darker_london | Cuteness (Sherlock, Bella) (Reply)

Sherlock never smoked in the house unless he was leaning out the window. While he chose to smoke instead of eating most of the time, he didn't think his little sisters needed to contract lung disease from his dietary choices. Most of the time, he ended up smoking on the front stoop, and that was where he was, smoking his after-work snack, when Bella returned from school. He smiled at her, flicking ash from the end of his fag. "Hey, Bells."

She smiled back at him. Today was a good day.

There had been a time when Bella, Myrtle then, would bound through the door and leap into his arms. She would kiss his face and tell him all about her day. She hadn't suffered through the same kind of abuses he had at the hands of his foster families, but she had been a little starved for affection. These days, she leaned against the brick wall of their building, and he supposed he should be glad he had done such a good job that she was no longer starved for affection. He wouldn't have minded some affection for himself, however.

"Did you have a good day at school?"

"Sure," she said easily. "What about you? Any screamers?"

"Not today," Sherlock chuckled. He finished off his cigarette and he put it out in his ashtray shaped like a coffin. A dim reminder of where smoking led. "Hungry?"

Bella shook her head. She didn't remember what her parents had been like, being too young when she had been taken from them. She dimly understood why Sherlock asked if she was hungry because she knew there were things her siblings had been through which she had been spared. Bella had learned not to bother him about it by the way Gina had reacted once when Bella had said she didn't need to be asked the second she got home from school. She simply answered the question now. Every day. "You should eat, Mister Scrawny."

"Yeah yeah. Get inside," Sherlock laughed, pointing at the door. Bella complied, charging up the stairs, followed by her brother. When she entered the flat, she promptly dropped her stuff near the door and she turned back to him.

"Why don't you have a boyfriend, Sherl?"

Sherlock blinked at her and he went to sit near the window so he wasn't having this conversation standing up. He crossed his legs and he leaned against the glass and he thought about it. "Well I have you guys."

Bella flopped over the end of a couch and she watched him seriously. "Does it bother you?"

"Not really," Sherlock said with a shrug. "I don't think I'd have time for a boyfriend. Some day. Why are you asking, Bells?"

"I don't know. I'm just...thinking about it..." Bella leaned over her legs and cleared her throat.

"Thinking about it because you're sixteen and boys have stopped being covered in cooties?" Sherlock grinned wickedly. She shot him a death glare and he chuckled. "It's okay, Bells. That's normal. What do you want to know?" He liked to think he was easy to talk to about this stuff. He didn't freak out about it any more. And he didn't even recoil when uteri and vaginas were mentioned.

"Do you think Twilight is romantic, because like...I just really want someone to love me like Edward loves Bella." Bella's expression dared Sherlock to make fun of her. And he didn't.

"I don't think it's romantic, Bella, no. I think there's something wonderful out there for you, but I don't think it has to be like Twilight. I don't think a relationship where you have to change yourself in order to be with someone is ever sexy or even okay. That's why it's just a story. And one you shouldn't put too much stock in to. It's for entertainment, and not a 'how to' guide." Sherlock paused. "Do you like any of the boys at school?"

Bella shrugged. So they were back to that then. "Maybe. I dunno. I just want what Bella had and she was seventeen."

"You know what you do have?" Sherlock stood from the window and he put his hand out for Bella to take. She did so, with trepidation. "You have a brother who happens to think you're one of the two most wonderful people in the world. That stuff will come along. Probably before you realise it. And when some boy does realise how amazing you are, I want to meet him to size him up. And if he's some creepy stalker who would watch you sleep at night, I am going to wring his neck," Sherlock said, and Bella laughed. "Until then, you've got me. And I'm going to fix you some cake, and watch ridiculous movies with you. What do you want to watch?"

Bella giggled as she followed Sherlock into the kitchen. "Ermmmm...something with Jude Law?"

Sherlock turned to his sister, a huge grin plastered to his face. "Oh... Oh ho, Bella...you just made my day!" and he hugged her as she laughed.