Kiss Away The Pain (Teenlock) Chapter 17

WARNING: This story will contain mature themes including swearing, male on male sexual encounters, and violence. If you aren't comfortable with any of these things, please don't read. Thank you!!

Author's Note at the bottom.

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The week went by quickly, even though John was by himself at school for the entirety of it. But he was in a great mood. His father had calculated that they would have more than double the money that he had been making with the two old jobs combined, and when John mentioned that Sherlock's birthday was coming, he spotted him a bit of money to get him something.

He had gone to the store and picked something that he really hoped that Sherlock would like. On Friday, John went home after school to try to find something decent to wear that night.

Sherlock was able to get his stitches removed that Wednesday, just in time for his wound to start closing up completely. He was glad for that, because he had so much planned for John and he wanted to be able to enjoy it fully without worrying about tearing his wound back open.

He arranged for a suit to be brought to John's flat. He decided on a nice periwinkle coloured tie, knowing it would bring out the blue in John's eyes. Sherlock's own suit was made in the same way as John's, but he had a deep purple tie instead. After he finished adjusting himself, he smiled and walked out the door to the limo his parents had arranged to go pick up John and take them to the castle (yes, castle) where they were having Sherlock's party.

John heard a knock at the door and went to open it, finding a man standing with a garment bag. "Um, hello?"

"Your suit, Mr. Watson," the man said, handing it over to him. "Hand-selected by your fiance."

"Oh. Thanks," John took the bag with a little confusion. Sherlock hadn't told him that he was going to pick something for him to wear. But he supposed it was just as well. After all, he really didn't have anything of his own. "Uh, am I supposed to tip you or..."

The man smiled. "That won't be necessary. But please do hurry to change as Master Holmes will be here soon."

"Yeah. Of course, thank you." John took the suit up to his room and changed. It fit him perfectly, and John wondered if Sherlock had had it tailored for him. Probably. He adjusted his cuffs and fixed his tie before trying to do something with his hair, but it just insisted on laying flat on his head. With a sigh, he went to the living room to wait.

Sherlock shook his leg impatiently on the whole ride to John's flat, checking his watch every few seconds. When they finally arrived he allowed the driver to open the door for him and stepped out, brushing the wrinkles out of the front of his suit jacket. He made his way up the stairs and took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

John made sure that he had everything in order. His gift to Sherlock was wrapped nicely, he had his mobile in his jacket pocket, and he had polished his engagement ring so that 'The Girl' would see it easily and know that Sherlock was his. He heard the knock and nearly jumped to the door, opening it to find Sherlock there in his suit. And his mouth dropped open a little.

Sherlock's suit was cut just for him, and it accented the best features of his body perfectly. The purple of the tie contrasted beautifully with the pale skin of his long neck, and John licked his lips. "If we didn't have somewhere to be, I would rip that suit off of you and fuck you senseless."

Sherlock smiled and looked his fiancé up and down, "I have to say the feeling is mutual." The tie accented John's eyes perfectly, just like Sherlock knew it would, and it almost made them sparkle. "We'll have plenty of time for that after the party." He held his arm out for John to take and grinned brightly at him.

John smirked and took the offered arm, kissing Sherlock on the cheek. "Happy Birthday, love," he said and handed the gift over to him.

Sherlock blushed as John kissed his cheek and took the gift from his fiancé. "John... I told you not to make a fuss," he murmured and smiled down at him. He led the other boy down the stairs and to the limo where the driver was waiting to open the door for them.

John shrugged, letting the man open the door for him and sliding into the limo. "I know you did. But how could I not get my fiance a gift for his eighteenth birthday?" He looked around the interior of the limo, more than a little impressed. The seats were soft leather, there was a small fridge near their feet, and music was playing low in surround sound.

Sherlock sat the gift down on the seat beside him and pulled John next to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and kissing him. "Thank you, love," he murmured and smiled. "I'll open it in a little bit, but first..." he reached down into the mini fridge and grabbed a bottle of champagne and two chilled glasses. He handed the glasses to John and worked on popping the bottle open.

