The One Next Door

Dating Advice From An...Expert?

    "Alright, here's outfit number one." Molly called, walking out in a purple blouse with a black skirt.
"That's nice." Sherlock decided.
"Spin around." John insisted. Molly spun in a little circle, probably feeling like a princess.
"Where are you guys going?" John asked.
"Fancy sushi place, I told you that." Molly insisted.
"Do something more fancy then, that looks like work attire, wear a dress, wow him a little bit." Sherlock suggested.
"Whatever you say." Molly sighed.
"I like the color though!" Sherlock called, and John just laughed.
"It's always good to have a gay best friend." John decided.
"Are you stereotyping?" Sherlock accused.
"Yes." John agreed, and Sherlock just laughed, taking another bite of his sandwich.
"I don't have much style, but I have an eye for it I suppose." Sherlock shrugged.
"You should be a fashion critic." John suggested.
"Definitely not." Sherlock decided.
"Why not, you'd be good at that." John defended.
"I'll stick to coffee shops." Sherlock decided.
"Fair enough." John agreed.
"Alright, here we go, outfit number two." Molly decided, coming out in a white dress with black flowers on it.
"That's beautiful." John decided.
"You think?" Molly asked happily, twirling around.
"That looks faintly Chinese too, with the flowers and all." Sherlock agreed.
"So you think this will work?" Molly asked.
"I think it'll be great, he won't know what hit him." John assured.
"I hope so. I really like him; I hope you two do as well." Molly decided.
"We don't know him enough to judge, but he seemed nice enough, if not a little bit awkward." John assured.
"Anyone would be awkward in that situation; I thought he was doing a good job in keeping up with you two." Molly decided.
"At least he wasn't in a leather jacket." Sherlock decided. Molly groaned, obviously wanting to say something against Sherlock's stereotyping, but closed her mouth in defeat.
"So this is the dress then?" She asked.
"Yes, I think so." Sherlock agreed.
"Brilliant, I'll iron it a little bit, and accessorize." Molly decided.
"Sounds good. I made you a sandwich too, it's on the counter." John pointed out.
"Oh, awesome." Molly agreed. "Let me get changed first." She disappeared back into her room, and John turned off the radio, which was pumping some terrible pop song with so much auto tune that it hurt.
"So, what are your parents like?" John asked.
"You sound worried." Sherlock decided.
"From what you say, it sounds like they'll kick me into the streets." John pointed out.
"No, they won't do that, but to make sure we're still welcomed, I'm going to leave your gender out of the planning." Sherlock decided.
"But they won't, I don't know, look at you badly, disown you, I don't want to be the reason you and your parents don't get along." John insisted.
"I assure you John, if they don't invite me next year, it will not be a tragedy." Sherlock assured.
"They won't be mean?" John asked.
"Honestly I'm not sure what they'll do. The idea of continuing the Holmes family seems to be distracting them for the last couple of years. I think they suddenly realized that there is a good chance our family will die out." Sherlock sighed.
"So you think the idea of continuing the family will outweigh the whole gay thing?" John asked.
"I can only hope." Sherlock shrugged.
"Are you scared of your family dying out?" John asked.
"No. In fact, if the Holmes family was gone, I feel like this world will be better off." Sherlock decided.
"The Holmes family is needed just as much as the Watson family, and the Hooper family, and every other family in the world. Without the Holmes family, I'd most likely be sitting home alone, wouldn't I?" John pointed out.
"What is your family like?" Sherlock asked.
"My family...is dysfunctional. I definitely wouldn't be invited to Christmas dinner." John admitted.
"Bad ties or just bad parents?" Sherlock asked.
"A little bit of both. My parents, of course, are nice people; my sister however, isn't the best role model." John admitted.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Sherlock sighed.
"I guess our families aren't the best, are they?" John asked with a small laugh.
"So we start our own. We start over; we start a family to be proud of." Sherlock insisted.
"See, there's that smooth talk I've been waiting for." John decided.
"Don't expect it very often, that came out of nowhere." Sherlock insisted.
"These types of things come from the soul Sherlock, and I know that your soul is just dying to have its say." John decided.
"Stop it, you're too romantic, it's killing me." Sherlock insisted.
"A nice way to die though, is it not?" John asked, and Sherlock smiled, blushing like the idiot he was.
"Stop it." Sherlock insisted with a laugh. Thankfully, he was saved by Molly, who walked out in her normal clothes, looking excited.
"I'm really nervous about this date." She decided as she grabbed her sandwich from the counter, sitting down on the couch cross legged and staring at her sandwich nervously.
