I need a drink! Fancy joining me? Em x

Sounds like a plan. Bad Day? The Fox 7? J

Perfect! Not my best day, you can get the 1st round in ;D x

John walked back to the table where Emily sat, carrying two pints of cider. She was rubbing her eyes and looked exhausted.

'So tell me what happened. You look like you need this drink.' John said

Taking a long gulp of the cool cider, Emily sighed and leant back against the sofa.

'It was just one of those days were lots of little things keep going wrong. On their own I could have dealt with them, but everything just seemed to pile up. I slept in, and the dogs only got 45 minutes walk. The owners were fine about it, but it annoys me. Then I lost my keys, I had to ask Mrs Hudson for the spare set, which held me up even more. Though I did get them back, I have my mobile number on them, so some guy found them in the park and dropped them off to the estate agents for me.'

Seeing John's face at that fact, 'I know I shouldn't have my number on them, but at least it's not my address!' She gave a weary giggle. 'Then this really obnoxious guy called in to set up an appointment to view some houses, and he was just really creepy. Kept trying to ask me out, but when I turned him down, he got all snotty and basically told my boss I didn't have the right attitude for the job. Thankfully she didn't listen to a word he said.'

'You know Sherlock could probably find him, and we could show him where being an arse gets you?' John grinned at her.

Emily laughed, 'I'm not even going to tell you his name in case you do! That's not the end of it though; Sophia and me both got soaked by a car, walking home from school. Basically a disaster of a day.'

'Well you deserve that pint then!'

'I do indeed, now tell me about your day. It can't be worse than mine!'

'Nowhere near. Basically a normal day, went to the morgue with Sherlock to figure out how a body was found in a locked shed with no obvious cause of death. Sherlock left saying it was obviously the sister or the local newsagent. He's currently at the lab experimenting to find out which.'

Emily looked amused, 'I still can't believe he can deduce stuff within seconds. I mean he makes Sheldon in Big Bang look like a newbie!'

'I would love to see those two have a discussion. Preferably in a ball pit. Knowing Sherlock though, I wouldn't be surprised if I do find him in a ball pit someday for a case. What do you think of him? I know he surprised you in Dorset, but I think you've figured out now that's just how he is. Spose I should find it a compliment he was worried about me.'

'He may say he's your best friend, but I think you're definitely his. I've seen the way he sometimes checks that something's ok from your reaction. It's nice to see. I duno, he's a hard one to figure out. But there's something exciting there. He did worry me to begin with, but he's fascinating, and quite attractive!'

Emily blushed knowing she's said too much as John picked up on her words.

He gave a devilish smile, 'Oh, you think he's attractive then?'

'I um..,' she gave a defeated sigh with a small smile, 'I guess I just see a side of him other people don't when he's at home with you.'

In the past couple of weeks, Emily had spent more and more time upstairs with the two men, having dinner, or just watching a movie with them. At least, she watched them with John while Sherlock retreated to his mind palace. She found herself becoming more and more comfortable with the way Sherlock was. And she couldn't deny it (in her head only of course!) she had caught herself watching him. It was easy when he was in his mind palace as he didn't seem to notice what anyone was doing.

And it seemed she did find him attractive. The way he got excited when he'd figured out a clue in a case. Or when he fell asleep on the sofa and his guard came done. His usually sharp features gained a softness about them. Even the way he had rushed to Dorset to make sure she wasn't going to hurt John now seemed endearing to her. She increasingly found herself thinking about him when she wasn't doing anything. However from John's descriptions of him, there would be nothing reciprocated from Sherlock. Mentally berating herself, she took another long sip of her drink.

John's phone buzzed with a text and he picked it up.

'Sherlock's finished with his experiment. Apparently it was the sister and the newsagent. They killed the brother with an ice cube? Not sure I could be bothered with the explanation.' John said as he typed a reply.

The two of them continued to chat and drink, Emily buying another round. Coming back to the table with the drinks, she noticed John looked a bit sheepish.

'What have you done?' She asked, recognising that look.

'I hope you don't mind, Sherlock kind of invited himself here when I told him where we were.'

Emily's stomach did a small back flip at the thought. Then her mind did a quick calculation of what she was wearing, and if she'd brought any makeup with her. 'Stop it!' She told herself, 'This is Sherlock; he's not going to care. And neither do you!'

