A/N: Warning this chapter is a bit slow! Just kind of transitioning a bit, I guess? A little fluff added in there, too!
-0.0-
Sherlock was first to wake up, his back and neck aching from having been sitting up for so long while his head undoubtedly hung forward throughout the night.
None of that seemed to matter, though, as he looked down to see John still sleeping peacefully, his arms loosely draped across Sherlock's waist and thighs, the doctor having flipped over some time during the night now that he was facing the detective.
With a faint, upward tug of his lips, Sherlock lazily raised his hand to dig into blonde strands of hair while his thumb gently caressed the soft skin over John's cheek bone. In response, the ex-army doctor let out a small, seemingly happy, sound and rubbed his face gently into Sherlock's lap before going still once more.
Through the windows, Sherlock could see the faintest light brought about by the sun rising, indicating that it was still in the wee hours of the morning. Still, his mind was on full alert, calculating every breath John took, the way his eye lids fluttered with a pleasant dream, his slightly parted mouth that would likely be dry the time he woke up...
Water, he should get John water for when he woke up, shouldn't he? Surely that's what one was supposed to do for their friend, wasn't it? Bring them water in the morning to ease their dry throat?
Tedious, these social concepts were... Too foreign for him to possibly make a conclusion without the right background in the subject. Damn.. he should have looked more into these things when he had the chance- There's no one to pick pocket around here.
"Mmfh... Sherlock? Why are you staring at me like that?" John asked in a gruff, early morning voice. Interesting, Sherlock kind of liked it- it was... endearing.
"Would you like a glass of water?" Sherlock decided to ask, can't get results if you don't perform the experiment.
The doctor made an odd, scrunched up face and a grunt as he sat up and reached for his throat. "My throat is kind of dry, now that you mention it.."
At that, Sherlock leaped to his feet, leaving John behind as he headed for his suit case to pull out two mugs that he had acquired before leaving 221B. Swiftly, he took the one John usually used and brought it to the sink to fill with water, then carefully carried it back to the doctor, who was now stretching out his arms.
"Hah! When did you sneak that out of the flat?" John asked upon recognizing one of his favorite mugs.
"While you were putting on your shoes and coat, took you much longer than usual given your distress and confusion, which I then used to my advantage to grab some necessities from the kitchen."
"Huh... what else did you manage to grab while I wasn't looking?" John inquired curiously, adding a quick "Thank you" as Sherlock handed him the mug of water.
"Just two mugs.. and some papers.."
"Papers?"
"I do believe I just said that, yes"
John looked up from his water, which he had been sipping on, and sent Sherlock a tilted put out look.
"Yes, I know that, what kind of papers?"
Sherlock promptly turned his head to look out the windows, his head held high. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh!" John groaned as he set the water on the ground beside his foot. "Come on! They aren't more papers you had me sign while drunk, are they?"
"No, you were... quite sober, I believe"
John pursed his lips and tried to think back to what Sherlock has had him sign in the past as he looked out at the sun rise, a swirling mix of yellows, pinks, and oranges.
Deciding it was a lost cause since Sherlock has made him do plenty of ridiculous things over the span of their friendship, including sign random forms, John stood up and stretched a bit more. "Right, so, what do we have planned for today? Grocery shopping, I hope. Can't have the boys at the mattress shop bring us pizza everyday, now can we?"
"I'm sure we could, if we paid them enough, it just wouldn't be particularly desirable."
John let out a faint laugh at that, thinking of them, eating pizza every night for the rest of their lives, certainly not desirable. "Alright, so where's the actual town around here?"
"Just a few miles down the road, I'm sure we could walk there by lunch if we leave within the hour." Sherlock informed the ex-army doctor as he reached down to pick up the mug of water and drink the rest of it's contents with a satisfied sigh at the end.
"Miles? Dear god, Sherlock, we've got to get bikes or something because that is quite the hike and I don't think I could pull it off very frequently." John confessed as he thought of the return trip, groceries bundled in both of their arms. Definitely not going to be something one would want to do every day.
