The needle pierced her skin once more, followed by the tug of the surgical thread as the gash that ran along her hairline was stitched together. Elizabeth tried her hardest not to voice her obvious discomfort at the fact she had something sharp and pointy so close to her face,but she failed as she saw the glimmer of metal from the corner of her eye. The small sound escaped from her throat and for a moment she hoped that it went unheard but that hope was short lived as the deft hands that were stitching her up paused.

"Does that hurt?" She heard John ask as he moved into her line of vision. Her eyes flickered upward to see the look of concern on his face and she quickly averted her gaze to the ground.

"No, No. It's fine… just not a big fan of sharp things so close to my face" Elizabeth replied as she traced the pattern on the tiled floor with her gaze. "You aren't missing anything because of me are you?" She asked as he moved back to continue tending to her head wound.

"No, I am not, and even if I was it wouldn't matter Elizabeth" John replied. "taking care of you is more important than taking care of some stranger that someone else can just as easily tend to." His voice dropped a few decibels. "They are allowed to see someone when they get hurt, you aren't"

Elizabeth remained silent as he finished up with the stitches, she made a face as he placed a bandage over the skin that had just been knitted back together. Once he was done, carefully he spun the metal island chair so she was facing him. Her blue eyes focusing on the crimson stains on the white latex as he ripped the gloves off his hands with a firm snap.

"I wish you would have told me about this earlier" John stated with a sigh as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other as he threw the latex back in the medical bag he brought. "I could have helped."

"You would have gotten hurt, it was my mistake, not yours. You don't have to take my beatings for me" Elizabeth stated as she looked up at him with a sigh, her blue eyes meeting his for the first time that morning as her shoulders slumped slightly as she did so. "You couldn't help me anyway, this was my fault and I know that..."

"Elizabeth..." John started as he looked at her in disbelief. "I - I am not comprehending. How is this your fault?"

"You need that on a t-shirt or something" She mumbled as she looked back at the tile "I got caught sneaking back in at 5 AM"

"What the hell did you do that for?" John asked as he moved back into her line of vision.

"Because I fancied a stroll that early what do you think?"She asked as she stood up wincing slightly as she placed pressure on her seemingly sprained ankle.

John just shook his head as he grabbed her arm gently as she began to waver on her feet slightly. "I am fine" She insisted as she pulled her arm from his grasp.

"You aren't going to school Liz" John stated as she groaned in annoyance

"Just do me a favor then… if he call, tell him I am sick… I am late for our session so he will be ringing in the next five minutes" Elizabeth sighed as she slowly made her way out of the kitchen and towards her bedroom, leaving John with her phone.

Sherlock knew that he would be in trouble after the whole incident with Elizabeth, the fact that he hid in the apartment near the cafe where he would meet with a few of his clients. The cafe was something only Sherlock knew about. He was the one in charge of the meet-up, not the set-up. He wouldn't let Victor in on this secret and if he did, the chem major wouldn't have lived this long.

Sighing softly, he checked his watch and pulled his mobile out to check the messages. His inbox and voicemail were full and had twenty emails just from his soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend. The mere thought sending a jolt of excitement running through him. He looked up from his mobile as he made his way to the cafe next door, going through the messages, seeing that Haven was wanting another go with him, a wave of nausea coursing through his entire core, eyes closed momentarily.

Meet up at Speedy's, we'll head to yours after a coffee… Don't tell Vic. -Shezza

Deal, virgin. Though don't expect a tip since you took an hour to respond. -H

That's fine… It's not like I get a dime of it… Well, the only dime I see is relevant to drugs. -Shezza

Despite his gut screaming no to the meet-up, Sherlock had to take any and every offer by Haven but a large part of him was saying that Victor was behind this meeting and this was a way to get the young genius out of hiding.

The chem major looked outside the cafe after a few moments and froze, his fight or flight response leaning towards flight. Victor was indeed behind the meet-up and he stood outside with the handsome blonde, a gasp escaping him as he watched them approach the cafe with equally wicked grins as they spotted the "Virgin". He looked to the owner of the cafe and quickly walked towards her with a nervous smile.

"I hope you don't mind but I need to use your back door, ma'am…" He murmured, looking over his shoulder as the two men continued to walk towards him.

The woman looked to Sherlock and nodded. "Through the kitchens and it should be the second door to the left, dearie." She said with a kind smile, quickly stepping in front of him as he made his way out the back.

He glanced back at the woman and mouthed "thank you" before setting off and running away. He looked to Victor and Haven, knowing that they wouldn't attack an older woman, especially in public. Sherlock's heart began to race as he thought of what would happen when they finally found him, tears forming at the thought. He knew that Miss Watson wouldn't be a reliable source- He checked the time as he remembered that today was the day he planned an extra tutoring session before her exam in Chem.

4:15 P.M.

He groaned and quickly pulled out his text, sending Elizabeth a text. Sherlock felt horrible as he typed out the text, knowing that she really needed these session despite the fact they were both in a rough predicament.

I apologize for the late notice but I cannot do this evening's tutoring session at four-thirty. I am currently a bit tied up and need to deal with a few loose ends. WH

The chem major didn't bother waiting for the reply, his icy eyes closing briefly before feeling a pair of rough hands grab him from behind.