Secretly I Think You Knew

The Family Needs To Know

"So, do you want to sit with me, or should I come over and...socialize?" Sherlock asked, not feeling too great about talking to more new people. Who knows how he might be treated by Mike and James? It was obvious that Greg hadn't been in his biggest fan in the beginning, and James certainly came across as a nice person, but Mike had been a little bit moody about the whole thing, at least that was the impression Sherlock got. And if there had been a manly squabble about Sherlock's friendship with John, he could only imagine what kind of damage a relationship might do.
"We'll stand in the lunch line and try to pick out the least toxic thing, then I'm going to go over to Sherlock's table." John decided.
"Come on mate, we just got you back. Sherlock's welcome to sit here as well, trust me, there will be no hard feelings." Greg assured. John looked over at Sherlock hopefully, with his big eyes and a small pouty face, oh, how could Sherlock say no to that? Sherlock groaned, trying to look away, but nodding in the end, giving in.
"Oh, alright, but if I fall out of my chair again I'm leaving." Sherlock groaned.
"You didn't fall out, you more jumped. We'll be there Greg, save us seats." John insisted.
"You owe me one." Sherlock hissed, but John just laughed, squeezing his hand reassuringly and sighed.
"You love me." he assured, as if it were some horrible burden.
"Of course I do, idiot." Sherlock agreed, walking over and waiting in the lunch line. As they went by, it was a little bit difficult to figure out what food would give them what diseases. Sherlock settled with the pizza, deciding that a little bit of a stomach problem from spoiled cheese was nothing compared to the illnesses hidden under the soggy bun of a sloppy joe, which John got. They got some apple slices and what the school wanted to convince them were green beans, but they looked more like crayons dipped in water. They got waters along with their meal and funneled along the line, waiting to pay before going over to John's table and sitting down.
"Oh, hello Sherlock." James said with a smile. Sherlock muttered an awkward little hello, hoping that this time would go a lot better than last time. He didn't dare hold John's hand or even scoot his chair a little bit closer, in case Mike and James hadn't yet heard the news. Mike was giving Sherlock a little bit of a confused look, so obviously Greg hadn't dropped the bomb.
"You two remember Sherlock, right?" John asked.
"How could we not? He was here not two weeks ago." Mike insisted, looking at John as if he were dumb. Sherlock had to admit though, that was a rather lame way to start a conversation.
"Well, we've got a bit of an announcement." John admitted.
"Are you pregnant?" Greg laughed, looking around to see if any of his other friends thought it was funny as well. Shockingly though, no one laughed. Sherlock felt like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment from the very disapproving look on Mike's face. If he didn't like Sherlock now, imagine what he'd think about thirty seconds later.
"No I'm not pregnant, Greg, don't be stupid." John snapped.
"Just trying to lighten the mood." Greg admitted, holding his hands up in defense.
"Well, Sherlock and I, we're kind of...together." John shrugged. Sherlock blushed furiously, not wanting to look anyone in the eyes but also not wanting to look as if he were avoiding eye contact. It was a very awkward moment for both of them, but he couldn't imagine what it might be like in front of John's parents, both of which he imagined didn't like him. Mike looked downright terrified, and James almost dropped the pretzel he had in his hand.
"Well, congratulations, that's wonderful, amazing, truly, standing ovation." Greg muttered, trying to break the awkward silence that now flowed through the lunch table. Sherlock felt very awkward indeed, what if they didn't like him, what if they kicked John out of their table?
"Well, yes, sorry. That's very nice." James assured, still looking very amazed as he looked at Sherlock to John, as if trying to imagine the two of them actually being a couple. Sherlock didn't think it was that difficult but then again, they were polar opposites.
"You're serious?" Mike muttered.
"Hopefully." Sherlock agreed, the first word he said other than hello.
"Not something I'd lie about." John agreed.
"I never knew you were gay." Mike decided. "Mary Morstan, I thought that was like, your soulmate."
"Well, unless Mary was Sherlock in disguise, I'm pretty sure she's not my soulmate." John shrugged, not looking too bothered by these mixed responses.
"That's sweet; oh look at them, goals." Greg said obnoxiously, obviously trying to make people do something more than stare in amazement.
"You're not helping anything, I hope you know that. You're making this weirder." John insisted.
"Am I? I didn't really think it could get any weirder." Greg shrugged. Sherlock sighed, great; he had reached the ultimate level of awkwardness. If he was feeling so awkward he couldn't imagine what John was feeling, embarrassed beyond belief no doubt.
"Alright then, now that that's out of the way, I have a diseased sloppy joe to eat." John sighed.
"Where's your lunch box?" Mike wondered.
"Oh he was a little bit, preoccupied last night, forgot it." Greg sighed.
"Shut up Greg, honestly." John snapped.
