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The members of the Moriarty Group looked at Sherlock, who was sitting on a sofa at the other end of the room. The detective moved one of his feet eagerly, as if he was impatient or upset about something.
"What are you doing?" William approached his friends and brothers, surprised to see them so still and quiet while they saw their boyfriend.
"Look at Holmes, isn't it obvious?" Moran replied, without looking away from the named one.
"Wow, I hadn't noticed, thank you very much for emphasising it, Moran," William said with an impertinent smile on his face. Then, he turned to Albert and asked—: “Seriously, why are you looking at Sherly?”
Albert tilted his head and looked away from Holmes to look at his brother and say:
"Didn't it seem to you that since the mission in which Moran rejoined our group, Holmes acts a little edge with Bond?"
William blinked, implying that he hadn't noticed.
"Well, every time Bond approaches him and invites him to something, he rejects him, and when he asks him something, Holmes answers him sharply or with few words," Louis added.
"Hey, and you couldn't, I don't know, approach and ask him what's wrong with him?" Billy asked as he approached the medium Moriarty. “You know, you are his little other half...”
William blushed before laughing softly and saying:
"The fact that I'm his partner doesn't mean I'm going to meddle in his private affairs. If he hasn't told me yet, it's because he doesn't want anyone to know”.
"But don't you get curious, not even a little?" Billy asked, pouting.
"Not at all," Moriarty smiled before adding: "Rather, say that you are impatient because you don't know what happens to Sherly.
The people around him shut up, which made William laugh again when he realized that, once again, he had hit the nail on the head.
"Oh my God, how gossipy you are, huh?" William commented.
"Oh, come on! Aren't you sorry to see him there, with a lost look and his foot as if he had the sambito dance?” Moran asked while pointing at Sherlock.
William looked at where the colonel was pointing, noticing his partner's face: his eyes were empty of any feeling and were accompanied by small dark circles under his eyelids. Her hair, although it was gathered in a ponytail, was straight. The Moriarty realized that his boyfriend was the living image of mourning.
"It's okay," he finally agreed. “But I only do it because I'm worried about my boyfriend: don't think I do it for you and your desire for gossip” he smiled with the last before walking away from them.
He approached where Sherlock was sitting and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Sherly."
The named one raised his head, and some light returned to his eyes, accompanied by a soft smile.
"Liam," Holmes took his boyfriend's hand and urged him to sit next to him on the sofa. “What's going on?”
The Moriarty rested his elbow on the back of the sofa and sighed before saying:
"Look, I'm going to go bluntly: do you see my brothers and my friends there, standing as if they were Christmas firs? It turns out that they have noticed that you act edge with Bond since Moran joined our group again. They have told me and they have made me see the somewhat unpleasant pints you had” William took a hand to a lock of his boyfriend's hair, playing with it.
Sherlock blinked before letting out a small laugh full of sadness.
"Thank you for not lying and going straight to the point," Holmes paused to sigh and add: "But the truth is, I don't want to talk about it, not even with you. I'm sorry.
William smiled, sorry, before getting up a little and hugging his boyfriend affectionately.
"It's okay, Sherly." If you don't want to tell me, it's okay, but...” he paused to look Holmes in the eyes and say—: “Sometimes, shutting things up only makes you feel worse. The day you're ready to tell me and stop pretending you're in mourning," he joked before kissing her boyfriend's forehead, "I'll listen to you, okay?”
Sherlock looked at the sweet smile that had formed on William's lips, causing him to sigh and rest his head on the opposite chest.
"Thank you, Liam," he whispered. “Although, the truth is, it would be good to tell it”.
"I hear you," William whispered.
Holmes looked him in the eye, but before he could say anything, Bond entered the room, carrying a box with several games inside.
"Oh, wow, do I interrupt something?" the blond asked before leaving the box on the table. “Go on, pretend I’m not here, don't cut yourself”
"No, now that you're here it's going to be impossible," Sherlock replied as he straightened up and looked at Bond.
He blinked before smiling and saying:
"Well, since I've cut it off, let me tell you that I've thought of organizing a game night all together. I've found some in the attic, and I've been catching the others here and there. But well, it doesn't matter, because...”
"I promised John that I would go to dinner with him tonight," Sherlock interrupted as he got up and took his jacket, which he carried over his shoulder while holding it with his hand. “Sorry, Liam. I promise I'll tell you next time. Goodbye”.
While Holmes was heading to the entrance, Bond went after him. And why lie, the rest of the group too.
"Eh, eh, wait!" the blond asked. “Stay a little, if there are still a couple of hours left until dinner time!”
"Yeah, but I want to be there on time, so I can't stay playing children's things," Holmes replied sharply as he put on his jacket.
Bond frowned, and before Sherlock could take the doorknob, the blond had stood in front of it.
"Let me out."
"You're not going anywhere," James said, frowning. “Since we are all together, I have left my skin to get along with you, but no matter what I do, you talk to me rudely and barely listen to me. Tell me, what the hell have I done to you to make you act like that?”
