"Sherlock! … John! … Are you okay? Inspector Lestrade is here to see you." Comes the dithering voice of Mrs Hudson.
It was over; Sherlock had missed his opportunity to feel alive. He realised that John would probably never let him get that close again but there was something inside of Sherlock's head that wouldn't go away. Hope. For the first time in a very long while, Sherlock hoped that he hadn't frightened John too much. He didn't want him to leave or say no to him the next time.
"Sherlock? John? I said Inspector Lestrade is here. Can he come up?"
"Yes, of course he can Mrs Hudson."
Sherlock continues to stare at John; the both of them seem frozen in time, both repeating what just happened in their minds.
The footsteps on the creaking wooden stairs reassure John. He had been saved from this new unfamiliar Sherlock. This man who was intending to use him as some sort of sexual tension stress doll. This was not the Sherlock that John had grown to love and fall in love with but at the same time this new Sherlock seemed… better, more human. He knew what he wanted and he was willing to take it even if it meant hurt, even if it meant John slumped on a sofa half conscious, shaking with nerves.
"What's happened here then? You two had a fight or something? Anyway I know it's late but there's a new case I thought you might be interested."
Lestrade stands there looking back and forth between John and Sherlock. John starts to sit up straight and smiles at Sherlock, waiting for him to say something before the Inspector questioned them again.
"Nothing has happened and your case will bore me, it wasn't a murder, it was a freak accident. I hate that expression. He tripped, knocked over the paint that rolled under the machinery that… Oh... it's too simple to explain just go, you'll work it out in a few hours. You can see how it happened in that one picture from the crime scene."
Sherlock points to the file in Lestrade's hand.
"Now, please leave and don't come back until you actually have something of importance for me to look at. I don't like having my time wasted."
Sherlock pretends to yawn and turns his back on both John and Lestrade. Lestrade looks around the room in disbelief.
"Well thanks Sherlock, you've really helped. I don't know what's going on but I don't particularly like it. I'm going. John, good luck, I don't know how you put up with him you're a better man than me."
"And me." Muttered Sherlock
John tries to take no notice of Sherlock's final comment and quickly ushers Lestrade out of the room with continuous apologies and false explanations for Sherlock's odd behaviour.
Without a sound, Sherlock picks up his coat and hangs it back up in its rightful place. He hears the front door click shut and Mrs Hudson explain that she is going to go out for a bit to "leave you boys to it" and that she hopes John will "keep an eye on him". The door opens and shuts once again.