Falling For You

Scars

It was Valentine's Day and Sherlock had planned a great date for the evening.  He had everything planned out down to the moment they would depart to get a cab, but there was one thing that even Sherlock didn't know.  What to wear.  Normally, he would have asked John but it was supposed to be a nice and stress-free date for him, so Sherlock settled on asking someone else.  

What do I wear on a date? -SH

A reply came almost immediately.

Your purple shirt.  It's John's favorite. -MH

Sherlock sighed and began to rummage through his closet looking for the shirt that John apparently liked so much.  His closet was an absolute mess but he managed to find the purple collared shirt that Mycroft had suggested.

Just then, John Watson entered the room and was greeted by Sherlock's back.  Sherlock was wearing nothing but his black trousers, and John was fully dressed.  He was just coming in to get a jumper for their date that night, but then he saw Sherlock's scarred back and his heart dropped.  Sherlock's back was a reminder of what Sherlock had done to keep John safe.

Sherlock heard John come in behind him, but he refused to move.  His whole body stiffened.  John had never seen him shirtless and he had never seen his scars.  Sherlock felt somewhat embarrassed by it, actually.  It wasn't like the actual scar tissue was embarrassing because it was just biology, but the reason those scars had made such a permanent home on his back was a shy subject.

John moved towards his slender love and traced the scars on his back with his timid fingers, struggling to be delicate over the tender tissue.  Sherlock found himself shivering, but he liked the feeling of John seeing every part of him, even the damaged parts.  It made him feel more human.

"Sherlock, are these from..."

"Yes," Sherlock replied, knowing that John really didn't want to say the name.  The two had some unspoken vow of never saying Moriarty again because of all of the pain he had caused them.  Even remembering the torture he had to endure to keep John safe made Sherlock's stomach churn.  He knew that he would never be able to forget, not with the scars there to remind him.

"I'm sorry," John whispered, his hand placed lightly on Sherlock's bareback.

Sherlock turned, the stars in his eyes.  He kissed John softly to let him know that it was okay and that Sherlock didn't blame him for the things that had happened.  Sherlock blamed himself more than anything because there were so many times where he could have killed Moriarty and didn't.  He let things go too far.

"I love you," Sherlock said, smiling.

John smiled back and wrapped his arms around his slender friend.

"I love you too," he replied.