On Wednesday, Harper handed out invitations to all of their friends.
"What's this?" Mycroft asks as Harper hands it to him right before lunch.
"I'm having a party Saturday!"
"A party? I've never been invited to a party."
Mycroft closes his locker to head to the cafeteria, and Harper links her arm in his as they walk. "Yeah? Well now you have."
Mycroft opens the envelope and looks at the invitation. "No alcohol?" he asks, reading the invitation.
"It's a pre-finals party. My parents won't let us drink at my house, so this time there will be no alcohol. Jaimee is having the post-finals party next Saturday, and there will be alcohol."
Mycroft laughs.
"And on Saturday at my party, we will be drawing names for our Secret Santa gift exchange."
Mycroft looks confused. "What's that?"
"You know? Like I'll pick a name and I'll get gifts for that person all week. Just little things, usually we make a cap of how much the gifts can cost. We do it in our group every year, and now you and Greg are in our group, so you get to."
"Who else is involved?"
"All of us. Me, you, Greg, Hilary, Hannah, Hailey, Jaimee, Lee, Conner, Lars, Jason, and Sam will be involved."
"Did Hannah tell you to involve Sam?"
Harper nods. "He's cool though, so he's alright. And he's Greg's friend, so even if they break up, Sam can still hang out with us."
Mycroft nods. "Is Hailey dating Lars?"
Harper nods again. "Yeah, I guess so. It's supposed to be a secret, though. I don't know why. They just don't want anyone to know."
"Greg and I didn't want anyone to know," Mycroft says. "At first, we agreed to keep it secret. But you lot are really awesome about it, so we don't really mind."
"Yeah, Kelly and I will probably be secret for a while, even though Conner is trying so hard to date her," Harper shrugs. "But everyone knows she is dating someone, so maybe he'll drop it."
"Why did she lie at Greg's the other night?"
Harper looks confused. "Lie?"
"Yeah. You told me you two met at a party. She told us that she met you at football."
"Oh! Right. I told her to tell my friends that because they all know I hooked up with someone at that party."
"Oh, I see. Well, I respect your right to keep your relationship private."
Harper stands on tip toe and kisses his cheek. "That's why you're better than everyone else."
He smiles and follows her into the cafeteria.
Mycroft goes home with Greg that afternoon because he's free on Wednesdays. They hang out for a while before they decide to go to dinner, and while they're at Greg's they just sit in his bedroom talking.
"So," Mycroft starts, leaning down and picking up Greg's police academy books. "When did you decide you want to be an officer?"
Greg shrugs. "I don't know. When I was young, I wanted to go into the Army. I wanted to serve my country. Then, I just decided that I'd be better helping the citizens directly."
"Why did you decide that?"
"Uhm, well I decided it after I got in a fight at school. Remember, I told you that I had fought a bully before? After that, I just decided I didn't want anyone to be bullied if I could stop it."
"Which faction of the police do you want to go into?"
"I don't know. Whichever, I guess," Greg pauses, but quickly says, "Except traffic. I don't think I'll save any citizens writing speeding tickets."
Mycroft chuckles. "What about special victims?"
Greg nods. "Probably. Or homicide or something. I want to catch the bad guys and bring justice to victims."
"I understand," Mycroft says. "That's very noble."
Greg smiles. "Thanks." Greg closes his laptop and hops onto the bed, landing perpendicular to Mycroft's feet. "What do you want to do?" he asks.
Mycroft shrugs. "I don't know."
"You could do anything, you know that? Anything from a concert pianist to Prime Minister."
Mycroft smiles. "I don't want to be Prime Minister."
"Well, you could change the world if you wanted."
"Really?"
Greg nods. "Of course! You could be Superman."
Mycroft laughs. "Thanks, Greg."
Greg kisses his cheek. "You could be a model."
Mycroft laughs out loud and falls over on the bed. "A model?!"
Greg nods. He trails a finger up Mycroft's stomach. "Maybe an underwear model."
Mycroft buries his face in one of Greg's pillows. "Shut up," he mutters into the pillow.
Greg laughs. "You'd have to let someone see you in just pants in order for that to happen."
Mycroft lifts his face and looks at him. "You really want to see me naked, don't you?"
Greg shrugs. "At this point, I'm just trying to see how long I can last without begging you to have sex with me. Maybe I can go for a world record for the person to be sexually frustrated the longest."
Mycroft buries his face in the pillow again. Greg can see his blush all the way up to the top of his ear.
"I'm sorry!" Greg says, patting Mycroft's back. "I shouldn't say those things to you. I can wait, I swear. I'm not going to force you into anything."
"No, no," Mycroft says, muffled into the pillow. He lifts his face and he's smiling and still blushing. "I'm flattered."
Greg pushes himself up the bed and lays next to Mycroft. "I'm still sorry. I'll stop saying things like that."
