~Sherlock's Roommate~ (Sherlock x Male!Oc) //On Hold\\

Chapter 39 | 'No friends'?

The next morming, Easton goes to the door at the sound of a knock. As soon as he opens it Sherlock surges though, being loudly cheerful, bumping Easton's shoulder aggressively.

"Morning!" Sherlock says, Easton grunts and watches Sherlock head for the kitchen but suddenly turns around and clasps Henry by the shoulders "Oh, how are you feeling?"

Henry looks terrible. Sherlock ducks his head down to get a better look into his face.

"I'm... I didn't sleep very well." Henry stutters

"That's a shame. Shall I make you some coffee?" Sherlock says, he looks up at the ceiling above the door and points, "Oh look, you've got damp!"

He grins falsely at him until Henry turns his head to look at the ceiling, then drops the smile and turns and walks away towards the kitchen.

Hurrying over to the cupboards, he starts opening and closing each one rapidly. Finally he finds the metal jar that he's looking for and takes it out, rummaging inside it while he elbows the cupboard door closed.

Tucking something from the jar inside his coat, he goes over to the sink and picks up a couple of mugs, taking them over to the central island just as Easton wanders in.

"Sherlock... last night--" He starts, but Sherlock ignores him and looks at Henry. Sherlock gives him that horrifying attempt at a friendly smile while he takes the top off the coffee tin.

"Why did you say you hadn't seen anything? I mean, I only saw the hound for a minute, but..." Henry says..

Sherlock has been dumping spoonfuls of coffee into the mugs without even looking, his eyes locked on Henry's, and now he slams the coffee tin down onto the surface and steps closer to him, his eyes back to their normal intensity.

"Hound." Sherlock says.

"What?" Both Henry and Easton say.

"Why do you call it a hound? Why a hound It's odd, isn't it? Strange choice of words... archaic. It's why I took the case. "Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound." Why say "hound"?"

"I don't know! I..."

"Actually, I'd better skip the coffee." Sherlock flares out of the kitchen. Henry sighs wearily.

Easton pats Henry's shoulder, he been taking care of Henry all night, comforting him as much as he could after what had happened..

Easton turns and follows Sherlock.

//Time Skip\\

Later, Sherlock is walking back through the village but stops when he sees John in the church graveyard, sitting on the steps of a war memorial and looking through the notes in his notebook. Sherlock goes through the gate nd walks along the path towards John, who looks up as he hears him approach.

John's expression becomes uncomfortable as he tucks his notebook into his pocket. Grimacing briefly, Sherlock stops in front of him, also looking awkward.

"Did you, er, get anywhere with that Morse code?"

"No." John says and starts to walk away.

"U, M, Q, R, A, wasn't it?" Sherlock says. Easton starts walking up but he wasn't too close, his two friends didn't even notice his presence.

John keeps walking and Sherlock follows along behind him. He voices the initials as a word.

"UMQRA." Sherlock says.

"Nothing." John says.

In Sherlock's mind, he puts full stops in between the letters but still voices it as a word, "U.M.Q--"

"Look, forget it. It's... I thought I was on to something. I wasn't."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"How about Louise Mortimer? Did you get anywhere with her?"

"No."

"Too bad. Did you get any information?"

John smiles briefly and glances over his shoulder but still keeps walking.

"You being funny now?"

"Thought it might break the ice a bit." Sherlock responds.

"Funny doesn't suit you. I'd stick to ice." John says, Easton stands behind Sherlock in silence, not knowing what to say.

Sherlock looks at John's retreating back, his face full of pain, "John.."

"It's fine."

"No, wait. What happened last night... Something happened to me; something I've not really experienced before..."

"Yes, you said: fear. Sherlock Holmes got scared. You said." John said.

Sherlock catches him up, takes hold of his arm and pulls him round to face him, "No,no,no.. it was more than that, John. It was doubt. I felt doubt. I've always been able to trust my senses, the evidence of my own eyes, until last night."

John gave him a look. "You can't actually believe that you saw some kind of monster."

"No, I can't believe that." Sherlock grins bitterly for a moment, "But I did see it, so the question is: how? How?"

"Yes. Yeah, right, good. So you've got something to go on, then? Good luck with that." John turns and starts to walk away again. Sherlock turns and calls after him.

"Listen, what I said before, John. I meant it."

John stops and turns back to face him.

"I don't have friends." Sherlock starts, Easton bit his bottom lip, "I've just got you."

Easton froze in his place... 'Then what am I then?' He thought to himself.. 'A nobody?'

John looks away as he takes in that statement for a moment, then he nods briefly and glances back at Sherlock.

"Right. So Easton Parker doesn't even matter to you?" He turns and walks away again. Sherlock looks down and turns, seeing Easton standing there, with a emotionless expression on his face.

"Easton.."

Easton just sighs and turns around, leaving the cemetery. His heart ache, is he really just a nobody to him?