not giddy about John’s  reaction.

“W- what?” John stuttered at all that information thrown at him. “Uh.. sure! Mary really wants to get to know Sherlock more!”

“Perfect!” Greg grinned. 

Before they could talk more, John went out of the locker room, uniform intact and probably headed out to the field.

When Greg was finishing putting his gear on, he smirked mischievously to himself.

I smelt jealousy all over him!! This is all going to plan. I am a fucking genius.  Sherlock is going to thank me later! 

Chapter Text

Something was off. John realized.

He didn’t know what, but something was off.

All day, that day, Sherlock was obsessing over Greg, way more than usual. He was rambling about  how amazing Greg was and how  smart he was in their geometry class. Sherlock wasn’t wrong about that. But  still he didn’t want his friend ( possible crush?) talking about his best friend ( previous crush) like that. 

He waited a whole week for him to come back from being sick. He was hyping himself up. He was going to ask him all the concerning questions anyone would ask. 

However, instead he got that.

At lunchtime, John turned to look at his wonderful girlfriend, Mary. “Do you know what’s up with Greg and Sherlock?”

Mary snorted. “How would I know? I don’t really know them as well as you do.”

John hummed, what she said was true. But curiosity got the worst of him so he turned to look at them in line to get food. They were so playful, with muffled laughs even though it sounded like a hundred times louder to John. As if he was a vampire. “They seem closer than usual. Do you think they are dating?”

For some reason, the thought of them dating gave John a nasty feeling. Like Acid building up in his throat. Or him getting food poisoning, that one time at his twelfth birthday party. 

Without realizing Greg was having an internal crisis, Mary turned to look over at them as well. She tilted her head; “Maybe? They would look cute together!” 

John narrowed his eyes at her, as he enunciated slowly.”Sherlock doesn’t date.” 

Mary scrunched up her brows and she drifted her vision from the two boys back  to her boyfriend. “What do you mean he doesn’t date?!” 

“I mean he won’t date someone sexually or romantically.”

Mary narrowed her eyes back at John, but with more frustration in her eyes. “You do realize that someone can date someone, and have a platonic relationship?  While those two are the main ways couples can be shown as, there could absolutely be platonic ones. Why am I explaining it to you? You know more about the community than I do as a  straight woman.” 

John nodded. “I know. It just…. I don’t why but I feel weird about this?”

“Maybe it’s your crush on Greg? You have been crushing on him for years! Hmmm....You never thought to ask him out?!” Mary teased.

John drifted his gaze to his fingers as if that was the most interesting thing in the world. “I did.”

Mary gaped. “What?”

“I tried to ask him out. However, he rejected me.” John replied.

“Oh sweetheart.” Mary said softly as she rubbed her hand up and down at his back in comfort. 

“It’s fine.” John grumbled. “However, when he explained himself he stated his type was brunettes. And now this?! I don’t know what to think about.” 

“What about Sherlock?” Mary whispered quietly as if it was a secret shared just between the two of them. Her eyebrows raised high in suggestion.

John’s mouth felt so dry. As if it was filled with sand paper. His tongue wanted to move, but it couldn’t even if he tried so badly.

John took a sip of his nearby water before he cleared his throat. “No.” 

Mary stared at him, waiting for any doubt to show on his face. She saw none. Unless he was feigning the thought of him wanting to date Sherlock. 

She put her hands up defensively. “Okay. Not him, got it.”

John nodded in agreement, he didn’t  want to look her straight in the face, because he knew if he did, his expression would give it away.  He knew Mary wouldn’t mind it. She fully accepted him being bisexual when he came out to her a couple months into their relationship. Since she was the one that caught him checking another guy out.  

But John didn’t want to put that on her. John felt guilty about it, for some reason. That it was a dirty secret that should be buried six feet under the surface. 

“Maybe you are overthinking this.” Mary muttered quietly, but loud enough for John to hear.

“That might be it.”

Hopefully. 

However, then came the end of the day. Rugby practice.  Mary and John were exchanging goodbyes, Since John had rugby practice that day.  She quickly kissed him on his lips, not trying to stir attention. While yes they were dating, it was a fact that they usually keep PDA to a minimum at school. At home…. well that’s a different story.

After they exchanged their kiss, they hugged as per usual. John wrapped his arms around Mary’s smaller but deadly frame. He leaned in and rested his head lightly on top of hers since he was slightly taller than her.  He closed his eyes in content, he was calm and happy when he was with Mary. Mary was his lifesaver. 

However when he opened his eyes back up, that all went away. He saw Greg and Sherlock all lovey- dovey. They were walking to one another and then Greg said something to Sherlock which caused him to lean against him dramatically. Greg wrapped his arms  around his back as Sherlock leaned against him. 

Sherlock pouted. Sherlock fucking pouted. Holy fucking shit. John never thought Sherlock would pout but he supposed he can be wrong sometimes. He noticed that Sherlock’s face was pulled down as he looked up at Greg.

Why can’t he look at me like that?

 So cute and so beautiful with his beautiful heterochromia eyes staring up into mine.

Holy shit. 

I actually thought that. 

What the fuck is wrong with me?!

Mary took notice of John’s stiffness. She moved apart and noticed that Greg and Sherlock seemed very much like a couple at that moment. She draped  her hand against John’s before she wrapped them together and squeezed tightly. 

She smiled softly at him, John turned and smiled back at her. It wasn’t a full smile, but it was alright.

They muttered a goodbye before they officially left. John pushed open the locker room doors. He started to get changed. He was fully changed, before Greg walked into the room. 

He sat there on a nearby bench and waited. Once Greg walked in, John strolled over to Greg, but with more power than usual.

He stood there patiently, behind Greg. So quiet that nobody would have thought he was truly there,  until they would feel the sensation of eyes burning into your back.

Greg turned around confused. “…Yes?”

John narrowed his eyes on his co- leader. “What was going on with you and Sherlock today?”

“What?”

John cleared his throat, as he feigned any emotion but failed as he stared down at the floor. “Outside the locker room.” 

“Oh. I just said  goodbye to my boyfriend, that’s all.” Greg replied so casually.

“Oh.” John muttered.

“Yeah!” Greg smiled at him. 

He couldn’t breathe. He felt his heart crush for some reason. He forced himself to continue breathing or else he would have a lack of oxygen. 

What he felt when he heard that news was a pint of jealousy and pain?

What is there to be jealous of?

They are dating. Your suspicions were right.

“Sherlock and I wanted to know if you and Mary would like to come to his Christmas party, next week  on the twenty-eighth?”  Greg said as if that type of news could be brushed past so easily.

“W-What?” John stumbled out, at a loss of words. 

However he controlled himself when he  mustered out; “Uh, sure! Mary really wants to get to know Sherlock better!”

Greg grinned his pearly whites at him. “Great!”

John muttered: “Great” as he walked out the doors and out of the school. He gasped for air as he walked out into the crisp air. He leaned against a wall and put a hand on his chest, as he controlled his breathing.

His teammate,James, walked over to him okay. “John, mate, are you alright?”

John nodded. “Yeah, I will be. I will catch you out there shortly.” As he nodded to the field a couple miles away.

“Alright.” James hesitated before he ran off to his other mates that were already ahead of them.

After he got his breathing under control, he pushed off the wall and jogged off to most of his mates. Greg right behind him. John knew without turning around, that he’s right behind him. He knew his footsteps well enough to know that’s him.

That’s kinda creepy, now that I think about it.

It’s not  in a creepy way!!!  I swear!!!

———————————————

Soon enough practice was over, John was dripping with sweat, he grabbed his small cloth that was sitting on the ground, waiting to be picked up and used.  He wiped it all over his face and hair since he was dripping mainly there.

He  threw his head back and chugged his water bottle until it was completely empty. He would usually go back to the locker room and take a shower there.  However, he didn’t really want to talk to Greg more after what  he spewed out of him two hours prior. 

He changed quickly, and headed out to his vehicle. He drove home, he parked his car before he climbed up the million stairs, twisted his key into the door and walked into his apartment complex.

Emma ran over to him excited as she squealed, jumping up and down. John put a hand out to calm her down. He scanned the room and saw that their parents left.

“Where’s mom and dad?”

“They left.”

John huffed.

Of course they did. They didn’t even think to call a babysitter.

“When?”

“Uhhhh a while back. Maybe more than twenty minutes ago?” She scrunched her eyebrows together  as they connected to the bridge of her nose. “Has it been twenty  minutes? I don’t know. But they haven’t left me long, I know that!!” 

John pinched his fingers against the bridge of his nose, in annoyance. “Okay. Fine. Did they feed you beforehand?”

“They gave me snacks!” Ems pointed to her bowl in the living room that seemed empty.

“I will go make you something.” 

She squealed again so loudly that John had to cover his ears. “Not so loud!”

“Sorry.”

He ended up making her fish and chips since that’s the easiest and most proficient meal  to cook for her, (besides pizza). He grabbed a box of fish and a bag of chips, put them on trays before he put them in the oven.

As they waited for it to cook, John suggested Emma could color. He grabbed out her coloring books and color pencils and she got to work.

Once John pulled them out of the oven and put them on safe anti- heat plates on the counter top. He pulled off his mittens and put it back on the small hook.

He turned and saw Emma lifted up her picture. It was  a  poorly scribbled drawing of him, Emma, and Sherlock. John had to stifle a laugh. Emma really despised Mary for taking John’s  attention away from her, even though Sherlock did the same thing.

John smiled softly at Emma before saying how good it was. John then turned his attention back to her meal. He got out two fishes and a medium portion of chips for her. He thought that would definitely fill her up.

When Emma was eating, she offered her meal to him. John just simply shook his head and  said she could eat all of that. Well that was the plan, until John’s stomach grumbled loudly. When Emma wasn’t looking, he took a couple chips and munched on them.

Once Emma was finished, John offered her some tv while he cleaned up. Emma definitely agreed to it and skipped over to the couch before she turned the tv on.

John laughed softly to himself, as he began to put the dishes into the dishwasher and cleaned up the space he used.

He then stood in the door frame of the living and told Emma he was going to take a shower. She nodded along, but ultimately was entranced by the cartoon show she had on.

He rolled his eyes and walked down their hallway and into the bathroom, he turned the shower on while he stripped the sweaty clothes he was wearing and put them into their hamper.

He then stepped in and scalding hot water ran down his body. He sighed happily as the grime rinsed down the drain. 

He stood in there for longer than he should have as his thoughts began to drift back to earlier.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned and shut off the water. He stepped out and grabbed a towel before he tied it around his waist, as water dripped down his chest.

He wiped the steamed mirror and saw himself in the mirror. His hair sticking to his forehead, his softly formed core, his eyes seemed sadder than usual, probably because of that day.

He then padded his feet off on a nearby rug  before he  pushed open the door and went to his room to change. He changed into comfortable clothes, before he went to check on Emma.

Only to realize she was fast asleep. He smiled softly at her, he turned off the tv before he gently picked her up. He put a steady arm underneath her legs and put the other around her back. She leaned against him, as he walked Emma to her own room.

He softly put her on her bed, bringing her covers over her body. He kissed her on her forehead goodnight before he shut  her door. 

He then sighed, as he ran his hand against his face as he walked toward the hallway and grabbed his bag and pulled out the homework he needed to complete.

He sat down and got to work. He finished and when he looked up and saw what time it read on the stove.  He realized it was ten. He looked around and realized they still aren’t home yet.

Hmm, they  must have taken a longer shift than usual. Hopefully they are okay.

John packed everything back up into his bag for tomorrow. He shut off all the lights, and pitter pattered to his room. 

He collapsed onto his bed, he plugged his phone into his charger. It beeped, which indicated it was charging. He turned off his nearby light and fell asleep.

When he woke up again he realized it was only midnight.

He groaned.  Only  two hours. However he needed to get up, since his stomach was gnawing at him for food.

He opened his door, slightly and quietly not trying to make noise. He then headed into the kitchen, he needed food badly. He turned on a small light that was above the sink. He slowly opened the freezer door and grabbed the remaining fish and chips. He winched when it made a loud noise when he pulled them out.

He quietly put them on a  plate and warmed them up. He grabbed them before the microwave beeped loudly. He ate quietly, and drank a bottle of water that was in the fridge.

He finished up, finally full and content with not being nauseous anymore. He put the dishes into the sink, he reminded himself to put it in the dishwasher later tomorrow. 

