"Hello, Sherlock? Innes? I'm home!" John pulled his suitcase over the threshold of flat 221B and closed the door behind him. He sighed; it felt really nice to be home, especially as he now had a couple of days off work to spend doing whatever he wanted to do. "Hello?" He called again when he got no reaction for the first time, they surely couldn't be out – Innes had school in the morning. Just as John thought this, Sherlock appeared at the top of the staircase.

"John!" He was smiling as he ran down the stairs quietly to help with John's case. "How was the flight?"

"Boring." John answered, shrugging his jacket off and hanging it up on one of the hooks. "I tell you if I ever see the inside of Hamburg airport again, I might just implode." John shook his head, his flight had been delayed nearly four hours due to some kind of mechanical fault that needed to be fixed on the plane.

"I'll get that." Sherlock smiled as John had moved to pick up the case.

"Thank you." John smiled as Sherlock picked up the case.

"Are you hungry? I can order in a take away if you want something to eat."

"No, I'm alright. I might just get a cup of tea and I'll be fine." John answered. Sherlock carried the case up the stairs and put it down in the living room.

"I've missed you." Sherlock said, enveloping John in a hug and kissing him.

"I've missed you too." John replied once they broke apart. "Where's Innes?" He looked around as though he expected Innes to jump out from behind the sofa. "I thought he might have stayed up to see me get home."

"Ah, yeah… he's in bed." Sherlock answered, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I got a call from his school earlier on today, I had to go and pick him up because he had a sore stomach. He went to bed early, but I was hoping you'd maybe speak to him in the morning or something."

"With a sore stomach? He's not coming down with a bug or anything is he?" John's demeanour had instantly changed to that of a concerned parent. "Did you take his temperature or anything?"

"His temperature was fine, he hasn't vomited, he's not constipated, there are no signs that there's anything physically wrong." Sherlock informed John. "Do you want that cup of tea?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." John nodded, following Sherlock over to their kitchen. "So, if there's no sign of a bug or anything, what's making him feel unwell?"

"Well, I thought – but this is straying more into your territory – that he might be worrying about something." Sherlock answered, "I tried to talk to him about it, but I didn't get anything from him… I thought you would probably do a better job than me."

"What do you mean, like someone picking on him or something?" John asked, leaning against one of the kitchen counters as Sherlock put the kettle on.

"Well that's what I thought… I remembered what you had said about getting bullied at school, but I asked him about that and he said no." Sherlock answered, "But I don't know… I'm not very good at, you know, well…"

"Did he say anything?" John inquired as Sherlock poured boiling water into a mug to make tea for him.

"Not about school, no." Sherlock stirred milk into the tea and handed it across to John.

"If not about school, then what?" John had accepted the mug but he wasn't drinking out of it.

"About you and me…" Sherlock said quietly, moving away from John and sitting down on the sofa.

"What?" John sounded completely confused.

"He asked if you were coming back tonight, and then he said something like: 'if I didn't worry then I wouldn't be a very good son'." Sherlock wasn't looking at John as he said this, he was worried about meeting John's eye because he knew he should have done better in trying to help their son.

"He said what?" John continued, sitting down next to Sherlock.

"I told him that all he had to do was be him and that he never needed to worry about us, but… I don't know if he was actually listening to me." Sherlock shrugged.

"Jesus – our seven year old thinks that if he doesn't worry about us, then – we'll do.. what?" John put his head into his hand and rubbed his eyes. "This is all my fault."

"How is it your fault?" Sherlock asked, utterly bemused.

"He's too much like how I was when I was a kid." John sighed heavily.

"I… I don't understand…" Sherlock shook his head.

"I wear my heart on my sleeve! You have been telling me for the past ten years that I care too much, I let my emotions run me – well, you might actually be right on some counts." John explained, "When I was little I was terrified that my parents didn't think Harry and I were good enough, that we didn't care – I used to worry myself sick over them."

"You think Innes is the same?" Sherlock asked, placing his hand on John's knee to try and comfort him.

"Sounds like it, doesn't it?"

"But… but… you had reason to worry when you were younger… I mean, your parents were…" Sherlock trailed off, unsure how to be tactful.

"Dysfunctional to say the least." John continued for him. "But then… aren't we kind of?" John looked straight at Sherlock, his face was set as though this was costing him so much to say.

"Dysfunctional… John, how could we be anything less? But we both love Innes, we both care for him; I don't see how that could be a bad thing, I don't understand!" This was scaring Sherlock, the way John was talking about the two of them. "Are you suggesting that Innes would be better off if we weren't together?"

"No! No…" John shook his head fiercely. "I don't know what I mean… I just can't help but think that this is our fault."

"I don't think we should be blaming ourselves just yet John…" Sherlock tried to bring the conversation back to something less edgy. "Maybe, maybe it's nothing… I mean, maybe he was missing you cause you'd been away at work." Sherlock tried to sound convinced. "And maybe he has just got a bug or something."

"I don't know. I sure hope it's nothing more serious." John leant gently against Sherlock's shoulder. "I might chat with him in the morning; see if there is anything else bothering him."

"I think that's a good idea." Sherlock said, putting his arm behind John and pulling him into a hug. "I'm sure he'll be alright though, especially when he's got you."

A/N: As always I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter/story so far! I hope you're enjoying it!