Sorry this has taken a while. Up until this point, I had it all written ahead of time and all I needed to do was upload it here. Now I have to write more and that means it might not be as fast as it usually is. But I do have more written and I plan to write even more to get ahead again. Anyways, thanks as always for the follows/favs/reviews! Hope you enjoy! Oh and thanks to Sophie for your kind reviews! I can't reply to you personally because you're a guest, but know that I do appreciate your comments :)

Chapter 18

Addie stood in front of the mirror in her room nervously smoothing down her dress and fixing her hair for the millionth time. To say she was nervous was an understatement. Admittedly, this was the first time anything like this had happened to her and she felt completely out of her depth. It wasn't something she expected to experience, but she wasn't unhappy that she was. On the contrary, she was so excited she thought she might burst. The combination of nervousness and excitement was making her feel nauseous and she knew she couldn't put it off anymore. She had to do it now or she'd never get out the door.

You see, Addie Holmes, at 24, was going on her first date. She had nearly fainted in shock when she was asked out and after accepting, had a slight freak-out about what the hell a date was all about and how to go about getting ready for one. She decided to consult Molly since she had experience in this type of thing. Molly may not have been successful in her dating endeavors but she had plenty of dating expertise under her belt. Molly had been exceptionally helpful; giving her advice on what to talk about and how to conduct herself. She even helped her pick out her dress and find some styling tips for her hair. Most importantly though, Molly helped Addie keep it all a secret from her brothers and John. She knew they would protest and forbid her from going, even though they really had no authority over her anymore. Although, John would most likely not be opposed to it, but considering he and Sherlock were so close and John couldn't keep a secret, she had to exclude him from the plan too.

Her plan was to tell Sherlock right before she was going out, not giving him enough time to get upset. She looked at her reflection and sighed. If she waited until she was completely satisfied with her appearance, she'd never go on a date again. She took a deep breath and turned from the mirror. It was time to tell Sherlock.

She walked into the living room and, as nonchalantly as possible, started gathering her coat and purse. Sherlock looked up at her sudden entrance and frowned when he took in her appearance.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just out for a bit," she replied casually.

John looked up from his computer. "You look nice," he commented. "Where you headed?"

"There's a new Italian restaurant I've been dying to try. Thought I'd go check it out."

"By yourself? All dressed up?" Sherlock asked, suspicious.

"No. Not exactly by myself. There will be someone with me."

"And who might that be?"

Addie bit her lip. She was nervous. She was 24 years old and nervous to tell her big brother she had a date. He wasn't her father for goodness sake and she wasn't 15 years old. She shouldn't care about upsetting him and about him disapproving; but she did.

"If you must know," she started.

"Oh, I really must," Sherlock interrupted her.

"If you must know, Tom asked me on a date and I accepted. He should be here soon and we'll be off to dinner." Addie said matter-of-factly.

"That sounds lovely Addie, have fun," John said and smiled.

Addie returned his smile then focused her attention on Sherlock. He looked thoughtful. Not angry, not upset, just thoughtful.

"And what do you intend to do on this date?" he asked as if the very word repulsed him.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, I don't know. I thought he'd start with just some flirting then move on to snogging, and possibly getting a bit friendlier by the end of the night. But one can't be too hopeful for the first date."

Sherlock pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "I don't appreciate your sarcasm. Being cheeky isn't going to lighten the mood."

"I didn't intend for it to. I just wanted to show you what a ridiculous question that was. What do you think we're going to do, Sherlock? We're going to have dinner and get to know each other. It's not like I'm going to run off and get married or have his babies or anything. Though I hardly see how it is any concern of yours."

"I could say no," he said.

"And I could say, piss off."

"Is he going to come up and get you?" Sherlock asked.

Addie scoffed. "No. I'm not an idiot. I'm meeting him outside."

"Oh, what a gentleman," Sherlock snarked.

She rolled her eyes and smirked. Sherlock was concerned and it was plainly obvious to her, no matter how much he used sarcasm to cover it up.

"Dear brother," she said, coming to stand in front of him. "I'll be sure to be on my best behavior and keep the snogging to a minimum," she teased.

Sherlock grumbled under his breath and glared at her.

Addie laughed. "I'm kidding, Sherlock."

"I know!" he said, looking offended.

Her phone went off and she scrambled to check it. "Well, that's him. Guess I'll be going then." Suddenly her anxiety from before came back and she started nervously tugging at her dress and twirling her hair.

John sensed her fear and attempted to make her feel better. "Relax, Addie. You look beautiful and I'm sure Tom will think so too. Have a good time, love." He crossed the room and gave her a peck on the cheek before going into the kitchen to make some tea. Addie glanced at Sherlock. When it appeared as if he wasn't going to say anything, she turned to leave.

"Addie…" he said. She turned back around. "You look…nice." He said awkwardly.

Addie knew, in Sherlock speak, that he meant, 'be careful,' 'good luck,' and 'have a good time,' all in one. She gave him a wide smile then stood on her tip-toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. She grabbed her coat and her bag and headed for the stairs.

