It was now the last day of the year. Today was New Year's Eve. Sherlock had often met Katie in the laboratory. The previous tension between them had been resolved by that evening.
Yet there was now a strange attraction between them. An electrifying voltage. Nothing had happened since the evening she stayed with him. Every now and then, while they were working together, they threw longing looks at each other or smiled at each other. But nobody wanted to ruin these moments by talking about this evening and their obvious feelings for each other.

Even their friends noticed that this tension had disappeared and they understood each other better again. They noticed it above all in the fact that Sherlock became more sociable in his dealings with others. He was almost nice.

Katie was just on her way to the canteen for a small dinner. She had put in a longer shift today, as she wanted to finish her tasks before the end of the year. Besides, she had no plans for New Year's Eve anyway. John and Mary were visiting his sister. Greg spent the turn of the year out of town and Molly was with her fiancé's family. And most of her colleagues had holidays between the holidays and New Year.

It was generally very quiet. She was the only one in her department who worked during the holidays. But she didn't have any other commitments either, and work always distracted her from the fact that she no longer had a family to celebrate with.

Now she sat alone at a table in the hospital canteen staring at the food in front of her. She tried to decipher what was on her plate. It was a funny-looking porridge that was supposed to be chicken fricassee. It was clearly too much. She could not bring herself to choke it down. Disgusted, she pushed the plate away from her.
She was about to get up and get a little snack from the nearby vending machine when suddenly someone put a bag in front of her. As she looked up, she saw Sherlock's face. He had brought her a portion of fish and chips. Obviously he wanted something from her again.

"Hello, Sherlock. What can I do for you?" she asked with a played eye roll but laughed at him.

But Sherlock replied nothing. He seemed somewhat embarrassed and stroked his curls with his hand.

"Uh, actually with nothing. I just thought that this might taste better than THAT," he said dismissively, casting a derogatory glance at the funny-looking porridge.

"Oh. Well, thank you very much then. Would you like to join me or do you have other plans for the evening?"

"No, I have no plans. What's so special about New Year's Eve? It's a day like any other. Why celebrate the end of the old year? In the end, it only serves to make people get drunk and indulge their carnal desires on New Year's Eve because of their sentimentality," he said in an appreciative tone and took a seat in the chair opposite her.

"I agree with you there. Although I used to enjoy partying with my brother," she replied in a melancholy tone.
"We used to sneak up to the roof of the school building. We always had a blanket and a small basket of drinks with us and watched the fireworks. For the countdown, we held each other by the hands and with every rocket that lit up the sky, we expressed our wishes for the New Year. And it was always the same wish we both had. We never wanted to be apart. It became a real tradition for us until..."
Katie's gaze turned downwards and she felt sadness rise again, thinking of her brother.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm telling you this" Now it was her turn to be embarrassed.

He said nothing. Instead, he grabbed some chips and shoved them in her mouth.

They ate silently for a while until Katie had to go back to the lab. She thanked him again for the food and wished him a nice last evening this year. Then she disappeared from the big glass door, out of his field of vision.

It was now barely half an hour until midnight. Katie had managed to finish her work and began to tidy up the laboratory. She would go straight home and watch the fireworks on her roof terrace for a while, before she would sit on the couch with a glass of wine and watch the New Year's programme on TV, only to fall asleep shortly afterwards anyway.

She turned off the light and stepped out of the door, when suddenly a buzzing of her mobile phone interrupted her movement.

St. Bart's roof. SH

What was he up to now? She rolled her eyes but was also curious. So she followed the long corridor to the lift. At the top, she opened the door that should lead to the roof.
She stepped out, the lights of the city shining only enough to make out slight contours.

"Sherlock?" she shouted slightly frightened.

She suddenly noticed a hand on her back, which she pushed forward carefully but firmly. Her eyes slowly got used to the darkness and when she could see where he was pushing her, she froze.

There on the floor was a large blanket with some pillows spread out. Next to it stood a basket. Sherlock had copied exactly what she had told him before.
She was instantly speechless. Tears came to her eyes again. But this time they were tears of joy. She was touched by the fact that he was obviously taking care of her. She turned to him and beamed. Then she gave him a hug.

A short time later they separated again. Katie sat down on the blanket and told him to do the same. He did.

Ten minutes to midnight.
The rockets were already flying towards the sky but the two of them were not speaking. They were now lying next to each other, looking at the stars. When the countdown began (they heard it from a flat across the street) Katie reached for his hand as if automatically and squeezed it lightly. He let it happen. Her gaze was still fixed on the sky. Sherlock turned to face her and as the New Year began he whispered softly to her.
"Happy New Year, Katie"

Now she turned her head to him as well and smiled at him lovingly.
"Happy New Year, Sherlock" she whispered as well.

