John's POV:
It was just a usual day for John. He woke up ridiculously early for a teenage boy and before the sun had risen had trained with the rest of the footy team and hit the showers as the rest of the schools inhabitants began to rise. As usual he skipped breakfast content with just a cup of tea before rushing off to his classes. Today was just an average ordinary normal day until chemistry class. He had run into Sarah on the way from lunch to chemistry and after much manipulation and downright lying through his teeth he had managed to extract himself from her octopus like grasp to only be 5 minutes tardy. He walked in mumbled an excuse to the teacher who by now was used to his lateness to his class and trudged his way to the back of the class where he had a desk all to himself except today he wasn't alone.
This beautiful stranger had a mop or dark curly hair which just brushed his high prominent cheekbones. When the head turned and piercing green eyes connected with his baby blue his breath hitched and he had to remind himself that he had a straight reputation to uphold. Coming out as gay at a catholic boarding school would be bad. They would try to exercise him or something.
John averted his eyes to the front of the class and tried in vain the listen and understand what the teacher was saying. But his lack of understanding in chemistry mixed with the absolute Adonis which was perched beside him. The class went on and on. The teacher rambling on the properties of mono and disaccharides. John tried so hard to focus on the class and not on his bodily reaction to this perfect stranger.
He was concentrating so much that he missed the bell signaling the end of class and it wasn't until the stranger brushed past him and he got a whiff of cigarette smoke, cinnamon, and a delicious musk, that he snapped to attention and started shoving his book and papers into his backpack. John craned his neck from his position at the back of his English class to spot a mop of black curls but was out of luck.
It wasn't until the next morning in his advanced math class that John spotted his gorgeous stranger again. John knew he sucked at math and chemistry but he needed these classes get into medical school.
The stranger once again sat in the empty seat next to John's usual chair. No one sat at the back of his classes because they wanted good grades. John on the other hand had a reputation to uphold. Even though his team mates knew he did this class to get into med school and congratulated him on his ambition but he had a baddass demeanour to uphold for the rest of the school.
John sat down with time to spare fortunate he had not run into Sarah on the way to math, this and English were the only classes that John had with Sarah and was always grateful when he didn't run into her that morning or he would have been late. It was still 5 minutes until class started when Sarah walked in and immediately seeing John sidled up to him draping herself around him ignoring his discomfort.
"Jooohhnn..." Sarah whined, causing John to flinch. "Why didn't you come see me before class John?"
"Come on Sarah class is about to start," John tried his usual distraction technique. It never worked but he always felt so bad to outright reject girls.
"Come one John come sit with me, I'll make it worth it." she said with what John assumed was a coy sand seductive smile.
John was about to reply when he heard a rather put upon sigh before a baritone voice said. "It's quite obvious that jawn doesn't want to sit with you. I know it must be difficult in your hormone haze but he has done nothing but push you away since you walked into the class his leaning away from you, not participating in your octopus like cuddling, no change in respiration due to proximity no pupil dilation. He is not interested in you so can you go away."
"Shut up freak no one asked your opinion. Come on John." Sarah tugged on his arm but all John could do was stare at the boy who's looked like ice and had a voice like honey.
"No Sarah, and you can't talk to him like that." John tugged his arm out of her grip.
"Seriously you gonna sit with this freak who just insulted you," Sarah scoffed.
"He just told you what you would already know if you bothered to open your eyes and stop calling him that. He isn't a freak. He's my friend." John had no idea what possessed him to defend this handsome almost stranger but too late to back out now.
"Fine," she stomped away but already he could see the school social system working shunning her slightly for her rejection from the footy captain. He thought it was almost sad how the school worked
"You didn't have to tell her were friends." the stranger whispered into his arms which were folded on the desk his head resting in them.
"Yeah well she was way out of line. I'm John." John plopped down next to him copying his position.
"I know." he says simply
"So what's your name?" John prompts when it looks like he isn't going to say anything else.
"Uh," the other boy hesitates, "Sherlock."
"It's nice to meet you Sherlock," John said
"You don't have to pretend to like me," Sherlock snapped as the teacher walked in calling silence to the classroom.
Sherlock rushed out of the class in his haste leaving he left a few papers on the desk which John hastily collected. They had chemistry last that day so he decided to give them back then. John tuned out for most of the day and during biology found himself doodling Sherlock's name in the margins of his workbook instead of writing the droning monolog of the teacher.
John found himself sitting with his footy mates they all congratulated him on his split from Sarah. Apparently none of them had liked her very much. They also commended him on sticking up for the new kid. They weren't all bad blokes and most of them were quite friendly behind their scary demeanors. John liked them, they were honest but loyal and if he said Sherlock was okay they would leave him alone. Since finding out the other hoys name he had asked around and found out that the new kid already had a reputation for being loud obnoxious rude arrogant. He had also heard they boy was actually a few years younger than them. He was apparently a genius.
Sherlock's POV:
Sherlock found himself surrounded by at least half a dozen boys in motorcycle jackets. He had unfortunately deduced that the head biker had spent the weekend painting nails with his 7 year older sister and her best friend because of the small trace of nail polish. He had just been sitting on the quad reading his bee ecology book hen the boys had come over and knocked the book right out of his hands calling him a freak. Sherlock had gotten better since coming to this school to avoid fights because his brother had made it quite clear that this was his last chance before he was to be shipped off to a rather stringent all boys boarding school where their uncle was a prestigious headmaster and none of his antics would be tolerated. He hadn't meant to deduce them it had just all started coming out like a defense mechanism. He had tried to retreat to his mind palace but with no such luck.
