"You look awful." Said Mrs Holmes with disapproval.
Sherlock scowled at her from beneath is old grey hoodie.
"So..."
"Go and change, we have guests."
The 17 year old was extremely observant and had already noticed that his mother was wearing her expensive pearl necklace but they never had any one over.
"...guests?" He said whilst furrowing his brows.
"Yes, that lovely girl round the corner is coming over for tea."
Sherlock's mother thought anyone was lovely but who lived round the corner? Must be the left side of town as most of the houses on the right side were for sale, his mother would only invite someone she'd encountered before. There had to be a reason she wanted Sherlock to look nice, their parents were obviously coming with them, someone sensible who would be a good influence on him; Molly.
Sherlock Marched up to his room regretfully to get changed.
"Mikey!"
Mycroft sighed heavily "what, mother?!"
"Help me lay the table."
"Mycroft is the name you gave me, if you could possibly struggle to the end-"
"Stop it you! We've got gue-"
There was a buzz at that echoed throughout the large house. One of the servants buzzed the intercom. "Mrs Holmes, your guests have arrived."
"Ah yes, thank you!" She shot her son a piercing look and headed out towards the large black gates to greet the visitors.
"Wanda, hi!"
"Hello Sandra and of course miss Hooper!"
Molly smiled shyly at Mrs Holmes. She could see where Sherlock got his impeccable cheekbones from.
The small girl felt tiny in front of the Holmes' mansion.
As they approached the doors the smell of chicken, roast potatoes and warm gravy wafted beneath their noses. Mrs Holmes had made her famous roast dinner that everyone but Sherlock would eat. He wouldn't really eat anything at all.
They all gathered around the table whilst Wanda served the steamy hot meal. "This looks delicious." Said Sandra cheerfully.
"Oh it's nothing really!" Mrs Holmes said modestly.
They were 10 minutes into the meal when Sherlock trudged downstairs wearing a tight purple shirt and black trousers. "Darling, come and sit down. I've made a roast."
The boy sighed. "why cook when we have 12 servants?" He asked.
Mrs Holmes gave him her classic evil eyes, she wasn't keen on making too much use of the household staff, they were Mr Holmes' idea. Wanda much rathered her sons to grow up in an ordinary environment.
Sherlock Sat opposite Molly whilst Mycroft smirked subtly. "So Sherlock, what career would you like to pursue?" Asked Sandra kindly. The boy looked rather startled as he wasn't used to conversation at the dinner table. Normally there would be an awkward silence and mummy would attempt to ask the siblings about school to fill up the empty space.
"Consulting detective." He said bluntly.
Sandra looked surprised and chuckled quietly. "A consulting detective?"
The boy's lips started to twitch. "yes." He replied through gritted teeth.
Not wanting his brother to become agitated Mycroft changed the subject. "So, Mrs Hooper my mother tells me that you recently got a promotion."
"Well..Yes." Sandra smiled. Sherlock noticed that Molly's 'shy face' closely resembled that of her mother's.
"I offer you my congratulations." Mycroft stated formally. Although both the brothers had learnt to isolate themselves from emotions Mycroft knew how to communicate politely. He was much more experienced at dealing with people than his younger brother.
"Thank you Mike."
Sherlock saw that his brother was heavily concealing the fact that he hated being called anything other than his real name.
Molly had been silent the whole time. When her mother informed her that they had been invited to the Holmes manor her first reaction was joy. Which then evolved into confusion and ended up creating butterflies of nervousness in her stomach.
"Enjoying your tea Molly?" Asked Mrs Holmes with a warm smile. Sherlock cringed inside at his mother attempting conversation with his fellow classmate.
"Yes thank you. It's delightful." Molly replied. She could feel her cheeks starting to burn up. She was so awkward in social situations, especially in front if her crush!
"and how's school going?" Mrs Holmes was oblivious of the girls desire to stay silent.
"Fine...thank you." Molly was bright red now
Sherlock couldn't take it. He tapped his mother's leg using his foot and muttered "stop it mother!" Under his breath.
Once everyone had finished their tea the curly haired boy was expecting them to exit immediately but his mother ushered them all over to the sofa to watch some television and insisted they stay for dessert. Sherlock managed to creep upstairs without anyone noticing, well except Mycroft. The eldest Holmes boy went to clear the table as his mother refused to call the servants.
Molly shuffled over to him. "Sorry to bother you..err...where's the bathroom, please?" She wasn't very skilled at approaching people either.
"First floor, to your left. The blue door." Mycroft replied.
"Right..thank you." Molly made her way upstairs whilst her mum continued to talk with Mrs Holmes.
'First floor, blue door. First floor, blue door. First floor, blue door.' She kept repeating in her head. She noticed the bathroom but there was also another room on the left with the door labelled "Sherlock's" room, no idiots allowed." She smiled at the thought of him making the sign. The girl was half tempted to snoop around but wouldn't dare because there was a good chance he'd be in his room and would question why she was in there. Her mind lost control of her body and she found herself knocking on his bedroom door. She suddenly whipped her hand away and regretted her decision.
"Who Is It?" She heard a deep voice ask. Molly started to panic, should she just walk away or enter the room? This is stupid just tell him you're there! she thought.
"It's me...Molly." Sherlock was surprised to hear the timid voice, he thought it'd be mummy demanding he go back downstairs to socialize.
"Oh..come in." The girls eyes opened wide, she hadn't expected him to actually let her in! The shy teen gently pushed open the door and entered the room. There was a huge periodic table on the wall above a wooden desk where Sherlock sat, his face hovering above a microscope.
"What are you doing in here?" She asked curiously.
"I could ask you the same thing." Sherlock said turning his attention back to his experiment.
Molly looked around the room with her deep brown eyes: there were jars of all sorts of goo and plans for experiments scattered around the place yet the room was scarce of school text books.
Sherlock's room much resembled Mycroft's when he was a young boy.
"Is that a bag of hair beside you?" She queried.
"Yes..problem?" Sherlock said. Molly couldn't believe the boy thought it was just a casual thing to have lying around!
"Errr...why do you...have it?"
"I'm doing an experiment to find out whether hair follicles keep adapting after death."
'Dead people's hair, nice.' Thought Molly. Sherlock swivelled his chair round to face her. "Sit down if you'd like to." He pointed to an empty leather armchair opposite him.
"Thanks." Molly tried to put on a layer of confidence.
"I'm sorry about my mother this evening." Said Sherlock.
"Oh it's fine...really." Molly gave him a small smile. "Sorry about mine." She laughed.
A voice came from downstairs "Molly, we've got to go now deary." It was her mother. The girl rose from the chair and headed towards the door.
"Goodbye, Molly Hooper." Said Sherlock as he flashed her a genuine smile.
On the way home in the car Molly stared out of the window. Although the evening had been awkward, embarrassing and nerve wracking, she wouldn't have changed for the world.
Because she saw Sherlock smile.