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“Alright, pipsqueak,” Harry said, rooting through the fridge while waiting for her toenails to dry, “We’ve reached an agreement, yeah?”
“I don’t tell mum that you decided to leave me here alone so that you can go out with whatshername and you promise to take me to the zoo this weekend to see the snakes.” John parroted faithfully.
“Spot on, soldier,” Harry said ruffling his hair, “Remember the rules?”
“Lock the door, don’t turn on any outside lights, don’t answer the door if someone comes to knock, and run to Mrs. Hudson’s house if anything bad happens,” John said finishing up his dinner.
“You’re our Boy Wonder, Johnny,” She said happily, before heading back into the living room to slip on her shoes and grab her purse, “Behave. I’ll be home around 2am.”
John watched his sister dash out the door as a car pulled up to the driveway to take her out for the night. He quickly closed the door behind her and slid the bolt in place. He turned on the telly for a bit of company and went back into the kitchen to clean up after dinner. Carefully, he washed and stacked the dishes in the strainer and wrapped up the leftover pasta and placed it in the fridge. He glanced at the clock and sighed heavily when he noticed it was only 9pm. He gathered up his jacket and bike helmet. Rummaging through his room, he found the directions he’d carefully printed off from the internet. He was clever enough to have pressed the button specifically for bike travel. All of his teachers said that he was clever. He sat perched on the edge of the couch with his trainers double-knotted and his special reflective elbow pads wrapped tightly over his jumper. Finally, at five minutes to ten he gathered up all of his gear and double-checked that he had the house key that his mum had put on an old necklace for him to keep in case of emergencies. He locked the house securely behind him and went round the side of the house to grab his bike. Realizing that he couldn’t see the directions at night, he went back in and grabbed a torch that was small enough to shove into his pocket.
Alright. Here I go. He made his way quickly but safely through the darkened streets. His mum was very particular about obeying all traffic laws and ever since she’d allowed him to start taking his bike to school on nice days, he’d been diligent about following the rules. He only had to go twelve blocks, which wasn’t very far but it was in a part of town he’d never been so he’d decided to leave a little early. If he got there really early, he could just wait. He’d taken a nap this afternoon to ensure that he wouldn’t get too tired. He checked his directions every block or so but was fairly confident about his route. His teachers all said he had an excellent sense of direction. As the noises got louder, he made sure to be more careful of avoiding the cars that passed him. He stopped a block away from the line that was forming outside of a door with bright green lighting. He stashed his bike and helmet in an alleyway because he didn’t think it was cool to show up riding his bike and no one else had a bike either. He made his way quickly toward the back of the line and began to slowly scan the crowd as quickly as he could.
“Hey, you alright?” Some lady called out to him.
“Fine,” John answered with a polite smile, “I’m just looking for someone.”
Maybe he’d find him closer up at the front of the line. He began wandering up and around the block.
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“So what exactly do you have for me tonight?” Sherlock asked cheekily, pressing Jim against the wall with his taller form, “It had better be harder than that shit you gave me in Cardiff.”
“Don’t worry,” Jim reassured him running his hands possessively over Sherlock’s chest, “You’re in for a treat.”
Sherlock leaned in close to nuzzle and suck at Jim’s scruffy neck when he felt a laugh bubble out of his dealer’s throat.
“Oh, that’s the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Jim guffawed, “You have to see this little shit. He looks like a complete cunt. Look at his elbow pads!”
Sherlock turned to find out what Jim was making such a fuss about and felt his heart lurch heavily in his chest. He jumped away from Jim and out of the queue to catch up to the kid.
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“John!” Someone called his name and he whipped around and grinned largely when he saw Sherlock striding toward him.
“Hey!” John said feeling something warm fill his chest, “I found you!”
“John, what are you doing here?” Sherlock said, scanning his eyes over John to make sure that he wasn’t hurt.
“I wanted to surprise you!” John answered, unsure as to why Sherlock didn’t look as excited as he felt, “Harry said that she saw you here a couple of nights ago and I thought that I’d come too!”
“How in the bloody hell do you even know where ‘here’ is, John?” Sherlock said crouching down to meet John’s gaze.
“The internet,” John answered simply.
“Well, take a look at this little mutt,” A man behind Sherlock said meanly, “What a little baby.”
“I’m not a baby,” John said fiercely, “I’m nine!”
“Nine inches tall?” He sneered, “Yeah, I can see that.”
“Don’t!” John said, moving around Sherlock to try to push the other man away. He grabbed a hold of his jacket but was shoved forcefully away causing him to trip and land on his hands and knees, scrapping his palms bloody. He felt tears sting his eyes as laughter sounded out around him. He was helped to his feet and tucked against Sherlock’s side protectively.
“Fuck off, Jim!” Sherlock growled out before striding down the sidewalk with John close next to him.
“Sherlock,” John whispered as loudly as he could while trying to keep up, “Sherlock…my bike.”
They walked a few more feet before Sherlock stopped suddenly and pulled John into a tight hug. John clutched onto the back of his shirt despite his bloody hands. He felt Sherlock’s heart beating rapidly against his ear and wasn’t quite sure what was going on. After a few seconds, Sherlock pulled away and crouched down to lock his gaze firmly with John.
“Alright,” Sherlock said calmly, “I’m going to take you back home.”
“You don’t want to stay?” John asked, “Harry said this place was cool.”
“Not tonight,” Sherlock said firmly, “I’m going to take you home and on our walk back, I’m going to make a few phone calls. I need you to know that no matter what I say on the calls, I’m not at all upset with you, okay? I’m not angry with you. Can you understand that?”
