On Monday, Greg is reminded of the Winter Formal happening on Friday. All the girls are very excited, the boys much less excited, and Greg is stuck in the middle trying to figure out how to ask Mycroft. Of course he wants to do the asking, and ever since they heard about it last week, he thinks Mycroft is going to play hard to get about it.

Greg decides to ask Harper how to ask Mycroft.

"He told me not to give you ideas," Harper tells Greg.

"Are you serious? Why?!"

Harper laughs, "He wants you to figure this out on your own. You're just asking him to a dance, you're not asking him to marry you."

"I want it to be special," Greg says. "I want him to like it."

"He likes you, dude. Of course he'll say yes."

"I know he'll say yes, but I want him to be swept away by it."

Harper pats his shoulder. "You'll think of something."

Greg thinks about it for the rest of the day with no luck. He goes to Sam's after school and talks it over with him.

"How did Hannah ask you?" he asks Sam. "You're a boy. Myc is a boy. Maybe I can get an idea from Hannah."

"She bought a plain football and wrote on it," Sam takes the ball off his shelf and tosses it to Greg. "It was cute. Can't really do that for Mycroft, though."

"No, not really," Greg mutters as he reads the messages scribbled on the ball.

"He's a…certain kind of guy…" Sam says.

Greg looks at him. "What does that mean?"

Sam chuckles. "Nothing bad, I promise! He just doesn't like sports or…anything interesting. What does he do?"

"He does a lot of stuff. He plays the piano and violin and he's really good at—"

Sam stops him, "If you say anything sexual I'm going to punch you in the nose."

Greg laughs and doesn't say anything.

"At least you're getting shagged," Sam says. "Whatever that means for you."

Greg's laughter dwindles. "What do you mean 'whatever that means for me'?"

Sam shrugs. "I don't know how all of that works."

"Dude!" Greg chuckles again. "It works the same as it does for you! Only now, there are two dicks involved."

Sam grimaces. "I really couldn't deal with that."

"Well no, your relationship doesn't even want to involve one dick."

Sam laughs. "Shut up. It's getting closer each day."

"Is it, though?"

Sam frowns. "No."

Greg laughs at him. "Well, I can tell you that it's awesome. Everything we do."

"Which I don't want to know about."

There's a slight knock on the door and a second later, Michelle enters.

"Hey!" Greg greets her.

Sam nods his head at her.

"What are you guys doin'?"

"Talkin' about boys!" Greg says.

Sam rolls his eyes.

Michelle laughs. "Let's go out, Greg. I need to find a new boy."

Greg looks at her. "Do you?"

"What happened to Will?" Sam asks.

"He was awful," Michelle says.

Sam laughs. "Yeah, he really was."

"What do you say?" Michelle asks. "Wanna go out?"

"Where?" Greg asks.

"Anywhere. Boys swarm this city."

"And yet…" Sam adds.

"Shut up," Michelle says. "Let's go." She takes Greg's hand and pulls him to the door.

"Gee, thanks!" Sam says.

"Well, you could come, but—"

"I'm good," Sam says.

Michelle and Greg leave Sam's room, then the house entirely.

"Where should we go?" Greg asks as Michelle links her arm with his.

Michelle shrugs. "Where would boys be?"

"What kind of boys?"

"Pretty boys. Do you know any pretty boys?"

"Well, yeah, but they're all sixteen or seventeen."

Michelle makes a face. "I want a man."

"Then stop saying 'boy'!"

Michelle laughs. "Ok. Let's go ice skating!"

Greg begins to groan.

"Please!"

"Ok, ok," Greg says.

They get to the rink and get skates, and already they spot a group of boys ranging their ages all talking on the opposite side of the barrier wall. Greg rolls his eyes as Michelle takes his arm and pulls him onto the ice, snuggling close to him and glancing at the boys every few minutes.

"They're not going to want to talk to you if they think I'm your boyfriend."

"No, I'm teasing them," Michelle says. She glances over to them and one of them is watching her, smiling. "See?"

Greg chances a glance back and sure enough, the tall, muscular, dark skinned one is watching. "He's cute."

"I've never dating a black boy," Michelle says.

"Neither have I," Greg says.

Michelle glances back at the boy once more, he's still watching, and this time another boy from the group is. "How do I look?"

"Fine."

"Let's skate past them."

Greg shuffles on the ice with her, still not skating very well, and she gracefully glides along. They finally make it over to the boys, and the black boy turns completely to them as they approach. This makes Michelle stop in front of him. Greg stumbles as she abruptly pauses, he nearly falls but Michelle catches him.

"You ok, mate?" the boy asks.

"Good, thanks," Greg says, grabbing onto the wall to steady himself.

"My brother is just very clumsy," Michelle says.

"Oh?" the boy mutters, as if shocked that Greg is her brother. "You wanna hop over the wall to stand not so slippery?"

