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Molly was being absolutely insufferable that morning, so I decided to allow her to take me to some gathering nonsense with her “mates” before she drove me mad. She was beaming at me as we made our way to the snow-covered hills at the park.
‘I’m so glad you decided to join me, Sherlock,’ she told me in that annoyingly excited tone of hers. I hid my annoyance and managed to smile at her slightly. Well, I think I did, anyway.
We were welcomed by the sight of some of the medical, pathology and criminology students, who seemed to be playing in the snow. I rolled my eyes as that fat boy, Stamford I believe, approached us.
‘Hey, Molly, glad you could make it!’ he greeted her. ‘Didn’t think you were they play-in-the-snow type, Holmes,’ he smiled at me and I sighed.
‘Anything for Molly to stop nagging me and let me go on with my experiments,’ I said. Molly shoved me slightly, as if I were joking. I wasn’t. Stamford laughed as well. Idiots. ‘What exactly are we supposed do to here, Molly?’ I asked, looking around the group of twenty-year-olds throwing balls of snow at each other and using some sort of wooden device to slide down the hill. Preposterous.
‘Have fun, that’s all. None of us went home for Christmas, so we decided to have a bit of fun together,’ she explained. I could barely restrain an eye roll. I had decided not to go home for Christmas because I had important things to do in the laboratory, not because of some ridiculous need to party. Why couldn’t people be less stupid? ‘Anyway, some of my girlfriends are over there, so I’ll go over and talk to them. Let go a bit, Sherlock, talk to some people!’ she gave me another slight shove and left. Great, so now I was by myself in this horribly cold, frivolous place, with absolutely nothing to do and no-one even remotely interesting to talk to. I didn’t even feel like deducing people, they were so disgustingly obvious.
Then I saw him. Standing near Stamford. Below-average height, short blond hair - longer on the fringe - and dark blue eyes. He was remarkably ordinary, and yet… There was something about him. I had to know.
I walked over to them and Stamford seemed startled. The boy smiled at me, it was a boyish, friendly, incredibly charming smile.
‘Sherlock, you having fun? I was just telling John here about your magic trick,’ Stamford said and I sneered.
‘It’s not a magic trick,’ I told him. Then I turned to “John”. ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ I introduced myself, since the neanderthal was clearly not going to.
‘Oh, hi, John Watson,’ he said, smiling more widely. ‘Mike was telling me about your…?’
‘Deductions.’
‘Right, yeah, how you can read a person’s life just by looking at them,’ John grinned. Stamford chuckled.
‘Yeah, he just looked at some girl last week and told her all about her family history, what she was studying at university, and how even though she had a boyfriend, she was a closeted lesbian,’ Mike told John. I winced slightly. There it was. Lost him without even getting to know him properly. Good-bye, John. ‘She got really angry, nearly punched you, didn’t she? Yeah, it’s annoying, that.’
John giggled. He giggled! ‘That sounds kind of brilliant, actually,’ he said. ‘Can you tell stuff about me?’
I nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘Go on, then.’
I raised an eyebrow but did anyway. I told him about his medical degree, that he wanted to join the military - at which Stamford’s eyes widened -, told him about his alcoholic older sister, his distant parents and dubious sexuality. By the time I finished, I was already bracing myself for the inevitable punch that never came. Instead, John stared at my, looking dumbfounded.
‘Extraordinary!’ he said. I was shocked. That had never happened before.
‘You really think so?’
John grinned. ‘Yes, it’s quite extraordinary…’
‘People don’t normally say that,’ I mumbled.
‘What do people normally say?’
‘Piss off,’ I said and John laughed. He laughed! I was astonished. It was a good feeling…
By the time he recovered, Stamford had already left. John placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled again. His smiles were beautiful.
‘You are really odd,’ he told me. But it sounded like a compliment. ‘It’s brilliant.’ I smiled back at him, genuinely. It felt strange, but good. ‘Anyway, do you want to do something? Those hills are begging for a sled.’
‘I’ve, hm, never…’ I pointed at the sleds and waved them off dismissively. All of this snow-day nonsense was hardly worth my time.
‘You’ve never been on a sled before?’ I nodded and John threw his arms in the air. ‘Now that is ridiculous. Come on!’ he pulled me by the arm - and my startled self just went along - to the top of the hill. I just realised then that he had dragged along behind him a sled definitely big enough for two. ‘You have to try it! It’s so much fun, Sherlock!’
I found myself going along with everything he said because, well… He looked like he wanted to be my friend. He found me interesting, and brilliant. Not like Molly, who had some weird obsession with me, but in a very earnest way. And, frankly, I was finding myself a bit mesmerised at him.
So I kneeled behind John on the sled, copying his moves, and he locked my arms around his torso.
‘You have to hold on, otherwise you might fall off,’ he told me, with a smirk. I nodded, and smirked as well when his head turned. He pushed and soon we were sliding down the hill. I had never felt such a thrill! It was like falling, but amazing! I felt the wind in my hair and tightened my grip around John’s waist. I barely registered when we reached the bottom. He just turned to face me and grinned.
‘So? Wanna do it again?’ he asked.
I could feel a huge smile on my face when I nodded. ‘Yes!’