Chapter 9-
The End of a Line
There was an eerie atmosphere the next morning at 221B Baker Street. A harsh gale was blowing hail stones into the windows which made a chill fall down Harri's spine. The usual murmuring of the TV in the morning which she had grown so accustomed to was missing and the heaving breathing of Sherlock next to her made her feel as if she wasn't the only one sensing the change.
What was wrong? She couldn't tell. She left the comfort of the warm blankets and a rather bony-edged mass of half sleeping consulting detective and part-time annoying idiot behind her and tiptoed up to the door. She checked the clock. 11:23 am. She never stayed in bed this late and she was pretty sure Sherlock didn't either. Something was definitely up. She felt the warmth of Sherlock silently conjure behind her and they continued on to John's room. There was no sign of him. Harri turned around to Sherlock who was eying the room, squinting every so often, making mental notes probably, Harri thought. She turned around once more herself and tried to make her own deductions but her attempt was soon disregarded as Sherlock began to speak.
"He's gone to Lowri's." He said in with his deep voice, certainly not one which had just woken up so Harri concluded that he must have lain awake in bed until she had awoken. "They've broken up." He continued.
"What?" Harri asked exasperated, "How did you deduce that?" The tone of her voice still noted with some aggravation towards Sherlock. He had after all ran off for three days.
"You know my methods, what can you gather yourself from looking at his room." Harri took a decisive look towards the room, trying as Sherlock had, to find some clues as to why they might have broken up. The sheets on John's bed were ruffled and there was his box of pills to the side. Harri knew that he had been taking antidepressants throughout the absence of Sherlock but even though Sherlock was now very much alive, he hadn't been able to wean himself off of them yet. Apart from that, his room looked adequately normal.
"I don't know" She replied after a good 45 seconds looking. "Please, would you care to explain your most remarkable conclusion?"
"The bed sheets aren't made; John always makes his bed in the morning more than likely due to his military career. The curtains aren't open, meaning he left in a rush. He probably got a text message sometime this morning from her, calling it off. Haven't you noticed though that they have been drifting apart a bit recently?" He continued his narrative as they made their way towards the living room.
"Not particularly, I've been slightly preoccupied, but now you mention it, Lowri came round the other day but I can't recall anytime that she mentioned John or them together at all. How long have you seen this going on?" Harri asked whilst Sherlock took a seat in his arm chair and grabbed towards the morning newspaper that Mrs. Hudson had brought up for them.
"It only started a week ago. But I must admit, to the untrained eye, it would have been hard to spot."
"And you have a trained eye do you?"
"Have you seen how many girlfriends he has had in the past 4 months?" he said sarcastically. "I'm surprised it lasted this long actually. It was bound to end sooner or later, Lowri working with Mycroft and then dating John… not a good combination."
"Yes, Mycroft had told me he didn't support it. 'Too interlinked' I think he called it." Harri added. She was slightly more accustomed to the idea of being pregnant now and felt much less shocked.
"Yes, he would wouldn't he?"
3 hours later, a very troubled John returned to 221B Baker Street. His worried sister and less than concerned flat mate were waiting for him as he entered the front room. He was smothered by Harri and was soon sat staring in the direction of the fireplace with a glazed look over his face. Sherlock thought it best to leave him to his own devises. He had seen this many a time before however, this was slightly different. John had never seemed so distressed before. Nevertheless, he buried himself in his practical experiments on the kitchen table and tried to pay no notice to the occasional sob coming from the room adjacent. Although he was generally concerned about his wellbeing, Sherlock attempted not to show it. He didn't want the contempt, caring side of himself being shown off any more than it had already been that week.
Two weeks later, John was still not himself. He stayed in his room for days on end, only emerging to eat and relieve himself in the bathroom. Harri postponed her stay for a further three weeks. She wanted to make sure that her brother was on the mend before she travelled back to her rural town in Northamptonshire. Lestrade came round a few times to try to console John, but to no avail. Molly, Mrs. Hudson, and Harri, all attempted to try and get the old John back. But nothing said or done could undo what had happened. He was left utterly alone and felt a depressive and melancholy fog start to mist his eyes from all normality. Nothing I've seen in the Afghan War can even relate to this… no. Nothing. He thought as the days ebbed on.
Concerned as Harri was, she was slightly more occupied with the small bump that had started to appear at the base of her stomach. She stroked and caressed it but she had started to wonder. It had only been two weeks since she found out she was pregnant. How could she have a bump this big already? Harri wanted for the world to tell John but she felt it would only break his heart more. Her thoughts trailed off as she thought of him once more.
"Sherlock, you need to talk to him." Harri pleaded the next day.
"What?! Why me? Why should I do it?" He protested.
"Because you're his best friend and everyone else had tried, so why shouldn't you?"
"It's not my job to go around and amend broken relationships… I'm a consulting detective for Pete's sake."
"Yes but you are also his friend and he needs you. You have a way with him, a connection that I will never understand; you know how to get through to him. Would you please just go and talk to him even if it is just for five minutes? I'll even look through the papers for you and see if there are any interesting cases going about."
"Fine. Fine!" He complained as he arose from his armchair and made his way wearily towards the kitchen where Harri was standing. He took her hands and looked her in the eyes, "Just this once okay?" he asked.
"Okay." Harri said as she smiled to the ground and let out a pleased chuckle.
