I'm sorry it's taken me forever to upload this, but chapter 4 and 5 are coming along and will be posted soon. Anyways,enjoy!
John watson stood still and watched as Sherlock stalked away. If this was a normal thing for him, the tormenting and cruelty, it was no wonder he rejected any form of attachment. John felt like his heart was caving in on itself, the poor man was so alone. Biting his lip, he regretfully turned and walked to his class. As much as he wanted to help, his final was coming and he couldn't risk failure. He promised himself he would find Sherlock immediately after class.
Sherlock walked calmly into class and sat himself down in the back corner of the room, preparing himself to take a test that he would undoubtedly ace. His mind kept wandering back to John. That man was so kind and caring, it was only a matter of time until he realized how much of an ass Sherlock could be. He sighed softly as the test was placed on his desk. It was so simple, just a regurgitation of what the professor wanted. He filled each answer in without having to exert any effort at all. Leaning back, he looked at the clock and found that he had only spent little over ten minutes on the test. It was all Sherlock could do to not groan out loud as he realised he had another hour to kill.
Finals seemed to drag on for a ridiculous amount of time for John. He was done with his final fairly quickly and he had nothing to do other than sit and wait. He put his head on his desk and sighed quietly, resigning himself to the near hour of coming boredom.
John watched the minutes tick past on the clock. The moment the bell rang, he was out of his seat and walking quickly towards the door. John slid through the mass of bodies in the corridors and ran across campus to find Sherlock. He stood on the side of the path where they had split and waited.
Sherlock turned his collar up and hurried outside of the building. With luck, no one would bother him on the trip between the two buildings. He glanced up briefly and spotted John standing on the sidewalk. Moving quickly, Sherlock turned down a side path and took a long route around the buildings. It was not that he didn't like John, he just didn't want him to get hurt.
Sherlock turned around the corner of a building and was confronted by James Moriarty and his cronies. He sighed, watching them stalk closer and bracing himself for hell.
"Hey there freak." James spat. "You got of early yesterday, thanks to that little shit John. " James stood close enough to be nose to nose with Sherlock. "t doesn't look like you have anyone coming for you now." He hissed through a maniacal smile. Sherlock saw the other men circle around him, grinning venomously.
Sherlock looked over the group, coming up with a quick observation that would surely rub Moriarty the wrong way. "Come now James," he whispered just loud enough for them all to hear. "Just because your girlfriend is more interested in Anderson than you, doesn't mean you should take your anger out on me." He narrowed his eyes at Moriarty, steeling himself for the beating to come.
Moriarty snarled at Sherlock and nodded at two of larger men. They grabbed Sherlock by the arms and held him still as Moriarty stepped back and hit him hard in the gut. Just as Sherlock inhaled again, he was hit across the face and again in the stomach. Nodding to his men, Sherlock was dropped and surrounded.
The men all hit him over and over again. Kicks to the ribs and head. Not once did Sherlock cry out. Not once did he give Moriarty the pleasure of knowing how badly the hits hurt. They stripped his jacket off and dropped it into a large puddle before grabbing Sherlock and dumping him in a cold, damp corner. James smirked at Sherlock and leaned in close. "When will you learn to shut up." He hissed before standing and walking away with his men.
Sherlock shivered as the sun started to set. It would be hours until someone would walk past, if anyone did at all. Everything hurt, Sherlock's head was pounding and he felt the numbness settling in his limbs. If he didn't get inside, chances were he would freeze to death where he sat.
Gritting his teeth, Sherlock stood and limped over to his coat. He dropped on the half frozen ground and fished through his damp pockets, searching for his phone. Struggling to bend his fingers, Sherlock typed his message out to John. "I'm outside. Help. -SH". Hitting the send button, Sherlock dropped his phone onto his coat. The sun had now fully set and Sherlock was truly alone.
John stood and waited until there was no one left outside. He sighed and concluded that Sherlock must have slipped past him. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, John reluctantly shuffled back to his dorm room.
Sitting down on his small bed, John pulled his laptop out and pulled up tumblr. He had one message from an anonymous user. "How did finals go?"
John smiled and typed up his response. "Great thanks! I still wish you would come off anon." He posted it and began to scroll through his dash. John's phone buzzed next to him, alerting the arrival of a message.
John was surprised to see a text from an unknown number. "I'm outside. Help. -SH".
"Sherlock." John whispered. He slapped his laptop shut and grabbed his coat. John tore his door open and sprinted down the hall and outside the door of his building. John tapped Sherlock's number and called, rushing frantically around the paths outside. He called for Sherlock as the phone rang. John cursed as he reached voicemail. He called again and continued to shout for Sherlock. Rounding the corner of a set of rarely used buildings, he saw a lump on the side of the path.