Then he slowly leaned over to her.
At that moment Katie held her breath. Excitement spread. It was actually a tradition to kiss your loved ones for New Year. But would he do this? Sherlock wasn't very fond of such traditions.
He slowly approached her face and Katie suddenly felt a tingling sensation all over her body. He paused just before her face. He seemed to be superior.
Then he turned to the side and gave her a short and tender kiss on the cheek.

Then he turned back again. Her hands still in each other's.
"Sherlock? What did you do that for anyway?" she asked at one point.

"Well I think that's what you do for your friends when they're not doing so well, don't you? And you were kind of, well, not cheerful today."

Friends. So they were just friends. She felt a twinge in her heart when she heard that word. It hurt to think of him seeing her as just a friend. He seemed to notice her gloomy mood and looked at her with an expression of confusion. But Katie smiled softly at him and then turned her head back to the sky. Her hand had released her and she was now resting on her stomach.
The rockets continued to illuminate the London night sky. In the flat across the street they sang, laughed and greeted the New Year.

At some point Katie broke the silence between them.
"And Sherlock, do you have any New Year's wishes?"

He turned to her and answered:
"Just one. Tell me the truth about then."

He spoke very softly but she could hear it. She turned to him. In her eyes lay horror and a trace of melancholy.
She thought about what he had said before. He deserved the truth and she felt quite stupid not to have told him before. He only saw her as a friend and she had nothing more to lose.
She sighed inwardly, sat up and then began to tell. Her face looked down at the floor in front of her. Her knees bent, her arms wrapped around her

"You know, you were right. I was not pregnant by anyone else. It was your child.
I found out about three months pregnant. It was going to be a girl.
Yeah, and then a few weeks later, I wasn't.
I was trying to protect my child from my aggressive ex-boyfriend and was running away to work around the clock. I probably put myself and the child under too much stress that she could not survive. I feel so guilty about this and I couldn't tell you the truth. I was afraid you would never want to see me again!" She gave a deep sigh.
"But to be honest, I feel kind of ridiculous now, having kept it from you for so long. You are probably relieved not to be a father, and even more so because it was a chance night with just one friend! The word "friend" was spat out by her.

Did he hear a hint of sarcasm? He wondered why and why this sudden change of mood? Had he said something wrong?
Sherlock was at a loss. He didn't know much about these things and feelings. All his life he had built a wall around himself.
But in recent years, that wall had begun to crumble. The first time was when he met John. John who always stood by him, no matter how mean he sometimes was to him and what he did to him. Then, when Molly, who helped him with his death without asking why, no matter how often he had humiliated her. And finally his wall continues to crumble whenever he is with HER and she smiles at him or touches him accidentally. He now also sat up and looked into the distance of the city.

"You are right about one thing. I am relieved. I just don't see myself in the role of a father and I don't think I could ever be. But our night together was not by chance. I wanted it"

There was a short break.

"You must know that I had feelings for you then, such romantic feelings. And I was afraid because of that."

Katie didn't know how to respond. He was in love with her. Her heart leapt a little at the thought, but sank again as soon as she thought about what he had said before. She stood up and straightened her clothes.

"Well, I think it's time to go. I still have a long way to go home. Thanks for all this" and rambled her arm across the ceiling.

Sherlock also stood up. He seemed surprised at her sudden departure.
"Then let me at least take you home. It's getting late!"

"Sherlock, you don't have to do this. I'll be fine." Then she saw the look in his eyes. He looked disappointed. She didn't want to start another fight between them, either. She was glad that things had just relaxed a bit. She breathed out deeply.
"But I think it might be better if you came with me."

Sherlock packed her things and then followed her off the roof and out of the building. At the bottom of the street, you decided to walk. The streets were crowded and it would take ages to get a taxi through. They walked along silently the whole time. No one dared to say anything or did not know.
After about 35 minutes they came to a halt at their flat. Sherlock accompanied them up the few steps.
At her front door, she put the key in the lock and turned back to him again.

"Well, thank you very much for the evening and the company. I wish you a good night, Sherlock"

She was nervous and nested her fingers on her clothes. Then she bent up to him and gave them a quick kiss on the cheek. She was just about to step through the door into the house when he grabbed her wrist and turned her back towards him. Katie was confused and looked at him questioningly.

"You are wrong. I would never want not to see you again. And honestly, in the two years I was away, the only thing that kept me going was the thought of you."
He smiled slightly and then let go of her wrist. Then he turned around and followed the stairs down to the pavement.

Katie stood there for a while and stared at him. This man was a mystery to her and she couldn't explain his behaviour. On the one hand, he called her just a friend and in other moments, he did or said something like that.

She shook her head. She didn't want to think about it anymore today and then ran up the stairs to her flat.