Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: A brief exercise in writing fluff requested by and dedicated to FicletMistress. Hope you enjoy.
"Wrong! Of course it isn't the sister, you fool! It obviously must have been the housekeeper due to…"
The source of these exclamations was Sherlock Holmes, currently perched on the couch in the sitting room of 221B Baker Street and watching what appeared to be a rather poorly written crime drama. In the wake of the pool encounter with Moriarty, Sherlock went into hiding for several months, during which time he spent many an hour staving off boredom by watching daytime television (which may be partly due to Mycroft removing any firearms from his safe house). Funnily enough, for most concerned parties, he kept up the habit once he returned to Baker Street.
John was quite happy with the lack of holes in the walls or body parts in the kitchen, but at the same time he was decidedly confused. It was unusual for Sherlock to keep his attention on something as mundane as the telly for a significant length of time, but it had been two weeks without a case and he hardly left the couch. In the past John might have asked Sherlock to explain his new obsession before it got to this point, but John had been feeling rather odd about his friend as of late and wasn't sure how to broach the subject. As a result, things were very quiet in 221B.
"Are you blind? You should clearly be able to…"
Another round of shouting shook John out of his musings and he glanced up from his laptop and over to his genius flatmate who was now on his feet and gesturing madly at the television set.
Oh come now. This is just silly.
John sighed and walked over to the couch, grabbing the remote from the table and turning the monitor off on the way. Sherlock, interrupted mid-rant, looked at the doctor with a questioning look on his face.
"Yes John?"
"Sherlock…you clearly have the ability to predict the outcomes of all of these shows. So why watch them?" John finally asked.
Sherlock smirked in response.
"It's an experiment John," he stated.
"Alright then. An experiment of what exactly?"
"Well, initially it was simply a brief amusement. However, I continued it mainly to see how long it would take you to ask about it."
John paused for a moment before responding, "You've spent days upon days watching crap telly…to spark a conversation? I'm not sure I understand."
Sherlock looked away briefly and muttered, "Well, it isn't as if we've had a terrible amount of success talking as of late. And I thought you might prefer this to another explosion. But maybe not."
What?
"But, why not just talk to me yourself?"
Sherlock cleared his throat almost imperceptibly before replying, "Oh come now John, you weren't speaking to me so I was giving you some space. I believe that is the appropriate thing to do in such situations."
"And the lack of other "experiments"?" John wondered.
"If you were considering ending our partnership and leaving, I certainly didn't want to give you any more reasons."
What?
John shook his head in disbelief. "Sherlock…I was never thinking of leaving. Why would I?"
Sherlock looked back at him with narrowed eyes and answered, "Why? Perhaps you had grown tired of the body parts and explosions around the flat. Or else my constant interference in your personal relationships. Or maybe the fact that I almost got you killed."
He sighed and looked away again, his voice softening.
"You've been avoiding me ever since you broke up with Sarah. What other conclusion was I meant to draw?"
John was thrown by this display of uncharacteristic vulnerability.
"Sherlock…I'm sorry. I was caught up in other things. I…," he paused and then continued. "I can't say it wasn't intentional, but I am sorry. I didn't realize that it would affect you so much."
Sherlock looked back at him incredulously.
"Not affect…not affect me. John, haven't you realized by now? Don't you get it? You are the only thing that could…"
Sherlock broke off, realizing he may have said too much.
John puzzled over his statement before finally understanding.
Oh.
"I will burn the heart out of you," Moriarty had said.
Could it be?
"Sherlock, what did Moriarty mean by what he said to you?"
Sherlock let out a bitter laugh.
"John, I'm sure you know or you wouldn't be asking that now. You really aren't as much of an idiot as most people are."
"Then…me? He meant me?" John asked.
"Of course he meant you. I really don't have many people that I…care about. But if you want to go now that you've figured it out, I understand."
And with that, Sherlock turned and started to leave the room.
Now wait just a minute…
"You know, I was right. In that first blog entry. For a genius, you really are spectacularly oblivious to some things," John called after him.
Sherlock stopped in his tracks and turned back to him. "What?"
"I'm not going to leave. You think I would…why? Because I'm in danger? Can't be. We established early on in this partnership that I like danger. So the real reason must have something to do with the "you care about me" part of that admission. But you really have no idea do you?"
The look of surprise on Sherlock's face would have been comical if the conversation wasn't quite serious.
"John, I…"
"I told you I broke up with Sarah. I lied. She left me when she realized that I was more in love with you than I could ever be with her. And I didn't know how to tell you. So…there you have it. I've been avoiding you, not because I was upset or planning on leaving, but because…well because I'm in love with you Sherlock Holmes. And I'm not going anywhere."
A stunned silence fell over the flat and John's confidence in the aftermath of his admission slowly began to fade into an uncomfortable awkwardness as Sherlock made no attempt to respond.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Never should have…
"John?"
John snapped out of his self-flagellation to see that Sherlock was now standing right in front of him looking rather amused.
"Er…yes Sherlock?" He asked, while continuing to berate himself internally.
"Shut up."
Suddenly, surprisingly, impossibly, John felt lips on his. And as Sherlock Holmes kissed John Watson for the first time, neither of them had ever been so happy for daytime television.