When John woke up the next morning, he was alone on his side of the bed. Rolling over, he saw Sherlock sprawled out on his stomach on the other side of the king sized bed, still dead in sleep. Unsure of what he should do, John sat up and looked around the large bedroom. He'd never done anything like this before, and he wasn't sure what the etiquette was for the situation. Did Sherlock expect him to leave now? They weren't exactly dating, so maybe he wasn't supposed to stick around all day.
Getting up carefully, he quietly located his clothes around the room and got dressed by the light of the midmorning sun streaming in through the thick curtains. Then, slipping out of the door, he stole down the hallway in silence. He walked down the stairs, trying to tame his hair as he went. But when he reached the landing and turned to the living room, he froze.
"You must be John." A man, who must've been Mycroft, was sitting on the couch in the living room reading a newspaper and enjoying a cup of tea.
"Oh, I uh..." John tried desperately to stop himself from turning bright red. "Sherlock didn't tell me you were here last night."
"I gathered that." Mycroft stood and walked over to shake his hand. "Mycroft Holmes."
"John Watson."
"I've heard a lot about you. Will you be staying for lunch?"
"I, uh, I was actually just heading out. I've got some things I need to take care of before tonight's show." John started moving toward the exit.
"Speaking of which, there's a review of last night in the paper. I was just reading it."
"Really?" John took the paper from him and opened it to the page he was talking about.
"It's a pretty good review, too. You should go show my brother. I'm sure he'd like to hear about it, as well." Mycroft gestured with his tea cup in the direction of Sherlock's room, then went to sit back down in the living room.
Scanning the review, John saw words like 'amazing', 'excellent', and 'shining', before he turned around and jogged back up the stairs to Sherlock's room. "Hey, Sherlock, check this out." He said when he opened the door back up. "Janine Hawkins from the Times reviewed the show last night."
Sherlock, just now waking, propped himself up on one elbow and looked at John in confusion. "Are you leaving?"
"Well, I uh-" John shifted uncomfortably.
Sherlock seemed to have read his mind, because he shook his head and waved John over. "No, come back to bed." Smiling, John stripped back down to his pants and crawled back into bed. "I want you here." He said as he moved in close to John once more. "I don't expect you to be gone by the time I wake up. Unless, you don't want to be here."
"No, I do." John said, finally relaxing once more.
"So, what's the review say? Read it to me." Sherlock put his head on John's chest and tangled his long arms around his torso.
"Wicked opened last night at the Gershwin Theater, and I had an excellent floor seat to what I initially didn't know was going to be one of the most amazing performances I've seen on Broadway to date." John read. "The casting, costuming, and choreography were all so deliciously on point, that I found myself wishing it wouldn't end. Miss Molly Hooper, the actress playing Elphaba, is definitely a star in the making. Miss Hooper has played minor roles on Broadway in the past, mostly chorus parts and a few secondary leads, but as the green witch of the west, she has stepped into the spotlight. Though, Miss Hooper hardly needs it, as she shines brightly on her own.
"Mary Morstan, a veteran to the Gershwin stage, dazzled as well, and it wasn't just her very large, very pink dresses. Miss Morstan's operatic vocal range was excellent and her comedic timing fit the ditzy role of Glinda in ways that had me bursting out laughing at all the right times. Newcomer to the stage, Sherlock Holmes, stole the show, though, with his suave performance of Dancing Through Life." John smiled and ran his free hand in absent-minded circles on Sherlock's back. "Mr. Holmes's Fiyero dazzled and stunned during his different scenes, and he definitely won the crowd over with his shining smile and smooth voice. Though the whole cast and crew were fabulous, I recommend catching the show before Sherlock Holmes is too big of a name for us every-day-folk to get tickets."
John tossed the newspaper onto the floor. "Wow. Talk about a rave review. I think that Janine woman may have fallen in love with you last night."
"My shining smile and suave dance moves tend to do that." Sherlock laughed a slow, low chuckle before sitting up and putting a hand behind John's head, pulling him in for a kiss. "Got time for a different type of dancing?"
John barked out a laugh. "That was really lame. But, I guess I have a little time." He smiled, moving closer to the actor once more.
"John." Jessica said in a low, teasing voice. "What's this?" She poked the dark purple bruise peeking out from the collar of his shirt as he was fiddling with the sound board.
John twisted away from her touch, flinching slightly in pain. "Be an adult, Jessica. You know what it is." He still didn't look up from the board. When he'd been getting ready for the show tonight, he'd noticed how large the hickey had gotten over night and he'd silently prayed his team wouldn't draw attention to it.
Kelly gasped, looking over the wall around the sound board to better see what Jessica was talking about. Then, giggling, she said, "I take it your date went well last night? I want details!"
John rearranged his shirt collar in an attempt to hide the hickey again. "Jesus, I feel like a teenager." Kelly laughed again and John leaned up against the wall next to him and ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, it went well. We actually skipped the coffee and just walked around Times Square and talked until about 2AM."
"Damn." Jessica said. "I went to bed at midnight, and I'm exhausted."
"Yeah, and just because they talked until 2AM, doesn't mean they weren't up later than that." Kelly nudged her.
"Oh, ha ha." John rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm going to run backstage real quick and change out Molly's mic. When I get back, I expect this to be a professional environment. That means drop it." John gave them a serious look, but walked away with a small smile on his face. He really did feel like a teenager again and talking about it didn't help any.
Backstage was the same scene as the day before; actors bustling about trying to take care of last minute things. Though tonight, the atmosphere was less tense and there was more fun in the air. "Hi John!" Molly waved, her bright green body paint sticking out from the crowd like a neon sign.
"I have a better mic for you right here." John said, holding up the box and wires. "Did you see the review in the Times this morning?" He asked as he set to work applying her mic. "It called you a 'star in the making'."
"I did see it!" Molly said. "I'm very happy about it. It's a very nice review. For all three of us mains. But especially Sherlock."
"It was very generous on Sherlock's behalf." John admitted. "But, he is a new face, so it was a bit of a feat for a newcomer."
"Oh no, I'm not saying it was undeserved." Molly said, turning to face John once he'd finished. "I was just saying he definitely got his recognition."
"Well, break a leg," John said, spotting Sherlock across the room in the same corner as yesterday.
"Come to wish me good luck?" Sherlock said, crowding himself into John's space and placed a hand on the wall next to John's ear.
John crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, looking up into the actor's face. "I thought you didn't believe in luck?"
Sherlock smirked. "I don't." He dipped his head and gave John loving kiss.
Smiling against Sherlock's lips, John said, "Good luck out there."
The sound of someone clearing their throat next to them made both turn sharply. "John, do you think I could have you back now?"
A blush creeped up over John's face and he coughed once. "Uh, yeah. Sorry." He ducked under Sherlock's arm and went to stand by Jessica. "Break a leg." He said again, waving awkwardly before grabbing Jessica's arm and whisking her away to the sound board.
"You guys are cute." Jessica commented.
"Shut up." John mumbled. "Places, guys. We're about to begin."
Not a great chapter, but necessary for plot purposes. Sorry it took so long to update! I've been bogged down with school work. But, I aced 3 tests in the last week, and I decided to take the weekend off and relax and do an update. It may take a bit to update the next chapter, though. I'm trying to give my novel a little attention, too.