"Agreed, we can take a look around the shops, see what they have"
Sherlock inspected the mug, surprised to find the sink water tasted better than what they usually sell in stores. Interesting, piping may be old, but certainly not bad.
"Alright, I'll just change my clothes and we can get on our way?" John phrased what would have been a statement with more of a questioning tone as he pointed to the connected bathroom.
"3 and a half minutes, then. I'll be in the living room."
John opened his mouth to ask when the hell Sherlock had time to measure his "quick" shower time, but didn't get the chance when the detective slid through the door and closed it behind him, leaving the doctor alone in the bedroom.
"Alright, fine, Sherlock counts how long it takes me to change, fine by me.. it's all... fine.." John mumbled to himself as he picked up his suit case from the floor and started looking through the clothes Sherlock had picked out, trailing off a little at the end as he noticed they were all of his favorite attire, aside from the jumper he had been wearing when...
John released a breathy sigh, he was not going to go there, that was over and done with.
So, instead he focused his attention on what he did have, smiling when he found the shirt he knew Sherlock hated but the doctor loved none the less having it been a gift from Harry and Clara.
-0.0-
3 minutes and 27 seconds later, John walked out of the master bedroom, frowning when he saw Sherlock, face down on his mattress.
"You're wearing that hideous shirt, aren't you?" Sherlock mumbled into the bed, taking John by surprise as he looked down and was, indeed, wearing the shirt from his sister and ex-wife.
"How-"
"Of ALL the shirts to choose from, John... I knew I was going to regret packing it" Sherlock groaned as he lifted his head from the soft material of the mattress and turned to glare at the article of clothing hanging loosely over the doctor's torso.
"Don't even think about trying to burn this shirt, Sherlock- are you ready to go?"
John walked over to the coat rack and pulled off his jacket, slipping it on over his shoulders while Sherlock dragged his body up off of the bed and stumbled over to his own coat.
"Stupid shirt.." Sherlock muttered under his breathe as he pulled the front door open and ignored the warning look John sent him as he stepped through it and out into the chilly air.
"I'm assuming we're going to take a right, correct?" John guessed as he looked down both sides of the street, finding that it seemingly went on forever in both directions.
"Quite" Sherlock confirmed as they turned down the road, officially beginning their first journey into town together.
They continued on in silence, both caught up in their own minds as the wind nipped at their ears and cheeks.
Finally, after several, in Sherlock's opinion, distracting, glances backwards, John decided, "If we're not half way there yet, I'm turning back- it's freezing out here."
Sherlock glanced down and to his right at the doctor who was rubbing his hands together rapidly in an attempt to create some warming friction, which, apparently, wasn't working.
"We'll pick you up some gloves while we're in town, until then..." Sherlock pulled off his own leather gloves and handed them to the smaller man "..you can use mine"
John looked at the surprisingly large gloves and stopped walking. "Well, hold on- then your hands are going to get cold, and you're going to ignore them, and then they're going to get frost bitten" The doctor dead panned, knowing Sherlock often didn't pay any mind to the body's "trivial" needs like warmth.
"Well then what do you suggest, doctor? We just passed the half way mark two minutes ago" Sherlock pointed out while gesturing over to some point which apparently John was supposed to recognize as the half way mark.
Looking down at the gloves, John bit his lip, then handed the left one to the detective and slid the right one onto his own hand, immediately holding out his left hand for Sherlock to take.
Catching on, Sherlock silently slid on the glove and took John's ungloved hand into his own, stuffing both of them into the warmth of his coat pocket. Nodding at his own, surprisingly good, idea, John moved along, keeping in pace with the taller man now that they were walking much closer together.
After several more steps, it was Sherlock's time to stop them as he retracted their connected hands and pulled off his scarf. John looked curiously at the detective as he took one end of the scarf and wrapped it around John's exposed neck and ears, then took the other end and wrapped it around his own before reaching for John's hand again and placing them in his pocket without so much as meeting John's amused eyes.
