Work Text:
The word ‘romance’ was not in Sherlock Holmes’ vocabulary. Not even after five years in a relationship with John, the concept of a romantic relationship had not grown or even taken hold in his mind. Sexually he was incredibly adept, so much so that John sometimes believed their entire relationship could be built upon the fire and passion which stemmed from the two of them in the bedroom. But he knew that an entire relationship shouldn’t be based on sex, there had to be an emotional side. Somewhere deep down inside of John’s “emotional” side there was definitely a romantic edge that he was hopelessly subverse to.
So in the run up to their five year anniversary John decided that it would have to be him that did something romantic… Working in a GP surgery doing clinic hours gave him the perfect opportunity to arrange something for the both of them, without Sherlock perpetually looking over his shoulder or checking his internet history when he couldn’t be bothered collecting his own laptop from his bedroom.
And with the decision to do something, John took a lot of thought over what he could do… A meal out at some kind of expensive restaurant? But then Sherlock didn’t always eat… so would a restaurant be the best option? A trip away? But then whenever Sherlock was fully immersed in a case he refused to leave… and what if it just so happened that he got a case before the weekend of their anniversary? It seemed that everything that John thought of threw up some kind of problem. Though, living with Sherlock, he should be used to that by now… but he still wasn’t, not even after these years in a relationship.
*
‘Five years.’ Sherlock thought to himself, five years had to mean something – apart from the solidifying his knowledge that he and John were right for one another. Five years deserved some kind of special celebration, and Sherlock knew the way that John’s mind worked.
As much as John tried to hide it, really he was just a ball of sentimental fluff on the inside; he would read romance novels and watch romcoms when Sherlock wasn’t in the flat. He was always the first to suggest things to those (like Greg) who ever dared to mention relationships in his presence. John loved romance. Sherlock was sure that John loved the idea of someone thinking completely selflessly and sweeping the other person off their feet.
The only problem was that Sherlock wasn’t like that at all… The whole concept of romance was a strange one for his brain to fathom; but for John, he would try to understand it… especially to say thank you to him for John’s persevering care and companionship throughout their relationship, even when Sherlock had been a right dick at times. Sherlock’s desire to prove that he could be romantic, that he could do something completely unexpected and out of the ordinary, for his partner led to him considering sucking up his annoyance and asking Mycroft for help…
*
One week before their anniversary date and John was panicking… he still hadn’t come to any kind of conclusion about what he could do that was “romantic”, but that wouldn’t infuriate Sherlock too much… It appeared that in the short period of time that he had tried to think of something to do for the both of him, that every romantic bone and fibre of his body had evaporated. Maybe he should just do a complete U-turn and do the opposite of what Sherlock would expect of him? Something so gratuitously sexual that Sherlock would be utterly shocked… Yes, maybe that would be the way to go! Yes! In a spur of the moment thought he had made a snap decision that he was going to do something sexually explorative with Sherlock. He wondered whether he’d be able to find out any of Sherlock’s kinks – bondage perhaps? His riding crop? Or maybe food? It would definitely give him something to think about in the next week before their anniversary.
Sherlock, however, had bit his lip, sucked up his pride and gone to Mycroft to ask for help. And Mycroft had gratefully obliged by giving help – but not without hiding his smugness. But eventually after two very painful meetings with Mycroft, everything was sorted out… Mycroft had helped Sherlock choose a romantic location and booked a trip away over the weekend so they could celebrate. He had booked a cottage, arranged for champagne to be delivered, and candles – and pretty much everything else that he could possibly conceive of. He even refused what would have been a lucrative case to make sure that everything was totally planned out for Friday evening when they would be picked up by one of Mycroft’s cars and driven to the cottage.
John was under the impression that Sherlock was dealing with a case, that was the reason for his secrecy… it was kind of normal for Sherlock. But there was no question about it – John had managed to get Thursday (which was their actual anniversary) off from the GP’s surgery, so Sherlock was going to stay in and submit to his will.
John’s heart was hammering in his chest as he stood in the hallway outside Sherlock’s room very early on Thursday morning. He had been standing outside the door for a couple of minutes before he took a deep breath and pushed open the door; only to find Sherlock pacing the length of his room hitting a slim strip of paper in between his hands, he started when he saw John standing in the doorway. There was a pause where the two of them stared at each other, and then they were in each other’s arms, kissing fiercely. When they broke apart John stared up at his taller boyfriend and noticed that Sherlock was smiling.
“Five years.” Sherlock stated rather matter of factly. “Who would have thought?” John nodded.
“I’ve – uh, got today off work… I thought we could have some fun.” John told him, running his hand suggestively along the inside of Sherlock’s thigh.
“You’ve got this weekend off too…” Sherlock replied, shuddering slightly as John’s touch gave him shivers. John pulled away suddenly and looked confused. “I’ve booked us a weekend trip to a cottage in the lack district…” Sherlock told him, lowering his mouth to gently kiss John’s neck. “Candles, champagne… the lot.”
Somewhere in the midst of John, that ball of romantic fluff appeared to have been rekindled inside his chest, and he was almost so happy that he could feel tears welling up in his eyes.
“You… Sherlock, you don’t do romance!” He exclaimed in surprise.
“But you do.” Sherlock replied, giving a small smirk. “And five years is something to celebrate. So if you do romance, just this once – so do I.”