When the couples all arrive for at the dance, they find their tables and sit. Since there are seven couples, eight when Dane and Margo join, they split into tables of four. None of them mind separating because the tables are close enough that they can still talk between them.
Nobody gives John and Sherlock or Duke and Blake any issues about being there together. Each boy secretly feared a teacher or student saying something to them, making comments, but nobody does. Everyone says they look handsome, especially to Sherlock, who nobody expected to actually come to the dance.
"Okay, who brought the booze to spike the punch bowl?" Olive jokingly asks once they all sit.
Harvey looks guilty. "I have a flask, but—"
Lily covers his mouth with her hand. "He's kidding!"
She lowers her hand and Harvey grins. "Of course I'm kidding!" he says, but he still looks a little bit guilty.
Everyone laughs.
The boys of their table minus Sherlock (John, Brady, Harvey, and Lane) get up to get drinks for their dates, so the girls and Sherlock sit closer together.
"Does Harvey really have a flask?" Jenna asks.
Lily looks at the boys standing by the punch, and they're each not-so-discreetly passing around Harvey's flask.
Sherlock rolls his eyes.
Olive and Lily laugh.
"Guess we're all in for an interesting night," Olive says.
"Speaking of which," Lily says. "Sherlock, we can't go to your slumber party later. Harvey and I got a hotel room for…" she blushes. "Uhm…never mind."
Sherlock looks at her, confused as to what she's talking about and why she's so embarrassed.
"Oooh!" Olive and Jenna sound.
"A very good night for you then," Jenna says.
"What, is this like the first time?" Olive asks.
First time? Sherlock asks himself. What are they talking about?
"Yeah," Lily says. "It is. We haven't really wanted to until now, so we wanted it to be special."
"That's wonderful!" Jenna squeals.
Sherlock furrows his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?!" he cries.
The girls look at him.
Lily blushes again. "Uhm…"
Jenna laughs. "Sherlock, sweetie, when two people love each other, they—"
"Sherlock, use your brain!" Olive says.
Sherlock gasps in realization. "Are you talking about sex?!"
"Ssshhh!" the girls shush him.
"Oh," Sherlock sighs.
The girls laugh and go back to talking with each other.
"I can't believe you haven't had sex yet," Olive says.
Sherlock looks at her. "And you have?!"
Olive looks at him. "Shut up!"
"You have?!"
"We can talk about this later," she sternly says.
"I can't believe this," Sherlock mutters, sitting back against his chair and crossing his arms.
"Was she supposed to wait for you, Sherlock?" Jenna asks.
Sherlock makes a face at her. "No!"
"Then stop pouting!" Lily says, playfully pinching his arm.
Sherlock yanks his arm away.
"Come on," Olive says, standing. "Let's get some of that punch the boys promised."
Jenna follows her up, but Lily stays. She scoots into the seat Olive was holding, right next to Sherlock.
She grins at him.
"What?" Sherlock demands.
"Do you love her or something?"
Sherlock makes the same face he made at Jenna. "No! That's crazy!"
"Then why does everything she do bother you? She dates Lane, you don't like him. She has sex with him, you say 'I can't believe this!'. What is it, Sherlock?"
Sherlock looks over at the group by the punch table, seeing of course John, then noticing Olive sip out of Lane's cup, then lean in to kiss him while he smiles against her lips.
"I just care," Sherlock mutters.
"I know you care, I care about my friends too. But you care for Olive in a way that…that I care for Harvey."
"No," Sherlock disagrees, "I care for John that way."
"Alright," Lily concedes. "But why do you care that much?"
"Because I do," Sherlock says. "When he breaks her heart, I'm the one who is going to be there. Is it so bad that I care that much?"
"What if he doesn't break her heart?"
"What, do you think they're going to get married or something?!"
Lily laughs. "No, I just meant…what if she breaks his?"
Sherlock shrugs. "I hadn't thought of that."
"She's not some fragile little girl."
"Yes," he practically growls, "I know that."
