Sherlock's Exception
Chapter 2
A/N: Just to be clear on the floor plan, in my head I originally put the two bedrooms on the other side of the living room (where the windows are in the show). I know, it probably isn't a big deal, but I only just realized that if I were reading this I'd be incredibly confused to why they keep walking through the living room to get to the kitchen, seeing as it's not set up that way in the show. Okay! That's all, enjoy! :)
Once John had cleaned up all the glass and mysterious liquid (which he was very careful not to touch), he started dinner. It was a rare occasion. John usually ordered in if he even ate a proper meal, but figured since it was Emily's first night here, he should make something special.
John wasn't a particularly brilliant cook, so he had trouble deciding on what to make. After flipping through several cookbooks, he gave up and decided to just throw some chicken in the oven and sprinkle some type of seasoning on it. Emily would still appreciate it – she was under no delusions about John's cooking skills.
As he prepared the chicken, Sherlock came into the kitchen, looking miffed.
"Figured out whatever you were working on?" John asked, as he tried to remember whether herbs went on the chicken before or after you cooked it.
"Your sister's playing music and I can hear it through the door. It's obnoxious," Sherlock said.
"So? Go ask her to turn it down," John said. Sherlock turned around, and went off to presumably do just that.
"Politely!" John shouted after him.
Sherlock knocked on Emily's door. She didn't answer. The music was probably too loud to hear anything over. Annoyed, Sherlock opened the door and walked right in. Emily was on the bed, lying on her stomach. Her laptop was open and the glow from the screen illuminated her face.
Seeing the door open, she turned and saw Sherlock standing in the doorway.
"Your music is obnoxious," he told her. "Could you turn it off?"
Emily gave him a look that clearly meant he could have been more tactful in his request. Nevertheless, she turned it down a little.
"I'm not turning it off. I need to listen to music while blogging," she told him.
Sherlock groaned. Another blogger.
"As long as I don't hear it. Sound carries in this flat, and I need to be able to think," he said.
"Okay," Emily replied, turning her head back to the screen. Sherlock walked out of the room, leaving the door open behind him. Emily didn't see how that would help with the sound issue, but was too lazy to get up and close it herself so she let it be.
He's rather attractive, she thought, as she watched him leave. I wonder if he has a girlfriend. As soon as the idea crossed her mind she smiled and shook her head. Not with that attitude of his. Definitely not. She chuckled and turned her music up a little, deciding to update her followers with a short snippet about this guy, Sherlock.
~…~…~
About an hour later, the smell of dinner filled the entire flat. This was enough to pull Emily out of her room to check and see how John was doing. She wandered though the living room straight to the kitchen, passing Sherlock, who was busy on John's laptop and paid her no notice.
"Need any help?" Emily asked as she entered the kitchen.
"Nope, it's all set. Sit down." John was bustling around, grabbing silverware and plates. Emily took them from John and set the table before she sat.
"Sherlock, foods up," he called into the other room. John opened the oven and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the chicken was a nice golden brown, rather than a black or pink, which is what he half expected.
Meanwhile, Emily's phone buzzed in her back pocket. She flipped it out and opened the text, which she saw was from Amber, one of her friends from University:
You're back in London today, yeah? I haven't seen you in forever. We should go out tonight, I'll pick you up.
"Were you planning anything for tonight?" Emily asked John, looking up from her phone.
"No, why, where are you scampering off to?"
"Amber wants to hang out. Maybe go to a pub or club or something," Emily said.
"Yeah, that's fine," John replied. He set the chicken down on the table, calling out to Sherlock again.
"I wasn't asking permission," Emily laughed, and texted Amber back along with John's address. But it was true, she wasn't asking for permission. Those days were thankfully long behind her. John was 8 years her senior, and growing up he was always in charge. She got into the habit of asking him when she wanted to go out rather than asking her parents. This was partially because her parents were usually working, but mostly because John near always said yes.
Of course, when she was 16 John discovered she was just going out to drink or smoke at some party or another. This didn't surprise him as much as it disappointed him, and kept her on a tighter leash from that point on, even though she promised him that she wouldn't do anything like it anymore.
At this point Sherlock strode in, taking the seat across from Emily's. John settled in too, after setting a bowl of carrots on the table, which he had cooked as an afterthought.
They all helped themselves to the meal and dug in. It was really rather good, which surprised everyone. Emily looked over at John who really seemed quite proud of himself.
"So how was your trip, to, where'd you go last? You went back to the U.S. right?" John asked.
"Yeah, It was great! Oh my God, there was this party and some kid over there, he had an entire pound of…" She trailed off when she realized whom she was talking to. She couldn't tell her John that she had taken up weed again.
"An entire pound of…" She looked at the table. "Carrots. It was crazy… He never ate vegetables and he… he ate them all of them." She sipped her water awkwardly, wishing it were something stronger.
A look of amusement crossed Sherlock's face as he realized instantly what she had meant to say. Frankly, it didn't take John much longer, and he looked at her disapprovingly.
"I see," he said. "Anything else?"
"I went to church," Emily blurted out. John raised an eyebrow at her; he knew she wasn't religious. Sherlock snickered.
Reaching out to her glass to take another drink she found it was empty. Sherlock grabbed it and went to the fridge.
"What do you want?" He asked, with a knowing smirk.
"Whatever you got," Emily said as she held her forehead in her hand, partially blocking her face from John. Sherlock took a beer that was sitting at the front and filled up her glass. The second he put it down in front of her she snatched it up and downed half of it.
"You know," John started. "Maybe you shouldn't go out tonight. I mean, you only just got here."
"No, it's fine!" Emily said. She knew he wouldn't forbid her from going out or anything, but she still wanted to convince him that she'd be responsible. "Amber doesn't do anything like that anyway."
"What, eat carrots?" Sherlock asked slyly.
"No. She never eats carrots," Emily affirmed. "Excuse me, I should get ready. She'll be here soon." Emily got up from the table and strode out of the kitchen to the bedroom.
John and Sherlock watched her go until she closed the door behind her.
"I want you to keep an eye on her, Sherlock," John spoke quietly on the off chance she could still hear them.
"Why would I do that?" He asked. "I have work I need to do."
"Please. I don't want her getting hurt." John pleaded. He didn't like the path Emily was going, and worried about where she might end up if she continued down it.
"Fine, I suppose. I already found her blog anyway, it shouldn't be too hard. From first glance it looks like she posts her entire life on it." It was true. He had already read what she put up earlier about him being attractive. He wasn't particularly interested in the musings of the young woman, but he supposed if he had to read them, at least he'd get a self-esteem boost out of it.
"Thank you," John said.
At that moment, the doorbell rang, and Emily rushed out of her room and down the stairs, purse swinging in hand. Throwing a quick goodbye over her shoulder, she left, slamming the door behind her.
A/N: Please review!