A/N: This chapter is long and random. But I hope you guys enjoy, please review!

Sherlock thinks about who he could go to for help with the vandalism issue all morning. He's distracted at breakfast, even though Declan tries to talk to him; he's distracted walking to school, even though John is there.

Finally, in third period, Declan finds a solution.

"Hey, everyone?" Declan announces to the class. Their teacher hasn't arrived yet, so he's not really interrupting any. "Hello, nice to meet you, sorry. Does anyone in this room know anything about tagging? Like vandalism?"

Everyone looks around at the others, muttering things like, "I don't, do you?" Except one kid in the back of the class. She just meets Declan's gaze and doesn't change her facial expression.

"There you go," Declan says, smiling at the girl.

Sherlock goes towards the back of the room, where she's sitting, and sits next to her. He knows her, her name is Olive Degas, and he's known her since primary school. He politely smiles at her as he takes his books out.

Towards the end of class, when their teacher is finished teaching, Olive turns to Sherlock.

"What do you want, Holmes?"

Sherlock turns to her and takes his phone out. "I need some help. Recognize these?"

Olive takes his phone and scrolls through the pictures. "Band symbols."

"Know anyone who paints band symbols elsewhere?"

Olive shakes her head. "None that I've ever seen. I've never really seen paint like that anywhere else either, so you're not looking for anyone who does this often."

"What else do you think you can tell me?"

"Uhm…" Olive scrolls through the pictures again. "Probably a girl."

"How can you tell?"

"Pale purple paint. Boys use pink, it's punk, ya know? Rarely ever purple. And a boy would probably use pink to throw you off, ya know? Make you think it's a girl. Purple's got to be this girl's favorite color."

"Purple's my favorite color," Sherlock argues. "I'm a boy."

"You're a gay boy," Olive points out.

Sherlock shrugs. "What else?"

Olive bites her fingernail in thought. "Uhm…an amateur wouldn't know how to get it off their fingers. They'd probably have purple prints."

Sherlock takes that in. "That's somewhat useful, actually. Anything else?"

Olive shakes her head. "No, not really. Just that it's probably a girl and she'll have purple fingertips."

Sherlock nods and takes his phone back from Olive. "Thanks."

"No problem, Holmes."

Sherlock talks to Kennedy in person before lunch.

"Any girls you have problems with?" he asks. "Anyone who you think would do this?"

Kennedy bites her lip. "Not really…"

"Well, if you notice anyone being mean or anything to you, let me know and I'll look into them. And let me know if you happen to notice anyone with purple prints."

Kennedy nods.

"And let me know if this happens again before I figure it out."

Kennedy nods again.

They're at Sherlock's locker, so right then Declan walks up.

"Oh, hi Kennedy," he greets.

Kennedy smiles widely, showing all of her perfect, straight teeth. "Hi Declan!"

Declan smiles and gets into his locker.

"Anyway," Sherlock tries to get her attention. "Remember to let me know if anything weird goes on, ok?"

Kennedy nods. "Sure, Sherlock, thanks. Declan, what are you doing for lunch?"

Declan turns back to her and Sherlock. "Oh, uh, I think I'm dining with my cousin."

Sherlock looks at him. He's about to say that he was just going to go to the library, but Declan gives him a quick smile that Sherlock can tell says, 'please just go eat with me'.

"Bummer," Kennedy says. "Call me sometime. We can hang out outside of school."

"Sure, of course," he says.

Kennedy says goodbye to him and Sherlock, then leaves.

"Didn't want to eat with Kennedy?" Sherlock questions as soon as she's gone. "Meeting Alex again?"

Declan shrugs. "They're both nice, but…"

Sherlock eyes him. "But what?"

"I don't know, I just…"

"You are gay, aren't you?"

Declan laughs. "No! It's just that I…I kind of like someone else already."

"Oh? Who? Brady?"

Declan laughs again. "No! I can't stop thinking about your friend I met yesterday. The cute little mouse girl."

"Ellery?!"

Declan nods and blushes.

"You would snap her like a twig!"

Declan laughs. "She's so cute! Her little glasses! Her little inhaler!"

Sherlock laughs at him. "Just take it easy on her, if you do talk to her."

"I will. If I do."

Sherlock closes his locker and pats his back, then they begin walking to the cafeteria.

Kennedy calls Sherlock as they're walking home from school.

"Hello?" Sherlock quickly answers. "Kennedy?"

"Sherlock, this fucker tagged my car again!"