"So lighten up," Lily says, ruffling his hair.
She stands from her seat and goes over to the refreshments table where everyone is still standing, then she pulls Harvey away to the dance floor. The other couples follow, even the couples still sitting at the table next to Sherlock. He sits alone and watches at they all start to dance to the fast music playing.
Sherlock doesn't even notice John walk up to him until John's face is right in front of him.
"Wanna dance?" John asks.
"Are you already drunk?" Sherlock asks. "You took about three sips of…" Sherlock sniffs John's breath and smells nothing. "Vodka."
John laughs. "Would you believe me if I said there was apple juice in that flask?"
Sherlock sniffs him again. "I wouldn't. You do not smell like apples."
John laughs again. "Come along, my brilliant love, let's dance."
Sherlock whines as John pulls him off his seat. "I can't dance to this!"
"I'll show you!"
Sherlock groans as they make it to their group of friends and John begins to dance around him. It's clumsy, but Sherlock thinks it's adorable. He pecks kiss after kiss to John's mouth and cheeks while they dance, pulling laughs and smiles from John as they go.
The second song that plays once they're on the dance floor is slow. John pulls Sherlock close and wraps his arms around Sherlock's waist, and Sherlock drapes himself against John. They sway naturally, and Sherlock forgets about everything around them when John runs his lips against Sherlock's jaw. Just once, they don't risk getting in trouble, but Sherlock loves it.
"Thank you for coming," John says.
"It's my pleasure," Sherlock replies.
All of the couples dance all night. They dance to many different songs: slow, fast, American country music, Latin salsa music. They comment on how fun the DJ is, and they have a ton of fun dancing.
Even Sherlock. They're all surprised that he dances with John nearly the whole time, only pausing once or twice to use the restroom or to get something to drink. He enjoys himself, and the large smile on his face makes that obvious.
Eventually, all the friends convince Sherlock and Declan to show them a few ballet moves. The Holmes boys do pirouettes over and over to please everyone, making their friends laugh loudly and causing other tables to look over in curiosity. That's when they stop out of embarrassment.
Everyone leaves at 10:30, going in separate directions to collect clothes. Declan drives John's car with John, Sherlock, and Ellery because they only need to stop by Ellery's house for clothes.
"Aww," Ellery says when they're in the car. "I don't want to change. I want to wear this forever."
"Go ahead," Declan tells her.
Ellery laughs. "I'll be a bit silly the only one there still wearing my prom clothes."
"No you won't," Declan says. "I will, too. I'll keep my suit on."
"You will?" Ellery asks, in awe.
"Sure, of course. I don't mind. Your dress is lovely, I want you to be happy."
She smiles happily and rubs his arm. He kisses her hand.
Sherlock looks at John longingly.
"You don't look as lovely as she does," John says. "I'm changing."
Sherlock crosses his arms. "Fine."
They get back to the Holmes residence and Sherlock calls Paris to return. Then, they go through the house and gather all the pillows and blankets that they can, plus they get out a few blow-up beds that they had and John had at his house.
Everyone starts to arrive soon after, everyone still in their prom clothes. All the girls say they don't want to change, just as Ellery did, so they all eat the food Clement made for them while still wearing their dresses and suits.
"Hey," Declan says while they're eating, "Where did Harvey and Lily go?"
"Uhm…" Jenna says. Nobody else speaks up.
"They got a hotel," Brady adds instead.
Declan looks surprised. "Did they? Wow."
Nobody says anything else about that again.
Instead, Sherlock notices that Mystery isn't near them. Surely the dog would be at their feet while they eat their snacks, but the dog is nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Mystery?" Sherlock asks John.
John shrugs. "I don't know, babe."
"He's by the front door," Ellery says.
Sherlock looks at her. "What? Why?"
"I don't know," Ellery says. "I called for him, but he wouldn't come."
"Oh," Sherlock mutters. "Okay. I'm going to get him."
