This is my first try to write a fanfiction.
I hope you enjoy it!
(Don't be too hard with me, please ;A;)

If you leave a comment, I would be very grateful.
Also, if you find any mistakes, please tell me about them, so I can correct them (I'm not a native speaker).

Not beta-ed or brit-picked.

Disclaimer: I don't own BBC Sherlock or its characters.

John Watson was bored.
It was a beautiful day, he was sitting in a nice café with his pretty date and he was bored.

The problem was that Maria was exactly his type: Pretty, smart and down-to-earth.
He had met her at Sarah's birthday-party and today was their second date.

Everything should be perfect, but all John could think about was how not Sherlock she was.
Maria was small and feminine, nice curves and an ample bosom. She had hazel-brown eyes and straight, long, blond hair. Her skin had a rosy colour.
She was a librarian and as such she was also intelligent - but not as brilliant as a certain consulting detective.

Sherlock was something completely different. Tall and almost skinny. His eyes had a colour that John could not identify (Was it grey? Green? Or even blue?) but he could stare into them for hours. They sucked him in and whenever John said something clever, those pale eyes would light up and John's stomach would do a somersault.
Sherlock's dark curls looked so soft that John wanted to touch them, wanted to know how they would feel between his fingers. And those cheekbones. John had never seen such cheekbones before.
The detective had a face and a body any model would kill for – and he knew it, because he used it to get what he wanted.
But he would never allow anybody to touch him.

John sighed. These thoughts were going round and round in his head and as much as wanted to think about somebody else, anybody else, fall in love with someone else except his crazy flatmate, he knew it was impossible.
If you fell for Sherlock Holmes, there was no turning back.
Because there was nobody as brilliant and beautiful as Sherlock Holmes.
Nobody as dangerous, as mysterious, as tenacious - but also as vulnerable, as caring.

The sudden silence got John's attention back to his date.
She was looking expectantly at him and John didn't know a thing she'd been talking about. He had completely zoomed out while thinking about the detective.
Maria must have known that he hadn't listened to her because her smile turned into a sad expression.
Before she could say something, John quickly took her hand on the table and said "I'm sorry, Maria. It's just ... I had a difficult day at the surgery and I'm very tired. It's really not your fault."
He knew it was wrong to tell her lies, but would it be better if she knew the truth? That she just couldn't fascinate him like his (male) flatmate did?
No, John decided. Nobody knew about his secret crush on Sherlock and that's how it should be. Bad enough that he fell in love with the self-claimed sociopath in the first place, the world didn't need to know about it.

"You're working too much, John. Every time I see you, you have bags under your eyes and you look like you haven't slept for days. Do you have any problems? You can tell me, you know. That's what girlfriends are for, after all." She gave him a sad smile.

If only she knew, John thought.
It was true that John hadn't slept much before their two dates, but that wasn't because of his job – it was because of the cases with Sherlock.
In the last weeks there had been a few cases that Sherlock had like quite a lot (which means they had been very difficult and extremely dangerous – for both of them) and John and Sherlock hadn't even had the time to take a breath between them.
At least Sherlock hadn't been bored.
That John had felt his stomach fluttering every time he had seen the excitement in Sherlock's eyes, was something he was deliberately ignoring.
Sometimes John couldn't believe that Sherlock still hadn't figured out what was going on inside John when he saw and deduced everything else.
Maybe because he hated sentiment, he simply ignored it?

John faked a smile. "No, I don't. Everything's fine."

Maria smiled back. "If you ever need anybody to talk, just call me, okay?"

She was so nice. Why couldn't he just fall in love with her?

At that moment John's cell phone chimed. John cringed.
There was the reason why he just couldn't have a normal relationship.

He knew that the text was from Sherlock (Who else would text him when he was on a date?). It was always like that.

Sooner or later John's girlfriend would break up with him because of Sherlock, claiming John was in love with Sherlock (which he was, but always denied) or that he had a relationship with his flatmate (because John always ran from dates to help him) or because Sherlock had deduced them (which always happened sooner or later).
However the cause of the break-up was always Sherlock. And John knew it would end that way before he had even started dating.
Sometimes he asked himself why he even bothered when he knew it couldn't work out because he was in love with his unreachable flatmate.