Fearing the worst, John sprinted down the concrete slabs, falling to his knees in front of Sherlock. The other man was shivering violently and bleeding in various places. He was curled tightly around himself to conserve what heat he could. Next to him, his coat sat half frozen in a small puddle.
"Sherlock." John choked, pulling his jacked off himself and covering his friend. He took Sherlock's phone off his jacket and stuffed it in his own pocket. John threw the wet coat over his shoulder and picked up Sherlock. "Hold on, stay with me Sherlock." John pleaded, flying down the path back to his dorm.
Sherlock continued to shiver in John's arms and groan softly as he was jostled in the run. He felt the warm air of the dorm room wrap around him as they entered the hall. John was breathing hard but he continued to move quickly to his room. He unlocked his door quickly and placed Sherlock on his bed.
John moved quickly, draping four blankets on Sherlock before grabbing his warmest jumper and a pair of sweatpants. He sat next to Sherlock and helped him sit upright. John unbuttoned the other man's damp shirt and pulled the jumper over his head. With a doctor's professional manner, he stripped Sherlock of his damp trousers and put the sweats back on him.
Sherlock was still shivering violently. His lips were blue and split and one of his eyes was swollen almost shut. Some of the heat was returning to his body but it was slow going. "Sherlock, talk to me." John whispered, pulling the thin man close to share body heat.
"It was my fault." Sherlock whispered, staring blankly at the wall.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm so useless. I should just shut up. No one wants to hear the truth, not when it hurts."
"Sherlock, you're not useless. You're brilliant. You're the smartest person I've ever met.
Sherlock just Shook his head. He could feel the pain, but distantly. Another violent shiver wracked his body. John walked over to his dresser, pulling out a first aid kit. He turned back to Sherlock and began to clean his scrapes and cuts.
Sherlock pushed John away. "Stop, just- Stop." He had tears his eyes. "I'll be fine John, don't wor- worry about m-me. I'm used to it."
John Kneeled in front of Sherlock and continued to work on cleaning his scrapes. "John, i don't-"
"Shut up." John ordered. He continued to clean and bandage his friend. "Friends take care of each other. Trying to 'protect' me from James and his thugs isn't taking care of me. Contrary to your beliefs, it's just you putting yourself in more danger. For such a genius you can be an absolute moron." He packed his kit and looked up at Sherlock's swollen face. "This needs to be reported."
"No." Sherlock insisted. "It will only get worse."
"Bullshit, you have physical proof of what they've done. It would get them kicked off campus. Expelled. Sherlock it would free you."
"But what if they don't believe me? No one was there."
"I'll vouch for you. This can't continue." John demanded.
Sherlock shivered again, pulling the blankets tighter.
John sighed and pushed himself to his feet. Putting his back to the wall, he pulled Sherlock onto his side. Lifting the covers carefully, John slipped under the covers next to his friend. He wrapped his arms around Sherlock. "You're freezing." He whispered, pulling his friend closer.
"I hadn't n-noticed." Sherlock hissed. He continued to shiver, staring into the room.
John smiled softly, wrapping his arms around Sherlock's waist. He sighed happily, resting his face just behind Sherlock's neck. The two sat in silence as Sherlock began to warm up.
After a while, Sherlock asked the question that was on his mind for a while now. "John?" He asked.
"Yes Sherlock?" John whispered.
"Why do you care?"
John bit his lip and stared at Sherlock's curls. "What do you mean?"
"Why do you care about what happens to me?"
John pressed his forehead to Sherlock's neck. "Because I think you're beautiful." He mumbled too quietly for Sherlock to hear.
"Pardon?" Sherlock hummed. He was completely content with his position. His face was bruised and bloody and everything ached, but for once in his life he felt safe and cared for.
John held Sherlock tightly. "Because I think you're beautiful." He whispered with a little more confidence.
Sherlock froze where he sat. His breath caught in his throat, and he was having issues processing what he just said.
"Sherlock?" John whispered. When there was no response he pulled away from his friend. "I'm sorry I just thought- Sherlock are you okay?"John turned him over and looked into his eyes.
Sherlock locked eyes with John, still completely shocked by what John had said. He could see concern and fear in his eyes. He was acutely aware of the lack of heat that John had been providing. Taking a chance, Sherlock reached up and pulled John back on to the bed. He curled against his friends chest and wrapped his arms around John. "Shut up."
As Sherlock pulled at John, he released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He smiled and rubbed his hand on Sherlock's back. "I'm glad you're okay." John whispered into his curls.
Sherlock hugged John tighter. For the first time in a long time, Sherlock Holmes smiled.