There Is Nothing Wrong With Me

How Dare You Be So Considerate

John POV: John watched nervously as Mike started to make his way down the bedsheet rope, his footsteps pounding against the stone walls and echoing across the desolate landscape. John winced every single time, expecting some sort of official to race out the doors and expel them all, however nothing came, the lawn was still, and the only sound that could be heard was Mike's footsteps. Finally he jumped down and fell upon the cold grass, jumping to his feet and brushing off whatever stains might have clung to his uniform in those meager two seconds he had spent on the ground.
"We're going to be late." John hissed as they started to run across the grounds, racing towards the town with all the speed they could manage. It was good preparation for rugby I suppose, however John hated to show up sweaty to meet his mystery date. He had tried all day to figure out just who he would be paired with and yet no names or even faces came to mind, Molly had many, many friends, and even that night at the dance he had met and seen so many packs of similar looking girls that he knew there was no way he was going to keep track of them all. So how could he possibly guess what bachelorette was waiting for him when he arrived at the theater? John was right in guessing that they were going to be late, well, late for being early that was. The sun was just starting to set when they arrived at the gates, walking in the much shorter line of pedestrians to get their tickets.
"Now the girls are going to meet us somewhere around here, they said they'd be near the snack stand, but I don't see them..." Mike muttered with a frown, spinning all around to try to get a very rough three hundred and sixty degree view of the whole field. John was beginning to feel nervous, he knew that whoever the stranger was that walked with Sarah and Molly was to be his date, and he was beginning to suspect the very worst. Greg wouldn't tell him anything other than to be optimistic, and either that means Greg was literally looking out for him (not likely) or he was trying to hide something (most likely). Either way, John wasn't very hopeful about who might be walking along through this desecrated field, ridden with tire tracks and foot prints of all kinds. All three boys lingered near the back of the snack stand, waiting for their dates to saunter around looking for them as well, and it was Greg who spotted them first.
"Aha! HEY MOLLY! OVER HERE MOLLY!" he shrieked, nearly smacking John in the face as he tried to wave the girls over, jumping up and down and flailing like an idiot. John cursed slightly, trying his best to pat down his now sweaty hair, trying to look acceptable. Obviously the girl, whoever she was, was expecting the worst of him as well. A pity date only worked when expectations were low on both sides, and even though he was expecting the most unattractive being to walk into his sights she was probably expecting the same from him. He ought to make himself look presentable, just in case he was confronted with someone looking like...Sherlock Holmes. It was Sherlock Holmes! Right there, walking with Molly and twisting his hands nervously, keeping his head down so that his black curls shone in the dying of the sunlight, walking this way! John gaped, looking over at Greg with something of absolute shock, his heart feeling as though it might blow up on the spot, beating so fast so that if could supply blood to his now fizzling brain.
"Oh my god..." John muttered, looking over at Greg with an expression so flabbergasted that he couldn't even make simple words come out of his mouth. Certainly this wasn't some sort of mistake, some sort of hallucination... Greg looked over at John with a cunning smile, a smile that faded a little bit when he saw how pale John had gotten, how nervous he looked.
"Well? Happy?" Greg wondered with a raise of his eyebrow. John almost punched him, he really almost did, with that cocky smile and the mischievous gleam in his eye, how dare he, how dare he assume that John loved Sherlock! How dare he assume the exact truth, how dare he be so acceptant of John's newfound sexuality! Oh John just wanted to knock him out right there, how dare he be so considerate!
"Greg I hate you so much." John whispered with trembling lips. Greg just smiled, nodding his head in satisfaction as he watched John's entranced eyes following the pack of three through the crowd.
"Ya, I know you do." Greg agreed with a little chuckle. Molly led the way, nearly dragging Sherlock along as though he had suddenly become blind, her arm clasped tightly over his shoulder as he kept his head so far down John was almost convinced he was trying to check for stains on his shirt. He was embarrassed, that was obvious but oh look at him! It actually was him, Greg had invited Sherlock Holmes to be John's date, how on earth did he even know? John was going to be blessed with a whole movie in the dark solitude with Sherlock Holmes, free to say or do anything he wanted; he was going to be alone with the love of his life for two hours! Oh this was wonderful, he was never going to doubt Greg again, he was never going to...Oh dear here they come.
"Hey Greg!" Molly said excitedly, bouncing over and dragging the poor boy the last couple of steps. His legs seemed to have locked up, he looked so nervous he might actually fall over! John almost laughed, he almost cried, his emotions were doing so many things at the moment that he felt the need to just run straight through a solid brick wall, just to get whatever pent up feelings he had out of his system. This was real, that was obvious, so he had to do everything he could to make this evening magical.