He then turned the light back off and went back to his room. When he was going back to his room, he noticed his parents door was closed. He sighed, he finally can breathe again now that his parents are home.

He closed his door again and fell back on his bed. However he heard his phone ding. He turned it over and saw the bright lockscreen light that blinded him. 

His eyes took a minute to adjust from the pitch dark room to this bright lighting. He  clicked on the notification and saw it was Mary.

His eyebrows arched up. Mary should be asleep now.

Mary  ❤️

You up?

delivered 12:26am

Darling

How did you know?

                            delivered 12:26 am

Mary  ❤️

I know you. 

   delivered 12:27am

John huffed out loud when he saw that response.

Darling 

What are you doing up?

                             delivered 12:27am

Mary  ❤️

 I can say the same thing about you!

            delivered 12:28am

John rolled his eyes before he sent “ I got hungry.”

Mary  ❤️

Did you eat?

delivered 12:28am

Darling

 No. Not really.

              delivered  12:28am.

Mary   ❤️

JOHN HAMISH WATSON.

                     delivered 12:29am

John gulped. Even though they aren’t in person; John knew Mary was really upset with his decision making skills.

Darling

 Sorry.

delivered 12:29am

Mary  ❤️

 You better be.

delivered 12:30am

Darling

I got food!

delivered 12:30am

Mary  ❤️

Good.

delivered 12:31am

Darling

 Now I can ask you why you  are up?

delivered 12:31am

Mary  ❤️

 I was worrying about you. Especially with what happened earlier.

delivered 12:32am

Darling

 I am fine.

delivered 12:32am

Mary  ❤️

Darling, I know we aren’t talking in person. But I know your ‘i’m fine’ statements are usually false.

     delivered 12:33am

John sighed because she was right. He was lying to himself. But maybe that’s a good thing. To get over these weird feelings for his friends. When he was in his head, he  got another message from Mary. 

Mary   ❤️

You know I wouldn’t care about you having a crush on Sherlock, if you did, you know? I would be okay with us being what they call a ‘polyamory relationship’. Sherlock is really pretty, I will admit.

delivered 12:36am

John sighed as he wiped his hands across his face. He literally doesn’t want to talk about this, especially with her. Because while she was the best girlfriend ever, even willingly to give John a chance with other people, he would feel the most guilt about it.

Darling

 I am going to sleep. I love you.

delivered 12:37am

Mary    ❤️

 Sorry. I was just trying to explain that it’s okay to have options. I wouldn’t care about us being open, I just want you to be happy especially with your sexuality. Goodnight, I love you too!

                  delivered 12:39am

John saw that last message of Mary’s before he shut his phone off. He huffed as he laid back on his bed. 

However he couldn’t truly go back to sleep. He twisted and turned around in bed. Mary’s  last message seemed to seeped into John’s head and that’s all he could think about. 

He couldn’t think about those things. He needed to get over his feelings for Sherlock. Sooner than rather than later especially with him dating Greg.  

An hour passed, and he finally felt his eyes droop and sleep finally took him away.

Chapter Text

Tuesday, December 26, 2023 - 5pm 

There was a knock on the door, John got up from his tv and walked over to get it, since his parents were busy cooking and Emma was busy with her toys. 

He opened it and there was a mail carrier outside his door dressed in a blue plain t- shirt with a company logo on it and tan shorts. 

The mail carrier smiled politely as he handed John his package since it was too big to be pushed through the letterbox of his flat. 

The exchange was quick and simple before John closed the door again. He was internally giddy because he knew what this package was. 

John H. Watson

221B Baker Street

London

NW1 6XE, UK

Sherlock’s present.

John grabbed a razor-blade from one of their miscellaneous draws in the kitchen and ripped the package up.

He put back the blade before he tore into the package the best he could without damaging what he bought. He ran to his room, and gently unwrapped the item that was contained by bubble wrap. 

Out came a rainbow slug that John thought of all those weeks ago. Since it was sent internationally, it took a while for it to be shipped. But it was all worth it, well John thought it was. 

Until then.

Because what if it would be too awkward and random to give your (75% possible crush) who is taken by your previous crush a gift that you thought to give him?

Fuck.

He then grabbed his phone and started to text Sherlock.

John W.

 Hey, is your Christmas Party present related? I did get you one but now I feel bad because I never asked you that. 

                                  delivered

                             [read 5:35pm]

Sherlock H.

 It usually isn’t. If it makes you feel better and not make things awkward, I could come and meet up with you tomorrow? And you can give me the present you got me? 

                           delivered

                         [read 5:36pm] 

John W.

 Really? I don’t want to disturb your day of peace before the party. I know how much you don’t like socializing.

                            delivered 

                            [read 5:37pm]

Sherlock H.

That’s…. thoughtful.

The party isn’t present related - mostly a hang out. But I don't want you to feel odd about it, so  we can  meet up ahead of time.                              delivered

                           [read 5:39pm]

John W.

Okay thanks! See you tomorrow!

         delivered 

[read 5:40pm]

Sherlock H.

 See you tomorrow, Watson.

             delivered 

            [read 5:41pm]

John read that last message over and over again. Because he couldn’t remember the last time Sherlock called him Watson. He was incredibly giddy inside. He wouldn’t fully admit it but he did squeal a little as he read the last line.

At that point, he realized what was about to happen. The next day. Him coming over and they exchange gifts (probably just him, but still.) He started to jump around excitedly until he got told to knock it off by his father.  He stopped jumping, but he couldn’t contain his energy. 

After he calmed himself down the best he could, he got called out for supper. It was a supper’s pie. It was hardy and delicious! A good meal on a growing boy’s stomach since he just came back from practicing rugby with a few of mates in the nearest  park a couple hours prior; but didn’t get something to eat afterwards. 

Before he could go back to his room, Emma wanted him to play with him. He played with her for an hour and half before he put her in her own room and said goodnight.

Shortly after, he called Mary and explained the game plan for the next day. She was surprisingly more excited than he was; as he had to pull his phone away from his ear a couple times because of her high pitched screaming. 

They ended up talking until John started to fall asleep. He didn’t know what happened. He started to feel exhausted probably from practice hitting him, and the next thing he knew he was asleep. He woke up at one point and had to wipe the drool off his face and partly on his phone.

He put his phone on his charger, before going back to sleep. Only to see a message from Mary. He unlocked  his phone to see what she sent him. The bright light blinded him in the almost pitch dark bedroom.

Wednesday, December 27

00 :30

Notification Center:

Mary  ❤️

Get some rest darling. We can talk more tomorrow evening. I love you 💗

                               two hours ago

 John smiled softly at that message before shutting his phone back off and flopped back down on his bed.

December 27,2023 - 3:30pm

John started to pace around in his room as he reread Sherlock's last message of him on his way for nth time. His present was nicely wrapped up and presented on the top of his desk. 

He stopped moving once he heard a vehicle door open and closed. He ran over to his nearby window and saw Sherlock, looking so…. handsome.

He was staring for too long, so he had to blink a couple times to refocus. Once he did that he saw Sherlock looking back up at him, waving to him one- handed, with a smile on his face. In his other hand shown a present bag.

John’s present.

The doorbell rang. He then sprinted out of there, fixed his hair before he opened the door. Out stood Sherlock and he looked much… gorgeous closer up. He wore a purple button up shirt while also wearing a white sweater vest.

I don’t think this man knows casual clothing. He always dresses very professional.

Before John could say anything, Emma beat him to it.

“Sherlock!!!” Emma squealed as she ran and hugged him by his waist.

John saw Sherlock slightly flinch, however he didn’t want to make a big enough deal out of it.  Because of that, he suggested to Emma that Sherlock should come inside. 

Once inside, Emma dragged Sherlock to her new collections that she got for Christmas. It was a new tea set collection as well as new coloring books that she wanted. Sherlock, being the nice person he is, waited patiently as she explained every single detail of each thing; even commenting when it was appropriate. It was a bit bland but John didn’t think Emma noticed enough to care. 

Before John could drag Sherlock off to his room, his mom asked if they wanted anything to eat before supper was ready. Sherlock politely declined and said he wasn’t hungry at that moment. Meredith just stared at him for a couple minutes, her tries failed so she allowed them to pass.  John rolled his eyes at his mother’s tactics while Sherlock just laughed quietly to himself.

His  laugh. Oh man…

John followed after Sherlock before he closed his bedroom door, to give them privacy. When he turned back around he found that Sherlock stared at his present with lots of hints of intrigue.

John smiled to himself at that thought before he motioned for them to sit on his bed. John grabbed Sherlock’s present off the desk and brought it over to his bed. He sat criss cross on his bed, his legs bent into each other. While Sherlock was just laying with his feet on the ground since he was too tall for it to be dangling off.  They then exchanged their presents to one another. John’s was in a bigger bag, while Sherlock’s was in a small bag, since it was a small present.

John offered Sherlock to go first since he was the guest there. After much arguing, Sherlock gave in. When Sherlock was removing the tissue paper lining that was covering his gift; his brunette curls fell in his face. 

John stifled a grunt as he stared at them, since they hadn't been moved back then. 

I just want to reach out and touch them and run my hands through them. They probably are so soft. I wonder if Greg does that-

STOP.

John zoned back in just in time to see Sherlock removing his fidget, that was  still in the box that it came in.  Sherlock just stared at it, for a couple minutes, not saying anything. Before he turned to look at John, wide eyed and jaw dropped. John was starting to get worried that he might have upset Sherlock or got him the wrong thing. Yet, the next thing he knew he was being hugged.

Sherlock Holmes was hugging him. Twice now. He got hugged by him.

Sherlock hugged him tightly, and John was appreciative of that fact, to get this close to Sherlock, John considered it  an honor.  Sherlock smelt of coconut (probably his shampoo) as well as wool and warmth.  John smiled huge at that thought, Sherlock started to move back after a couple minutes, just them holding each other in silence.

“…..Do you like it?”

“Like it?! I love it!!!!” Sherlock exclaimed with a huge grin on his face.

“I’m glad.”

Sherlock immediately ripped into the package, not caring to be gentle at all, cardboard pieces flying everywhere.  Anteriorly, Sherlock shook it aggressively because he enjoyed the certain sounds it made. John laughed softly at his motion.  Sherlock looked over and smiled sheepishly at him.

“Open yours now.” 

“Okay!” 

John then opened the tied bag up, removed the tissue wrapping to find a new addition of a Forensics book John talked about once. John gaped at Sherlock, he was surprised that he remembered that fact.

“Thanks, Sher!” John chirped out before realizing what he just said.

Holmes then gaped at him. “Sher…..Did you just call me Sher?” 

“No. I did not.You are mistaken.” John tried to backtrack but the blush on his face and ears didn’t help.

“You did call me Sher.” Sherlock teased out with a shit eating grin on his face.

“Shut up.” John grumbled as he hid his face in his hands.

John saw in the corner of his eye that Sherlock was frowning for a second. “No, I don’t feel like shutting up. I feel like we should talk about some more, don’t you agree, Watson.”

He let out a squeal at the mention of his last name. Sherlock heard that, of course, and started to laugh loud and obnoxious about that fact. John rolled his eyes, even though Sherlock couldn’t see that. He grabbed the closest pillow he could find and threw it at him directly at his face. His Rugby skills are paying off, just for that moment.

Sherlock stopped laughing and just stared at him. John gulped in fear before he also got hit in the face with a pillow. Which then started a pillow fight between the two. 

Twenty minutes later, the duo was laying down on John’s bed just giggling to themselves in amusement of what just happened. 

John turned to stare at Sherlock. “Did you have a good Christmas?”

Sherlock stopped staring at the ceiling before he turned to stare back at John. “Yeah! Mycroft got me some new Forensics books as well as Chemistry equipment.”

“That’s nice.” John smiled lightly. “What about Greg?”

Sherlock’s brows scrunched up adorably, confused. “What about him?”

“Did he get you anything?”

“Just his love for me.” Sherlock said sarcastically which John rolled his eyes at. 

Sherlock cleared his throat. “We didn’t celebrate Christmas together. For one, his family wants everyone there for Christmas. And two, Greg hasn’t exactly told his parents we are together.”

“Really? I would have thought otherwise.”

“Well, we don’t spend a lot of time at his house, mostly mine.” Sherlock answered.

John nodded at that thought. “That makes sense.” 

“Giggle Squad, lunch is ready!” Hamish yelled out. The boys then groaned before getting out of bed and going to the small dining room. 

