A/N: So I had some writers' block. But here you are with something new!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Gabe and Katie.

"Dad… I can explain," Gabriel stammered as he tried to get up from the bed. The jostling thwarted him twice but he finally managed it. Katie was practically paralyzed beside him, gripping his pillow and holding it in front of herself.

"I'm sure you can," Sherlock sighed. He turned his narrow gaze on Katie. "Go up to bed, Katie." She looked from Sherlock to Gabriel and back again before sliding out of the bed, still clutching Gabe's pillow.

As soon as Katie was gone, Gabriel began defensively explaining. "We weren't doing anything! Katie just couldn't sleep because Scarlett was talking in her sleep and she left one of her hearing aids in and it was whistling but Katie couldn't take it out because it was the ear Scarlett was sleeping on. So she came down here. She was going to get my extra blanket and sleep on the couch but we ended up talking." Sherlock stood in the doorway silently. "Honestly, Dad! Nothing happened!"

"Fine."

"We kissed but that was all!"

"I believe you."

"I was just…" He paused and his breath caught in his throat, choking him. "You do?"

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I? You aren't in the habit of lying to me…"

"Well no…"

"Except of course about the stud through your tongue." Gabriel gasped and slapped a hand over his mouth. Obviously he had assumed that his father didn't know about the piercing. "And your 'perfectly innocent' dates with Jessica."

"They were innocent!"

Sherlock chuckled. "Oh please. The girl's neck looked like the surface of Mars despite her attempts to hide it." Before he turned on the lamp by the bed, he could tell that Gabriel's face was glowing. "Look, I'm not going to say a word. You're supposed to be smart enough to take care of yourself in that respect. Though I will remind you that engaging in underage coitus in your parents' house when they've specifically told you that they don't approve goes a bit beyond just disobeying their wishes."

"Not that I have been, but what do you mean?"

"Because right now, we trust you. You've always been truthful about the things that matter and so therefore we trust you to do the right thing. But if you start lying, that's blatant disrespect and I won't trust you anymore. And I won't tolerate it, Gabriel."

"I'm not lying!"

"I didn't say you were. But you're awfully defensive."

"Because you're doing that thing!"

"What thing?"

"That thing you do to your clients! You talk them 'round until they finally let something slip!"

"I couldn't do that if there wasn't anything to slip."

Gabriel huffed and threw himself backward on his bed, pulling the covers up to his chin forcefully. "You're just suspicious of everyone. And Mum treats me like I might be Will or Finn! It's not fair!"

"The only one who's getting upset is you, Gabe."

"Until you tell Mum…"

"I didn't say a word about telling her anything! You're pissed off because you got caught doing something you knew you weren't supposed to. Regardless of any sexual contact, you've been told over and over that you aren't to have Katie in your bedroom late at night! Or any other girl for that matter!"

"Scarlett comes in here all the time."

"That's different and you know it."

"I'm just trying to settle on an agreed upon vernacular."

Sherlock turned away, clutching his fists into hard knots at his side. He wanted to slap him. Gabriel's reasoning was purposefully obtuse and so mirrored his own defense mechanisms that Sherlock found himself near rage with his child. It didn't happen often but when it did, it was best he just walk away. No one wanted a scene like their first fight at Ambergris. Sherlock knew he tended to say and do things he didn't mean when he was angry. "Just go to sleep," he said, stalking out of the room.

OoOoOo

"I'm just not ready for it," Sherlock grumbled as he drew another card. He'd been so irritable during their game that Molly had finally thrown down her hand in favor of bathing the twins. "Gabriel simply cannot be sixteen. All evidence points to him getting worse, not better." Father and son had been fighting for the majority of their last week of vacation and John was ready to explode on them both. "One of us isn't going to make it until he goes to university."

"I don't know why you'd be bothered in the least," John argued. "He acts just like you."

"That's what bothers me. I was a horrible teenager. I remember it vividly."

Mary giggled and clapped Sherlock on the back reassuringly. "He's a good kid. We all had our moments."

"Moments, yes. My moments consisted of drug use, cutting, fistfights with my father and brother as well as strangers, self-mutilation with fire…"

"Jesus, Sherlock…"

"Sneaking around behind the police, putting myself in situations that no sixteen year old boy should be in."

"But is the constant fighting with him going to help?" Mary asked.

"What else can I do? It was all so much easier when he was little. When I wanted him to do something and he refused, I could just pick him up and force him. Now he protests and fights me every step."

"Of course he does," John said with a derisive snort. "He's a teenager. Being defiant is part of growing up. Otherwise he'd be living in your house being a child for the rest of his life."

"Yes and just when he outgrows it and moves out on his own, Scarlett will start in," Sherlock grumbled.

Mary chuckled. "Oh and she'll be worse. She'll be a girl."

"I can't imagine Scarlett being anything but an absolute darling."

John and Mary burst into laughter. Sherlock just stared at them as if they'd actually taken leave of their senses this time. "What?" he said finally.

"Scarlett, like our daughters, is a beautiful girl that's only going to get more beautiful as time goes by. Boys much like Gabriel are going to be beating down the door to get to her and it's going to drive you mad."

