Growing Up at 221B pt 3

Sweet Sixteen

"Hamish!" John called up the stairs, greeted only by silence from his teen. "Hamish Ian Watson-Holmes, I know you can hear me!" Silence. "Fine." John mumbled to himself, and stomped up the stair case. He opened the door to Hamish's room to find the sixteen year-old still heavily asleep. "Hamish!" John snapped.

"Five more minutes, Dad." Hamish mumbled sleepily, rolling over.

John walked over and threw the curtains open, bathing the room in sunlight and eliciting a small hiss from his son. He grabbed the sheets and yanked them back, pulling them fully off the bed. Hamish growled and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I swear to God, you're more like your Papa every day."

Hamish stretched, his bare chest expanding immensely with the air he took in as a large yawn. "I thought you said Papa never sleeps."

"He doesn't. I was talking about your stubbornness." John turned to leave. "Now, get dressed or you'll be late for your first day back to school. Breakfast is waiting downstairs."

John had been simplistic with breakfast that morning; eggs and toast with grape jam. Sherlock sat at the table awaiting his tea while reading a newspaper when Hamish came bounding down the stairs.

"What's up, Pops?" He said, kissing Sherlock on the cheek before stealing his tea mug out of John's hands. The kid had grown to be just slightly taller than Sherlock, with John's dark blue eyes and Sherlock's curly black hair, and, unfortunately, his stick-like stature.

"Nothing previously, but now that my tea has been stolen, my blood pressure." Sherlock glared over the top of his newspaper.

Hamish shrugged smugly, then kissed John and took a piece of toast as he sailed towards the door. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" John asked.

"Lisa texted. She wants me to walk her to school. I'm borrowing your coat, Papa!"

"What? No! Why?" Sherlock dropped the paper.

"Lisa said I look hot in it!" And Hamish was out the door.

Sherlock huffed and shook his newspaper back into view as John poured him another cup of tea. "Who's this Lisa girl? And when else did he steal my coat for her to see him in it?"

John just shrugged. "You're the reason he's such a lady magnet, though."

Sherlock raised an eyebrow over his paper. "Me?"

John pulled the hair back from his love's forehead to plant a kiss there, setting a new cup of tea on the table. "Yes. You need a haircut, by the way."

Sherlock scoffed, then smiled into his tea mug at John's comment and affection. "That kid's big. Too tall."

"You're just mad that you're no longer the tallest thing in this house."

"I don't like it."

John rolled his eyes. "Well, he sure as hell didn't get that from me."

******

Hamish placed the books neatly in his locker, organizing them by when he had them in the day, and placed the sack lunch that Mrs. Hudson made him (a tradition for his first day of school) on the second shelf of the locker. "I can't wait for sixth block today." He said with a smile.

"I'll bet. You've been looking forward to that class all summer." Lisa pulled his sixth block textbook out of his locker. "Honors Chemistry Three. As a second year? You're nuts."

Hamish shrugged. "One of my dads is a chemist, what'd you expect?" He shut the locker and brushed a strand of blond hair from Lisa's face.

She smiled and lifted herself onto her tiptoes to brush a kiss on his lips, but before she could, a water balloon exploded across Hamish's back. And another slammed into his front when he turned around. "Make a deduction about this, loser!" Chase called, throwing another balloon into the tall boy's face. "Let me guess, you didn't see that balloon, you 'observed' it." The rugby player sneered.

Lisa practically screamed across the hall, "Leave him alone! You're just mad he's smart and won't do your homework!"

"Oh do shut up, Farley." Janet scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. "You know, Chase, my mom says kids like Hamish shouldn't be allowed to exist. Being the son of a societal disgrace and all."

"Oh yeah," Chase said with a smirk on his face, "I almost forgot. Your the son of the homo detectives." He grabbed Hamish by the scruff of his neck, and three other kids helped push him down the hall.

"Hamish!" Lisa called out, before being pushed into the lockers by Janet.

"Let me go you oversized git! Don't drag me into your mess of 'roid rage and womanizing. Does your girlfriend know you're cheating? That you lied to her last night?" Hamish tried to kick the rugby players off him.

"Why you little liar!" Chase started.

"I'm not a liar and you know it! You're just pissed because you can't figure out how I know."

"See," Janet said as the group stopped in front of an empty locker, and one of the thugs held it open for Chase, "That's the kind of remarks that get you into this mess, Hamish." She spit his name with acid dripping from each syllable. Chase then stuffed Hamish into the locker; he barely fit and had to be folded to get him all the way in. "We're just trying to help." They shut the door. "Freak."

The bullies then left Hamish in the darkness of the tiny locker, where he spent half of the next class before Lisa finally found him and managed to get the door open. Hamish slowly unfolded himself into the hallway, then stood there in silence, looking at his feet. "How much longer is this going to go on, Hal?" Lisa asked, placing a concerned hand on his arm. "They've been at it for almost three years now. Not Chase and the rugby team, exactly, but it's always someone."

Hamish whispered to the floor, "Please don't tell anyone." Lisa started to protest, but saw the tears start to form in his eyes. "Especially not my dads. They'd be angry. And the last time someone hurt someone Papa cares about, he threw them out a window. More than once."

"I'd actually love to see your Papa throw Chase out a window. He deserves it, by the way." Lisa frowned and out her arms around Hamish. "Please just do something about this. Tell someone." Hamish returned the hug and put his chin on the top of her head, remaining silent. "They could hurt you next time."