After Lunch was done, Sherlock then said he probably should go back home. John frowned at that thought but allowed it. Since he did have to prepare for Thursday’s event. John and Emma  said their  goodbyes, before Sherlock closed it. 

Emma once again, nagged at him to play with her, which he did.He conversed with her as he colored along beside her. Shortly after, Emma got bored and wanted him to watch tv with her, so  he did watch her silly cartoons.

Eventually supper occurred- Bubble And Squeak. Everything Meredith made was delicious, but just took the top.  John helped clear off his plates, loaded it in the dishwasher and headed off to his room, since Hamish informed him that he would put Emma to sleep that night. John was grateful for that, because then he could call Mary and tell her all about what happened. 

She was squealing more than yesterday, if that was even possible. But he did think that was appropriate because COME ON. Mary did suggest that John might have a crush on Sherlock. John dismissed it because it wasn’t worth it. Mary accepted it, however she did tell him that she was there for him if he wanted to talk. 

“Thank you.” 

“Of course, Dear.” Mary smiled lightheartedly at him which caused him to smile back at her. 

“Well, I should be off to bed. Remember the Christmas Party tomorrow! Sherlock says it starts at Eight Thirty!” John exclaimed.

“Thanks! Send me his address tomorrow! Good night, Johnie, I love you!”

“Of course. Goodnight Mary.”

John then hung up his phone, fore he connected it to the charging port and turned off all his lights and went to sleep. Excited and nervous of what was going to occur the next night.

Chapter Text

Tuesday, December 26,2023

Sherlock  was reading his book as his head laid on  Greg’s lap, as he scrolled on his  phone.

Mycroft stared at them with  a rise  of curiosity and brother’s  love to protect his little brother. However he written  it  off mostly because he knows how close the two are as friends.

Mycroft got out of his thoughts when he heard a phone vibrate. Sherlock’s phone. Mycroft calculated who that might be, and  the only person he thought of who would text Sherlock at 5 PM; would be John Freaken’  Watson.

Well…. isn’t that interesting.

Sherlock sighed. He stopped what he was doing and put  his bookmark at the part he  was at because he isn’t a monster dog-earing it.

Greg  then  reached over Sherlock and gave Sherlock his phone. He muffled   a “Thank you” to him before  he opened his phone and saw notification from John. His  lips did a silly thing, and started to form into a smile.

Gregory slightly pinched him, amused by his crush, even if he wanted a minute Sherlock rolled his eyes and flipped him the bird.

The message went as this:

John W.

Hey, it’s a Christmas party present related? I didn’t get you one but now I feel bad because I never asked you that.

Sherlock’s curiosity peaked at the message.

John Watson got me… A Christmas present?

Sherlock H.

it usually isn’t. If it makes  you feel better and not make things awkward, I could come and meet up with you tomorrow? And you can give me the present  you got me?

John’s response was a minute after:

John W.

Really? I just don’t want to disturb your  day of peace  before the party. I know how much you don’t like socializing. 

Sherlock almost let out an aw. 

Almost.

He wouldn’t have thought John Watson would remember little details about him even if they are friends.

Sherlock H.

 That’s thoughtful.  The party isn't present-related - mostly a hangout. but I don't want you to feel odd about it, so we can meet up ahead of  time. 

Sherlock could feel Greg's breath over the top of his head. He knew Greg one hundred percent  was reading their conversation because he was a nosy little shit.

John W.

Okay thanks! See you tomorrow! 

 In a blink of an eye, Greg stole Sherlock's phone.

“Hey!” He turned to grab it but failed when Greg's arms reached into the  air.  

If Sherlock was actually motivated to get it, he definitely could have gotten his phone back.But Sherlock was comfortable on Greg’s lap and didn't want to get up and grab it; so he  just gave up.

Greg's thumbs went crazy as it typed out a response:

 Sherlock H.

See you tomorrow, Watson.

 Greg was  grinning at him ear to ear,  like he was proud of himself, as he gave Sherlock back his phone.

Sherlock read what he sent John and glared at Josh. “I hate you!

He hummed. “No, you don't!”

“You're such a bastard, you know that?”

George smirked and ruffled his hair. Sherlock  swatted his hand away, which made him laugh harder. “You're welcome.”

“Now what do I get John?”

“How would I know?”  Greg retorted.

 “You're his friend!”

“So are you! You know him better than me. Did  he say anything about what he wants?”

Sherlock thought for a moment before he sprung up. “Yes, he did!”

“Great.”

 “Mycroft, I'm using your card!”

“Why not use your card? We both are rich!”Mycroft said, confused.

“Because I want to be a little shit of a brother.” Sherlock replied grinning. 

Mycroft sighed but didn't stop him from taking it.

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Today was the day.

 The present came a couple hours earlier prior to this designated time of the Christmas gift exchange.

Sherlock packaged John's present up and put  paper wrapping over it. The present he got him was the newest addition of “Alderson's The Pathology Of Homicide” book. 

After he got  that all secured. He then got ready to go since he had an hour left he then  changed into his binder which was always a hassle.

 Who wouldn’t be?

Then it started to  button up his favorite button up shirt which was purple; he also threw on his white sweater vest. as well as black slacks and black matching shoes.  before he did his hair, which was simple that day, because John wouldn't care who was a kidding?

 Soon after he said goodbye to Redbeard, first because that's his best friend, then Mycroft and his parents. He then sent a quick text off to Greg saying he was on his way to John's.

 Greg responded with a winky face emoji and those four cringey words he ever   said- ‘ go get him tiger!’

 Sherlock rolled his eyes and sent him the middle finger emoji  before he started to drive off.They decided that Sherlock would go alone to John's instead of Greg slinging  behind them.Greg told him it would be more personal to John if it was  only Sherlock. Sherlock agreed to it, saying that it would make sense.

—------------------------

The 15 minute car ride went by quick, soon enough he was at John's flat. Before  he could climb up his nth stairs, he saw John looking at him from his windows.Sherlock then smiled had him before he  waved at him  with his free hand, his present in the other by his side.

He knocked on the Watson’s door and he heard  quick footsteps before the door got trained open rapidly. John stared  at him, speechless, about  to say something, but Emma stole  from John.

“Sherlock!” Emma squealed as she put her arms around him and hugged him.

Sherlock tried not to flinch, but  of course, John noticed. It’s not like He couldn't handle hugs. he gets some occasionally. it's just he isn't used to other people  then  his family (which does include Greg) to hug him.

John then suggested  to Emma to allow him to come inside. however once inside, he got dragged along as Emma showed him all of her Christmas presents. but she did was fine too with “ooh’s and aah’s”

Sherlock  could see John was dying to bring him to his room. One might think it's a sexual thing, but Sherlock  knew John would never make him feel uncomfortable. So, Sherlock just found it amusing.

Meredith asked if they wanted anything to eat before supper this time. Sherlock politely - as best as he could - declined.  He could see her trying to use  mind games on them to convince them to take something, however when that didn’t   succeed, she   let them pass, which Sherlock laughed at.

John Then followed Sherlock to his room before closing it. John noticed how intrigued he was for his own present that John got them. John then motioned him to follow him to his bed so he could sit down next to him.

As they exchange gifts; John offered if Sherlock would like to go first since he was the guest.

 Would I like to? I would bloody love to!

Sherlock the gently unwrapped the lining of his gifts, his curls fell on his forehead, but he didn't care to fix it at all; since he was so concentrated

Sherlock could tell John zoned out from the amount of times he blinked to focus  his eyes back to Sherlock. He wondered if he had adhd. Probably did.

 Once the wrapping was gone and all was left was his present he just stared at it for a couple minutes before   he looked up at John with widened  eyes. 

John looked  worried so to fix that  Sherlock  gave  John a hug.

 Huh, I guess he is an exception.

He hugged him tightly  before he eventually let go.

“So…. Do you like it?” he asked.

“ Do I like it? I love it!” Sherlock exclaimed  with a huge grin on his face. 

“I’m glad!”

Sherlock didn’t care to wait to open it at home, so he ripped into the package; John laughing in the process.

“Open yours, now!” Sherlock suggested. 

“Okay!”

John then removed the tissue paper and he turned and gaped at Sherlock, the very last minute book, peaking out of the bag.

“Thanks, Sher!” John chirped, his face then immediately turned flush in embarrassment.

The nickname threw him for a suprise. “.... Did you just call me Sher?’

“No. I didn’t. You are mistaken!” John stumbled out, not that coherent but for Sherlock, he could definitely hear it.

“You did call me, Sher.” Sherlock could even feel himself smirking in response.

“Shut up.” He mumbled.

Sherlock stared at him, a frown slightly lining his face for a second, before disappearing. “ No, I don’t feel like shutting up. I feel like we should talk about it some more, don’t you agree, Watson?”

Sherlock heard John squeak as he referred to him as Watson. He grinned at the idea, right before he got hit by a  pillow, directly in the face. Making his hair get more in his face, however  he knew who threw it at him. There is only one other person in that room, and with strong aim and force.

 John Fucking Watson.

 Sherlock stared back at him. He could see how scared John was.

 Good.

 Sherlock then grabbed a nearby pillow and hit John with it which then resulted in a pillow fight between the two of them. 

Twenty minutes went by after them fighting each other, they were both giggling like school boys on  John’s bed. 

“Did you have a good Christmas?” John asked him as he turned to look at him.

 And oh man.. How green  his eyes were. It reminded him of the forest, especially one behind, and surrounding his house. And the blue hue that took over made him want to swim in it forever.

“Yeah! Mycroft got me  some new Forensic books and Chemistry equipment!” Sherlock explained,

“That’s nice.” John commented which  Sherlock nodded in agreement. “What about Greg?”

That threw him for a loop, his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. “What about him?”

“Did he get you anything?” John asked.

“Just his love for me” John  rolled his eyes, even though he knew how cheesy that was.

Sherlock cleared his throat.”No we didn’t celebrate Christmas together. For one. His family wants every member there, which doesn’t include me. Shocker I know. However, I will see him tomorrow for the party! Second, Greg hasn’t exactly told his parents we are together.”

“Really? I would have thought otherwise. Is his parents homophobic or something?”

Sherlock could see the anger blossoming in his eyes at the thought of Greg’s parents being homophobic.

 Oh, how much care and loyalty he has for his friends.

 “Actually they are supportive of his sexuality!  So no, none of that sort! We just don’t hang out a lot at his house, that’s all.” Sherlock answered truthfully.

John nodded at the thought. “That makes sense.”

Before the two of them could respond they heard Hamish call out: “Giggle squad- supper is ready!”

The boys groaned getting out of the VERY comfortable bed. Sherlock brought his fidget along, since he was leaving after they ate supper.

The time came as Sherlock said his goodbyes to John and Emma mostly. He did politely say goodbye to Meredith and Hamish for good measure.

“See you tomorrow, Holmes!” John called out as Sherlock was walking out of the doorway.

“You too, Watson.” 

Sherlock looked over his shoulder- and saw how red John was, red as a tulip, so he had stifle a laugh on his way out as he closed the door.

Once he got home. He relaxed in his room because he wasn't mentally prepared for the next day at all, no matter how hard he tried. But at least he can see John again as well as Greg. His two important friends in the whole world.

  How bad could Thursday really be. Anyway?

Chapter Text

Thursday, 12.28.2023-

J.W.’s pov; 8:45pm. 

He walked up the stairs of the Holmes’s household with Mary’s arm tucked around his. He was wearing a green and red Christmas themed  knitted sweater with brown slacks. While Mary was wearing a now slightly crumpled gorgeous  spaghetti strapped white dress which John got distracted  from.  They were fifteen minutes later than they should have, because they were swapping spit with each other in John’s car. John’s  hair was a mess, his brushed out hair that he arrived in was now  sticking out in every direction, since Mary’s hands slid into his hair unconsciously and played with it, which resulted in it being a rat's nest. While hers was slightly messed up, which she fixed by bringing it back behind her ears.

He then knocked on their door, Sherlock’s mom, whom John assumed was, opened the door and smiled brightly at the two.  “John and Mary, right?”

 “That’s correct”, John answered her with a polite smile while Mary just nodded in agreement.

She then checked her watch. “You’re a bit late,  but I’m sure Sherlock wouldn’t mind you two being slightly behind schedule.”

John’s head tilted like a dog hearing the word ‘walk’.

