Stand By You

November Storm

caution:(trigger warning) hospital/care/ contains the aftermath of an abusive attack/ potentially upsetting.

****

The light wind suddenly picked up speed, sending a tornado of leaves tumbling into the wind. It was truly something to see, but as the twilight set in, the park was soon empty. Only a lonely figure was left on the bench, shoulders hunched over, trying to keep himself warm in the late November chilliness. The sixteen year old watched the spinning leaves until the wind settled, the leaves landing back on the snow covered ground. 

There were patterns everywhere. In the way the leaves covered the snow, and the way that his single text message hadn't been answered in the over the three hours Sherlock Holmes had waited. Yup. There was a pattern, alright. For a genius, he really was slow on the uptake. Sherlock sighed, glancing down at his phone. Three hours and a half he had waited. He could definitely take a hint. 

It was time to go home.

******

Sherlock looked up from his book as the door bell rang. He sighed, waiting to see if any footsteps were to be heard in the house. There was only silence, which was to be expected at the late hour. House calls at eleven p.m were rare, and reserved usually for tragedies or midwives. His curiosity overcoming his annoyance, Sherlock set the book down, and peeked his head out of his room. The door bell rang again, the sound echoing through quiet space. The house was dark, and he was clearly the only one awake. Sherlock slipped out, wrapping his blue coat around him, battling against the chill in the house as he took the steps two at time.

The doorbell rang a third time now as Sherlock approached. Whoever was on the other side was truly growing impatient, or frantic. He reached for the door knob, and found himself faltering slightly. That was frustrating. Sherlock Holmes didn't like emotions, and reaching for a damned door was not something to be stressed about. He pulled it open with gusto, and stopped, surprised to see who was on the other side.

There wasn't much light as Sherlock hadn't thought to turn any on, but he would know the figure anywhere. Hours of studying a person couldn't be erased that easily, no matter how hard he had tried after leaving the park. And now, he had finally showed five hours later, shivering in the cold outside of Sherlock's door. To say Sherlock was surprised would've been a massive understatement, but he masked it well, reaching over to turn on the security lights. Now Sherlock could see that the snow that had begun to fall as he walked home hadn't stopped a bit, and the ground had layer of fresh snow, erasing all of the previous footsteps that had been from his walk home. If only it was that easy to erase from his mind.

"What do you want?" 

Sherlock was proud that his voice came out so calm and collected. It was a gift that he had perfected years ago, but somehow John Watson always got the better of him. Even now, with John's shoulders hunched against the falling snow, a long sleeve shirt that he was always sporting at school, and ball cap that Sherlock had never seen John wear before, Sherlock felt his heart stutter. At least he couldn't see the cool blue eyes.

"Sherlock, I'm sorry about today."

"About today?" Sherlock frowned as if he didn't know what John was talking about.

"You know," John ducked his head down further. Sherlock briefly wondered where the boy's coat was. It was chilly just standing with the door partially opened. "The park today?"

"Oh. You mean that trick that you set up with your friends?" Sherlock let ice creep in with his tone, feeling satisfied as John flinched.

"It wasn't a trick, Sherlock. I honestly was going to come. I...." John faltered. "I'm sorry." He finished lamely again.