~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Molly Hooper stood at her locker, organizing her books, when Sherlock slammed himself into the locker next, gaining her attention and that of everyone in the vicinity. He bent down and whispered in her ear.
"Meet me in the science lab at lunch."
Before Molly could even ask why, Sherlock was gone, no trace of him having been there at all.
"Well, come on in. Don't be a stranger, Johnny." Jimmy said waving his new friend into his bedroom once again.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here? Last time your mum said I wasn't allowed back after Sherlock showed up like he did."
Jimmy laughed.
"First of all, Mummy isn't here," he said, tossing himself comfortably onto his bed. "And secondly, I can get whatever I want in God's green earth if call Pam and Lawrence Mum and Dad."
Johnny sat down against the wall. "Isn't that kind of...mean? Using them like that?"
"Oh, please." Jimmy said, beginning to sound annoyed. "What's mean is sticking me with morons like them for parents. I can't wait till I'm of age and can waltz out of here."
"Oh," Johnny said, surprised to hear all that. He never knew Jimmy felt that way about his foster parents, who were just about the kindest and most loving couple Johnny had ever seen. Lately, he'd give his right leg to have that at home.
"So," Jimmy said, stretching like a cat in the sun. "What shall we do?"
"Hm. I dunno." Johnny shrugged.
"Oh!" Jimmy exclaimed, rocketing upright. "Let's play a game!"
"Alright, then."
"Truth or dare?"
"Really?" Johnny snorted. "Okay. Truth."
"Pshh! Chicken." Jimmy teased. "Have you ever been kissed?"
"Course I have. Truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to pluck out some eyebrow hairs."
Johnny and Jimmy dashed to the loo and found some tweezers, which Jimmy happily applied to his brow and ripped a fair few hairs out, groaning loudly as he did.
"Truth or dare?" he asked his friend.
"Truth."
"You're no fun," Jimmy whined. "I just plucked out my good eyebrow hair for you and you wanna go truth?"
"Yep."
"Ugh. Fine. What's the farthest you got with a girl and what's her name?"
"I won't tell you her name, but I got under her bra."
"It's the name of the game, Johnny boy, you have to tell me her name!"
Johnny screwed his eyes shut and shamefully revealed the girl's name.
"Mary Morstan."
"No WAY!" Jimmy giggled. "Her? You and her? Her and you? My GOD."
"Truth o-"
"Dare!"
"Okay...er...I dare you to drink the five ingredients I choose from your fridge."
Now they scrambled to the fridge and Johnny carefully selected the menu. A few fresh grapes, hot mustard, cooked pork, tapioca pudding and orange juice went into the mix.
"Oh, God." Jimmy said as they watched it blend. Johnny poured him a glass of the poison and Jimmy raised it in a toast.
"For queen and country!" he said, and sucked down the whole glass, gagging as he did so.
Now, the two were in a proper laughing fit.
"Truth or dare?" Jimmy asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Dare."
"I dare you to tell me the truth."
"Oh, come on!"
"Do it, Johnny. Or forever be a pig."
"Fine. What do you wanna know?"
"Have you ever been in love?"
"I guess. I dunno. I thought I was."
"Are you in love right now?"
"You don't get to ask two truths at once," Johnny told him, still amiably. "Cheater."
"Fine. Your turn."
"Truth or dare?"
"Truth," Jimmy said, just to spite Johnny.
"Have you ever been kissed?" Johnny figured that if Jimmy was gonna play like this, he might as well join in.
"No," Jimmy said sadly.
"Really?"
"Really. Look at me, Johnny. I'm a sixteen year old trapped in a twelve year olds' body. Would you want to kiss me?"
"Well, I'm not gay, so, no."
"Come on, you know that's not what I mean."
The game was changed. Now it was just truth. Just telling secrets.
"I suppose if you were a girl, I might."
"What if you were the girl?"
"Well, then, you wouldn't be so interested, would you?" Johnny asked.
"No," Jimmy conceded. "But suppose I was a girl. You'd kiss me? Right now?"
"Yeah, sure. I've kissed loads of girls, what's one more?"
"Who's turn is it to ask the question?" Jimmy asked,
"Yours, I think."
"Truth or dare?"
"Dare."
A gleam ignited in Jimmy's eyes as Johnny had never seen.
"I dare you to kiss me."
"Jimmy, I just told you twice that I'm not gay. How many times must I say it?
"Pretend I'm a girl," Jimmy suggested.
"No way!" Johnny protested.
"Oh, come on! It doesn't have to mean anything. In fact, it won't. I'm just curious, that's all. Like I said, I never been kissed before. What's the harm, Johnny?"
"Jimmy, I'm just not into it. Alright?" Johnny said heatedly. Blood was rising in his face the longer Jimmy stared him down.
"Loads of blokes at school are always touching each other in the locker room...doesn't make them gay, does it? Just boys being boys, right?" Jimmy continued. "And not for nothing, but if you were a girl, and you asked me to kiss you right now, I'd do it."
"Alright!" Johnny shouted, incredibly pressured. "I'll do it. But you had better never speak of this. To anyone. Got that?"
A charming gleam reflected off Jimmy's wide, toothy grin.
"Not a word."
Johnny slowly walked across Jimmy's bedroom and sat next to him on the edge of the bed.
"Make it worth the while, Johnny," Jimmy said, barely containing himself.
"Shut up."
Johnny fixed his eyes on Jimmy's mouth. If he forgot the rest of Jimmy's face, and focused only on his mouth, he supposed it could belong to a girl. Girl Jimmy might be cute. Then again, she might not be. Oh, what did it matter? Lips were lips, as far as anatomy was concerned, whether on a girl or a boy, and a kiss was a kiss and nothing more!
Johnny leaned towards Jimmy, slowly, until finally their lips touched, and to Johnny's small surprise, nothing bad happened. There was nothing so strange about it, after all. It was even still okay when Jimmy's hand found Johnny's arm and gripped it gently. But as soon as it started, the kiss was over and Jimmy and Johnny sat in a moment of silence.
"That was...nice," Jimmy said. All the joking malice in his voice from earlier was gone.
"Yeah," Johnny agreed, looking back at Jimmy.
They fell back into an embrace, the floodgates ripped open. Their lips assaulted with hard, ravenous kisses and open-mouthed clashes of teeth and tongues. Jimmy so hungrily tasted for the first time the affections what Johnny didn't realize that he himself longed for.
Finally, they broke apart, out of breath and shaking.
"Thank you, Johnny," Jimmy whispered, absently wiping away the wetness from this lower lip. "I'll never speak a word."
"Nor shall I," Johnny said, quickly standing. "I-I have to go. See you at school."
