On Sunday, Harper calls Mycroft to ask how he's doing.
"I'm doing fine," he promises for the tenth time. "And Greg is fine. He's probably hungover or with Sam. I don't know. But he's fine."
"I just want to make sure," Harper says, "A lot happened yesterday."
"I know. It was more embarrassing than just bad, though. But both Greg and I are over it. So there is no need to worry."
"Ooookay," Harper finally listens to him. "So, I'm heading out of town on Wednesday, do you want to hang out before then?"
"Sure. Well, I do have plans with Greg tomorrow. But you can come over Tuesday."
"To your house?"
"Yeah, actually all the guys are coming over to help my mum out. You can come."
"Uh…" Harper thinks, "I don't really want to help…"
"Don't worry, I'm definitely not helping either. We can supervise."
Harper laughs. "What are the boys doing?"
"Uhm, on Tuesday they're painting the sitting room."
Harper laughs harder. "Why?"
"My mum wants it painted, so Greg offered to get the guys to do it. I don't know. But they're all coming, so."
"Even Lee?"
"Uhm…I'm really not sure. Greg asked him last week, but after the past two days, I'm not sure. I hope so though."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want everything to be weird. You guys were his friends before Greg and I came, it seems unfair to have to avoid you guys, too."
"That's true," Harper says. "So, Tuesday then?"
"Yep. Tuesday. Actually, our drivers are picking the boys up from Greg's at nine. If you want, you can go to Greg's and go with them."
"Your drivers?"
"Oh, yeah…we have drivers."
"Wow," Harper mutters. "I'll do that, then."
"Great!"
Tuesday morning Mycroft gets up early, like he would during school, and nervously cleans up messes that aren't really there. He also puts things out that are cool and impressive, like places his sheet music on the piano and really good books everywhere. His mother finally catches him and asks what he's doing.
"I'm just tidying up, Mother," he says.
Marie steps over to the piano and picks up his music book. "You never leave this out, love."
"I know," Mycroft snaps, grabbing the book from her hands and putting it back.
"Are you nervous, honey? Should I have not asked your friends to do this?"
Mycroft takes a deep breath and shrugs. "I just want them to like me, Mum."
Marie rubs Mycroft's arm. "They do like you, honey. If they didn't, they wouldn't be willing to come here to help out your dear old mum."
Mycroft snorts. "They like Greg, Mum."
"Honey, nobody likes a friend enough to go to his boyfriend's house to help his boyfriend's mum. They do like you. Alright?"
Mycroft slowly nods.
"You don't have to try to impress them."
Mycroft shrugs. "I know, but I just…" Marie eyes him curiously, so he adds, "I want to seem cool. But smart."
"My dear, you are very smart, and a few books laying around isn't going to make that any more true than it is. I know you want them to think you're cool, but if they don't already thing you're cool, then they are fools."
Mycroft cracks a smile. "Thanks, Mum. Where's Sherlock?"
"Who knows. He ran out into the snow about ten minutes ago."
"He probably went to the pond. He's fascinated by the way the water freezes over."
"I know," Marie agrees, "He went on about it for two hours, then tried mimic the occurrence in his bath this morning."
Mycroft laughs.
Marie pulls her son into a hug and kisses his cheek, then lets him go because he says the living room magazines need to be fixed.
Greg and the rest of their friends arrive at 9:45. When they pull up to the estate, everyone stares out the window with surprised faces.
"This place…is huge…" Jaimee mutters as the car stops in the front.
"I know, right?" Greg replies, opening the door to get out first.
They boys and Harper get out of the car and Greg notices a small, black figure running towards them. He looks over at it fully and sees that it's Sherlock running out from behind a snow wall.
"Greg!" Sherlock shouts as he gets into ear shot of them.
Greg waves. "Hey, buddy!"
Sherlock runs right at him and nearly tackles Greg. "I missed you, Greg!"
Greg laughs. "Thanks pal, I missed you, too. Let's get you inside."
Sherlock takes Greg's hand and pulls him up the steps. Greg motions for everyone to follow.
