Author's Note: The whim hit me to write a third chapter tonight! I mean I've been thinking about it since I posted the second but like I said, whenever time and motivation lined up I would work on this. So here it is! A third chapter. I wasn't going to do this unless it was just right for the tone and style of the story and I think this is. Please read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Clearly I don't own Sherlock. The show is the baby of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, while Sherlock Holmes itself is the creation of Arthur Conan Doyle.

"What do I do now?" Mycroft asked in a state of nervous panic. He was standing in front of his father's desk in the study, or rather the library room his father used when he had to bring work home with him. Usually it was marking from the university classes he taught. Mycroft had shut the door to ensure Mummy wouldn't want in and interject with her coos and awes. This was serious and only Father would take him serious.

"About what?" Father laughed, his lips pulling into a wide smile as he looked at his eldest son over his glasses. Or maybe he wasn't going to take him serious.

"About Alice!" Mycroft hissed. He felt on edge and nervous just saying her name out loud in this house.

Mycroft had been in a good mood initially after his rendezvous if not just a tad confused as to what the next step would be. That's what his fast mind focused on. Everything else was resolved, what now? So what? They liked each other. Good. But what did that mean? Were they supposed to be like all those annoying kids at school who danced around each other with giggles and small touches for months before they lost interest in each other? Or would they be one of those who ended up never leaving each other's space so that both their sets of friends got sick of them. Well, that was easy for Mycroft, he had no friends, and that James boy liked them both so he would be fine… But Alice had plenty of friends. Everyone wanted to know the new girl, her mystique was only now beginning to wear off.

"Mycie," Siger was still kind of laughing as he removed his glasses. Mycroft rolled his eyes dramatically at the hated nickname his parents called him. "You do whatever you would normally do with a girl… or boy you like." Siger stuttered a little trying to choose his wording.

"I don't know." Mycroft scowled. "I've never liked a person before, not even a little bit. I never wanted to." He looked down at his feet before he could see the weird mixture of sympathy and confusion his father would give him. "That's why I've come to you!" Mycroft looked back up, pulling a face at his father. "You got a woman to marry you, and not an ordinary one at that. What do I do?" Siger's face was bright. An almost embarrassed smile radiated off his face. Some of that smile had to be because his genius teenaged son had deemed him an expert in something enough to come asking for advice.

"It's not some formula your mother can teach you, Myc." Siger folded his fingers together and rested his chin on his joined hands. "You ask her out and see where it goes. And you're just a kid so don't expect it to go perfectly. Just because you're smart doesn't mean you can plan for everything. Your mother once had a date planned from minute to minute and it sits on record as our worst date." If it was their worst date then why was he smiling about it? Yet Father was missing the point entirely.

"That's why I'm here," The teenager sighed. "I don't how to ask her out or even what to do." Siger lowered his arms to the desk. He shrugged.

"You're into films, son, a movie and a meal is a good light date for teenagers. Means parents can pick you up and drop you off." There was a sparkle in his eye similar to what Sherlock or Eurus got when they came up with a bad idea. Mycroft probably got it too but you don't see one's own expressions.

"So what then, father, hmm?" Mycroft folded his arms across his chest. "I walk up to her on Monday and say what? Do you like the cinemas? Do you want to go sit awkwardly next to me in silence for the next two hours?" Siger chuckles. "It's not funny, Dad!" Mycroft whined. Siger stopped laughing but he was still smiling.

"You're jumping to doomsday probabilities." Father said to Mycroft in a soothing voice.

"It's good to plan for the worst case scenarios. If we did that more often we might have had a better plan of attack when the house…" Mycroft trailed off. Don't bring up bad things Eurus almost did when she's not well and back in the hospital. It only made Mummy and father sad and made Mycroft feel like he failed.

"You'll live a happier life if you do it less." Siger fobbed it off easier than expected. There was another kid to help instead of sulking about something they can't change. "She's a reader so ask her what genres she likes, then go into films and plays you've seen, then ask her if maybe she'd want to go to a film with you."

A pause.

Mycroft frowned.

"I still don't like it." Mycroft muttered. "What do I do if she says no?"

"You'll be better at it next time." Father replied. Mycroft scoffed. "And she won't say no." He added. "You made her giggle, yes?" Mycroft nodded. Siger nodded. "She's not going to say no." Feeling a wave of stress hit him, Mycroft ran his hands through his hair.

"This is no absolute outcome." He breathed. "How can I do this knowing all the risks?"

"Sometimes somethings are worth the risk, son." Father replied warmly and gently. "You've just got to go for the things that make you happy."

