A/N: I am extremely sorry. I just began college as a freshmen not to mention falling in and out of love. Stuff's been happening and I had no energy to write. I'm so sorry to have kept you all waiting.

After a few vibration-filled minutes, all the couples were asked to move to a different room. John used this diversion to deactivate the app and with some slight surprise, saw that Sherlock was furiously trying to do the same, albeit in a much more discreet manner. He soon succeeded.

"Finally!" Sherlock whispered to John.

"How did you do it so quickly?" John asked, feeling the familiar flicker of irritation usually associated with his flatmate's intelligence.

"It was merely deactivating it, John. Not exactly quantum mechanics" he whispered back, now scanning the entire room.

"But...But the phone was in your pocket the whole time!"

Sherlock just gave John his usual "I'm fabulous and you know it" look and continued his scan. John felt a rush of his usual exasperated affection for his friend. He shaked his head, smiling to himself.

Tom was standing in the centre of a room which very much looked like the dressing-rooms on the telly. There were huge mirrors everywhere, not to mention the tons of make-up kits piled away neatly. There were five guys and three girls standing beside Tom, all of them inspecting the eight couples. Tom waved at them.

"Hello again! Before we begin filming, we thought we would give you a treat. Let me introduce you to the power behind all our shoots – Madness Within's very own make-up crew! The legends behind the magic you see! They've just finished with the band who, by the way, are modelling for a cover right now. Just imagine getting your make-up done by someone who's made Matt's iconic eyebrows or Diana's trend-setting marbled hair!"

The crew smiled at the couples who looked as shocked as they were when their number was called out. They cheered loudly and soon each of the artists picked a couple.

A girl who looked about twenty took William to a neighbouring mirror and asked him to close his eyes. She carefully scrutinised his face and then frowned. John, who was sitting beside William, could see her confusion. How could she make him more perfect? She rummaged through the drawers, her mind, no doubt, whirring with different ideas. She took out a contouring palette and looked at his face again. She shook her head in defeat after a minute. She ended up highlighting his cheekbones and outlining his lips and eyes.

"All done Mr. Atkins" Ruby sighed in a disappointed tone. She liked a challenge, this girl.

"What do you think John?" he whispered in John's ear. Was Sherlock waiting for his approval? Why won't he stop whispering? Or invade John's personal space this way? Why?

"Uhh..good. Very good. Nice." John struggled with words while Ruby put cucumber slices over John's eyes.

"Ruby, do you mind if I do his cheeks? I would love some contouring tips" William said, in that cute voice puppy-eyed look John only knew too well. Not surprisingly, she agreed.

John, meanwhile, was left cursing internally as he felt William's fingers applying a lot of things on his face. He felt something watery first, then something cool, and later something waxy. The textures kept changing but what held John's attention was William's smooth teasing strokes of the brush on his skin. Up, down, sideways...every stroke felt intense. Sometimes, William's fingers would hold his face one way or the other and John was left to control his heartbeat and to keep reminding himself to breathe slowly.

He heaved a sigh of relief after the contouring nightmare was finally over. Ruby then proceeded to his eyes and lips with careful strokes. John had to appreciate her patience and accuracy. She worked on him slowly while John could only impatiently wait to open his eyes. He finally opened his eyes to see Ruby washing her brushes nearby, giggling a little while William looked sheepish. He looked at himself in the mirror and disbelief wasn't his first feeling. He looked mostly like himself (just the blond wig was a bit weird). His face looked a little younger because of lesser wrinkles. Upon further inspection, John found that Sherlock found no reason to conceal a slightly noticeable scar near his ear. He easily could have but he chose not to. John felt something rise in his chest, something he couldn't explain. He somehow remembered something Sherlock has said a long while ago:

"The sign of true artistry is not to create beauty in a thing but only to find and emphasis the beauty something already possesses"

Before John could think about this, Agatha approached them asking them to move to the next room. John thanked Ruby for his eyes and lips (they did look a tad more seductive) to which she only giggled a little harder.

They were taken to a much picturesque room which on closer inspection turned to be made of movable cardboard walls. John knew he was going to be filmed today but couldn't help feeling self-conscious looking at all the cameras. He then focused his attention towards the six people who were obviously waiting for them. They were posing as impatient people but the overall effect was...well, incredibly steamy.

There was Matt who was sitting on an ordinary wooden chair with his palm supporting his face and the other on an arm of the chair. He looked every bit like a king waiting. Peter was standing behind Matt's chair, naye, throne, both his arms folded on the back of the chair and his head a foot above Matt's. Even though Matt looked the king, Peter looked like the all-knowing wise one. Diana was there, with her killer red heels and the most violently painted crimson lips. She was sitting on a table, her legs fully stretched for everyone to admire. Alexa was completely goth and John had to admit – she was owning it. She was sitting on the corner of the table and had crossed her legs. She looked slightly disinterested, holding a cigarette in her hand that was waiting to be lit. Harry, the drummer, wore a full-fit white T-shirt which complimented his muscles quite well. He had placed his elbow on the wall to show off his biceps while placing his palm on the back of his head. Sam was sitting on a chair near the table, wearing a lot of jewellery but not much clothes. He had a wad of cash in his hands and he was posing as if someone interrupted him while he was counting his money. All of them were slightly smiling when they entered.

It was quite the symmetric look, two guys (Matt and Peter on the left), the two girls (Diana and Alexa on the table) and the other two guys (Harry and Sam on the right near the wall). However, John was sure that no one was thinking symmetric at that moment.

There was a shocked silence while the eight couples took in everything and then began a lot of "OH MY GOD"s, hooting and whistles. The band lost their composure and began laughing, all of them transformed into normal people once again and the room felt a lot cooler.

"Hello again!" Tom said, no, chirped, a Cheshire grin on his face. "We just wrapped up our shoot for a song cover. Something tells me you weren't sorry to witness it. Anywaaaaaay...Are you all excited? Nervous?"

There was some nervous laughter in assent.

"I know exactly how that feels. The first time I met Matt, I was shaking" he acknowledged, shooting a knowing look at Matt.

"I still do, I just hide it more successfully. Don't tell him!" he whispered dramatically. All of them laughed, including John. Despite all the conflict inside, it was impossible not to relax in Tom's presence. His happiness was contagious. He continued, still in that excited schoolboy tone:

"Well, why are you still listening to lanky 'ol me? Go ahead, talk to them!" he made a gesture as if he were presenting royalty.

They all laughed again and scurried off to meet the band. Out of the corner of his eye, John saw that Mr. Sagarson had begun filming while Tom was making sure everything was okay with everything. He seemed really in command of everything despite his easy-going attitude.

John saw that almost everyone was making a beeline for Matt. It was easy to see why. He was the lead singer, songwriter, not to mention handsome as hell. He felt a stab of jealousy although he didn't understand why. He took Sherl..William's hand firmly in his and went to meet Diana, the female lead of the band. If either had any discomfort in said handholding, it wasn't expressed.

"Hi Hamish!" she said, with a genuine smile on her face.

"Hello Diana! It's so great to meet you in person!" Hamish replied, trying his best to sound like a fan.

"Trust me, Diana, he appears calm but I'm sure he's dying inside" Sher...William explained, a mischievous smile on his face.

"You promised you wouldn't embarrass me!" John said in a betrayed tone.

"I did indeed, but where is the fun in that?" William replied, his eyes full of mischief. His lips were curved with the pleasure of teasing John and Sherlock's whole face looked like a happy schoolboy's.

John couldn't tell the exact second when he decided to do it. Actually, he had no recollection of even the merest indication of wanting to do it. John only felt his toes pointing upwards on their own accord and the next thing he knew, he had pecked William on his cheek. Both of them paused, shocked with what had occurred. John was still on his toes and his lips were still inches away from William's cheek. The faint lip (gloss? paint?) stain was slightly shining on Sherlock's face.

Sherlock looked very taken aback. He very slowly wiped his cheek with his fingers, looking extremely confused. Sherlock looked like he was doing some quick thinking.

"Aww...I don't blame you, he was looking really cute!" Diana gushed, clearly smitten with them.

"Promise me more Hamish and my mouth will be shut till asked" William finally managed to say, some of the mischief coming back into his eyes.

Not trusting himself to speak, John merely shrugged. Diana smiled at them both again, this time with much more enthusiasm.

After talking to the other band members, they finally got to meet Matt. He shook both their hands warmly, a patient smile on his face.

"Please don't mind him" John said, indicating William, "he's a Madness Within illiterate. He's more into symphonies than songs I'm afraid."

"Oh?" Matt looked slightly curious.

"He plays the violin sometimes. Varies with his moods. You can only imagine the screeching and the wailing when he's angry" John shuddered, remembering the last time when he did not have a case for two days.

"I play the violin too. We should try a duet sometime" Matt smiled at William. Was it just him or was Matt's tone suggestive?

Tom, once again skipping back to the centre of the room, looked at everyone expectantly. His eyes were sparkling and there was a jump to his step. How was this guy always so cheerful?

"Well, it's time you guys! The whole crew is completely excited about this. It took us a lot of time and effort and we are extremely proud of the result. It has been quite a journey for us – we did a test run with the crew and it has been eye opening indeed (here he looked at Mr. Sagarson sheepishly) but what matters is the end. After a lot of re-evaluation and consultation with psychiatrists, we've made the infallible I Know You contest. So, are you guys reaaady?"

There was a very enthusiastic chant of "Yessss" from the seven couples. The eighth couple, however, were too engrossed observing a heated discussion between the director Mr. Sagarson and Agatha, the girl who Sherlock helped before. The discussion soon ended and Agatha brought a huge black-colored box and placed it in front of Tom.

Tom put his hand on the lid of the box, smiling cheekily at all of them.

"This is it, you guys. This box has everything a couple may need for Round One"

The tension in the room suddenly rose. Even John felt a little competitive. He had known Sherlock for a greater time than any of these couples knew each other. They lived together since the first day they met. He felt that Sherlock deserved to be memorised, to be understood. Like it was the most natural thing in the world for John to know all about Sherlock. He felt a slight desperation to win, to show Sherlock that he noticed too. Noticed his loneliness behind the "I don't have friends!", noticed the heart he refused to acknowledge. He wanted to show Sherlock that he mattered. Because he knew that Sherlock had esteem issues behind all his arrogance. Because John knew Sherlock and wanted to prove it too. Because with Sherlock Holmes, actions spoke louder.

Finally, Tom opened the box.

A/N: Thank you, Ruby. You made my day that time.

I was all set to start round one but it's getting too huge. I've planned everything very carefully. I'm so sorry if the updates are late.

A huge sorry and thank you to everyone who's waited for this fic.

Please review! It is much appreciated, I tell you.