"What have you done?" Sherlock smiled mockingly before pushing his tongue against his inner cheek, looking for the right words for what he was going to say: “Imagine for a moment, just a moment... That there is a person you have been attached to. That person came into your life unexpectedly, and even though at first it was a hit, you couldn't help but get attached. But the more you notice that affection you have for him, you discover that he is in danger of death. So, seeing that you have no other options, you entrust his life to the only person you know who can keep it safe, who turns out to be your enemy”.
Bond opened his eyes wide when he heard Sherlock's words and realized that he was talking about him. He went to open his mouth to speak; however, Holmes continued to explain:
"A few days pass, and your best friend informs you that that person is dead. Like this, without regard. You are devastated, because that spark of affection makes your loss hurt more. And so, you spend days, weeks, months, thinking about that person, not understanding how it could have happened” Sherlock smiled while denying and continued—: “Then, come three years in which you are away from everything and everyone except for that enemy, who reveals to you that person you thought dead really is not: his death was faked, seeking to protect her. For three years, you think about it, trying to discover its current whereabouts”.
Those present noticed how the detective began to get angry, letting out his true emotions.
"Holmes, you should..." Bond began to say, with the intention of calming him down.
"But in the end," Sherlock interrupted, raising his tone of voice while frowning, "that person was closer than you thought, because he is an ally of what is now your old enemy," Holmes breathed heavily before finishing saying: "And being so close, you didn't have the guts to tell me that it was you, that you were fine. You preferred to stay in the shade, leaving me with the doubt”.
Bond looked at the floor and sighed before asking:
"Are you done?" when he didn't receive an answer, the blond sighed again and said: "Good. Look, I think that anger of yours is childish and unfounded. I was trying to escape, to survive, to save my own life! I cut ties with my previous life so that they wouldn't discover me, so I could continue living! So yes, your anger is like that of an angry little boy!” he squealed at the end.
"That my anger is childish and unfounded!?" Sherlock frowned again and gritted his teeth. “Well, I think it's normal to be angry with someone who made you believe that it was your fault that you died!”
James changed his angry expression to one of surprise, confused by those words.
"What...?"
"I was the one who decided to leave you in the hands of the Lord of Crime, the one who had the power to keep you safe! And when John told me that you had died, I felt like an idiot for not having been able to save you, for having left you in those mysterious hands that I thought were cruel!” Sherlock took a hand to his forehead pushing away some strands of hair. “I spent almost four years thinking it was my fault and trying to look for you, but then you appeared again with a dress and your beautiful hairstyle and I felt like a fool for not realizing that it was you all this time! You could have sent me an encrypted message that no one but me knew how to recognize! You're smart enough to do it, Adler... no, Bond... I don't even know who you are anymore! I don't know if you're still the sweet person who began to light my way or a complete stranger I don't know anything about!”
Holmes took his free hand to the lower half of his face, trying to hide that way that his lips trembled and that his cheeks began to be wet from tears. He breathed several times in a row, recovering the breath he had lost by saying those words full of anger.
"Please, let me go... I'm going to need a while to get ready so that John doesn't see me like this” he whispered as he lowered his head and lowered his hands.
However, he slightly raised his head again when he noticed James hugging him tightly while his body trembled.
"I'm sorry, Sherly," the blond whispered. “Really, I didn't think my disappearance would affect you so much” Bond clung to Sherlock's back before saying—: “It also affected me a lot, you know? I love you very much, and it broke my heart to have to leave you like this”.
Sherlock looked at the blond's crown, surprised by his words.
"But I shouldn't justify myself. I'm sorry. The only way I could think of letting you know that I was alive was to stop by your side and say good night. But I guess with the darkness you couldn't recognize me” James separated from the detective and looked him in the eyes. “I should have thought of other ways. But that doesn't matter now, does it? I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?” he whispered with a broken voice and watery eyes.
Bond sketched a half smile when he saw Sherlock smiling at him, his eyes about to shed tears.
"I'm glad you’re alive. Please, don't fake your death again” he whispered.
"Fool," replied the blond before hugging him again, receiving the hug back. “Don't worry, I won't do it. I love you, Sherly”
“... And i love you too, Bond”
"This looks like one of those novels that ladies read while drinking tea," Billy suddenly commented while taking an almond from the bowl he had confiscated from the kitchen, sharing them with Fred.
William laughed before stroking his hair affectionately. Then, he approached his boyfriend and Bond and asked:
"So, will you stay a couple of games, Sherly?"
Sherlock looked at his partner, and then looked at Bond, who was still hugging him.
"I guess a game or two won't hurt me. After all, it's only five in the afternoon”.
James separated from him and smiled fully before dragging the detective with him into the living room.
"Watch them, it's as if they had never fought in the first place," Moran whispered.
"Jealous, Colonel?" Fred replied mockingly.
"Jealous your mother," replied the colonel as he went with the rest to where William, Sherlock and Bond were preparing a game of the ‘Game of the goose’.
-MGGBBRAE