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Sherlock pulls material of his coat higher his neck to protect himself from cold as he and his two companions make their way to a bar on the outskirts of New York City.
It is a chilly, foggy night and Sherlock wonders what has possessed his friend to make them walk all the way in this weather just to have a few drinks.
“Seriously, Billy didn’t ya know any other bars that are closer to our apartments? This weather makes me wanna die,” irritation finally gets to the detective.
“Relax, Mr Ponytail we’re almost there. Besides, I’m sure the place will repay our effort to get there in such terrible weather,” the young man replies with a grin.
Sherlock only rolls his eyes, not convinced in the slightest.
This morning turned out they all had a free weekend, which was quite rare.
Sherlock and William admitted to Billy that they don’t have any special plans for the night so the young man proposed going out for a drink. He said that he knew some cool place, he didn’t mention it was quite a walk from their apartment though.
Right now, Sherlock starts to regret he didn’t convince William to stay in their apartment, curl together on their sofa with hot tea in hands and blanket wrapped around them.
“I think I see something,” William suddenly points at one of a few illuminated buildings several steps from them.
“Is that the bar you’ve been telling us about, Billy?”
Billy nods at William.
“Yeah! Come on, we’ll get warm soon!”
As they walk in, they decide to choose a table at the back of the bar.
When they take a seat Sherlock takes a quick glance at the place.
It is a cozy bar illuminated with warm lights. Most of the tables are occupied which proves it’s quite a fancy place. There is for now, an empty stage with a pretty piano at the back of it. Sherlock notices a few papers filled out with musical notes placed on it. He suspects someone is going to use this beautiful instrument pretty soon.
“What a lovely place. How did you find out about it?” William asks Billy with curiosity.
“Well, I have friends here and there. One day one of them invited me here and I enjoyed it. That’s the whole story.”
The gunslinger makes himself comfortable on his seat when a waitress arrives.
She asks about their order which turns out to be three glasses of brandy and French fries.
Some time passes on talking and drinking, Sherlock has to admit he is having a good time.
They talk about some old cases and adventures, as well as about their current life in America.
The detective hadn’t realized when he started to feel so relaxed, the alcohol probably started to kick in. He knows he isn’t drunk though, he would have to drink at least three more glasses to end up in such state, which can’t be said for his dear partner.
As Sherlock looks at William he realizes the blond is quite tipsy to say the least.
“Hey, Liam maybe that’s enough for you tonight?”
He leans his elbows on the table trying to make an eye contact with William who only smiles at him with amusement.
“Don’t worry Sherly I’m fine,” he replies as he takes his glass of brandy and empties it with few quick swallows. Sherlock has to admit he’s a bit frightened by how fast his beloved did it.
“Hey, don’t ya worry. Let William have some good time, he was working so hard this week, he deserves it. And so do we actually, so let me order another drinks for us,” Billy is already standing up.
“I think I’ll pass,” Sherlock sighs as he leans back on his seat.
“There has to be at least one responsible adult here.”
Billy laughs hearing that.
“Alright, how about you, William?”
“I’ll pass for now as well,” the blond chuckles lightly.
They watch as Billy approaches the bar and orders his drink.
As soon as he comes back with a glass in his hand, Sherlock realizes the brandy William drank few minutes ago starts to kick in.
The blond laughs more often than not, most of his sentences sound quite funny to Sherlock and to his surprise William is really touchy.
At first he moved closer to Sherlock which didn’t bother him, quite the opposite. He likes being close to his beloved, but when William moves his hand and grabs Sherlock’s fingers into his, the detective feels a little nervous.
It’s not that he doesn’t want it, he would love to be able to show his affection to his partner in public.
It’s actually this stupid unwritten rule that only opposite sex relations are acceptable in this society.
Sherlock has never cared what other people think about him, he didn’t care that his attraction to men is not approved by people…
But, when he and William became a couple he started to feel a strong inequality. Whenever they went to the theatre, restaurant or even on a stupid walk they had to keep that socially acceptable distance.
And the worst part was whenever he saw William’s gaze of sadness as he looked at a cute couple holding hands in a park or in a pub he thought his heart would break.
The sad smile saying : “what can we do?” when he glanced back at Sherlock in such situations.
The detective hates the way this society works. He knows why William and his crew wanted to change it, but such huge changes come with time.
He only wishes one day he will be able to see them with his own eyes.
“Liam, we’re in public,” he lowers his tone as he looks at his lap where now rest two of their hands.
He sees William’s confused look and even though he knows his partner isn’t himself his heart breaks like all those times before.
“My love, please,” he whispers as softly as he can when he frees his palm from the grasp.
He hates what he’s doing with all his being, but as he thinks about it Sherlock doesn’t give a damn about himself he cares about William. He would never forgive himself if something happened to his partner because of his feelings for him.
