You and Sherlock

I Just Don't Go For Hobbits

You and John slowly ambled down to Brixton High Road, and all you could focus on was your churning stomach and whirling thoughts.

You hadn't meant to fight with Sherlock, and you were frustrated with yourself. Sherlock -- as he had once pointed out -- was not your friend. And he didn't consider you his friend. Why then, you asked yourself, did you drop everything when he needed you? Why did he drag you to his cases? Why did you feel so damn guilty about arguing with him? You shook your head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about this. You needed to get home and have a cup of tea. Then tomorrow morning, maybe you could beg some breakfast off Mrs. Hudson. And then maybe you could finally buy some groceries. Lord knew you needed them. The only things in your fridge were a jar of mustard and a couple slices of individually packaged cheese that were likely expired, now that you thought about it.

Resolve straightened your spine and sharpened your vision. Everything would be fine. You were in control of yourself once more. Beside you, John was frantically trying to hail a passing taxi.

"Taxi! Taxi ..."

The taxi passed him by. You'd reached the front of a fast food restaurant, called the Chicken Cottage. You were hungry, but not that hungry. John stopped and a look of defeat passed over his face. If you weren't so wrapped up in yourself and trying to get yourself sorted, you would have tried to offer him some comfort. 

The payphone on the wall of the restaurant started to ring. Payphones, you thought to yourself in vague distaste, how did they even still exist? One of the serving staff walked over to it, presumably to answer it, but as he reached for the phone it stopped ringing. Odd, you thought, and then you turned to John.

"Shall we continue onwards, Dr. Watson?"

"I don't see how we have much choice, Dr. Y/L/N," he replied grimly. 

You walked together in a companionable silence for a short while, your shoes making muted thuds on the cold cobblestones and John's walking stick falling just out of rhythm with your steps. 

"Is he always like that?" John asked eventually.

"Who -- Sherlock?"

John nodded.

"I couldn't say," you shrugged. Sherlock had never left you standing on a case. Probably because you wouldn't have let him. You would have beat him with one of his microscopes if he ever left you with a bunch of people that you didn't know. Inwardly, you smiled. It helped that you could keep up, physically at least, if not intellectually. To John, you continued, "Sherlock doesn't always see a lot of things that happen directly outside the-now. The case, I mean. He can be difficult, and sometimes -- no, always -- he gets impatient." 

John smirked at you.

"Sounds like you've been around him for awhile,"

You shrugged.

"So... you and Sherlock, are you..." John trailed off uncertainly.

"What?" You looked at him in a mild panic. "Sherlock and I? We're not -- no. We're neighbors. For some reason, maybe it was because we're neighbors or because we see an awful lot of each other at St. Barts, I got roped into tagging along when it came to visiting cases every now and then." You paused thoughtfully, "I guess I go with him more now than not,"

"So... you're just friends, then?" he ventured.

 You laughed, a bitter edge coating your tone.

"Sherlock, as he will soon enough tell you, I'm sure, does not have friends."

"So what are you, then?"

"You'd have to ask him," you said coolly. Yeah, you wanted to know, too. 

"Well, seeing as you and Sherlock aren't... together," John tugged at his collar. "Maybe you'd like to go out with me sometime?" He laughed uncomfortably. "I mean, you're the only person who stuck around back there."

You laughed. 

"Dr. Watson, I'm just here in case someone decides to rob us, two people wandering down the street in the dark, there's an easier target than me." You sobered and looked at him, and smiled kindly. "I like you John, but I don't think I'm a take-to-dinner type of girl..." You paused, trying to articulate what it was exactly what you wanted out of any potential romantic connection, but when a face bubbled up in your thoughts unbidden, you decided against it. 

"Not looking for a relationship, eh?" John asked knowingly, taking the rejection with a grace you were almost envious of. If you weren't sure before, you knew then. John was someone you would really, really like to have in your life. He was just so... good. You shot him a familiar smile, suddenly feeling much more comfortable around him than before. 

"No, I just don't go for Hobbits," you teased him light-heartedly. John laughed, mimicking an injured expression.

"I'm not that short," he protested, laughing. 

"Compared to --" you cut yourself off before you could finish the sentence and the payphone that you were now passing began to ring. 

John, distracted by the ringing, stepped into the telephone box guardedly. 

You saw him mouth "hello." Then John frowned and looked around, outside the windows of the box. Unease churned in your gut. You followed John's gaze to where it was now fixed on a CCTV camera and to your surprise the CCTV camera swiveled in the opposite direction, away from you. John looked at another CCTV camera, and that one also turned away. He looked up, to the right, and you followed his gaze a fraction too late to see a third camera facing away from you. A shiver went down your spine and then a black car pulled up to the curb. You cursed internally and watched as John put the phone back on the hook and regarded it thoughtfully for a moment. 

He stepped out of the phone booth carefully.

"Well, Dr. Y/L/N, we've been asked to get in the car," 

You raised an eyebrow and watched as a male driver in inconspicuous clothing got out of the car and opened the door to the backseat. You looked back at John.

"We weren't given much choice," he added.

You nodded. It'd been a long night. It was about to get a lot longer, you thought to yourself as you slid into the backseat of the car.

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A/N: Thank you for reading, voting and commenting! Vote and comment if you like it! Should have been sleeping, but I wrote this instead! 😂