"...This... makes it rather difficult to deny that we're a couple..." John mentioned after having walked a little while longer down the road.
Sherlock didn't respond, instead simply squeezed the doctor's hand ever so slightly tighter and continued to look forward, very aware of how John didn't seem to mind the lack of response and instead just began bobbing his head as if to music- probably a beat stuck in his head.
Sherlock watched the shorter man through the corner of his eye, trying to piece together the melody using the nods of John's head, only to realize he didn't recognize it- something modern, then.
"I.." Sherlock spoke up after a little more ways down the road. "I mean... you always correct people when they assume we're a couple... why?" The detective asked hesitantly, refusing to meet John's confused eyes, his thought process having diverged from that topic a while back.
"Umm.. well.." John let out a deep breath as he tried to gather his thoughts. "I suppose I just correct them because I don't want to give them the wrong idea?"
At that, Sherlock looked down at the doctor. "Aren't we, though?"
John quirked an eye brow, obviously having gotten lost in their conversation. "Aren't we what?"
Sherlock furrowed his eyebrows in frustration and bit his lip, tearing his gaze away from John as he set his features into a pout.
"Oh, come on, Sherlock, don't be like that. Aren't we what? Even you have to admit your train of thought is hard for an outside party to follow most of the time"
John nudged his shoulder into Sherlock's upper arm since he couldn't quite reach the other man's shoulder as he tried to get the detective to speak up and not disappear off into his mind palace.
With an exasperated sigh, Sherlock shot his gaze over into John's startled dark blue eyes. "Aren't we a couple?" He asked clearly, a light blush dusting his cheeks from having said it out loud.
Taken aback, John tilted his head, replaying their conversation in his mind to see if he had missed anything while Sherlock glared at him impatiently.
"Sherlock... do you know what a couple is?" John retorted with another question, thoroughly frustrating his genius companion.
"Yes, John, I know what a couple is. It's two people who are close." Sherlock explained with growing agitation at how thick the doctor was being.
"It's a bit more complicated than that, Sherlock. A couple is usually romantically or sexually involved"
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"We're romantically involved"
"How-" John cut himself off as he remembered their current position, the fact that they just bought a house together, slept toge- okay, slept as in just sleeping- no funny business, the fact that they both admitted to wanting to spend the rest of their lives with one another...
"Ohh..." John breathed suddenly, realizing that yeah, in some ways, they could definitely be seen as a couple.
"Forget it, we're here" Sherlock deadpanned as he pulled his hand out of his pocket, threw off the scarf, and took several steps ahead, leaving John behind as they entered the small town.
"Sherlock!" John called out as he ran to catch up to the detective, that of whom made a bee line for what appeared to pass as a grocery store in this town.
Stepping through through the front door of the shop, John found himself suddenly lost in the crammed little store, not sure as to where Sherlock had wondered off to. "Excuse me, have you seen a tall man in a black coat? He's got his coat collar up and mysterious cheek bones? Hard to miss" John asked the young lady at the register, that of whom smiled at him and pointed toward the back of the store.
"Just walked in and headed for the back left, you two make an adorable couple by the way, Charlie, my neighbor, told me all about you two" The girl said with a grin.
"We're not- right, thanks. Tell Charlie I said hi" John said hastily, cutting himself off since he didn't really know what they were as he walked to the back of the store.
"There you are! Don't go running off like that"
Sherlock ignored the other man in favor of picking up a carton of milk and walking away, leaving John to either catch up or fall behind as he wandered through the aisles, every now and again dropping off his findings at the register when his hands became too full and refused to let John help.
Finally, after going through the whole store, Sherlock placed the last of his, apparently internal, list on the counter and pulled out a rather large sum of money which the girl gawked at.
"I don't know how expensive things are from where you're from, but around here that could buy you a boat!" She exclaimed while ringing up the last of their items and stuffing the seventh paper bag full. John looked at them and frowned, carrying those back might be a challenge.
