The red light flashes on to the right of the webcam lens, and John Watson smiles at the camera. Unlike the last one hundred days, his smiles lately have been real, happy.
"Good morning, viewers. Today is a very special day indeed… Today's the day that Anderson gets promoted! I really feel bad for the department and where they're going…" He smiles wider at the camera. "And I'd like to make it known that that was a joke, Anderson's actually not as bad as I make him out to be.
"Last night we… errr, we being Greg, Molly, Sarah, and I… went out to dinner, Greg's treat. I really think we might have upset the waiter… Greg had a little bit too much to drink, I swear he's a lightweight, and we had to carry him from the bar back over to our seat." John laughs and shakes his head. "Normal things going on here, he's still getting over his divorce. But being with friends really helps him, so we're here for him. Sally and Anderson were away on a date last night. You know he got divorced? Yeah, his wife found out about his and Sally's affair, and got really upset. I kinda don't blame her.
"I got a call from some strange number this morning, I'm still not sure whose it is. If it's one of you lot, just let me know. I'm always glad to talk to viewers!" John glances at the clock behind him and sighs. "I have to be into work in about ten minutes, and I'm still not ready. And we've got Anderson's promotion party after we all get off of work. So, I'll make another video tomorrow! Have a nice day, viewers! Or for those of you in America, have a good evening! John signing off."
Sherlock had been watching the man's patterns for about three stops on the underground. Now he waits for the man to fall asleep against the glass, hands itching to steal the man's iPhone and see the one person that he loves.
After two more stops, the man finally, FINALLY falls asleep with his arms crossed, face smooshed against the glass. Sherlock moves carefully, avoiding the eyes of the two other people on the underground. One is an older woman who is paying him no mind, and the other is her grandson, who sits with his headphones on.
Slowly, Sherlock reaches out and takes the phone out of the man's pocket, and returns to his seat. He unlocks the phone (he had seen the man type in the code three times, though one was enough) and pulls up Youtube.
Once he signs into his account, the video pops up on his subscribed list. It's the second video that John has made, and Sherlock didn't have the nerve to watch the first one because of the title. It was simply 'Come Home'. But Sherlock couldn't come home.
"Come on…" he growled at the phone. The video was loading, but very slowly. A message popped up. 'Youtube is unavailable at this time'. "Damn…" Sherlock refreshed the page, and tried it again, heart pounding. The man could wake up at any moment. "Come on…" Again, the message.
Sherlock had to set the phone down on his leg for a moment and take a breath. He let it out slowly, concentrated on not losing his temper, and picked it up again.
The message flashed again for a moment, then the video corrected itself and started playing.
Sherlock's breath caught in his throat.
John's eyes were shining, his body language told that he was in a very good mood, and Sherlock didn't see any trace of the sadness that he had seen in John's eyes the last time that he had seen him… when John was standing over Sherlock's freshly dug grave.
He looked animated as he talked, and Sherlock was so transfixed that he didn't even have the thoughts to spare for the mention of Anderson's promotion. He could feel tears welling in his eyes, and he let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding.
With it came one word: "John…"
Sherlock clutched the image of his best friend close to his chest, and tried to steady his breathing.
John was happy; he had moved on… he didn't even look like he remembered Sherlock. He wasn't in 221B anymore; the room behind him was unfamiliar. He had been out with friends, had been happy without Sherlock.
John had moved on, but for Sherlock, he could never forget the doctor with the determined blue eyes, and the breath taking smile.
