A Chance To Stay Alive - Johnlock

13) Oh Christmas Tree

"And now for the finishing touches!" John excitedly cried, giving a small wobble as he balanced on top of Sherlock's hands. The curly-haired boy rolled his eyes but watched on with a small smile; it amused him that John was in-fact too short to reach the top of the Christmas tree, and Sherlock had ended up agreeing to give him a lift up. The blonde boy perched the skull from the mantelpiece on top of the tree and eagerly jumped down, putting his hands on his hips and gazing up at their masterpiece. It wasn't exactly your usual Christmas tree; of course it had a few normal ornaments but police tape sat wrapped around the branches and Sherlock's prized skull was acting as a star substitute.
"Looks good," Sherlock decided, slumping down into his armchair and admiring the tree.
John gave a giddy grin before taking a seat opposite the curly-haired boy. 
"So," the blonde boy said, glancing at Sherlock.
"Doing anything for Christmas?"
Sherlock pursed his lips for a moment before solemnly shaking his head.
"I guess not," he replied, watching a small frown appear on his roommate's face.
"Never really have done."
"You've got a different religion?"
Sherlock snorted for a moment.
"No," he explained with a faded smile.
"I just don't like spending time with my family."

John gave a satisfied sigh.
"I know what you mean," he reassured, crossing his legs and biting his lip.
"Not fond of your family?" Sherlock asked, getting to his feet and giving a small wince; a burning pain arising in his leg.
"You alright?" John asked suddenly, eyeing his friend.
Sherlock waved a dismissive hand and leaned against the chair and gazed at John, it was probably from the long a few hours before.
"But yeah," the blonde boy continued.
"We don't speak anymore."
Sherlock's mind wondered back to the roommates' first meeting; where John had confessed to being kicked out. The curly-haired boy gave a swift nod before sitting down, curiosity getting the better of him.

••••••••••••••

Sherlock sat quietly in the hospital bed, watching the sunlight creeping through the curtains and listening to the muffled voices of the nurses from outside. It was early morning in the ward, and many other patients were still asleep. A few seconds later there came a scuffle of feet from the doorway and one of the boy's nurses entered, a warm smile on her aged face. Her name was Nurse Evergreen, an old, motherly-figure, and by far Sherlock's favourite. She wore her mousy hair back in a tight bun and on her uniform a mistletoe badge had been pinned. He watched her for a moment before she sat down at the end of his bed, beaming brightly.
"Morning Sherlock," she hummed, causing the curly-haired boy to bow his head shyly.
"And a very Merry Christmas."
Sherlock naturally said nothing; he never liked starting conversations with the staff, he much preferred to be left alone to his own accord.

The nurse's face faltered for a moment before she reached out sympathetically to the young patient.
"Now your mother couldn't be here today," she explained softly, her voice almost pained.
"But your brother Mycroft is going to drop by later with your present okay?"
Sherlock immediately perked up at this, he may not of liked people however he certainly liked presents. Nurse Evergreen slowly got to her feet and for a moment the two waited in comfortable silence, Sherlock gazing at her curiously.
"I'll be back in the moment with your breakfast," the older lady explained, giving a final smile at the young, curly-haired boy before leaving the room.
Sherlock's blue eyes twinkled as he watched the nurse leave, she was almost like a second mother to him but he would never dare admit it.

••••••••••••••

"Is that what you went to hospital for?" John asked, gazing over at the curly-haired boy.
"You know, your leg."
A confused expression glazed over Sherlock's face fell for a moment before he suddenly realised.
"Oh..oh yeah my leg," he agreed. The skinny boy gave a small, reassuring nod and leant back in his seat.
John gave a satisfied hum, watching Sherlock closely.
"Well," the blonde boy began, a small smile creeping up his lips.
"Merry Christmas Sherlock Holmes."
Sherlock's cheeks immediately grew a bright red as John gave a foolish grin.
"Merry Christmas John Watson," he answered curtly.
John chuckled slightly and got to his feet.
"Well I'm going to make some omelettes if you'd like one,"he hummed thoughtfully.
Sherlock gave a small nod of agreement; it was habit for him to skip meals most days however something today had changed his mind. The blonde boy watched his roommate for a moment before strolling into the kitchen, grabbing a carton of eggs from the counter as he did so.

About twenty minutes later both boys were sat comfortably on the sofa, Sherlock taking small bites from his omelette. John sat beside the curly-haired boy, discussing his new novel. According to the blonde boy: it was about two men who went on amazing adventures together; whilst John explained all of this Sherlock gave the occasional nod to show that he was still listening. In his mind, the curly-haired boy was actually quite fond of his ideas, they sounded quite promising and Sherlock always like seeing the small smile on John's face when he talked about it. After John had finished his omelette, Sherlock was still picking at his with slight dismay, he got to his feet.
"I'm just going to have a shower," he explained to Sherlock, running his fingers through his blonde hair sleepily.
"I won't be too long"
The skinny boy nodded at this and watched as his flatmate disappeared into the bathroom, listening as the gentle hum of the shower drifted through the house.

Sherlock grabbed for his laptop and perched on the sofa thoughtfully, scrolling through many of his unread emails from Scotland Yard. Reading through them, the curly-haired boy gave an occasional scoff: most of them were from Greg, who was yet again puzzled by a quite simple case. He slumped back onto the sofa and decided to have a quick look on John's blog, just to see if he had posted anything new, that was all. Sherlock skimmed through the blonde boy's latest post before he glanced over to the comments section. There were all of the usual ones from supposed Harry and John's college-friend Mike Stamford. But There was one more comment too, however the sight of it made Sherlock's blood run cold.

You didn't think I'd just disappear did you? -JM x

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