"I'd much prefer a truck, thanks, the one you're selling will do."
"How did you know I was selling my truck? I haven't told anyone about it, yet" The young lady asked with a surprised smile, curious as to how the stranger she only just met could possibly know that.
"He just knows things, trust me, it's better if you don't ask" John piped in as he rubbed his forehead and sent the girl a charming little smile which was apparently contagious because she smiled back.
"I'll take your word for it- I don't want to know what you two were getting up to in the back near my truck, but if you spilled on it, it's yours" The girl said with a wink and wiggle of eyebrows at John, who's jaw dropped at the young ladies failed subtlety.
However, instead of correcting her, the good doctor simply cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck while Sherlock glanced at him quizzically, clearly not understanding what the girl was referring to, and for that, John will forever be thankful. He wasn't exactly in the best position to discuss sexual innuendo after his last sexual encounter, and Sherlock wasn't exactly the best at catching on to things like that unless they're spelled out for him.
"We'll take it, along with the groceries.. but we didn't spill anything on it.."
"Oh god..." John breathed.
-0.0-
After acquiring the truck and putting the groceries in the back, John was much more open to looking around the town a bit more, so they stopped at a small cafe and sat down at one of the tables to look at the menu.
"John..." Sherlock whispered from across the table, distracting the doctor from a delicious photograph of a Reuben.
"Yes?"
"There's a clothing shop down the str-"
"No." John said impassively as he looked back at his menu.
"Wait, listen. You can keep the shirt, you just can't ever wear-"
"No."
Sherlock clamped his mouth shut and leaned back in the chair like a child who didn't get what they wanted.
"Hello, boys! What can I get for you today?" A waitress came over to ask, a smile too big to be real plastered to her face.
"Ah, yes, I'll get a Reuben and... coffee, please, black" John ordered with an upward tug of his lips as he handed the waitress his menu.
"And for you?" She asked Sherlock, who was still staring blankly at John and if ugly shirt that taunted him from under the doctor's coat. Really should have left it at Baker Street.
"Sherlock" John said with a duck of his head as he made eye contact with the detective.
"Hmm? Oh, your husband is cheating on you"
"What?" The waitress asked while slowly reaching for her wedding ring that sat on her left hand.
"He's having an affair with one of the waitresses from second shift- oh, you two run this business together, well, that's no doubt where the stress is coming from, do take a day off every now and again, it'll help with the stress lines a lot better than that ointment you've been using." Sherlock rattled on while John watched a scowl slip on to the waitress/ owner's face.
"Tony, you fucking shit! Get your ass out here!" The woman screamed from across the cafe, scaring the hell out of the other customer who had been casually sipping coffee at one of the stools at the bar.
"I suggest we leave" Sherlock said to the doctor as he leaned across the table, meanwhile the waitress stormed over to the kitchen, still screaming bloody murder.
"But my Reuben..." John mumbled heart brokenly as he glanced at Sherlock's untouched menu, a picture of a Reuben standing proud on the front cover.
"Now, John." Sherlock hissed with impatience just as they heard a loud clatter and more yelling, now from both members of the married couple.
"Right" John said quickly as he and Sherlock made a run for the exit and up to the truck.
The doctor hopped into the passenger's seat while Sherlock dove into the driver's and sped off in the direction of their new home.
"Don't get me wrong, Sherlock, amazing deductions just... it couldn't have waited until after lunch?" John asked with a smile as he looked over at the grinning detective.
"Not going to scold me, doctor?" Sherlock inquired as he kept his eyes on the road.
"No... I think sometimes, not all the time, but in this case... it's good to give someone a little push like that... It'll at least get them talking so they can work out their differences instead of sneaking out around each others backs.."
"Assuming they don't kill each other first"
"Yes," John let out a breathy laugh, "assuming they both make it out alive"
They made it down the road about another mile or so in a comfortable silence until Sherlock decided to pull off to the side of the road.
