Poison & Wine//A BBC Sherlock fanfic

Then

Then

Cosette had always been an early riser and that hadn't changed since she had arrived to London. That morning she woke up with the sun which was just beginning to rise. Dragging herself out of bed she chose her outfit for the day- a caramel-colored jumper to go over a loose white singlet, dark blue jeans, black suede boots and a navy scarf- before taking her toiletries to the co-ed bathroom down the hall from her dorm. 

After finishing her morning rituals and putting her toiletries back in her room, Cosette gathered her purse and left the building. Since getting lost on the first day of her classes Cosette had made it her duty to map out the grounds each morning so nothing like that would happen again. So, every morning she would walk around the grounds, getting her bearings and gaining confidence in knowing where certain cobblestones would take her.

The darkness of night had been chased away by hints of purple, orange and blue, and Cosette knew just from looking up at the sky that today would be a beautiful day. The air around her was crisp and she shivered, pulling her scarf tighter around her neck to keep out the cold. Winter was right around the corner and Cosette could feel it's cold fingers reaching out, ready to take over London. By then, though, she would be gone, back home in France, back to normality. Although she missed home she couldn't help but feel sad at the thought of going back. She has made some good friends here and she knew she would miss them dearly once she left. Although she would be glad to finally be away from Sebastian Wilkes, the clingy bastard-

A groan from the alleyway she was walking by caught Cosette's attention. She stopped, her head whipping around to face the alley which still hadn't been touched by daylight. At first she couldn't see anything of particular interest, but once her eyes adjusted to the darkness she found the source of the noise.

"Sherlock?" she whispered, walking into the alley. There, sitting with his back against a rubbish bin, was Sherlock Holmes himself. His letterman jacket had been replaced by a demin one that lay by his side and his jeans had ripped at the knees. Taking a closer look Cosette found that Sherlock's lips were blue and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Mon Dieu," she gasped, placing a hand on his shoulder. With a shout Sherlock pulled away from her, stumbling to his feet before glaring at her.

"You!" he sneered, his voice slurred. "What the hell... what are you... tedious girl, leave me alone."

"What did you do?" Cosette asked in shock, ignoring what he had said. Sherlock waved an arm around before replying.

"What... what do you want? Go to class, tedious girl. Boring, boring, boring..." His words became harder for Cosette to understand, turning into a mumbling mess that made Cosette concerned.

"Sherlock, are you drunk?" she asked, earning a snort from the man.

"Stupid, tedious girl. You observe, you do not see," he snapped, before frowning slightly. "Or is it see and not observe...one of them..."

"What do you mean I do not see-" Cosette paused, her eyes settling on Sherlock's arm. "What- What did you do?!"

With cat-like reflexes Cosette reached out and grabbed Sherlock's arm, pulling him towards her. She stared down at Sherlock's arm, noting the shoelace that was tied around his upper arm and the needle pricks below it. When Sherlock pulled away from her Cosette looked around the area they were in before bending down and picking up Sherlock's denim jacket. Hiding underneath was a syringe.

"Oh my God," Cosette gasped, staring at the item. 

Drugs, she thought in horror. Mon Dieu, my God, he does drugs.