"No thanks," Greg says. "I'm ok now."

"Great," the boy says. He redirects his attention to Michelle. "I'm Christian."

Michelle sticks her hand out to shake his. "I'm Michelle, this is Greg."

Greg smiles as a greeting, afraid that he'll fall if he takes his hands away from the wall.

"What are you two up to?" Christian asks.

"Just spending some time together before I head off to uni again," Michelle says.

"That's what I was doing tonight too," Christian says, "I didn't know I'd just be standing out here in the cold."

"My brother and I were planning on leaving soon. Would you maybe like to join? Bring a friend along? Call it a…date?"

Greg rolls his eyes at her lack of subtlety. He chuckles and Michelle nudges him.

It makes Christian laugh, though. "Sure. I'll just…find a friend, then." Christian turns back to his group of friends and spots the lone girl standing with them. He goes over to her, leaving Greg and Michelle alone for a minute.

"You're an idiot," Greg says.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"I don't want to go on a date!" Greg says, "I have a boyfriend! And I don't even like girls!"

"You're going to like puppies if that means I get to hang out with Christian, ok?"

"You don't even care about my feelings."

"Please!"

Greg rolls his eyes. "Fine."

Christian returns with a beautiful auburn haired girl with bright blue eyes and a lovely smile. Looking at her, Greg notices she shares features with Mycroft and he momentarily longs to be with his boyfriend instead of out with Michelle.

"Lyla, this is Greg," Christian says, "Greg this is Lyla."

Greg and Lyla exchange pleasantries, then Michelle and Greg skate around the rink to exit. Christian and Lyla meet them there, then the four leave the rink and go to a cafe.

Christian and Michelle sit next to each other at the table, and Greg politely pulls the chair out for Lyla. She thanks him and smiles, but Greg is unsure of the smile. Does she like me or is she being nice? he wonders. With a mental shrug, he sits and waits to order.

"What are you going to get, Lyla?" he asks after long moments of silence, Christian and Michelle well into their conversation.

"I'm not sure," Lyla says. "I don't really like these fancy things."

"No? I like 'em just fine," he replies. "Maybe just some regular coffee then?"

"Hot chocolate?" she asks with a flirtatious smile.

He smiles back. "That actually sounds fantastic."

After many minutes of silence, Greg takes his phone out to check in with Mycroft. He sends a quick text, just saying hello, then sets his phone down.

"Checking in with your girlfriend?" Lyla asks, mostly in a joking tone.

Greg chuckles. "No, just a friend."

Greg's phone vibrates against the table and Lyla glances at it. "Eager," she says, "She must be concerned of your whereabouts."

Greg smiles as he checks the message. "Look, uhm," he says, clicking his phone shut. He leans closer to her and speaks low, like a secret. "I have a boyfriend."

Lyla laughs. "I told you, Christian."

Christian looks away from Michelle. "What?"

"Nothing," Lyla mutters to him. "I have one, too."

"Oh? What's his name?"

"Jackson. He's French."

Greg chuckles.

"What?" Lyla asks with a smile.

"It's just, uhm…like, when kids say their significant other is from somewhere else, they sound fake."

"Oh yeah?" Lyla laughs, "Where's your boyfriend from?"

"Here. His name is Mycroft."

"Now he sounds fake!"

Greg laughs. "He's not fake. He's very much real."

"As is mine! He used to live here, see? He had to move back to France. But he'll be back."

"As long as you're going strong, you know?" Greg says.

"What does yours look like?" Lyla asks.

"He's gorgeous. He actually looks a lot like you," Greg says. "Auburn hair, blue eyes, high cheek bones."

Lyla smiles at that. "Really? Sounds like a keeper."

"Oh, he is. What does Jackson look like?"

"Tall, pale, jet black hair. He is really cute. Want to see a picture?"

Greg nods.

Lyla pulls her phone out of her purse and scrolls through it, finally stopping and showing Greg. It's her and Jackson in front of the Eiffel Tower. He's much taller than her, with black hair just as she said.

"He is cute," Greg honestly says, "When was this?"

"Just, uhm, two weeks ago. My Christmas gift from my parents was a trip there to see him."

"That's fantastic," he says, handing her the phone again. "I don't think I could be that far away from Mycroft. He lives forty minutes out of the city, I thought that was too far."

"Yeah," she mutters, smiling at her phone. "But it's good. We're…we're good."

Greg smiles at her.

"Do you have a picture of Mycroft?"

Greg thinks of the pictures they look the other morning in Mycroft's bed. "None of his face," he says.

Lyla's head snaps to look at him in shock.

"I didn't mean that!" Greg says. "I only have a few and they're of us kissing," he adds.

Lyla laughs. "Alright, that's far less strange. If he shares features with me then I assume he's beautiful."