"Hmm? What's this about, then? Run out of gas? Please tell me we don't have to get out and push" John groaned as he looked out at the dirt road ahead, their place still another two of three miles down the road.
"John... we should probably talk"
John stopped looking out the window and instead gave Sherlock his full attention, ready for anything.
"I'm sorry, about earlier. I misunderstood and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable because of it" Sherlock said slowly as he stared straight into dark blue, hoping the other man would understand that he was being sincere.
"Is this about the whole couple thing?" John asked, not sure of what else they could be talking about that would fit this context.
Sherlock nodded, and in response blinked, twice, before smiling up at the detective.
"Sherlock. I'm the one who should be apologizing, you're right, we are.. well, we're something. I'm not sure yet but we can work this out. I, for one, wouldn't have a problem... trying, it, at least... if we were to take it slowly- very slowly, mind you. I've never been... I've never been with a man, aside from... that, and-"
"I would never pressure you into something like that, John." Sherlock cut in quickly as he reached for John's hand and simply rested it there, a gentle touch of skin to skin.
"I know, Sherlock.." John said with a twinge of a smile while he twisted his hand around to squeeze Sherlock's. "Let's just... take it one step at a time, yeah?"
The detective smiled and gently raised John's hand to his lips, giving his knuckles a quick kiss before settling their hands back down to rest between their seats. "Yeah" He whispered softly, then began to steer slowly back onto the main road with his other hand.
-0.0-
After putting groceries away and, in John's case, cooking a lunch that consisted of macaroni and soda- neither of them were particularly good at cooking- the two men sat down with their meals on the floor with their backs against the walls for support.
"You know... sooner or later we're going to need to get real silver ware and plates- all this paper and plastic is bad for the environment." John mentioned casually as he shoved another fork full of noodles into his mouth. "One of us is also going to need to learn how to cook..." He added as an afterthought, more to himself than to Sherlock.
"We can pick up some cook books tomorrow when we go out to get furniture." Sherlock added helpfully, figuring it could cure both of their boredom if they learned something relatively useful. Better than crap telly, anyway.
"I still can't believe we're actually doing here, doing.. this" John said while motioning around them.
"This?" Sherlock asked with a quirked eyebrow as he looked around them. It wasn't all that different. Sure, they were in a new place and instead of hunting criminals watching over bees, but it wasn't all that different.
"Well, just thinking about it is... strange. Different, good different- don't get me wrong- but still.. different. It's much more... permanent."
"Permanent... You didn't think we would stay together at Baker street?" Sherlock inquired as he set his paper plate to the side and rolled his head over to look at the doctor.
"Well.. no, I guess not... I mean, I had hoped it would but there was always this... voice, in the back of my head telling me it was going to end in some way or another..." John explained with a puzzled little look upon his face, not really sure he understood why that was- possibly because he had always pictured himself getting married? Then again perhaps he never really expected either of them to live particularly long?
"I suppose you're right. While at Baker street I was worried you were going to run off and get married.. not that you can't here... probability is just.. much smaller..." Sherlock said softly as he looked to the dark floors with a quiet, shaky breathe.
"A mad man is probably searching the globe for us right now and you're worried I'm going to go run off and get married?" John asked with a huff of laughter and amused smile. "Nice to know what your priorities are" He finished with a snort and another mouthful of macaroni.
"You are my priority, John"
John looked quizzically over to Sherlock, who looked back unwaveringly.
"I'm still not convinced you didn't use the search engine to learn how to sweet talk"
"Does that mean I'm doing it right?"
Sherlock raised an eyebrow as John continued to look through narrowed eyes at the taller man, as if he was trying to see past a disguise. "You are.. which is why impossible to believe you could actually come up with them on your own.."
"Oh! Would you like to set up some rat traps with me? I'll get the traps, you get the cheese" Sherlock exclaimed seemingly out of nowhere as he sped up and off the the kitchen.
"That is more of what I would expect to come out of your mouth" John confessed as he picked up both of their plates silverware, and mugs.
