A Different Path

First Day of Classes

John awoke the next morning to his alarm going off next to his head. He groaned in annoyance and rolled out of bed. He shuffled around in one of his bags looking for a towel and a fresh pair of clothes. He didn't know whether or not his roommate would be up so he tiptoed across the sitting area and snuck into the bathroom. He turned the light on and turned around to start the shower but was met with an assortment of test tubes and other chemistry equipment scattered on the floor of the tub. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before checking his watch for the time. 7:30. He had already slept in and he still needed to find his class. He decided to skip the shower and just washed his hair in the sink instead. He towel dried his hair and threw on the fresh pair of clothes before grabbing his books and taking off in the direction of the campus.

After a lot of wrong turns and a couple of pit stops to ask people for directions he successfully made it to his class with about half a minute to spare.

"Good morning class." The teacher began "my names Ms Smith. And today to start off we're going to assign partners. The partner you get today will be with you for the rest of the semester. The way I'm going to assign partners is by putting everyone's name in a hat and drawing two names. The names that I draw will be partners." There was a collective groan through out the room. "Oh hush now, it'll be fun" she said with a smile. She seemed too cheery for Johns liking.

She walked around to the back of her desk and grabbed what looked to be a ball cap with the university's logo on it and started drawing names from the hat. After about half an hour almost the entire class was paired up and John still didn't have a partner.

"And the last two partners are," she reached into the hat and pulled out the two remaining scraps of paper. "Watson and Holmes."

Holmes, why did that sound familiar?

Just then the hairs on the back of Johns neck rose and he got the feeling that someone was staring at him. He turned around and was met with a stunning pair of green blue eyes staring back at him. After a better look he saw that those gorgeous eyes were accompanied with a slightly messy head of black hair.

Oh, right.

"Alright everyone," John turned his attention back to the woman at the front of the room. "go sit with your partners." There was sudden movement through out the room at the teachers words and John looked back at his new partner and roommate.

Seeing that Sherlock had no intention of moving from his current seat John sighed and picked up his bag, shuffling around the chairs to go take a seat next to Sherlock.

"Hey" John decided to make an attempt at conversation. "A little funny isn't it? Us ending up as partners as well as roommates?" Sherlock just looked at him, as though he was trying to read something on John. He started to get uncomfortable after a few long seconds of silent staring and fidget a bit. Sherlock seemed to pick up on his nerves and replied to Johns question.

"Yea, it's as though someone wants us to be together." He said with a light chuckle. John didn't know whether or not he was joking so he decided to turn his attention back to his teacher again.

After the class ended and everyone was gathering up their belongings and making conversation with their new partners, John also started collecting his things as well. Before he left he turned back to Sherlock. "I guess I'll see you back at home?" John asked. Sherlock looked at him but said nothing. He gave a slight nod and then swiftly turned and left the room. Leaving John standing alone in the now empty class. He sighed and left for his next class.

John didn't see Sherlock for the rest of the day. That is, until he got back to the dorms. He walked in and was greeted by the sight of his roommate sprawled out on the sofa with his eyes closed and his hands making a steeple. He looked as though he were asleep so John decided it best to leave him alone. He was almost to his room when he heard Sherlock speak.

"Good afternoon John. How were the rest of your classes." He sounded incredibly bored so John kept his reply short.

"They were fine I suppose. Got lost a couple of times but that's to be expected when I don't know my way around yet." Sherlock just hummed in reply. That's when John noticed that the small kitchen table was covered in papers. "Homework?" He asked gesturing to the mess.

"No." Was all Sherlock said. John stood there for a few moments waiting for him to clarify but he didn't. John was now curious so he prodded for mor information.

"An experiment?" He guessed, remembering the test tubes and vials of strange coloured liquid in the bathroom. Which reminded him he still needed to shower.

Sherlock sighed and turned to look at John. "If you really want to know, it's a case I'm working on." He stated a little coldly. He turned back and closed his eyes again. Now John was really curious so he walked over to the small table and shifted around the papers and scanning some of them.

"A murder case?" He asked as he held up a picture of a particularity gruesome looking body. He shifted through a few more pictures and came a cross a name. "Jack the Ripper." He whispered under his breath. John didn't notice Sherlock had moved and was now standing behind John. More like hovering over John, given their height difference. John looked back over at the sofa to look at his roommate. He was confused until he felt his presence behind him and he jumped a little.

"Interest?" Sherlock asked with one eyebrow raised. John looked at him and then back to the case files in front of him.

"It doesn't make sense though." John said looking through the files again. "I thought Jack the Ripper was around back in the 1800's" he continued to shuffle through the papers. "He can't still be alive. So," Sherlock looked at him expectantly. "It has to be a copycat killer, doesn't it?" He asked looking up at his roommate who was still standing behind him.

"That's what you'd think." He began "but there's details that were never released to the public." John looked at him, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"To answer your previous question, yes I am interested."

"Brilliant. Then let's get to work." He walked to his room and a few moments later he emerged wearing a long dark trench coat with the collar flipped up and a dark blue scarf tied snuggly around his neck. John took the hint and grabbed his jacket before chasing after his roommate who was already walking out the door.