He sat in the back of his Chemistry class, hunched over his desk partially as he tried to soothe the aching in his back. Sherlock was certain there was most likely a bruise forming from where he and the wall had met the night before. Sherlock had started to notice the slow and subtle changes in Victor, but Sherlock had just thought they were just a brief side effect of the cocaine, but now it seemed that was not the case. Sighing, the twenty year old ran his hand over his face, last night was the first time his boyfriend had ever slammed him into the wall, he received the threats occasionally, when he refused to get high with him, when he refused to speedball or shoot up, but nothing that would have actually left any physical marks other than the ones on his arm caused by the needle he used.

He groaned as he straightened up, his muscles protesting as he straightened up and began to copy down the notes on the board, he would have loved nothing more than to go home and sort out his thoughts, but it was Thursday and he had to tutor that girl. He had promised to, he had a favor to fulfill to one of the professor's he thought was rather competent at his job. He was compensated for his time as well, which was a plus. He would put that money to good use and whether it went up his nose or in his arm would just depend on how he felt. Not that he would tell anyone in his family he was using again. He had to admit he had managed to stay clean for the most part, but he just couldn't help but want a fix when he was stressed out or when he needed to think more clearly.

He looked around the room and noticed a girl was holding his gaze, recognizing her as one of the people in his study group, Molly Hooper. He sighed before looking to the front of the classroom, taking down notes. He felt a buzz in his pocket and turned to Molly, whose phone was rested on her desk, screen down.

Are you okay? You look a bit stiff and your eyes are red. xx Molly

Sherlock couldn't help but cringe internally at her text signature before quickly responding.

It's nothing, Molly. Pulled an all-nighter at the library and the chairs do not agree with me. WH

Molly looked down to her phone with a sigh before giving up on that topic, changing the subject quickly.

Study session, tonight. You're turn to bring the snacks, Will. xx Molly

Sherlock sighed and sent another text back with a soft smile on his face.

Can't. I'm tutoring someone tonight. Sorry, Molls. WH

Okay, that's fine. We can do it afterwards or would you still be busy? xx Molly.

Date night with Vic afterwards, sorry again. WH

Okay, see you next time then. xx Molly.

Sherlock gazed down at his phone once more before slipping it back into his pocket as he heard the professor dismiss them. He slowly closed his notebook, sliding the pen he had used into the spiral wiring on the side and slipped it into his bookbag along with the thick, heavy textbook he had to carry around three times a week. After securing his belongings and making sure most of the class had left before he did, the Chemistry major made his way out of lab and travelled down the hall to wait for his 'student'. As per usual, he ignored the comments that came his way as he passed his fellow students. Instead he took to focusing on the pattern of the floor tiles as he adjusted his bag on his shoulder, making sure that the rucksack covered most of his back.
Upon reaching his destination, the Chemistry Major, leaned against the wall across from the lab he knew was to be her classroom and waited.

Thursdays always seemed to be the slowest days In Elizabeth's opinion as she run her fingers through her hair, pushing the strands out of her face as she scribbled down the notes on the board. Chemistry was the last class she had for that day and as much as she would have loved to go home and enjoy a few hours of peace before the weekend nightmare began, she knew that wasn't possible. Thursdays were to become the longest tutoring sessions she would have in order get her back up to speed. While she didn't know if she could actually deal with a repeat performance of William periodically insulting her intelligence, her ability to study, and her class punctuality for an extra ninety minutes like he had the day before, however, it was her best shot.

Ten minutes before class was over, there was a break in the lecture as the Professor opened the floor to questions and as much as she told herself now would have been the most opportune time to pay attention and have some of her confusion eased, the nursing student couldn't help but zone out as her eyes wandered around the lab taking in the faces of the others who had to sit through an hour and fifteen minute class for their degree. That was when she noticed someone was staring at her, and that had caught her off guard.

It was one of the upper year boys, one she had seen in passing, one that had over heard her asking about William, for that she was sure of. She had seen the look on his face when she had made her inquiry. He had been shocked at the fact she was asking about Holmes just as much as she was surprised at the fact his brown eyes were boring a hole right through her...

