A/N: Hello, all! Thanks for the kind reviews last chapter. I'm glad you enjoyed them solving the case and Sherlock's relationship with his dad. I really like writing this so I hope you like reading it. Thanks! Reviews always appreciated!
This chapter has a warning for sexytimes, I know how much you all anticipate that.
The next morning, Clement and Sherlock get to the school right after the bell for first period rings. They wait a few minutes before they're called into the Headmaster's office, then they go in and quietly sit across from him.
"Mister Holmes and Mister Holmes," Headmaster Card says, standing and holding his hand out to shake Clement's. "Pleasure."
"The pleasure is mine, Headmaster Card," Clement says. "As you may have guessed, I'm here to discuss with you the matter of my son's suspension."
"I thought as much," Headmaster Card says.
"Sir, my son can and will, right now, prove to you that he didn't steal Perry Wolf's research paper about..." Clement turns to Sherlock, "What, son?"
"Shakespeare."
Headmaster Card sits forward in his seat. "This I've got to hear."
Sherlock glances at Clement, silently wondering (not for the first time this morning) if this is a good idea. Clement nods, and Sherlock pulls a paper out of his backpack.
"I'm not sure if you've seen these around, sir," Sherlock hands Headmaster Card the flier for his detective work. "I put them up last week. That's a second email address I set up for this."
Headmaster Card looks it over, then sets it down. "Go on."
"A few students contacted me, sir. I figured out that Amy and Beverly stole Jenna Darling's expensive earrings. I figured out that Mister Brown, the janitor, accidentally threw away Harvey Lucas's shoes. Just little things, sir."
Headmaster Card nods.
"Perry Wolf contacted me to help him find out who stole his research paper," Sherlock takes another paper from his bag. "Here's a copy of the email."
Headmaster Card takes that paper, too. "Ok, Mister Holmes. Explain to me how this proves you didn't cheat."
"This doesn't, sir. What proves my innocence is that Perry told me he emailed his paper from his main email address to his school email address, then printed it and turned it in as soon as he got here. If nobody else has his address passwords, then this means someone physically stole and copied his paper. So yesterday, I came to the office to copy something, just to take a look at the log."
"Ok?"
"Well, sir…" Sherlock suddenly stands. "Hang on."
Sherlock runs out of his office and into the main office, quickly returning with the copy machine log book.
"If you just look here, sir," Sherlock says, handing the book over. "It says right here that Vince Hawkins checked in that morning."
Headmaster Card's eyes widen. "Now this is some concrete evidence, Mister Holmes."
"That's not all, sir," Sherlock says, sitting back down. "I was confused. For Perry was kicked off the lacrosse team and Vince wasn't. I wondered how this could be, so I decided to…uhm…" Sherlock looks down, pretending to look sorry. "I broke into Miss Green's classroom."
"You did?" Card asks.
"Yes, sir. I quickly found Perry's research paper, then Vince's. I found that Vince's didn't match, and I was very confused. Then, since this was after you suspended me, I found mine. Sure enough, it was Perry's paper. But," Sherlock pulls his phone out of his pocket and finds the photo he'd taken of 'his' paper. "My name was handwritten on the top. That's not my handwriting, and I know it's not Perry's."
"Huh…" Card mutters.
"I remembered seeing that handwriting recently, in my name, too. Last week, before I was taken out of his class, Vince took my paper and wrote," Sherlock takes the phone back from Card and scrolls over to the photo of Vince's writing on the other paper. He hands it back and Card nods.
"Well, Mister Holmes, I do believe you've successfully proved you were wrongfully punished."
Sherlock cracks a smile and takes his phone back from Card.
"I do have to give you a detention for breaking in to Miss Green's classroom, though."
"I suspected as much, sir."
"Well done, young man."
Sherlock fully smiles this time.
"Uh, Sherlock," Clement speaks up. "You're missing an important part."
Sherlock frowns. "I, uh…well, sir, I'm assuming Vince, who set me up, told Perry that I'd done it while I was here being suspended. As soon as I stepped out of the office, I heard Perry yell at me from down the hall, and…" Sherlock reaches for his cheek and rubs the cut bruise there.
"He punched you?" Card questions.
Sherlock nods. "Yes, sir."
Card sighs.
"I don't do anything to them, sir. And I think this is a pretty clear sign that they are huge bullies to me."
Card nods. "Of course, Mister Holmes. I can assure you it will be taken care of right away."
"The police are involved, Headmaster Card," Clement adds. "If you won't do anything about it, they will."
Headmaster Card just nods.
Clement and Sherlock leave right after that. They stop outside the office, just as they had the week before.
