Lo Stesso Tempo (Sherlolly)

Chapter Five

Past

"Sherlock?" Molly struggled to keep up with him. He was hurrying out of class like the devil was behind him. "Sherlock!"

"What?!" He spun and glared at her. She stumbled back. He waited for her to speak but eventually had enough of her stuttering. He turned away and left. Molly felt her jaw drop at the sound that rumbled from his chest. Had he actually just growled at her? She ran after him, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him to a stop.

"Sherlock!"

He yanked his arm from her and pushed her back. "Don't..." He winced and held his head in his hands. "What do you want, Molly?"

"I want to know what's wrong! What did I do? You've ignored me for the past two days!"

He sighed. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."

She looked him over with a frown. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine." He growled. He shivered and wiped at his eyes and nose.

"No. No, you're not. You're sick."

He turned around. "I have to go." Molly watched him leave. The next morning, he met her in front of her dorm. He didn't speak all the way to the cafe and he barely seemed to know she was there when they sat down. Molly assumed he was just tired. Their midterm was today and he had probably stayed up late studying.

His eyes were glassy and distant and he kept tapping his finger on the table nervously. His hair was mussed and he had the slightest stubble growing in. She'd never seen him look so unkept but again, she put it down to lack of sleep.

"Stayed up late studying, then?"

His focused slowly. He looked absolutely miserable, just struggling to keep his eyes open. "Hm?"

"Were you up late studying?"

"For what?"

She frowned. "The midterm."

"We have a midterm?" She leaned forward as he stumbled over his words and slurred them together. "I thought it was... Oh it is today. Hm... No I didn't study. Should I have?"

"Yes. Are you okay?"

"Mhm." He went back to staring out the window. The cafe slowly came alive as students stumbled in. They congregated in groups of varying exhaustion. From hungover to studied-all-night, the cafe was filled with all sorts within the hour. Sherlock seemed to become more alert as this happened. The bustling of students and the strong smell of coffee had a better affect on him.

Molly frowned again. He was acting so strange... Maybe he was sick? His pupils were unusually constricted but the cafe was one of those dim and mellow kinds.

"When's the last time you slept?"

He seemed to think. "What's today?"

"Wednesday."

"I slept Saturday."

"Saturday! Sherlock, are you insane?!"

"I've done worse." He shrugged. "I don't sleep much. Never needed to."

"Is that why you also don't eat much?"

His distant eyes focused and softened with amusement. "It slows me down. I'm fine, Molly. Calm down."

She huffed and stood. "Come on, we have to get to class." She tried to make him look presentable but there was really no saving him at the moment. "You need a shave." She muttered.

He rubbed his chin. "Mmm..." He fell back into distant silence. Molly sighed and walked to class, glancing at him often.