After their first case together, the one she titled as "A Study in Pink" for her not-so secret journal (Yes, Sherlock stole it and read it), Jane and Sherlock continued their friendship as always. Jane was happier than ever. She was able to run, jump and walk like anyone else and she felt different. It had been two years doing therapy, visiting several doctors who tried to sell her the cure for her limp, and being bullied at every school she attended to. The only cure Jane needed was a friend. And that friend was Sherlock Holmes.
Sherlock cured and fixed Jane Watson's body and soul without even knowing. He would do little about her bad days, but he was still there for her. He wasn't that kind of friend who would neither hold hands nor tell you how much he loved you, but he was a true friend and that's all Jane asked for. She wouldn't be angry at him for not being open enough or affective. She accepted him just like he was.
And Jane knew she had done good things for him as well. Sherlock stopped doing horrible experiments with frogs and scaring the maids, he started to be more human. Sherlock also developed a part of him he believed it was missing on him. He always believed he was born without a heart. Well, the abstract concept heart, if you ask me. Don't worry, because he had a heart indeed, that beat inside his chest, yes. But he had the heart full of sentiments and feelings inside him as well. With Jane, Sherlock discovered what was a bit not good to do, how to handle Molly and her obvious and sometimes annoying crush and how to understand people beyond the facts. He would never forgot her words, "You can't only deduce people's facts, you have to understand them and feel them."
The summer break started with both friends practically living in each other's houses. There were days in which Suzanne was away one night or maybe a weekend and Sherlock would go and stay with Jane. One of those weekends, Sherlock helped Jane painting her ceiling and once it was finished, he glued the stars her father bought for her before he left to Iraq. And in the nights, those starts shone above them.
Everything was good and exciting until Jane told Sherlock she needed a job.
It was pointless, Sherlock told her, but she insisted she needed one if she wanted some pocket money for herself. So after looking and looking, Jane got an interview in the local surgery. They needed a part time receptionist and there was Jane, smartly dressed for the job interview walking down the streets, not knowing someone was looking at her closely.
Oh, if only Sherlock knew who she was going to meet!
Jane agreed when Sherlock call her after her interview and asked her if she wanted to have lunch with him. She was over the moon. It was hard not to see how happy, and how hopelessly in love Jane was when Sherlock took her to Angelo's restaurant.
The main subject of their long talk wasn't only about the job, but about Sam Sawyer and how charming he was.
"I got the job, Sherlock," Jane said while her friend only nodded. "Sam told me I can start tomorrow." She added.
Jane told Sherlock everything she knew about Sam Sawyer. He was the son of the owner of the local surgery. He was three years senior, and he was in Med School, obviously following his father's footsteps. The blonde boy with green eyes clearly flirted with Jane and gave her the job, even when Jane was seventeen years old and there were several experienced young woman applying for the job.
Sherlock didn't like him.
Jane started working part time during the mornings. This certainly made lowered the time Sherlock was able to see his friend. Sometimes he would pick her up after her shift to have lunch together and sometimes he would go to her home once he knew she was there. Until one day, Jane turned down one of their scheduled afternoons together because she had a date.
Sam invited Jane out.
And that afternoon, Sherlock played the violin violently until his fingertips bled.
Without knowing Sam Sawyer, Sherlock knew he was going to hurt Jane. That boy, who he knew believed he was cool just because he was in university and because he was older.
If only Sherlock could have told Jane this!
The blonde, sweet and patient Jane continued working in the local surgery the whole summer, and she earned enough money which put aside for something she didn't know what, but she knew she was going to need that money someday. She continued seeing Sherlock, but it was different. It was different because there was someone else inside Jane's mind.
Sherlock felt himself neglected.
His experiments weren't the same, somehow he couldn't get to the probationary stage. The violin seemed to be boring and certainly, he forgot how Jane's stars on her ceiling shone during the nights. She stopped texting him and he stopped visiting her as he did.
It became awkward, until one day Jane was outside his front door, ringing his bell.
"Sam asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend." Jane said as soon as she sat besides his friend on his big beg.
"And why are you telling me this?"
Jane shrugged. "You're my friend. I want to know your opinion," She took a deep breath and continued. "I want you to meet him."
"I don't really see why you need my approval to be his girlfriend. And about meeting him, it looks impossible to me since I have a very busy agenda." Replied Sherlock coldly as he picked his violin from the floor.
To be honest, Jane only thought it was another one of Sherlock's sulking moments. She knew he wasn't the best when it was about feelings and sentiment. She ignored him and his comments and asked him to play for her.
Sherlock couldn't say no. He played her favourite song, 'Us Against the World' by Coldplay. A song he learned meticulously only because Jane loved it. He never played those kind of songs. Classic music was his cup of tea, but when it was about Jane, Sherlock could do anything.
Even if it meant he had to meet Sam Sawyer.
Jane invited Sherlock to have dinner with her and her mother one Saturday night when DI Greg Lestrade arrived. He looked quite tired, but he also had a strange sparkle on his dark eyes.
"Sherlock, there has been a break in in the Bank of London. The manager, Sebastian Wilkes, says he knows you and he wants you in the case." Explained Greg as soon as he saw the clever boy.
Holmes nodded and agreed to visit Wilkes, who was one of his father's acquaintances, the following morning in company of his best assistant.
"Ah, Sherlock! Look at you, a grown man, aren't you!" Said the Bank Manager as soon as he saw Sherlock inside his office. Then his eyes travelled until he met Jane's figure standing besides the young boy.
"This is Jane Watson, my friend."
"Colleague." Jane corrected him with a serious expression on her face and while Sebastian Wilkes nodded, Sherlock looked at her confused.
"Travelling twice around the world last month? Impressive."
Wilkes laughed loudly and Jane looked at him confused.
"You're doing that thing again, aren't you?" He pointed at Sherlock with his index finger and then turned to Jane "When he was a kid, during a Christmas party his father was hosting he told everyone I was cheating on my wife," Sebastian explained with a grin on his face. "I hated him. We all thought he was a freak."
Jane could see the pain in Sherlock's face. She knew her friend enough to tell when he was hurt or not. And certainly that Wilkes man's words hurt him.
"I was simply observing."
Sebastian laughed even more. "Tell me, there's a stain of ketchup you can only buy in Manhattan? Or is the mud in my shoes?"
Sherlock just smiled. "I was chatting with your secretary outside."
"He's brilliant, isn't he, sweetie?" This question was addressed to Jane. She only smiled, but it was clear she did not like that man.
The only thing Sherlock told her about Wilkes was about his work and how he knew him and why he possibly asked for him on the case. Sebastian Wilkes was the Manager of the Bank of London, and he was one of the most important of Sherlock's father's acquaintances in Britain. And now after he had mentioned the incident about Wilkes affair, Jane understood why that man wanted Sherlock to investigate, even when he was still in school.
"We had a break in."
