AN: It's going to get a bit angsty in the middle, so sorry about that. But you shouldn't worry too much about it because I believe in happy endings- at least for my favorite boys I do. So enjoy!
Disclaimer: I so don't own.
John was feeling good, better than he had since being shot.
He had a great flat, an odd but amazing new friend and he finally had something to post on his blog.
It was a week to the day since he had first been introduced to Sherlock, and he had just posted his- carefully edited- blog about their first case together. Now he felt like celebrating!
And what better way to celebrate than with pizza?
"Sherlock, I'm getting pizza for dinner. What toppings do you want?" He asked his flatmate politely before heading out the door.
"Pineapple." Came the immediate reply.
John froze for a moment before turning back to the seated man hunched over his microscope in the kitchen.
He hadn't really expected a reply- after only a week he was already used to being ignored- and so being answered was almost as shocking as the request itself, almost.
"P-pineapple?" He asked for clarification, all the while trying not to gag.
"Yes, it is the only topping I can stand on pizza." Looking up from his microscope, Sherlock was just in time to see John turn green.
Not knowing what had caused such a reaction, or why the doctor was staring at him as if he had just grown a second head, he stood up and approached the shorter man.
"John, are you alright?" He asked as that was the socially acceptable thing to say.
"Fi-fine. I'm just fine. I-I should go and-and get you your pizza." John managed to stutter out before rushing out the door.
Sherlock watched him go with mild fascination.
Quickly going over the previous conversation in his head he came to the conclusion that it was his choice of pineapple on pizza that had caused that reaction in his friend.
Smiling slightly at the thought that he had a friend now, Sherlock went back to his experiment and dismissed John's reaction from his mind.
It was only a pizza topping after all, it wasn't as if he had murdered someone. John would return and then things would settle once more.
JMJWJMJWJMJWJMJWJMJWJMJWJMJWJMJW
Alighting from the cab- there were not too many places that he trusted to make a good pizza and his favorite was on the opposite side of the city from Baker street- John made his way inside the run-down looking building and over to the counter.
"One large, hand-tossed, fully loaded; and one medium, hand tossed, with-with ah... pineapple." The proprietor of the little family run shop, and who was running the counter tonight, knew John and his opinions on pineapple on pizza.
Giving John a worried look he asked if the blonde was sure.
"No, I'm not." The ex-soldier replied.
"But my new flatmate says that he won't eat any other kind, so ultimately: yeah, I'm sure." Sighed John as he paid for the pizzas.
Taking his order he headed out to try and hail a cab back to Baker street, but came face to face with a well dressed man leaning against a black car instead.
"Really John, pineapple? Even if you're getting it for a friend that's still gross." The light Irish lilt had the doctor grinning, and the dark gaze roving over him was making him blush.
Getting into the car without a second thought, John thought about the last time that he had seen this man.
Years ago:
"I don't understand." The blonde said, he was close to whining he knew but couldn't bring himself to care in these circumstances.
"What's to understand? You're deploying at the end of the week, and I'm giving you back your freedom." The brunette said as he continued to pack his last few items away, never once turning to look at his lover- now ex-lover he supposed, since he had just dumped him.
"But what if I don't want my freedom back?" John was openly whining now and he would soon be begging he knew.
He just didn't want to lose his Jim, the only person that had ever made him, John 'One Night Stand' Watson, want to settle down.
"I won't tie you down, not when you're going to be knee-deep in willing women and having to prove your masculinity to you new brothers in arms." Picking up his suitcase, Jim headed for the door. His other possessions had already been shipped and all he had to do was walk out the door, but of course it wouldn't be that simple.
"Is this really about you protecting me from your criminal activity?" John's quiet question stopped Jim in his tracks.
Turning back to the blonde he tried to speak, to come up with anything to say, but words suddenly failed him. It was something that only ever seemed to happen to him around John, and was one of the reasons that he loved the man so much.