"Just because you're a freak doesn't mean you can make shit up about others to make you feel better. I'll smash your face in for that." the boy was rather tall and 2 years older than Sherlock as well as having at least 20 pounds more muscle, it was likely that he could indeed smash Sherlock's face as he put it. Sherlock's mind reeled with deductions of an abusive home neglectful mother the kid having to raise his little sister and trying to get good grades he can manage to get into a reasonable college. Sherlock almost felt badly for the guy before his fist connected to his face just missing breaking his nose and throwing Sherlock to the ground with the force of it. Sherlock looked up just in time to see a hand grab at the collar of his shirt and lift him to his feet. Sherlock was just as tall as the greaser so the guy had the raise his hand slightly to pull the collar taunt around Sherlock's neck. The boys other fist drew back and connected with Sherlock's face again, Sherlock had the peace of mind to turn his head slightly so the blow hit is prominent cheekbone instead of his nose. One of his hands clutching at the hand holding his collar, the other pushing at the boy holding him. He was hoisted up by the collar again his toes just scrapping the ground and his airways cut off his mind was fogging and his grip slipped and faltered. Suddenly he was being dropped to the ground and the greaser who had been holding him landed moments later a bloody nose nursed in his hands.
John's POV:
John had been sitting under a tree near the bleachers two days after the Sarah incident, he had given Sherlock back his math notes and Sherlock had thanked him which had a few people staring at them till Sherlock deduced how the head cheerleader was getting a little more than tutored 3 days a week by the math's geek in the front row and everyone turned back towards the front of the chemistry class. John had just enough time to utter brilliant before the teacher started his lecture. Things had gone back to normal and John even had sort of conversation with Sherlock before math class that morning. That was until Mike Stanford, a geeky boy who shared John's goal of med school, rushed up to them panting doubled over obviously having run across the school.
"What is it Mike?" John was lazing around after a rather productive football practice.
"Its Sherlock he's being picked on by a bunch of greasers by the quad one of them looks like he's gonna hit him." John shot to his feet. His mates teased him about his protective streak of Sherlock but they all flanked him as he hurried, trying to not look to eager, to the quad. There was a ring of people surrounding two people. John and his mates shoulder their way into the middle of the fight to see a greaser holding Sherlock up by the collar cutting off his airways.
John stepped up towards them and just as the greaser turned to him loosening the grip on Sherlock's collar he pulled his fist back and broke the greaser's nose. Sending him sprawling to the ground in a bloody pile. John's mates now were holding the other greasers back and it looked like it might turn into an all-out brawl. A fight between the footy lads and the greasers would be school gossip for weeks and they couldn't afford the detentions with a big game coming up. So john dragged Sherlock into a semi standing position with an arm around him and steadied the other boy.
"Come on guys, leave the greasers alone. I need you all out of detention for our game this weekend." John called to his teammates while already half carrying Sherlock back to the bleachers thankful no teachers were involved in the incident.
"Are you okay Sherlock?" John asked
"m'kay," Sherlock mumbled not meeting any of the footy team's eyes.
"Sherlock, why was he beating you up?"
"Cause he lets his sister paint his nails on the weekend because his mother left his father because he used to beat him and that's why he turned to the greaser stereotype to appear tougher in case his dad comes back. His mums not around a lot she works a lot." Sherlock started sprouting deductions. "Plus he didn't want to look weak in front of his boyfriend."
"Wait he has a boyfriend? I didn't know Steve was gay." Haden one of John's footy mates said.
Sherlock raised his head slightly to, John assumed, assess the boy. He had seen Sherlock do this many a times in classes and sometime he could catch the tail end of his whispered observations.
"Well it's not like it would be easy to be a homosexual, this is a very strict Christian boarding school. I would assume that most people keep their relationships a secret so they are not subjected to hours of therapy and meetings with father Brian." Sherlock's gaze drifted over John. John froze their eyes meeting for a split second before Sherlock's gaze drifted away. Oh god he knew. Of course he knew, he was Sherlock, brilliant and slightly mad Sherlock. John was screwed, Sherlock knew he was gay and Sherlock bless his soul could not keep his mouth shut to save his life, see their current situation for proof.
"Come on Sherlock we should get you to the nurse." John sighed next to Sherlock with a forlorn expression.
"Can't." was Sherlock's short reply
"Why not? You need to have that bruising look after, do you hurt anywhere else?" John was looking at Sherlock, assessing him for any possible injury.
"Can't go to the nurse. She'll tell my brother and he will take me away again." Sherlock mumbled so low John almost didn't hear him. John's heart stopped. What did Sherlock mean by that? His brother would take him away again. John was pretty sure that the nurse wouldn't tell anyone because it was her job to keep secrets and stuff but if Sherlock thought his brother might try take him away John wouldn't make him go.
"Okay come on then. I can patch you up in my room, I only got biology after this and a free period so it doesn't matter if I skip." John helped Sherlock to his feet who now that the adrenaline was out of his system he swayed and john had to catch him around his waist to keep him upright.
Some of the footy boys jeered at them but John just flipped them the bird good naturedly and trudged across campus with Sherlock wrapped tightly in his arms.