Sherlock is confused. He saw Kennedy at school not ten minutes ago, and she was running back into the building from her car.

"I just got home and my car is tagged," she explains. "I was in my dad's car today because he needed to take mine to the shop. And I just got home and here it is!"

"Oh…" Sherlock mutters. "Alright, uhm…I have an idea. Don't touch your car and text me your address, I'll be right over."

Kennedy agrees and hangs up, then the three boys walk to her house. It's only a few blocks away so they're there in less than ten minutes.

They get to Kennedy's house and Sherlock instructs the boys to look for fingerprints. Kennedy grabs Declan before he can look, hugging him tight and laying her head against his shoulder. Declan lets her hug him and comfortingly hugs her back.

Sherlock and John search the car up and down, carefully examining every inch of paint for a print, and when Sherlock is about to give up, John calls him over.

"Got one, Sherlock."

"I just washed it yesterday," Kennedy explains. "I haven't driven it since then, and my dad has only touched the door handle. That's got to be someone else's."

"You said it was at a shop?"

Kennedy nods.

Sherlock takes out a pencil from his backpack and begins crushing up the lead. "This print is close enough to a paint streak that it's probably our culprit."

Sherlock takes the print and puts it safely in his backpack.

"What are you going to do with it?" John asks.

"I'm giving it to Lestrade."

"And if there isn't a match?"

"Then I'll think of something else," Sherlock says. He goes to Kennedy and she unwinds herself from Declan. "Tomorrow at school, pay really close attention. We all will. Olive said that an amateur like this wouldn't know how to clean the paint off of their fingers. Especially if a print this big was left. So we need to look out for purple prints, ok?"

Everyone nods.

They leave Kennedy then and Sherlock calls Lestrade to ask him to run the print. Lestrade tells him he'll gladly help, but not to be upset if there isn't anything.

Lestrade meets them at the Holmes residence to get the print.

"Why didn't you just call me at the start?" Lestrade asks when he asks Sherlock to walk him out. "Vandalism is a real crime."

"I could handle it," Sherlock says. "I just need this done."

Lestrade nods. "I can have this in a few days. You really need to have Kennedy file a report, though. Charges can be made, Sherlock."

"I will when we figure this out. I can solve it quicker than you lot can even see the report."

"Alright, alright," Lestrade concedes. "So…"

Sherlock looks at him. "So?"

"Have you, uhm…" Lestrade nervously looks at his shoes.

Sherlock raises an eyebrow. "Talked to my brother?"

Lestrade nods.

Sherlock laughs. "Duh. He's my brother. He called me yesterday."

"Oh yeah," Lestrade says. "Happy late birthday."

"Thanks."

"So…has Mycroft said anything…about…"

"About you?"

Lestrade bites his lip and nods.

Sherlock laughs at him. "He asked the same thing. If I've talked to you."

"That's it?"

Sherlock rolls his eyes. "Next time I talk to him I'm going to tell him you ran off to Denmark with a librarian and have eight kids now."

Lestrade laughs. "Don't you dare, he may actually think I ran off with someone."

"And you're not going to?"

Lestrade shakes his head. "I'll wait this one out, I think."

Sherlock wants to smile, but he doesn't. "How can we trust you?"

Lestrade looks at him. "You just can."

Sherlock searches Lestrade's face for any sign of a lie or uncertainty, but he finds none. "Just don't fuck up, or I'll tell my brother."

"I know, I know," Lestrade sighs. "I'll call you when the search is done."

Sherlock nods.

"See you, Sherlock."

Suddenly, Sherlock grins. "Lestrade and Mycroft sittin' in a tree," he chants. "S-E-X-T-I-N-G!"

Lestrade kicks at him but Sherlock laughs and jumps away. "What the hell do you know about sexting?!" Lestrade cries.

"I'm seventeen now and much more knowledgeable than I was two days ago when I was sixteen."

Lestrade rolls his eyes and chuckles. "Goodbye, Sherlock."

Sherlock waves once, then goes back to the house.

When he gets back to the sitting room, John and Declan are trying to pretend like they weren't spying.

Sherlock hangs his coat and heads up the stairs. John says goodbye to Declan and follows.

They lay on Sherlock's bed, staring at the ceiling. Sherlock steals John's phone to listen to music using his new headphones, and John steals Sherlock's iPad to play Temple Run.

After long minutes of silence, Sherlock lifts one speaker of his headphones off his head and mutters, "It's really bugging me that I have no leads on Kennedy's case."

