Work Text:
“Mr. Holmes, are you in a relationship?”
…
This is not how Sherlock imagined starting his week.
It’s a little before 9, on a typical Monday morning, and Sherlock has just arrived at the lecture hall to start his first lesson for the day.
He is wearing a fancier shirt than usual, one that William gifted him a few days ago, telling him he would look good in it. So, even if it’s not exactly his style, Sherlock wore it because he is quite incapable of refusing anything his boyfriend asks him to do, especially when he uses that voice… He is but a weak man.
There are only a few students here right now, having quiet conversations with each other. Sherlock greeted them when he walked in, but he didn’t expect any of them to actually try to start a conversation with him this early in the morning while all of them, including himself, look like they would rather be wrapped around their blankets than in a university hall learning organic chemistry.
So, to say the least, the question is unexpected. Sherlock stares at the guy who asked him for a good five seconds in surprise before scolding his face into a neutral expression and replying, “I don’t believe this is related to our course.”
The student doesn’t seem particularly bothered by the dry response, shrugging in resignation and turning back to his friends. Sherlock is almost sure he hears him say, “At least I tried.”
He tries not to think about it.
Sherlock really loves his job. He enjoys teaching, and learning new things himself. He likes when his students are actually interested in his courses and ask him questions. He is always more than happy to help. Sherlock wants to believe that his students feel comfortable around him and don’t hesitate to talk to him about anything, even if it’s unrelated to the lesson. This is probably why this particular student felt brave enough to ask him this kind of question. It’s not even the first time that he has been asked something like this.
But, well, it is the first time that he has been asked this question while actually being in a relationship. He would normally make a joke and discreetly change the subject, but this time he panicked a little too much to be able to do that.
It’s not like it would be weird for him to be honest and admit that he is dating someone. His students wouldn’t have a way to know who it is if he didn’t tell them himself. But still, they could start making assumptions and eventually put two and two together. The university doesn’t have a say in which people he chooses to date, but Sherlock can’t assume that William would want this to be public knowledge considering how he likes to keep his professional image for the most part. Better safe than sorry.
After the lecture ends, Sherlock makes his way to William’s office since they both happen to have some free time at this time of the day. Right as he is about to knock on the door, he hears some giggling and turns to see two female students trying to look as disinterested in him as possible even if it doesn’t take a genius to realize that he was the object of their entertainment. He shakes his head and turns back to knock on the door, trying to remember if he was as nosy when he was a student back in the day.
That train of thought quickly gets left behind once he is inside his boyfriend’s office and gets a lapful of him the moment he sits down on the chair by his desk. Damn those students and their gossip.
“How was your first lecture?” William asks a few minutes later, having moved to sit on the chair across from him. For two people in an established relationship, they sure love to act like their meetings at each other’s office is the only chance they get to kiss each other. Sherlock doesn’t know if this enthusiasm will ever die out.
“Like usual,” he replies, choosing not to mention that question at the beginning of the day. “Your article going well?”
William’s first lecture of the day isn’t until noon, but whenever he manages to wake up early enough he comes to the university to start working on one thing or another. Today Sherlock knows that the other man wanted to start writing the final draft of the latest scientific article he has been working on. No matter how much he pays attention to what his boyfriend says, Sherlock can’t for the life of him remember what exactly it is about; though he is certain it is something he is not qualified to read.
“Well, I only got here about half an hour ago so I haven’t done much yet,” William admits, hiding a yawn behind his hand.
A smile makes his way to Sherlock’s face. There is nothing that William dislikes more than having to wake up early, despite being forced to do exactly that almost daily due to his job. Still, Sherlock knows that he has been trying for his sake to get his work done during actual working hours so they can spend time together afterwards. The sacrifice is certainly appreciated.
“Should I leave you to it then?” he asks. He still has 40 minutes to spare before he has to go to his next class, but he doesn’t want to delay William’s work.
“I would love for you to stay but your presence is a little distracting.” William leans forward to give him a brief kiss. “We can still meet for lunch before your lab though.”
“That’s cool with me,” Sherlock mumbles, chasing William’s lips for one last kiss before he has to leave.
The two of them take their lunch break together as planned, sitting outside on the table where they had their first real conversation last semester despite the relatively cold weather. Few students are brave enough to be sitting outside, a majority of them smokers most likely used to freezing their ass off in order to get their dose of nicotine. Sherlock can certainly relate.
Despite William being the one who suggested eating outside, Sherlock notices him trying to stop himself from trembling.
“Do you want me to go grab your coat?” he asks, lightly kicking his foot underneath the table. William tends to forget to carry it with him.