'Oh, ok, I guess that's ok.' She tried to look indifferent as she sat down. Apparently it didn't fool John.

'You do like him! Look at your cheeks; they're as red as my jumper!'

Emily swore she was going to knock that grin off his face if it got any bigger. She attempted as best she could to continue the conversation without getting distracted. But every time the door opened, she couldn't help but glance towards it.

Finally the door opened, and in swept Sherlock, all long coat and scarf flapping. He gave a quick glance around before seeing Emily and John and striding over to them.

'This place is so dull. I don't see why you had to be here instead of the lab with me.' He directed his steely gaze at John. Turning to Emily, 'And you are nothing but a distraction to him, John hasn't been round nearly as much since you arrived.' Sherlock practically pouted.

John and Emily burst out laughing.

'Sherlock, just sit down. Do you want a drink?' Emily asked.

Sherlock obviously decided that huffing was going to get him nowhere with the two of them.

'A brandy if you must.'

While Emily went to get the drink, John scolded Sherlock. 'Be nice, for god's sake, you followed her to Dorset on a hunch that was wrong. I am allowed to have other friends beside you. And the pub may seem dull to you, but the lab is dull to me, when you're carting around doing your experiments.'

Sherlock, opened his mouth to say something, but John got in first.

'No, be nice, I know you have some sort of feelings for her…'

'John shut up.' Sherlock interrupted, 'I don't want to talk about it.'

For the first time since John had met him, Sherlock actually looked embarrassed.

'Look mate, it's fine, you are human, and you're allowed to have human emotions. I know you say they aren't useful, but do what you usually do, and go with your instinct!'

Sherlock didn't get a chance to respond before Emily came back with his drink.

'Here you go, enjoy.' She smiled as she passed it to Sherlock, their fingers touching lightly.

Emily jerked her hand in shock and looked up at Sherlock. His eyes met her's and she felt her stomach clench tightly as his gaze bore into her's.

'Thank you.' He said softly.

John looked on at the two of them, just short of his jaw hitting the floor. He looked at his phone, and then turned back to both his friends.

'Um, guys, I'm going to head on, got a text from Mike, think he's having some problems.'

Emily turned sharply to John, and sensed Sherlock doing the same.

'Your phone didn't vibrate.' Sherlock narrowed his eyes at John.

'The message must have come through a while ago, didn't realise. That's why I better rush off. Listen, you two stay on, have another drink, and I'll see you both later.'

He picked up his coat and walked out of the pub.

Emily turned and looked at Sherlock…and couldn't think of one thing to say. Apparently he was having the same problem. His mouth opened as if to say something, then immediately shut again. Emily was in agony, the silence was getting worse, she knew she had to say something. As she was about to mention the case he had been working on at the lab, Sherlock spoke first.

'I'm afraid I have to go as well, I just remembered an important experiment that I left in the flat. My apologies.'

With that he downed his brandy in one gulp and then practically ran out of the pub. Emily sat stunned, on her own, completely.

The girl at the table next to her laughed, 'What you do to both of them then!'

Emily smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, and took a drink of her cider. She couldn't believe what had just happened. At first she thought Sherlock was thinking the same as her when they shared that look. But obviously it just made him uncomfortable, with him rushing out like that. Tears threatened to sting her eyes as she put her coat on and slowly got up to leave.

Walking back to her flat, Emily couldn't believe how stupid she had been. Starting to get feelings for Sherlock, when he was definetly not the kind of guy that had relationships, except the rare friendship with John. She'd never had a proper relationship with a guy, at least nothing lasting more than a few weeks and it never really concerned her. Though now, she wished she'd had a bit more experience dealing with men.

Wandering past a darkened street, she was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't see the dark figure creeping up behind her. And so she had no idea what happened when she received a sharp blow to the head, knocking her unconscious.

The figure reached into his pocket pulling out his mobile and dialling.

'Got her mate, out cold, I'll bring her in now…yep…see ya then.'

He put his mobile back, and hoisted Emily up, lifting her into the car parked beside them on the street.

As he closed the door on her still form, he said 'Now then girlie, let's see what mischief we can cause with you and your friends!'

Such a bad day for Emily! In every aspect. Thanks for the new favourites/follows :) Please review