"I love you, John," he said.
No reason. No lead-in. No long, comfortable silence of deep thought—though John wouldn't really know, they weren't in the same room beforehand.
Sherlock had simply walked into the bedroom and said it.
John had been in Sherlock's bed, with a book, killing a few minutes until Sherlock would join him.
When the man finally pulled himself away from his experiment and come to find him, he just spit it out.
All casual-like, too. Like a realization. Like it wasn't the single-most important moment of either of their lives, no. This was just another observation.
So John matched him.
He looked up from his book, managing to suppress his raw astonishment, and with a gentle smile, replied, "I love you, too, Sherlock."
Sherlock had nodded, and left the room again.
Wait, what?
John, thoroughly confused, sat for several minutes.
Did that actually happen, or had he dozed off already?
Realizing Sherlock probably wouldn't be coming to bed anytime soon, John gets up and shuffles to the kitchen.
He finds Sherlock hunched over his microscope, as expected.
John stands, watching, until he can't take it anymore. "So, that's it, then?"
"What?" Sherlock asks without looking up.
"We're not going to talk about what just happened?"
"Do we need to?" Sherlock asks, genuinely confused.
"Uh, yeah. We should."
Sherlock sighs—not like he's annoyed that John is pulling him from his experiment or because they were going to talk, which Sherlock often found dreadfully boring, but just a simple sigh. A simple exhale of carbon dioxide.
John, so unused to the nature of the sound, actually takes a half-step back, worried something could be wrong with his flatmate.
Well, flatmate-slash-friend-slash-partner-slash-lover.
Sherlock turns toward John, back straightened, and waits for John to begin the conversation.
"You just told me that you love me," John starts.
"Yes."
John pauses. "And went back to your experiment?"
"Clearly."
John shrugs his shoulders, resting his hands on his hips. "Just because you felt like it?"
"Yes."
John opens his mouth to speak again, but can't manage to find the words.
Sherlock watches him. "I was in the middle of looking at some slides when the thought occurred to me. And I know how you like me to…voice things like this, so I told you and then went back to the experiment."
"Just like that?"
Sherlock nods, "Just like that, John."
"Okay," he half-chuckles, his brain still attempting to process the whole of the situation.
"And then you returned the sentiment. Are we just going to skip over that part?" Sherlock asks with a smirk, catching on to John's exasperation.
"No, I did," John replies simply.
"So, what's the problem? The feeling is mutual, that much we covered, so I don't understand your confusion."
"You don't understand my confusion?" John asks incredulously.
Sherlock, sensing he had said something wrong, stands and walks over to John. He takes the man's hands in his own and leans in close. "Explain it to me," he whispers.
"Most people would make a big deal about this sort of thing," John whispers back, responding to Sherlock's proximity by also lessening the space between them.
"We're not most people, are we?" he tests, as if asking for John's actual opinion.
"No, we're not," John states, "which makes it all the more important, Sher."
Sherlock smiles. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay," he repeats.
Sherlock drops his forehead to John's.
John tilts his head up, and presses his lips tentatively to the other man's.
"I do love you," Sherlock says. "Even if I can't always express it in a way you'll recognize, or understand, I do."
"I know," John murmurs, and kisses him again. "I love you, too, you big lug."
"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" Sherlock asks, sliding a hand onto John's waist, underneath his sleep-shirt.
Sherlock's hands on his skin makes him shiver. "Why not?" John says.
"Good," Sherlock murmurs against John's lips. "Because I'm ready for bed, now."
John smiles.
A/N: Fluff for my heart. Oh, and "Sher" is my new personal favorite thing ever. It's mine. I called dibs. (Actually, I don't know if it's actually a thing or anything, but I came up with this on my own. Multiple people can have the same idea first, right?) I take reviews and blood sacrifices, payment is up to you.