"-And Don't forget there is an exam on Monday!" Professor Eccelds' voice sounded making her jump slightly as he tone rose . the sudden change in sound had ripped her from her unpleasant staring contest and despite the fact that her heart was now pounding painfully against her ribs, she was no longer holding the man's gaze. She packed up her belongings quickly and quietly, having no desire to linger any longer than she should have. Not after that. In one quick motion she threw her bag over her shoulder and headed out the door. Elizabeth looked over her shoulder, to get one more glimpse of the man, but he was lost in the sea of students rushing towards the doors for their release.

"Something catch your interest Miss Watson?" Her head swivelled quickly back ahead of her body, her blue eyes taking in Sherlock as he stood across from the door, a look of indifference on his face. She shakes her head quickly as she closes the gap between them.

"No, nothing at all, Just making sure that I didn't forget anything at the table" She lied as she gave him a small smile. He tilted his head slightly as if he didn't believe her but she shrugged the idea off. He didn't know her well enough. There was brief period of Silence that stretched between them as she looked at him, and that was when she took notice of the people whispering again. Her ears picking up on the word 'Freak' as they gave the boy in front of her glances.

"Shall we go then?" He asked her, breaking the silence as she nodded. He pushed himself off the wall and winced slightly as if he had an injury, but she didn't question him,yet, maybe he was just sore from standing.

Elizabeth watched Sherlock with curiosity, her blue eyes locked on the chem major. She quickly made her way to his side, recognizing a few of the signs of abuse from personal experience. "William, what happened?" She asked with concern.

"Nothing." He answered too quickly, his grey eyes avoiding her. "It was an all-nighter and I feel a bit tired and achy." He knew that lying to her wasn't the best thing to do but he figured she had other things to worry about rather than her junkie chemistry tutor.

"I had not realized that all-nighters in college resulted in what looks like a bruise on your neck" She stated as she looked at him, this had gotten rather personal rather quickly for two people who had just met, but his curls were not long enough to completely to hide the small patch of skin between the dark locks and his shirt collar.

"You are seeing things Miss. Watson, maybe that is another reason you are failing Chemistry, your lack of proper observations" the nursing student glared at him from the corner of her eye and remained silent. This session was going to exactly like the one the day before.

The nursing student fought back the sarcasm forming in her mind as Sherlock pulled out the textbooks for her course, his own a bit battered and worse for wear. Clearly second hand compared to her new version, highlighted with her notes before her brief involuntary withdrawal from the course.

"So, continuing from the previous days work, I figured we should do a basic run through of the periodic table." He muttered, watching as her face began to slowly morph to a face of utter boredom. He let out a soft growl, running a hand through his curls. "Miss Watson. If I am keeping you from more pressing matters, you are more than welcome to leave and I will refund you whatever you have paid me so far."

Elizabeth looked at him. "You aren't keeping me from anything" her voice gaining that slightly annoyed edge to it. "I know the basic periodic table, I have a copy of it in my notes, I managed to show up for the first week of class. I just feel behind after that, but I did say I needed help with everything..."

Sherlock looked to the girl with a raised eyebrow, his eyes narrowing at her voice. He let out a sigh, tired of her already. "Miss Watson, if you talk to me like that, you will be needing to find a new tutor by the end of the hour, and yes, I will refund what you have paid me." He said with a scowl. "I have better things to do with my time than help a slacker or anyone for that matter. I have my own courses I need to study for."

Elizabeth stopped and stared at him as he walked a few paces ahead of her. "Is that what you think? That I decided to take these classes and after the first week not show up and then purposely waste someone else's time?" Her voice had changed, softened, "I would hate to inform you Mr. Holmes but you have the wrong impression, a very wrong impression and I highly suggest that before you go around making assumptions about someone who you obviously think is lower than yourself, you get to know them first."

The dark haired man looked away from her for a brief moment, a hint of hurt in his eyes as she spoke before taking her words into consideration and doing what the normal human being would do. He opened his mouth to say his apology but found that nothing would come out, only the small exhale of whatever breath he was holding. He closed his eyes briefly before trying again. "I… I apologize, Miss Watson. My words were harsh and uncalled for. I will refrain from speaking to you in this manner."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him, rather stunned at he had actually apologized. She was quiet for a moment. "Thank you, that is very much appreciated, you have no idea" her voice still had that soft quality to it as she began to walk again. Brushing a piece of hair away from her neck, forgetting that she had a fading bruise on the back of her neck.