"Be back later," she called as she closed the door to the flat.

Tom was there to greet her with a smile and a very nice shirt and tie. Addie was momentarily stricken at how well he cleaned up. She suddenly felt inadequate and unattractive next to him. How had he been interested in her enough to ask her out?

Tom offered her his arm. "You look beautiful," he said kissing her cheek.

Addie blushed and ducked her head. "You look dashing as well," she said, teasing.

"Well, thank you m'lady!"

"Most welcome good sir," Addie chuckled.

"So, how did Mr. Prat take it?" Tom asked.

Addie gave him a disapproving look.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "How did Sherlock take it?"

"Well, I barely gave him time to react. I waited until the very last minute. He didn't react quite as badly as I expected though, lucky for you," she smiled.

"Well that's good. And thank you for not making me go up there. You might have saved my life."

"I guess that means you owe me," Addie said.

"How will I ever repay you?" Tom joked.

"You can start by taking me to eat. I'm starving."

Tom smiled and hailed a cab to take them to the restaurant.

They spent the night laughing and talking, enjoying each other's company. Addie was starting to fall for Tom and that scared her slightly. She wasn't one to trust people and get close to people. Past experiences had ruined that for her. She blamed the hormones and excitement for impairing her judgment.

Addie nearly had a heart attack when she looked at her phone and saw the time. Half past eleven. Neither had noticed that the restaurant had closed its doors and was cleaning tables.

"Oh, shit! We've been out for nearly 5 hours! We need to go, before Sherlock calls out a search party," Addie said scrambling to grab her stuff.

Tom laid the bills on the table and stood up as well. "Addie, you're an adult. Why do you let your brothers control your life so much?" Tom asked, slightly annoyed.

"You don't understand, Tom. They will not hesitate to hunt you down if they suspect anything. Anything at all. We really should be going back."

Tom looked put-off again but nodded.

"I'm just going to run to the loo really fast," Addie said. "Be right back!"

After seeing her disappear into the loo, Tom whipped out his phone and dialed. "Hey, Davis, it's me. Yeah, everything is going well. She doesn't suspect anything. She's so head over heels she's practically floating. Tell Warden it's not over yet."

Addie was now returning from the loo and he quickly ended the call.

"Who was that?" Addie asked.

"Just my housemate. Wanting to know if I had a spare key. He's heading to bed."

"Well, we shouldn't keep him waiting. Ready?" she asked.

"Yes, after you m'lady," Tom said and held out his hand towards the door.

"Thank you sir," she joked as she they left the restaurant.

The cab pulled up to 221B and Tom held the door open for Addie. She climbed out and they found themselves awkwardly standing in front of the door to the flat. Addie glanced up and saw the curtains move a bit. She knew they were being watched.

"Just to let you know, Sherlock's watching. Don't try anything funny," she teased.

Tom smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Then I guess I shall bid you goodnight and say thank you for a lovely time."

"You are most welcome. And thank you for taking me. You were lovely. I mean…it! It was lovely," Addie said blushing beet red and looking at the ground.

Tom chuckled and turned her face up to his. "You were lovely as well, Addie. I hope this will not be the last time we spend a night out. If Sherlock allows us, that is," he sneered at Sherlock's name.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about him," Addie smirked. "He'll get over it."

"So, is that a yes?"

"I'll let you know," she said.

Tom smiled and gave her a light peck on the cheek. "Goodnight, Addie. Hope to see you again soon."

"Likewise, Tom."

Tom watched her unlock the door and go inside, smiling to himself at his cleverness and charm. She was incredibly easy to influence and he was pleased that his plan was working.

Addie walked up the stairs to the flat dreamily, head stuck in the clouds. As she opened the door, Sherlock was there to greet her with a stern face and a glare.

"Holy…you scared the crap out of me, Sherlock! Don't do that!"

"Did you and Tom have a good time?" he sneered, much in the same way Tom did when speaking of Sherlock.

Addie rolled her eyes. "Yes, we did. Tom's lovely and we plan to go out again soon."

"Any longer and I would have called Mycroft to arrange a search party," Sherlock said.

"Well, it's a good thing we didn't take longer, isn't it?" Addie said cheekily.

Sherlock narrowed his eyes. "I don't like him, Addie."

"And I don't care."

Sherlock glared at her as if studying her.

"And besides, it's the big brother's prerogative not to like his little sister's dates."

"I don't think you should keep seeing him."

Addie laughed and hung her coat up next to her purse on the hook. "Good to know you're concerned, big brother."

Sherlock wrinkled his nose, "I'm not-"

"Goodnight, Sherlock," she called as she walked to her room.

Sherlock had a bad feeling about Tom Reynolds. He learned never to ignore his bad feelings because they usually turned out to be correct in the end. He would be keeping a close eye on the young agent, and he knew Mycroft would as well. And so help the poor boy if he did anything to hurt their little sister.