john woke up with the curls of the sleeping man on his chest tickling his chin and the sun shining through the curtains. he combed his fingers through the curls, kissing the man's forehead. "wakey, wakey." he sang softly.

sherlock whined, rolling off of john and nuzzling into his pillow.

john scooted over to sherlock, getting into his personal space. "wake up sleepy head." he whispered into his ear.

sherlock cracked an eye open then rolled john over, wrapping his arms around him tightly to where he couldn't escape, but it was still comfortable. "shut up and go back to sleep. it's too early." sherlock pulled the comforter over them before getting comfortable and dozing off again.

john stayed awake for a few more minutes, before deciding to fall back asleep. he thought about how sherlock never really gets to sleep in and they didn't finally settle down until four, so it'd be for the best to let him sleeping in. and witnessed sleep grumpy sherlock for the first time.

they woke up again around twelve, almost one. sherlock has woken up and left john in bed while he got out, walking into the bathroom. john sat up when he heard the sink turn on and reached for his phone, seeing the text from his mom asking if he had asked sherlock about dinner tonight. he watched sherlock come out of the bathroom and opened his camera, zooming in on the man's arse before he pulled on a fresh pair of boxers and then a pair of sweatpants.

"what's that?" john asked as sherlock looked at him.

sherlock furrowed his brows. "what's what?"

"that." john pointed. "on your face."

sherlock felt his chin. "stubble."

"shave it."

"no. maybe i want a beard."

"and we've talked about this, you'd look horrendous with one."

sherlock laughed softly, walking over to john. "i was only joking, love. you know i could never grow a beard. it'd get too itchy."

john sighed in relief. "thank god for your sensitive skin. but why didn't you shave when you went into the bathroom?"

"my razor is in my bag."

"but you brushed your teeth."

"i forgot my tooth brush here."

"mmm. alright." john lay back down, holding his phone above him as sherlock went to his bag and dug out his toiletries. "why aren't you working today?" john asked sherlock as he got out of bed, going to his overnight bag.

"angelo fired ivy and valerie and hired these two boys. according to angelo they're good workers. had waiting jobs before this one." sherlock said from the bathroom.

john pulled on a pair of boxers and picked sherlock's jumper off the floor, putting it on. "we should go down and get some lunch." he stood in the door way of the bathroom, watching sherlock shave.

"alright." sherlock looked at john in the mirror. "you're beautiful."

john blushed, making eye contact with sherlock through the mirror. "you're not too bad yourself."

sherlock smiled then turned around, pulling john to him and giving him a kiss. "i love you."

"i love you, too." john gave him another kiss, getting shaving cream on his cheek.

the two went down to the diner after they got ready. sherlock went into the kitchen to say hello to angelo while john went and got them a table. he watched sherlock come out of the kitchen then go behind the counter and grab two coffee mugs, filling them then taking them to the table john was sitting at.

"the boys names are tyler and curtis." sherlock sat across from john. "curtis is in the kitchen and tyler is at the table over there." sherlock pointed as he took a sip of his coffee.

john looked over at the teen cleaning up a table then going to take an order. "he looks like he knows what he's doing." he watched what he assumed was curtis come out of the kitchen with two trays of hot food in each hand, going over to the table in the corner where five people sat. "curtis knows what he's really doing."

"angelo says he does his job, does it well and doesn't put up a fuss."

"oh, so he's basically you."

sherlock rolled his eyes.

"on a different topic, my parents want to take us out to dinner tonight." john took a swig of his coffee.

"and i have to ask them?" he asked.

john nodded. "it'll be fine. they both love you and are happy we're together."

sherlock sighed, slouching in his seat. he looked at his coffee and thought about how he was going to ask it because he hasn't really thought about it as much as he should've. he's been focused on the diner and his parents when he should've been thinking about how he was going ask john's father for his blessing.

sherlock never expected he'd be as nervous as he was about asking for john's hand in marriage. he just kept the thought in his head that they were going to say no, but sherlock knew that wouldn't happen. the watsons wanted this more than anybody so them saying no would cause an uprising with john and he would probably never marry anyone else. the feeling of john's hand covering his snapped him out of his thoughts. he looked at the boy and he smiled up at him then he gave him that look and sherlock knew it would be okay. nothing would go wrong.

they walked into the restaurant, john's hand holding onto shelrock's as they followed the waiter to the table where mr. and mrs. watson were sitting. the two adults got up, mrs. watson hugging her son while mr. watson reached across the table and shook sherlock's hand, giving him a nod. they sat down and ordered, starting the evening with small talk about how sherlock's parents are doing and about his fathers upcoming book. when their meals arrived, they stopped the small talk and mr. watson started talking to sherlock about his ideas for expanding his business to the states. automatically, sherlock knew what he was hinting and he went along with it, fixing his ideas for a more successful road.

they stopped talking about it when john excused himself to the toilet and that's when sherlock decided to ask. he smiled at the couple in front of him and fiddled with the cuff of his shirt in his lap. "i would like to ask you two a question." he said.

both of the parents looked up at sherlock, knowing what was coining. "then ask us, son." mr. watson said.

