"Tomorrow is opening night and you don't know your lines?!" James was yelling at the actors on stage in frustration. He threw his script through the audience seating. "What is this?! Broadway, or amateur hour?!"

"I'm just a little nervous and I forgot." Molly said quietly, "I know the lines. It won't happen again." The mousey actress looked like she was about to start crying underneath the mountains of green face paint.

"I got news for you, sweetheart. You're going to be a lot more nervous tomorrow night. So you better pull it together." James clenched his fists and spun around, shouting to the back of the auditorium. "AND WHERE THE HELL IS MY MALE LEAD?!"

Sherlock had been missing that morning for call, and that was most of the reason for James's sudden rampage. "Why don't we take 5?" Brandy suggested, sticking her head out from backstage.

"No, we don't have time for that," The director was being condescending, but at least he wasn't yelling anymore. "Because these-"

"Excuse me?" A voice came from the back of the auditorium and drew everyone's attention in a flash. "I don't mean to interrupt, but does this belong to you?"

Greg Lestrade, head of security for the Gershwin theater, was holding Sherlock's arm tightly and looking at James with the typical 'should I call the cops?' look most security guards wear.

"Yeah, he's mine." James said, still angry.

Lestrade let go of the actor and Sherlock said something that sounded like 'I told you' before stomping towards the stage in a huff. The security guard, however, decided to amble over to stand near the sound board. "Hi John."

"Hey Greg, how are you?"

Lestrade didn't get an opportunity to answer before James started yelling again. "Where have you been?!"

"Here! I've been trying to get into the theater for the past several hours! All the doors are locked! No one was answering their cell phones, and no one was opening a door! I finally got in because security heard me trying to pick one of the locks!" Sherlock had gotten up into James's face, standing his ground.

"Maybe if you had been on time to call, you would've gotten in with everyone else!"

"It's not my fault there was a car wreck on my way here!"

Brandy was out on the stage now. She lifted her clipboard and slammed it on the ground. The noise made everyone jump, and the two men turned sharply to look at her. "I've had enough of this. You both need to chill the hell out. James, your rampaging is just wasting rehearsal time that we need. Everyone is stressed because tomorrow is opening night, so everyone needs to take extra care to love each other today. Got it?" No one said anything. "I said got it?"

"Yes ma'am." Was the collective mumble from the shocked cast and crew.

"Great." Brandy scooped up her clipboard and tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. "Now, let's take 5 to refocus while Sherlock gets his mic on. He'll have to rehearse the first act without costumes."

The company quickly dispersed in opposite directions to calm down and take a break. "Is theater always like this?" Lestrade asked.

"Oh yeah. Sometimes worse." John responded as he rooted around in his box of pimple mics for Sherlock's.

"That's awful."

"You've been working here for several years. You're telling me you've never seen a meltdown like that before?"

"I don't come into rehearsals. I only patrol the inside and outside of the theater and such. The only time I step foot in the auditorium is when they call for me." Lestrade shook his head. "You people are crazy."

"Well, we love what we do. And people do crazy things for love."

Lestrade laughed a little. "Alright buddy. Well, I'll let you do your job. Have fun."

Sherlock was still sulking by the time he reached the sound board and John's smile and 'hello' was met by a scowl. "Well fine, if you're going to be like that, I guess I take my 'hello' back."

Sherlock relaxed his shoulders. "Sorry. Hello, John."

"Just cause you got yelled at doesn't mean you get to ruin my good morning." John pointed out. "I discovered Apple Jacks today and nothing else in this world matters." Sherlock raised an eyebrow. "It's is a breakfast cereal. And it's amazing." John reached down and pulled a giant ziplock baggie out from where he had been hiding and munching from it under the desk. "Prepare to have your life changed." He handed the actor the unreasonable amount of Apple Jacks and set to work putting his mic on.

Sherlock stuck his hand in the bag and curiously shoved a handful of cereal in his mouth. "These are actually pretty good." He said after a moment of chewing.

"Isn't your day just instantly better?" John was still working to fasten the pimple mic in place as Sherlock munched on the breakfast food.

"How many boxes are in this ziplock baggie?"

"Two. Don't judge me. They were on sale, and I'm not going to eat it all in one sitting. Maybe."

Sherlock stuck his hand back in the bag and popped a few more pieces of cereal in his mouth. "No one man should wield this much power."

John laughed. "Alright, you're all mic'd up. You should probably get back to the stage before you get into more trouble."

"Thanks." The actor handed him back his breakfast of champions before brushing the cereal dust off on his pants and taking off towards the stage.

"Let's just run the show from the top." James said, plunking himself down in a chair in the front row as actors scrambled in all directions to get off stage to their places.

"Do NOT be late for call tomorrow, guys. It's the real deal tomorrow night and we need to try to get this thing off the ground without a hitch." James said as he wrapped up his final notes for the day. John was up on stage trying to take the mics off the leads as the director talked. "You're all doing great, and tomorrow will be the payoff. Don't forget to have fun with it. Good work and have a good night."

"Hey, if you still have a mic on, follow me up to the sound board." John said over the commotion of the company standing up to leave.

Mary, Sean, and Sherlock trailed behind him up to the sound board to get their mics taken off, and each waited their turn patiently and quietly; every cast member was exhausted, and it showed. Sherlock was the last actor to get his mic off, so John was trying to hurry. However, he could tell Sherlock was also just as run down as everyone else. "You know, you're doing a really great job. You're going to be awesome tomorrow." He said casually as he pulled the box off the back of Sherlock's trousers, freeing the actor from the piece of equipment.

"Thanks. But I'd be lost without my techie."

John was extremely grateful for the fact that he had been standing behind Sherlock at that moment, because he felt his ears turn red and his face flush, and the last he needed was for the actor to see it. "Um, thanks. I try." John quickly turned to put the mic away so Sherlock wouldn't try to talk to him and see how red he'd gotten.

"So, I uh, I wanted ask you something."

"Oh?" John still didn't look up from the box of pimple mics, instead he pretended to organize them.

"I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go get coffee with me after the show tomorrow?"

John felt his heart bang up against his sternum. "Like, to celebrate opening night?"

"Well, that, but I was hoping for more of a... a date?"

Yep. That was definitely his heart trying to break free of his body by flying through his ribcage. He took a deep breath and turned to face the actor. "I'd like that, yeah."

Author's Note: I needed a break from my mountain of Chemistry homework. So, have Apple Jacks and Johnlock :)