A/N: sorry guys! i totally forgot about posting this on here! :c
happy holidays, ! i dont own professor layton or any of the characters used in this story.

The bell rang, announcing the end of the school day. Relieved, Hershel grabbed his books and homework, ready for a Christmas break. Careful not to slip and fall, the brunette made his way down the highschool's stairs, a bit early so that he missed the wave of teenagers rushing out of rooms. He stopped for a moment to rearrange how he was holding his work when suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Hershel squeaked, almost dropping his load. He then heard an all too familiar laugh. "Randall, what is it now?" Hershel asked, looking at his friend with a displeased expression. "Oh come on, Hersh, lighten up! I didn't mean to give you a scare..." At that moment, he wouldn't admit to anyone but himself, Hershel did look quite cute, flustered and surprised. "Anyway," Randall began as the two started to walk out of the building. "I want you to come over tonight.. There's something I gotta tell you!" Hershel shrugged. "Alright. But why can't you just tell me now? Wouldn't that make things much more easier?" his friend asked with a sigh. "Randall Ascot doesn't do things the easy way. Anyway, remember, we have a date! Ten o'clock sharp!" he told him, starting to hurry off towards his home.

Hershel stopped walking, taking a moment to watch the red-haired boy disappear. Then, after a few seconds, the poofy-haired teen walked to his own home. He moved slowly, but the text books in his arms weren't the only thing slowing him down. Hershel couldn't help but to wonder why Randall wanted him to come over to his house, especially as late as 10:00. His mother would be so worried, but it had to be something important. Maybe some type of difficult puzzle or one of his 'archaeological discoveries'. As Hershel arrived in front of his home, his mother ran out to greet him. He was soon inside eating dinner, deciding he'd have to find out for himself what Randall wanted.

It didn't even occur to Hershel that maybe Randall wanted him.

At 10:00, Hershel's parents were sound asleep, but he still made sure to be cautious and to not cause a disturbance of any sort. The air outside was cold and the town had already been engulfed by a pure black, except for the stars dotted across the sky, and of course the Christmas lights, shining yellow and green against the town. As he made his way over to Randall's house, Hershel found himself starting to shiver. This better be good, he thought bitterly, climbing up the ivy that lead to Randall's room.

The brunette made a clumsy landing into his friend's room. Hershel had landed on his back, and had to awkwardly scoot so that all of his body was in the room. He sat up, taking a minute to admire the nice Christmas decorations. It seemed like something Randall would do. He seemed like a festive boy.
On the walls of his room, he had cute puffy-stickers of a jolly man with a large belly and white beard, a red-nosed reindeer, smiling snowmen, and much more. In the corner of his finely decorated room was a sad looking plastic tree. It was leaning against the corner, it's fake leaves drooping down from the weight of dozens of decorations and ornaments.

"Glad you could make it!" Hershel turned to see Randall sitting on a neatly tucked in bed. "Okay, Randall, what is it?" his friend asked, taking a seat next to Randall. The red-head had an unusual expression on his face - he looked serious and deep in thought. "I like puzzles," he finally said. Hershel looked at him, confused. "Excuse me...?" Randall stared at his feet, and then took a small breath and looked at his friend straight in the eye. "I said I like puzzles. And I recently discovered this very, very difficult puzzle...Wait, back up, not recently, maybe found it..." he paused, thinking, "Found it, well, a long time ago. It's quite the tough one, you know," Randall said.

Hershel sighed. "Okay, okay, you want me to solve it, right? Well, if you can't solve it, then I probably can't. I don't know, maybe I could give it a shot..." he trailed off.
"No, no, Hersh, it's okay, I've already solved this puzzle."
"Oh, what was the answer then? What was this mysterious puzzle in the first place?"
"I love you, okay?"
Hershel stared at his friend, not sure whether or not to take him seriously. Randall's expression was still as serious as stone. With pretty much no warning, Randall leaned in and gave Hershel a quick kiss.
Immediately, the brunette's face turned a shade of red. "What was that?" he asked after a moment's pause.
"Mistletoe," Randall replied.
Sure enough, as Hershel looked up, there was a piece of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling.