Not A Couple
(A BBC Sherlock Fan Fiction)
In this short story, we will have a little inside look at the chaotic life of John Watson and Sherlock Holmes in modern day England. Specifically, two of the times the duo were mistaken for a couple, much to John's horror. Why, he wonders, must people always assume that close friends, regardless of age or gender, are in a relationship?John will probably never know.
9:00 pm GMT - Edinburgh
"You'll be sharing a room then?"
If this had been an anime like the one Sherlock made him watch for a case, John would have had one of those annoyed sweatdrop things on his forehead. "N-no. We're not 'together'," he said with his hand running through his military cut blonde hair. The clerk frowned. "Oh, sorry. My mistake."
John rubbed his eyes in frustration. Was it too much to ask for someone, just for one day, not to assume that he and his friend were an item? Speaking of said friend…
"Sherlock?" John turned to the tall, dark haired man, "What are you doing?"
"I'm texting Lestrade about our current findings," came the usual blunt answer.
"What would the Detective Inspector of Scotland Yard be interested in here? How well that one shop makes hot cross buns?"
Sherlock huffed, "Your sarcasm is noted but that's not a bad idea, actually." He turned his pale blue, or were they green grey eyes? towards his mobile phone only for it to be snatched out of his hands. "No," John said. "Right now, we need to pay for a room and you're paying for half of it. Consider this revenge for running out of the cab this morning." John turned to the clerk, "How much for two bedrooms?"
11:30 pm GMT - Edinburgh- the next night
Not only had the next day been taxing but they found absolutely nothing at all. This is one of those rare times that Sherlock Holmes, the world's only consulting detective, was stumped on a case. The thing he thought he found the day before? It turns out that it was not even connected to their current case (in which Sherlock promptly declared was a "complete waste of intellect"). So, now that the two exhausted men were boarding a train back to London, the heated air of the coach warming their chapped faces.
John slumped in exhaustion, almost falling into Sherlock. He yawned and pointed to one of the few rows that had two empty seats. Sherlock opted to take the window seat, "So I won't have people walking by and breaking my concentration," he reasoned. John honestly didn't care and sat beside his flatmate promptly falling asleep with a, "Wake me up when we get there." Sherlock didn't give any inclination that he heard his friend other than a grunt as he fell into his mind palace to organize some information.
About an hour or two into the ride, the train took a steep turn. Neither of the two noticed when John's head fell on Sherlock's shoulder and stayed there. The detective finally became aware of the weight on his shoulder when the woman sitting across from them started giggling.
"You can tell when two people are so compatible that one can just fall asleep on the other and think nothing of it!"
Sherlock regarded the woman across from them and noted the impish grin on her face. "For John's sanity, I must tell you that although we are often mistaken for one, we are not a couple."
The woman faltered for a moment before smiling again. "Well, then you can tell two people are really good friends when one can fall asleep on the other," she rephrased.
Sherlock shrugged a shoulder and softly smiled, "I suppose."