"I don't blame you," John says. "It's not that easy, honestly. Dane's was so much easier."

"Well, yeah. But this is an actual crime. Lestrade said I should have called him."

John shrugs. "Just like Lily's, get him involved when it's all figured out."

"Exactly," Sherlock agrees. "But why would somebody be painting band symbols on Kennedy's car? I don't understand."

"I guess we'll find out when we figure out who's doing it. We figure it out tomorrow, I'm sure. We'll catch her purple handed."

Sherlock chuckles. "I guess."

John looks over at him and smiles. "And if we find her tomorrow, I've got another case for you all lined up."

Sherlock smiles widely. "Oh John, you treat me so well."

"I always have," John says, leaning over and kissing Sherlock's cheek.

The next morning, the boys all get up early to get to school earlier than usual. Sherlock plans to wait at the door to watch every student file in and out to catch the culprit.

So he does. John and Declan go inside because they get too cold very quickly, but Sherlock sits on the front step to watch everyone come in.

A lot of girls are wearing mittens, which causes a problem for his theory of checking finger prints.

He loses track of time and really stops paying attention to anything but girl's fingertips when someone sits down next to him.

"Any luck?"

It's Olive. Sherlock shakes his head.

Olive begins to watch everyone entering. They're silent, both concentrating on checking fingertips.

They have no luck, figuring perhaps the girl was wearing mittens, so they go into the building for class.

Sherlock, John, Declan, and even Olive search all day for purple fingertips. They're unlucky, and they don't see Kennedy again until they're leaving the building.

They hear Kennedy before they see her. From down the hall and around the corner, they hear Kennedy yell, "You little fucker, you tagged my car!"

The boys all look at each other, concerned, then take off down the hall. They get to Kennedy as soon as Kennedy is ready to punch the girl, so Declan grabs Kennedy and pulls her away. Kennedy wraps her arms around his neck and begins to cry.

Sherlock grabs the girl's hand before she can run away. She turns back to the group so they see her face for the first time.

"Sabrina?!" John cries. "Why did you do this?"

Sherlock doesn't really know the girl, but by John's shock he assumes she's a nice person.

"You know why, Kennedy! You know what you did!"

"What?!" Kennedy shouts back. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Jeff is my boyfriend, Kennedy! And you made him-"

Kennedy pulls herself away from Declan to step towards Sabrina. Sherlock tightens his grip on her hand so she doesn't run away.

"Your lovely fucking boyfriend touched me, Sabrina! And I tried to tell you, because I know for sure I wouldn't want to date a guy who gets drunk at parties and inappropriately grabs other girls. And for that you deface my property?! You can do what you want with your life, but stay away from mine!"

Kennedy turns around and storms away, towards the front doors of the school.

"I'm going to make sure she's ok, I'll meet you guys at home," Declan says, then takes off after Kennedy.

Sabrina finally yanks her hand away from Sherlock, then walks the opposite direction while crying.

"Well," Sherlock mutters. "Solved it."

John pats his back and walks him to the door.

Sherlock calls Lestrade as they're walking home.

"I solved it," he says instead of a greeting. "More or less."

"Solved what?"

"The vandalism case I had."

"Oh," Lestrade says. "Right. So...you don't need that fingerprint ran?"

"Right."

"Alright. Tell your friend to come in to file a report."

"I'll give her your number."

"Sherlock," Lestrade says. "I don't do vandalism."

"Yes, you do," is all Sherlock says.

Lestrade sighs. "Fine."

Sherlock grins and hangs up, then grabs John's hand.

John looks at him. "Happy?"

Sherlock nods. "I get a new case."

John laughs. "Tomorrow after school."

"What?!" Sherlock cries. "Tomorrow?! After school?!"

"Your dad said not to give them to you at school anymore. He says you get too distracted."

"When you give them to me at school, I don't get distracted from school. I get distracted from the case!"

"Exactly!"

Sherlock pouts.

John laughs. "And this evening I want to actually spend time with you."

Sherlock sighs. "Alright."

After John makes Sherlock play Battleship, they have dinner with Clement. Declan finally arrives back when everyone is at the dinner table, and Sherlock can tell by the slight red tinge to his lips and the wideness of his pupils that he and Kennedy kissed (a lot), if not more. Declan just slides into a seat and grins the entire evening.

John leaves a while after dinner, and before bed, Sherlock goes to Declan's room.

"So..." he starts, leaning against the open door.

"So?" Declan wonders, turning away from his laptop to Sherlock.

