Heaven and Hell (Sherlock x Reader)

Chapter 11: A Landlady's Advice

It has been a while now since the wonderful Una Stubbs passed away, but she will always be greatly missed. Therefore, I wanted to dedicate this chapter to our beloved landlady, Mrs Hudson.

I hope you'll enjoy it!

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Two weeks had gone by since the incident at the party.

By now, you had wished your relationship with Sherlock would be back to normal, but it hadn't. Things had changed.

Your routine remained. You went to work every morning and returned every evening. You'd cook dinner and Sherlock would sometimes take care of the dishes when he was bored enough.

While you were at work, Sherlock would work on his cases. Sometimes he'd consult you on medical matters, but only when John wasn't available. He wasn't teaching you how to deduce anymore and he wasn't involving you in cases unless he felt like he had to.

The dynamic between you had changed. You still spent time together and, occasionally, it would feel exactly like it used to. More often than not, however, the conversation would grow tense and neither of you would be able to look at each other for hours.

You were avoiding each other more, whereas previously you were in each other's presence constantly.

Even the experiments you loved to do together decreased in frequency and when they did occur, they would mostly pass in silence.

Your friendship had become strained and exhausting and you both knew why.

There were too many feelings involved. Whenever you'd make an effort to make friendly conversation and laugh together, you'd make eye contact suddenly and the heat in the room would build. Sherlock always got up and excused himself during these moments and hide out in his bedroom for hours.

You couldn't even have dinner together anymore without it getting awkward. While you sat at the table and quietly ate, Sherlock would stay in his chair and ignore the meal altogether.

Living at Baker Street had turned from Heaven to Hell.

It had come to a point when you had checked out forums to see if anyone was looking for a flatmate, but none of the offers felt right.

You had just finished cleaning the flat on your day off when Mrs Hudson popped in. You looked up and smiled. "Hi, Mrs Hudson. How are you today?"

"Just fine, dear. I came to check up on you. You didn't go with Sherlock to the crime scene. Is everything alright?"

You smiled in an effort to hide the sadness creeping up in your throat. "Everything is fine, Mrs Hudson. I just wanted to use my day off to tidy up the place. Sherlock has been making a mess with his experiments."

"Speaking of Sherlock," the landlady started, "he's been acting a bit off lately. I worry about him, you know."

You cleared your throat, turning back to sweeping the fireplace instead of having to look Mrs Hudson in the eye. "I'm sure he's fine, Mrs Hudson. He's working on a tough case this week, so that's probably why."

"Are you sure, dear? I've seen him work difficult cases all the time and he's never been like this."

"What do you mean?" you asked, perplexed.

"Well, dear, I can't seem to shake the feeling that he seems... sad," she sighed. "I hate to see him like that, the poor boy. He was like that for weeks when John got married and moved out. He seemed to be doing much better after you moved in."

You stared at the beloved landlady with sorrow in your eyes. "Really?"

She nodded frantically. "Yes, dear! He seemed a completely new man to me when you moved in. Sure, he's been a lot more considerate and patient ever since John came into his life, but this is the first time I haven't heard him use his gun in months!"

You blushed. "I may have yelled at him when he shot the wall last time."

Mrs Hudson chuckled. "You've been a good influence on him, dear. He's seemed so much more alive since you got here. I'd hate to see that go away in either of you."

A tear trickled down your cheek as a quiet sob shook your shoulders.

"Oh, my dear," Mrs Hudson cooed. "What is the matter? Has something happened with you and Sherlock?"

You let her guide you to the sofa and sat down with her, sniffling into your hands.

She handed you her handkerchief and calmly rubbed your back. "Tell me everything, dear."

"Things have just been different lately," you sniffed. "Something happened and I thought we could move on from it, but everything has just been so weird."

"Have you talked to him about it?" Mrs Hudson offered.

You nodded. "Only briefly, but we settled it right then and there. I don't understand why we just can't go back to normal."

"Perhaps everything has changed too much? Instead of trying to go back to what was, you two should move onto what's next. Change can be good, dear."

You sighed and shook your head. "I don't know, Mrs Hudson. I just don't know."

She offered you a kind smile. "Everything will work out, I'm sure of it."

"Thank you, Mrs Hudson," you breathed.

"Not a problem, dear. Now, how about I make you a nice cup of tea? It'll do you some good."