Behind schedule? Are we doing something else than hanging out?

 John and Mary followed behind her, John cleared his throat. “Sorry about that, we got a bit delayed.”

She turned around and stared at them, John with a neutral expression  on his face, while Mary’s face was lighting up like the color of fire, drifting from her lower neck and ears to her face. 

She hummed at them amused. “I bet you did. Young love, am I right?”

Mary answered for the first time since they arrived at the house. “Indeed so.”

John looked around as he continued to follow Sherlock’s mom. He subconsciously took in every detail, from the beautiful  moss covered red house outdoors;  that was surrounded by a nth of forest trees that  he  would lose count in, if he even tried. Inside though, there’s way more history behind every object and every wall;  such as the that had a variety of paintings on the walls, and occasionally John noticed scratched up walls that were probably from Sherlock’s Redbeard. There were heights scribbled outside the corner of the kitchen walls, from when Sherlock was just a child, to then, the gaps in between each year to show how tall he grew from the short time in between.

John almost ran into her when he got out of his thoughts slightly,and noticed that she stopped abruptly. John then took in the room they were  stepping in front of, the walls were a neutral green color, there were two fabric chairs, and a huge couch that was arranged in a way that seemed casual and looked cozy. The chairs on either side of the couch, and in front of them was a glass  coffee table that was littered in papers, books that were half  forensic related, tv remotes, chemistry equipment, and drinks on coasters that surprisingly fit in the midst of chaos. There were also bookcases filled with a variety of different books that lined the walls and fireplace with a wooden outline, in the middle of the room, above small shelves. While it felt this room  aura felt mostly of Sherlock’s, it also fit in the  house, his aurora didn’t take over the room entirely, it felt like home. “You have a wonderful house, Mrs. Holmes,” John  muttered under his breath, loud enough for her to hear.

She turned and smiled at him, warmingly. “Thank you,darling. Also you can call me Uma. My dear husband is called  Rupert.”

John nodded, taking in the information before his attention turned back to the four people in the room. An slightly older gray haired man, probably known as Rupert, then a younger man with black straight hair which John assumed was Mycroft, Sherlock’s brother, sitting in what he thought was his chair- talking to Rupert. Then lastly, Greg and Sherlock; Sherlock played with a certain fidget which gave John a funny feeling. Which immediately turned sour when he saw the two of them were leaning against each other on the couch. 

John’s heart did not hurt at all seeing them together, of course not.

“Boys, you have company.” Uma announced which then caused all four of them to look at them.

Greg then got up and headed over to Mary and John with a happy smile on his face, excited to see them once again, since hadn’t for a week. Before getting up John heard Sherlock  make an unhappy noise in protest trying to drag him back down, Greg then turned and laughed at him, flicking him lightly on the  forehead, and said what John assumed was a slight apology and explained that  he wanted to talk to John. 

John’s heart soared when he heard that. At least he still likes me and cares about me. That’s a plus.

John of course not did not think Greg would forget him.

“John! Mary!” Greg exclaimed with a laugh, he grabbed John into a hug and clapped him on the back, and hugged Mary more gently than he did to John. 

“How have you been, mate!”

“Good.  Did you have a good Christmas?”

“Yeah!! I got more Rugby stuff, some detective 101 books  plus a shit ton of money.”

John laughed. “That’s always a plus.”

Greg laughed as well with John. “Indeed. Indeed it is a huge plus. How about you and your family?”

“Emma got more colored books which she adores . And I got some forensic books plus a skull night lamp, and  I actually got a cooking book.”

“Of course, I’m sure she would like it. Is she is still into tea parties, I can buy her a late Christmas present. Cooking book? I didn’t know you’re interested in cooking, John.  A Skull lamp, you say?  I know Sherlock would die to have one of those, he would be geeking out like crazy and nagging at me or Mycroft to buy that.”

John smiled at him at the thought.“Yeah, she still is into tea parties, a little less because she did get bullied a couple weeks ago. Since mom and dad have random work schedules, I mostly cook her dinner, so why not get a book to know how to actually cook.” He laughs. “I’m sure he would, too. He seems like the type to do that.”

“Trust me, he does.” All three of them answered. 

“That’s not true!” Sherlock exclaimed, offended. “..... Okay…maybe that’s true.”

All of them laughed at his statement.

A little while later Uma announced supper would be done in an hour, she did get out some appetizers for the time being, in case any one of them needed a snack.

All three of them were on the couch, Sherlock mostly on Greg’s lap even though there was enough space for him on the couch. Both John and Greg rolled their eyes at the sight of Sherlock settling into Greg’s lap, back leaning against his chest and shoulder. John and Mary sat right next to each other, holding hands.  Greg then whispered to Sherlock, John didn’t hear what he said, but the next thing he knew,Sherlock got up from Greg’s lap. Which John was grateful for and started to search for something; John didn’t know what but it got him curious. However a minute later Sherlock found it on the table under sheets of paper which John thought was adorably amusing. 

Sherlock found his violin  and its bow and found some music sheets, which seem recently new with the messy smudged up notes and put it on a stand.  Sherlock then lowered the bow down to the violin and started to string along it, with his version of a christmas carol. When playing the song he danced slightly, as he skipped  and twirled in circles which got John so intrigued by because he didn’t know Sherlock could play the violin, hell even ball dance.  

Soon enough, the song ended and Sherlock panted heavily and bowed as he heard claps and cheers from the entire room. John grinned huge as he finally took in the information that Sherlock Holmes can play the  violin.  Sherlock then stacked the papers back up and put the violin gently back on the table.

Sherlock then ran back and hopped back on the couch, Greg immediately put his arm around the back of the couch or else it would be crushed by Sherlock. Sherlock then crashed back on Greg’s chest, panting heavily still  but with a huge grin on his face, Greg then wrapped his arm around Sherlock’s shoulder.

John stared at them,and tried not to get jealous. As if Mary heard his thoughts, she immediately pulled John back to her and gave him a kiss on the lips, cheek, and forehead. John melted, his eyes closed as  she kissed him. Afterwards he opened his eyes full of lust that he knew was there and smiled at Mary and hugged her tightly.

“It will be okay.” she whispered to him in his ear.

It was then at that point, he broke down. He felt wet tears fall down his face onto her shoulder. She immediately felt it of course, since she was wearing a sleeveless dress. She moved back slightly and wiped his tears away, before anyone of them could see and kissed him one last time on the nose. He wrinkled his nose up because of her tactics   and laughed at her which she immediately  laughed  back at him, her eyes filled with love and sympathy. 

Uma then came back into the living room after checking if supper was done twenty minutes before and then informed them it was officially done. They then all got up and went to the living room. It wasn’t super crazy but it definitely was larger than John’s kitchen and dining room.  A wide room with the kitchen feets behind it, and a huge square, slightly round table that was able to fit all of them.  When they were eating, there were conversations coming in from left to right, laughter filling the room.

John then knew he felt peace  there.  As if this is his second home, hell sometimes his first home doesn’t even feel like home sometimes.  Holmes's house would be his new home, he just  knew it.

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Thursday, December 28th, 2023-

M.M.’s pov; 8:30pm. 

The car ride was a mess to say the least, even if Joh wouldn’t admit it, his nerves were out of control. One of his hands kept tapping against the outside thigh, while the other was holding the steering wheel; in addition he kept humming lowly to himself which caught Mary’s attention. John only did that when he was severely anxious, in that case, going to see Sherlock and get sad when he would see Greg and Sherlock all lovey dovey.

Mary thought that those two were suspicious to say the least. Sure some might get in a relationship randomly, which might shock others but something seemed… off about the two boys. Sherlock was way too close to Greg for instance, and Mary heard from John that Sherlock isn’t the type to initiate a lot of physical touch, especially PDA.

However Mary put that thought on hold,since they just arrived there. When John unbuckled, she stopped him as she grabbed his arm lightly to get his attention which seemed to work since he turned around confused.

“What’s wrong, love?” 

“Nothing love.” Mary answered with a smile. She saw he was about to say something probably relating to why she stopped him, but she interrupted him before he got the chance. She leaned further to where John half sat on the seat while his feet were outside the  door slightly, about to march off on their own if it had the chance.

She then pressed a light kiss on his lips which got him to stumble over incoherent words. She knew this would always work, kissing him was a plus to her. His lips were soft but also chapped from the  winter  icy season.  He tasted of candy canes, hot cocoa and love, which she adores which caused her to kiss him more deeply, and start kissing down his neck. He smirked before closing the door fully before turning to face her completely. 

He then picked her up and brought her over his lap as they devoured each  other, taking turns being in control. While John kissed and nibbled her ears, she put her hands in his hair and played with it especially since John is such a great kisser.  He then started to lower his mouth and moved on to her neck, he kissed  her and sucked her neck - so softly as if she was a feather and about to blow away if he kissed her too hard-  which created light hickies that aren’t  visible. 

They continued fighting for control, greedily, until they had to come up for air every couple minutes. Eventually they did think it was time to go in, Mary fixing her hair on the walk up the house. She was slightly disappointed that her dress was wrinkled but glad she got rid of John’s nerves for the most part.

However all the work to calm him down was immediately destroyed when they came into view of Greg and Sherlock, she felt John’s heart soar and then fall down so fast  like a meteor falling to earth. However that stopped when talking to Greg for the most part. She said her hellos and hugged Greg back, he was a sweet man and did give  amazing  hugs, not better as John’s though. 

John and her then sat down on the couch, Mary could feel the jealousy spew out of John like lava flowing out of a volcano. Since she was loyal to John and was used to him and his emotions, she knows how to help, she didn’t kiss him again, perhaps later. she thought.

She then massaged his shoulders and back, she could feel the tension of his muscles start to loosen and she was so happy about that. 

John shouldn’t get this upset and worked up over this man. Maybe I can try to break them up? John doesn’t deserve this, especially when the couple seemed… not a couple.

She noticed Sherlock’s brother, whom she believed was Mycroft Holmes. She never met him, of course, but she did hear whispers and mentions of him.   And he looked just as suspicious as she was, she wondered if she could talk to him privately, but she didn’t know what good time she should do it.

She and the others watched Sherlock dance around and play his gorgeous violin in that gorgeous and warm  room.  She clapped and cheered when it was over, she was sure she wasn’t the only one who didn’t want it to stop. It was a beautiful piece for the Christmas spirit. She even saw Mycroft watch Sherlock with a warm smile that would melt the  snow outside.

However once Sherlock was done, and stacked the papers up and put away the violin he then jumped and landed back in Greg’s arm. Mary then could feel all of John’s emotions at once; sadness, anger, jealousy, and something similar to….  Happiness.  

Which then caused her  to pull John back to her and gave him a kiss on the lips, cheek, and forehead. John melted, his eyes closed as  she kissed him. Afterwards he opened his eyes full of lust, not in a sexual way, but more in love. He smiled at her softly and hugged her tightly.

“It will be okay.” she whispered to him in his ear while they were hugging, sideways.

It was then at that point, he broke down. She wet tears fell down  onto her shoulder, since she was wearing a sleeveless dress. She froze for a moment as she took in what was happening with John, she then moved back slightly and wiped his tears away, before anyone of them could see and kissed him one last time on the nose. Which always got him to smile and lighten up which immediately worked since he wrinkled his nose up   and laughed at her which she immediately  laughed  back at him, both contestants  eyes were  filled with love and sympathy. 

Uma then came back into the living room and informed them supper was done. They then all got up and went to the living room. The said place was  a wide room with a slightly round table that was able to fit all of them  and a kitchen that was merged to the dining room  space splitting it apart but also being a part of it. It was like a puzzle that fit together, and brought them all together and made them realize that there is more than what they expect.  When they were eating, there were conversations and laughter filling the room.

After dinner everyone left the table expect the grown ups,  and walked to the living room to relax, however she sat on the closest chair to the doorway, moving it slightly to catch movement in the sliver of her eye, which worked. 

She waited for Mycroft to talk to him, and when she did spot him leaving the kitchen, she excused herself and followed him. She turned the corner with him, a couple feet behind him, she then eventually got caught. She turned the corner and he was waiting for her, his arms crossed over his chest, as he loomed a foot over her, with an arched eyebrow.

“Why are you following me, Morstan?”

She stumbled back because he surprised her, she also was shocked that he knew her  name. However the shock wore off since she remembered he knew her parents, and that reason was why he knew her name.  She then mirrored his movement. 

