Warning: contains mention of abuse.
Two days later, Sherlock was sprawled out on the couch in an oddly cat-like position when he heard footsteps on the stairs. A minute later John entered the room. He glanced at Sherlock oddly.
"Hello, John," Sherlock greeted him cheerfully, attempting to keep John's attention on him rather than the telltale marks of his sister's presence, such as the scuff on the right side of the doorframe. Harriet had slept on the couch the night before last, while Sherlock had actually slept in his bed for once (with the door locked; he still had no idea what to expect of John, and his sister was an unknown entity), but he wasn't sure John would like the idea that his sister had been in their apartment, even if she had left the next morning.
John looked at Sherlock suspiciously. "Um, hi Sherlock." He glanced warily at the kitchen. Apparently he had taken Sherlock's unusual friendliness to mean that he had some experiment going in the other room, which John entered as Sherlock watched. He got up and walked into the kitchen as John, not seeing anything questionable, decided to check the fridge.
John opened the fridge and stared, then closed the door and glanced at Sherlock in surprise. "There's milk in here."
"I remembered that you were gone," Sherlock informed him.
John rolled his eyes. "I told you five times, every half hour just before I left. Apparently it worked."
Sherlock looked slightly taken aback at that, so John rolled his eyes again and walked back into the sitting room.
John was actually surprised at the lack of chaos in the flat. He had half expected to find the rooms partially burned and shot full of holes (since he had forgotten to take his pistol with him when he left), but apparently Sherlock had been wrapped up in something.
"Did you have a case?" he asked, grabbing his bags from the landing and walking back in.
Sherlock shrugged and flopped onto the couch. "One. Ridiculously easy, even Anderson should have been able to solve it."
John looked at him strangely for a moment, then, apparently deciding he wasn't going to get any more information, deposited his bags on the floor. "All right then."
Sherlock just smirked and settled back into the cushions.
After Harriet's hangover had worn off yesterday morning, Sherlock had calmly (and with great glee at her discomfiture) informed the elder Watson of her state the night before and consequent whereabouts, also informing her that her brother was absent at the moment. He had then taken the opportunity to defend his and John's relationship with each other – now he knew why John had substituted 'friend' with 'colleague' that one time; it avoided uncomfortable situations like that. Sherlock had quickly clarified his position as 'friend', and after an awkward "Thank you" Harriet had left.
John vanished up the stairs with one of his bags, and left Sherlock gazing at the remaining ones with interest. It would only take a brief look at John's bags to see where he'd been – literally, since a ticket was hanging out of the side pocket. The lanky detective vaulted over the arm of the couch to pull out the slip of paper and glanced at the destination.
When John came back down the stairs a minute later, Sherlock was still sitting by his bags, staring at the ticket as if it held the solution to some sort of dastardly crime. John cleared his throat. "Sherlock?"
Sherlock started slightly, then glanced at him in curiosity. "You went to visit your sister."
"How did you – Well, yes. She wasn't there, though, I wasn't exactly expected, sort of a side-stop on the way home." As Sherlock stared at him John shifted uncomfortably and asked, "Can you move over?"
Sherlock glanced at the bags and realized he was blocking John's path to them. "Oh, go ahead." Sherlock stood and waved magnaminously toward John's belongings, earning himself another exhasperated eyeroll before John disappeared up the stairs.
Sherlock stood, frowning.
Harriet doesn't live in London, but came here unexpectedly and changed her final destination at the last moment. Not the type to do things on a whim but did so anyway, hence she came to see John at the same time he tried to visit her.
When John entered the room again, Sherlock was sprawled on the couch in his thinking position. John had barely had a chance to seat himself when, without even opening his eyes, his friend questioned, "Are you going to try again?"
John shook his head. "No, it was a ridiculous idea anyway. Probably shouldn't have tried it."
"Try anyway."
John blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Whatever the relationship between you and your sister, it's clearly one of avoidance rather than malice – her drinking and moral status add to the problem, but aren't the main point of estrangement given that you were willing to visit her without warning her so she would be able to cover it. There's another issue there."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
"John?" Sherlock opened his eyes and stared at him.
John slowly sank down into his chair and stared at the wall for a moment. Finally, he spoke.
"From my field of work, medicine, I've learned that many people in a – 'gay' relationship were sexually abused by the same sex at some point before that."
Dead silence.
Heaving a sigh, John admitted, "I don't really like to think about it."
Sherlock was staring at him, and John kept his eyes fixed determinedly on the wall.
Sherlock broke the silence after a long moment. "Try to contact her." His voice was almost soft. "Just call, text, make contact of some sort."
Slowly, John nodded.
Moments later Sherlock's phone rang, and he glanced at it to see his brother's number. He glanced at John to see a challenging glare. I won't if you won't.
Sherlock pondered for a moment, then nodded to himself and answered the phone.
*Author's note: Wow, that turned out a lot more intense than I expected. But this story is almost complete, the rift between the two respective sibling pairs is on the mend, and Sherlock finally answered the phone...
The idea that Harry Watson was abused, as well as the theory John states, are pure speculation on my part.
Harriet Watson will be making another appearance in "The Brother Code."