Damn it, he was right. But that's why Mycroft had come here in the first place, for his father to convince him into doing what he wanted to do anyway.

Was the risk worth it? There was only one way to find out.

Mycroft was prepared on Monday in Chemistry. He was all set to ask Alice out. He had his father's prompt ready to be deployed at any moment. He was going to do this and get it over and done with. His confidence faltered as Alice entered the room. She came and smiled at him with the shy smile she had given him after he kissed her and his knees shook a little bit in his stool. But it was not enough to turn him off. They had three minutes before the teacher began the lesson, that was plenty of time.

He cleared his throat and looked down at the notebook in front of him. How does one begin conversations again? How did you start small talk? Bloody hell, how did people do this all the time? How did he even usually function in society? Mycroft took a deep breath, and counted to three to try and silent his overactive mind.

"Books…" He sputtered out. Alice looked over with faint hints of confusion itching at her brow. Well he sounded stupid but at least he had begun talking. "I noticed you read a vast variety of books." He managed to sound more like himself if not just a bit guarded. "Are there any genres you don't enjoy?" Alice bit her bottom lip and hummed thoughtfully. Mycroft's lungs found it harder to exhale for a second.

"No." She said, shaking her head and making those chocolate curls twirl. "I'll give pretty much anything a chance." She gave him a little lopsided smirk. Mycroft's mouth twitched into something of a smirk in response. "What about you?" She asked. Mycroft blinked.

"Genres?" He stuttered a little. Alice nodded. "I don't read fiction as much as I once did but I'll also read anything. It's a good look into people's minds and how they function. It's especially intriguing when you're…"

"Different?" Alice finished Mycroft's sentence.

"Yes." He nodded.

"You're just smart. You're not as weird as you think you are." She teased him. Mycroft liked it. He liked it very much.

What was he doing?

Oh! Right!

"Does your openness translate into your consumption of other forms of media?" Was it just him or did he sound even more pompous when he was nervous? Did Mummy do this too? Alice frowned and laughed at his wording but she nodded a few times with that cute smile of hers on her lips. It made Mycroft's chest ache and his throat dry.

"Definitely." She said. "What about you?"

"Hmmm?" He'd gotten lost looking at her for a second.

"Do you like to watch pretty much anything too?" She asked. Mycroft frowned down at his notebook.

"Not entirely…" He trailed off. It was true he was far fussier with films than with books but what a way to say so. Way to shut a conversation down.

"Oh." Alice replied.

Mycroft knew he should keep the moment going but all that Alice was making his chest ache and he couldn't find the right words anymore.

"How did it go?" Father stuck his head through Mycroft's bedroom door while he was studying. "Did you ask her?" He asked his son. Mycroft glared at his book.

"No." He replied like his book had just insulted him. "I failed miserable."

"Oh, Myc."

"Father, please, I'm trying to study."

The next day they had English before Chemistry and that was a mistake. Mycroft arrived after Alice and her friends had gotten there. As he walked into the room Alice and her best friends were in the middle of laughing at whoever knows what. Seeing her overcome with happiness like that as opposed to the usual naughty smirk made it impossible to breathe again. Then when he walked past her desk her face softened as she waved. It had stung his chest so hard he considered it possible that he hadn't avoided heart issues by losing weight after all.

After her almost killing him there was no way he was going to attempt to ask her out again today.

Mycroft walked into his father's office.

"Well?" Siger asked, eyes bright, eyebrows raised high.

"I've worked it out." Mycroft sneered. "It's her face." His father frowned and leaned back in his chair.

"Her face?" He asked.

"Every time she smiles and every time she looks at me with those annoying blue eyes I am unable to speak." He clenched his hands into fists and unclenched. "But if I stare at my desk I look like a fool!" Sigher said nothing. A knowing expression on his face he leant down and took something out of his briefcase. He held it out for Mycroft to take.

"I thought you might need some extra help." Mycroft took the piece of paper.

A flyer for a foreign film festival?

The flyer lay on the desk at Chemistry. Its colourful side facing up staring at Mycroft as he leaned over it. This was his father's help? This? It wasn't even a proper film festival. If it was he might consider going but not with Alice. Alice was a normal teenager – she'd rather be anywhere else. No this is the type of thing Mycroft was doomed to go to with Mummy or one of his siblings when they got old enough to appreciate them.

"What's that?" The voice to Mycroft's side indicated that Alice had entered the room and sat down while Mycroft contemplated this flyer. He clicked his tongue and hummed. He used his long fingers to slide the flyer across the desk.