Sherlock leaves the kitchen to get the dog, who, as promised, is sitting patiently at the front door.
"What are you doing, boy?" Sherlock asks the dog, bending to pet his head. "What's outside?"
Sherlock reaches for the doorknob and Mystery excitedly wags his tail.
Sherlock nearly jumps when he opens the door and sees Paris and Taylor standing there.
"Wow," Sherlock sighs. "Scared me. Did you guys ring the doorbell?"
"Uh, no…" Taylor says.
"We met out here and…got to talking," Paris adds.
Sherlock eyes them. "Uh huh," he says. "Care to join us?"
Paris and Taylor look at each other, laugh, then follow Sherlock into the house.
"And where were you two?" John taunts them.
"Just outside," Taylor says, blushing.
Paris goes next to Olive to say hello, but he looks sad when Olive introduces him to Lane. So instead of staying next to Olive, he migrates back to Taylor and flirts with her all night instead.
After they finish eating, they part to change, then go back to the sitting room to set up their sleeping spots and to start a movie. The boys band together to put in James Bond before the girls can give any input, so when the movie starts they all whine.
"Boy's house, boy rules!" Declan cries.
"This isn't your house!" Jenna argues with him.
"Hey, I have a bed here. It's my house, too."
"What do you think, Sherlock?" Ellery asks.
Sherlock shrugs. "I'm not even going to be paying attention anyway."
All the girls groan while the boys high-five.
"Sherlock," Olive says, "If you're going to make us watch James Bond then you had better show us another pirouette."
"No," Sherlock disagrees. "I'm not doing it again."
"Please!" the girls all cry.
"No!"
"I'll do it again if it means you stop whining," Declan says.
"Okay!" the girls agree.
Declan stands and moves to a clear space on the hardwood floor, then spins only three times before he loses his balance.
"Man, that's weak," Paris says, standing from the couch and hopping over people. "Look out, dude."
He does a perfect five-spin pirouette.
The girls gasp.
"You do ballet?" Declan asks him.
"Had to," Paris confirms. "For football. I had poor form, so my coach made me take dance to calm my jittery arms and legs."
Declan pats his back. "Well done, mate."
"Do it again!" Ellery says.
Declan glares at her. "Hey!"
Ellery looks guilty. "I was…I was talking to you, Dec."
Everyone laughs.
Declan sits back down at his spot next to Ellery.
Paris does one more pirouette, then he sits back down on the sofa.
They watch the movie while talking about their prom and that they only have a month and a half left of school, and how sad they are about it. Sherlock stops paying attention so he can read instead.
Eventually, everyone starts to fall asleep. The couples snuggle close together, John and Sherlock included.
When they're sure everyone's asleep, Sherlock turns around in John's arms to face him. He kisses John lightly, slowly pushing the kiss deeper and harder by the second.
"Hey," John whispers, pulling away. "Relax."
"I thought you were going to rock my world," Sherlock says.
"I was going to, but then your cousin invited our friends over."
"I have a bed here, you know?"
John laughs. "Tomorrow, babe. And every day after, because I'm suddenly finding you bloody irresistible."
"Are you?"
John kisses his neck. "Irresistible," he repeats, licking up to Sherlock's ear and tracing the rim of Sherlock's ear with his tongue.
Sherlock bites his lip, then has the urge to bite John's. He grabs John's head and holds him in place, licking his way into John's mouth and biting John's lip.
John lets out a small moan, then pulls away from Sherlock as soon as he does.
"Baby, baby," John whispers. "Calm down. We can't right now, okay?"
Sherlock nods. "Okay. I'm sorry."
"Me too," John replies. "I love you."
"I love you too."
John hugs him tight. "I'm so glad we had a good night."
"Me too."
John pulls back and smile at Sherlock, then kisses him lightly one last time.
When they finally settle down, Sherlock turns around again to let John hold him close.
"Goodnight, my love," John whispers.
"Goodnight," Sherlock softly says, then closes his eyes and goes to sleep.