They'd done so much together since they first met; anyone else might think they'd known each other for years. Mrs Hudson and Lestrade also noticed how much more Sherlock smiled when John was around; and he was slightly less condescending, but not much. Sherlock and John were like the inseparable pair, like each side of the same coin. One was always there for the other.

Sherlock was fiddling with his violin on the couch, waiting for John to get home. He'd decided that today, he'd tell John what he'd been thinking for quite a while; the one thing that he did not express out loud for everyone to know.

As tedious as it did seem, he'd spent a lot of the past week researching the meaning of love. The internet, in books; they all seemed to lead to the same conclusion.

At last, Sherlock heard the sound of the front door closing.

"Where have you been?" Sherlock called from in the living room.

"Sarah's, I told you I would be staying there the night." John replied, making his way up the stairs.

Sherlock scowled. What could he possibly get from Sarah? She was ordinary; so average and boring, and yet, John spent so much time there. But that wasn't going to stop Sherlock from saying what he wanted to say. He had a strange sense of confidence inside of him. It would be alright.

"John," Sherlock started.

"Mmm?" John mumbled, as he went in his room to sort out his things he brought back with him.

"I've been thinking lately, about something…"

"Well there's a surprise."

"No, John, just listen please. I've been thinking, a lot, and there's something I think you should know."

"Get on with it then, Sherlock." John said through the hall.

Sherlock decided not to let things get lost in translation between the walls of the flat, so he got up and walked over to outside John's bedroom door. He had major butterflies; it felt like his stomach was doing somersaults.

"Ithinkiloveyou." Sherlock blurted out extremely quickly.

"What?"

"John, I think… that I love you." Sherlock stared into John's eyes, waiting for some kind of response.

John's face froze for a moment, before he spoke. "Is this some kind of new way to get what you want?"

"No, it isn't. I'm being serious, John."

"Well… how did you come to that conclusion, Sherlock? What would you know about love?" John asked, continuing to put his clothes away.

"I'm happy when you're around, I like to spend time with you. I like it when you laugh, and how you stand up for me when the others call me names… must I go on?" Sherlock said quickly, before moving his gaze to the floor.

John stood frozen again, eyes boring into Sherlock. "You're being ridiculous. I believe what you think is love, is just… friendship. You haven't really had a friend before, have you Sherlock? That's all it is." John glanced at Sherlock. "Now that we've sorted that out, let's just be sensible from now on, okay?"

Sherlock spun around and marched to his bedroom, not bothering to be gentle when closing the door behind him. This was possibly one of the worst reactions he could have gotten. Why couldn't John just listen?

For the next few days, no words were passed between Sherlock and John. Sherlock was often found lying across the couch, his back facing outwards, curled up in a ball. There was no reply when he was spoken to, and he didn't like to move when John was in the room.

After John had been out of the room for about a minute, Sherlock got up and ran to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. He skulled it down and ran back to the couch, but John was just outside the living room door. Sherlock lept back on the couch and curled up in his ball again. John sighed and muttered "Sook."

John just presumed this behaviour was because Sherlock was perhaps embarrassed about his poor sense of self-deduction, but he was upset because John was not listening to him.

He wasn't listening at all.