Author's note: Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews! HollyFire, I did have a look into their names and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never actually named the Holmes parents, although Siger and Violet has been suggested by other literary people. Thank you though! I wasn't sure what to name them so I stuck with their names in real life!

As always, trigger warnings for self harm and eating disorders. Stay safe.

Chapter 57

It was early morning when Lucy had woken up. She'd gone through her normal routine of a shower, brushing her teeth, and getting changed. She tried to ignore the cuts on her arm as she took off the bandages and applied antiseptic onto the healing wounds. Just the sight of them made the urge reignite. But she couldn't let anything to happen, especially not since she was going to be with Sherlock's parents for most of the day. Lucy wasn't sure how much Mycroft or Sherlock had told them about her, but she didn't want to assume anything and had to be very careful. Deciding to leave the bandages off, she got changed into her new black, skinny trousers and the long sleeved dark blue plaid shirt- all of which Mycroft had bought her yesterday.

She looked into the mirror. The reflection that stared back at her was skinnier than before. A small, sick and twisted part of her smiled at her little thigh gap and flat stomach. She felt confident with her body for once. She still felt fat, but she was improving so much already. Her eyes looked bright and her hair was healthy. She felt healthy. Although a tiny part of her brain was telling her that this was not healthy. But she shook her head and instead went on to put on a bit of make-up.

Sherlock looked up with a raised eyebrow as she came into the kitchen. He looked her up and down, blinking once before looking back down at whatever new experiment he was doing.

"Satisfactory, am I?" Lucy joked.

"Hmm," Sherlock hummed, not looking up from his experiment.

"What's wrong?" She frowned and moved closer to him. Now he looked back up at her.

"There's bread somewhere for breakfast." He said without much enthusiasm.

"I'm not hungry thanks." She replied. Sherlock kept his face blank. She sighed, realising what he was getting at. "Please don't nag me to eat a ton of food."

"I'm not," Sherlock said sharply, narrowing his eyes. "I just don't want you to make yourself ill."

"I'm not ill." She snapped.

"You're getting bad again." His voice was now gentle. "You know you can talk to me, John, Mycroft… anyone. Just please, think about what you're doing." He looked at her for a moment longer before turning on his Bunsen burner, effectively ending the conversation. Lucy sighed, annoyed, but knowing that he meant well just set about making them some tea instead.

At around 12:30, Mycroft entered the flat, earning a glare from his younger brother. Mycroft was dressed smartly as per usual, in his three piece dark grey suit with a white shirt and a red tie.

"Pleasure as always Sherlock." He said sarcastically as he watched Sherlock place various powder covered sticks over the Bunsen burner, causing the fire to change colour.

"Unfortunately, Les Mis isn't a production about cake Mycroft, so try not to be too disappointed." Sherlock mumbled as he focussed on his experiment.

"How witty." Mycroft sneered at him. He turned away from Sherlock to look at Lucy with a smile, "Ready to go Lucy?"

"I am." She jumped up. "See you later Sherlock." She went over to him to give him a quick hug, disrupting his experiment. He huffed in annoyance but leaned into her anyway.

"I would say have fun… but how much fun can you have with my family." Sherlock muttered.

Lucy followed Mycroft down the stairs and out to where his usual black car was waiting. She giggled as he opened the door for her, ever the chivalrous man, before he joined her in the back.

"We're meeting my parents at the theatre," Mycroft informed her, "No doubt they are already there drinking all of the red wine." Lucy laughed at him.

"Your parents are lovely." She defended them. Mycroft simply just raised an eyebrow but passed no further comment on the matter. After a few moments, Lucy asked: "Are you looking forward to the play?" Mycroft sighed dramatically.

"I do not really think it will interest me," He looked down at the umbrella in his right hand before looking back at the teenager. "I'm only going because mummy insisted."

"I'm looking forward to it actually," she smiled.

After around twenty minutes they arrived at the theatre and were immediately shown up to the bar, where Wanda and Timothy were sat in sofas sipping wine. They stood up and hugged Lucy and Mycroft in greeting.

"Would you like a drink Mikey?" Wanda asked. Lucy burst out laughing at Mycroft's horrified expression.

"Mycroft," He corrected with a sickly-sweet smile. "I'll get us the drinks. White wine Lucy?"

"Am I allowed?" Lucy asked, "I'm only seventeen."

"And I'm the British Government." Mycroft smirked.

"Silly me." Lucy grinned as he went off to order them drinks.

"Oh he's such a show off that boy." Wanda muttered fondly as they sat on the comfy chairs.

"I don't know where he gets it from." Tim winked at Lucy as Wanda gave him a good-natured glare.

Mycroft looked suspiciously at them all as they giggled upon his return. He gave them all their drinks before the doors to the auditorium opened. Of course, they got the best seats in the house, but that was no surprise. Wanda was practically bursting with excitement and was gushing to Lucy about all the theatre shows she had previously seen. Lucy was sat between Mycroft and Wanda, with Timothy sitting next to his wife. The seats were red, plush and soft. They could see the whole of the stage with ease, no doubt the tickets cost Mycroft hundreds, but it was worth it for the view.

A lot of people started to file in and Lucy quickly realised why she was sat between Mycroft and Wanda. The seats were all packed in tightly and as more spaces were filled, Lucy started to feel very cramped and trapped. She took deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth, trying to chase away the dizzy feeling in her head. Her knuckles were white as she had a death grip on her plastic cup of wine. She flinched as she felt a hand take her free hand. Looking up, she saw Mycroft studying her face with careful consideration. Hesitantly, she linked her fingers with his and held on to his soft hand. The feel of human contact helped to ground her. It made her feel safer and helped to chase away some of the anxiety. She gave him a weak smile. He smiled softly back, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. Lucy glanced awkwardly at the Holmes parents, relieved to find them talking to themselves and ignoring her and Mycroft.

"They know a little," Mycroft whispered to her, explaining. "They're just respecting that you need a little space." He paused, "I hope you don't mind but I thought it may be best to warn them if anything… happened."

"I'm glad you mentioned it. It's very kind of them, I'm sorry." Lucy responded after a moment to regulate her breathing. Mycroft absentmindedly swirled his wine around his plastic wine glass.

"You don't need to be sorry." He said firmly but gently. Lucy smiled, gratefully and took a small sip of wine.

After a few minutes, Lucy had calmed down enough to realise that Wanda was flicking through the programme.

"Do you know any of the songs?" Lucy asked after she had been silent for a while.

"Oh I know most of them of course." Wanda went to the song page, chatting as though nothing had happened to Lucy- for which she was very grateful. "Personally I'm looking forward to 'Bring him Home' and 'One Day More.'" She smiled to herself, "Tim always mumbles to himself when I put the CD on, I sing along to some of the songs. He loves it really the daft man." Her warm smiled made her eyes sparkle. It made Lucy feel happy. It gave her a warm feeling that she hadn't felt for years. For the first time in ages, she felt like she had a proper family. Sherlock, John, Mary, Mycroft and mummy and daddy Holmes… they were all her family. She couldn't help but grin to herself as the orchestra started to warm up.

"I'm really excited." Lucy said, "I don't think I've ever been to the theatre!"

"You're in for a treat." Mycroft muttered sarcastically to himself. It was times like that when he really reminded Lucy of Sherlock.

"Behave Myc." Wanda said, rolling her eyes. Mycroft glared at her before smiling sweetly once more.

"Have they always been like this?" Lucy asked Tim.

"You should have seen them as teenagers!" He laughed. The lights started to dim.

"Hush now." Mycroft mumbled to them all, glad that they had to be quiet now.