Okay, Chapter 8!
Some time jumps in this chapter.
And I might be slower in updating depending on how much homework I have and such.
And as always, thanks for the reviews!
On the last day before school, John went over to Sherlock's house. He knocked tentatively on the door and was happy to see Sherlock answer it.
"Hello John," Sherlock said smiling. "Come in!"
He grabbed John's hand and led him into the house and up to his room where they both sat on Sherlock's bed.
It had been a couple days since the incident with the kiss. They were still a bit hesitant around each other, but they enjoyed a little more physical contact that they had before, much to John's joy. They had decided that they had both enjoyed the kiss so much, that they might try for a relationship. Neither of them really knew what they wanted from it, but they liked to give each other occasional pecks on the cheeks, or intertwine their fingers while they sat in the tree house.
John had admitted that he liked Sherlock and Sherlock had said in his own way, that he liked John as well. They weren't going to move too fast, but they agreed that rather than deal with girls and that sort of thing, they would have each other, which was enough for them. Of course, they both agreed to keep it behind closed doors, unsure of how their parents would react. Keeping it quiet was best for now and besides they were still too young to be in a serious relationship.
"Sherlock," John said as they sat on the bed, "Do you play the violin?"
Sherlock nodded. "Yes, I do." He leapt from the bed and grabbed the violin, "Would you like to hear something?"
"Oh yes."
Sherlock smiled and held the instrument to his chin. He closed his eyes and lifted the bow to the strings. A sad, lonely melody began to fill the room. Sherlock's fingers vibrated on the strings and the bow moved effortlessly across them. The melody was low and sweet, sad and soft. It nearly brought tears to John's eyes.
Sherlock moved as he played, swaying slightly, his eyebrows drawn together, completely lost in the music. The blue, silk robe that Sherlock was wearing flowed around his legs as he turned and moved with the melody. John was completely transfixed. And then, as soon as it had started, it ended. Sherlock bowed and John clapped till his hands hurt.
"Oh that was brilliant," John said as Sherlock put the violin away.
"Just a little something I composed in my spare time," Sherlock said passively.
"You wrote that?"
Sherlock nodded.
John shook his head. "I always knew you were a bloody genius."
Sherlock cracked a small smile and came to sit next to John again.
"I'm glad you liked it," he said softly.
"I loved it." John grinned and then gave Sherlock a quick kiss on the cheek, which made the genius pirate's pale face turn a bit crimson.
"John," Sherlock said, looking thoughtful, "How come we never go to your house?"
"What?"
"We are always over here, in my room or the tree house. What about your room? Why can't we ever go there?"
"Uh, well," John thought for a moment, "I don't really like my room, it's kinda lame. And yours is bigger and I like it more than mine."
"That's a shame about your room. But mine's nothing special."
"Yeah it is. You're in it."
John grinned and hugged Sherlock around the middle tightly, reveling in the smell of his friend. It was sort of minty and clean. John loved it. Sherlock smiled and ran his fingers through John's hair.
"I don't want to go back to school," John said, his voice slightly muffled by the fact that his face was buried in Sherlock's shirt.
"But we're going to the same school. So we'll have each other in all our classes."
"I know. But I'm going to miss playing pirates. I don't think we'll have time to do that, what with homework and whatnot."
"We can make time for that," Sherlock said patting John on the back, "Don't worry."
John smiled and pulled his face up to look at Sherlock. "Promise that we'll still have time for that?"
Sherlock gave John a kiss on the nose. "Promise."
School came and Sherlock and John found that they were quite busy. Being in eighth grade was hard, and they often came home laden with homework and thoroughly exhausted.
They got along well enough with their classmates. People tended to steer clear of them though, not that this bothered John and Sherlock. They preferred to be alone together, studying and laughing. They didn't want other friends because they had each other, and they were content.
Sherlock tried to keep his promise best he could, but as time wore on, school and extracurricular activities got the best of their time. The shed was all but abandoned as its pirates moved on. They managed to get two games in over first semester, but they were short and rather void of plot.
Most of their free time was spent in the tree house either studying or talking. The tree house had been given a sort of makeover, with large plush chairs, a trapdoor, CD player, books, magazines, and even a fortress out of paper towel tubes that Sherlock and John had made for Eddie.