Sherlock froze at the sight of her neck, the bruise on the back of her neck the shape of a male hand, his grey eyes narrowing at the pattern. "It seems, Miss Watson, that I am also seeing things based on my earlier assumption that we are not sporting bruises." He paused and stood closer to her, pausing just at the doors of the library. "Perhaps today we do it in the comforts of one of our homes?" He asked with a soft smile, a genuine kindness to his voice.

Elizabeth froze, her back going rigid as he mentioned her bruise and if she thought her body couldn't get any tenser, she was wrong at the mention of going to either one of their places for the tutoring session. "I...I... Do you really think that would be a good idea?" She asked "I mean...I wouldn't want to inconvenience you...we are already here and such."

Sherlock nodded and looked at his watch with a kind smile. "Victor has a few hours at work before we have to head back to the library or somewhere else that he won't be able to bother either of us." He returned with a soft tone, a hand gently resting on her shoulder. "That is if you want to, Miss Watson."

Elizabeth nodded "If you want to go to your place that is fine... mine is off limits" The tension in her shoulders had increased. She felt like she had said too much, it was when she became aware she was hiding her secret, it became obviously harder for her to.

The chemistry student noticed the reluctance to go to her own place and took it into consideration and made a mental list of places that Miss Watson would not go to with guests. Her house currently the only thing on his list. "Of course, Miss Watson. Whichever makes you feel comfortable. I do not want to stir up any more issues with my students."

"I am your only student" she muttered. "Your place should be fine I suppose, unless you want to head to the café on the corner. Honestly, I just want to get this started so you can insult my intelligence like yesterday"

Sherlock looked away from Elizabeth, hurt at her accusations of his observations, unaware it hurt the other. "If this makes anything better, Miss Watson, I wouldn't be surprised if you started to call me freak like the rest of the student body." He paused and looked down at his mobile, receiving a vulgar text from his boyfriend.

Hurry up, William. I want to see you writhing once more. -VT

Sherlock paled and closed his eyes, shaking his head. "I... I apologize about the interruption but I need to sort something out." He managed before turning back to his mobile, sending a quick text back.

I am sorry, darling, but I have a tutoring session tonight. WH

"I seriously doubt I will be calling you anything other than your name" Elizabeth stated as she watched the color slowly drain from his face. Her head tilted for a moment in thought before her mind went back to the 'invisible' bruise that was peaking out from under the collar of his shirt. But she didn't voice her observations, instead she stood there quietly taking in the man who had an attitude adjustment quicker than her father, but at least his didn't have her spread out on the floor gasping.

Sherlock forgot that he was alone as soon as he sent the text to Victor, tears forming in the corner of his eyes at the response.

If I were you, I would listen to my dealer boyfriend. Especially when I have a large debt to pay off. -VT

Besides, you have a client this evening. Fuck the other job you got. Haven wants another night with the "virgin" -VT

Sherlock just stood in the hallway frozen with fear at the texts, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I..." He choked out, looking away from his mobile before walking off to the nearest washroom and locked the door behind him.

It was against her better judgement to follow him, anyone else would have just sighed and stocked off, but she wasn't going to do that, not when he seemed so distraught. A few moments later she stood in front of the washroom door, ignoring the glances she was receiving. "William? is everything alright?"

"I... I will be in a bit... Just a bit shaken is all." He lied, quite obviously at that. The chem major had never felt this bad off he had to use on campus, needle in hand and rubber band on his arm. "I just need a few moments... I... I apologize."

She glared at the door for a moment "Before you do anything you may highly regret, I just want to throw this out there… I know that we have known each other for less than twenty-four hours, but that doesn't mean you can't talk to me if you need help. Obviously you don't have to tell me anything, but I just wanted you to know"

"I am sorry to confirm the rumors that the student body has made of me but I have an issue with drugs and the people that come with it..." was what he wanted to say but found that all he could say was a gasping noise that wasn't even counted as human speech.