Sherlock marches right into the house without knocking. "MYCROFT!" he hollers as they get inside. "YOUR FRIENDS ARE HERE!" Sherlock pulls his beanie off and begins shedding his coat.
"Here guys," Greg says, motioning to everyone to hang their coats on the rack.
Sherlock just tosses his on the ground. "MYCROFT!" he shouts again.
"What?!" Mycroft shouts from the living room. He rounds the corner into the entry and pauses. "Oh. Hi."
Greg smiles wide at him. "Hey, Myc. We just got here and Sherlock showed us in."
"Oh, great," Mycroft mutters. "Guys, this is my brother, Sherlock. Sherlock, this is—"
"You're Sam," Sherlock says.
Sam smiles. "You remember me? It's nice to meet again."
Sherlock politely shakes his hand, then moves to the next person. "And you are?"
"I'm Jaimee! It's nice to meet you!"
"Likewise," Sherlock says, then moves on.
He gets through each person and everyone seems happy to meet him.
"Mycroft," Sherlock says, stepping back to his brother. "Aren't you going to offer our guests something to drink?"
"Our?" Mycroft questions.
"This is my house, too," Sherlock says.
Everyone laughs.
"Come on, guys," Mycroft motions for them. "My mum's in the kitchen anyway."
"I'll lead the way!" Sherlock triumphantly exclaims.
Greg hangs back a bit in the entry and grabs Mycroft's hand for him to stay too.
"Heeey," Greg slyly says.
Mycroft smiles. "Hey."
Greg leans in and kisses him. "I missed you." Greg twines his fingers in Mycroft's and starts walking towards the kitchen.
"You just saw me yesterday," Mycroft says, chuckling.
"I missed you in my bed last night, ok?" Greg says, grinning.
Mycroft smiles, never tired of feeling loved and wanted by Greg.
They get into the kitchen and sure enough, Marie is in there looking at the paint swatches.
"Oh, hello!" she nicely greets.
Sherlock hops up onto a stool at the island. "Mum, these are my new friends."
"Your new friends?" Marie asks, stepping around the island to them. "Well, any friend of Sherlock's is a friend of mine."
She introduces herself to the kids and they all thank her for keeping them from being bored over break.
"Pssst!" Sherlock whispers at Sam as Marie begins giving Greg instructions to direct everyone else. "C'mere, Sam."
Sam steps over to him. "Yes?"
"You're Greg's best friend?"
Sam nods. "Yes sir, I am."
Sherlock places his hands on his hips. "Greg is my best friend."
Sam crosses his arms and pretends to be defensive. "Oh, really?"
"And I am prepared to fight you for him," Sherlock says.
"Well, I hear you're the Captain of your own ship."
"Why, yes I am."
"As am I, which means I can sword fight pretty well."
Sherlock snorts. "I can sword fight better than pretty well."
Sam raises an eyebrow. "Well, I think we have ourselves a little duel."
"Bring it on, Sam," Sherlock says.
Sam tries really hard not to laugh. "Later. Be there."
"Oh, I will," Sherlock says, hopping off the stool and going to take his mother's hand.
Sam laughs as soon as Sherlock and Marie turn to leave the kitchen.
"Ugh," Mycroft sighs, "I'm sorry, Sam. He's just a bit excited for people to be here."
"No, no," Sam reassures him, "That kid is AWESOME!"
"Really?" Mycroft questions.
Sam pats his back and starts heading out of the kitchen. "Yeah, man. We have a duel scheduled for later."
Mycroft sighs relief.
"Don't worry," Greg mutters, "Sam is also eight-years-old."
Mycroft laughs and they go to the sitting room.
Greg and Sam move one of the sofas to the middle of the room, then Mycroft and Harper flop down on it.
"Really?" Greg asks, "You two aren't helping?"
Mycroft and Harper both shake their head.
"Perfect," Greg says. "You two little princesses can sit and watch while the men work."
"I don't even really take offense to that," Mycroft says, leaning over to pick up the Vogue on the table.
"And I certainly don't," Harper says, snuggling next to Mycroft to read the magazine with him.
Greg lets out a chuckle. "You watch your hands, Harper," he pretends to warn.
Harper grins, not looking at Greg, lifts her arm, and wraps it around Mycroft's shoulder.
