Between The Raindrops- A Johnlock Fanfiction (Sequel to Beside You)

Chapter Five- The Memory on the Metro

Chasing the past, I stumbled into the future.

-          T.A. Sachs

A/N- Oh, darlings, have I got a plot twist for you? (The answer to that is yes, by the way. Five, actually, so far- not all in this chapter, though. Enjoy!)

 

John
Sherlock and I somehow managed to wake up fairly early the next morning, early enough to shower just in time for the daily hotel buffet breakfast- going back up to our room to retrieve the necessities, we then walked briskly up the street to the metro, where we took the necessary trains to arrive at Saint-Michel, the familiar ground rising above us to the square and cafes and bookshops that circled the staircase that rose from the underground.

“So, where are we off to first?”

“Well, first of all, there’s a bookshop here, and I know how you love these,” Sherlock smiled.

“Sherlock… You’re playing on my weaknesses…” He knew that when I walk in to buy one novel, I usually emerge with a pile of six or ten. He also always insisted on paying for them for me, which, though I loved him and was very grateful and happy with these gifts, I felt guilty that he could be spending the money on himself.

“How is this a weakness?” He walked up to the nearest store, a Gilbert and Sullivan, and picked up a book from one of the crates outside, waving it at me. “You know you want it, John.”

“Some people might here that in the wrong way, Sherlock,” I replied, twiddling my thumbs, trying to resist walking forwards.

“You really don’t want to go in?” He raised an eyebrow.

“No… I just don’t want you wasting your money on me.”

He sighed. “For the last time, I do not view it as a waste- you love books, and I love you and reading them to you or with you or simply watching you read them. And no”- he took the words out of my mind- “You mustn’t feel guilty or worried about me one day thinking that you love me for the things I buy you, because bear in mind I would have deduced that on the day we met, and you’re not that kind of person. So”- he smiled, and exhaled- “Shall we?” He held out his hands to the doorway.

I walked slowly towards him and slipped my hand into his.

“That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?” Sherlock chuckled.

I shuffled forwards next to him, my fingers clutching his leather gloves and feeling the comforting warmth of his skin below.

We looked around the shop, and as usual, I ended up with a pile of books again, looking at Sherlock apologetically as he insisted on buying them.

“I’ll put a few back,” I protested as he carried them all to the till.

“Frankly, you deserve all of them, so you’re getting all of them. Besides, some of these I’d like to read, too,” he grinned, genuinely looking as happy as ever. I beamed back at him.

“One day, we’ll probably end up living in shelter on a street corner built solely of books if we go on like this… Remind me to leave the books on the- hang on, I didn’t even pick up all of these!” He’d even bought some I’d been eying, but hadn’t added to the pile as I hadn’t wanted him to pay too much.

“It’s hardly difficult to deduce where your enthusiasm points,” he looked smug as we left the store which was now crowding with customers.

I wrapped my arm around his waist; “God, I don’t deserve you.”