“We need to talk.” She replied quietly, just in case John or one of the boys followed her.

“About what?” Mycroft asked, his tone intrigued, with what she had to say.

“Greg Lestrade and Sherlock Holmes.” She answered with a tilt of her head.

He looked back behind her probably paranoid too before clearing his throat. “Follow me.” 

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Thursday, December 28, 2023-

G.L.’s pov; 8:25pm

 Sherlock had been very clingy to him that day, more than usual. He usually would be fine with that, since he was used to that with him, however on that wintery night; Greg felt as if it was more of a facade then anything, just awaiting their arrival.  He got more clingy to the point of eight thirty, however since the door hadn’t been used yet, Sherlock settled back on the couch, he huffed annoyed which Greg found amusing and played with a fidget that Greg hadn’t seen before.

“Is this new?” Greg asked Sherlock in a hushed tone as he motioned slightly to the toy insect cup thing.

He nodded and smiled at Greg: “John got it for me, yesterday. It’s called a rainbow slug, it makes fascinating noises! I added it to my new collection of ‘fidgets’!”

 Interesting, for two reasons; Sher’s face when it lit up talking about John, and John noticing closely that Sherlock likes fidget toys. 

I wouldn’t have thought otherwise.  

It could be in a friend way  since John’s ADHD makes him remember details about his friend’s interest, or it’s in a crush way where he wants to please Sherlock.

Could it be both?

Greg hummed to get out of his thoughts. “That’s nice of John.”

“Indeed!”

Sherlock went back to his slug and started to move it around.

Sherlock was right, it does make an interesting sound.

 Greg noticed that Mycroft also took notice of the new toy, he turned his body in his chair and looked at him intrigued. 

He stifled a laugh as he then stared at the two, probably trying to figure things out. Greg wondered if Mycroft found out about them fake dating, he probably would have Greg’s head if he figured it out.

Soon enough, they all heard the door open. In a blink of an eye, Sherlock was leaning heavily over his chest, still playing with the slug but not where he was a minute before.  Greg heard footsteps and a murmur before Uma announced the men that Mary and John were there.

Greg then got up to go over to John; for two reasons: one because he feels guilty causing him a sad, heartbroken look in his eyes, and two Greg hadn’t seen John in a week. However there was an issue when getting up. Sherlock didn’t want to move, so Greg had to move him which then resulted in protest with dragging him back down and pouting (even if Sherlock wouldn’t admit it).

Greg rolled his eyes at him.  So needy.

 He flicked him lightly on the nose, watching him recoil and laugh softly at him before he gave him a small apology.

“John! Mary!” Greg exclaimed with a laugh, he grabbed John into a hug and clapped him on the back, and hugged Mary more gently than he did to John because Mary wasn’t as gruff as John was. 

“How have you been, mate!”

“Good.  Did you have a good Christmas?”

“Yeah!! I got more Rugby stuff, some detective 101 books  plus a shit ton of money.” Greg explained lamely.

John laughed at the thought. “That’s always a plus.”

Greg laughed as well with John. “Indeed. Indeed it is a huge plus. How about you and your family?”

Greg hadn’t  been over to John’s household for weeks, probably even months, which he feels guilty, once again, about. He would love to but with school, family and  Sherlock that would  nag at him crazy if he wasn’t near him 24/7, it was hard to get the chance to go over. It’s almost as if Sherlock was his boyfriend.  Greg snorted at the thought. 

He wishes. I’m just too hot for him. Greg teasingly thought.

“Emma got more colored books which she adores. And I got some forensic books plus a skull night lamp, and  I actually got a cooking book.”  John answered him, which got him out of his thoughts which he was grateful for.

“Of course, I’m sure she likes it. Is she is still into tea parties, I can buy her a late Christmas present. Cooking book, you said? I didn’t know you’re interested in cooking, John.  A Skull lamp, as well?I know Sherlock would die to have one of those, he would be geeking out like crazy and nagging at me or Mycroft to buy that.” Greg teased out before turning to look at Sherlock with a smirk and a knowing eyebrow raise. Sherlock just stuck his tongue out, childishly.

“Yeah, she still is into tea parties, a little less because she did get bullied a couple weeks ago. Since mom and dad have random work schedules, I mostly cook her dinner, so why not get a book to know how to actually cook.” John laughs. “I’m sure he would, too. He seems like the type to do that.”

“Trust me, he does.” Rupert, Mycroft, and Greg all replied. 

“That’s not true!” Sherlock exclaimed, offended before he looked around and saw their reactions.. “..... Okay…maybe that’s true.”

All of them laughed at his statement.

A little while later Uma announced supper would be done in an hour, she did get out some appetizers for the time being, in case any one of them needed a snack which Greg was grateful for, he ate along occasionally. Sherlock stole some from his hands. He gaped at  him and swatted Sherlock’s hand away, Sher pouted every time which Greg found amusing and did not  give in  because Sherlock could get his own food.

All three of them were on the couch, Sherlock mostly on Greg’s lap even though there was enough space for him on the couch. Greg and  also John, he noticed, rolled their eyes at the sight of Sherlock settling into Greg’s lap, back leaning against his chest and shoulder. John and Mary sat right next to each other, holding hands.  Greg could feel his nervous energy through the skin to skin contact, his body was vibrating with nerves. 

Greg wondered if it had anything to do with John and Mary sitting next to them, as they were all coupley, so he wanted to do a one- up them, however he didn’t think that through, enough. Sherlock rarely sat on Greg’s lap, but when he did it was because on his terms and not when he was gonna melt into liquid  any second, then.

Greg then whispered to him. “You’re way too nervous, Sher. Why don’t you play the violin? That always calms you down,hmm?’

Sherlock turned slightly to him, any further or they would be in front of each other’s face. 

Greg found Sherlock to be an attractive man,  he wouldn’t lie. But he would never kiss him without his consent, and he hoped that never would occur. Since he would be better off with John.

Sherlock nodded in agreement and then got up off of his lap and searched for his violin. When he did find it, it was of course underneath stacks of papers.

One day, Sherlock would put away his crap.

Sherlock found his violin  and its bow and found some music sheets, which seem recently new with the messy smudged up notes and put it on a stand.  Sherlock then lowered the bow down to the violin and started to string along it, with his version of a christmas carol. When playing the song he danced slightly, as he skipped  and twirled in circles which made Greg smile so hard. He loved when Sherlock was happy and at peace, and playing the violin and talking about his interests, made him happy.

He would do anything to make him happy.

Soon enough, the song ended and Sherlock panted heavily and bowed as he heard claps and cheers from the entire room. John grinned huge as well as him when Sherlock was done playing. Mary even cheered for  Sherlock which Greg approved of. He could be such a classical   violinist- hundreds would come to see him, if he stuck to it instead of forensics or chemistry.    

Sherlock then stacked the papers back up and put the violin gently back on the table.

Sherlock then ran back and hopped back on the couch, Greg immediately put his arm around the back of the couch or else it would be crushed by Sherlock. Sherlock then crashed back on Greg’s chest, panting heavily still  but with a huge grin on his face, Greg then wrapped his arm around Sherlock’s shoulder and smiled softly back at him.

When Greg lifted his head up from the two’s conversations after Sherlock thanked him for the idea of playing to get the nerves out. Greg noticed Mary hugging  John and wiped away his tears. He frowned at the thought of it.

I don’t want him to be sad because of my idea.

Maybe we should stop this game of ours. What would Sher think of it? He doesn’t like stopping in the middle of something, either do it or not.  I will talk to Sherlock about it later.

Greg then noticed her kissing John repeatedly and causing him to laugh which made Greg feel so much better. John deserved happiness. He was disappointed that his plans were getting foiled. All he wanted was for John and Sherlock to be happy and confess their love to one another. Not one of them being bloody nervous like he was about to piss himself and one depressed at the sight of one another. 

At an awkward time- Uma then came back into the living room after  and then informed them it was officially done. They then all got up and went to the living room. It was a wide room with the kitchen feets behind it, and a huge square, slightly round table that was able to fit all of them.  So as he ate the wonderful meal Uma made, he took in the wonderful noise of conversations flowing from left to right and the laughter that filled the air.

Which Greg loved, he loved company. He was an only child, and while he had his parents there for dinner, it usually was quiet besides the noise of utensils scraping the plates. Sometimes only his mom was there for dinner, because his dad was in his office working still along at dinner, so he ate in his office, only saying the domestically polite ‘hello’s’’ to his wife and son.

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Thursday, December 28, 2023 -

M.H.’s pov; 7pm. 

During the past weeks, Mycroft had begotten more and more suspicious  and worried about his little brother.  Sure, he was old enough to make smart decisions, Sherlock was almost smarter than Mycroft, himself. But something was off between Greg and Sherlock and he didn’t know what. But he will find out.

For the past hour, they were respectfully relaxing in their own space, cuddling once in a while, but also respecting each other's boundaries. However, that all went to shit when this “John Waston” and his girlfriend “Mary Morstan”,  who sounded familiar; since he worked with her parents.

While they seemed like a sweet couple, whose body just radiated with lust. Which he ignored because he was used to young love and how it creeps into your soul and mind and there is no escaping it. While he never dared to fall in love, because it wasn’t for him. There are some nights where he just stared up at the ceiling and daydreamed until he fell asleep about being in love. He wondered what it was like. 

He ignored the lustful couple and focused on Greg and Sherlock mostly.

Sherlock was sitting on Greg’s lap which created ‘red flags’ in his mind. Sherlock never sits on people’s lap. Perhaps leaning on someone, but  never sitting.

The flags shortly got worse and worse. After the amazing classical violin music that Sherlock created from his intelligence and the beauty of the violin, that Mycroft bought him when he was 8, when he started to enjoy violin.  He cheered and clapped for his little brother. He never really heard him play it as often when  he started to get older, however there are some occurrences where he just hears it in his office on the hallway to the right. He would just close his eyes and just bask in the beauty and creativity of how expertise he was with the violin. 

Immediately afterwards, Sherlock once again fell into Greg’s arms. He now locked the target on Greg, because it didn’t make sense. They never dated, ever. 

But now they do? It doesn’t make sense. I will find out the truth, one way or the other. Sherlock Jamerson Holmes and Greg Benjamin Lestrade.

In the corner of his eye, he also saw Morstan’s daughter getting suspicious of them two as well?

Perhaps I should ask her about it?

No, no. None of that. You are just being protective of your little brother, that’s all.

So, after dinner, he helped clean up with his mummy and father. He informed them that he will be going to his office, to get last minute paperwork in.

Which wasn’t the full  truth, but sort of a  white lie. 

He was going to find out one way or the other, as he parroted himself, from earlier.

So as he left the kitchen, and headed down the slightly long hallway to his office, he heard soft footsteps following after him, ever so often.

Now come on, she can do better than that.  Mycroft amusing thought.

So when he turned the corner, Mycroft waited until she turned the corner as well as they were both face to face with one another. 

She stumbled backwards, shocked. 

“Why are you following me, Morstan?” Mycroft asked, calmly.  His arms crossed over his chest, his eyebrows arched  as he loomed a foot over her. 

She gaped for a second before mirroring his movements. 

Which caused him a small smile that started to curve his face. It was more of a smirk, than a smile.

Fuck, who was he kidding. He was smiling at her because he found her amusing but also intelligent at the same time. Maybe she could help me?

“We need to talk.” She replied quietly, but loud enough for Mycroft to hear.

“About what?” Mycroft asked, intrigued  with what she had to say.

“Greg Lestrade and Sherlock Holmes.” She answered with a tilt of her head. 

As if that could indicate the root of what was wrong.  Which it did surprisingly.

If she knows something is up, maybe she can be a spy for me?

He looked back behind, to make sure no one was listening before clearing his throat. “Follow me.” 

He ushered her into his office, he turned head to look back once more over his shoulder before he shut the door. 

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Thursday, December 28, 2023-

S.H.’s pov; that evening. 

 He was at  what people consider a ‘boiling point’. He was never one for figurative language. His brain wouldn’t be able to handle it, even if he tried, since his mind had too many thoughts, and was clouded with some many deductions and observations which could lead him to an autism meltdown. He tried his best to steer clear of those, but sometimes it was ineffable. 

However, in this case he was so stressed out he might as well pass out. 