Mycroft just looks at him. "You're such a good guy."
Greg smiles. "Well, I love you. And I want to protect you, even from myself."
"You won't hurt me, Greg."
"I don't know that," Greg leans over and kisses him. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
Mycroft contently sighs and looks around the room. "Did you get an invitation to Harper's party?"
"Yeah. I assume you did, too?"
Mycroft nods. "She said Sam will be there, too."
"Yeah," Greg says. He sounds a bit disappointed.
"You don't like that?"
Greg shrugs. "Sam is my friend, you know? I don't know how to explain it. I don't want to share him with anyone."
"I understand," Mycroft says.
"You do?"
Mycroft nods. "I don't want to share you."
Greg smiles. "I'm your boyfriend. Sam is just my friend."
"You're his best friend. He'll be with you forever. You know you won't get replaced."
Greg rolls over onto his back. "I know."
The boys lay next to each other on their backs staring at the ceiling.
"So," Mycroft finally says, "Do we have plans for break?"
Greg grins. "Yeah. I thought we could go ice skating, do stuff with Sherlock, build snowmen, have sex, hang out with our friends—"
"What?!" Mycroft demands, turning to look at Greg.
Greg smiles and looks over at him. "What?"
Mycroft shoves his shoulder.
"I'm kidding," Greg says. "We don't have to hang out with our friends if you don't want to."
Mycroft laughs. "You know that's not what I'm shocked about."
Greg laughs, too. "I know, I know. I'm kidding."
Mycroft smiles. "You're ridiculous."
"I know," Greg quickly leans over and kisses Mycroft's cheek. "Dinner?"
Mycroft follows Greg off of the bed and out of the room.
Mycroft goes to Greg's on Saturday for one last studying session. Greg is far less nervous than he had been. They spend four hours going over every single thing that Mycroft knows will be on the final, and Greg passes the practice test Mycroft had made up the night before.
When Greg finishes the test, he jumps out of his chair and hits the air with his fists. Mycroft laughs at him.
"Oh, I'm so happy! I actually think I'm going to do well!" Greg cries.
"I have confidence in you," Mycroft says. "You will definitely do well."
Greg attacks him in a big hug. "All thanks to you," he says.
"You did it yourself," Mycroft says, "I just kind of helped."
"Kind of? I owe you my entire semester."
Mycroft smiles. "Well, I'm just glad I've finally put my knowledge to good use."
Greg kisses his cheek and sits back in his chair.
They still have a few hours before Harper's party, so Greg and Mycroft decide to take a walk around London. Greg likes to just walk around the city and explore new things, and Mycroft likes to tell Greg of all the history he knows about the city.
They walk for hours, losing all track of time and just enjoying each other so much. They talk and laugh and kiss in the light snow falling.
"I love snow," Greg says.
"Really? I don't really like it that much."
"I love it!" Greg cries, throwing his arms in the air and catching snowflakes. He sticks his tongue out and catches flakes on his tongue.
"You're a child," Mycroft says, but he is laughing.
"Want some?" he asks, grinning and stepping up to Mycroft.
"Greg, stop," Mycroft says. "We're in the street."
Greg just smiles. "Ok."
Mycroft eyes him suspiciously. "Whatever you're planning," he says, "Stop it. I don't want to play any games."
Greg smiles and steps away, walking down the street.
"Greg?" Mycroft questions, following him.
Greg gets a few feet down the street before he quickly swivels around and throws a snowball at Mycroft.
"Where did you even get that?!" Mycroft questions.
Greg smiles, though he quickly stops when Mycroft kneels to get a far larger snowball and throws it right at Greg's head.
"Mycroft!" Greg cries.
Mycroft laughs. "Truce?"
Greg grabs his hand and shakes it. "Truce."
They get back to Greg's house and they're both freezing cold. They stopped frequently along the way to throw snowballs at each other, and the snow falling got heavier and heavier.
"What happened to you two?" Jan cries as they enter the house. "Shoes and coats, off!" she demands.
The boys don't argue, they just take their shoes and coats off and leave them by the door.
"Would you boys like some tea?" Jan asks, making a fuss over them being cold.
The boys nod.
"I'm going to shower," Greg says, going to the stairs to head up to his room.
Jan tells Mycroft she'll get him a blanket and her and Greg disappear upstairs.
Mycroft awkwardly sits on the sofa with Greg Sr.
"So," Greg Sr. starts almost as soon as Mycroft sits, "How are you, Mycroft?"
"Uhm, I'm good, sir. Thank you."
"How's everything that's gone on the past few weeks?"
"Uhm…" Mycroft's unsure of what he means.
"Gregory told us about…your father…"
"Oh," Mycroft says. "Uhm, I'm fine. It's fine."
