That evening, Halley didn't make dinner for herself. She poked at the left overs of stir fry, her appetite dissipating. If she had just kept her mouth shut, maybe Sherlock wouldn't have come to the conclusion. Why should he care anyways? He had better things to do, Halley was sure.

She sighed and set the bowl on the table, curling up into the corner of the sofa and listening to her Peaceful Piano playlist on Spotify. She stared into the emptiness of her little flat as she thought and over thought and panicked.

If there was one thing she prided herself on, it was knowing that she had one aspect of herself that Sherlock had no idea about. That no one had any idea about, really.

Paranoia was a curse added to her ADD. So when she had one thought, it grew into a tree of others, but branches snapping with her worries sent her into an all out panic sometimes. This was one of those times.

She grit her teeth, glaring at the TV as she thought, close to some big disaster in her head when the door opened. She gasped and lunged forward to snatch her fork out of the bowl, rolling onto the floor and pointing it defensively at the intruder.

"Who-...Oh. Sorry Mycroft." She smiled sheepishly at her Uncle, lowering her 'weapon'.

The politician raised an eyebrow,"Little on edge, are we Halley?"

The girl licked her lips and sat with her back up against the cushions of the couch.

"You know why I'm here, do you?" Mycroft hummed, setting aside his umbrella at the door and walking to the couch to sit down.

"Go ahead. Lecture away. I was spared previously due to Sherlock's lack of care." She sighed.

"Why might I lecture you?" Mycroft inquired curiously.

"I...walked home on my own? At night?" She filled in, confused,"Is that not why you're here?"

Mycroft stared her down,"No, but we will discuss safety concerns momentarily, I presume."

Halley winced,"Yeah, sorry. Sherlock just got on my nerves today."

"He's a master at that, no?"

She smiled softly for a brief moment,"So, why did you come then?"

"I came to discuss my brother's aforementioned lack of concern." He explained.

"Nothing to discuss. He's a royal prick to me." She muttered bitterly.

At the silence that came after that, she looked up at him shyly,"Sorry."

"Let's just keep that sort of dialect away from John's ears, yes? I'm not to certain about Sherlock, but I have a good feeling that John wouldn't hesitate to wash your mouth out." Mycroft offered a faint smile.

Halley laughed,"Oh, god, he would. He's old fashioned sometimes."

"In any case, I do believe you just got a perfect score on your English exam?" Mycroft pointed out.

"Yeah, I did. Why?" She confirmed.

"Only three others in your grade received a perfect." Mycroft continued,"Should there not be celebratory ice cream of sorts?"

"You're hilarious, Mycroft. Sherlock doesn't even bother to make sure I do my homework. Why should he care?" She quipped dryly.

"Because," Mycroft smiled at her cheekily,"He received a seventy-eight percent in his school."

Halley swallowed and looked at her lap,"It could have been a different test. Doesn't matter."

"I reviewed the questions and the dating. They are, in fact, the same the same."

Halley bit hard at her lower lip,"Then why doesn't he care?"

"Would you like him to? I assumed you would be one to enjoy your privacy..."

"I do!" She shouted, standing up to look down at him,"I love my privacy and I want to be alone sometimes, but for fucks sake, my parents forced me to be perfect before, can't he at least appreciate it?"

Mycroft tilted his head as a silent prompt for her to go on. Halley ran frustrated hands through her hair and paced. She didn't notice his glance towards the door.

"Ice skating, soccer, school, cooking, baking, everything had to be perfect! Because if it wasn't they acted like Sherlock does now and I didn't bloody agree to this to be bullied into perfection again!" She ranted angrily.

"Halley-"

"No, no, don't you start with me. I can't stay like this, Mycroft! He's driving me crazy!" She turned to glare at him,"Do you know how many times I've tried to make those biscuits he likes? Those chocolate ones? I can't even remember! I tossed out every batch because they weren't perfect and if they weren't fucking perfect then he'd hate them and he'd hate me and throw me out and you'd think I was rotten and I just- I..." Halley's words became hysterical by the end.

Frustrated and upset and just tired in every sense of the word, she dropped onto the couch beside Mycroft and hid her face in his shoulder as she tried to force back her tears. She was to caught up in her own thoughts to have seen Sherlock standing in the doorway, struck dumb and frozen to the spot. She didn't catch when he left silently minutes later either.