"Ah, but you didn't deny it." Greg pointed out. John groaned loudly and Sherlock felt as if his skin might just melt off with embarrassment. Honestly Greg was a real trustworthy person. Soon the entire school would be buzzing with the same rumors, circulating through Greg who seemed to have no trouble announcing John and Sherlock's personal life to the entire school. So Sherlock very awkwardly ate his pizza, feeling three sets of eyes on him at all times, which made it very difficult, especially when a chunk of cheese refused to go in his mouth, or fake tomato sauce smeared all over his lips. He felt as if he were under a spotlight, everything he did and said (or didn't say, since he wasn't speaking at all) was going to be used against him. if this was going to be how it was, getting introduced and paraded around as John's new boyfriend, it was very humiliating. But then again, it was worth it. Sherlock would march up to the Devil himself and announce John as his one and only because it was true, and there was no point in hiding it. But then again, it was a bit rude to stare, don't you think? When school finally let out Sherlock met John at his locker, both of them feeling a bit uneasy and definitely ready to go home. Greg was loitering around as well, leaning against John's locker and chatting about nothing.
"I'm driving you home, right?" Sherlock asked.
"Ya, i mean, I have to get my car, but I don't know..." John eyed Greg, who was looking at the two with utmost attention, as if their love life was the best thing that had happened to him all day. Then again, what else happens at school?
"So your car is still there?" he muttered, raising his eyebrows knowingly.
"Shut up Greg." John snapped, closing his locker and following Sherlock down the hall.
"What about practice?" Greg called. John groaned, turning back around so that they didn't have to scream down the hallway. Sherlock lingered next to him, holding onto his hand so that he couldn't slip away, finally deciding soccer is more important than his newfound love life.
"I can't go, I need to...well I just need to get all this sorted out with my parents, surely you understand?" John asked. Greg groaned, looking around as if uneasy, but nodded.
"Ya mate, get it worked out, but don't be skipping practices, we need you. I'll tell coach you had to go home early." Greg decided.
"Brilliant, thanks Greg, honestly." John agreed with a smile. Greg groaned, but obviously he couldn't do anything to prevent John's leaving, so the two of them turned and walked back down the hall, joining the wave of kids flooded out to the parking lots.
"He seemed pretty upset, are you sure you don't want to go?" Sherlock asked, even though he really didn't want John to leave him.
"No, I'm fine, just...you know, a little bit..." John twirled his finger in a circle near his head, trying to mime that he was going crazy.
"If I'm somehow inconveniencing you, I understand, I mean..."
"No, it's not you." John assured. "You're the only thing in my life I'm sure I want to keep." Sherlock blushed a little bit, keeping his head down so the common folk wouldn't notice his flattery.
"That's very sweet John, I'd like to keep you as well." He agreed. John just laughed, shaking his head as if Sherlock were the most adorable thing he's seen.
"That's not a sentence you hear every day." he decided. Sherlock smiled back, loving the way John looked when he didn't know Sherlock was watching him. When he was happy, when he was natural, when he was gorgeous. When they got to the car Sherlock unlocked the doors, letting John sit in the passenger seat while he threw his backpack into the back seat, clambering into the driver's seat and starting the engine.
"So, I was thinking about how I should break the news to my parents, and I've come up with nothing." John admitted.
"You don't have to tell them you know. If it's too uncomfortable for you, I mean, you could always just keep them in the dark." Sherlock suggested.
"That doesn't sound like something I would do at all. No, my mom's freaking out, she needs answers and I'm not going to be able to lie my way through this whole thing." John insisted.
"You mean...you're going to tell her...everything?" Sherlock muttered, pausing at the edge of the parking lot to look at John quizzically.
"No, god no, don't worry Sherlock, just kind of fill her in." John assured. "No we'll keep the whole murder thing to ourselves, and the whole...you know...hook up." John muttered. Sherlock nodded, suddenly finding it very necessary to stare at the road.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to rush it, I mean, that was my first kiss, I just thought, after so long, it was almost..." Sherlock sighed.
"Necessary?" John suggested. Sherlock nodded, not wanting to say the word himself.
"I've been trapped by Mycroft's very spirit for so long, after finally breaking free, being my own person, it's a rare gift, and I felt like somehow he might come back to life and deny me of you again, so I kind of acted as I saw fit." Sherlock admitted. John just laughed, shaking his head and Sherlock dared to look over, just in case John was looking back. Thankfully he wasn't, his attention was fixed on the town as it went zipping by.
"What?" Sherlock asked, worried he had said something wrong.
"Nothing, nothing, just, as you saw fit." John said, laughing a bit more. Sherlock could only crack an uneasy smile, not because he was amused or anything, more because John's giggling was only too contagious. There was a bit of a silence, John was still smiling but Sherlock was focusing on driving, wanting to make sure they didn't crash and die before they've been together for a full day.
