Disclaimer: I do not own BBC Sherlock. Obviously.

Annabelle's POV

Funnily enough, John and I met five months ago in the most unexpected and awkward of ways: a blind date. To this day, we still have a good laugh about that. A friend of his from work had met me at a party and asked if I wanted to meet her funny, handsome and very single doctor friend John the next night. Figuring I had nothing to lose and always looking forward to meeting new people, I had decided to go.

John WAS funny and handsome, there was no denying that, but halfway through the date, it became very clear that, while we got along extremely well, there simply was no romantic connection between us. At the end of the pleasant but platonic dinner, we laughed it off and told each other, sincerely, that we could be friends. And we did. Very quickly, John and I developed a true friendship. I had just arrived to England, and he was more than happy to show me around London and make me discover all the interesting places. Life in England had definitely taken a great turn.

John and I had been close friends for a while, but somehow, I had never met his best friend and flatmate. Back then, when we saw each other, we usually liked to go out, or we hung out at my flat. The few times John invited me over to Baker Street, Sherlock was not home, and I strongly suspected that John planned it that way for some reason. Still, I knew a lot about the detective, since John always had some great stories to share about their adventures together. I admit that I became very curious and secretly hoped to have a chance to meet the mysterious man one day.

In the end, I ended up meeting Sherlock at John's birthday party.

John had kindly invited me, and I decided to go even though I knew literally none of his other friends.

"Don't worry, they're very nice, I'm sure you'll get along just fine" he assured me.

The party was at John and Sherlock's flat. When I arrived at 221B Baker Street, I just opened the door and went up the stairs, since John had told everyone to just come in since he probably wouldn't hear the guests knocking because of the music. The door upstairs had been left open, so I slowly entered the flat, my eyes scanning the room to find John amongst the dozen of people that were already there. I found him standing in the corner of the room talking to two men, drink in hand. I made my way across the room and taped him on the shoulder.

"Anna, hi! He beamed, leaning in to give me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hi John, happy birthday! " I smiled.

"Ta! Mike, Greg, this is my friend Annabelle. Annabelle, Mike Standford and Greg Lestrade. " John said.

"Hi, nice to meet you! " Greg smiled, and I smiled back, while Mike nodded politely.

For the next hour I talked and had a drink with John and the guys. I was introduced to a lot of people, including Molly, with whom I instantly got along, John's sister Harry, who John constantly kept an eye on, and Mary, the girl that John was secretly hoping to date.

It didn't occur to me that I had not yet seen John's flatmate Sherlock. It was only later, after two glasses of margarita, that I noticed for the first time a tall, thin man with dark curls, wearing a purple shirt and black trousers, sitting in a chair and typing on his cellphone, looking utterly bored. I raised my eyebrows and turned towards John.

"Who's that? " I asked him.

"Who? Ah, that's Sherlock. "

"Oh, right! Well what is he doing? It's a party, why is he sitting down by himself? " I asked, confused.

"Well… Sherlock is not really a people person. " John said, and Greg snorted. "I'm surprised I even managed to convince him to stay, actually. "

I raised my eyebrows and I decided to introduce myself. I walked towards the man, who quickly looked up from his phone when he sensed my presence. Not intimidated at the slightest by his slight frown that was less than welcoming, I made a small wave.

"Hi, I'm Annabelle, John's friend. " I smiled.

"Yes, I know. " he said flatly.

"Oh did you? Funny, considering we've never talked before. " I said with a smirk.

"Well, it wasn't exactly a difficult deduction. " Sherlock said, looking as though he was seriously judging me. "John mentioned earlier that you would be at the party. There are only five women in the room. I already know Molly and Mrs Hudson, so you are obviously not one of them. The blonde girl who is currently drinking her fifth glass of tequila is quite clearly John's alcoholic sister. And John spent the last hour staring and smiling at that blonde girl, evidently in a poor attempt at flirtation. He told me that he recently developed some kind of attraction towards a woman called Mary, so it has to be her. Process of elimination, you have to be Annabelle, it's simple. " he concluded in a monotone voice.

"OK, smartarse. " I laughed, not at all put out. "Still, it's only polite to come say hello. So you're Sherlock, John's flatmate? " I asked, even though I already knew that.

"Yes, obviously. "

"John told me you're not a people person. "

Sherlock only raised his eyebrows.

