Texting Sherlock

Love

Individual Chapter

"Hey Sherlock?" John called from the living room.

His flatmate had been in the bedroom for almost three hours now, and that usually didn't happen unless Sherlock was solving a case. John was slightly worried now, so he called out again and, when received no response, closed his laptop and slowly headed for the bedroom. He was well aware of the pounding of his heart and the soft noise of his feet hitting the linoleum as he advanced down the hallway.

"Sherlock?" John reached for the door handle, twisting it, surprised that it gave way and wasn't locked. The room was dark, curtains shut, and it took John a couple of seconds to adjust to the darkness. He shut the door behind him, cautiously moving further into the room and towards the bed where he saw Sherlock's silhouette sitting under a rather large pile of blankets.

John's eyes had adjusted fully by the time he had made it to the bed and sat down next to Sherlock, neither of them speaking a word yet.

"Sherlock?" John tried, not expecting much in return.

What he did get in return though is a sigh from Sherlock, slight shuffling, and a blanket being draped over his shoulders. John scooted closer to Sherlock, an involuntary smile gracing John's tired face. They sat in silence for a couple minutes, Sherlock occasionally wiggling his toes to keep them from falling asleep.

"So? What's on your mind?" John nudged his flatmate, making Sherlock almost lose balance from being sedentary for a while.

"I don't know" Sherlock answered, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands, "Something has been bothering me though and it's gotten in the way of work, which is not okay..."

"What's been bothering you then?" John asked, cautious to not set Sherlock off.

Sherlock sighed again, "I think", he paused again, "I think it's us".

John froze and his breathing seemed to falter.

"Us?" he repeated Sherlock's statement, "What do you mean?"

It had been fairly stable between the two of them ever since they told each other the three magical words. Granted, they hadn't talked about it since and hadn't really established what they were now.

"I mean... What are we?" Sherlock asked, almost like he was reading John's thoughts.

"I was just thinking the same thing. I wouldn't say that it's been bothering me but it has been on my mind for some time now, ever since..." John paused, "Ever since we said we loved each other".

Sherlock didn't say anything so John decided to continue speaking.

"What do you think we are?"

Sherlock sighed once again, "I don't know... As mentioned before, I don't have much experience in this area. No offense, but you are more experienced in this field than me".

"Well... for normal people" John cringed at his words because they suggested that they weren't normal, so he decided to rephrase, "For people, saying I love you to each other is usually pretty significant. After that they usually talk about it and decide their... future".

"So. Let's decide our future" Sherlock carefully picked his words.

John was a little astounted that Sherlock was ready to talk about such profound things as... love, which (until not long ago) John thought was a subject completely foreign to Sherlock Holmes.

"Well.. I would be very happy in a relationship with you, if that's what you're asking. Would you be able to handle that though? I know I can be a little hard to handle at times and I wouldn't want to distract you from your work" John spoke.

Sherlock stared John in the eyes, "You are not a distraction, John. I admit, my mind has been on you for the past week now but that's because there's been so many unanswered questions between us".

Sherlock paused again, "I think I'm ready for this. As I've said before, I found you so intriguing when we first met and as time progressed, I found myself more and more enamored with you. I also found myself imagining us being together. Instead of standing next to each other at a crime scene, I would have my fingers interlocked with yours. Instead of sitting in opposing armchairs, we would sit on the couch together, your head on my shoulder. I imagined so many more scenarios but I never thought they would have the chance to play out in real life" Sherlock said.

"Well, I'll admit that I thought about us as more than friends too. So I can wholeheartedly say that I'm ready for a relationship" John smiled encouragingly at Sherlock.

"Then, I too, can say that I'm ready for a relationship" Sherlock reciprocated John's warm smile with his own.

John pulled Sherlock into a hug, happy that his dreams were finally coming true. What Sherlock whispered next made John's heart melt.

"My boyfriend".

[I <3 HEARING FROM YOU]
Do you openly talk about your feelings or do you hold it in?
-I'm a little bit of both tbh.