"Hello Molly, Sarah, and Sherlock." Greg said with a rather charming smile, sauntering right up to Molly and shaking her hand rather vigorously. She simply giggled like the school girl that she was, as if not expecting Greg to be so mockingly formal. Sarah and Mike said their exchange of hellos, and that left Sherlock and John standing there, completely motionless, trying their best to think of something to say.
"So you're..." John started.
"I'm so sorry!" Sherlock exclaimed in a broken voice, sounding as if he were close to tears. "I don't know why I even thought to plan something like this, it was a terrible idea you know they made me do it! No they didn't...But still I feel awful, and I don't want to..."
"Sherlock stop, just stop talking!" John laughed reassuringly, wanting to go up to him and pat his shoulder or something as a greeting. Sherlock looked up at him for the first time, his green eyes sparkling with hope at John's surprising gentleness.
"Wait, you mean like...You don't want to run? Because if you did you know I wouldn't stop you, God if I were in your shoes I'd run." Sherlock admitted in the quietest and fastest of all voices, rambling on and on so agressivley that John was almost worried his mouth would fall off.
"I'm not going anywhere." John assured with a sweet smile, trying to get a smile in return. Sherlock just stretched his lips so that his teeth were barred, looking as though he were a wolf defending his territory more than an excited, love struck teen, but John got the idea. The very fact that Sherlock was here, obviously very intentionally here, confirmed all of John's suspicions from the start. He was just as much in love with John as John was in love with him.
"Well, popcorn anyone?" Molly wondered, giggling when Greg offered her his arm to lead her to the back of the line. John looked at Sherlock questioningly, and Sherlock looked very timidly back, merely peeking out of his bangs as he tried to get John's opinion on the most pressing matter of the night- popcorn or no popcorn.
"I'm hungry." John decided with a shrug.
"Oh yes, ya...I mean I'm not really, in fact my stomach feels like it's inside out right now, but ya I'll pay." Sherlock agreed, plunging his hand into his trench coat pocket and grabbing at some very crumpled bills. John just laughed, shaking his head and leading Sherlock over to the back of the line, following the other two couples who had beaten them to it.
"I'll pay for it, it's not a problem." John assured, trying to ease Sherlock's nerves with soothing words and little glances of encouragement. However it seemed that nothing could calm Sherlock down, the poor boy was so nervous he was practically vibrating, his heart beating so fast that John could hear it over all of this noise and commotion.
"So this was your idea then?" John wondered as they moved forward in the line, very aware of all the ears that could always listen in to their conversation, he had to be careful about which words he chose.
"Well um, it was more of a whim, I overheard Molly talking about her double date, and I really wanted to talk to you so I decided that maybe a triple date might be...not that it's a date! Don't get me wrong this is totally you know, totally platonic, casual, we're just friends don't worry." Sherlock assured quickly, throwing up his hands in defense with his money still clenched in his fist. It's been a while since he's been on a date then, judging on how positively terrified he was right now. However his nerves were kind of attractive to be honest, not to mention amusing, and obviously John wanted to do whatever he could to make Sherlock bumble and fumble and mumble for as long as he could.
"Hey Sherlock?" John muttered softly, leaning closer despite the crowd.
"Yes John?" Sherlock responded immediately, sounding as if he were choking on his own voice as he tried to cough it up into a response.
"It can be a date...if you want it to be." John whispered, dropping his voice so low that even Sherlock could barely hear. However the shade of red the poor boy turned confirmed that he had not only heard, but comprehended just wonderfully. Obviously he couldn't respond, he only nodded so slightly that John suspected the wind had just nudged his adorable little head forward. But then he made an effort, nodding so agressivley that he looked sort of like a bobble head in the dashboard of a car.
"Alright you two flirts, what do you want? We'll just order all together, they've got some sort of group discount." Greg called up from the front, letting a lonely father pass in front of them so that they could all stand together. The man thanked them, of course, shuffling past with a list of candy from his needy children scrawled on the back of a receipt.
"We're not..." Sherlock started, but John just rolled his eyes, glaring at Greg and in turn shutting Sherlock up.
"Popcorn for me, and Coke." John decided. Sherlock looked down at John once and then back up at Greg, as if trying to process that this was all really happening, and he was really standing here, deciding what to order on his first date.
"Water." He croaked, sounding more like a man dying of dehydration than a kid in the snack line.