"No need to be, you'll be fine." Sherlock assured.
"What if I'm not? What if I'm not entertaining enough, what if he doesn't like me, what if I sneeze all over my menu?" Molly asked worriedly, pushing her sandwich away as if too nervous to eat.
"Even though I have no prior experience to dating men, I think he'll like you as you are." Sherlock decided.
"And as a man who had dated girls, those quiet girls that answer with one word, they're no fun. Make sure to be yourself, that's what he'll like. Make small jokes, laugh, engage in conversation as if you were talking to us. You can't mess up if you're just being yourself." John assured.
"What if he doesn't like me?" Molly asked.
"We know he does, or he wouldn't voluntarily spend so much money on you. Even such a disaster of a movie date wasn't enough to stop you two from having a second date." Sherlock pointed out.
"You think the movie night was a disaster?" Molly asked.
"Of course not..." Sherlock muttered, suddenly very interested in his sandwich. Molly was silent, poking around at her plate without eating anything.
"Well, I should be off to the store; I think ice cream tonight sounds like a wonderful idea." John decided, getting to his feet.
"I'll come with you." Sherlock offered.
"No, stay with Molly; give her whatever dating advice you know." John insisted.
"But I haven't dated anyone except you, and that really shouldn't count. We were never in the awkward dating stage, we just kind of...happened." Sherlock decided.
"Well, try not to lead her astray." John insisted. "I'll see you tonight."
"Alright, see you." Sherlock agreed.
"Good luck tonight Molly, you'll be fine." John assured, smiling one last time before leaving.
"That was rather abrupt, don't you think?" Molly asked.
"Maybe he wanted me to give you very urgent dating advice." Sherlock shrugged.
"Got any?" Molly asked.
"Of course not, you know my inexperience." Sherlock insisted.
"If you were looking for a girl, what would you look for?" Molly asked.
"I'd look for...I don't know, humor, someone I could talk with, someone pretty, um, someone who didn't make me pay for the bill alone." Sherlock shrugged.
"Does John meet all your expectations?" Molly asked.
"He certainly is pretty." Sherlock sighed.
"You two seem happy. I think with Tom, I hope that I can be as happy as you are." Molly decided.
"You will be. If he doesn't like you, then obviously he's not the one for you, and he's a complete idiot." Sherlock insisted.
"That makes me feel better." Molly decided.
"And even if you do sneeze on your menu, it'll be a good first date story to tell on your wedding." Sherlock offered.
"We're not getting married." Molly insisted.
"Well, maybe you will eventually." Sherlock shrugged.
"Speaking about marriage, you and John seem to be looking far into the future." Molly pointed out.
"The future is still pretty far away." Sherlock insisted.
"I even heard you guys talking about 'continuing the family name'. Are you going to adopt?" Molly asked.
"I like him Molly. I mean, I really like him. And if I could imagine a future for myself, the happiest future possible, I see myself, John, and a child swinging between our arms." Sherlock insisted.
"Do you think marriage is possible?" Molly asked.
"I hope it is, but I don't know how he feels." Sherlock admitted.
"He seemed pretty swept away as well. From what I hear, he's a smooth one." Molly laughed.
"He makes me feel like such an idiot, honestly. I don't know if he reads that stuff from a book or what, but it seems as if everything that comes out of his mouth makes me want to marry him on the spot." Sherlock insisted.
"Do you think anyone could beat him?" Molly asked.
"No, never." Sherlock admitted.
"Then why don't you?" Molly asked.
"What, marry him?" Sherlock asked in surprise.
"If he loves you, and if you love him, I don't see why not. See what happens at your parents' house, see how everything goes, and if they accept him, then maybe you've got to save up for a diamond." Molly decided.
"That's prosperous. I mean, marriage? Do you see me as a married man?" Sherlock asked.
"No, but I see John and you as a married couple. I see you two happy, I've known that from the time you two met." Molly insisted.
"That's really sweet, and you know I'd love to, but that's a really big commitment. I'm not sure he'll be ready for it." Sherlock decided.
"I don't want to pressure you or anything, just see how Christmas goes, and carry on from there." Molly suggested.
"Do you focus on my love life to distract yourself from your own?" Sherlock asked.
"Of course. Yours seems to be going somewhere, believe it or not." Molly agreed.
"Yours is going somewhere too." Sherlock insisted.
"I'd rather not think about it. The whole idea of this date makes me want to throw up." Molly decided.
