First Meeting.

The noise of the playground rang in his ears as he made his way to the slide with a book tucked under his arm. The top of the slide was like a fort and it was his favourite spot. There was a new, bigger slide so the other children didn't bother with this one as much. He liked that.

He climbed up and then sat with his legs swinging over the edge, observing the scene around him. There were children everywhere, screaming, running and smiling together. He felt a pang inside him then but shook his head, he liked to be alone. It was better; he told himself and opened his book. The playground was soon forgotten as he was lost in the imaginary world.

Across the playground a blonde haired boy in a stripy jumper, stopped his game of tag to look at the boy on the slide. 'He looks so... alone'. He thought to himself sadly.

"Tag, you're it!" His friend bumped into him and quickly spun away.

"Who's that boy?" He pointed, the game forgotten.

"No one knows. He's a weirdo anyway." She replied. This made him frown, and he started for the slide. His friends called out to him but he ignored them, they didn't follow. As he climbed up the steps, he noticed that the lonely boy was younger than him, but they were almost the same height. His dark hair was all unruly curls which stuck out at all angles and his eyes were fixed on the pages of the book in his hand.

"Whatcha reading?" The older boy asked lightly, only to be ignored. He sat down next to the strange boy, allowing his legs to swing.

"What's your name?" This time he got a reaction, bright blue eyes flicked up to his face and considered him for a minute, the eyes looked a bit scared. Again there was no reply.

"Well I'm John Watson! Nice to meet you." He held out his hand, the younger boy just looked at it.

"My dad says that's how you should greet someone. Offer them a handshake." John continued as the boy took it slowly.

"My name's Sherlock... Holmes." He mumbled quietly.

"That's a cool name! I've never met a Sherlock before." John smiled at him and Sherlock found himself giving a gappy smile back.

"What book is that?" John asked pointing to the open pages still in Sherlock's hands.

"Treasure Island, it's my favourite." Sherlock admitted. John hadn't heard of it so he changed the subject.

"How old are you? I'm seven and a half! What's your favourite colour? Mines green."

"I'm six, and blue is my favourite colour," Sherlock looked past John then and continued "your friends want you to go play again." John looked round and found they were, indeed being watched.

"Where are your friends?" He asked Sherlock. The younger boys face fell then and he looked down at his book frowning.

"I don't have any." He whispered, almost to himself.

"But you must have! Everybody has friends." John said happily but Sherlock remained quiet.

"Everyone thinks I'm weird." he eventually said.

"Well I don't think you are. You're not weird to me." John offered him another smile.

"I see things differently though." Sherlock admitted, sounding ashamed.

"How?"

Sherlock looked at him, his eyes big and searching.

"I know that's your favourite jumper. It's old and your mum has fixed holes in it before."

John's eyes went wide as Sherlock continued.

"It's very worn, the sleeves are a bit too short. And I can see where it's been sewn again." He reached out and touched one of the repairs near the elbow. Sherlock looked up to see Johns face was shocked.

"I'm sorry!" He snatched his hand away quickly. "Mummy says I shouldn't do that. That's why no one likes me." He looked away then and dropped his hand into his lap, the same sad look which had sparked John's curiosity, spread across his face.

"That's. So. Cool!" John's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He had pulled his jumper round to inspect the repair, sure enough; it was a slightly different colour thread than the rest.

"Can I be your friend?" John asked enthusiastically. Sherlock's face lit up

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, I'd like that." Sherlock nodded.

John grinned at him then and stood up. He took Sherlock's wrist and tugged on him, pulling him to his feet gently.

"Race ya to the swings!" He cried and disappeared down the slide. Sherlock went after him, and then they were running together. John reached the swings first with Sherlock not far behind. They both stood for a moment out of breath then they laughed together.

"I win!" John said happily.

"No fair! You had a head start!" Sherlock protested. John laughed some more.

"Come on, I want you to meet my friends." Sherlock followed him over to a group of two boys and two girls. John introduced them. "Everyone, this is my new friend, Sherlock. He's really cool and he's six and his favourite colour is blue." He said proudly.

He pointed to one of the girls who looked shy. "That's Molly Hooper." she flashed Sherlock a quick smile then looked down, going slightly red. "That's Gregory Lestrade." John continued.

The fair haired boy gave a friendly smile. "Hello!" he said and gave a little wave.

"That's Mike Stamford." Mike gave a small smile. "And that's Sally Donovan" John finished. Sally did not smile at Sherlock but instead just looked at him unhappily; she clearly didn't want any new members added to their group. Especially not one she thought was weird.

Sherlock offered them all a small smile but truthfully he was nervous about meeting new people. He didn't go to the same school and this was the first time anyone had really spoken to him, other than to call him names.

It was then that two boys walked over, one had dark hair and the other was blonde. The blonde boy was a few years older than everyone there and stood behind the darker haired boy looking menacing.

"What's this? Sherlock finally found some friends?"

Everyone knew who it was and knew that he meant trouble. His name was Jim Moriarty or James Moriarty, depending on what day it was, he liked to switch between the two. No one liked him because he was a bully but no one was brave enough to stand up to him, especially not when he had the older boy; Sebastian Moran, there to back him up.

He walked over to Sherlock then, and stared at him coldly. He knocked the book from his hand suddenly and laughed. Sherlock went to pick it up but Jim pushed him over. The curly haired boy fell backwards and landed with a thud. Sally giggled behind him. Sherlock kept his eyes averted, feeling anger build inside him, this wasn't the first time Jim had picked on him.

"You can't have friends." Jim told him. Sherlock stood then and looked like he would hit the boy but he faltered and got shoved back down again, this time he grazed his hands painfully as he caught himself. The anger left him, replaced with sadness suddenly and his eyes began to sting.

"Hey! You leave him alone!" A voice called out and then John was standing over him.

"What are you going to do about it?" Sebastian sneered behind Jim.

"I'm not scared of you! You're nothing but a bully. And my mum says bullies always get what's coming to them." John stood defiantly, his fists clenched.

Jim and Sebastian moved forward but then Gregory joined John and folded his arms, then Molly and Mike were there also. Sally hung back however. They formed a barrier between the bullies and Sherlock, who was still on the ground.

"You mess with him; you mess with all of us. He's our friend." Gregory told them boldly as John helped Sherlock to his feet. The bullies, seeing they were outnumbered, backed away.

"This isn't over." Jim said, pointing at Sherlock as he walked away.

"Don't worry about him, you've got us now." John told him warmly. "Friends stick together." Everyone nodded their agreement and Sherlock grinned happily, it felt good to be accepted.

"Sherlock!" A voice called from across the playground, it was a boy of about fourteen, he didn't look too happy. Sherlock's face fell as he recognised the voice.

"That's my brother. Sorry, I have to go now." He looked a bit flustered and started towards his brother. John called out to him

"Same time tomorrow?" Sherlock turned back with a smile

"Yes! I'll be here."