"Wonderful." Greg said with a smile, winking at John once, who just shooed him away with a simple wave of his arm. John was feeling, well, aggressive. He didn't know why, but suddenly he despised everyone, every single person in this world except Sherlock Holmes. Anyone who got in his way, or talked to him while his attention should be focused on the beautiful boy in front of him, should be burned off the face of this planet. And Greg Lestrade, for sure, was no exception. Even if he was the angel that brought the two of them together in the first place.
"Just water?" John asked.
"I'll pay." Sherlock offered again, thrusting the money in John's face as if he was worried John wouldn't love him unless he had money. To be honest John would kiss him right now; he would take his face in his hands and kiss him in the middle of this accursed snack line. But he knew he couldn't, if he kissed Sherlock they would surely be arrested, Sherlock would be condemned to a fate almost unthinkable for a mortal man and John would be walking the same path Sherlock was now, whatever that may be.
"Sherlock you don't have to pay, it's fine." John assured. Sherlock nodded, hastily shoving the money back into his pocket and making sure he had enough space between him and John, just in case the latter was feeling uncomfortable.
"So how'd this all get arranged? I know Greg was in contact with Molly but still, what role did you have to play in it?" John wondered. Sherlock sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets and turning a very curious shade of magenta.
"Oh well, I just suggested the idea. Like I said I overheard Molly talking, Greg worked most of it out." Sherlock admitted with a hopeful little smile. "Are you disappointed?"
"Sherlock you need to think better of yourself." John suggested, skirting around the question just a little bit to see how he could work this into some sort of romantic line. Sherlock shuffled a little bit in the mud, dropping his gaze before returning it ever so slightly.
"Well I mean, I know you were probably expecting some girl, Greg told me that he was just going to call me Molly's friend, even though we're not really friends you know..." Sherlock cut himself off, staring at John with a very anxious look, puppy dog eyes to the extreme it would seem. However John just smiled at him, trying to put as much love in his eyes as he could without getting himself arrested.
"I assure you Sherlock, you're better than any girl that could have possibly shown up." John assured in a soft voice. Sherlock beamed at him, staring at his feet and rolling on his heels a little bit, obviously not knowing what on earth to say next. Evidently it didn't matter what they said next, because they appeared at the front of the line, and so Greg collected everyone's money while Molly ordered. In the end Sherlock never noticed the collection tin going around since he was so focused on staring at the little mud specks on his shiny black shoes, so John gave a ten and hoped it would be enough to cover their cost. When they got the popcorn ("Hey wait, I thought I was buying!" Sherlock exclaimed bitterly) they wandered back over to their cars, the girls leading the way while Sherlock and John trailed behind. It wasn't like John was seeking solitude with Sherlock, because obviously they would be on their own plenty once the movie started, however solitude just sort of found them. It was as if karma made John and Sherlock walk just a little bit slower, as if they somehow deserved this little moment together after so much suffering alone.

    "So do the others know what's going on here? Like, that Sarah girl? And Mike?" John wondered nervously.
"You mean do they know that we're going out?" Sherlock wondered almost immediately, but then covered his mouth with his soft white hand. "Which we're not...obviously." He added quietly.
"Ya, do they know we're going out?" John clarified, and Sherlock blushed once more.
"Yes I think they do." He agreed in the tiniest of voices. John nodded, getting a better grip on the popcorn and holding it to his chest securely.
"And you're not worried? It's not like your record's clean, I mean even though you never really did those things they still know you're...you know." John pointed out rather awkwardly.
"Yes I know, but I suppose I need to trust some people, and confide my secrets in order to live the life the government never wants me to have." Sherlock muttered in a small voice. John was silent for a moment, letting Sherlock's words process. The severity of their situation was evidently dire; the slightest slip of a finger, or the smallest word to anyone not confided with the secret could send Sherlock to the stony lonesome. If they were caught Sherlock would most certainly go to jail, maybe even worse, and here John was, insisting on taking him out, insisting on making him blush in public, what on earth was he doing? He was jeopardizing Sherlock's safety just by being near him! But then again, Sherlock was right; sometimes you need to take chances to be with the ones you so dearly need to love.
"I don't want to get you in trouble." John added in a meek little voice, glancing over at Sherlock, who seemed a little bit more comfortable than he ought to be. One of his hands was holding onto his bottle of water while the other was combing anxiously through his curls, doing his best to make himself look presentable while he shrugged carelessly.
"You're worth it." he assured. John smiled, finally knowing what it was like to be positively flustered. God, who knew he would be doing this tonight? Greg did, for one.