"Please," Sherlock scoffed. "She's just a baby."

"She's eight," John said. "Hardly a baby. Don't think I didn't hear that little conversation you and Molly had over her swimsuit. You're already paranoid about it!"

"Don't be absurd!"

"She's not a baby, she's MY baby," John whined in a perfect imitation of Sherlock's voice. "How many times have we heard that?"

"Oh and you aren't just as bad? Not letting Isabel have that little boy from her class over to the flat to play because you didn't like the look of his hair?"

"He was ten! And a bit of a punk with his hair standing on end. And his mother was a patient!"

Mary gasped. "I thought you told me that Isabel's friend was sick and that's why he couldn't come over!"

Before John and Mary could begin to argue in earnest, Sherlock stopped them with an exaggerated cough. "Look, none of this has anything to do with the problem at hand. Gabriel is going to be sixteen and suddenly I have no idea who he is anymore! When I look at him, I still see that little boy in the Batman underwear with the messy hair eating baked apples and slurping his tea. But apparently I'm supposed to forget about that and treat him like an equal now!"

"He's still your child, Sherlock," Mary started, but John interrupted.

"Have you grown a vagina on this trip?"

"What?"

"You sound like Molly every time she has to buy the twins new shoes! He's growing up too fast! He doesn't need us anymore! We should have another baby!" John's impersonation of Molly cracked Mary up and soon they were both weeping with laughter.

"I hate you both," Sherlock sighed.

OoOoOo

Gabriel and Katie walked along the boardwalk hand in hand. The air had grown chilly and Gabe had surrendered his hoodie to her. The shops and restaurants along the water's edge that were usually bustling with kids and tourists were quiet tonight. It seemed as if the whole world was leaving Camber Sand before summer gave way to autumn. Gabriel had always thought it was the saddest time of the year even though he knew they'd be back for another short holiday and then Christmas. It wasn't the same. Soon it would be desolate and boarded up for the season.

Katie shivered and pulled Gabe's jacket closer around her shoulders. "It's hard to believe that it was so warm this morning."

"Storm must be coming in. You can almost smell the rain."

She nodded. "I wish we didn't have to go home this weekend."

"I know. School starts in a couple of weeks and rugby practice."

"And orchestra," Katie finished. "It's a wonder I ever get to see you."

Gabriel smirked. "We still go to the same school. And we walk home together every single day."

"Unless you have some kind of practice."

"Well you could stay and watch, you know."

"Oooh… big fun!" Katie exclaimed with sarcastic glee. "No thank you."

He squeezed her hand and drew her closer into his side. She felt nice there, all snuggled up beside him. Something about Katie just fit. Jessica had tried to fit. She tried so hard that she was tiresome about it, but Katie didn't have to try. She didn't have to pretend to like the same music he did or the same movies. She didn't have to fill up the room with conversation. Sometimes they just sat on the sofa doing completely different things, just happy to be together. It was comfortable. "Actually, I was thinking of quitting the orchestra."

Katie stopped, causing him to stumble. "What? Why?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I think I'm as good at the violin as I'm likely to get. I'm kind of bored with it."

"But you've been playing forever!"

"Exactly."

"Gabe… wow…" she stammered. "Your dad is going to be…"

"He'll probably be pissed off, but whatever. I'm sick of doing what he wants me to do all the time."

"But you're so good, Gabe! You could be with the London Symphony. Everybody says so. You have real talent. It would be stupid for you to throw that away because of some fight with your dad!"

"It's not because of that."

"That's shit and you know it," Katie scolded. "You are wanting to do anything you can to make him mad at you."

"I don't want him to be angry with me. I just want him to stop treating me like a little kid! And I might not quit. Or maybe I'll play something else." Before she could respond, Gabriel noticed that the little place where he'd gotten his tongue pierced was open. "Let's go look at barbels. I don't like the one I have. It's too heavy."

"But…"

"Come on," he said, dragging her by the hand.

The guy who worked there didn't even look up from his mobile when the couple walked in. The place was completely deserted except for a shifty looking kid browsing the tattoo flash that lined the walls. Gabriel had been so high on adrenaline when they were here before that he hadn't noticed that the place not only did piercing and tattoos but was also a barber shop. Suddenly he was inspired.

"Gabe," Katie hissed. "This place is kind of creepy. Let's go."

"Just a minute." He broke away from Katie and walked up to the tattooed shopkeeper. "Hey mate."

"Yep," the guy replied, still staring at his phone.

"How much for a haircut?"

"Nine pound, fifty."

Gabriel dug several notes out of his pocket and handed them over. The man looked up and took the bills, counting them carefully before standing up and beckoning for Gabriel to sit. "All right then. What do you want me to do?"

"Cut it. All of it."

"What?" Katie exclaimed, rushing to his side.

The barber snorted and nodded. "How short, mate?"

"To the scalp."

"That's a serious haircut. You sure you want to do that, kid?"

"Gabriel! You can't cut all your hair off!" Katie protested. "What if you change your mind?"

"It'll grow back," he replied, then looked back at the barber. "I'm sure."