Their relationship grew more as the time went on. They did things exclusively with each other and made sure to make the other feel loved, while still maintaining proper boundaries. Neither of them referred to the other as a boyfriend, but it was obvious that it was an exclusive relationship, still unknown by their families however.
Sherlock and John found that they forgot many things throughout the school year, being so pressed for time. But one thing that John was determined not to forget was Sherlock's birthday. It was in early November and John was determined to give Sherlock a birthday he wouldn't forget.
John spent many days trying to come up with a present for his friend. But there was nothing that Sherlock would like or didn't already have. He thought about getting him something for Basil, but the parrot was well cared for. Sherlock's violin was in pristine condition. And since his father was wealthy he could buy all the supplies for any experiments he might want to perform.
The day finally came and John had settled on the one gift he knew Sherlock would like.
John sat in the tree house. It was a cold November morning, snow covered the ground and a chilly breeze blew in through the open door of the tree house.
John pulled a blanket tighter around him as he waited for Sherlock. He had sent Sherlock a series of messages that he knew his friend would have no trouble following.
Right as John thought that he would have to go inside to avoid becoming a Popsicle he saw a familiar form step through the door of the tree house.
Sherlock set down the pieces of paper on which John had drawn the clues and mused, "It was too easy."
"It was supposed to be easy, I wanted you to find me," John replied.
"Why did you bring me up here?" Sherlock asked, pulling his coat tighter around him and shivering, "It's a bugger of a day. Far too cold."
"Well maybe I can make it a little better," John said standing up. He dropped the blanket to the ground and stepped closer to Sherlock.
Sherlock eyed John curiously as John pulled his hands out of his coat. He put his arms up around Sherlock's neck, draping them over his shoulders. Then, standing on his tiptoes, he leaned up and gave Sherlock a passionate kiss on the lips.
At first Sherlock was surprised and a little wary of doing this sort of kissing again, but he gave in quickly and wrapped his long arms around John, pulling his close. John pressed close to Sherlock, fisting his hands into Sherlock's coat and bringing him as close as he could. A low moan escaped Sherlock's throat and John felt himself starting to lose it again. He focused on the movement of his lips and with one final, hungry kiss, he broke them apart.
"Happy birthday, Sherlock," John said breathlessly, his arms still around Sherlock.
Sherlock smiled. "Thank you, John." He hugged John tightly. "You're the best gift anyone could give me."
John gave Sherlock a quick kiss and said softly, "I love you."
Sherlock tensed and pulled away so that he could see John.
"Really?" he asked, a look of confusion on his face.
John didn't understand. "Yeah. Really. You're my best friend. You've been here for me all the time that I've known you. And you're bloody gorgeous, and the best person I know. So yeah, I love you, Sherlock Holmes."
Sherlock looked down. He spoke softly, "I'm not good with this sort of thing, John. But," he looked John in the eye, "You, John, are the best thing in my life and I swear I will love you till I die."
John blushed. "You're a big softie." He poked Sherlock in the stomach. "But I'll take that offer." He leaned up and gave Sherlock another long kiss.
They spent the rest of the day in the tree house, talking and laughing, finally falling asleep under the blankets, hand in hand, with smiles on their faces.
When John's birthday came around in December, Sherlock was ready.
He presented John with the largest cake in the history of cakes, one that he had had to protect from Mycroft. John was treated to a rather horrid rendition of the birthday song, sung by Basil and Sherlock, and then he was given a slice of cake with a pirate hat drawn on it with icing.
The cake was gone quickly and Sherlock took John out into the field behind their house. He led him down to the shed and ushered him inside, where he deposited John in his maroon chair and took his seat saying.
"I don't think you'll like it, but I got this." He handed John a wrapped parcel.
John tore it open and stared down at the most wonderful jumper he had ever seen. It was ocean blue and so soft that it felt unreal.
"This is fantastic, Sherlock," John said holding the jumper up.
"But that's not all I'm giving you," Sherlock replied.
He reached under his chair and pulled out a large, purple bow, which he placed atop his head.
John grinned and threw the jumper down in his chair before smothering Sherlock with kisses.
Sherlock let John kiss him for a minute and then he put a finger on John's lips and said softly, "We have some free time, and we are in the shed, and I did happen to grab our pirate attire. Unless of course you wanted to do some more snogging…"
John grinned and said, "How bout pirate snogging?"