"Well done, son," Clement says. "I'm proud of you."
Sherlock nods. "John should be by shortly. There was a note on Headmaster Card's desk that we all need to talk about Lily's situation."
Clement grasps his shoulder, sensing the tension in Sherlock's voice. "That Tom kid will get in trouble, Sherlock."
"And if he doesn't?" Sherlock asks, looking at his father. "If he continues to harass her? If he actually hurts her?"
"There are more actions to take. The law could say Tom get kicked out of school, if Headmaster Card doesn't do it first."
Sherlock nods.
Clement pulls Sherlock in for a hug, and right then, the secretary opens the door and calls Sherlock back.
"Good luck," Clement says, kissing Sherlock's head.
Sherlock strains a smile, then returns to the office.
John arrives moments later, followed by Harvey and Lily. Each couple holds their significant other tightly, John and Sherlock more discreetly than Lily and Harvey.
The four get called in to Headmaster Card's office after a long wait. John and Lily sit and Sherlock and Harvey stand behind.
"I'm assuming it starts here," Headmaster Card says, holding up Sherlock's flier.
Lily speaks up first. "I contacted Sherlock for his help, but John got back to me. He said Sherlock was having cyber bullying problems, too."
"Oh?" Headmaster Card asks, looking up at Sherlock.
"Lily's were far worse, sir," John gets his attention.
"Here," Harvey says, taking his laptop out and handing it to Lily.
She clicks around and finally hands it over. "Here they are, sir."
Headmaster Card's eyes grow wider than they had at Sherlock's meeting, and he immediately looks murderous.
"I got another message on another website too, sir. One that nobody has the address to. It said that they'd get me if they wanted me, even if Sherlock was helping."
Headmaster Card stops clicking around and directs his attention back at the kids. "What happened next?" he asks.
"I decoded the emails," Harvey says. "And…I mean, I guess I'm sorry. But I'm not sorry that I found the address."
"Here it is," John says, handing over the original paper Harvey had given him. "We figured out it must be a locker and locker combination, so yesterday, after school, we came back to find it."
"Did you break in to the school too, Mister Holmes?" Card asks, taking the paper.
Sherlock grins.
John chuckles. "Uh, no sir, it was open."
"Alright," Card says. "Next?"
"There was a library book in the locker," John tells him. "We took the book to the library and found who it belonged to."
"And that was?"
"Tom Jones."
Headmaster Card sighs.
"Anger came over me, sir, and I ran to the football field and kicked him in the balls."
"And I punched him," Harvey adds. "Repeatedly."
Card nods.
"I called the police," Sherlock says. "They're already involved."
"Well, I have no choice then, do I?" Card says. "This school does not tolerate bullying or sexual assault, which this so clearly is. Mister Lucas, you're suspended one football game for beating up a teammate."
Harvey nods. "I'd have expected more than that, sir."
"Let me be clear," Card says. "I don't tolerate bullying like this. You, Mister Lucas, did something I can't when I see this happen. Well done. As for the computer hacking, well…one detention."
"Thank you, sir."
"And I expect you to help create a more secure network."
Harvey nods. "Yes, sir."
"One detention for you, Mister Watson. And you, Miss Fox, well, I'll take care of Tom, alright?"
Lily nods.
Headmaster Card excuses them all, and they all file out into the hallway.
"So," John mutters. "That went…really, really well."
"I thought was going to be kicked off the team," Harvey says. "Punching a teammate ain't so good."
Lily wraps an arm around his waist and rests her head against his chest. He strokes his hair.
"Why can't we do that?" John asks Sherlock, fondly watching the other couple.
"Because we would look stupid," Sherlock mutters.
John hits him in the stomach.
Harvey and Lily laugh.
"So, we want to take you guys to dinner," Lily says, smiling more genuinely than she had the entire time they've spent time with her.
"Yeah," Harvey says. "Since I'm suspended a game, I doubt I can play tonight. What'd'ya say?"
John and Sherlock look at each other.
"I'm ungrounded," John says.
"Our detention is tomorrow."
They turn back to Lily and Harvey and smile, then nod.
"It's a date!" Lily cries.
"A double date!" John says.
Sherlock rolls his eyes and walks away. John quickly hugs Lily, pats Harvey's shoulder, then takes off after Sherlock.
Their dinner later that night is fun and exactly what they needed after a long week. They go to a cute pizzeria, where John and Harvey eat an entire large pizza between themselves and Lily eats most of the smaller pizza that she and Sherlock ordered.
Lily tells Sherlock about the crush she had on him when they were younger, and he blushes furiously as Harvey and John laugh loudly.
