𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 | 𝘖𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 3 ✔︎

Chapter IV - It's Not What It Seemed

A knock comes on the door of 221B. Sherlock opens the door to find Jack waiting on the stairs.

"Jack." Sherlock gives Jack a thin-lipped smile. Jack notices that Sherlock looks tired, but he returns the smile with a more realistic one and greets him.

"Hello, Sherlock. How've you been?"

God, Sherlock thinks to himself. The one guy he doesn't especially like--who he feels jealous of--shows up at his door, just to wonder how he is? Sherlock groans. "What do you want?"

True, it wasn't the most polite statement, but in his defense, he'd had a rough night. Clara and he had had a fight last night. Sure, they fought quite often, but it wasn't like this. It was usually over small things, like his tendency to leave toes in the cupboards. Normal, simple things. But last night's argument had ended with her storming out. She hadn't come home yet and Sherlock was, to say the least, a little bit worried.

Jack kept his smile to lighten up the situation. "Well, I was wondering if Clara was around. I'm going on a short holiday, and I wanted to say goodbye."

Sherlock sighed and opened the door further. "She isn't here right now, but come in. I'm sure she'll be back soon." he made no effort to mask the hope in his voice.

Sceptical, Jack stepped inside anyway. The flat was messier than usual. "Where exactly is Clara?" Jack asked.

"She... went out to buy some milk." Sherlock lied. He walked over and sat in his usual chair, and Jack stood there, by the doorway, nodded awkwardly. Sherlock looked at him to have a seat in the "client's" chair. Jack did, and chair creaking as he sat down.

The sound of footsteps was heard on the stairs, and Sherlock's head snapped up. He knew they were too heavy to be Mrs Hudson's, so it must be Clara's. The doorknob turned and opened to reveal Clara Oswald herself, just as Sherlock had predicted. He had to fight the urge to jump up and hold her. But when he saw the hurt, angry look in her eyes, the urge became a little less hard to fight.

But only a little.

"Woah, Clara, what happened to you?" Jack asked, jokingly. Even he could tell something big was up. Clara was a mess. Her eyes were red, and she obviously hadn't put much thought into how she looked this morning.

Clara managed a smile. A weak one, at best. "Hi, Jack! I didn't know... you were stopping by," she said. Clara took her coat off and threw it on the couch. Both Sherlock and Jack stared at her in shock. That was very unlike her.

Ignoring her coat, Clara stared directly at Jack, not giving Sherlock so much as a glance. "Can I get you a cuppa?" she asked Jack. Jack didn't have the heart to say no, in her state.

"I--" Jack couldn't even finish his reply before Clara went to the kitchen. On her way there, she shot Sherlock a cold glance. Sherlock diverted his eyes. His shoes were suddenly very intriguing.

Moments later, Clara came back out with two cups of tea--one for her, and one for Jack. She handed Jack his cup, and then took a seat in her usual chair, which was John's old one. At least she was still sitting by him, Sherlock noted. That must be worth something.

Clara sipped from her cup, and Jack set his on the desk next to him. Everyone was silent until Jack spoke. "Come on." Both Clara and Sherlock look at him in unison. "What's going on between you two?"

Clara shoots a look at Sherlock who is looking at her intently, then speaks. "Sherlock cheated on me."

Jack stares at her. Sherlock keeps his mouth shut. "What makes you think that?" Jack asks, knowing an outburst isn't the best idea right now.

"I could just tell. I asked him last night--"

"More like accused." Sherlock butts in.

"--and he didn't deny anything!" Clara sounds exasperated. "He said her name was Faith." Clara spits out the name like its bile.

Jack snorts and turns to Sherlock. "Really, Sherlock. You don't deny anything, then tell Clara her name." He grins incredulously. 

"It wasn't what it seemed!" Sherlock snapped, breaking his composure. 

"Oh, yeah?" Clara says. Every word was doused in venom. "What was it, then?"

Jack sighs, and says, "Look, Sherlock. I think you owe both of us an explanation. I don't think you would cheat on Clara, but I can see how she feels this way. So?"

Sherlock hesitated but spoke. "Faith came to our flat because she had a case. She was just a client." Clara snorted, but Sherlock continued. "We went outside. She had a letter she wrote to herself about her father--whom she assumed a killer. She said that he was going to kill someone, she just wasn't sure who. She went to me to figure it out." Sherlock turned to Clara and looked her in the eye. Clara wasn't upset anymore, just a mess. "There was nothing between us. She was just another suicidal client. I'm... surprised you would think I would do that to you. I'm sorry I made you upset."

Clara stared at him, eyes watering. Then she bolted up and embraced Sherlock from his chair. From the client's chair, Jack smiled.

~

After everything was settled, Clara asked Jack, "So, why did you stop by?" Clara was significantly better, though her cheeks were a little tear-streaked.

"I'm going on a short little holiday, and I just stopped by to say goodbye," Jack told her. The three of them were standing by the door now, seeing Jack off.

"Really?" Clara asked, "Where are you going?"

"Not sure yet. If you know what I mean," Jack winked.

Clara's mouth formed an 'o', knowing what he meant, "Oh, okay. Well, have fun! Stay safe," Clara hugged him.

When Jack pulled away, he was smiling. "Don't worry," he told her, "I will."

~~~~~

Thank you all for reading! I know it's been a while. :(

This chapter is dedicated to idkitstrash for being amazing and filling up my notifications a whole lot! Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying these books! :D

Make sure to Vote and Recommend this book to friends, and I absolutely love hearing from you all, so feel free to comment! Til next time,

-O 

WC: 1003