"The student guild at my father's university is hold a foreign film festival." Mycroft explained in a bored tone. "I commend them on their efforts but two French films, one German film, and a Swedish documentary does not a festival make."

"I don't know…" Alice said in a light singsong voice. She was reading the flyer carefully. "It's kind of cool." Her head popped up to look at Mycroft. Her eyes were particularly lovely today. "Did you know that French is one of my subjects here at school?" She asked, her expression clearly showing how proud she was of herself. Mycroft's eyebrows peaked and he nodded, impressed.

"Really?" He hummed. "My mother's family is French," He told Alice. She looked excited to hear this. "So naturally it was the first language my siblings and I learnt after English." Alice scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Naturally." She teases him with that wry smile that makes her nose crinkle.

"What can I say?" He quirked a single eyebrow and Alice laughed. It made his chest hurt again and he both hated and loved that.

"So you thinking of going?" Alice asked.

"I don't know… maybe." Mycroft replied.

Maybe? He mentally screamed at himself. Maybe? You dolt. You can save this by saying only if someone comes with you. You can turn this around if you keep talking quickly and be smart about it.

Nothing was said for thirty seconds.

Alice picked up the flyer.

"Do you mind if I keep this?" She asked. Mycroft's brain screamed.

"Sure." He replied.

Congratulations, Mycroft. Now she is going to ask someone to go with her. Your father will be so proud.

"Myc?"

"Don't talk to me."

Mycroft shut his bedroom door before his father could talk anymore.

It was on the way to Maths that Mycroft walked past Alice. She was heading in another direction, maybe even to French, so they simply saw each other in a fleeting moment. They'd see each other in last period today. Mycroft quirked an eyebrow at her and she crinkled her nose. It was instead of just smiling at each other the way everyone else did. Alice laughed and Mycroft silently enjoyed it.

Then Alice stopped. She said something to her friend then suddenly ran to catch up to Mycroft. Luckily he noticed so he had stopped walking and waited for the girl to reach him.

"Hello…" It came out as more of a question than a greeting as Mycroft wondered what Alice needed right this very moment.

"So… ah…" Alice tried to talk while catching her breath. She put down her bag and pulled up a folded piece of paper. "About this." She unfolded it to reveal the flyer for the film festival. "I kind of want to go see one of those French films for, you know, practice." She was still a little out of breath and her face was flushed as she tried to smile bashfully. Mycroft nodded. "So, um, do you want to go to one with me?" She asked, her skin turning even rosier as she did.

What?

Oh.

Oh!

Mycroft's brain caught up, causing his heart to start going in double time.

"Oh!" He repeated the only thought his brain was churning out at the moment. He scratched at his eyebrow and looked down. "Yes, absolutely." He stuttered looking back up. "I, I'll ask my family if they're familiar with the films to see which one is the best one and come to you with more information." His brain was working now and he was so thankful. Alice exhaled a hard breath and relief flashed through her eyes.

"Okay." She sung. His father had said a movie and a meal, not just a movie. This needed to be just that little bit more than sitting awkwardly together for a few hours.

"And perhaps we could find some decent lunch on campus beforehand?" Mycroft cringed inwardly at himself. He sounded pathetic. If Alice noticed she didn't care, he smile grew.

"I'd like that!" She replied.

"Good." Mycroft answered.

"Okay!" Alice laughed uneasily. Mycroft looked around and nodded a few times.

They stood there for at least a minute.

"We should get to class." Mycroft announced.

"Oh!" Alice jumped a little. "Yeah!" She looked back at her friend who was surprisingly waiting very patiently. Alice waved to her. She turned back to Mycroft. "See you in class later."

"Bye." He answered.

This time Alice waved at him as she began walking towards her friend. Mycroft held his hand up still as his wave back.

Well, he survived and it wasn't the worst case scenario.

Siger Holmes might not be a genius and he certainly wasn't easy to talk to about science and math but apparently he knew people.

"Mycroft." Mycroft's father found his eldest son when he got home from work. He hadn't even put down his coat or seen his wife yet. "Please tell me progress was made today." He was interested, in fact he looked like he really truly cared. Mycroft closed the book he was studying to give his father his full attention.

"Father," He said in the most serious tone he could muster. "Never have I loved you more than I do today." The proud and loving expression that came onto Siger's face would stay with Mycroft forever.

"I told you she liked you." He said.

"Well now we have evidence." Mycroft replied.

Author's Note: Okay? Good? Didn't ruin the whole thing? I had some fun planning this one and I really hope you all think it's okay. Thanks for reading! Let me know if you liked it so I can continue with occasional chapters.