"Ah Sherlock, may speak to you about something?" John asked, poking his head around the doorframe. Sherlock was arguing with a Television program but he seemed much less agitated. John was not sure how long this mood would last so he knew he had to take advantage of it while he could. "Yes? What is it?" Sherlock asked, he didn't look up and his tone sounded bored. John came in and sat on the couch. He took a deep breath and looked and Sherlock. "What if… Hypothetically… We were to have a new flatmate?" Sherlock turned some of his attention to John and said, "I can tell this is not actually a hypothetical, which implies you already have a specific person in mind." John nodded and Sherlock continued, "If it is your latest girlfriend, I would advice against it." John sighed and said, "No, it's… someone… younger…someone that really needs a place to stay for a awhile." Sherlock raised one of his eyebrows, "Have I met this person before?" John nodded and sat up, "Look, I'll just explain the situation to you, you'll figure out who it is but I hope you have some sense of compassion and understand how much I mean it when I say she needs our help right now." "Alright," Sherlock said, there was a hint of caution in his voice. John took another deep breath and began, "She's about fifteen years old. She became an orphan last week after her father died from pneumonia. She hasn't contacted her family yet because she is technically a fugitive. She only wants to stay with us until she can get a job and save up enough money to buy her own place. Sherlock's eyes narrowed and stood up, "No. It is quite enough that I granted her one favor, I will not permit Susan Aryd to live under my roof." He stalked over to glare out the window. "You know technically its Ms. Hudson's roof," John said, clearly upset with his friend's decision. "I don't care, she is not going to stay here. If nothing else there no room for her." Now John stood up, "Look she could sleep on the couch, she'd take up hardly any room at all." Sherlock turned around and snapped, "I do not understand why you are defending this girl so vehemently." "Because Sherlock, she is alone and scarred and doesn't know where else to turn. Because if we say no she's going to end up sleeping on the streets. Do you know what happens to fifteen year old girls that sleep on the streets?" "Of course I know the risks but it is not our responsibility to protect her." Sherlock growled. "I don't care if it's my responsibility, I know that if I turn her away it will weigh on my conscious for a long long time. Maybe you don't have one, but I do and I don't want to deal with that amount of guilt for the rest of my life." Sherlock exhaled in frustration, he turned back around and said, "Fine." He stalked towards the doorway and said, "But we not going to assume any sort of guardian or caretaker role. Make that clear to her." With that, Sherlock stormed down the stairs. John heard him slam the front door. He fell back onto the couch with a deep sigh, covering his face with his hands. "And this is only the beginning," He mumbled.
"I… uh…I don't know how much of that you heard, " John said, coming into the kitchen, very intentionally avoiding Susan's eyes. "Oh I heard it all," Susan said quietly. John nodded slowly, checking the teapot to see if there was any tea left. He took a deep breath and turned around, once again joining Susan at the table. He finally looked up and saw that despite the tearstains on her cheeks, she was smiling. John looked surprised, he stammered slightly unsure what to say. "John I can't thank you enough, once again, I am so thoroughly in you and Sherlock's debt. I don't know if I can make it up to you." "Oh Susan I..." John stopped, took a deep breath, and found himself returning her smile, "It was my pleasure." Susan stood up and asked quietly, "Do you mind if I go grab my bag? I hid it in the café." "Oh no of course not."