'She's a bit younger than most of our usual clients isn't she?' John asked Sherlock, frowning at the notes in front of him. 'She's only seventeen, Sherlock, are you sure about this?'
'The case is interesting' said Sherlock restlessly, pacing the flat, his hands tangled together under his chin. 'Girl gets on a train with her friend. Going to Brighton for the day, goes to the toilet, comes back and her friend has vanished. All the staff think she's going insane, that her friend never got on the train. But she wants the truth. This is VERY interesting'
John raised his eyebrows but didn't comment. He would never know why Sherlock chose this case over all of the others in the pile. Jess Carter, a girl who lived with her family on the outskirts of London, what on earth could Sherlock want with this case?
The doorbell chimed, once, a client. John heaved himself out of his chair and went to answer it and as he pulled the door open, he was rather surprised to see a girl stood there.
'Ah' he thought. 'This must be Jess Carter' The girl looked rather nervous, her light blonde hair pushed off her face in a ponytail. She wore no make-up and an unremarkable outfit of black jeans and a blue blouse. She smiled at John, who suddenly realised he was being very rude.
'You must be Jess' he said, offering his hand, which she took confidently. 'Do come in, would you like a cup of tea?'
'Tea would be great thanks.' she replied, 'Its nice to meet you Dr Watson. Mr Holmes mentioned you in his email'
John led her through into the sitting room and then went to put the kettle on before re-joining the pair in the sitting room, deep in conversation about the finer points of the train journey and John looked at Sherlock, really looked at him, his brow furrowed in concentration as he talked to Jess. And John realised that he'd fallen in love with his best friend. He felt a blush creep through his cheeks as he held onto the side of the desk, a pain shooting through his shoulder.
'John?' said Sherlock, 'What's the matter?'
'Nothing' John muttered, and dived back into the kitchen to make the tea, his face burning as images danced through his mind, completely inappropriate images that he needed to get out of his head.
An hour later and the case seemed to be close to being solved, John marvelled at how Sherlock extracted every piece of information from Jess and put together a picture of what had happened. Every now and then, he'd turn and smile at John and John's stomach would give a funny little jump. HOW was Sherlock having this effect on him?
'That will probably be all' said Sherlock, standing up and shaking Jess's hand. 'I'll call you in two or three days. Should be solved by then'
John began gathering up the mugs that had contained the tea and carrying the back into the kitchen, his heart thumping painfully against his ribs. He dropped the cups into the sink and tried to control his breathing.
'You care about him don't you?' said a voice from behind him. Jess had come in and was smiling at him, her green eyes almost boring into him. John blushed even brighter red.
'It's that obvious?' he asked, not believing he was asking a seventeen year old her opinion on Sherlock and him.
'I've seen the way you look at him. You'd have to be blind not to see it.' She paused. 'But I can see you're scared. You don't need to be. He feels the same way, but look after him, you won't find someone like him'
John gaped at her, and Jess' grin widened even more, she was almost as smart as Sherlock.
"I'll see you soon Dr Watson. John.' She said, crossing the kitchen and hugging John which bought John a strange sense of comfort. "Remember, look after him"
And she was gone. John didn't move for a moment, he just stared at his own pallid reflection in the mirror, trying to make sense of everything in his brain.
"Smart girl that Jess" said Sherlock, coming to stand next to John. 'Interesting case too."
"Yeah" said John, dragging himself back to reality and staring at Sherlock. "Think you can solve it?"
Sherlock sniffed dismissively. "Childs play" he said exiting the kitchen.
He paused in the doorway. "She was right. You know, about some things" he said, his eyes fixed on John. "I do feel the same way. See you later John"