A/Notes: I was trying to write a happier and lighter Johnlock story, with less angst, a bit more fun. But my beta thought this first chapter was a little too dark, dealing with Sherlock's past drug use. I tried to lighten it up but it's still a bit serious. It was necessary, as you will see. Just like my other stories, I'll post a chapter daily, so you won't have to wait too long. Please review if you can, and do let me know when things don't quite work. That helps me improve. It has not been Brit-picked.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, otherwise you wouldn't be reading these stories, but watching them on the telly. :)

1. Not so unexperienced?

Greg sat his pint down. 'John, we're friends, right? So I hope you don't mind me asking.'

Christ, here we go again, John thought. He knew what was coming.

'But are you and Sherlock...?'

'Are we what?'

'Um, you know, er.'

'No, I don't. Finish your bloody sentence.'

'Er, are- are you, you know, more than just friends?'

'No, Greg. We are not. How many times do I have to say it? I'm not gay.'

'Sorry, sorry. It's just that, well, Sherlock never showed interest in anybody, and one day, there you are. What were we to think?'

John sighed, 'Greg, you just said it. Sherlock never shows interest in anybody. Why would I be different? He has told me in the past, he considers himself married to his work, so he has no interest in relationships. Plus, for all I know, he might still be a virgin.' Facing forward, he lifted his pint.

Greg looked disconcerted. 'Well, he isn't.'

John's head snapped back at Greg at this remark, cup in mid air, mouth agape. 'What do you mean? How-?' Then, after a pause, 'Have you-?'

'God, no! No.'

'Then, how-?'

'John, I have known Sherlock for longer than you. You know he was a drug addict. Think, John. If you were a drug dealer with the right inclinations, would you pass an opportunity to have someone like Sherlock? Wouldn't you want to get him in your bed when he craved a hit? Even I can see how attractive he is.'

John felt as if he had been hit on the head with this, he often forgot about Sherlock's past. What Greg said was so obvious! Yet, it was also disconcerting the way he had phrased it, 'Wouldn't you want to get him in your bed'.

'Greg, you've seen something, haven't you?'

Greg looked away from John and stared straight ahead. 'Once, I had been on a case and we were going to arrest a drug dealer as a suspect for murder. We stormed into this run-down flat, but the suspect bolted through the window. The other guys chased him, but he escaped. I stayed behind because I found Sherlock, passed out, naked on the bed.'

'Christ!'

'Yeah. Not pretty,' he paused. With the unwanted images surfacing back, Greg's face changed as if a dark cloud had passed over his eyes. Sighing, he continued, 'We never caught that dealer. We took Sherlock to A&E and I was there waiting for him to come to, to get a statement. That's when his brother showed up. Sherlock would not give us anything, not even with Mycroft's threats. Instead, he ended up proving the bloke's innocence and handing us the actual murderer a few days later. You see, he trusted that dealer enough. He knew what he needed to do in order to get what he wanted.'

'His body is only transport.'

'Exactly. I think he'd rather deal with someone he knew than having to move on to someone else. Someone who could do worse things to him. Also, Mycroft yelled a lot at that time. Well, technically it wasn't yelling, but you know, that way he talks. I gathered that he had found Sherlock passed out in dirty alleys, with his pants down, more than once. So it wasn't just that dealer. You know, with the CCTV-'

'Oh, Greg. Please stop.'

'Sorry, mate.'

John felt crushed and sorry to hear this. He didn't want to think Sherlock had been that vulnerable to all sorts of predators like this. Greg was right, no dealer (with the right inclinations) would've passed an opportunity to have Sherlock. But... wait.

'The strange thing is, Mycroft was the one that implied Sherlock was still a virgin.'

'Ah, probably just winding Sherlock up. You were there when he said that, weren't you? Figures. He knew Sherlock wouldn't talk about his drug related encounters in front of you, more like it. Those two! Sherlock always taunts Mycroft about his weight. He's not skinny like Sherlock, but he's not fat either.'

'It was during a case we were doing for Mycroft. Sherlock said, "Sex doesn't alarm me" and Mycroft replied "How would you know?" Greg, you should've seen the look on Mycroft's face when he said that, it was quite vicious. Sherlock was angry but didn't talk back, that's why I thought his brother was right.'

Greg pondered for a while, 'I think when Mycroft said that, he might've been referring to Sherlock being too out of it to remember or care.'

After a long pause Greg continued, 'You know, as much as those two bicker, I take my hat off to Mycroft. Sherlock can be a handful at the best of times. But a Sherlock with a drug addiction... Those were terrible times. Only once, Mycroft let his guard down with me. He said he lived in constant fear of getting the phone call or a knock on his door, asking him to go to the morgue and identify a body.'

'Christ!'

'Mycroft eventually made him get cleaned up, and got Sherlock more involved with solving cases. Sherlock might've invented his profession, but it was Mycroft's influence that gave him a link to the Yard, after that case with the dealer. The negotiation was something like, "stay clean and the Yard will give you cases. If you start using again, I'll make sure they know".'

...

After digesting this new information, it made sense to John why Sherlock would be so uninterested in sex or relationships. In his experiences, sex was just a requirement to get the drugs he craved. There had been no emotional connection, no love. Only a transaction. He doubted the dealers had been gentle or caring. No wonder he preferred to be alone and not have friends. People in his past just used him. This cemented his resolve to be Sherlock's best friend, and give him all that he had never had before.

This also gave him a better understanding for Mycroft's attitude when they had first met.

"What is your connection to Sherlock Holmes? ...And since yesterday you've moved in with him and now you are solving crimes together. Might we expect a happy announcement by the end of the week?"

He could see how dodgy he might've looked in Mycroft's eyes. Being a doctor, clearly he had access to drugs. It probably didn't help that at that time he was still struggling with his PTSD and didn't have a job, only his small pension. Not a stretch of the imagination to think he'd try to live off of Sherlock, exchanging drugs for sex. Now even the bribe attempt made more sense. Mycroft had stepped in swiftly, his background already thoroughly checked - down to his therapist's notes, and made the offer of a steady pay. Had he taken it, surely there would've been conditions to prevent John from harming Sherlock.

He always acted so much like Big Brother (in both senses) because he was, in fact, worried and ultra protective of Sherlock. He was still a pain in the arse, but now John had a deeper respect for him. He stuck by his brother, made him get cleaned up and watched over him constantly, much in the way John did, albeit at a much larger and creepier scale.

Which explained in part why Sherlock was so hostile and resentful. In a way, he owed his brother for all he currently had. In Sherlock's mind, Mycroft had the power to take the cases away from him. Plus, this over-protectiveness, the constant watch, as if he were a prisoner or a child, was suffocating. He understood perfectly well Mycroft's despair and his fear of losing Sherlock forever through the drug addiction. He could relate to that. John himself had seen the side of Sherlock that was irresponsible, careless, reckless, too over-confident for his own good, taking risks without any regard for his own safety. His nicotine cravings were already a bit alarming; someday cigarettes might not be enough. John made a mental note to be a little more charitable next time he dealt with that toffee nosed git. Name calling notwithstanding.

A/Note: Mystrade if you squint and cross your eyes, a nod to ZiggyPlayGuitar.