“Yeah,” John said shifting uncomfortably, “My bike?”
“Where did you stash it?” Sherlock glanced around before alighting on the alleyway, “Ah, I see. Let’s go.”
They walked quickly to the alleyway and John felt his entire stomach drop when he saw that his bike was missing.
“It was right there,” John pleaded, “I put it against that bin. Where’d it go? Mum’s going to murder me!”
“We’ll get you a new bike,” Sherlock said heavily before taking John’s hand lightly and walking with him back toward his house.
“I’ve got these directions,” John tried helpfully, pulling the wrinkled sheet out of his pocket and handing it to Sherlock.
“Thank you,” Sherlock said kindly, “You were incredibly thorough. Now, I’m going to make a few phone calls. Do you remember what I said?”
“Yes,” John answered firmly.
John held on to Sherlock’s hand as they walked through the dark streets and Sherlock started dialing his mobile.
“Harriet,” Sherlock growled into the phone, “Of course you’re not answering your phone because having it with you after leaving your brother alone at home would be the logical move and you’re so far below average intelligence, it’s laughable. First, I want to say that I think you are the most irresponsible, selfish, idiotic…”
John wasn’t able to pick out much more from Sherlock’s message because he started talking really quickly and John couldn’t follow it. That call took them almost all the way back home and they were turning onto John’s street before Sherlock took a deep breath and dialed another number.
“Ms. Watson, hello, Sherlock Holmes…I am aware that it’s late and I do apologize for bothering you on your holiday with your new boyfriend…Rather obvious given my current predicament…Just a bit of news for you…I need you to know that John’s fine, safe and with me…Deep breath, Ms. Watson…Nope, he’s fine…I haven’t the faintest idea where your daughter is…Don’t worry, I’m taking him home now…I’ll stay with him tonight…I’d recommend the 6:24am. It should get you here around 8am…With all due respect, I don’t think that this is the most appropriate time for that…I know that he’s your son, but…hold on…”
“John, your mother would like a word,” Sherlock said handing the mobile over.
“Hey Mum!” John said happily, “How’s London?”
“John Hamish Watson,” His mum said sternly over the line, “Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?”
“I just went out to surprise Sherlock,” John said confused, “I wore my elbow pads and everything!”
“John, it is almost 11pm and you are not at home in bed,” She said angrily, “Do you have any idea how scared that makes me?”
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” John said feeling guilt tug at his heart, “I was extra safe.”
“Where exactly is your sister?” She asked.
“I can’t tell you!” John said sadly, “If I tell then she won’t take me to see the snakes.”
“Oh, you’re not going to see the snake exhibit,” She answered, “You’ll be lucky to see anything farther away than the mailbox for weeks. You are so grounded.”
“Why?” John asked, “What did I do?”
“The fact that you don’t have the faintest clue as to why I’m angry, John, is reason enough to have a serious talk when I get home tomorrow.” She said woefully.
“I’m sorry,” John pleaded, “Mum, don’t be mad.”
“We’ll discuss this tomorrow,” She sighed heavily, “I’ll see you in the morning and John, I’m begging you, don’t cause any more trouble for Sherlock. Now hand me back.”
John swallowed heavily and passed the mobile back over. He didn’t hear the rest of the conversation because he was too busy battling the misery that was threatening to overwhelm him. They walked up to his front door still hand in hand until John pulled away to get his house key out to open the door. He walked in slowly and collapsed onto the couch.
“Why don’t you go ahead and get your pajamas on, okay?” Sherlock asked kindly, “Then we can take care of your hands.”
John dragged himself to his room and changed into his jimjams for the night. He dawdled as long as he could until he saw Sherlock’s shadow form against his hall.
“I’ve got the first aid kit out,” Sherlock said, “Let’s go.”
John followed him quietly and hopped up on the counter holding out his hands for Sherlock to see. John was quiet as Sherlock cleaned off his hands gently.
“I didn’t mean to cause you trouble,” John said softly as Sherlock applied a plaster to some of the deeper scrapes, “I just wanted to say hi. It was supposed to be a good surprise.”
“You didn’t cause me trouble,” Sherlock said, catching John’s gaze, “And you know that I always love seeing you. Do you remember Christmas? We made those snowflakes.”
“Yeah,” John replied, “But Mum’s really mad.”
“She’s scared for you, John,” Sherlock answered, “You weren’t where you were supposed to be. You weren’t where she knew that you’d be safe. She just got really scared. I was scared too.”
“You don’t get scared,” John countered seriously.
“John, when I saw that you were wandering around that part of town at 10pm at night,” Sherlock whispered, “I don’t think I’ve been so scared in my entire life. Anything could have happened to you on your way to find me tonight.”
“If it’s a bad part of town though,” John asked confused, “Why were you there?”
“That’s an excellent question,” Sherlock said after several minutes, putting the final touches on John’s hands, “Unfortunately, I don’t seem to have an acceptable answer for you. Shall we put the telly on until you get tired?”
“Alright,” John answered jumping off the counter.
They settled down on the floor in front of the couch and put on a nature documentary about bees and John soon found his eyes drooping heavily. He leaned against Sherlock’s shoulder until the taller boy placed a pillow on his lap and let John collapse against his thighs and drift closer and closer to unconsciousness.
“We’re still friends, right?” John asked quietly, needing reassurance, “We’ll always be friends?”
“You are one of the most important and treasured individuals in my life,” Sherlock said seriously, “Don’t ever doubt that.”
“Good,” John said, relieved, “You too, for me.”
He felt Sherlock run his fingers lightly through his unruly hair and sighed as warmth and comfort spread through his tummy pulling him under.