Greg laughs. "Alright, alright," he says, turning away to help Jaimee move a bookshelf.
Once all the furniture is out of the room or in the center of the room and covered in plastic, Greg and the boys go to the garage to get the paint.
"You want to see my room?" Mycroft asks Harper.
She nods, so Mycroft leads her upstairs.
Passing Sherlock's room, they see him sitting on the bed playing Xbox.
"Is this Sherlock's room?" Harper asks, wandering into the room.
Sherlock pauses his game and leans back on his bed. "Hey," he flirts, grinning.
Harper laughs.
"What are you doing?" Mycroft asks, addressing the flirting.
Sherlock shrugs, still grinning, "I don't know," he says in the same flirting voice.
Harper burst into harder laughter, doubling over on her knees to catch her breath.
Mycroft laughs, too. "Alright, bye Sherlock," he says, reaching for Sherlock's doorknob.
"You know where I'll be," Sherlock says as Mycroft closes his door.
"I'm sorry," Mycroft apologizes. "He watches far too much telly."
Harper is still laughing as they walk down the hall to Mycroft's bedroom. "Don't worry," Harper says, "He's charming."
Mycroft gets to his door and pushes it open. "This is it."
Harper steps in and looks around. "Wow," she mutters.
"What?"
"It's really boring."
Mycroft laughs. "Yes, as am I."
"Your brother's room was so colorful and stuff. Yours is all white. I feel like I'm in a hospital."
"Yes, well, Sherlock is eight."
Harper goes to the bed and flops back on it. "You haven't even got any photos on the wall."
"There are a few on my desk."
Harper gets up and goes over to the desk. She picks up one of the photos, which is the one of Mycroft and Sherlock playing with bubbles. In the photo, Sherlock is two and Mycroft is ten. That's about when young Mycroft began to get overweight.
"That's me and Sherlock," Mycroft explains. "I know I look a really terrible, but—"
"You know what you look like in this photo?" Harper asks.
"Fat?" Mycroft asks.
Harper looks at his face and gives him a small smile. "Really happy."
Mycroft cracks a smile himself. "Thanks."
Harper sets the photo down, then kisses his cheek. "Ready to go boss the boys around?"
Mycroft nods. "Oh, yes."
Harper takes his hand and they walk back downstairs.
For hours, they watch the boys paint. Since there are seven boys working, the process goes rather quickly. The boys work hard, though, and after a while they're wiping their foreheads from sweat.
"Maybe you all should just take your shirts off," Harper says, flipping through a magazine.
"What do you care?" Jaimee asks. "You're dating a girl."
"A body is a body," she replies, smiling up at him.
The boys laugh at that.
"You know if we said that," Conner starts, then quickly stops himself.
"You'd be called gay?" Greg asks, chuckling; fully knowing that that's what Conner was going to say.
"Uhm…"
Greg shrugs, "I can say it. A body is a body, so shirt off, Harper."
"I second that," Jaimee says, raising his hand.
Harper laughs. "Raise your hand if you think Greg should take his shirt off."
Mycroft quickly raises his hand.
Everyone laughs.
"Mycroft's vote counts for twenty votes," Harper says.
"Now, that's not fair," Jaimee says.
"I think it is," Mycroft murmurs, directing his attention back to his magazine.
"Fine," Greg says, "I'll take my shirt off for your boy there, if you take yours off for my boys here."
The boys nod behind Greg.
"That's not fair. I have boobs, Greg."
Greg shrugs. "A body is a body."
This makes Harper laugh. "Fine, keep your shirt on. Be warm. Sweat like a gross man. We don't care."
Mycroft glances up from his magazine. "I kind of care."
Greg laughs. "Whatever, you two." He turns back at the wall to continue painting.
Mycroft and Harper chat about different things for a bit while the boys paint. They get the boys snacks and drinks when they ask, and eventually Sherlock joins them to look at magazines.
"Oooh, I like that dress," Sherlock mutters.
"I know right, look at that one," Harper replies.
Finally, the boys get so warm while working that their shirts begin coming off.
Greg takes his off first. He pulls it over his head and tosses it at Mycroft.
