Sherlock never enjoyed parties. He told people it was because he was always on a different level of thinking and he didn't want to fraternise with people who had the same thought process as a baboon. Which in some ways is true. However, something Sherlock would never admit to anyone is that parties made him anxious. It was always loud and crowded. He hated it.
Yesterday, John asked Sherlock to accompany him to a work party he was invited to and Sherlock was stupid enough to agree to go. There wouldn't be alcohol so Sherlock knew he couldn't drown out the conversations with wine. Right off the bat, disappointing.
They arrived at the party half an hour late because John had to basically drag the other out of the apartment.
As soon as they got there, Sherlock was immediately anxious. He believed he hid it well as no one else had ever noticed his anxious tendencies before but John did. John noticed the constant fidgeting and slight pacing. He noticed the little twitch in his eye and his slightly heavier breathing. John noticed it all.
Sherlock was almost huddled around the food table, the place where the least conversations happen. The room was small, it was rented for the party. Sherlock was surrounded by his flat mates doctor friends but he did not engage in conversation. There were no windows and the only exit was the fire door. Conveniently, the fire door was next to the food table so if anything happened he'd have a quick escape.
Someone opened the fire door he was next to, probably to go smoke. A cold gust of air made Sherlocks skin prickle. Though he warmed again quickly, goosebumps stayed on his skin. He ran his hands over his armed and bumped into...another pair of arms? Sherlock slowly turned his head and saw John by his side, embracing him in a hug.
"We can leave if you want Sherlock, I can tell you don't like it here." He whispered.
Sherlock was too flustered to reply with words so he just nods and groans. He then grabs Johns hand drags him out the fire door exactly like how John dragged him out of the apartment earlier that day.