"That's how I felt when I was going to go apologize to John. But love happens Molly, maybe not in the way you'd expect, but it happens. Maybe you won't win his heart in the restaurant, maybe on the ride over, or at the Christmas party, because who would've guessed I would've had my first kiss on a stairwell?" Sherlock pointed out.
"It's kind of romantic actually, the whole not caring of it all. I mean, imagine if Mrs. Turner had been walking up from her grocery shopping?" Molly asked.
"You couldn't have expected me to care." Sherlock laughed.
"What exactly happened that night? I mean, I know the outcome, but what did you two say?" Molly asked.
"Well, it was all kind of sudden. I was on my way to visit you, I had no idea where he'd been, but he was coming up the stairs and I was coming down them. And we sort of had an awkward conversation, and we were on our way, when I turned around and asked him if he would've kissed me that day. And he thought about it, and he said that he would've." Sherlock said with a memorable sigh. "And we sort of started off on our way again until we realized just what we were doing, and we both sort of...ran at each other." Sherlock admitted.
"That is a love story Sherlock." Molly decided.
"I hope it has a happy ending." Sherlock admitted.
"Oh come on, what other ending could it possibly have?" Molly asked. Sherlock just smiled sadly, looking into the distance and imagining what tragedy such a perfect love story could hold. They passed the rest of their free time in front of the TV, watching some talk show where they were modeling clothes and talking about some sad story or whatever. Molly and Sherlock entertained themselves by finding all the plot holes in their stories and calling out the liars. It was very entertaining, but even if they had said they had taken a walk in the park or if they had been abducted by aliens, they all received a free toaster and were sent on their way. When finally it was time to get ready, Molly got into her dress and started on her hair. Sherlock sat on the bathroom counter, going over last minute dating advice he learned from what little experience he had with John. Molly was finished with her hair, which was now in big bouncy curls, just at the time that Sherlock was going into how to kiss someone without them at first knowing your intentions. Even though he wasn't the expert on kissing and dating and marriage, he just wanted to submit his opinion in an attempt to make Molly's experience a little bit more pleasant. As they were going over last minute previsions, Molly was making sure she had packed her lipstick in her small little purse, making sure her hair wasn't caught in her necklace and that her makeup was properly levels, there was a knock at the door, and her face went pale.
"I'll get it, shall I?" Sherlock offered as Molly made a small noise of fright. Sherlock walked over to the door, opening it and seeing Tom, looking snazzy in a tuxedo, waiting at the door with a rose.
"Hello Sherlock, is Molly there?" he asked, holding up the rose as if Sherlock hadn't already known his intentions.
"She's just finishing up, come on in." Sherlock offered, stepping back to let Tom walk awkwardly into the room. "So I expect you have quite a night planned?" he asked, even though he knew what was going on.
"Oh, yes, we're going to Bamboo, that Chinese place down town, it's supposed to be really good." Tom agreed.
"Alright, but keep my warnings in mind. Molly makes the rules, not you." Sherlock insisted, staring at him intensely.
"I have no intention of mistreating her in anyway." Tom assured, and Sherlock nodded in approval. There was a little bit of awkward silence, and Sherlock looked over to where he thought he had last seen Molly, but she was gone. Probably jumped out a window or something.
"Are you going to the company party?" Sherlock asked.
"Oh, yes, I was going to talk to Molly about that." Tom agreed. "Are you?"
"Yes, John and I are going. Should be terrible, Molly claims it will be fun. A girl from my shift is organizing it, got a karaoke machine and everything." Sherlock sighed.
"I like karaoke, especially when all the funny ones come up while they're drunk." Tom laughed.
"That's why I'll avoid the alcohol; I don't want anyone to get a video." Sherlock decided.
"I'm sure it'll be funny." Tom assured.
"Not for me the next day." Sherlock insisted. At that time, Molly came out of her room, looking exactly the same if not a little bit stressed. What she had been doing, Sherlock could only guess.
"Hi Tom!" she said with a smile.
"Molly, wow, you look beautiful." Tom decided, and Sherlock smiled to himself. She looks so good because she had an excellent critic.
"So do you." Molly agreed. Tom held out the rose for her, which made Molly smile and add it to her little vase on the kitchen table.
"So, um, I guess I'm ready to go. Sherlock try not to destroy the building while I'm gone?" Molly asked.
"John will keep me in line, you two have fun." Sherlock decided, once again glaring accusingly at Tom, who suddenly found Hell Spawn very interesting.
"Alright then, I'll see you later." Molly agreed, walking out of the apartment with Tom.
"See you." Sherlock agreed, letting Molly lock up before walking up to John's flat.

YYYgR*