kitty pawprints and tails

John felt his phone vibrate under his head on the couch as he blinked the sleep away from his eyes. He fumbled under the pillow until he found the device and read the text message on the screen

Lab at St. Barts, come at once -SH

He yawned and looked at the time: 6:45 AM 

It was going to be a long morning. 

—

He walked into the lab at 7:30, yawning but fully awake. He saw Sherlock looking into a microscope and his heart lurched at the sight.

John knew Sherlock wouldn’t care, but they met for the first time in this room five years ago. The two previous years they couldn’t celebrate because Sherlock had been…well…

But now, he was home, and John smiled and let the breath out of his lungs.

“I’m here, what’d you need?” John asked as he took his coat off.

Sherlock didn’t respond, just scribbled some notes.

“Sherlock,” John said.

“Hang on,” Sherlock said. 

John sighed, but couldn’t help but smile again. He loved to watch Sherlock work like this, the gears of his brain running at full speed. He would give up the world if it meant he could always watch Sherlock work like that.

After a few minutes, Sherlock leaned back in his chair and pushed his palms into the sockets of his eyes. He let his arms fall back to his side, opened his eyes and titled his head toward John, (making John’s heart run at a million miles per hour, but stop it John, you’re not some schoolboy with a crush) and smiled. “Goodmorning John.”

Well this is already weird. John thought.

“Morning,” John replied, a little awkwardly. 

“Would you care to know something interesting John?” Sherlock asked, his head rolling back to face the ceiling, his eyes shutting again.

“We met five years ago today in this very room,” Sherlock said, matter of factly.

John felt his breath hitch. Sherlock remembered.

“January 29th, 2010 was the day, if I’m correct, which I know I am,” Sherlock said.

“Uhh yep, I think you’re right,” John said, willing his voice not to shake. He couldn’t begin to describe how happy this made him.

“Thank you John,” Sherlock said.

“For?”

“Not running away when you met me, not leaving, actually coming to the flat, all of that. Thank you.”

John tried to keep his breathing under control as he said “Well, uhh, you’re welcome. Thank you too, I guess.”

“For what John?”

“Well, let’s just say, life bloody well sucked before you came along,” John smiled. That’s all he needed to say, Sherlock would understand the rest.

Sherlock’s eyes locked with John’s, and they broke down into a fit of giggles.

“We should go say thank you to Mike, he’s just downstairs,” John said when they calmed down. 

Sherlock stood up and smiled, “Yes maybe later, but…” his eyes darted quickly to the ground.

“Sherlock?” John asked, watching his friend obviously go to war with himself. 

“John, I umm…” 

Suddenly, something snapped in John’s chest, a realization.

In one brave swift of confidence, John strode the four strides between himself and Sherlock, and leaned himself up into Sherlock and kissed him lightly.

“I know,” John said quietly.

Sherlock opened his eyes and searched John’s face looking for any sign of regret, but when he found none, he grabbed John by his shirt and kissed him hard.

—

Later, Mike Stamford heard the gossip that one of the nurses caught Sherlock and John kissing in the lab upstairs.

He smiled to himself and thought, Took ‘em long enough. 

Without him, we would not have Sherlock and John.

Today, the 29th of January, he brought the two men we know, love and ship together.

God bless Mike Stamford. We salute you!