"So, are we telling your parents?" Sherlock asked. John sighed, obviously thinking for a moment.
"Do you want to come?" he asked.
"Do you want me to?" Sherlock sighed, looking over at John curiously. John sighed, but nodded.
"I'd really like it if you did. I mean, I know it's pretty awkward, for the both of us really, but you know, I feel like we could somehow split the awkwardness between us." John shrugged.
"At least we're together." Sherlock agreed, not really in the mood to be ogled at like some sort of alien. Yes, they're gay, yes, they know you had no idea, no, they're not zoo animals. They have feelings and emotions and self-consciousness just like the rest of us, and they certainly don't like being stared at as if they were freaks. Nevertheless, Sherlock turned down John's road, watching rows and rows of houses go by, tapping his fingers nervously against the wheel.
"I feel like I haven't even had a chance to make a good impression, I mean, they've met me twice, said a couple of words, and now we're announcing this? Don't you think it's a bit sudden?" Sherlock muttered.
"If you don't want to come that's fine, but I mean, I'd really appreciate it. They're my parents, and they deserve the truth. I could only wish that I could tell yours." John sighed. Sherlock nodded, staring at the road and trying not to look sad in front of John. It was a long time ago, they were dead, they deserved it, and it really shouldn't be affecting him now.
"But hey, you're one step closer to being Batman." John pointed out with a small laugh.
"I don't really know...I don't know who that is." Sherlock admitted.
"Oh ya, I forgot, no TV. Well, we're going to have a movie marathon at my house some night, just as soon as I tell my parents what's going on." John decided. Sherlock pulled into his driveway, taking a deep breath before turning off the engine.
"You can always stay in the car." John assured, seeing Sherlock's obvious uneasiness.
"No, you want me here, I'm coming." Sherlock insisted. "I'm fine." He opened his car door rather roughly, getting out of the car and stretching his legs out, looking at John's house, which looked just a bit intimidating. John got out of the car as well, and Sherlock was prepared for a bit of a speech, what to do, what not to do, when the door opened and a woman donning a bathrobe and fuzzy slippers came running out. It was Mrs. Watson, but honestly, Sherlock was having a hard time recognizing her in her mourning state. She strangled John in a hug only a worried mother could give, something that would make professional wrestler's choke holds look like child's play.
"John, oh thank god, oh look at you, you look..." she pulled away just enough to observe John's face. "Tired." She decided, obviously that was the best she could come up with.
"Ya, mom, I'm fine, where's dad?" John asked, pushing her away and leaning up against the car. Sherlock lingered behind it, not yet noticed by John's desperate mother.
"At work, silly. He'll be home around five." She pointed out.
"And it's three." John muttered with a smile, looking over at Sherlock with a bit of an annoyed look.
"Yes, why, is there something wrong?" Mrs. Watson asked. "Oh, hello Sherlock." She added, looking right back at her son as if Sherlock's presence was unimportant.
"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to stop by, make sure you knew I was alive. I've got to get my stuff from his house, my car." John shrugged.
"Whose shirt is that?" Mrs. Watson asked.
"Oh, it's uh...its Sherlock's, mine is in the wash...I uh..." John muttered, obviously not able to think of something quick enough.
"He spilled punch on it, a simple mistake, it had to be washed." Sherlock shrugged. That's an easy cover up, blood and punch looked suspiciously similar when spilled on clothing.
"Punch! No wonder you were up late, that has sugar in it, you probably crashed on the couch. Poor thing, every time we try to watch a movie he's out." Mrs. Watson laughed, ruffling John's hair like a dog.
"Mom, no I don't, only when you make me watch boring love movies." John insisted, swatting his mother's hand and dodging away.
"Ya, like you'd know anything about love." Mrs. Watson laughed. "He's a hopeless romantic, Mary Morstan, you know her? She's nice, he's been drooling over her since he went to preschool, still hasn't made a move." Sherlock nodded, pretending to be interested. It wasn't too hard to laugh though, considering the ironic twist this visit had become.
"Well, I'm sure he'll have a significant other in no time. Maybe sooner than we both might expect." Sherlock assured with a very innocent smile.
"Aw John, you've got something in your hair, what is that, punch?" she asked, trying to dab at John's hairline with her finger.
"Ya, probably, I fell, listen, we have to go back to Sherlock's, get my car and stuff, I'll be back home soon." John insisted, opening the door and shutting it in his mother's face, just before she could get a good look at the dried 'punch' in his hair.
"Alright then, it's nice seeing you again Mrs. Watson." Sherlock said with a smile, trying to appear as polite and kind as he could.
"Yes, well, thank you for taking care of him Sherlock, we owe you one." she insisted as Sherlock got in the car, waving his farewell before turning the engine on and rolling out of the driveway.