Chapter five – Close encounters

When Clarissa stirred from her sleep she was aware immediately upon opening her eyes that she was not at home. She shut her eyes tightly, her body aching all over with the pain in her side and her neck stiff from the half sitting, half laying position that she was now stuck in. She stretched like one does after waking up from a seemingly long sleep and opened her eyes again. The room was in better focus. She was in Dr Watson and Mr Holmes office, on the sofa they had back against one of the walls. Then she remembered how she came to be there and blushed at the thought.

Daringly, she glance down at her own body. She was dressed, thank God with a thin blanket over her.

"You're awake" A voice observed from behind her. The baritone belonged to Sherlock, he stepped out from behind his desk and round into her line of sight. "How are you feeling?" The question was a simple and reeked of common curtsy which Mr Holmes didn't seem to care about usually, there was something else. It felt like he even cared.

"Fine, thank you" she managed, her throat dry. "I ache a bit but I guess that is to be expected." Clarissa glanced around the room to see if Dr Watson was there as well, the ache in her neck stopped her from moving too much.

"He's not here" Sherlock said simple, elaborating with a raise of his right eyebrow. "Dr Watson, he went home half an hour ago, after school ended. I thought it was best to allow you to sleep. That way your body can repair itself faster."

"Have I been asleep all day?" She asked in disbelief, taking a moment to run her hands softly over her body as if testing for pain. She grimaced slightly at the tenderness on her right side before looking up into Mr Holmes's grey stare.

He nodded his head slowly. "You haven't been disturbed, and you were never alone, either myself or John were watching you –"he stopped himself and frowned at her amusement on her face. He brought his hand to his mouth and cleared his throat elegantly before attempting to correct himself. "observing you, not watching, defiantly not watching."

Clarissa giggled at the flustered teacher. "I didn't think that you were watching me in that sense"

"What sense?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

"In the creepy stalker sense" she suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. She swung her legs round so that her feet met the floor and she could stand up when she needed to. "I know that you meant" Sherlock rolled his hand in an 'elaborate' way, so she did. "You were watching me the way a nurse would a patient, a parent a child, a lover their partner. I get it."

Sherlock gave a brisk nod of his head and moved back towards his desk. Organising things with his back to her as he talked "I will drive you home once I have cleared away a few things."

"No rush" Clarissa commented taking the moment to watch him as he cleared away books and tidied things up.

The drive home started in silence, it was almost deafening. Clarissa had given him the address as they climbed into the very nice (expensive) black car. It surprised her that even with the address he didn't use a Satnav; instead he seemed to be using a map inside his mind.

After ten minutes of silence Sherlock spoke into the car in his usual bored sounding baritone. "Are you going to be ok at home?"

Clarissa turned her head to look at him and raised an eyebrow. "I'll be fine, but thank you for the concern."

"You should have a hot bath to ease the pain and more painkillers before you go to bed" he suggested, his grey eyes still firmly resting on the road ahead.

"Sound like a plan" she said in a sarcastic way, what did he think she was going to do? Go clubbing with a bruised side like hers.

Sherlock glanced at her with knitted brows, obviously unimpressed with her use of sarcasm before turning his attention back to the road with a roll of his eyes. "You were right" she said quickly thinking of their conversation a few weeks earlier in his classroom, how he had seen that she was attracted to him. Clarissa kept her eyes fixed on the window and the passing streets.

"About what?" he inquired, eyes flicking to her for a brief second.

"When you saw" she emphasised not knowing the correct word for exactly what he did. "That I am attracted to you. You were right, about it"

"Only that?" Sherlock questioned, he knew he was right about the abuse but he needed to get onto a different less risky subject.

Clarissa pursed her lips but didn't answer him. Instead she tapped her hand on her leg and spoke in confidently, ignoring his question. "When someone tells you that you're attracted to them usually you say thank you or return the compliment, but ignoring the subject completely is fine I guess. It's you and I am attracted to you so subconsciously I must like your deflection of the subject…." She trailed off, talking to herself more than him. "…the situation isn't exactly ideal so I guess it's understandable to deflect."

"You are talking to yourself" Sherlock observed, his voice half way between amused and nervous.

"And you're avoiding the subject." She replied, turning to look at him as he pulled up outside her house. "What have you got to lose?"

Sherlock gave a stifled laugh, his hands falling off the steering wheel and into his lap. "My job, my reputation, you can take your pick."

Clarissa giggled at him. "I'm not asking for a relationship, I'm asking you to tell me if you are attracted to me. I'm not going to tell anyone, my lips are sealed, I'm good at keeping secrets."

Sherlock repositioned himself in the seat so that he body was turned more towards her, his hands in fists on his knees as she unbuckled herself and mimicked his action. They were facing each other, grey eyes staring into blue as he spoke slowly, almost seductively (but anything could sound seductive coming from him, sitting in his car). "I am not attracted to you" he lied, but it was a good lie.

Clarissa felt like she'd been punched but kept her face straight. "See that wasn't so hard was it?" she responded quickly as if his words hadn't caused her any pain. She leant forward slightly, surprised that he didn't pull back but remained still. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her face as she whispered. "I'm seventeen, legal in the eyes of the law, months away from being considered an adult, just think about it."

Clarissa then in one swift movement turned in her seat and stepped out of the car without showing any pain, although she felt it. She slammed the door with more force than necessary and walked towards her house with a smirk on her face. She didn't look back as much as she wanted to, she kept her eyes forward and didn't turn around until she had closed the front door.

Sherlock let out a long sigh and sunk into the seat. How was he supposed to think of anything else when she spoke in whispers with her face close enough to his to feel every warm breath. His mobile started ringing and he cursed before pulling it out. He could tell without glancing at the screen that it was his elder brother Mycroft who 'worried about him constantly'.

"What do you want?" Sherlock snapped.

"There is no need to be rude" the well-spoken voice of his brother answered curtly. "I'm just curious to what you think you are doing, Clarissa Johnson is your student."

"I know she's my student" Sherlock snapped again. His brother happened to be able to anger him without actually wanting or trying to, being himself was enough to annoy him.

"Excuse the confusion then because you just drove her home, after she spent the whole day asleep in your office."

"Having me watched again, how original" Sherlock mocked.

"You know I worry about you –" Mycroft started.

Sherlock cut him off, putting on his brother's voice melodramatically and speaking slowly. "Constantly" he sighed, running a hand through his curls before adding. "I know what I am doing Mycroft, she is just a student, nothing more." He hung up the phone, throwing it onto the other seat.