William blinks slightly confused, but takes his hand away.
To Sherlock’s relieve the young professor quickly forgets about the situation and starts conversation with Billy.
The detective on the other hand takes out a pack of cigarettes and lights one of them.
He feels a desperate need to calm his emotions.
As he blows out the smoke he notices some young woman making her way on the stage. An old man is already there sitting at the piano and checking the notes Sherlock saw earlier.
The lady exchanges few words with the man, they laugh and then she makes her way to the central part of the stage.
A moment later a pleasant piano tune reaches the detective’s ears. It is a light happy melody which soon combines with a beautiful female voice.
Billy turns on his seat to look at the stage listening for a moment.
“Isn’t that a lovely song?”
He grins as he taps the rhythm with his fingers on the table.
But, before Sherlock can even reply William gets up grabbing his hand with him.
Billy and Sherlock look at him with confusion.
“Where do ya wanna go, Liam?”
“To the dance floor,” the blond answers simply.
“I want to dance,” he adds.
Billy chuckles friendly.
“I’m not recognizing ya, William,” he crosses his arms on his chest.
Sherlock ignores his friend, he looks at William instead.
“Liam, we can’t” he starts hopelessly.
“It’s alright, Mr Ponytail. You are more than okay to go,” Billy suddenly says.
The detective looks at him with confusion.
“What are you talking about?”
Billy leans closer to him.
“Just trust me. You can go and dance as everyone else.”
Sherlock doesn’t know what to do.
Is Billy right?
He wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t truth, but is that really possible?
He won’t find out if he doesn’t try…
He takes a deep breath and puts out the cigarette.
“Alright,” he finally says.
William beams hearing the detective’s words.
As he leads Sherlock to the dance floor something unexpected catches his eyes.
In a little crowd of dancing people he notices two women, they are dancing together with hands holding each other tightly and smiles on their faces.
Some feet away he sees a couple of two men doing the same and to Sherlock’s surprise no one gives them miserable looks or approaches them.
No one cares actually, they all act completely normal.
At this moment Sherlock realizes that Billy invited them to a gay bar, or a queer bar he isn’t sure.
He looks over his shoulder at the young gunslinger who only shows him thumbs up and grins.
The detective smiles in disbelieve.
“You’re a wise bloke, aren’t ya, Billy,” Sherlock thinks to himself.
A moment later he feels familiar hand on his waist.
Sherlock looks at his partner who already takes his palm and waits for Sherlock to place his other hand on his shoulder.
The detective can’t help, but chuckle seeing his Liam like this. With a silly drunken smile and no care in the world.
This sight makes Sherlock wants to forget about everything and just experience this moment with his beloved.
He squeezes their connected palms slightly and places his hand on William’s shoulder.
“Alright, show me your best moves, professor.”
William grins as he hears his words, and soon they are swaying to the songs the pretty lady is singing on the stage.
They laugh and tease each other holding tightly to one other. Sherlock can’t help, but chuckle from time to time hearing all the funny sentences his partner is saying.
He loves the fact that he can discover this new part of William, it’s almost like a whole new mystery.
“You know, I’d never say you’re so hilarious when you’re drunk,” the detective admits.
William slows his moves, he still holds to Sherlock’s waist and rocks with him, but he looks like he’s thinking hardly about something.
“But, I am not drunk,” he says with conviction.
“I’ll mention about this tomorrow morning,” the detective chuckles.
He wants to add something more, but suddenly he hears the pianist changing the tune.
He starts to play a slow melody, different from the ones he played before.
Soon the woman begins to sing again and this time it’s a love song, perfect for a romantic dance.
As if reading in his mind, William changes position of their hands and wraps his both arms around Sherlock’s shoulders hugging him tightly.
Sherlock freezes for a moment with surprise. Even though William himself dragged him to the dance floor the detective was sure his partner only wanted to have some good time while dance to some lively melodies.
He didn’t expect the blond to be into this kind of intimacy, but still he was holding him tight as if he was only waiting for this moment.
“Sherly?”
The detective hears his partner.
“Yes, I’m here,” he whispers as his arms finally find their way to William’s waist which satisfies the young professor.
They rock slowly to the melody as most of the couples on the dance floor.
Sherlock steals a glance at Billy who watches them with a genuine smile he waves at him as their gazes meet.
The detective rolls his eyes, but smile is visible on his face.
He also hears two women that sit at the table few feet away talking to each other.
“They look so cute, don’t you think?”
One of them asks as she steals a glance at him and William.
The other one agrees with excitement.
In other circumstances Sherlock would probably feel embarrassed, but tonight everything seems so unrealistic that he doesn’t even mind the comment.
And at this moment something hits him, the thought that there really are people like them out there. That there are people who accept this type of love, or all kinds of love as Sherlock now thinks about it.
Even if it is just a bunch of people in this bar at the end of the world, it is okay.