"I was sorry to hear it, Mycroft. You seem to be holding up well."
"I am, sir. Thank you."
Greg Sr. nods.
Jan returns to the living room with a large, fluffy blanket and drapes it around Mycroft's shoulders. "Here you go, son," Jan says.
Mycroft half smiles at the term she used. "Thank you, Jan."
"I'll get you some tea," she says, going to the kitchen.
"No, no," Mycroft tries to stop her, "You don't have to. I don't need any tea."
"I insist, Mycroft," Jan says.
She gets the tea and goes back to the living room to give it to him.
"Thank you so much," he says.
"No problem, Mycroft."
Greg hops down the stairs a few minutes later wearing his nice jeans and a white undershirt. "Hey Jan," he calls halfway down the stairs, "Do you know where my blue shirt is?" He runs his fingers through his hair and tries to shake water out.
"I don't know, Gregory," Jan says, getting up from the sofa and following him through the kitchen to the laundry room.
Mycroft can't hear them when they're in the laundry room, but when they get back to the kitchen, Mycroft hears them bickering.
"Last time I did it, I burned my fucking ear, Jan."
"I still don't know how you did that, Gregory."
Greg steps back into the living room and begs, "Please, Jan!"
"Alright, give me that shirt."
Greg smiles and hands the shirt to her.
"Mycroft," Jan starts, "Have you got anything you need me to iron?"
Mycroft looks confused. "Uhm…"
"Didn't you bring clothes for the party?" Greg asks.
"I did, but—"
"Go get them," Jan says, "I'll iron them."
"Uhm…ok…" Mycroft goes upstairs to get his clothes.
Once the boys are dressed and ready, they leave to the party. They're both very excited because all of their friends will be there, even Sam. And Mycroft is happy because there won't be any alcohol. He doesn't really mind it, he just feels weird when he's not drinking and everyone else is. He feels like everyone is judging him because he's not drinking, which is strange, yes, but that's how Mycroft feels about it all.
Harper and Kelly greet them at the door when they arrive. Almost everyone is already there, and everyone is happy to see them.
"Can I get you some hot chocolate?" Harper asks. "That's what we've got on tap tonight."
"Sure," both boys say, shedding their coats and hanging them on the hook.
The boys go into Harper's sitting room and sit on the floor with all of their friends. There are pillows and blankets spread all over the floor and everyone's laying all over the place. Light music is playing in the background and everyone is talking and laughing.
Greg sits next to Sam and Mycroft sits between Greg and Kelly.
"How are you?" Kelly asks.
"I'm good. How are you?"
Mycroft talks to Kelly for a while about different things. She's in a lot of the same classes as Mycroft, only in the other school, and they have a lot to talk about.
Harper sits by Mycroft and rests her head on his lap and her legs tent over Kelly's. "What are you smart people talking about?" she asks.
"Physics," Mycroft answers.
"Oh lord," Harper says. "Someone normal talk to me!"
Their friends laugh.
They sit around talking and playing games for hours, the conversation never dwindling.
Finally the time comes that Harper pulls out their box with their names written on slips for the gift exchange.
"Who wants to choose first?" Harper asks. "Remember, no telling who you got!"
"Except me," Kelly says, "I'm going to write down who got who to make sure that everyone will get gifts. I don't really know you guys well enough to be involved."
Everyone says they understand and Jaimee decides to go first. He tells Kelly who he got and the next person in the circle goes.
Greg ends up drawing Lee's name, and Mycroft gets Hannah. Mycroft is pretty unhappy about getting Hannah, but he figures he'll just ask Sam or Harper what to get her.
Around eleven, the kids begin to leave Harper's and Jaimee gives everyone invitations to his party next Saturday.
"We will be celebrating the semester and giving out final gifts. Remember, gifts for the entire week have to stay under fifty pounds, can everyone do that?"
Everyone nods and murmur agreements.
"Right," Jaimee continues, "Each slip had that person's locker combination on it, so each day leave something in their locker. Keep it clean, guys."
The kids laugh.
Greg and Mycroft walk back to Greg's house after the party.
"Who did you get?" Greg asks.
"Hannah," Mycroft replies, his voice very disappointed. "What about you?"
"I got Lee."
"Any ideas of what you want to get him?" Mycroft asks.
Greg shakes his head. "What I know about Lee is that he plays football and reads a lot."
"Get him classic books. You can never go wrong with books."
"That's a good idea," Greg says.
"Can I have Sam's number?" Mycroft asks. "I want to ask him what I should get Hannah."
"Sure, I'll give it to you when I can feel my fingers."
Mycroft laughs and pulls Greg's hands to his mouth and blows on them to warm them.
"I love you," Mycroft says as he lets Greg's hands go.
Greg smiles at him. "I love you, too."
*I love these boys and their relationship. Thank you for reading! Please review!