Prompts #6, #12, #14, and #15
Requested by @softtophardshoulder

I don't know if Homecoming is a thing in England but I had an idea so here this is welcome to teenlock

Thanks to @littlekawaiibunny21 and @mrsracetrackhiggins for all the votes!

Summary: You're Sherlock's best friend; you've known each other since you were little and you're one of the only people who "tolerate" him. And, despite his best efforts, he's developed a crush on you. So, he talks to John.

QOTP: Homecoming or Formal?

Word Count: 2739

"If you buy Pennsylvania Avenue we can stop John from owning all the green ones," you say to Sherlock quietly, eyeing John from across the board.

"But I need to buy St. James Place so I can have all the orange ones," he replies, leaning toward you so John won't hear.

"You can't team up in Monopoly," John suddenly complains, finishing his turn. Mary chuckles under her breath, but doesn't come to her boyfriend's defense.

"We're not teaming up," Sherlock replies mock-innocently.

"You've been teaming up the whole game," John says. "That's why I'm so close to losing." He looks at you pointedly; the only thing keeping him from last place is you.

Mary finishes her turn, then Sherlock goes.

And buys St. James Place.

You gasp, looking at him incredulously. "I trusted you. And you threw it away."

Mary and John both start laughing as Sherlock looks over at you. "Don't worry; I have a plan."

"It better be a good one."

////

Turns out, the plan was to win and leave everyone else - including you - in the dust. You've been ignoring him since.

"It's just a game, Y/N," he says. You're still in your living room, the game now put away. John and Mary [husband and wife] are raiding your kitchen while you stretch out on a couch and Sherlock decides to stay on the floor. He looks up at you. "Are you really that mad at me?"

"Yes," you mumble, turning away from him. "You manipulated me."

"It was just a game-"

"But you lied."

He sits for a moment, thinking. Despite what he says, he actually cares that he's upset you. Actually, he cares about you a lot - a fact he's been keeping secret for about a year now. "What do you want me to do?" he asks. "What would make you forgive me?"

"Buy me a kitten," you automatically deadpan.

"I can't just buy you a kitten, Y/N; your parents would kill me," he says.

"I was joking, Sherlock," you reply monotonously.

He thinks for a second, trying to figure out what to do. He has to fix this. Then, he sighs. "I'm... sorry I lied to you."

You turn back toward him and look at his expression to make sure he's being sincere; he never apologizes for anything. Yes, it's typically implied when necessary, but he never actually says it. You smile a little, looking at his mess of brown curls and pleading blue eyes. "I forgive you."

"That's all it took?" he asks, watching you hop up and head to the kitchen.

"Pretty much," you reply. John reenters the living room with a bag of chips in his hands. You and Mary stay in the kitchen, hunting for microwavable popcorn.

////

John sits down next to Sherlock. "So."

Sherlock raises an eyebrow at him. "So?"

"So, I'm pretty sure I just heard the words 'I'm sorry' come out of your mouth," John says, eating a chip.

Sherlock winces at the crunching sound directly in his ear, then scoots away a little. "Yes. You did."

John snorts lightly. "You've never apologized to me." Sherlock only shrugs. John looks over at him, smirking. "You wanna know what I think?"

"No, but I bet you're going to tell me," Sherlock replies.

"You really are a genius," John jokes. Sherlock gives him a pointed look, causing him to chuckle. "Alright, alright, I'll get on with it."

"Please do."

"I think that you like Y/N."

Sherlock's brows furrow. "Of course I like her; we're friends."

"No," John says, "I mean you like her."

Sherlock looks at him for a few seconds. "What does that even mean?"

"You have a crush on her, you idiot!" John half-shouts.

Sherlock, instead of what John expected, doesn't look disgusted or surprised. He looks defeated. "Alright, you caught me. I like her."

John blanches. "Hold on - you're admitting it?"

"Well, it must be obvious considering you noticed, so there's no hiding it now," Sherlock says.

John decides to ignore the subtle insult and gives him advice. "You should ask her to Homecoming."

It's Sherlock's turn to blanch. "I should what now?"

"Ask her to Homecoming," John repeats.

"But what if she says no?" Sherlock asks.

John shrugs a little. "Just tell her you're asking her to go as friends and you probably should've led with that in the first place."

Sherlock looks at him for a moment. "You're smarter than I thought."

////

You walk back into the living room with Mary, finding John half-glaring at Sherlock. You cock a brow. "Is everything okay in here?"

Sherlock sighs tiredly. "Never better."

Mary and you sit on the couch next to each other, John takes the rocking chair, and Sherlock finally decides to use the furniture and sits down next to you.

Mary grabs the remote and turns on the TV. "Netflix?"

