Oh my goodness, sorry for the wait. I have been a little stuck lately. . sorry!

Sherlock's dream started back at his house. Everything was there; the paintings and decorations, as well as the polished white floors, were exactly the same as when he left for school.

His father walked in; he was the same too. Tall, menacing, brutal. He grabbed Sherlock swiftly by the collar and slammed him against the wall. He was yelling, but Sherlock heard nothing. Silence, louder than the screaming; more brutal, terrifying, and deafening.

Then suddenly, he was alone. Good, its better alone; alone is what I have; alone protects me. But then there was pain; excruciating pain, coming from punches, kicks, beatings. It hurt. Make it stop.

Make it stop. Make it STOP!

And it did. The pain ceased, though he was still getting beaten. The words, freak, monster, weirdo, creep, still were hurled at him, aiming to hurt.

But they didn't. There was no sting, no sadness. Nothing. He couldn't feel anymore. I don't want to feel, I want to die. I want to live, I want to be left alone.

I just won't care. Caring is not an advantage.

Finally, bliss.

Sherlock woke up groggily to the sound of Sebastian yelling at him.

"Oi, freak, wake up you stupid cunt! I need you to give me my money!"

Sherlock peeled his eyes open and sat up slowly, the pain from yesterday gone.

Sherlock glared up at Sebastian, who was at the edge of the bed, fuming. "Fuck off, Seb."

Sebastian's mouth dropped in shock. "Did you just tell me to fuck off?"

Sherlock sighed, "Yes, and while I realise you're an idiot, I didn't know that you were audibly impaired."

Sherlock didn't realise he'd been punched until he saw Sebastian's hand moving away from his face. Sherlock raised an eyebrow; that was odd. He'd been punched in the face before, and it hurt quite a lot. There was a low sort of throbbing in his cheek and lip, but it didn't hurt. He raised his own hand up to his face and prodded it. A tiny bit of pain, and bit more blood.

"Hm," he said quietly. He looked up to see Sebastian, still seething. "What money do I owe you?"

"You owe me 300 pounds. Plus interest," he replied.

Sherlock got his wallet and chucked 500 pounds at Sebastian. "There, now will you fuck off?"

As Sherlock walked out of his science classroom, everyone else staying behind to mourn the class hamster, he silently wondered if there was something wrong with him. It was just a stupid animal, it was going to die anyway, why should he care?

He heard the names, day after day; freak, loser, insensitive, monster, devil, lifeless.

He didn't care.