Look at Sherlock looking at John. He’s just been arrested by one of the few people he considered a friend, accused of a crime he didn’t do, and essentially buried himself even deeper into that hole of people considering he’s a fake and a serial killing freak by taking John “hostage.” The only thing that’s ever mattered to Sherlock for a long time was people thinking that he was smart and clever, and now everything he’s ever known is crumbling all around him and he doesn’t know what to do. His mind is running a mile a minute and he’s just so lost.

And then John grabs him and you can just tell that, for that moment while he’s talking to him, everything’s just stopped. All there is is John, his one steady constant, and although John isn’t saying it, his whole body language with the nodding of his head and looking Sherlock right in the eyes is that he’s trying to calm him down and tell him that everything’s all right. And Sherlock so desperately needs it to be all right that he’s hanging on every word John says, his eyes flicking all over John’s face. You can tell how his face just gradually softens from the almost manic expression in the first gif. While John does need Sherlock, Sherlock needs the other man just as much.

This