John walked back into Sherlock's bedroom, holding tea in one hand and saltines in the other. Sherlock was lying in bed and looking rather pale. At least his clothes are dry, John thought, noting the pile of wet clothes Sherlock has left on the floor. John set the tea and crackers on the bedside table and looked at Sherlock for a few moments before speaking.

"We have to talk." John said, trying to sound firm, even though inside his heart was beating out of his chest. Sherlock looked over at him and sighed.

"Might as well get it over with." Sherlock murmured while propping himself up with his hands. "What do you want to know?" John was surprised by how straight forward Sherlock was. He had been sure that he would need to pry his friend open with pliers before getting so much as a "hello."

"Just tell me why you did it." Responded John. He gave himself extra points for not stuttering.

"Did what?" He asked. John couldn't respond. Something was just not right with this scenario. Sherlock was supposed to be crying, or yelling, or at least resisting a little. And wasn't John supposed to be an absolute nervous wreck? He then caught Sherlock watching him, staring.

Sherlock frowned. "Something's wrong. Or you just think there's a problem with all of this." He said. John nodded, not exactly hearing what Sherlock had said, but getting the main idea.

"Something is wrong, this is supposed to be emotional! You practically killed yourself back there, and here you are calm as ever, sipping tea!" John shouted, suddenly angry. Why couldn't Sherlock be normal? Why did it always have to be so complicated with him? John was about to shout again when Sherlock spoke quietly.

"I did it because I thought you'd leave." John opened and then closed his mouth, unsure of what to say, and in the end settled on;

"I will never leave."

Sherlock sighed, once again.

"They all said that. The nurses, the counselors. Teachers, friends, family. And look at who I have now!"

"You have me.

Besides, Sherlock, I'm not lying. I really won't leave, no matter how hard things get."

"But you don't know how bad it can get!" Sherlock cried "I could scare you, hurt you-"

"You've already punched me before." Reasoned John.

"That was different. I just don't want you to make a promise you can't keep, I guess." Sherlock said. "And I don't want you to have to take care of me just because you feel it is your "duty." If you want to leave, I don't want to stop you… I'm not a charity case, John. Or someone who needs to be pitied."

"That still doesn't answer my question." The tea trembled in Sherlock's hands, and he could see Sherlock beginning to get sweat "Tell me why."

"I thought that m-maybe if I was gone, you wouldn't have to deal with me, and then regret choosing to stay, and then-"

"-leave you." John finished. Sherlock nodded, close to tears. His whole body shook, and the tea he was holding threatened to fall out of his shaking hands. John slowly reached over and took the tea from him, carefully placing it on the night stand.

Without something to hold, Sherlock felt incredibly vulnerable (and alone.) Naturally, he grabbed on to the one thing closest to him, John. John happily pulled Sherlock into a hug, letting him cry into his shoulder and dig his nails into his arms. To him, Sherlock seemed incredibly frail at the moment, like someone who hadn't eaten in days. Like someone who had purposefully overdosed the day before.

"Never, ever try to do that to yourself again." John couldn't bring himself to say commit suicide. Not know. "If you do, I'll kill you."

Immediately, Sherlock started to laugh. It seemed like years since either of them had heard Sherlock's laugh. Even though he was still crying, John could see Sherlock's shoulders shake from laughter.

"Oh, John" Sherlock said, tears still streaming from his eyes, "It feels so good to laugh."

Please, if anyone has tips on writing dialogue, I would really like to hear it. I found the dialogue in this chapter incredibly hard to write, and I don't know why. Help if you can, thanks for reading!

K bye.

Ps. I STILLdon't own Sherlock. and you know what? THIS IS TRUE FOR ALL FUTURE CHAPTERS!

done.