 Let’s start from the beginning of the night, when Greg came over at near 6pm, they both relaxed in their assigned seats, talking and him playing with his slug fidget, that he might as well admit, was his favorite thing.  However when it was nearing 8pm, he started to get stressed out, he didn’t know what would happen when John and Mary got there. He started to lean heavily into Greg’s space. Sherlock wondered if Greg started to notice, but he never said anything verbally. 

Instead Greg asked if the fidget was new, Sherlock turned to him and smiled at him, confirming his suspicions. 

“John got it for me yesterday. It’s called a rainbow slug, it makes fascinating noises! I added it to my new collection of ‘fidgets’!”

Greg hummed softly. “That’s nice of John.”

“Indeed!” Sherlock agreed. 

Sherlock went back to his slug and started to move it around. They stayed like that for a while, one playing with his fidget, while the other scrolling on his phone. They were at that point, snuggling each other. 

 Sherlock and Greg neither minded it, Sherlock knew Greg loved physical touch and Greg respected his boundaries. In full honesty, he enjoyed the friendship with Greg and him; and Greg’s love platonically, while also  the things they do to make each other happy. 

But am I happy?

Of course I am?

What a silly  notion of mine. 

When he heard footsteps, he leapt forwards into Greg’s chest, as if that was possible. He was so close to Greg that if he leaned any further he would be in his ribcage. 

 Gred started to get up to go to the duo, Sherlock protested which did include himself producing  embarrassing noises that came  out of his mouth. Greg laughed,  and apologized to him before getting up fully to clap shoulders with John and Mary. Which he definitely wasn’t jealous about.

 Why would he be jealous? And to whom?

That thought frustrated Sherlock, because he always loved knowing answers, not being the one to question something. But this has gotten worse over the past weeks. Was he being protective and  being a koala as he  clung  on Greg, as a result of worrying that  Greg would leave him and his friendship because of the drastic change in him. Or trying to make John jealous of them. He didn’t know, but one thing for sure, he was starting to get a headache just going in circles. He rubbed his forehead trying to sooth out the pain that was coming from inside him. He sighed softly as he heard Greg talk to John before suggesting they sat down as well.

Sherlock then got an idea where he would sit on Greg’s lap, to see if John is supposedly jealous of him. However he realized his mistake when he climbed onto Greg’s body before sitting down on him; is that he never sat down on someone’s lap.

He worried he might have made it awkward and made Greg feel awkward, but deep down he was worried that he was too heavy for Greg. Which is ironic because Sherlock is all bones. 

What if he is too bony?

 The rise of anxiety increased over the half hour, he tried to play it cool in the beginning, as he tried to steal Greg’s food to be  a little shit. However over the time, Greg whispered into his ear that perhaps he should play the violin because he could tell he was extremely anxious. 

Does John know too?  Sherlock thought too. He just wanted results but he believed he was skewing it up. 

 He got out of his thoughts, and nodded at Greg, before he slowly unbent his legs that were in a weird mixture of relaxed posture while also being criss-crossed over Greg’s lap. He really is grateful that Greg enjoys his company and hasn’t kicked him off of his body. He is okay with Sherlock being his ‘personal bubble’. 

He stood up, and tried to locate where he last placed his violin. He soon found it underneath stacks of papers that littered the table.

I wonder whose papers those are.  Sherlock sarcastically thought.

He then also found the newest piece of music that he created over the past week, he was in the winter spirit, so he thought he might as well create something for the holiday occasion. 

He found a  small wooden podium that was in the corner of the room, where he usually uses it when he plays his violin. He then stacked the papers nicely and in order before he slowly placed the violin on the edge of his neck, before he  slowly placed the string bow less than a millimeter over the instrument. He then moved the bow back slowly,to correlate to the music notes that were sloppy written with smudged ink. However soon after, the tempo started to increase in every other score. 

Because he immediately memorized the piece, he decided to skip around and dance in circles to calm himself down. Playing the violin and dancing was a huge self soothing technique. 

While others have different techniques to calm themselves down such as humming, or listening to music. Sherlock’s technique was to play his violin. He got that violin from his older brother, Mycroft. He thanked him profusely when he got it at age eight, pulled his into a tight hug, his face only reaching the top of his legs. He thought as a kid, he was giant compared to him! He was short, and small, all bones and messy hair. 

However, then, Sherlock was the giant while Mycorft was the small one. Their roles reversed. 

Sherlock didn’t need to think where he was playing the violin, all he had to do was do. 

Eventually the song started to come to an end. He panted heavily before bowing, taking in the claps and cheers of everyone else in the room. Even his mummy came to watch him. 

He thanked everyone quietly underneath his breath, before he placed the violin and the piece back to their designated spot; then after jumping onto Greg again. This time Sherlock just leaned on him, and Greg’s arm was around him. He smiled and conversed with Greg. When they were in the midst of talking, Sherlock spotted Mary and John in a hug. 

Huh, I wonder what that’s all about? Sherlock internally thought.

Soon after Mary kissed him repeatedly before giving him one last kiss on the nose which caused John to crinkle his nose adorably and laugh with Mary.

Soon after Mummy called the six of them to dinner. Sherlock suggested to her that she should make a late dinner since he didn’t know if Mary and John ate anything. Mummy smiled at him and agreed to his request which was why they headed to the table, mid nine pm. 

Sherlock wasn’t used to having people  with him that weren’t family. Having Mary and John there was different, but also at the same thing it felt right.

He thought he felt as if he was home. 

Ironic, because he was at home. But there was something different about that moment, as if the universe was just waiting for them to come to dinner with Holmes. He heard laughter and conversation spilling out of every mouth, even out of Mycroft and father’s mouth; they don’t really talk much at supper. 

Shortly after, the teenagers went to the living room, once again and relaxed after the full happy meal that filled everyones body. John on one of their left chairs facing near them, Mary on the other. She, strangely, turned the chair to the hallway. The boys shrugged at it, but let it go. Sherlock and Greg back on the couch.

Ten minutes later, Mary excused herself and got out of her chair to head into the hallway. 

Which made Sherlock more intrigued, because he just heard Mycroft exit the kitchen a minute prior.

What if they know? Shit.

 While John was distracted still staring at the long hallway, confused, Sherlock and Greg shared a look. Greg shrugged, he didn’t know if those two knew about their fake relationship or not, nor did Sherlock.

Greg then turned back to John and asked him about Mary and him. Sherlock slightly tuned it out, until they got to their anniversary. “Yeah, Mary and I’s anniversary is in February. It’s a bit silly, I asked her on Valentine’s day!”

“That’s sweet!” Greg exclaimed with a wide grin.

Whilst Sherlock  was not  jealous. 

“Our three year anniversary!”

“Absolutely incredible!!!”

John flushed slightly, a light pink crawling up his neck as he looked away embarrassed; with a smile on his neck.  “Thanks, I adore Mary so much, she is incredible and we are two pairs in a pod with how well we understand each other and our communication is open!”

Like me and Greg…?

Well… sort of.

“That’s amazing.” Sherlock said, finally which got the duo’s attention.He shifted in his seat, he was never a fan of attention on him. “It reminded me of Greg and I.”

Sherlock noticed John’s smile faltered slightly before it refixed itself. “Yes, I suppose so! When will be your anniversary? In December,right?”

Sherlock froze slightly, he never really talked to Greg about when they got ‘together’.  “Uhh, yeah. The tenth of December.” 

John brows furrowed together, he supposed John was trying to calculate when Greg and Sherlock got together. “When you were sick?”

Shit. Damn he has a good memory. Not better than mine though. 

“Yes.” Greg answered.

“Nice.” John trailed off before he jumped to a different subject. 

Greg turned to Sherlock with an amused brow raise. Sherlock rolled his eyes and focused back to John.

Thirty minutes later, Mary comes back to the room. John immediately got up out of his seat and walked over to her and asked her if she was alright.

Sherlock is NOT jealous of how worried John got for Mary.

John then suggested that perhaps Mary and him should get going, since it was late. Sherlock smiled and agreed to their statement. Sherlock said his goodbye to John and Mary.

“May we meet again, Sherlock.” Mary stated. However there was something off about her tone of voice, which got Sherlock nervous.

“May we meet again,Mary.” Sherlock replied. 

Mary waited next to the door, as John was saying his goodbyes and talking to Greg a bit longer. Eventually the couple left and Sherlock let out a sigh of relief, that he hadn’t realized was trapped inside him.

“You okay?” Greg asked softly. 

“I just want to sleep this week off.”

Greg laughed quietly. “Sure, Sher, go for it! But um… are we going to talk about earlier?”

“Earlier?” 

“You on my lap” Greg inquired. 

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay,but I was worried you were pushing yourself. John already thought we both were a couple, you don’t need to get yourself rattled up.” Sherlock stared at him confused. Greg sighed softly.“I just don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, Sher.”

“You don’t, I promise!”

“Please promise me, you would tell me, if you get uncomfortable?’

“Of course!” Sherlock said.

“Good.Well I should get going, goodnight Sherlock!” Greg said with a smile.

“You aren’t going to sleep over?”

“I don’t have any clothes here!”

“You know, better than I do, that I built you a fucking drawer just for you and your clothes.”

Greg grinned at him. “Of course, you did. You maniac! But I just… it’s been a long day and all.”

“Yeah, it has been.” Sherlock trailed off.”Text me when you’re home?”

“Definitely!” 

They hugged one last time, before Greg released him and opened the front door, before immediately closing it. Sherlock waited until Greg’s car drove off. 

Sherlock then huffed as he stared at the stairs he had to climb, to get to his room to relax the night away. He stayed up until he got a response from Greg,afterwards drifting himself to sleep.

However what he didn’t realize was that Mycroft heard everything he said to Greg, in the living room. As he listened to the two of them converse about their so-called ‘fake relationship’. 

Chapter Text

Sunday, December 31st, 2023 - 

S.H. ‘s pov; 11:52pm

“Sherlock?” John knocked on the door, he didn’t get any answer so he tried again.

Sherlock ignored it, as he thought John would get the memo and go away. He was in the process of  trying to scrub the spilled, dark red wine, out of his white button up.

He quickly relinquished  that thought; as he would definitely make up for it later on. Wine was so hard to get out of clothing, not as bad as blood though, that’s for sure.

In a swift motion,  Sherlock took off his shirt and put it near the hamper that was in the corner of his room.  

He currently was in his binder, alone. He was trying to find  new clothes, before John came in. 

However, it was too late. Because he heard John say:“Are you okay? Do you need any help?” Before the door got pushed open.

Sherlock felt when John stopped in the middle of the room, his  gaze burning holes on his back.  John then took steps further to Sherlock, his breaths uneven.

Sherlock turned around slowly, his eyes widened; as he realized what was happening. “Shit.”

(Let’s restart and explain how they got there.)

-6 hours earlier. -

The doorbell rang, which showed the last of the guests arrived. Mary and John, who were holding a tin filled with desserts and a smile on their faces. 

Sherlock allowed them to come in, and motioned to where they could put the desserts in the kitchen. Currently in the Holmes’s household there was Mycroft, his parents, a couple of his aunts and uncles and then John and Mary. He made sure there weren't a lot of people there, so it wouldn’t be crowded, in his own house. His grandparents couldn’t make it, since they had something else planned that day. Which Sherlock accepted, gratefully. 

There was laughter and conversations that floated around in the air after everyone greeted each other and got to know one another.  There were even arm wrestles that started off just between John and Greg as a playful competition, which then got everyone except; Sherlock, Mycroft and his mother. His mother was on the sidelines, shouting to be careful and not break anything that is too expensive.

However a couple hours in, people were lying lazily around the living room filled with good food and alcohol in their system, before Sherlock played hi violin. There was a nagging audience complaining they wanted real   authentic music, which included mostly of Greg and John; however Sherlock did catch the fact of  Mycroft agreeing softly under his breath with them.

 Sherlock shot Mycroft a raised glare, Mycroft then shrugged and muttered “why not?”

He rolled his eyes at his tactics however there wasn’t time to hide the smirk that was growing on his face from him. Mycroft tilted his head and smiled to himself as he caught Sherlock’s expression. Sherlock flipped the bird and headed to where his violin was laid, and picked it up as he felt the cool wooden sensation of the instrument  on the button of his chin.

He thought hard to himself on what to play. He shortly landed on one of Chopin’s pieces; Nocturne Op.9 No.2. It was a beautiful piece to play which was  perfect for that opportunity.  His bow  was steady as if  the bowstring was ready for takeoff. 

