Guest asked: I'd love to see your take on the initialising of a relationship. Basically, as a prompt, please could you write the two of them realising and confessing their feelings?
I tried a million different ideas for this one, one of them actually ended up as a revamp of The Sign of Four which was just too long for the oneshots, hopefully if I ever finish it (not to mention finish One More Miracle) you can see it as a separate story.
I hope this story is what you were looking for, enjoy!
John didn't really know when it had begun, but one day he realized that Sherlock had been a little more clingy than usually the past few days. More than usual meaning of course the he was actually showing human emotion. Normally Sherlock abhorred even acknowledging people with anything more than a glare and a put-down, yet he kept making excuses to touch John.
He'd put a hand on his elbow to lead him around a corner, or brush his hand over John's while reaching for his phone. Of course the most drastic one yet was just that morning.
"John! Hurry up! I won't wait forever!" Sherlock paced restlessly, his dramatic black coat sweeping about him. Meanwhile upstairs, John was struggling to get dressed in time to avoid Sherlock's impatient wrath.
"Calm down!" He yelled through a jumper as he pulled it over his head. "The crime scene isn't going anywhere!"
"Neither are we!" Sherlock shouted back, his face displaying clear irritation. John stumbled down the stairs, trying to pull on his last shoe. Honestly he was just glad Sherlock was waiting for once, normally the detective would just sweep into the room and announce he was leaving before running off. Apparently they were making progress in the whole "social interaction" area.
"Three identical murders committed only minutes apart!" Sherlock rushed up to John and practically pulled him to the door. "I won't wait any longer! I have to see for myself!"
John had only just registered the fact that Sherlock was holding his hand, and by the time he realized it he was too stunned to pull away. The detective's hand felt warm in his, and Sherlock was making no moves to remove his hand...maybe it was okay to just let it happen for awhile?
That wasn't the end of it either.
"Wrapped up already?" John smiled as he watched the bedraggled detective drag himself through the door. He could always tell when Sherlock had a case and when he didn't. The man had an erratic kind of energy, becoming hyperactive when on the chase and then slothful when there was nothing to do.
"I'm bitterly disappointed, John." Sherlock sighed. "That case didn't last nearly as long as I thought it would."
"Most people are happy when a murder gets put away." John replied with a smirk. Sherlock collapsed on the couch next to John and stretched his long legs over the doctor's lap.
"Oi, make yourself comfortable." John playfully batted at the detective's feet which caused a thin smirk to form on Sherlock's lips.
John adjusted his laptop so that his lap could also accommodate Sherlock's legs. For awhile he just worked on updating his blog. Then he noticed that Sherlock was watching him.
When he glanced over Sherlock immediately averted his eyes, pretending to be looking at one thing or another. A light blush colored his face.
"Are you getting sick?" John asked with concern, it wouldn't be the first time Sherlock had worn himself thin on a case.
"Of course not." Sherlock huffed, jumping up from the couch and storming out of the room.
The week after brought another murder and Sherlock was a little overly thrilled. John was too used to the detective's love of all things behind caution tape to bother scolding him about it, so he just watched from the sidelines while Sherlock darted around the body like an excited grasshopper.
"Wow, are you with the police?"
John turned around to see an amber haired woman looking at him with catlike eyes. She was sizing him up, smiling broadly.
"Uh..yes actually." John grinned, finding a definite advantage to this extra work on the side.
"A real hero." The girl inched closer. "I'm impressed."
"Oh it's nothing really, I just help out with some of the tougher cases." He was about to ask for her number when suddenly a tall lithe figure appeared at his side.
"John." Sherlock snaked an arm around John's waist. "I need your opinion on this." He practically whispered the words into John's ear, and for a blissful moment John's attraction shifted from the woman...
to Sherlock?
"Oh. I'm sorry." The woman blushed and smiled. "I should...get out of your way." She fled from the scene, sparing only one more glance back at the embarrassed and confused doctor.
"S-Sherlock?" John spluttered. "What do you think you're doing? Couldn't you see I was...busy?" John wanted to pull away but Sherlock's hand was resting on his lower back, causing an almost magnetic pull.
The detective didn't answer John, he just watched the woman walk off. Once she was a safe distance away he pulled away from John and went back to the corpse.
John stared at his flatmate, trying to figure out in his head just what was going on. Sherlock had been getting more intimate clearly. He was apparently also jealous. That wasn't new though, Sherlock always complained when one of John's girlfriend pulled him away from work. Could that be it? Maybe Sherlock was just jealous, and was trying to keep John around.
Maybe he should test the theory.
"Well, I think I'll call that girl from earlier." He commented casually.
"What girl?" Sherlock asked, distracted by his own thoughts. He was laying on the couch with his hands pressed together and positioned against his chin.
"You know the one from this morning, she gave me her number. I'm gonna ask her out tonight." John fibbed, hoping this could shed some light on what was going on.
Sherlock looked up slowly, his eyes almost screamed 'danger'.
"Don't waste your time with her." He replied smoothly.
"Why not?" John awaited some deduction that showed the girl was a cheater or married or secretly a man or something. What came instead was decidedly un-Sherlock.
"...I rather you not." He murmured.
"I can't live my life to please you, Sherlock." John rolled his eyes.
"John. Don't go tonight." Sherlock insisted, his voice gaining a desperate tone.
"Alright. Give me a good reason why I shouldn't."
Sherlock sat up, eyeing John carefully. His lip almost trembled like a child's, and his face colored slightly.
"John." He said. "We belong to each other."
"...What?" John nearly laughed. "Sherlock that's ridiculous and a little insulting."
"No, John you don't understand." Sherlock scowled. "No one else is special enough for us. You're the only one that can take care of me without having me throw a fit."
"That's debatable."
"I'm the only one you let see you when you've woken up from a nightmare of Afghanistan."
"We live together, it's only natural you'd see me when I wake up."
"John. Listen." Sherlock sighed. Something in his voice made John lose the urge to banter nervously, so he just sat back.
"Alright. I'm listening." He nodded.
"John..." Sherlock stood up and walked over until he was standing right in front of John. "You are the most important thing to me." Then he leaned forward and kissed him.
For a moment John stood breathless, too shocked to think. This went a little beyond jealousy...was Sherlock telling John he loved him?
John stood silently while Sherlock's eyes ran up and down the soldier's form. His face took on a disappointed frown.
"Oh...I have misjudged the situation...I am sorry, John." Sherlock actually blushed, his face looking childlike and hurt, he made a move to retreat into his bedroom but John caught him by the arm and spun him back around again.
"Sherlock...you just surprised me is all." He laughed softly and nervously. "Well I can't say I've never thought of you that way but..." John gave a small smile and kissed Sherlock.
Sherlock drew back after a few seconds with a confused look on his face.
"John...I must admit I have no experience with this...are we having a moment or not?"
I am so sorry it took so long to update, school is kicking my ass so I have little time to update and even less time to make it a good update.
In other news, wow guys 68 reviews? Thank you so much. Now let's see if we can get it up to a hundred huh?