"can i have your blessing for john's hand in marriage?" he watched both of them smile widely at him. 

"you may." mr. watson said, his smile still plastered on his face.

"thank you, sir."

mr. holmes gave him a nod then john sat down again. "why is everyone smiling?" he asked, looking around the table.

sherlock smiled at john, placing a hand on his thigh. "i'll tell you at home."

john smiled back, knowing what sherlock had done to cause his parents to smile. he placed his hand over the one on his thigh, kissing sherlock's cheek.

"who wants dessert?" the waiter asked. 

after the fight between sherlock and mr. watson on who was going to pay, sherlock lost and mr. watson paid. when they were saying their goodbyes, mrs. watson gave sherlock a hug then mr. watson did too which took him by surprise. he hugged back, not wanting to be rude about it. the elder man gave him a pat on the back before pulling away, smiling at sherlock.

"welcome to the family, sherlock." he walked over to the car that was waiting for him, joining his wife.

sherlock felt his hand being taken by the smaller hand of john, their fingers lacing together. "let's walk." john said.

sherlock nodded and gave john a kiss before starting to walk, light snow starting to come down. they walked a few minutes in silence, enjoying the company of each other as they walked through the life of the night. john stopped when sherlock stopped, looking at the man then looking at the jewelry shop in front of them.

sherlock looked down at john. "they're still open."

"what're you implying?" john asked with a slight grin.

"that you marry me."

"i don't know, i'll have to think about it."

sherlock rolled his eyes before pulling john into the small shop. "c'mon."

"hello!" piped the petite woman from behind the counter. "what can i do for you tonight?" she asked with a friendly smile.

sherlock walked up to the counter with john, letting go of his hand to cover his ears. "i need a ring." he said.

john laughed, pulling sherlock's hands off the sides of his head.

the woman giggled. "what're you looking for?" she asked, walking to the section where men's rings were displayed.

they followed her, stopping in front of the display and looking down.

"we have the classic gold band, thick or thin, gold or white. there's the back ones, we have titanium, ceramic, sterling silver. seven stone or three row. what ever you're looking for." she informed them.

john looked into the case, feeling sherlock's hand on the small of his back. he studied all the rings, asking sherlock's opinion, but he wasn't much help because he always respond with, "i'm not the one that's going to be wearing it."

"you're not much help, ya know that?" john asked as he looked back down at the case.

sherlock smiled.

"so have you proposed already?" the woman asked sherlock.

"i suppose. we talked about it the other week and i just asked his parents for their blessing." sherlock said.

"he was nervous." john looked up from the rings. "his hands were sweating."

"shut up and look at the pretty rings." sherlock said, tilting john's head down.

john laughed softly, turning his focus back on the rings. "that rose gold one." he said and pointed the glass at where the ring was.

the woman looked at where john pointed. "the matte rose gold one?" she asked.

"yea."

she looked at john. "what size?"

"p, i think." john said.

she nodded and went to the back, coming out after a few minutes with a ring box. she went to the couple and opened the box, handing it to john to try it on. he took it and slipped it onto his finger. it fit perfectly and he smiled, holding his hand in front of sherlock's face.

"what d'you think?" he asked.

sherlock ignored the hand and stared right at the boy with a smile. "beautiful."

john's cheek started changing as he took the ring off, handing it back to the woman.

"i can get you at the register." she put the ring back in the box, going to the register.

sherlock followed her with john behind him. he took out his wallet, taking out his card and handing it to the woman. she did her thing before handing sherlock his card back then handing him the ring box with a smile. "best wishes to the both of you." she smiled.

"thank you." sherlock took john's hand in his, walking out of the shop with him. he stopped at the curb, hailing a cab. once they were in, sherlock took the ring out of the box, holding it in his palm as he looked at it. he took john's hand, sliding the ring onto his finger. "perfect." he said softly then looked at john. "absolutely perfect." he said then kissed his fiancée lovingly.