Mycroft glances up when the shirt lands on his head, seeing Greg grinning at him.
"Woo!" Harper cheers. "I won!"
"You did not win," Greg says.
Lars takes his shirt off next, and Sherlock looks up to him as he does so. "Hey," Sherlock says, the same way he'd flirted with Harper upstairs.
Mycroft nudges him. "Stop it!"
Sherlock grins and hands Mycroft another magazine to look through.
For lunch, Marie has pizza ready for them in the kitchen. Mycroft didn't even know she sent a maid to pick it up, but he's very happy that his friends are happy to eat it.
"When are we going to duel?" Sherlock asks Sam as they eat their pizza.
Sam sets his pizza down. "Now is as good a time as any."
Sherlock grins and gets off his chair, then runs upstairs to get his wooden swords.
"Here," he says, tossing one to Sam.
Sam catches it and stands.
They're all in the dining room, and there is enough space for them to duel in there. They get into fighting positions and tap swords, and when Greg says for them to fight, they begins smacking the swords back and forth and grunting as they swing.
"Give up, Sam!" Sherlock shouts after a few minutes.
"I'll fight to the death!"
"Sounds good to me!" Sherlock yells, rapidly swinging his sword and finally hitting Sam in the knee.
"Aah! No!" Sam calls, falling down onto the floor as if his leg has been cut off.
"I've got you now!" Sherlock shouts, hovering over Sam and pointing his sword at his face.
"Please, Captain Sherlock, have mercy!"
"Never!"
"Fine!" Sam yells, picking up his sword and jutting it into Sherlock's chest.
"Ah!" Sherlock stumbles backwards, clutching his chest.
Sam hobbles up like he's missing a leg. "I have won!"
"Aaaargh!" Sherlock yells one last time, and with his 'last gust of life' he sits up and stabs Sam in the stomach.
Sam falls to the ground, pretending to die next to Sherlock.
"So…who wins?" Jaimee asks after it's silent for many long minutes.
Sherlock happily hops off the floor. "I do, of course."
Everyone laughs.
"You put up a well fight, Sam," Sherlock says, sticking his hand out for Sam.
Sam shakes his hand. "I appreciate it, Captain 'Lock."
Sherlock smiles and takes his seat at the table once again.
The boys work in the sitting room again finish quickly. Marie asks them return on Monday to do the second coat and put the furniture back, and the boys agree and say goodbye to Sherlock.
"Are you coming back too?" Mycroft asks Harper as he says goodbye to her.
"I'm leaving," she says.
"Oh, that's right. Well, I'll see you when you return."
Harper hugs him tight. "I got you a gift," she says, reaching into her bag.
"Oh, wait!" Mycroft says, "Yours is upstairs."
Mycroft runs upstairs and returns seconds later.
They exchange the gifts at the same time, Mycroft gives her a little box and Harper gives him a small gift bag.
Mycroft opens it and pulls out a bottle of pink nail polish. He laughs when he sees it. "Oh my gosh," he says. "Thanks!"
Harper opens her little box and it's a necklace with a charm that's The Great Gatsby book cover. "Oh. My. God!" she squeals, "I LOVE THIS!" she shouts.
Mycroft smiles. "I thought you might."
Harper hugs him again. "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. Have a nice holiday."
"You too," she says, kissing his cheek and heading out the door to go to the boys.
"That was nice," Greg says, having seen the whole thing.
Mycroft holds up his bottle of nail polish. "This is nice," he says, laughing.
Greg kisses him. "Do you want to get together tomorrow?"
"Well," Mycroft says, grinning, "My mum and Sherlock are going to the city."
"Oh? All day?"
Mycroft nods.
"I'm coming over then," Greg says.
"Great. See you then."
Greg kisses him again. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
Greg takes off out the door to get in the car, and Mycroft and Sherlock stand at the door waving goodbye.
"I like our friends, Myc," Sherlock says.
Mycroft ruffles Sherlock's hair as they step back into the house. "Me too, Sherlock."
*Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I actually wasn't really in the writing mood. I was kind of doubting the story all together, but I came back to myself and continued. Thanks for reading! Please review!