John held the glasses in his hands and raised an eyebrow as he watched Sherlock open the bottle. "Pulling out all the stops, eh?" he said with a smirk. This was probably the most fancy occasion that he had ever been to before. He certainly had never had champagne before. And suddenly he was nervous.

The people at the party would have to all be in the same social class as Sherlock's family. What if they could tell that he was average, only just coming out of being poor? What would they say? Would they laugh him out of the room? He tried not to let his feelings show as he waited for Sherlock to pour the drink.

Sherlock smiled, "yes, my parents wanted us to enjoy ourselves. Hence the fancy limo, champagne and the venue of course..." He started to pour the champagne but caught the look on John's face.

"Hey... you have nothing to worry about, okay? Everyone that will be at the party have no reason to mock you. If they do, I'll stand up for you." He smiled reassuringly at his fiance and poured the champagne, putting the cork back in and setting the bottle aside before taking one of the glasses from John.

John looked up at Sherlock and sighed. He could read him so easily. "I know you will. I just..." He bit his lip before continuing. "I won't feel like I belong there. It's a totally different world from what I'm used to, and I feel like I'll stick out like a sore thumb." He looked down into his champagne, watching the tiny bubbles rise to the surface and pop.

Sherlock smiled sadly at John, "In case you've forgotten, love... I don't fit in with them either. All these people... they might as well have been forced to come. They could care less that it's a party for me. They all think I'm a freak and are just there to make themselves look good. The only difference about this year... Is that I have you. You're the first one to make me feel like I belong. That I am a perfectly fine person to be and that I don't have to fit in." He looked deeply into John's eyes and smiled after he finished speaking, hoping that he said enough to squash his fears.

"Sherlock..." John leaned over into his side and grabbed his empty hand with his own. "I'm sure that there are at least some people at the party who want to be there for you. But I'm very glad that I can make you feel like you belong." He tilted his head up to kiss under Sherlock's jaw, feeling better. "Thank you. You always know just what to say." Sitting up, he raised his glass and smiled at Sherlock. "A toast, to my gorgeous, intelligent, perfect fiance on his eighteenth birthday. May there be many more to come."

Sherlock smiled gratefully at John and clinked their glasses together. He raised his glass to his lips and taking a sip. The driver turned to let them know they would be arriving soon and Sherlock took another drink and sat his glass in the holder in front of him. "Ready?" he said and smiled at John, grasping his hand and squeezing.

John took a wary sip and then made a face. He didn't know why Harry had liked alcohol so much, it was rough to get down. He took another sip just to be polite, glad that they pulled up on to the curb a moment later. He sighed and nodded a little, smiling back at Sherlock. "Yes. I'm ready."

Sherlock helped John as they stepped out of the limo and took his arm. He walked them up to the door and placed his hand on the small of his back as they walked into the reception area. He saw his parents right away and his mother walked over, beaming at them.

"Oh look at you! You both look rather handsome this evening, boys." She hugged them both and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. "They'll be serving the hors d'oeuvres soon, go grab a drink if you like," she gestured towards the bar on the far side of the room.

John was glad that Sherlock would be staying close to him because the moment he stepped out of the limo he was in awe. They were at a castle, a real castle! He shouldn't have been that surprised really considering that Sherlock's house was already like a castle on the inside. But not on the outside, not like this.

He shook his head in disbelief as they walked inside. At least from here it didn't look like anything but a really fancy catering hall. He smiled seeing Mr. and Mrs. Holmes and returned the latter's embrace. John eyed the bar for a moment. He'd have to see if they had anything virgin.

"Thanks mum," Sherlock said as his mother walked away to greet some other guests that had just arrived. He looked around at the other people, not seeing Irene among them, but she would most certainly be here soon. He guided John to the bar and sat down on one of the stools. "So, what would you like, love? I'm not much of a drinker myself, I've only ever had champagne and wine."