"You're so dreamy, Sherlock!" Harvey teases, reaching across the table and pinching his cheek.
Sherlock blushes again and John leans over and kisses his cheek.
Their dinner ends and they go home, John walking Sherlock home first. They kiss at the door and say goodnight, then John leaves for his own home.
Friday goes by uneventful, and on Saturday Sherlock is very eager to go over to John's house. Clement leaves the house early to meet Sherlock's mother at the office, where they have to go over a bunch of boring documents that Sherlock stopped caring about as Clement was telling him the night before.
John's mother leaves for work at eight, promising to be back no later than three o'clock. John happily says goodbye to her, then sits on the sofa and waits for Sherlock to arrive.
Minutes after Dawn leaves, he does.
John jumps up to answer the door and smiles widely. He pulls Sherlock into the house and shuts the door, then helps Sherlock out of his coat.
"How are you?" John asks, pushing him further into the house.
"Fine," Sherlock says, grinning. He notices John's pajamas, knowing that John hasn't dressed yet, so perhaps John anticipates undressing now.
John leads him to the sofa, where he sits them both facing each other.
It's awkward, at first. Neither of them know what to say or what to do, so they silently look around and don't say anything.
Finally, they lock eyes. Sherlock smiles once, then dives in for a kiss. He pulls John close and gets excited knowing they're not going to be interrupted.
"Hey, hey," John tries, pulling away slightly.
Sherlock continues kissing the corner of his mouth and cheek.
"I wanted to make you breakfast," John mutters, shifting his head to show more of his neck.
Sherlock latches on to his neck. "I'm not hungry," he says through wet kisses.
"We need to eat first," John says, his eyes rolling. "We need—" he groans when Sherlock licks a specific spot on his neck.
Sherlock grins against John's neck and climbs onto John's lap. He grounds his hips down, his jean-covered growing erection rubbing against John's thin-pajama-pants covered cock.
John moans and grabs Sherlock's thighs. He rubs Sherlock's legs, up to his bum, then around his hips to his belt. He undoes it, and Sherlock breaks away to watch as John gets his jeans open and his pants down enough to get his cock out.
John wraps a hand around Sherlock and slowly strokes.
"Ooooh," Sherlock groans, still looking down. His fingers clench around the back of the sofa and his toes curl; the sensation is instantaneously relieving.
"How's that, baby?"
"Brilliant," Sherlock whispers, his eyes blissfully closing and his mouth seeking John's.
John sucks on his thick lower lip, then dips his tongue into Sherlock's mouth, all the while still stroking Sherlock evenly, yet slowly.
Sherlock doesn't beg for more, though he wants to. His mind flashes with words like 'harder' and 'faster' and 'more', but he can't muster enough thought to say the words out loud. Instead, he just moans each time John's palm touches the slippery head of his cock.
They continue for minutes, a lot longer than John, and even Sherlock, thought Sherlock would last.
Suddenly, the need to orgasm overcomes Sherlock's body. John's hand is enough and not enough at the same time, so he sits back and reaches for the buttons of his shirt.
"Clothes," Sherlock mutters, quickly unbuttoning. "Off, I need—"
John watches, mesmerized as Sherlock's pale skin peeks out from under the dark blue shirt, and when his nipples come into view, he leans forward and licks one.
Sherlock hisses. So shocked is he by the sudden sensation that he jerks backwards and falls off John's lap, landing right on the floor.
John leans forward and tries not to laugh. "You ok?"
Sherlock scowls.
John's laughter erupts from his lips. He begins to laugh so hard that he falls over and buries his face in his hands.
Sherlock quickly stands and places his hand on his hips, his shirt rumpled off his shoulders and his cock still out of his jeans.
John looks up again and continues to laugh. "I can't take you seriously with your prick staring at me."
"Well, stop laughing and do something about it, then."
John's laughter slows to a chuckle and he reaches for Sherlock again.
Sherlock bends to get his jeans off from around his ankles, and John momentarily wonders if they should go upstairs. But then Sherlock stands, and John realizes that he doesn't really care where or how, he just knows he needs to get Sherlock's cock in his mouth immediately.
John quickly gets his clothes off, too, his being much less difficult because of his loose sleep clothes. Then, he grabs Sherlock and pulls him onto the sofa, pushing him onto the back against the arm. He then snakes down to settle between Sherlock's widespread legs and presses a kiss to the inside of Sherlock's thigh.
Sherlock shivers and his heart speeds up. He runs his fingers through John's short hair, then he nearly shouts when John licks his balls.