"I'm not an idiot, Jim. I may not be able to observe and deduce like you do, but I've seen and overheard enough over the last year that we've been together to realize some of what you do." Taking Jim by the hand John sat them down on the sofa, the same sofa that they had shared their first kiss on.
Looking down at their entwined hands, unable to meet the fathomless depths of the other man's eyes, John poured his heart out in a last-ditch effort to keep this perfect man with him.
"I'll admit to being shocked, and a bit dismayed, when I first realized what it was that you did for a living; but I quickly got over it." Caressing his thumb over Jim's knuckles he grounded himself for this next part.
"I sat down and thought about all the horrible things you could be doing, and had probably already done, and then I thought about whether or not I could live with any of it and I came to one simple answer." John looked up and caught Jim's dark eyes with his own blue ones.
"I love you Jim. And no matter what you do, no matter what people say, that is a truth that will never change. You are my Jim, criminal mastermind or what-have-you, and I love you." Bringing their clasped hands up to his face he kissed them and waited for a response, any response, to what he had just said.
"Johnny..." John knew that whatever Jim was about to say was serious, Jim only ever called him 'Johnny' when he had an important point to make- or when they were in bed together.
"Johnny, my sweet, my love... I love you too. But you can see that this is for the best, can't you? I won't have you getting hurt because of what I do." Pulling one hand free he began to run it through John's short hair as the blonde processed what had just been said.
Shaking off his sudden giddiness- Jim loved him, he really loved him!- John tried to form an argument that would keep them together.
"Shouldn't that be my choice though? Shouldn't I at least get some say in this? We love each other, we can find a way to make this work. Whether overcoming 'don't ask, don't tell', or hiding a weakness from your enemies, we can make this work. Please Jim, don't leave me." He was begging now, and he didn't care.
Soft lips at his temple, and a pair of strong, warm arms around his shoulders told John just how much this was all hurting Jim as well.
"I don't want to leave you John, but I can't risk you either. My business is taking a new turn, and I'll soon be making bigger enemies than you can possibly imagine. I can't risk them finding you, especially not when you'll be off in a hostile environment where a stray bullet can come from anywhere." Another kiss, this time at the corner of his eye, made John aware that he was crying.
"You are the most important person in this world to me, John, and I will not put you in harm's way. And I also won't have you waiting for me if I wind up 'disappearing'." John's breath hitched at that, he had been so caught up in Jim trying to protect him that he had forgotten that Jim's life would be in danger too.
The thought of Jim being hurt- or worse, killed- without John either knowing or being there for him was terrifying.
Clutching onto Jim with everything he had, John turned his head and captured Jim's lips in a tear-stained kiss.
He could understand why Jim was doing what he was doing, but that didn't mean he had to like it, it also didn't mean that he couldn't make Jim a promise.
Pulling back from the kiss, John pressed his forehead against his lover's. After resting there a moment he collected his thoughts and spoke.
"Jim, I love you, and I want you to know that. And you need to know that you will be the only man that I will ever take to my bed." When his brunette took a breath to protest, John just shook his head and planted a small kiss on the side of his mouth.
"We may never see each other again- though I hope someday you'll deem it safe enough so that we can at least talk to one another once more- and I need you to know just how much you've effected me over this past year. You, Jim Moriarty, are the only man that I will ever willingly let touch my body." With that he pressed a kiss, this one much deeper than its predecessors, onto the soft lips of the man who was holding him.
"Please Jim, just one last time. Just something to remember you by." John whispered into Jim's ear as he began to nibble on it.
With a moaning rendition of John's' name on his lips, Jim pulled his blonde up and led him to the bedroom.
Just one last time, just one last thing to remember him by. He could do that.
The next morning when John woke up he was alone.
Refusing to give-in to tears he spent the rest of the day lounging around in their bed, going over the details of their last night together- and the several rounds of love-making that had happened- so that he would never forget it.
That evening he finished packing up the last of his possessions- and one of Jim's ties, the one with the skulls on it as it had always been his favorite- and by morning he was ready to start his new life in the Army.