"Sure," you reply. John grunts a 'yes' and Sherlock shrugs, so Mary proceeds to find Netflix and gets onto your account. As she browses movies, you lean your head on Sherlock's shoulder, yawning (you may or may not be making a subtle move on him). "Do you ever think there's something more to life than napping and an otherwise perpetual state of wanting to take a nap?"

"No," Sherlock replies simply, half because he's freaking out over your head on his shoulder and half because he's used to you saying stuff like this.

John snorts. "That was random."

You shrug. "I get philosophical after 8pm."

Before he can reply, Mary pulls up a movie. "How about Emperor's New Groove?"

"Sure," John says.

"Yeah," you add.

"We teenagers really are wild, aren't we?" Sherlock comments sarcastically. You laugh as Mary presses play.

////

"Why didn't you ask her?" John asks Sherlock as he pulls away from Mary's house; they just dropped her off after leaving yours.

"I didn't know how to," Sherlock replies. He goes quiet for a second, then a smile grows onto his face. Even though he's worried about asking you to Homecoming, he's still over the moon about the fact that your head never moved from his shoulder the whole movie. He even put his arm around you at one point.

"Just say, 'Do you want to go to Homecoming with me?' That's it," John says. "She obviously likes you, so I wouldn't worry about getting rejected."

Sherlock sighs. "But it can't be that simple. If I ask her, it's got to be a big deal. I mean, Philip had a sign and a song to ask Sally."

"Okay, then, we'll figure something out - but you're not singing. That part was just awkward," John says.

"It was mostly awkward because Philip is a bad singer."

"And yet she still said yes."

"I'll never understand people."

////

A week later - two weeks before Homecoming - you're at Mary's house doing Chemistry homework. You're planning to go dress shopping later.

Halfway into balancing an equation, Mary gets a text from John. She looks up at you. "John wants us to come outside."

"Us?" you repeat. If John shows up at Mary's house, chances are he wants to see Mary - his girlfriend.

Mary nods and stands. "Us." When her back is to you, she smiles.

Once outside, you see Sherlock and John standing in the yard. John's holding a very large, rolled-up piece of paper. Mary goes over to him. Meanwhile, Sherlock's looking at you.

There's a suspicious a lump in his half-zipped jacket. That's he's holding. For some reason. You walk up to him, then hear a 'meow'. "What-?"

"I'm only now realizing what a horrible idea this was," he says, "but it's too late now. So, please don't be alarmed-"

"No, of course not. Why would I be alarmed by the soft meowing emanating from your jacket?" you reply sarcastically. "What's going on?"

Sherlock looks back at John and Mary, who begin to unfurl the paper. You watch as the message is revealed:

"It would be a cat-tastrophy if you didn't go to Homecoming with me."

You look at Sherlock, who unzips his jacket to reveal a small, gray kitten. He holds it out to you. "I know you were joking, but this is all I could think to do."

You take the kitten from him, holding it close to you. "Sherlock, I really appreciate this - and I really love this cat - but-"

He sighs. "You don't want to go with me."

You shake your head. "No, I would love to go to Homecoming with you. I just can't keep this cat."

He grins. "I know. I didn't actually buy you a cat; it's Greg's."

You laugh, petting the cat. "Does he know you've borrowed it from him?"

Sherlock shrugs. "Maybe. Maybe not."

////

"Why did I let you convince me to buy these heels?" you complain to Mary, picking up said shoes from her bedroom floor. "I'm going to break my ankles."

She laughs, putting on her own heels, which are somehow higher than yours. "Because they're gorgeous and they match your dress. Also you're going to need heels as high as that if you're going to put your arms around Sherlock's neck when you slow dance."

"Is he wearing heels, too?" you joke, slipping the shoes on.

Mary laughs. "No, but we're going to dare him to later tonight." You laugh, too, then stand. Mary looks at you and grins. "You look beautiful."

You look at yourself in her full-body mirror and smile; she's right.

"Girls!" Mary's mom calls. "John and Sherlock are here!"

Mary turns to you. "Okay, you wait here, and I'll text you when you can come down."

"Why?" you ask, confused.

Mary grabs her phone and opens the door. "Because you need to make an entrance." With that, she's gone.

You wait for a few minutes, listening to the muffled voices downstairs, then Mary texts you.

'Come down.'

You take a deep breath, then head to the stairs, your steps wobbly. At the top, you see Mary, John, Sherlock, and Mary's parents. You look at Sherlock, who's wearing a suit and a tie that matches your dress - the same as John, though John's tie is a different color. None of them have noticed you but Mary, who's being discreet about it seeing as you're ungracefully trying to step down onto the first step.