The song started off slow, as Sherlock started to pluck  on the neck of violin before the tempo started to speed up as did the portamento of the notes.  Sherlock finally looked up from the instrument that he was concentrating on and saw that everyone was slowly dancing together. Well everyone except Mycroft and Greg, which Sherlock didn’t mind because they both understand each other, in that sort of way. 

Mummy and Father dancing, well, Sherlock wouldn’t consider it dancing since they just swayed their arms occasionally. With his uncles and aunts they had their hands on each other's waist and shoulders as they swayed together.  However  John and Mary went a  different route;  they were full on waltzing together. Mary appeared to take the lead, John didn’t seem to mind it,  as he followed her.   They were waltzing in a mixture between fast and slow; since the song itself, was eighty beats per minute.

The duo was smiling and laughing at each other, twirling occasionally, some impressive to Sherlock’s standards, and sometimes a failure.   John’s hands were on her waist and wrists, similar to his,  hers was on his shoulder and wrists. 

They looked happy. Sherlock thought.

The song then ended, all songs do, in the end.

Perhaps I should have picked a longer song? They all seemed to enjoy it.

However, cheers and claps broke Sherlock out of his thoughts and noticed his surroundings. They all stopped dancing and started to cheer for Sherlock which made Sherlock grin, surprisingly. He normally was awkward with praise, but everyone seemed to so happy for him, there was even a glint of pride in his older brother’s eyes. 

He bowed and gently put his violin down and started to head over to Greg; however, on the trip there, John came out of nowhere and offered him a glass of wine. 

“Here drink th-”  John trailed off as he realized what just happened. They both couldn’t stop their momentum in time and the offered glass of wine just spilled all over Sherlock’s shirt. 

Everyone was silent, gaping at what just happened. John’s eyes widened at the huge stain, while Sherlock was frozen for a minute before he ran out of the room and headed upstairs to his room.

He closed the door shut, his breathing heavy, as his dissociation ended; he looked down and saw the dark stain.

He sighed heavily, unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. 

Of course I wore white today.

He looked for anything that might have helped, to his luck, he had the three chemicals he could use as a stain remover. He then grabbed it off his shelf and started to dump two fourths of them on his shirt and started to scrub aggressively at his shirt.

It didn’t seem to be working that time.   I might be missing something.

There was a knock on his door. “Sherlock?”

Sherlock ignored and tried to think about what to do next.

“Are you okay? Listen, I'm so sorry for what happened downstairs. Do you need any help?” John asked again before he barged in.

Sherlock felt when John stopped in the middle of the room, his  gaze burning holes on his back as he trudged slowly forward like he was interacting with a caged animal.  

Sherlock turned around slowly, his eyes widened; as he realized what was happening. “Shit.”

(Now that the readers have caught up; let’s see what the author has planned out.)

John looked innocently confused as he took in Sherlock. “W- what are you wearing? Is that like a crop top or something?”

“Binder.” Sherlock quietly corrected his friend.

“What?”

Sherlock felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest, because of how fast it was beating in that moment. Sherlock didn’t know if John would be the same supportive as his family was to him; or the other way around. “B- Binder. It’s called a binder.” Sherlock stumbled out.

“Okay..” John gave him a nervous smile. “Why are you wearing a binder? That looks very uncomfortable if I am being honest.”

“Oh, trust me, it is.” Sherlock answered him with a laugh; John hesitantly joined in with him.

Sherlock sighed, and looked down at his hands like it was  more interesting than his friend who was looking at him confused,concerned, and something else? Is that softness in his eyes?

Sherlock was a coward, he couldn’t even say it to his face. Sherlock closed his eyes, as he took a deep inhale in before he shakily confessed to John. 

“I’m Transgender. I’m a Transgender Male. That’s why I wear this ‘binder’, it helps flatten my chest and makes me more masculine.”

He kept his eyes closed for a couple minutes afraid of what was gonna happen. He flinched when he felt arms around him and a weight leaning on him. He slowly opened his eyes, only to realize he was encircled in the arms of John Watson. “Thank you for trusting in me, and telling me this.” John whispered into his ear. 

His eyes started to stung, at the realization of what John  just said to Sherlock. He didn’t seem angry, he seemed content, even.  “You’re welcome.”

Usually Sherlock would feel dysphoric in situations like that, since John’s chest was touching his compressed chest. However, what only Sherlock felt was he was  safe with John Hamish Watson. 

John was the one who broke the moment, as he pulled away from Sherlock, smiling ear to ear.

“I assume your family knows that you’re  Transgender?”

“Yes, they do. They very much are supportive of me, especially Greg.”

“Good. Or else I would beat his ass, if he said anything bad about you.” John replied with a fierce look on his face. 

Sherlock laughed at him softly. He was glad to have John as his friend. “I take it that you support me?”

“Of course! Plus I don’t care what gender you are. You are my friend and that’s all that matters!” John exclaimed as he squeezed Sherlock’s hand and gave him a soft smile, which Sherlock reciprocated. 

Oh.

Oh.

 “Now.” John clapped his hands. “Do you need any help finding a new shirt?”

Sherlock rolled his eyes playfully at John. “I think I got it from here.”

“Good. I’ll see you down there, Sher.” John said as he clamped Sher on his shoulder. “Thank you again for trusting me with this information.”

Sherlock nodded, as watched John go downstairs, before he started to go back to what he was doing previously and quickly picked out a different shirt.

He looked into the mirror, fixed his hair and headed downstairs. He stopped suddenly though, when he felt his all body being tingly from where John touched him. Sherlock scrunched up his eyebrows confused, but then shook his head.

I don’t like John Watson.

He hopped down the stairs and found where Greg was, talking to Mary.  He walked over and basically snuggled him. His arms around his torso, Greg stiffened first, probably from shock but soon after, put his arm around Sherlock.

“You okay?” Greg muttered.

Sherlock nodded no. “He knows.” 

“Who?” Greg whispered back.

“John Watson.”

Sherlock felt the spike in Greg’s heartbeat and found it slightly amusing. “About us?”

“No. He knows about me being trans.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s okay.”

There were cheers all around them as he heard them counting down the seconds.

5….

4….

3……

2….

1…….

“HAPPY NEW YEARS!!”

 Streamers were going off, people kissing each other and talking to one another.

Sherlock saw Mary and John kiss one another and it was like he was shot in the gut, it was so confusing that emotion was. 

It was soon replaced with Greg’s warming embrace and a light kiss on the top of his head. Sherlock closed his eyes in that moment, once again, and Greg was right. He’ll be okay, they’ll all be alright.

Chapter Text

Sunday, December 31, 2023

J.W’s Pov- 11:50pm

John knocked on Sherlock’s wooden birch door. “Sherlock?”

“Are you okay? Listen, I'm so sorry for what happened downstairs. Do you need any help?” John asked again before he barged in since he didn’t get a word from Sherlock.

John ran in, but stopped abruptly short, a couple feet away from Sherlock. All John could see was the back of Sherlock, him wearing some type of tight shirt. He was so confused with what happened, one moment he accidentally spilled wine on Sherlock; the next he was out of his gorgeous white shirt, and in what he thought was this beige clothing that he couldn’t recognize.

Sherlock turned around slowly,his eyes widened. “Shit”.

John took in what Sherlock was fully wearing, still confused but still there was  a look of innocence in his eyes;  like a puppy not understanding commands. “W- what are you wearing? Is that like a crop top or something?”

“Binder.” Sherlock quietly corrected him.

“What?” John asked since he didn’t catch what Sherlock said. 

Sherlock looked like his heart was about to beat out of his chest any moment. John waited for him to answer.  “B- Binder. It’s called a binder.”

“Okay..” John gave him a nervous laugh. “Why are you wearing a binder? That looks very uncomfortable if I am being honest.”

“Oh, trust me, it is.” Sherlock answered him with a  very sadistic and hollow laugh. 

John didn’t know why Sherlock sounded like that, like it was a funny joke that he wasn’t in on. He had all these emotions about Sherlock,but most importantly, He knew he had sadness in his eyes. Like he was seeing right through Sherlock-  the pain, the sadness, the anger. It seeped right into his bones  like mushrooms sprouting out of moss. 

Sherlock closed his eyes, and John took the sight of him in. Sherlock  looked gorgeous. Eyelashes clinging to him, his curly hair pushed back however  some curls falling and clinging to his flushed forehand. Sherlock then  took a deep inhale before he shakily spoke. 

“I’m Transgender. I’m a Transgender Male. That’s why I wear this ‘binder’, it helps flatten my chest and makes me more masculine.”

John gaped for a second before he fixed himself.  His legs were working faster than his brain, and came forward and wrapped himself around Sherlock.“Thank you for trusting in me, and telling me this.” John whispered into his ear. 

While John was shorter than Sherlock, he knew that his eyes opened and was taking in what was happening. John heard him mumble an  “You’re welcome.”

 John was soaking up the touch of Sherlock like a sunflower quenching in the heat of the beautiful sun.  They were still hugging and John wished he could stay in his arms forever until he remembered that he and Greg were together.  

Not him and Sherlock.

John  then pulled away from Sherlock, smiling ear to ear.

“I assume your family knows that you’re  Transgender?”

“Yes, they do. They are very much supportive of me, especially Greg.”

“Good. Or else I would beat his ass, if he said anything bad about you.” John barked and gave Sherlock one of his serious faces. 

Sherlock laughed at him softly. “I take it that you support me?”

“ T- That I support you? Of course I do silly!  I don’t care what gender you are. You are my friend and that’s all that matters!” John exclaimed as he squeezed Sherlock’s hand and gave him a soft smile, which Sherlock reciprocated. 

 “Now.” John clapped his hands. “Do you need any help finding a new shirt?”

Sherlock rolled his eyes playfully at John. “I think I got it from here.”

“Good. I’ll see you down there, Sher.” John said as he clamped Sher on his shoulder. “Thank you again for trusting me with this information.”

Monday January 2, 2024- 6:54pm

John was in his bedroom, doom scrolling on his computer that is on his lap. He had been researching and reading so many articles about being transgender that he completely lost track of time.  He should have learned more about the community that he is in; but he never fully did. He understood the gist of it beforehand, to give himself credit, but didn’t fully research what it truly meant.

 He should have seen it coming. All the hints that Sherlock was giving him. Hell even when they first met, John should have realized something was up, but of course he didn’t want to snoop into his tutor’s( that disliked him) personal life.  So then here he was researching what he could in order to be fully supportive of  his friend that he appreciated dearly. 

He hoped that since the elephant in the world exploded, that Sherlock would be more open to him and talk more about how he was transgender. On the other hand, John worried that it would be an invasion of privacy of him. He should’ve  been glad Sherlock even told him, John didn’t think he would have told him if John didn’t spill wine on him.

John then continued his doom scroll until he was certain transgender was engraved into his head and how he could support Sherlock as an ally. It must have been a couple hours later when his eyes felt heavy. 

John moved his computer out of his lap, unfolded his legs that were crossed to the point of being pins and needles. He got up to stretch before going to sleep since he hasn’t slept in a day because of how stressed out and winded up he was after information was spewed out to him. John was glad he didn’t have school that day but the next. 

John got up from his bed and checked out Emma who was sleeping peacefully in her bed. He crossed her room silently giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead and moving a piece of hair behind her ear. Then moving silently out of her room; closing it shut. He then grabbed a fitness bar from the kitchen ere John  fell onto his bed; bouncing it slightly as he turned to plug in his phone and turned off his lamp.

His head fell onto his pillow and dreamt; about him and the duo men being pirates.

Chapter Text

Thursday, December 28,2023 -M.M’s Pov; 10pm.

After dinner everyone left the table except the grown ups,  and walked to the living room to relax, however she sat on the closest chair to the doorway, moving it slightly to catch movement in the sliver of her eye, which worked. 

She waited for Mycroft to talk to him, and when she did spot him leaving the kitchen, she excused herself and followed him. She turned the corner with him, a couple feet behind him, she then eventually got caught. She turned the corner and he was waiting for her, his arms crossed over his chest, as he loomed a foot over her, with an arched eyebrow.

“Why are you following me, Morstan?”

She stumbled back because he surprised her, she also was shocked that he knew her  name. However the shock wore off since she remembered he knew her parents, and that reason was why he knew her name.  She then mirrored his movement. 

“We need to talk.” She replied quietly, just in case John or one of the boys followed her.

“About what?” Mycroft asked, his tone intrigued, with what she had to say.