Not only for him and Liam, but also for these two women who share a sweet kiss right now, or these two men who are sitting across each other at the table with hands clasped together.
Sherlock takes a deep breath and lets himself feel the moment. He hugs his Liam tighter and rests his chin on his shoulder.
He feels as if the time has stopped right now. The beautiful song in the background, embrace of his beloved Liam and no nervous feeling that someone might stop this moment.
And when Sherlock thinks this couldn’t be any better William leads closer to his ear and says with his soft voice:
“I love you.”
Just the simple phrase, he’s told these words many times yet tonight they hit different.
Sherlock doesn’t know why, but he’s really emotional right now. Maybe that’s because of the alcohol, or maybe because so many things have happened tonight, but Sherlock feels the tears in his eyes.
He looks at his man, this beautiful, clever and drunk man and he thinks that he has never nor will ever love someone more than he loves him.
His wonderful Liam.
Sherlock smiles hoping the tears will go away.
“I love you too, Liam,” he says.
And after that as if proving his words he leans closer and place a soft loving kiss on his lips.
He doesn’t care if someone is looking he just wants to show how much he means what he just said.
William returns the kiss happily, and as Sherlock feels it he realizes he doesn’t need anything else in his life.
Just those beautiful lips.
When they part they both look at each other with the sincerest smiles.
Some time later they come back to the table where Billy is waiting for them.
“That was really lovely, the dance I mean,” he says with honesty.
“Thanks. You didn’t tell us it’s a gay bar I like it though, it’s a really nice place,” the detective admits.
“I’m glad ya enjoy it here. I was actually thinking you two might appreciate some place where you can be… you know, together without being judged,” Billy admits as he plays with his empty glass.
Sherlock is moved by this confession. Billy didn’t owe them anything and yet he still shows those small acts of kindness.
“Thank you, Billy. You really are a good friend.”
The gunslinger blushes slightly from embarrassment.
“Come on, it’s nothing really,” he chuckles.
Sherlock smiles seeing his reaction.
“May I get something more for you, gents?”
The waitress appears again.
“Just a water, please,” Sherlock says before William or Billy can ask for more brandy.
They definitely drank more than they should tonight.
“You’ll be thanking me later,” the detective says as his companions look at him with disappointed looks.
“But something tells me, it’s way too late for you two.”
Before they know it, it is long past one in the morning. Sherlock can already feel the exhaustion and when William starts to rest his head on his shoulder with his eyes half open he knows it’s time go back home.
They wrap themselves in coats, pay for their drinks and walk into the cold night.
Sherlock takes a deep breath and lets the frosty air fill his lungs.
Cold doesn’t bother him as much as before, it’s probably because of the alcohol.
He takes out one of his cigarettes and lights it. As he looks at his partner he can’t help, but smile.
William is now trying to explain (as much as a drunken parson can) some of mathematical equations to Billy who has no idea what the blond is talking about.
“Hey, Liam, have some mercy on him.”
William turns to face the detective, smiling.
“But Billy has a lot of potential. I’m sure he can be a teacher one day,” he says.
“I can assure you, I can’t,” Billy replies with a bit of drama in his voice.
Sherlock laughs at this.
A moment later William probably decides he misses the physical contact once again and he takes both Sherlock and Billy’s hands.
“Ya really are hilarious like this, William. Are we about to walk like in kindergarten right now?” Billy laughs.
“This way we won’t get lost,” William replies with seriousness.
“I don’t know about you, Mr Ponytail, but I love this new William. He’s the funniest,” the gunslinger admits with amused tone.
The detective only rolls his eyes light smile still appears on his lips though.
“I bet ya do. Especially when he dragged you to the dance floor. Where did ya learn all those dance moves by the way?”
Billy can’t help, but tease.
“Will you shut up, Billy?”
Sherlock feels blush of embarrassment on his cheeks.
“I loved the dance, Sherly was the best partner!” William adds with innocent tone.
Billy laughs as William unknowingly digs Sherlock’s grave.
“I’m sure you’d be just as good dancer as him, Billy,” William affirms and to the man’s surprise he lets go of Sherlock’s hand and swirls Billy few times.
The gunslinger laughs at this and so does Sherlock.
The whole scene looks so carefree and cheerful, seeing William like this really makes the detective the happiest in the world.
As he watches the two of them making swirls on the street in the middle of the night, he can’t help the sincerest laugh forming in his throat.
Sherlock really can’t believe how lucky he is.
The next morning William wakes up to a massive head ache.
As Billy comes to visit later that day he can’t stop himself from teasing the blond.
He mentions how surprised he was when he realized how touchy William is when he drinks too much.
Sherlock on the other hand brings him a cup of tea and rubs his back affectionately.
He still has their dance in his memory. He only hopes the familiar moment will take a place in the future.