Warnings: This drabble features at some point; Nightmares, depression, anxiety, john not eating properly, mentions of reichenbach, john suffering the aftermath of the reichenbach falls.

He lost track of every time he woke up in the apartment thinking Sherlock was still alive and he was just in the other room--that this was all just a ploy; a ruse to fake his own death.

John didn't know how much more he could take. He missed Sherlock. It had been six months since the incident. He hadn't seen nor heard one word of the possibility of Sherlock being alive.

It's not as though Sherlock and John were the best of friends. In fact they hardly ever agreed on anything and at times John thought Sherlock was certifiably insane.

Mrs. Hudson became steadily concerned for John. He hadn't been eating hardly anything. The little he ate were scraps. John's weight had decreased. He had bags under his eyes. The nightmares he had--replaying over and over in his head of Sherlock falling to his death. They plagued him. He didn't speak when spoken to. He was a shell. An empty shell.

Six months since his ruse to fake his own death; Sherlock has been in hiding. He didn't want to hide. But it was for their safety.

Moriarty was exceptionally-wicked clever. If Sherlock made one move in the public eye; Moriarty would know about it and kill both John and Mrs. Hudson.

Sherlock had to see John though. He knew John wasn't in good health. Sherlock caught glimpses of John as he went about his daily routine albeit with less enthusiasm.

Sherlock wanted to reassure John that he was alive. He didn't yet know how he was going to accomplish this.

John lost all motivation to get through each day. He had to. To hold onto a small sliver of hope that Sherlock was still alive. He had to be.

John woke up earlier than he usually does on a tuesday. He went to go check his blog--John noticed one of Sherlock's scarves had moved and were placed right next to his laptop. How could that be? Had Mrs. Hudson moved things? John knew for a fact he had not touched any of Sherlock's things. It was hard enough seeing Sherlock's things around the apartment. Could it be? Is it possible?

As John walked away from the laptop, he noticed another scarf laying halfhazardly on the floor. What is happening?

A note lay attached to the scarf. It said: "Lay low for a little while longer. -SH".

Out of the corner of his eye John saw a retreating back of what he could only assume was Sherlock. How did he survive? Why? Why was he in hiding for so long? What was the reason for all of this?