John walked down the sidewalk as a light snow began to fall. The sidewalks seemed more crowed as usual as couples walked hand in hand. John resisted the urge to roll his eyes; February 14th. He'd love to find who ever invented Valentine's Day and give them a swift kick in the pants. It was just an excuse to remember that he was, once more, single.
Not that it was all that great having a girlfriend on Valentine's Day. Woman always expected so much on that one particular day and it seemed that no matter what you did, they were never satisfied. So, it wasn't that he particularly wanted to be out with someone right now, suffering over which flowers and cards to buy, trying to make the day 'spectacular' for someone. He was just…..lonely.
He hated to admit it. It was just because it happened to be this stupid holiday; otherwise he wouldn't be feeling this way. It had been a stressful day in the office, which had only been compacted by the mounds of flowers and candy that had made it into the office for the nurses and secretaries. If one more person had asked him what he was doing tonight, he was going to scream.
He'd been so desperate that he had tried to call Sherlock on his lunch break to talk to him. He hadn't answered of course, which wasn't a surprise as Sherlock rarely talked on the phone. He didn't like talking on the phone, preferring to text. So, it wasn't surprising. What was surprising was that it left John feeling….lonely? Damn Valentine's Day.
The snow was really beginning to pick up and John was happy when he saw 221B coming up. The wind was blowing fiercely and John just wanted to get into the warmth of the flat.
He walked up the stairs and into the living room. He looked around the flat and found Sherlock in the kitchen, mixing various substances in test tubes. There was a horrible smell emanating from the kitchen and John didn't even want to ask Sherlock what the smell was.
"Hello" John called out as he made his way to his chair.
Sherlock muttered something under his breath but John wasn't sure that it was hello. It probably wasn't even directed at him, he was probably talking to himself. When John turned toward his chair, he found something laying on it. It was a package of his favorite kind of chocolate, in one of those annoying pink and red packages that they came out with especially at Valentine's Day. John picked it up and looked at it puzzled.
"Uh, what's this?" he asked towards Sherlock in the kitchen.
Sherlock didn't look up from his test tubes. "Oh, that's that chocolate you like" he said nonchalantly.
"What for?" John asked.
Sherlock shrugged. "I had to go to the store today and I saw it. Thought you might want some"
Sherlock had never been in a supermarket unless expressly dragged there. If he had needed something, he would have texted John and expected him to pick it up. "So, what was so important that you actually found yourself in the supermarket?"
Sherlock hesitated. "Supplies" he said after a long pause. His pale face deepened in color slightly.
John smiled as the image of Sherlock in the supermarket picking through Valentine chocolate with the masses of men who had forgotten it was Valentine's came into his mind. "Thanks Sherlock" he said, sitting down in his chair and opening the candy. When he turned back to look at the detective, he saw a slight smile turning the corners of his lips.