John sat down next to Sherlock, resting his arms on the bar. "I don't know. I guess seltzer water is fine for me. I try to avoid drinking." He hadn't mentioned much about Harry to Sherlock so far, but now wasn't the time. He didn't want to spoil the mood with stories of his sister's descent into alcoholism.

Sherlock nodded and gave the bartender his order, deciding on getting the same thing as John. He took a sip of his drink and looked out over the crowd again, almost choking on his drink when he saw her. He ducked his head behind his fiance, hoping to be able to hide from her as long as possible.

John looked over to Sherlock when he heard him choking, and then followed his gaze. There near the door was a girl, rather pale with dark hair done up in a bun and wearing a ruby-red dress that looked almost like it was painted on her skin. He knew instantly that that must have been Irene. With a scowl, he wrapped an arm around Sherlock's waist, grip tight on his hip.

Sherlock hid his face in John's shoulder and closed his eyes, jumping at a touch to his shoulder. "Hello, Sherlock!" Sherlock sighed and lifted his head, turning around slowly. "Hello, Irene," he grumbled and plastered on a smile. "Who's your friend?" She said and looked John up and down, nose turned up.

John took a deep breath, trying hard not to bark at her to leave. Swiveling his stool around he grabbed Sherlock's hand while at the same time putting his free one out to shake Irene's. The hand with the ring of course. "John Watson," he said with an overly-bright smile. "Fiance is the correct term actually." He couldn't help lifting his chin a little in pride at his ability to use the word, especially to deter this girl from touching his Sherlock.

Sherlock smiled and blushed as John introduced himself. That's my man, he thought and chuckled to himself. "Oh... well... it's very nice to meet you, John," Irene said, obviously thrown off. She smiled seductively at Sherlock, "I thought you weren't even interested in a relationship, Sherlock," she cooed. Sherlock sighed, "I wasn't... but then I met John and we just instantly clicked." He smiled at his fiance and leaned in to peck him on the cheek.

John leaned as far over as he could towards Sherlock, a bit of a smug look on his face. "Yup. It was meant to be. I didn't even like boys before I met Sherlock." He smiled over at the other boy before looking back at Irene. He didn't like that expression on her face.

Irene raised an eyebrow, "oh really? What made you change your mind so quickly? You're only what... 17? You've hardly seen enough girls to make such an important decision." She smiled and cocked her head to the side.

John licked his lips a bit nervously. "Well, I never said that I only like boys. I still see appeal in girls," he admitted, hoping Sherlock wouldn't take it the wrong way. Then he added with more confidence, "Sherlock is very special, though. It wouldn't matter if he were a girl or a boy, I would still love him the same."

Sherlock frowned when he heard what John said, but felt marginally better when he said that he loved him no matter what. Irene smirked, "interesting..." she looked back and forth between the two boys and walked off, swaying her hips a little.

John glared at her back as he left, ignoring her little extra movements as he was sure that she was trying to goad him. He turned back to Sherlock and sighed. "Well. I can see why you're so annoyed by her. And she wasn't even trying to come on to me."

Sherlock hummed in acknowledgement and turned around, going back to his drink. He couldn't help but feel a pit of hurt in his stomach as he thought over what John had said about still being attracted to girls.

John frowned, trying to look Sherlock in the face. "Hey, what is it?" He could see that something was bothering him, and he could only guess that it was what he had said. "Oh, Sherlock, come on. I can't help that I'm not completely gay. But just because I may still think girls are attractive doesn't mean that I'm going to go off and shag them."

He turned Sherlock's face to look him in the eyes. "I love you, and only you. You're the only person I want to be with, ever. And not even the prettiest girl in the world could change that."

Sherlock smiled sadly, "doesn't mean she won't try to..." Just then his mother announced that the dining area was open and he stood to follow everyone else in, holding his arm out for John again.

John was about to say something when Sherlock's mother came out to bring them into the dining room. He sighed and took Sherlock's arm, giving it an extra squeeze as they went inside.