The next morning Sherlock woke up at the very reasonable hour of 6 o'clock (considering that the past week he had woken up at around 3am, or not slept at all). He got into his dressing gown and opened the door, expecting to see John, as usual, making his coffee as he does every morning. But when he opened his bedroom door, the flat was still and lifeless. Sherlock wiped away at his eyes and walked into the kitchen, looking for any signs of John. The coffee jar was closed, with no teaspoon in the sink. John's chair was cold. This was probably because the windows across from the chair were open, but John didn't like having the windows open at night and would've closed them if he were home. Sherlock searched his brain for where John could be at 6 in the morning.
Oh wait.
His date with Danielle. It was last night. In a matter of 2 seconds Sherlock had gone from curious to depressed. He wanted John there. He wanted John to be there when he woke up, to make his tea, to ask him about his experiments, to listen to him. Just to be there. But as these thoughts rushed into his head, Sherlock started to question himself. Why was he suddenly so attached to John in this way? No he wasn't, of course he wasn't. John was just his roommate, his friend. His "colleague". His best friend. His BEST friend. His only friend. Sherlock looked up as he came back and realised that his thoughts had drifted off. In an attempt to fool himself, Sherlock pretended he had not been thinking about John, and tried to carry on. He sat at the kitchen table ready to continue his experiment. He wanted tea, but he wanted John's tea, so he didn't have any at all. He would just continue with the experiment.
Yup, until John got back.
For the first time in his life Sherlock couldn't concentrate. He had his experiments, he had an inbox filled to its virtual rim with cases for him to solve and explore. But he couldn't. He just couldn't because his mind was being littered with thoughts of the man he had barely known a few months, who was there to pay rent, at first. He didn't know why this feeling had suddenly grown so strong with no warning, why this man suddenly seemed so... so desirable. And for the first time in his life Sherlock didn't know what to do with these emotions. Hah, emotions. He'd like to think of himself as a man of little or no emotion, a man who could work and work with no interruption. He liked to think of himself as his own version of a superhero. But to his disappointment, he seemed human after all.
*4 hours later*
Sherlock was deep in thought at the kitchen table when he heard the sound of the front door opening. Like a child he jolted up and grinned. He was waiting for John for so long, he wanted company. Although he tried to act casual he couldn't contain this sudden excitement. "John?" He called down the stairs. He waited for a reply, but instead heard footsteps going up the stairs. He looked at the doorway with a huge grin, which must've been rather confusing to Mrs. Hudson as she appeared in the doorway. "Oh hello, Sherlock! See you haven't moved from the spot you were in when I'd left." She said in a cheery voice, clearly thinking that the smile was intended for her. Sherlock's face dropped back down to it's usual expression. "Hello. How was your week away?" He said, not exactly interested. "It was lovely, thanks for asking! Oh I met the loveliest people over the-"
"Do you know where John might be?" Mrs. Hudson looked at Sherlock with a clueless expression then a small smile. "Well I've been gone for a week now haven't I? How should I know where he is?" Sherlock's only response was a shoulder shrug and a glance at the experiment on the table. "When did you see him last?" Sherlock pretended to be uninterested and involved only with his experiment. Then after a few seconds he replied. "Last night before he went on a date." Mrs. Hudson looked shocked, to Sherlock's misunderstanding. "A date?! What happened between you two, is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything is fine."
"If everything's fine then what's John doing on a date?" Sherlock squinted in confusion at Mrs. Hudson, who looked genuinely upset. "You know if anything happened between you and John you can talk to me. Who did he go out with?"
"A Danielle, not sure of her last name."
"It's a woman?! Gosh I didn't know John, you know...plays for both teams." Mrs. Hudson said this with a small wink, then returned back to her worried expression, and Sherlock was as puzzled as ever. He stared directly at his work to seem as though he didn't care. Sherlock's thoughts were racing. Did Mrs. Hudson honestly think him and John were a couple? Is that how they looked to other people? And why did she immediately assume John was gay? Did he seem that way? Maybe he had told her something. Maybe he told Mrs. Hudson that he liked Sherlock. His thoughts were interrupted once again, when Mrs. Hudson walked through to the living room. "Oh Sherlock, look at the mess on your desk!" She said as she picked random things up off of it. Sherlock rolled his eyes. It's not that he was unhappy to see Mrs. Hudson, of course he wasn't. He was just expecting someone else...