John could hear the violin music coming from the living room, and noticed that he hesitated at the sound of it.
John sighed. He missed how it used to be, how when Sherlock would play he would with sit near by to listen, or get as far away as possible. It all depended on whether or not Mycroft was within hearing distance. Now... Now things were so much more complicated.
Four days had passed. Three days of Jayden refusing to speak to John, other than to tell him when he left the flat for some reason or another. Sherlock spent most of his time playing the violin in front of the window, not composing exactly, but just letting his fingers glide over the strings, going where instinct told them to.
Sherlock wasn't paying much attention to his musings of the violin, obvious by the fact that he would on occasion hit a sour note. He never would have had he been paying attention. But no, he was lost in the depths of his own mind.
As John watched Sherlock through the doorframe, he thought,
If only I knew what was going through it.
Lestrade sat at his desk once again sorting through stacks of paper work.
Wonder how I could hand this off to Sally...
I need a good excuse.
Hmm...
A phone call interrupted Lestrade's thoughts, seeing it was from John, he answered.
"How are things going?" Lestrade asked.
"That's what I called about."
"Alright then, what's the deal?"
"It's been four days. Jayden still won't say a word to me, and pretty much ignores the fact that I exist."
"Oh. Hm..." Lestrade leaned back in his chair. "And Sherlock?"
"He's been... well... Nothing. He hasn't really reacted at all. He doesn't seem to be upset at all. Just a little withdrawn. He's been playing his violin a lot."
"And?" Lestrade asked, "That's a good thing, right?"
"I don't know. I'm just sort of worried he's just bottling it all up. I'm not sure how much of it is him actually not caring, and him being so angry he doesn't trust himself to talk to me without killing me."
"If this was any other situation, I would tell you to stop exaggerating. However, it's not any other situation, and you're not likely to be exaggerating."
"You're really helpful, you know that?" John said sarcastically. "Anyway, I've got to get this straightened out. I've got to fix this... somehow..."
"I could keep Jayden for awhile, let you and Sherlock have a little time and privacy to talk it out." Lestrade suggested. "Maybe try to talk some sense into him while I'm at it."
"Good. Good. That's a great idea. When are you free?" John asked.
"I've got tomorrow off. I'll pick him up around noon?" Lestrade said. "I'll take him to Angelo's for lunch, or somewhere else if he's tired of it."
John walked into the living room.
"Lestrade just picked Jayden up. Taking him out to eat at Angelo's." John languidly pointed his thumb back towards the door.
Sherlock didn't reply, instead just staring out the window while sitting in his chair plucking the strings of his violin.
John sighed, then walked between Sherlock and the window. After a moment, Sherlock's eyes slowly flickered up to meet John's.
"We need to talk." John said.
"Hm." Sherlock just hummed disinterestedly in response, his gaze shifting away once again.
John moved back into Sherlock's line of view.
"Listen, I know you're still angry at me, and you have every right to be." John said. "What I did... it was inconsiderate, and cruel, if I'm honest. I don't expect you to forgive me for it."
"John-" Sherlock began to speak, but was cut off by John.
"Hear me out." John said. "Yell at me, punch me, slap me in the face, just react to it somehow. I can't believe I'm saying this, but you being quiet about all of this is making me feel worse than if I had been stabbed in the gut. So what ever it is you've been wanting to say, what ever it is that's on the tip of your tongue, just say it. I could leave for a few days, stay at Harry's, give you time to think it over, decide what you want to do about all of this. I know I deserve what ever you give me..."
There was a slight moment of silence as Sherlock's eyes narrowed the slightest bit with confusion, before a release of that tension.
John steeled himself for the words that would come.
"I'm not angry at you, John."
John nearly choked on his own tongue.
"What- I don't understand..."
"If I have been unpleasant to you it was entirely unintentional." Sherlock said.
"Then what's the deal with the whole not talking thing?"
Sherlock stood and walked closer to the window, putting the violin up to his shoulder. He gently pulled the bow along the strings, creating a soft, calm sound.
"I've just had a lot on my mind."
The relief that filled John's mind was nearly instantaneous.
"So you're not internally boiling with anger?" John reconfirmed.
"No, John. If I were, you would be the first to know." Sherlock said, pulling the bow along the "D" string this time. "Possibly even before I knew myself."
John exhaled, and sat down letting his body fall limp into the chair.
After a moment, Sherlock turned.
"I didn't mean to make you worry all this time." His voice was rich, deeper than normal from not having been used much in the past few days.
"It's alright," John sighed, "I deserved it."
"You didn't." Sherlock shook his head, then placed his violin back in its case. "I know you didn't mean for things to go far as they did. Didn't know the... trigger, it would create in me."
John frowned at the subject matter.
"Sherlock," He began, but Sherlock interrupted.
"I assume Lestrade told you?" He said.
Hesitantly, John nodded.
"I'm worried about you, Sherlock." John said. "What this caused, what I caused, it's not normal."
Sherlock shifted his gaze away from John, towards the lower left.
"I know."
A/N: Sorry to make you all wait so long, but I'm not used to the whole public school "Homework" thing. I've been homeschooled up until this year, so all of this is very new to me. I haven't had a whole lot of time to write between that and having band as an non-core subject. As of now, band practice lasts until 6:00pm. That's 4 hours of playing the same song over, and over, and over. Ugh. I both love and hate band...
Reviews please!