"Did you say something?" Sherlock asked as he pulled out several rat traps from the pantry.
"Did you- were those in with the rest of our food?" John asked, dumbfounded as he looked from the soon to be rat murderer to the pantry and back again.
"Oh please, John, you've seen much worse"
"Not when there are dozens of other cabinets and drawers you could have put them in!" John grumbled as he threw the plates and silverware into the garbage bag they had hanging from the now rat poison infested pantry.
"Fine, no hazardous materials where we store food from now on, got it" Sherlock groaned as he removed the wrapping from one of the rat traps and handed it to John.
"Eww, no"
John promptly took a step back from the extended rat trap.
"Dr. John Hamish-" John cringed at the sound of his middle name. "Watson, ex-army doctor, are you afraid of rodents?" Sherlock inquired, his lips twitching upward as John frowned at him with his arms crossed in an attempt to hide he was uncomfortable.
"Shut up, Sherlock."
"Trembling, shortness of breath, uncomfortable shifting, even starting to break out into sweat- you're horrified, aren't you?"
"Like you're not afraid of anything."
At that, Sherlock's mouth snapped shut, his smile gone as hid eyes cast downward and he walked over to the fridge, pulling out cheese before scooping up his different rat traps and heading over toward the attic access door in the living room.
"Wait..." John mumbled softly, "Wait, Sherlock" He said a little louder and began to follow the detective upon hearing Sherlock pull down the drop down latter.
"What is it, John?" Sherlock mumbled, bag of deadly poisons and traps hanging in his mouth as he stopped halfway up the latter.
"Never mind" He decided with a wave of his hand. "It can wait until you get down- and be careful!"
Sherlock grunted his acknowledgment and continued up the latter, leaving John watch his disappear into the rat infested attic. "Don't let them bite you!" He yelled, shivering when he heard a squeak that had most definitely come from a rodent.
"I'm uhh.. going to go take a shower, you know, now that we have shampoo and all... that, yeah, just... be careful" John finished lamely with a cringe as he heard another squeak, feeling the sudden need to wash off his entire body. "And when you get down you're taking one too, whether you want to or not!" He added for good measure as he slid out of the living room, finding it suddenly rather suffocating.
-0.0-
Two showers, another visit with the bees, left over pizza, and a good old fashioned car wash later, Sherlock and John were playing the alphabet game on John's mattress.
"L?" John asked, his hands holding the back of his head as he lay next to Sherlock on the large bed.
"Laurylbenzenesulfonic acid"
"Can you, I don't know, say something that isn't a strange chemical? Just for once?"
"I thought the whole point of this game was to say the first word that comes into your mind?"
"...Fine, my turn"
"Z?"
"Zombie"
"...Really?"
John let out a long sigh. "What is it this time, Sherlock?"
"Nothing... just... not what I would have said-"
"And what would you have said?"
"Zeugmatography"
"..Of course you would have"
Sherlock twisted his body around so that he was lying flat on his stomach with his head turned to face John, that of whom already had his eyes fixated on the detective.
"John..."
"Yeah?"
"Why are you afraid of rats? If I had to guess, I'd say childhood trauma fits better than most other poss-"
"Alright, alright, no need to go around making deductions, it's not like it's a big secret or anything."
"Then why? You can rush into the middle of a battle and shoot straight through two glass windows but you squirm just from hearing a rat? It's not irrational.. it can't be, there's a reason"
John turned so that he was on his side, his voice turned to a whisper as he looked at Sherlock, who silently looked back, the space between them mere inches. "When I was a kid, we lived out in the country, not quite like this, but still, it was definitely the country so with it came quite a few rats and mice. Then, one day, when Harry and I were playing hide and seek, I had gone down into the cellar to look for her and, well, she wasn't in there but when I went down she locked me in from the outside... and..."
"Rats..." Sherlock whispered knowingly.
"Yes, rats... a whole lot of them. I ended up being stuck down there for almost an hour before my mother went looking for me. Harriet could be a real arse sometimes"
Sherlock simply nodded as he bit his lip and rested his chin in the palm of his hand.