"You and Kennedy..."

Declan chuckles. "What about us?"

"Are you two going to go out now?"

Declan makes a face and shakes his head. "Why?"

"Because..." Sherlock is confused. Declan has a face as if Sherlock is being ridiculous. "Because you kissed."

Declan looks back at his laptop. "Don't be such a square, Sherlock. You don't have to go out with someone to kiss them. It was a one time thing, I don't know if it'll happen again. It didn't really mean anything."

Sherlock scowls. "Oh."

Declan looks back at him. "Don't worry about it, alright?"

Sherlock nods. "Alright..."

"How's John?" Declan quickly asks, as if wanting to take Sherlock's mind off of what he just said.

"Fine," Sherlock says. "He had to go home."

"How long have you two been official?"

"Almost seven months," Sherlock says.

"Well, that's good for you," Declan tells him.

Sherlock nods. "I'm going to bed."

"See ya."

Sherlock silently leaves, still confused by Declan's words. He couldn't imagine kissing anyone else, or doing anything more, if he didn't have feelings for the person. He didn't think about doing anything at all with John until after he told John that he loves him. And he hopes John feels the same way.

He begins to panic a little bit. What if John feels the same way Declan does? he wonders. What if John can just be intimate with me if he doesn't love me?

He calls John immediately, but John doesn't answer. He begins to panic more.

It's only eight o'clock, so he rushes downstairs to Clement.

"Dad," he starts. "I forgot I asked John to hold an assignment for me. Can I run over to get it?"

Clement nods. "Sure, son. Hurry back, ok?"

Sherlock practically runs out of the house and down the street.

He sees John in the window, sitting at his computer. So instead of going through the front door, Sherlock climbs up the tree and onto the roof. He crawls over to John's window, then knocks.

John nearly falls out of his chair he's so shocked. Then, he begins to laugh and opens the window.

"Sherlock? What the hell?"

Sherlock ignores him. "Do you love me, John?"

"What?!" John laughs again. "Of course I-"

John's face drops to a frown, just as Sherlock assumes his face looks.

"Oh god, Sherlock," John holds a hand out to help Sherlock into his bedroom. "What happened, love?"

Sherlock slightly eases at the name. "Nothing, I...I just wanted to make sure."

Once Sherlock is in, John pulls him into a tight hug. "Of course I love you, babe. I've always loved you. Don't ever think that I don't, ok?"

Sherlock takes a deep breath and nods.

John hugs him tighter. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, John."

John takes hold of Sherlock's face and kisses him lightly.

"Do you feel better?" John whispers.

Sherlock nods, feeling much, much better.

"Good," John whispers against his lips, leaning in for another kiss.

The second kiss is much more heated. John's tongue trails over Sherlock's lips and Sherlock lets John in.

Minutes later, John reaches for Sherlock's belt and Sherlock grabs his hands.

"I have to go," Sherlock says, almost whining.

"Just twenty more minutes?"

Sherlock chuckles. "I told my dad I'd be right back."

John groans. "Please?"

Sherlock shakes his head. "I have to go."

John groans again when Sherlock lets him go and backs towards the window.

"Later," Sherlock says. "When we can take our time."

John nods. "Alright. This weekend?"

Sherlock nods and opens the window. He climbs out onto the roof and pokes his head back into John's bedroom.

John grabs his curls and kisses him roughly. Their faces are the same height, for once, so it's easy for John to plunder his mouth.

Sherlock works his lips away first. "I have to go."

John reluctantly lets go of his hair. "Ok. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you," Sherlock says, exiting the window once more.

"I do love you, Sherlock. So much."

"I love you too," Sherlock says, then disappears down the roof.

John leans out the window to watch Sherlock crawl away. "What a view," he teases.

Sherlock laughs and wiggles his hips.

When Sherlock gets home, he quickly takes a shower and gets ready for bed. When he goes downstairs to get some water, Declan meets him down there.

"Hey," Declan says. "Sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't mean to freak you out."

"Oh, I-"

"What I said about not liking someone, or whatever. I didn't mean you and John, obviously. John loves you."

Sherlock nods.

"Everyone's different though, right? I'm different. I don't much believe in finding love myself. But I believe in the love I see in you and John, and my mum and dad. Understand?"

Sherlock nods.

Declan pats his shoulder. "I'm going to bed. Sorry I freaked you out."

"It's ok," Sherlock says.

Sherlock goes to bed around his usual time. He texts John first, telling John that he loves him very much.