You manage to, then clutch onto the railing and continue to make your way down. The sound of your heels on the hardwood alerts everyone to your presence. Mary's grinning like mad, John and Mary's parents are smiling, but it's only Sherlock's expression you're worried about.

He looks completely dumbstruck. That's the only way you can describe it. It causes you to blush and distracts you from the fact that you're trying not to tumble down the stairs.

That's where it goes wrong.

You stumble on the next step - three from the bottom - and start to fall forward. Both Sherlock and John dart forward, but you manage to catch yourself on the railing. Now you're embarrassed and you gave yourself a small heart attack.

This night is going swimmingly.

Sherlock offers his hand and helps you the rest of the way down. "Are you alright?" he asks.

"Yeah," you reply, not really looking at him.

Then, Mary's parents take pictures which will undoubtably end up on Facebook. You start to relax a little more and tell yourself that the stair incident wasn't even that bad. It gave you an excuse to hold Sherlock's hand, so that's something.

After that, you head to the dance (you and Mary had takeout before you put your dresses on; Sherlock and John had pizza, of course).

When you arrive, Sherlock helps you out of the car. Then, you sees the stairs leading to the entrance to the dance. You sigh. "Well, that was fun, but I guess we're going home now."

"Oh, it'll be fine," Mary says. "Getting up the stairs is easier than going down."

"I'll have to go down them to leave," you reply.

"You'll be better at walking by then."

"Not likely."

Sherlock holds his arm out. "Come on; it'll be fine."

"Are you going to be able to prevent me from breaking my ankles?" you ask, though you loop your arm through his.

He chuckles. "Have I ever let you down?"

You look at him pointedly. "Monopoly."

He winces. "Yeah, let's just forget that ever happened."

You snort as you approach the stairs. Mary gets up them easily, leaving John to follow behind her as you and Sherlock are taking up half the stairs.

You gingerly climb the steps, clutching onto Sherlock for dear life. If he's being honest with himself, he finds this insanely amusing.

Finally, you make it up the stairs and meet Mary and John inside. After a few minutes, you spot Greg with his date, Molly. You head over to him. "Hey, Greg. Thanks for the cat."

He laughs. "You're welcome. And, you, Sherlock, are lucky John called me and told me why you took it."

Sherlock shrugs. "Well, I thought you'd say no, and I needed it."

"Yeah, yeah, sure you did," Greg says sarcastically, though he's smiling. Mainly at the fact that Sherlock is obviously head over (unnecessarily high) heels for you.

After that, you mingle a bit more, badly dance a little, and nearly fall a dozen times.

Then, the slow dance.

Sherlock turns to you awkwardly, glancing at other couples to figure out what to do. You reach up and wrap your arms around his neck, causing him to cautiously put his hands on your waist. You sway a little.

After the first verse, you both loosen up a little. He pulls you a little closer and leans down so you can hear him. "You look beautiful."

You blush, getting flustered. "Yeah, well... you clean up nice."

He laughs. "Thanks, Y/N."

You spot Mary out of the corner of your eye, her head on John's shoulder. She's in a position where she can look at you. She's grinning, and she mouths something, but you can't make it out.

'What?' you mouth. She tries again, but you still can't tell what she's saying. Finally, she waves you off and you look back at Sherlock.

He raises an eyebrow at you. "What'd she say?"

"I have no idea," you reply. He looks at her, but she waves him off, too.

"Well, I guess we'll never know," he jokes. You laugh lightly, and he sighs. "That wasn't funny, was it?"

You actually laugh, then. "No, not really."

"I'll leave the jokes to you, then," he replies, laughing, too.

It goes quiet again. You continue to sway, gradually moving closer until you can lay your head on his chest. So, you do, but in a annoyed sort of way, like laying your forehead against a wall. "How long is this song?"

He chuckles. "I don't know, but it's been at least five minutes."

"My arms are tired," you complain. You drop them, laying your hands on his chest instead.

He pulls you even closer, resting his chin on your head. Then, he glances over at John and Mary. John kisses Mary sweetly and spins her. It's incredibly cheesy, but also adorable.

It would make Mycroft absolutely sick.

"Y/N?" Sherlock says softly.

You look up at him, hands still on his chest. "Yeah?"

Your faces are inches apart, and both of you are incredibly aware of that fact. Sherlock leans forward a little, eyes darting down to your lips and then back to your eyes. You reach up and grab his shirt collar, gently pulling him down the rest of the way.

He wraps his arms even tighter around you, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. Your arms go back around his neck, and everything else around you completely melts away.

A few feet away, Mary Morstan shakes her boyfriend excitedly and suppresses a gleeful scream.