"What about you, then? I forgot to ask you earlier what your fears are" John asked as he, himself, held up his head with his own hand.
"Up until I met you I would have said I didn't have any.." Sherlock said softly, hoping that was enough to keep John from prying any further. Thankfully, it was, and John nodded in understanding, a far out look in his eyes as he tried to picture exactly what those fears were, but something told him he already knew...
"Good night, John, long day ahead of us tomorrow" Sherlock blurted out quickly as he slid off of the bed and rose to his feet with a small stretch.
"Sherlock.. you don't have to go.. we could, make due.. here, if you wanted.." John offered with pink dusted cheeks as he patted the blanket and sheet clad mattress.
"One step at a time, John... don't feel like you need to rush things for my sake... I'll be right out in the living room if you need me" Sherlock promised, followed by reaching for the door handle and flicking off the light switch.
"..Thank you, Sherlock..." John whispered into the darkness as he heard the door close, his heart pounding as he listened to Sherlock's foot steps lead away from the door and out toward the living room.
He breathed heavily, relieved to not be pressured, yet still feeling slightly lonely without the detective's presence by his side. With a conflicted frown, John closed his eyes and drifting off to what he hoped wouldn't be a nightmare.
-0.0-
Sherlock hadn't even fallen asleep by the time the screaming started and he was off to John's room, stopping just outside the door when suddenly the screaming stop.
After a few seconds Sherlock could hear the bed creak followed by choked sobs.
Screamed himself awake, then...
"John...?" Sherlock whispered quietly against the door, followed by several soft knocks.
"Yes?" John replied in a weak, strain voice from inside the dark room as Sherlock slowly opened the door and looked out into the darkness.
"Can I come in?" The detective asked, almost hesitantly as he heard John sniffle.
"Hah" He choked out a laugh, "Bit late for that, but yeah... come on in.."
Sherlock bit his lip and took several steps into the dark room, having to use his memory to find John's bed before he could take a seat next to the ex-army doctor.
"Bad dream?" He asked despite already knowing the answer.
"Yeah.." John confirmed as he wiped his nose and looked ahead, not quite sure how far away on the bed Sherlock was but finding it didn't matter, just his presence was comforting.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
John sat very still for a moment as he considered this. Sherlock already knew what happened from the report, so it wouldn't be anything new, but the nightmares strayed from the actual events, making them almost even more... personal...
"I.. I don't know..."
"I understand... if you choose you want to, all you need to do is say so" Sherlock explained as he reached out to touch John's shoulder in a comforting manner, only to swiftly pull back when the small man flinched at the contact.
"No!" John said quickly as he reached out for Sherlock, finding him in the darkness and then grabbing up the detective's hand into his own. "I didn't- that was.. it just startled me, is all... I wasn't expecting it"
Sherlock nodded his understanding in the dark, briefly noting that John probably hadn't noticed before moving his hand out of John's and up the smaller man's shoulder, rubbing across this shoulders to stimulate the nerves and release chemicals into John's, in much need of relaxing, brain.
The ex-army doctor let out a short, calm, breathe as his tension eased away.
"Sherlock.."
"Hmm?"
"Please don't go..."
Sherlock stopped moving his hand, but left it there all the same, the warmth seeping through John's night shirt.
"John, I don't-"
"Really, Sherlock, it's not moving too fast or anything to do with being a couple really it just... you chase the nightmares away" He finished awkwardly as the truth spilled out.
"..Alright"
Sherlock scooted over to the far side of the bed and pulled John down gently beside him, followed by sliding the blanket up over the both of them- how Sherlock did that so smoothly in the dark, John will never know.
"Good night, Sherlock" John said softly from his side of the bed, his back turned to the other man as he buried the side of his face in the pillow.
"Good night, John.."
-0.0-
A/N: Sorry again it was kinda a bit slow, just them adjusting for the most part- hope you still liked it! As always, Reviews are epic 3