johnlock oneshots; the second book

summer of '85

a/n: don't get offended that this isn't like in england, i am american and i know about how gays were treated in the 80s, so that's when it's taken place. summer of '85 in page county, virginia.

it was the summer of '85, two weeks before school started and the last sunday of the month. that meant sunday brunch at the local church hosted by preacher henry watson and his wife along with their son. their family was well known around the tiny town the father was the preacher, mother was married to the preacher, and their golden boy son was the star quarterback. if you knew the watson family, then you knew the holmes. their boys were inseparable, same with the wives. john and sherlock have been conjoined by the hip their entire lives. growing up in a small town on neighboring farms made hard for them not to be friends. they were both leaving for college this coming school year and even though john was the most popular boy in the school with his head cheerleader girlfriend, he still made time for sherlock. he always made time for sherlock and that's why sherlock learned he like boys and a specific boy that went by the name john watson.

it wasn't until the summer of '85 a week before the boys left for school that something life changing happened.

sunday brunch was the social hour of the week. even though it was church, that didn't stop the wives from telling each other who was sleeping with who and who was getting a divorce with who. the kids sat separate from the parents. they had their own fun, keeping in on the low so that pastor watson wouldn't get on them. sherlock used to sit next to john but that spot was taken up by mary so he had to sit across from john.

"are you gonna show betsy this year at the fair?" john asked sherlock as he stuffed his mouth with a mixture of mashed potatoes and corn.

sherlock shrugged. "i'm too proud of her to give her up."

"well you ain't gotta sell her, you just gotta show her. i'm tellin' ya there's a grad prize in that beast."

sherlock laughed softly. "what're you showing?" he asked john.

"showing what?" mary asked as she took her spot next to john while her best friend molly took a seat next to sherlock.

"showing animals fair week." john informed her as he pushed around the food on his plate.

"i got sheep and goats this year." mary said proudly. "pa said they're guaranteed for the grad prize."

"like the pigs from last year?" sherlock asked as he picked at his roll, looking at mary with a slight smirk.

john snorted some then got a smack from mary. he cleared his throat and sat up, taking another bite of his mashed potatoes.

"it's not my fault that the pigs went crazy!" mary said in defense.

"maybe it was the steroids your father injected into them then." sherlock said then took a bite of his roll.

"he did no such thing!"

sherlock scoffed. "sure." he said, earning a strong glare from his friend across him. "i'll leave, jeez." he said and got up. "the truth can hurt, no need to be a snowflake about it." he said to mary before grabbing his plate and walk away.

john watched him throw his food away then walk outside. he turned back to mary and saw her staring at him in disbelief. "he's a freak." she spat.