"And despite that, you still felt the need to come introduce yourself, for some reason. "

"Well, what can I say? It's a party, you shouldn't spend all night sitting by yourself, staring at your phone. And, I must admit, John told me all kinds of stories about you, you seem interesting. " I smiled.

Sherlock rolled his eyes but otherwise seemed oddly flattered by that comment.

"John tends to dramatize, I'm sure you know that. "

"Oh yes. " I laughed. "So, consulting detective, that's an interesting job. John told me that you can just look at people and deduce everything about them. How is that possible? "

"I just observe. It's not difficult, really, everything is obvious if one takes the time to truly observe. " Sherlock said.

I smiled at his answer. Despite his less than friendly attitude, I couldn't help but think that Sherlock was hilarious, in his special way.

"Go on then, show me how simple it is. You don't know me, show me what you can find out about myself. " I asked in a teasing tone, sitting down in the chair next to him.

"I'm afraid I can't. John asked me not to deduce any of the guests because he thinks it would ruin the party. " Sherlock deadpanned.

"I won't tell him if you don't. "

Sherlock smirked and turned to face me properly, leaning a bit forward to scrutinize me with piercing eyes.

"You are in your late twenties. Youngest of two children, you have a brother three years older than you. Originally from Canada, you arrived in London five, no six months ago after you were offered an interesting and high-paying job as a translator. You came to England because you wanted to start fresh after a rather painful break-up. You're the one who left him. You live by yourself in a small flat in downtown London, it's expensive but after what happened you prefer to live alone for the moment, to maintain your independence. Right now your priority is your career, but you are very family-oriented. You play piano, it's one of your favorite hobbies. You also go to the gym two or three times a week, but not because you want to lose weight, you mainly want to stay in shape. You also like to cook, especially desserts. Did I get anything wrong?" Sherlock concluded.

I was speechless. He had made that little speech without taking so much as a breath.

"Wow! " I exclaimed, a big smile forming on my face. "No, you're absolutely right. I don't believe that John would bother telling you all this about me, so you must really have a gift, then. That's impressive! "

"Oh…Thank you. " Sherlock answered, clearly taken aback by my reaction.

"How did you even know I'm a translator? That was very specific. " I couldn't help asking.

"Obvious. You have a very slight accent, so English must not be your native language. I suspect French is considering your name and the fact that you are originally from Canada. However, when you speak English, you do not have to pause to search for words, your vocabulary is vast and your grammar is flawless. Being able to speak a foreign language perfectly and without effort suggests a very strong knowledge, or formal education, in the area of linguistics or languages. Now, what profession would require a linguist to travel to another country? Most likely a translator. " Sherlock explained with a smirk.

I shook my head, amazed. That Sherlock Holmes really was something else. I was about to answer when Greg suddenly came towards us.

"We're about to eat the cake and give John his presents. " he informed us.

I stood up eagerly whereas Sherlock sighed and leaned back in his chair, not giving any indication that he intended to get up.

"Don't you want cake? " I asked him, frowning.

"No. I don't eat until it becomes necessary. " Sherlock said, waving his hand.

I had to laugh incredulously at that.

"Sure, okay. Well, I'm going to get some. See you later Sherlock. Nice meeting you. "

He stared at me for a moment.

"Likewise. " He said, in a slightly confused tone.

I turned around and walked away, feeling his piercing eyes on my back the whole time. I entered the small kitchen where everyone was gathering to get a piece of cake. While I was cutting myself a piece, John suddenly appeared behind me.

"Hey! I saw you talking to Sherlock over there. He didn't say anything mean to you, did he? " he asked, slightly worried.

I burst out laughing.

"No, he was fine. He certainly is an interesting guy. He basically told me my whole life story, it's amazing! " I said before taking a bite of the delicious cake.

"Oh. Well, good. I'm glad it didn't bother you, most people don't like being analyzed like that. " John confessed. "Don't get me wrong, Sherlock is a great guy, but he tends to rub people the wrong way. "

"I can't imagine why. " I sniggered.

After that, the evening went by very quickly. John opened his gifts and, when we got back to the living room, Sherlock was no longer in his chair. I didn't see him for the rest of the party. As I bid John goodbye at the end of the evening, I couldn't help thinking that I really wanted to meet that smart (and yes, very handsome) man again.