lost in space

eight

the two climbed trough the window again after sitting on the roof for what seemed like hours. sherlock stood in the doorway as he watched john reorganize his desk. "i'm gonna head downstairs." the officer said.

john turned around in a flash, "stay." he said, feeling his cheeks get hot. he looked down at the floor and scratched the back of his neck. "will you stay up here with me tonight?" he asked.

sherlock smiled softly. "yeah, i will. let me just change." he said then stepped out of the doorway, heading down the hall then heading downstairs. he sat on the couch, putting his face in his hands and sighing. this was wrong. it was all wrong and sherlock knew it, but it felt right. he changed his clothes and ignored the voice telling him not go upstairs in his head.

john knew that sherlock didn't sleep with a shirt on. he knew that, but when he saw sherlock standing there, leaning against the doorframe with sweatpants on and no shirt, john felt his heart clench in his chest and he just wanted to scream. his eyes stayed locked on the beautiful chest of the officer as the rest of the world fell silent.

"john," sherlock said then clapped his hands together.

john pulled himself back into reality. "yeah, yeah." he said and cleared his throat as he turned back to his desk. "sorry."

sherlock chuckled. "it's fine." he said then lay on john's bed, staring up at the ceiling. "i've never noticed the stars before." he said.

"well you haven't really looked at my ceiling before." john said as he turned the lights off, lookin up and watching the ceiling light up with the stars.

sherlock chuckled. "of course you'd be the seventeen year old to have glow in the dark stars in your ceiling."

john smiled as he lay next to sherlock, staring up at the ceiling with him. "they've been up since i was eight. i'm surprised more haven't fallen down."

"that tape must be really strong."

"my mom and i actually superglued them to the ceiling."

sherlock smiled with amusement and laughed, turning to face the boy. "what?" he laughed.

"we superglued them so they wouldn't fall off the ceiling," john chuckled and looked at the officer. "is there something wrong with that?" he asked with a grin.

sherlock shook his head. "not at all." he said then looked back up at the ceiling. "we should go to sleep. you've had a long day."

there was a heavy sigh from the boy next to him then he sat up. "sit up so we can get under the sheets."

sherlock sat up and tucked his feet under the comforter, pulling it up some as john laid back down. sherlock laid down after him, only covering his legs with the comforter while john laid under it fully. he wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulders, letting john rest his head on his bare chest.

in the morning, sherlock woke up first and took a shower then went downstairs to make breakfast while john was still sleeping. he made scrabbled eggs and by the time he finished, john came downstairs and sat at the table, still waking up.

"morning, sunshine." sherlock said as he put a plate in front of john. "coffee?" he asked.

john grunted in response and started eating as sherlock made him coffee.

after breakfast, john went upstairs to shower while sherlock cleaned up their plates and everything. when he heard john come back downstairs was when he turned off the sink and looked at the boy.

"we need to talk." sherlock said.

"about what?" john asked as he sat down at the table again.

"about us." sherlock said then watched the boy frown. "not in a bad way, i like this. i like us being together, but you're still seventeen and i'm twenty three. you're underage and i don't want to actually do anything with you until you're eighteen. okay?" he asked.

john nodded. "yeah. should we set boundaries?"

sherlock blew out a stream of air and thought for a second. "no sex. that's the major one. no touching and private areas and no snogging either." he said.

"can we still cuddle?" john asked. "you make a fantastic pillow."

sherlock smiled softly. "yes, we can still cuddle."

"good." john said with a small grin.

sherlock chuckled and dried off his hands. "i have to go in today for a few hours. will you be alright here?" sherlock asked the boy.

"as long as you bring food when you return." john responded as he started to put the dishes sherlock washed away.

"what kind of food?" sherlock asked.

"surprise me." john said and turned his head to sherlock, smiling at him.

sherlock flashed a smile back and rubbed john's shoulder before going into the living room. "just call if you need anything!" sherlock called from the living room as he grabbed his jacket and laptop.

"okay!" john shouted back then heard the front door close.

he finished putting the dishes away then cleaned up the kitchen a bit. after that, he picked up the living room a bit then went upstairs, going into his sister's room. everything was the same. the open drawers, the messed up sheets, the posters and pictures hanging on the walls, the clothes scattered about on the floor and the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. he sighed then stepped over to the bed, pulling off the sheets and blankets, going back to the stairs and dropping them over the railing and into the hall. then he went back to her room and picked it up, putting all the extra clothes back into her dresser and straightening it up a bit, creating a pile of trash in the corner of the room since he didn't have a trash bag.

after he finished cleaning up his sister's room, he went downstairs and picked up all the sheets and blankets, opening the door under the stair case and stuffing some blankets into the washer, turning it on then leaving the pile of blankets in the hall as he went into the kitchen, getting a few trash bags and a broom. he retreated back to his sister's room and picked up the trash corner then swept her room, leaving the bag of trash and broom in the hall as he went to the end of the hall where his parents room was.

it's been a few years since john had entered the room. the door stayed closed and he could see why once he opened it. it smelled like shit and was completely destroyed. john looked over the room and held back the tears as his eyes landed on the smashed picture frame of his father and mother. he picked it up and took just the picture out, setting it aside then throwing away the frame. 

the rest of his day, john cleaned his father's room. he washed the sheets, vacuumed the carpet, cleaned the bathroom and even packed up his mom's thing in the closet and moved them into the attic. it was hard for him to touch his mother's things, but he thought of it as moving on. it wasn't like it was before now. john didn't see a reason to get lost in space any more.

sherlock is here. sherlock is in his life and john has never felt better. he smiles and laughs again with the older man and has fun with him. he saved him from his life before and john could never thank him enough. he could never give sherlock the thanks he deserved for pulling him out of his abusive past and pulling him into a fresh and new future.

it is cheesy, but sherlock is john's night in shining armor.