“Greg Lestrade and Sherlock Holmes.” She answered with a tilt of her head.

He looked back behind her probably paranoid too before clearing his throat. “Follow me.” 

———————————-

Mary got pushed into an office by the rough of Mycroft’s hand on her back. He then closed the door and motioned for her to sit down in one of his leather chairs. While he did the same across from her.

Mycroft cleared his throat. “What do you mean about Greg and Sherlock?”

“I mean…” She scoffed, amused he didn’t see the signs. “That they are acting suspicious.” 

He rolled his eyes. “Well that’s obvious, dear.” 

Mary ignored the name at the end and continued her train of thought.”Don’t you think them two dating is weird?”

He shrugged his shoulders a bit as it sank in. “ I have my waries, sure. I just never thought about them being together.” 

“Neither had I,” She replied. “So I’ve been deducting until I formed this conclusion-“

“Have you been hanging out with Sherlock too much?” Mycroft cut in with an amused expression on his face. 

She rolled her eyes back. “Apparently not enough.”

“ANYWAYS… As I was saying; now when exactly did you know that Greg and Sherlock started dating?”

He hummed for a moment. The room was silent besides the sound of his fingers rubbing against his scruff. 

“I would say maybe around the tenth of december?”

“Anddddd what happened that day?” She quizzed him, hoping he would’ve caught on. 

“Sherlock was  sick. He was sick for a while but still. What’s he being sick have to be about-“

 His eyes widened as it hit him.

“Are you saying that they started dating when he was sick?!?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying. And now, what I’m about to tell you is EXTREMELY important, so don’t say anything outside the room- gotcha?” She whispered as she glared daggers into his skull.

“I understand…” He eyed her up, intrigued by what other information she had stored in her brain. 

“John, my boyfriend,might  not say this out loud, but he has a crush on Sherlock-“

“But he is dating you?” He furrowed his brows, confused.

“Yes.” She seethed. “Ever heard of a thing called bisexuality?”

He raised his hands up defensively. “Sorry. Okay so he has a crush on my brother….”

“Yes, and now think about this very clearly. If one of them knew John had a crush on Sherlock, why did they randomly start dating?”

It was silent for a second. Mary propped her hand on her chin. “Hmm I think I know the answer to this one, smart one.” She bit sarcastically.

He sighed heavily, getting sick of teenager’s attitudes. “Well out with it then, miss smarty pants!”

She bit back a smile about his insult. “They faked it.”

He leaned forward in his chair. “What do you mean they faked it?!” He seethed.

“I mean if one of them knew about John’s interest, then they wanted to test him. And what better way to do that was to make his two crushes date each other, and not him.”

“That does make sense….” he trailed off. “What do you mean two crushes?!”

Mary was getting impatient with him trying to catch up with the facts. “I thought you were the smarter one in this room?” 

He glared at her passively, getting more and more annoyed by this conversation within the minute. “I am, I just don’t get told  all the information.” 

“Yes. Two crushes. John used to have a crush on Greg and now he has a crush on Sherlock.” Mary explained. 

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

 Went  second hand  as it moved to the next minute.

 By then Mycroft jumped out of his seat. “If I knew anything about those two boys, they would cause chaos any chance they could get!”

Mary stood up as well. “So you think there’s a chance?”

“I know there’s a fucking chance.” He didn’t care about swearing in front of a minor. That was too important.

“So what are we going to do about it?”

“We?” he arched his brow. 

“Yes, we.” She glared at him until he gave into her demand.

 He mostly did it because he thought she was doing this to make John happy. Now he might’ve be in a relationship, nor understand it; but he did know that   he would do anything to make his  family happy. 

“I’ll work my end, and you’ll work your end. How about that?” Mycroft asked.

Mary hummed. “Deal.”

“Do you need my number in order for us to update?”

“Sure.” He held out his phone and they exchanged numbers. 

They were heading to the  door and they nodded. “Keep in contact and update me if there’s any news.”

“You do the same.” She answered before she slipped out the door and headed back to the living room as she seesa John immediately got up out of his seat and walked over to her and asked her if she was alright.

She says yes before John suggests that perhaps Mary and him should get going, since it was late. Sherlock and Greg  smiled and agreed to their statement. Sherlock said his goodbye to John and Mary.

“May we meet again, Sherlock.” Mary stated ominously. 

“May we meet again,Mary.” Sherlock replied as he looked at her strangely. She hoped that he didn’t catch on to her knowledge of the fake relationship.

Mary waited next to the door, as John was saying his goodbyes and talking to Greg a bit longer. Eventually they left the house, and John asked if she wanted to stay the night or to be dropped off.

“Can I stay at your flat? It’s a bit late and I don’t want to disturb my parents.”

“You're only lucky, mom  likes you!” John said which caused a loud giggle out of her. 

He then drove off before she knew it they were at his flat. He twisted his key and opened the door for them to head inside. It was pitch dark besides the moonlight that shined in some areas. Good thing John knew his way around;  because Mary could not see at all, grasping for his hand as a guide. 

They headed to his bedroom and got situated with the bedroom arrangement. John held Mary in his arms as the two fell asleep. In  a warm bed, et in warm, soothing arms.

Chapter Text

Tuesday, January 3, 2024; M.M .’s pov

It was a packed cafeteria, per usual , with tables pushed up to chairs in all sorts of angles; which  somehow created a pathway to walk through, no matter how tight it can be.

“Sooo….” Mary trailed off as she moved around her food on her plate. “You and Sherlock, huh?”

John sputtered as he choked on his juice, which he just took a sip of. “W- What? What about him?”

Mary nunchantly shrugged. “Well I saw that you went up to his room on new years. You came downstairs a couple minutes later, and then he was  spotted coming down after you.” 

John widened at her accusation. What the fuck, Mary?!? No! We are just friends!” 

She narrowed her eyes at  him. “You’ve been acting differently lately ever since that encounter.” 

John scoffed. “ Even if so, and you are correct, it isn’t my place to say.” 

Mary furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”

“We just talked, that’s all.” He snipped. “Before you ask all about what happened, how about you ask yourself: maybe that's none of your  fucking business.”

He seems oddly protective over Sherlock…. Interesting.

She lifted her hands in mock surrender. “Sorry, love, didn’t mean to get you so worked up!” 

John stared at her for a while, probably deciding if he believes her or not. He nodded and went back to eating his lunch meal. 

The four then met up for a break period in the library. John and Sherlock seemed excited, Greg teamed along because of Sherlock. Mary supposed she did the same because of John.  

The four spread out a bit: Sherlock and John seated next to each other at a table. Greg  sat on a chair across from them. - Mary wondered why that is, perhaps Greg could sense those two vibes as well.  -And Mary sat on a comfortable, much softer chair, a couple feet away from them- nestled away in a corner. 

Mary continued to doom scroll on her phone, since she finished all her homework; that she had prior.  She stole glances at John and Sherlock. Johnlock if you will.  They were laughing softly to themselves, perhaps at a joke that was spoken out- loud. 

They seemed much closer, Mary deducted that it absolutely  had everything to do with that encounter of last year.  

Greg locked eyes at her, brown eyes piercing into her hazel eyes.  It was like he was looking into her soul, but also had a guard up about him. Like he could see into hers, but she can’t see into his, the uncertainty.

 It was starting to stress her out, that perhaps he knew about her being a “spy”. However, what felt like an eternity, he finally looked away back to the conversation that was occurring at the table.  

She let out a sigh of relief, like she could breathe again out of that spell. Mary then got up and walked over to them from behind. She lightly traced  John’s  shoulder blades in a pattern, sending shivers down his back. 

She smiled to herself before she leaned more heavily into him. He looked up at her and grinned goofily. “Hello, love!” 

“Hi dearest!” She replied as she caught a glimpse of Sherlock. There was something in his eyes that she couldn’t quite pinpoint. 

Jealousy maybe? But I don’t think Sherlock gets jealous about relationships. Especially with romantic endeavors. 

She kissed his shoulder before muttering into his shirt. “So are you going to be done with the tutor sessions soon?”

She saw both of them lock eyes. “I guess so…” John trailed off hesitantly. “I mean I am doing much better with Chemistry now, because of all your help. And you did say that we can stop when I get better.”

Sherlock furrowed his brows. “I guess so, If that’s what you want.” 

John hummed softly. “I don’t really know what I want.”

“You can still be friends!” Mary interjected. 

“True… But Tutoring was the thing that brought us together.” Sherlock murmured. 

Greg reached over and took Sherlock’s hand in his. “I know Sher. I know that you have a certain way of dealing with things and your own way of structure. But just because you are done tutoring John, doesn’t mean you can’t remain friends. No matter how confusing that is for you.”

Sherlock blinked at Greg. “I guess that makes sense…” 

“How about only the both of us  got to decide what happens next!”John announced after some silence. 

“Agreed,” Sherlock answered.

Before anyone else could interject to that idea, the warning bell went off, telling them to get to their last class of the day. Mary kissed John goodbye since they had different classes to attend to. John had biography, Mary had psychology. 

On the way to class, as she dodged a mass of students, she texted Mycroft.

Mary M; There seems to be an update. John seems closer to Sherlock. Idk how. I’m guessing what happened on New year’s.

Mycroft H; Idk?

Mycroft H; Oh.. Also what happened on New years?

Mary M; You didn’t notice or did you forget? John spilled wine on Sherlock.

Mary looked up for a second to make sure she didn’t walk into anyone’s backs. 

Mary M; Sherlock went up, looking scared and John followed after him. They were up there for a while before John came down and then Sherlock.

Mycroft H; Interesting..

Mary M; Yep.

Mycroft H; Thanks for keeping me updated. Maybe Sherlock might tell me something.

Mary scoffed before typing out a quick response. “Maybe if you are being very subtle about it.”

She made it to her class before the final bell rang. Mary usually was focused and interested in her psychology class, but there was this thought that  was taking up half her brain attention. And that is: Johnlock.

Before Mary knew it the class was over. “Make sure you complete your essay of study of the brain! It’s due Thursday, it’s worth half of your grade!”

Mary blinked and looked around the room and spotted her old friend, Moriarty. “Hey Mor.”

“Hey Mary,” He replied, distracted as he packed  up his things.

“Do you have the notes of today’s lecture?”

Moriarty stopped what he was doing and looked at her. “You weren’t paying attention.” It wasn’t a question, more of a statement.

“Yes. I was distracted today.”

He scoffed. “Like what?”

“Oh, like my boyfriend may have feelings for your ex- boyfriend.”

Moriarty’s eyes widened at the accusation. “Yes, I know all about you and Sherlock’s past.”

“H- how?”

She winked. “A magician never reveals their secrets.” 

He rolled his eyes. “So this is blackmail or something?”

“No. Not at all. It’s just a plus, I suppose. A helpful plus.”

“You know you just had to ask.” Moriarty muttered. “Didn’t have to bring Sher into this.” 

Mary almost felt guilty for him. Almost.  

She hummed. “Orrrr… You could tell me more about his and your’s past?”

He glared at her. “It’s in the past for a reason.”

“Mor! Please! I genuinely wanted to know! I  only knew about you two because of the little detail you provided me in the past. I was grasping on straws.” 

Moriarty hummed. “Maybe. And Maybe you can inform me on what the hell you mean that John might be in love with Sherlock.” 

Mary nodded. “Come over to my house?”

“Yeah, I’m free tonight. I’ll meet you soon. Same place?” 

“Same place.” Mary replied.

He smirked. “See you this evening.” He then walked out of the room with only Mary left in it. Their teacher even left the room. 

Mary muttered to herself as she grabbed her bag and walked to her locker. She then pulled out her crumpled winter jacket before she headed out to the winter wonderland. 

Snowflakes hit her hair as she walked out of the campus to her car. Before she could grab her car keys out of her pocket. She froze in place as she saw a piece of paper stuck to her windshield wiper. She thought she could shit herself right there, right then.

The note that was attached had melted snowflakes on it and it read:

‘ Watch your back.’

Chapter Text

I’m currently working on the next chapter- i haven’t left you guys, well kind of but still shhhh. These next chapters will be EXTREMELY longer compared to the other chapters i’ve written that’s why it’s broken up into two parts. Why i made this update is because the timeline might be confusing with age wise, which i do apologize about- i’m extremely bad with math so if i made an mistake- please let me know!
Anyways may we meet again soon,
-S!