John was waiting patiently in the living room for Sherlock when the knock came at the door. He frowned and checked the time. It was already eight o'clock. Who would be calling at this hour? John wondered briefly as he made his way down the stairs. Mrs. Hudson was off on her own date at the moment and therefore was unable to get the door. John grumbled to himself about inconvenient timing and opened the door.

He was quite surprised to find Sherlock standing in front of him. He blinked hard several times.

"How did you get out of the flat?" John demanded, "I've been in the living room!"

"I went out the window," Sherlock said in a smug voice.

John noted that Sherlock had flowers in his hands. He grinned.

"Are those for me?" he asked, smiling widely at Sherlock.

Sherlock's cheeks tinted a rather lovely shade of pink and he nodded. He held them out for John, turning away like an embarrassed teenager going on his first date. John realized that he was probably going on his first date. He took the flowers and buried his nose in them. They smelled quite lovely and that made John's smile widen even more. He looked down at them to see what they actually were. Three red Camellias lay gently together on the paper that was wrapped around them.

"Do you know what these flowers mean, Sherlock?" John asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Sherlock stated simply, "It means that you're a fire in my heart. You bring me warmth and light. Completely accurate, of course."

Sherlock was waving his hand dismissively and that made John smile softly.

"I'll go put them in water," John said, turning to go back up the stairs.

"I left a vase of water right inside the door," Sherlock said.

John looked at the table that stood by the door. There was in fact a vase of water sitting on it. John gently put the flowers into the vase, moving them so that their faces were looking towards the stairs. That way, John would see them when he came down the stairs. He smiled fondly at them for a moment before stepping out of the flat and locking the door behind him.

When he got closer to Sherlock he sneezed loudly.

"Bless you," Sherlock said, his nose wrinkling.

"Sorry," John muttered, sniffing.

He sneezed three times in rapid order. He sniffled and brought his sleeve up to his nose, turning away from Sherlock.

"Dammit," John muttered, "There's something on you that is making me sneeze."

Sherlock frowned.

"It's not the cat…?" he left the question open.

John shook his head furiously, sneezing again.

"I'm not allergic to cats," he said in a nasally voice.

Sherlock's frown deepened.

"The only thing that is different is this flower," Sherlock stated, pulling a flower out from his coat, "I was going to give it to you after we got home."

John backed away hurriedly, stumbling as he went.

"Keep it away from me!" he hissed, "That's a Protea! I'm deathly allergic to those!"

Sherlock scowled at him and turned away. He walked down an alley for a moment and then made his way back to John, flowerless.

"Better?" Sherlock questioned in a tired voice.

John sneezed again, keeping his sleeve pressed against his nose.

"Not exactly," John said, "I can't touch you."

"What? Why?!" Sherlock demanded.

"You have the Protea still on you, Sherlock," John said warily, "You don't have an allergy, do you?"

"No, I don't," Sherlock admitted, "I didn't know you did. Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not exactly a common flower, Sherlock!" John snapped.

He sneezed violently and twisted away from Sherlock.

"You have to go change," John said, sounding rather miserable, "And scrub your hands."

Sherlock didn't answer. He merely let himself into the flat and went to change his clothes. John sat down heavily on the front step. He sneezed a few more times, his eyes watering. This wasn't exactly what he imagined when Sherlock asked him on the date. He silently stewed over the annoying flower messing up his date for several minutes. Then he sneezed rather forcefully.

"It had to be that flower," he grumbled nasally, "It's so uncommon and yet that's the one he chose. Fucking ugly flower too."

"You think so?" Sherlock's voice called from behind him.

John jumped and twisted his head around to look up at Sherlock, who was standing in the now open doorway. Sherlock's eyebrows were furrowed, but his expression was unreadable. John sneezed as though to demonstrate, that yes, he did think so.

"There are over 1,400 different varieties," Sherlock commented, "You can't possibly dislike them all."

"I'm allergic to them Sherlock!" John snapped, "If I come in contact with one I could die, so yes, I do think I can dislike them all!"

John noticed that he couldn't see where Sherlock's ears pressed against the hat; his ears were flattened against his head. John jumped up and grabbed the man into a hug very suddenly.

"It's ok, Sherlock," John assured him, "I don't mind. I'm sure the thought was wonderful. I just get irritable when I-."

A sneeze interrupted his sentence. He turned his face away from Sherlock and covered his nose with his sleeve.

"Sorry," he mumbled, his voice muffled by his sleeve, "It takes it a bit to subside."

"I'm very sorry, John," Sherlock said quietly, "I had no idea that you were allergic."

"Don't be sorry, silly," John said lightly, "You couldn't have known that. Can I ask you why a Protea of all the flowers in the world?"

"It means diversity and courage," Sherlock stated, "You are different than anyone I have ever known and you are far more courageous than the average person. I thought it was very fitting. I was going to give it to you at the end of the date when I asked you to go on a second date with me."

"That's so swee-!"

John sneezed into his sleeve twice, effectively ruining the lovely moment.

"Sweet! It's sweet Sherlock," John exclaimed, "That's so kind of you!"

Sherlock looked away as though he was embarrassed.

"Let's go now, shall we?" he suggested, "Or do you need more time to stop the sneezing?"

"It should subside in a bit," John said dismissively, "The ride there will be enough to get rid of it."

"Then in you go," Sherlock said, sweeping forward.

John looked around in confusion. There was a sleek black car pulled up to the curb and Sherlock was currently holding the back door open for John. How did I not see that before? He wondered wildly as he stepped forward to slide into the car. Must have borrowed it from Mycroft, John mused as he situated himself on the left side of the car. Sherlock slid in and slammed the door behind him.

John opened his mouth to say something about slamming doors, but he sneezed instead.

"Fuck!" he shouted, still holding his nose from when he grabbed it in the sneeze.

Sherlock looked at him with a frown.

"Sorry, I just hate sneezing," John muttered, "It's just annoying."

Sherlock merely raised an eyebrow at him and then turned away to look back out the window. John could see that his ears were still pressed flat against his head. Usually that meant that Sherlock was sad. John frowned, wishing he knew what the detective was thinking.

"Hey, Sherlock," John said softly, laying his hand on Sherlock's arm.

Sherlock looked at him with a blank expression, but John could tell that meant something not good was going on inside Sherlock's head.

"Thank you, Sherlock," he whispered, smiling softly.

"For what?" Sherlock questioned, clearly confused.

"For the flowers," John answered, "And taking me on this date. I really appreciate it. I'm glad you asked me."

Sherlock's face seemed to soften and his ears lifted underneath his hat.

"It's my honor, John," he said quietly.

John blushed and looked away sheepishly.

"That's a sweet thing for you to say," John said, still not daring to raise his voice.

Sherlock looked like he wanted to say something (one of those somethings that usually got him in trouble), but he thought better of it and just smiled at John instead. John smiled back. He was vaguely aware that his hand was still on Sherlock's arm. He didn't care though. All he cared about was that he was going on a date with Sherlock and he was feeling rather wonderful about it.


Little note: There you go: Sweet Sherlock being sweet. :D Hope you liked it, cuz I sure did! Thanks for all the support and a special thank you to all you reviewers. Especially reflectiveless and Nephisa, who have reviewed several times. You guys rock! All of you rock! You all get gold stars! Love you all!