Maybe it was the fear that more people would believe that Sherlock and John were in a relationship.
Or maybe he feared that Sherlock might start getting suspicious?

Anyway, John kept dating and failing.

He opened the message.

Emergency. Come at once. 221B Baker Street. – SH

"Is it from your flatmate?" Maria asked.

Surprised, he looked at her. John hadn't told her much about Sherlock (yet), except that they were sharing a flat and that Sherlock was his best friend.

His confusion must have been written all over his face, because she went on: "Sarah told me about him."

Oh. He should have guessed that. After all he had met her at Sarah's birthday-party.

"Well ... what exactly did she tell you?"

"Oh, you know, that you solve crimes together –"

John perked up. Maybe Sarah hadn't said anything about ... that.

"- and that he texts you like all the time and people think you're a couple and all that. And that he doesn't like having people around him except you and that he drives all your dates mad until they break up with you."

John felt himself flushing, but still tried to appear calm.

"And ... what do you think about that?"

"Well ... I don't have any reason not to believe her, but there's also no reason why I shouldn't give you a chance. Maybe your flatmate – Sherlock, wasn't it? – isn't as bad as she said."

No. This couldn't be happening.
Please, please, dear God, please make that she doesn't want to meet Sherlock!

"How about I go with you and meet your flatmate now?"

Again John's cell phone chimed.

Hurry up. It's important. – SH

John still didn't know what to say.
He just couldn't take Maria to meet Sherlock on their second date.
It was just too early.
She wasn't prepared for that.
They didn't know each other well enough.
Sherlock would deduce her and she would be gone.
Then he could start his search for a suitable date all over.

Also ... he kind of didn't want her to meet him.
But ... why? He hadn't cared about that before.

John, stop fussing about your date. I'm bored! – SH

Something in his head clicked.

He didn't want her to meet him, because he wanted Sherlock for himself.
That was their domestic life and he didn't want anybody except them there.
Here, outside, John had no problem playing the straight bachelor, but inside 221B ... that was their little safe world, all their own and he didn't want anybody to interrupt there anymore.

And just maybe he didn't want her to meet him, because she might recognize Sherlock for what he was: The most beautiful and amazing human being in the whole world.
A person who could have anybody if he had wanted to.
Woman or man, poor or rich, average or famous, single or taken.
Literally anybody.

"No." John said with steady voice.

"What?"

"No, I won't take you to meet him."

"What? Why?" she asked, suddenly annoyed.

"Because ... Because I don't want you to."

"You – You don't want me to meet your flatmate? What's wrong with you?! What could possibly happen?"

John took a calming breath before he said something he would regret later and touched Maria's hand on the table again, hoping to calm her down a bit as well.

"Listen Maria, it's just too early for you to meet Sherlock. Sherlock is ... a very eccentric person and most people can't cope with him. Yes, he is my best friend and at the most important person in my life, but that doesn't mean you have to know him so soon. Just ... give us some more time to get to know each other before I introduce you to him, okay?"

"... He is your best friend?"

"Yes."

"And he is eccentric."

"Yes. He claims to be a sociopath."

"But he is the most important person in your life?"

John felt the blush return. Maybe he shouldn't have said that. People could misunderstand.

"Yes, he is. Since I met him."

"I see ... Well then the case is clear for me." She pulled her hand away from his, stood up and looked with a sad glimmer in her eyes down to him, still sitting on the table. "Goodbye John."

"W-What? Maria?" She turned away.

"I know when I'm wasting my time. You're in love with this Sherlock Holmes. I can see it in your eyes. I hope you'll be happy with him."
And with that she walked to the door and left.

John sat there for some minutes and stared at the door. Had that really just happened?

Another chime broke his trance.

Joooooooohn, I'm bored. How long can it take to get from your stupid date to Baker Street?

With a slight smile John read the text and made a decision.

He put some money on the table, pocketed his phone and left the café. He needed to get home.