"He is," Greg says.

There's a lull in the conversation, and finally Greg turns to her with a determined look. "How do you think you would ask Jackson to a dance? Assuming you'd have to ask him for whatever reason. How would you ask him?"

"Uhm, well…since I'd be asking him, I would make it, like, a joke, you know? I'd do something funny like actually get him flowers or something. Like a bunch of roses and ask in front of a lot of people. I totally think girls can ask boys, you know? But a lot of people don't. So I'd do something like that to show that I asked him."

"Hmm…" Greg thinks it over. "Actually, that doesn't sound bad. I could get him a gigantic bouquet and ask in front of everyone."

"He could like it. It'd be sweet."

"Good idea," Greg says. He smiles at her. "Thanks."

"I like you, Greg," she says with a warm smile. "You want to hang out alone next time?"

Greg glances at Michelle and Christian, both now so deep into conversation that Greg is unsure of whether or not they're aware they're in public. He redirects his attention to Lyla. "Sure, of course!" He gives her his phone and asks her to put her number in.

The double date ends and Michelle leaves with Greg after exchanging numbers with Christian. Greg hugs Lyla goodbye and thanks her for the idea. Lyla asks Greg to let her know how it goes, and Greg says he will, then he and Michelle leave.

"That was nice," Michelle says, walking down the street.

"Lyla was nice. Christian's cute."

"Yes. His eyes are so bright. And I love his smile."

"Are you going to see him again before you leave?"

Michelle nods. "Tomorrow night."

"Wow. Quick."

"We're both leaving soon and want to meet again. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Of course not. Just…be careful."

"I appreciate your concern and I can assure you that I will take every precaution to not make any mistakes."

"Including…keeping it in your pants?"

Michelle laughs. "Ok, ok."

Greg smiles and kisses her cheek. "I don't want you to leave again."

Michelle groans. "Soon you can join me."

Greg shrugs. "We'll see."

Michelle ruffles his hair and they continue walking down the street.

The next day, Greg wakes early to get to a flower shop as soon as it opens. He decides that he's also going to dress the part, so he puts on his suit and leaves the house. He walks down to the shop instead of taking his bike, and after that he decides to get a cab so that he doesn't have to walk down the street with a huge bouquet.

He gets to school right as first period is about to start, and the hall is nearly completely empty. He empties his bag and goes to class, still holding his flowers.

When he walks in, he covers his face with the flowers. He doesn't hear the teacher's voice, so he knows she's late, but all the students begin to laugh. He blindly goes to the isle between his desk and Mycroft's, and estimates where Mycroft's desk is. He stops and slowly begins to lower the bouquet.

"Oh god," he hears Mycroft mutter.

He smiles as he uncovers his face.

"Oh, no no no" Mycroft says, his cheeks turning bright red.

"Mycroft Holmes," Greg says, holding the flowers out for him, "Will you go to the dance with me?"

Mycroft buries his face in his hands. Everyone laughs still and some of the girls go, "Awww!". Mycroft lifts his head and rubs his hands over his eyes. "Uhm," he says, "Yes, of course."

Greg smiles wider and gives the flowers to Mycroft.

Mycroft takes the flowers and lets Greg kiss his head. "Thanks," Mycroft mutters.

Greg takes his seat, still smiling, and a few of the kids around them begin to clap. Greg stands once more and takes a bow, seeing Mycroft turn a million shades more red. Greg glances back at Hilary, and she looks terribly angry.

"Quiet, quiet!" Mrs. Jacobs shouts as she enters the room. "What's the commotion?"

"Greg was asking Mycroft to the dance," a girl from the front of the room says.

"Is that so?" Mrs. Jacobs questions, raising an eyebrow at them. "We'll see about that."

Greg's smile slowly begins to dwindle and he sinks slow in his seat.

The class ends and Mycroft leaves quickly, as usually. He's holding his flowers as if he's unsure of what to do with them.

"So?" Greg starts as he catches up to Mycroft. "Surprised?"

"Yes, of course!" Mycroft says, getting to his locker. "It was very sweet, thank you. You even dressed up."

"Nothing short of perfect for you, my love," he says.

"Mrs. Jacobs didn't look very pleased." Mycroft tries to stuff the flowers into his locker.

"No, she didn't. I suppose we'll have to see what all of that meant."

"I appreciate it, though," Mycroft says.

"I'm glad. You're welcome."

Mycroft smiles at him and pulls the flowers back. "These don't fit. I guess I have to carry them around."

"You just want everyone to see that you have a date."

"That's only part of it," he says. He gives Greg a quick kiss, then leaves for his next class. He carries the flowers around all day and loves the attention he gets from them, and he loves even more making it known that Greg is his boyfriend.

*Sorry for the delay! More later. The dance will come. Thanks for reading! Please review!