Present day:
"How have you been, John?" The brunette sitting next to him in the car asked politely, and only someone who knew him well- of which there had only ever been one person on Earth who did, namely John- would be able to tell just how nervous he truly was at this moment.
Weighing his options- John could either tease his ex and draw this out, or he could just kiss him like he really wanted to- John decided to just go with what felt right.
Placing the boxes he was holding behind him, he scooted as close to Jim as possible.
Grabbing a handful of tie- silk with tiny skulls he absently noted- the blonde leaned in until their lips were almost touching.
"I've been lonely. How about you?" As Jim began to splutter John simply smirked.
He had always been able to fluster this man, and he was glad to see that things hadn't changed in that respect.
"I've been lonely too, John, so very lonely." Jim finally managed to get out.
Making a rapid decision, and not caring in that moment what the consequences would be- John really shouldn't have gotten so close if he didn't want this- Jim wrapped his arms around John and pulled him into a passion filled kiss.
Melting against Jim- this had been the outcome he had been hoping for all along- John let himself be ravished by those hungry lips he had been dreaming about for years now.
JMJWJMJWJMJWJMJWJMJWJMJWJMJW
Walking back into the flat, sans boxes, John tried to be casual about heading to his room; but of course this had to be the one time that his flatmate would take active interest in his comings and goings.
"I thought you were getting pizza?" The man said without looking up from what he was dissecting- John really hoped that it was only liver and not something even worse.
"I-I was, I did, but then I changed my mind." John stuttered as he started moving towards his room again.
"You've been gone two hours, John, more than enough time to pick up an order and bring it home." Finally looking up from the pickled hand he was pulling apart- and if anyone asked he would say it was for a case, but we all know better- Sherlock's questioning was derailed by a new line of inquest that he felt he needed to follow.
"John, why is the back of your jumper covered in pineapple and pizza sauce?" John flushed red and made a mad dash to his room and a new change of clothing.
Once clean again, but still blushing like mad- he had found one of the green peppers from his pizza in his underwear- the doctor finally went back down-stairs. He wasn't at all surprised to see Sherlock waiting for him there.
Before he could open his mouth to explain the tall detective had already begun listing his deductions.
"You met an old lover while on your way back to the flat, pizzas in hand. He offered you a ride, and you eagerly excepted. On the way here you rekindled your lost flame and have spent the last hour snogging on top of the pizza boxes- which is why you were covered in pizza toppings and didn't bring any in with you." Raking John over with a calculating eye Sherlock nodded to himself and went back to his pickled hand.
"Next time you see you ex-ex, try not to make such public spectacles of yourselves. The backseat of a car, John? You are not a teenager anymore, I had expected more from you." Gaping like a fish, John managed to wrap his mind around at least a few of the points made.
"I'm not even going to ask how you know all that- absolutely brilliant as it was- but I will ask how you know it was a man that I met. And what do you mean 'next time'?" John asked, it was this similarity to Jim that had first made John latch onto Sherlock and it was still fascinating to try and see the world through either man's eyes.
"Don't be dull, John." And there was the biggest difference between the two geniuses, Jim would never insult John like that.
"Obviously a man- perhaps an overly aggressive woman, but in this case definitely a man- and the only one that you were ever 'with', as they say. And you will see him again, tonight no doubt, or else you wouldn't have put on date clothes after changing." John's phone chimed just then.
"I suspect that's him now, letting you know that the mess in his backseat is cleaned up and he's waiting to take you to dinner." Deductions and explanations done, he picked up his scalpel again and started to extract the bones from one of the fingers.
"Amazing, and spot on too. I'll be back late- or maybe tomorrow- try to eat something in the meantime. And I'll introduce you to him one of these days too, you two have a lot in common after all and I'm sure you'll get on quite well." Heading out the door John didn't hear the derisive snort coming from the kitchen.
He would get on well with this old flame of John's? Who was the good doctor kidding here, he never got on well with anyone- John excepted- and he very much doubted that that would change any time soon.