It was stupid to think that he would be able to tell practically a stranger that he was using drugs and not just the light stuff like weed or hash but instead the hard stud like heroin and coke. So he chose silence, finding that it did him justice as he slowly removed the rubber band and put say the needle back into the glasses case he used to conceal his stash while on school campus.

Elizabeth moved away from the door and leaned against the wall, sighing slightly as she did so, she looked ahead of her, mildly wondering what they had signed her up for. Maybe John and the other's on campus were correct at labelling him a freak, but there was still something that told her differently,

"Are you coming out?" she asked as she looked back at the door "Or would you just like me to go ahead a leave you alone?"

Sherlock froze, his head shooting up and unlocked and opened the door, allowing the younger woman to see him after he had a minor panic attack. "If you wish to cancel the tutoring session for this evening, you may. I do not seem fit to tutor you while I'm a mess."

"Frankly, I don't care about the session we are suppose to have, I want to know if you are going to be okay, if you want to go and talk or if you just want me to leave. This is your call, not mine I am not the one having a horrid day"

"Miss Watson... What exactly have you heard about me from the student body? Or even your professors?" He asked, looking down at his worn down shoes. "I assume that people have referred to me as freak. That's always the first thing they say"

She took a breathe, "Some of the people I asked didn't even answer my question, but they gave me questioning glances. The ones that did answer did say you were a 'freak' and that being around you was a bad idea, that I should find someone else to help me with Chem, you were dangerous, you had issues.." she stopped there "I just wanted to know what they knew, but to me is just seemed to be biased opinions"

"We seem to be taking a very sharp turn into topics I do not wish to discuss." He said with a sigh before turning to see that there was genuine sincerity in her voice and kindness in her eyes. "But since you are going to be spending every Tuesday and Thursday with me, I shall tell you." He murmured.

Elizabeth nodded but kept silent, her blue eyes glancing quickly to the unnameable but brilliant eyes of her tutor. "You... You don't have to, Mr. Holmes." She murmured, pulling her hair so it would hide her own bruise.

"No, I insist... This was one of the reasons why I have a debt to pay off to Professor Eccelds. It was either do a few tasks for the professors or get kicked out." He said.

"So this is like a charity case then, well not so much a charity case as in you prevent me from failing and you get to keep going with your degree program"

Sherlock nodded. "Although the reason why I'm doing it could get me kicked out." He paused, trying to sum up the courage to tell her about his "habit" and let out a deep sigh before continuing. "As wrong as I would like the student body to be about me being a "junkie freak", they're correct... I have issues with drugs and the last time I used, I nearly died of an overdose in my own dorm room. Professor Eccelds has been one of the few- the only professor on my side."

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked as she leaned against the wall.

"I don't even know." He returned with a shake of his head, a sad smile on his face.

Elizabeth sighed and ran a hand over her face before looking him over. "You don't have friends then, do you? I mean, that was kind of obvious..."

"No friends that I trust to hold this secret. Even if the entire student body now knows that I'm a junkie." He muttered, running a hand through his messy curls. "I mean, Vic already knows but he's sort of worse off than I am."

She looked at him for a moment before speaking. "I can be your friend... If you want you obviously don't have to let me be one." She diverted her eyes. Her sentence made her sound like she was back in primary school.

As basic as her sentence was, he appreciated the offer as she spoke. "Miss Watson, I would lo-like that. It would be an honor to be your friend."

He could see and hear Victor in his mind, shaking his head as he spoke. "So much for easy money..." Sherlock closed his eyes and shook his head, muttering to himself. "Shut up."

"So this is still your call, if you want to do tutoring today fine, if not I can make my way to Bart's and annoy a resident for four hours"

"As much as I would love to tutor you, Miss Watson, I wouldn't be all here today. We can do a cram session this weekend for your exam on Monday." He commented, remembering the professor's words as he sat outside the door earlier.

Elizabeth gave a nod before looking down and pulled out a scrap piece of paper, jotting down her number. "Text me if you think of the day."

The chem major nodded and took the slip of paper, sticking it in his pocket. He gave her a nod before walking off, a soft smile on his face before fear washed over. Things had changed between the two and he wasn't sure if it was a good or bad change.