“No, thank you, it’s fine. Your lab starts soon, doesn’t it?”
Sherlock stayed behind to answer some questions after class so his lunch break got reduced to almost half. He knows that William will keep refusing if he insists, so he settles for another tactic. He gets up, gets his own coat off and walks behind William to hang it over his shoulders.
“Sherly, you’ll be the one who’s cold now,” William tries to protest despite looking visibly grateful for the extra layer.
“Your presence here is enough to warm me,” Sherlock risks to say, smiling at the eyeroll William inevitably sends his way. He barely registers the sound of giggling in the background, too busy staring at the sight of his boyfriend wrapped up in his coat.
When the time comes for him to go back to work, he forgets to take it back.
“Don’t forget to email me your excel document with the results,” Sherlock reminds his students as he opens the door of the lab, getting a couple of tired yes’es as a response. He goes back to gathering his stuff as most of them start leaving, replying to their goodbyes without looking up.
“Have a nice — oh hello Mr Moriarty.”
That sure catches his attention. He looks up to see William standing at the door, holding the coat that Sherlock had forgotten in his arms.
“Hello,” William addresses the student before turning to look at Sherlock. “You forgot this.” He motions to the coat. “It’s cold outside. I waited for you to finish so I can give it to you.” Normally William has already gone home by this time on Mondays and the two of them meet for dinner at a little restaurant near William’s house later in the evening.
Sherlock chooses to ignore the curious glances the few students who haven’t left give them in order to take the coat from William.
“Thanks Liam, do you want me to give you a ride?”
“Oh he sure would.” Sherlock hears one of the students whisper and barely manages to not turn around and glare at him. It would only fuel the rumors; he has to stay professional. (Do young people these days not even know how to be discreet??)
“If you can, thank you. I’ll wait for you at the entrance,” William replies, not seeming affected by their small but curious audience. Sherlock stares at him for a few seconds as he starts walking away, his trace only broken when the student standing next to the boy he is sure was the one who whispered before asks, “I’ve seen you and Mr Moriarty come and leave in the same car a few times before, are you two close?”
…
Maybe teaching was a wrong career choice. Sherlock really wants to strangle a 20 year old right now.
“Have you ever heard of carpooling?” is the only kid- friendly answer he can master.
The week passes quickly. Sherlock tries his best to avoid thinking about any rumors surrounding his relationship with William, staying busy with his work. He doesn’t visit William’s office or classes as much as he usually does, but if William notices, he doesn’t mention it, perhaps grateful for the lack of distractions allowing him to focus on his article. It’s not until Friday that another significant incident happens.
A light rain begins to fall as Sherlock enters the building after going outside for a smoke. It’s late enough in the day that there aren’t many students around, so he doesn’t think twice before starting to walk towards William’s office. He knocks on the door and calls his boyfriend’s name, but no reply comes. The door is locked. He considers whether William could have biked home early, before remembering that he was the one who drove him here today. Assuming that William is most likely in the bathroom, Sherlock uses the key that his partner has given him to unlock the door and let himself inside.
His theory gets supported by the sight of William’s bag and coat still in the office, along with some papers scattered on the desk. Sherlock makes himself comfortable in William’s chair and takes his phone out to finally reply to John’s texts he has been ignoring all day. Why the hell does his friend think he is the best person to ask about the best places to propose? He is in the middle of typing exactly that when he hears two sets of footsteps approaching followed by the sound of a key entering the lock.
“Oh, did I forget to lock the door?”
There is no time between Sherlock’s realization that William isn’t alone and the door opening for him to move from the desk chair. The student following William inside fails to hide his utter surprise at seeing him there. Sherlock, unfortunately, recognizes him as one of the students that were on the lab team he was responsible for last semester.
“Sherly.”
“Mr Holmes.”
The two of them say at the same time.
Sherlock allows himself one second of panic before he enters his bullshitting mode.
“Liam, I was coming to give you those papers you asked me for and the door was unlocked so I decided to wait here, sorry about that,” he says with an apologetic smile, pretending he is sorting the few papers that were already on the desk before moving to get up and handing them to the other man.
“Oh thank you, it’s quite alright,” William replies, taking the papers from him with an amused smile that the student can’t see from this angle. “Richard wanted help with one of the assignments.” He points to the young man still standing awkwardly next to the open door.
“Right. Well, have fun. I’ll get back to my own work. Have a nice weekend.”
What , William mouths at him, still looking very entertained by the situation. Sherlock waits until the student moves further inside and isn’t facing him anymore to give a quick wink to William before leaving.
Well, that could have gone worse.
“You’re planning to spend your weekend without me?” William asks after giving him a peck on the lips when he comes by his office later.
