Advice From Quite The Unreliable (Or Reliable?) Sources

Being the son of the most brilliant, most gorgeous man in all of Europe and the kindest, most likable, most enduring woman in the world still doesn't give you superpowers.

Or at least, some natural dating instincts.

When it comes to love, the teenaged Holmes is just as clueless and misinformed as his father and as shy and awkward as his mum.

This is useless, he mutters to himself as he kicks a stone around at his high school's field. He knows some eyes are on him, both positive and not so much, but he doesn't really care. He's lost in his mind, not quite a mind palace yet, and he doesn't notice that the girl he's been subtly glancing at for the past half-hour has now caught the attention of his parents who have just arrived.

"Are you alright?" comes the voice of his mother, and he gets pulled from his reverie.

"Mum, dad! What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we were looking over some bodies at the hospital and we decided to grab a bite to eat on the way home. We figured since your schedule for today is done maybe you'd like to join us. We can go for that garlic shrimp pizza you like so much."

"I'd love to. I'll just go grab my stuff from the benches over there…"

As their son shuffles on to grab his bag from where he left it, Sherlock and Molly look at each other, Sherlock's deduction and Molly's intuition telling them something: their eldest child might just be in love.

Or to be more specific, romantically in love, with a nice girl from across the football field.

Molly looks at her husband, quite the hesitant look in both their eyes because admittedly, they're both the worst people to guide a person in love.

Sherlock starts a quickfire deduction about the girl, and Molly, not hearing anything horrifying or disturbing about said girl, elbows her husband when she sees their son come trudging back.

"So, pizza?"

"Ignore her."

Mother and son look at Sherlock like he's crazy, but for two different reasons.

"What?"

"That girl you have your eye on. Ignore her."

The poor boy blushes like a tomato and Molly fights the urge to smack her husband at the nape. "Don't mind your father, love. He's just scared of losing his first born."

Sherlock looks at Molly with a seriously? expression. "No. Look at her. She seems quite at ease with her friends, doesn't seem too loud but her face is quite expressive. However, whenever someone comes that she's not too comfortable with, she still maintains her composure but she's noticeably fidgeting. Given, she still maintains her mannerisms with her friends, but there's a bit more of a twinkle in her smile with people she's familiar with, which might stem from a slightly diminished self-confidence. She's friendly with everybody, as evidenced by her smiling to whoever would pass by and look at her, but there is hesitation on her face which might have stemmed from either being pushed aside or being manipulated by people she considered friends. She's still optimistic, because as hesitant she is, her stance isn't guarded or walled, but her mannerism of fiddling with her fingers behind her back is a bit of a give-away to her fear of being unwelcome."

Molly will definitely give her husband the cold shoulder when they get home, for making their son so uncomfortable like this. Didn't they agree, no deductions of her son's friends unless a life depended on it?

"I can tell by both of your expressions that you think I'm speaking rubbish, but once again you don't seem to be looking beyond what I'm saying." he says, a small smirk appearing on his face. "From what I've said, who does your little lady friend remind you of?"

His son is smart. His son understands.

Sherlock winks at his son, before looking at Molly. "I might not be an expert on romance and how common people look for their mate, but I'd like to think I know a thing or two about trapping a seemingly invisible woman who doesn't think she counts."

Molly can't help the flattered grin that forces its way to her lips, and especially not the blush that graces her cheeks. She rolls her eyes and grabs her son's arm, leading him to the parking lot. "Don't listen to your father. That girl's your friend, right? Then just try to spend a bit more time with her. Don't rush. You might just have a crush. If there's potential for romance, then you'll only know that with time. For now, just focus on growing closer with her. Ask Hamish for advice, he's quite sociable, isn't he? God knows your father got a lot of help from his own best friend. A lot, I tell you."

Note: This was a prompt fill for musicalfantasy27 on Tumblr. Hope it was to her, and the readers', satisfaction. :)