sherlock lay on the tiled floor of the disgusting restrooms. he slowly sat up and rested against the stall as he caught his breath, pulling the tie loose from his neck. he lifted himself off the floor then looked at himself in the mirror above a sink. there was a gash on his forehead, his cheek bone was cut and his nose was purple and bent out of shape. he looked at his neck where the mark from the tie was, gently rubbing it. he covered the gash on his forehead with his bangs then put his collar up, hiding the mark. he grabbed his bag then left the restroom, keeping his head down as he pushed through people to get out of the building and off campus.

as he was walking home, his phone started ringing so he stopped and dug it out of his bag. "what?" he asked harshly, starting to walk again.

"woah, calm down." john said with a small chuckle.

"i won't calm down."

"sherlock, what's wrong?" john asked calmly.

"nothing. i'm fine."

"hey, babe. take it easy." john said in that tone of voice that he used to calm sherlock down. "i know you're walking, so stop and take a deep breath."

sherlock stopped in his tracks and inhaled deeply, keeping it in for a few seconds before letting out a shakey breath.

"better?" john voice asked.

"i suppose." sherlock responded as he started to walk again.

"now tell me what's wrong."

"it's nothing."

"sherlock i know you. i know something is eating you, so just spill it."

"it's really nothing, john. i'm fine. i can handle it."

"okay." john said, then there was a pause. "can you call tonight?"

"can't. i've got to study."

"what about tomorrow, then?"

"i'm not sure yet."

"okay, we'll, talk to you sometime later." john said then hung up.

sherlock ignored mrs hudson's pesters and went upstairs, dropping his bag then heading to the bathroom. he locked the bathroom door then pulled his hood off his face, pushing his bangs back and keeping them pulled back with a hair clip. he took out the first aid kit and sat on the floor with a mirror as he cleaned out the gash. it was deep, so he gave himself two stitches. he had numbing medicine, so he injected it into his forehead then sewed the gash shut. he cleaned out the cut on his cheek bone then focused on his nose. his body didn't want him to do it, but he put his nose back in place.

instantly he put a cloth to his face and tilted his head forward, looking at the few drops of blood on the floor. he sighed and tugged at his hair. what was he going to tell john?

there was only a month and a half until he got his break. by then his face should be healed. he'll be fine. he'll be able to keep it from john.

he can do it.