The Science Of Second Chances//Book Two

Chapter 8~ Bad People

John's P.O.V

I was half asleep in my armchair when I hear a quiet knock at the door. Looking over my shoulder I find Teddy standing in the doorway wearing boxers and a shirt, her robe untied and fluttering around her ankles. In the fire light I can see that part of her face is badly bruised, an angry dark purple mark that runs along her cheekbone. She looks tired but her eyes are wide and slightly glazed.

"Teddy?" I say, standing.

"I-um-had a dream," she says slowly, "about Irene. Then I woke up and she wasn't there."

I nod, walking over to her and gently pulling her over towards the fire.

"You're not the only one dreaming about her," I say. "Just half an hour ago Sherlock woke up complaining about her. He said that she was in the flat."

Teddy frowns, sitting down in Sherlock's seat. I go into the kitchen and begin making some tea, sensing that Teddy wanted to talk.

"Did you guys end up getting the photos?" she asks.

"No, she's still got them," I reply, walking back into the living room to wait for the kettle to boil.

Teddy's staring at the fire, still looking quite dazed. Her bruise shows clearly against her pale skin making me wince. When I had found her today on the floor, realizing that someone had hurt her....

I turn away, staring into the fire as well with a frown.

"Am I a bad person John?" Teddy asks gently. I look at her in surprise.

"Pardon?"

"Am I a bad person for leaving?" she asks. I take a seat in my armchair, staring at her.

"No, of course not," I say.

"Are you sure? Because I feel like one," she murmurs.

"You're not a bad person," I tell her.

Her eyes flicker up from the fire to meet mine and I feel my heart jump slightly. There's pain in her eyes. Pain and regret. I want to fix that.

"Teddy," I say softly. "You're not a bad person. You, of all people, know who bad people are. You know at least one, don't you?"

She swallows, nodding stiffly.

"You're not like him."

"Aren't I? I left Irene, he left me. We're exactly the same," she argues.

"No you're not. He is bad because he hurt you and he's hurt plenty of other people too."

"I hurt Irene," she whispers. "I know I did. I could feel it, see it in her eyes. I hurt her."

"You hurt her on accident. He hurts people for fun."

She doesn't reply, instead looking down at her lap. I stand up and kneel in front of her, taking both of her hands in mine. She stares at me, her brown hair falling over her shoulders like a waterfall.

"You were a scared little girl who thought that the only way you could start your own life was by running away. You couldn't keep in contact with anyone because you knew that Mycroft would've found out where you were. That's understandable. And yeah, maybe I'd bee a little angry if Sherlock left without keeping in touch with me then suddenly popped back into my life. But, you know, after while I'd slowly realize how lucky I am to have him back. I'd forgive him and try to continue on with our lives. The same could be said for Irene."

"Could," she mutters, but her eyes don't seem so sad anymore.

"You're not a bad person. You'll never be a bad person. Irene's just a little angry but give her time. I'm sure that soon enough you two will be friends once more, though I don't think Mycroft will be impressed," I say. Teddy laughs, shaking her head.

"No, he wouldn't, would he?" she agrees with a smile. Her laugh dies down and then she is silent, staring at me.

"You're so nice, John," she murmurs. I shrug, feeling a blush make it's way up to my face.

"Thank you," I reply, looking at her.

It's at that moment that I have an epiphany. I had felt it nagging at me for some time now, since I had seen that bullet tear through her shoulder so easily. Maybe even before then. Now though it was all so very clear. There was no denying it.

I like Teddy Holmes.

I really, really like her. And dear God, that scared me. Because I was not supposed to like her, that wasn't allowed!

For one thing, the age difference. She was, what, nine, ten years younger than me? Far too young for me!

Another thing, and the one that worried me even more, was the fact that she's my best friend's little sister. I highly doubt that Sherlock would be fine with me dating his sister, even if we're friends.

Oh, Jesus, and what about Mycroft? I had seen him while Teddy had been in hospital, seen the way he looked at her with concern. He cared more for her than I think Sherlock does. If- no, when he finds out I'm sure that he would do anything to get me to stay the hell away from her, his protective older brother mode on high alert. He would kick me out of the country, he probably had the power to do that actually.

I couldn't like her, but I did. I didn't think it could get any worse until I remembered that Teddy, a strong non-believer in love ever since having her heart broken by that bastard, would never, ever return the feelings I have for her.

I like someone who would never like me back because she doesn't believe in that kind of thing.

And to top it all off I remembered that I already had a girlfriend.

I like a girl who is a decade younger than me, is my best friend's sister, doesn't believe in love and had made me forget the fact that I'm already with someone.

This is bad.

There's a shriek that snaps me out of my mind-blowing thoughts. Teddy's staring at me blankly and it takes me a moment to realize that it was the kettle.

"I, um, uh," I stammer, letting go of her hands and standing up on shaky legs, making my way to the kitchen. I make us some tea and walk back into the living room, passing her a mug.

"John," she says, accepting the tea, "You're shaking."

"Oh," I say, noticing small splash marks of tea on my wrist. It's quite hot, actually, but I can hardly feel it. The thoughts in my head are too distracting.

"Oh," I repeat for no reason at all. Teddy looks at me for a minute before drinking her tea.

Usually tea helps me to stay calm. It wasn't really working at the moment.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I can't sleep.

An hour and a half ago Teddy went back downstairs saying that I needed some sleep. I hadn't had any though in the past hour that I had been in bed. Maybe it was because the pillows were too soft or maybe it was because the room wasn't dark enough. I knew that those were just excuses though. The pillows were fine, as was the room. It was my mind that was the problem. I wanted to turn it off so I didn't have to think about her.

I roll over onto my side, staring at the wall with a frown.

Sherlock would find out. He always finds out. What would he do when he did? Wasn't it taboo to date your best friend's little sister? It was that one rule that you should never break, right? If it was broken then so was the friendship. I didn't want to risk our friendship, did I?

Did I?

With a groan I roll over onto my stomach and bury my face into my pillow.

Author Note: Short chapter, but probably an important one.

Comment and fave if you like this story! Thanks!

XOXO ~ DM