“Never,” Sherlock promises, pulling him back for a proper kiss. “Though do we really have to have dinner with Louis tomorrow?” he can’t help but complain. It’s not that he doesn’t like William’s brother, it’s that Louis doesn’t like him and doesn’t try to hide it.
William moves to rest his forehead on Sherlock’s shoulder before replying, “He will grow to like you if he gets to know you better.”
“I feel like he likes me less and less the more he gets to know me,” Sherlock barely finds it in himself to reply as his boyfriend’s arms wrap around him and he feels him relax against him. William only laughs and gives a soft kiss to the exposed skin on his neck.
William is in the middle of explaining the solution to one of the assignments he assigned last week when his phone starts ringing with an incoming call.
“I apologize, I must have forgotten to put it on silent,” he tells his students before taking his phone out of his pocket to do exactly that, thinking that he will get back to whoever is calling him after class ends. The ‘Sherly’ on his screen makes him pause. Sherlock knows his schedule as well as he knows his own; he wouldn’t call him in the middle of class if there wasn’t an emergency, would he? Besides he is sick at home today, perhaps he has gotten worse.
“Please excuse me, I have to take this.” He accepts the call and walks towards the door of the lecture hall but doesn’t bother to go outside. “Sherly, what is it?”
“Liammm,” Sherlock groans over the line.
“What happened? Are you alright? Do you need me to come home?” William asks frantically. Sherlock’s fever wasn’t that high when he left earlier in the morning but it could have gotten worse by now.
“I’m fine. Well, as fine one can be while sick. Can you get me some ramen on your way back? I’ve been craving it.”
…
William’s stress gets replaced by irritation, quickly followed by faint amusement.
“Is that why you called?” he can’t help but ask.
“Yeah? It’s my last wish before I inevitably succumb to my illness, please bring it to me.” Sherlock sounds totally serious as he says this but William knows him enough to recognize he is just being dramatic.
“I will, but I’m in the middle of class now, so — ”
“Oh shit. It’s not 2 yet?” Sherlock sounds genuinely surprised by this fact.
“It’s not.” William laughs. “I’ll be done in 20 minutes, alright? Try to stay alive until I get home.”
After saying goodbye, William turns to make his way back to the board, overhearing the conversation from the students in the first rows.
“Who’s Sally?”
“He didn’t say Sally, he said Sheryl.”
“I heard Sherilyn.”
“You should get your ears checked.”
William lightly clears his throat, trying to get everyone’s attention back.
“So, as I was explaining, here you can see how…”
After the lecture ends, William hurries to gather his stuff in order to go buy the ramen his boyfriend asked for as soon as possible. Not that he would die if he has to wait more time, but William can admit to himself that he finds it endearing how needy Sherlock becomes when he is sick.
“Mr Moriarty.” A female student tries to get his attention.
“Hmm?” He finishes zipping his bag and turns to look at her, hoping that she doesn’t have a complicated question to ask that he will feel bad for denying her an answer to.
“I was wondering… Are you married?” she asks boldly. There are a few students left inside the lecture hall whose interest seems to be piqued.
“Married? No,” William replies nonchalantly. As a relatively young professor he has gotten used to questions like this. Young minds are curious about many things; often not related to mathematics.
“Oh, I see. Just in a relationship then?” The young lady is clearly not held back by any feelings of embarrassment.
“Yes. I’d say it’s a little early for marriage, we have only been together for a few months,” he replies honestly. He can easily imagine getting married to Sherlock one day, but he is responsible enough to not think seriously about doing that before at least their one year anniversary.
“Well, true, if it’s like that,” she replies seriously, nodding her head. William is amused by her investment in his relationship. “I won’t keep you away from her any longer, thank you for today!”
The girl turns to leave before William can think about correcting her on the pronouns of his partner.
“ Her ?” He hears the faint voice of another student. “Ten quid it’s a him .”
Despite Sherlock’s complaints about how his friend is rushing into things, John and Mary choose to marry just a few weeks after their engagement, not finding any reason to wait longer. William has always found weddings unnecessary tiring, but he is looking forward to this one. The couple wasn’t interested in planning anything elaborate and the guest list is relatively short, so William thinks it will be fun to go as Sherlock’s plus one. John has even asked him to come along with him and Sherlock during some best man related outings because according to him, he has better taste than Sherlock.
The planning goes smoothly. William picks Sherlock’s suit for him and makes sure to tame his hair appropriately when the day comes. He isn’t really familiar with any of John’s and Mary’s friends apart from Miss Hudson, so he finds an empty seat next to her to sit during the ceremony while Sherlock is standing by John’s side. As much as he enjoys seeing the happy couple tie the knot, he is happy to get Sherlock back to himself for the most part at the reception afterwards.
