Nightmares
They came almost every night now. John's strangulated cries and shouts of unintelligible protest seemed to find their way through the thin walls of their small flat, reaching Sherlock's unwilling ears no matter what room he was in. They snaked under doors and through the smallest of cracks in every direction until they slithered their way up Sherlock's lithe body, finally tormenting him with varying levels of the doctor's tortured pleas.
He would remain where he was, forced to be the only audience for a show no one wanted to hear. As little as he would've liked to admit it, the dreadful sounds scared him. Once, Sherlock crept down the hall and slowly opened John's door to see if those disturbing noises were truly coming from his flat mate.
John was tightly entangled in a stark white sheet, the rest of his bedding scrunched by his feet. He writhed and squirmed away from invisible hands, crying out all the while. "No!" was the only word Sherlock could clearly make out, apart from the occasional "Not yet!" The doctor's hands were white-knuckled fists gripping his short hair when they weren't lashing out at the air in vain attempts to fight off a foe that only he could see.
Sherlock observed from the doorway for close to ten minutes, unsure of what to do. Not seeing any other option (other than simply walking away, which he had decided was no longer a logical decision); he entered the room, his bare feet hardly making a noise on the cold wooden floor. Pale fingers unwrapped the offending sheet, exposing John's sweat drenched T-shirt and dark blue boxers.
The thin detective pulled a threadbare blanket from the foot of the bed halfway up John's chest. The smaller man shuddered and grasped at it, eyelids fluttering, then rolled to one side. Sherlock tossed the damp sheet into a corner and sat on the bed. After a few moments, John was peacefully slumbering once more. Feeling a sudden, unexplainable urge, Sherlock stroked the doctor's blonde hair with an ice cold hand.
Pulling his arm close to his body once more, the tall man stood and silently exited the room.