"God, John," Sherlock mutters, his head falling back when John licks the head. "Yes…"
John just moans in response, then sucks the head into his mouth. He'd done this much before, and he's eager to get the rest of Sherlock in his mouth, so without warning he sucks Sherlock in as far as he can.
Sherlock groans loudly and scratches his own chest, this definitely being the best he's ever felt (physically). Angry red marks stain his skin, and when John looks up to see them, it drives him mad with want.
He comes very quickly after that, the wet, warm sensation being exactly what he needed to send him over the edge.
John sits up as soon as Sherlock's body sags, and Sherlock pushes him so he's sitting back on his heels, still on the sofa. Sherlock sits up and slouches so he can get John into his mouth.
John grips Sherlock's hair tightly, but it only encourages Sherlock to suck harder. He wraps a hand around the base and strokes in time with his mouth movements, and John comes down his throat in no time.
Sherlock falls back onto the sofa and John falls on top of him. Sherlock wraps his legs around John's waist and pulls him in, and John's heart beats quickly, thinking about wanting to be on top of Sherlock again. He strokes Sherlock's sides and thighs, eventually settling his arms on either side of Sherlock's head.
"Amazing," John says, kissing Sherlock lightly.
"Mmm," Sherlock sighs. "Perfect."
"Exactly what we needed."
Sherlock sighs again in agreement.
"Though, I thought it'd have been weird."
"Weird?"
"Yeah," John explains. "Brady said it was weird the first time someone went down on him."
"How?"
John shrugs. "I don't know, he said she used too much teeth and not enough suction and that they were both really nervous. You and I weren't nervous at all."
"Well, there's a number of problems with Brady's experience," Sherlock retorts.
"How so?"
"First of all, Brady and whoever he's had oral sex with are not you and I. We're different, we're better. We're mature. And somehow I think our body's already know how to make the other's feel…blissful."
John smiles down at him. "Romantic."
"And," Sherlock goes on. "Brady had sex with a girl. That's obviously an issue for us."
John laughs and buries his face in Sherlock's neck. He lightly kisses and says, "Yeah, I suppose you're right, Sherlock."
"I'm always right," Sherlock says.
"Yeah," John lifts his head. "That's why I love you so much."
"Speaking of loving someone so much," Sherlock says, rubbing John's bare back. "It's Saturday. You told me you'd show me how much you love me on Saturday."
"I thought I just did," John says, kissing Sherlock's neck again.
"Hmm," Sherlock sounds. "I had something else in mind, actually."
John curiously looks up. "Oh?" he asks, grinning.
"I was thinking…maybe…" Sherlock looks at John through his eyelashes and bites his lip, letting his top teeth drag over his red bottom lip. "Maybe some…chocolate chip waffles?"
John laughs loudly and hangs his head. "Fine. But only because you're looking particularly cute today."
"Well, I combed my hair," Sherlock says.
John lifts his eyesbrows. "Did you? Well, then…" without warning, he reaches into Sherlock's hair and mangles it roughly.
Sherlock laughs and tries to roll away, but John has him pinned. He settles for tickling John's armpits, so John squirms and falls off Sherlock, then the sofa.
Sherlock laughs and turns onto his side to look down at John. "Are you ok?"
John laughs and rubs the arm he landed on. "Yeah, fine, you git."
"You started it! And besides, this is payback for earlier."
"I didn't push you earlier!"
"I didn't push you just now!"
John shakes his head and sits up, reaching for his pants. "Well? Come on, then. I'm not making them on my own."
Sherlock sighs and stretches on his back.
John enjoys the show. He licks his lips and his eyes rake over Sherlock's slim body, stopping at the red scratch marks still on Sherlock's skin.
Sherlock looks at John longingly and throws his arms over his head.
"Fine!" John cries. "You don't have to help!"
Sherlock grins and quickly sits up. "Excellent."
John rolls his eyes and turns around to go to the kitchen. Sherlock gets his pants on and follows.
After breakfast (which takes forever because Sherlock distracts John with kissing), John takes a shower while Sherlock sits on the sink of the bathroom and talks to him about his current experiment on mold. John listens and doesn't really say much, not knowing anything about mold or what Sherlock's talking about.
When he's out, they settle on the sofa with warm blankets and Merlin. This time, John talks about how it shouldn't have ended and about other shows that should still be on, all the while Sherlock has nothing to offer and barely even listens.
They do a few other things, including playing in the snow and making hot chocolate. By the time Dawn gets home, they're asleep, wrapped together on the sofa.
Dawn just smiles down at them, leaving them there and going to her bedroom.
John and Sherlock wake refreshed and very happy that they got to spend an entire day alone together.