John and Mary are doing rounds talking to people when their table gets approached by a young man who William thinks he may or may not have seen before.
“Hello!” The boy greets them enthusiastically.
“Henry? What are you doing here?” Sherlock asks before William can question who it is.
“My older sister is Mary’s childhood friend, I’ve known her since I was a kid! She mentioned something about Dr Watson’s friend who is a professor being his best man but I hadn’t connected the dots until I saw you at the ceremony!”
“Huh, small world,” Sherlock replies awkwardly.
“Mr Moriarty, are you Dr Watson’s friend too?” the young man turns to address him now.
William isn’t sure if Sherlock would be okay with him telling the truth considering how awkward he always gets when students seem to question their relationship, so he goes for a diplomatic answer. “I am, yes. We met through Sherlock.”
“Oh cool, cool,” the boy nods enthusiastically. William has to wonder if he has spent any time by the bar in the past hour or if this is his natural state. “Well, I’ll let you enjoy your time! See you in the lab on Monday, Mr Holmes!”
Sherlock waits until the student is far away to turn to speak to him. “Gosh, these little devils are everywhere.” William lets out a chuckle and rests his hand on Sherlock’s knee under the table.
“Do you mind if he realizes I’m your plus one?” he asks after a moment of thought. He has been wondering for a while if he should address this. He doesn’t mind if Sherlock wants to keep their relationship strictly professional while they are at the university (at least while they are not alone), but he also knows that there have been rumors about them since probably before they even got together. They don’t necessarily have to confirm or deny those rumors, but William wants to know what he can and can’t say. (He’s been told before that he tends to overshare with his students.)
“Do you?” Sherlock turns the question back at him.
“I don’t mind,” William replies honestly. Although he doesn’t know Henry personally to judge if he is going to gossip about this or not, he doesn’t really care about it.
Sherlock looks surprised by his answer. “I thought you would.”
William stares at him in confusion. He doesn’t think he has ever attempted to be particularly discreet at the university about him and Sherlock having a close relationship.
“You really don’t?” Sherlock asks when a few seconds pass without William speaking.
“No, I don’t care about whatever rumors are going around about me,” he finally finds himself saying. “If you do, I can try to be more cautious at the university.” The clarification seems necessary. Sherlock has always been so unapologetically himself that William hadn’t considered before that he would worry about his reputation.
“No, no, I don’t,” his boyfriend says hurryingly. “Not if you don’t either.”
“I really don’t. I’ve mentioned that I’m gay in class at least once eitherway.”
Sherlock chuckles, amused. “How did that even come up?”
“I think we were talking about Alan Turing, it seemed appropriate.” William joins Sherlock in his laughter.
“What?” Sherlock raises an eyebrow. “Were you trying to make a point about how all mathematicians are gay or something?”
“That’s what my next research is going to be about actually,” William tries to say as seriously as he can.
“That may be your first research I’m gonna be able to understand then!”
It happens on a Monday morning.
“Mr Moriarty, are you in a relationship?”
The new academic year began only a few weeks ago. The student who is asking him is in her first semester here, so William assumes she mustn’t have heard the rumors yet. It used to be quite a popular topic the previous semester, but after some time the students found more interesting gossip to entertain themselves with than their professors’ love life.
“I am, yes,” he tells her. The previous quiet chatter in the classroom has died down despite the lecture not having started yet.
“Ohh nice. I was thinking you might be one of the few professors here who aren’t married.”
“Hmm I’m not, that’s true. Though Mr Holmes isn’t married either.” William barely manages to suppress a wicked smile from appearing on his face.
“Mr Holmes? Is he that other young professor who teaches chemistry?” The girl questions curiously.
“That’s him, yes. I’ve told him he can’t propose before our one year anniversary.”
Delighted gasps can be heard in the classroom, along with some not so quiet whispers.
“I knew it!”
“Dude, see? I told you he was fruity!”
“What’s up with all math teachers being gay?”
“One of us!”
“So that means I can’t hit on Mr Holmes, damn.”
William allows them to have their fun for a few moments before he decides that is time to start the class.
Sherlock finds the story hilarious when William recounts it later. Although they have stopped all efforts of trying to hide their relationship at work (well, besides keeping any PDA for behind closed doors), Sherlock still refrains from replying to any curious students who are brave enough to ask him about his relationship status. William on the other hand, now that he has the okay, doesn’t lose an opportunity to talk about his partner. His audience is always willing after all. Which student doesn’t love stories that will give them a break from math?
When the two of them actually get married a year later, William's students are the first to know.