It was the day after Valentine's Day, and poor Charlie Brown had once again not received any cards. Although he grew used to not receiving anything good from any of the holidays (not counting Christmas presents, at least he lucked out more or less in that area) he was still disappointed. It was one thing not to receive cards while you're a kid and most of them are for friendship, but it was another to not receive them when you're a teenager and entering the dating period. Even worse, the Little-Red Haired Girl, Heather, found out about Charlie's crush on her and turned him down.

A.N. Yeah I know the special that gave her the name Heather wasn't canon but I thought the name fit so I used it.

Charlie was resting at his old spot, the brick wall, but Linus was not there with him. Now, while Sally had sent a lot of Valentines this year she didn't send Linus enough to keep him busy (getting rid of them) for two days, so Charlie didn't understand what was keeping Linus. After all, they had made plans to talk at the brick wall yesterday. Deciding that Sally was probably waiting for Linus to leave the house, which in turn would cause Linus to hide in his room, Charlie went back home.

When he got there he was surprised, the mailbox flag was up!

"It's not time yet for the mailman to arrive, I wonder..." Charlie suddenly got one of his optimistic ideas. "Say, I'll bet they're belated Valentines!"

Excited, Charlie ran to the mailbox and surprisingly, given Charlie's track record, there were Valentines in there! Three specifically, one heart shaped and two regular-card shaped with no hearts printed on them. One card had musical notes all over it and 'You're A Note-able Friend' written in the middle. There was also a piano at the bottom, so Charlie guessed that that one was from Schroeder. Another card had flowers in the corners and 'Best Buds' written in the middle. Charlie opened that one and to his amazement found it to be from Linus:

Hi Charlie Brown, sorry about never giving you any Valentines in the past, but I thought it would be weird for guys to give each other Valentines. However, lately I had been feeling really guilty about it, especially since I've seen a lot of friendship Valentines at the card shop before. So, I decided to make you one out of friendship, especially since you're my best friend. Happy Valentine's Day! From, Linus.

Charlie Brown then opened the other card, and sure enough it was from Schroeder:

Dear Charlie Brown, sorry about not giving you any cards before, but I thought it was weird for guys to give each other Valentines. I recently started feeling bad about it though, especially since the other girls are only willing to give you used Valentines out of guilt. I know you deserve better than that so I'm giving you something better: a genuine Valentine made especially for you out of true friendship. Happy Valentine's Day! Schroeder.

Charlie Brown was really happy, and almost went into the house to show the cards to his parents when he remembered two things. One: his dad was working and his mom was out shopping, and two: there was still a third card. He opened that card, and was more than shocked, it was a genuine love Valentine! He quickly read it:

Dear Charles, sorry about never giving you any Valentines before, but you were so caught up in other girls that I assumed you wouldn't even notice, especially since you didn't even seem to notice when I used to be open with you about my feelings. However, I had noticed that you've never gotten a Valentine from anyone else, so I decided to take a chance. The truth is, there has been one girl who has had feelings for you for years, ever since we were eight, and I'm that girl. I'm worried that you won't return my feelings though, so I can't tell you who I am, at least not right away. If I get brave later I'll make an attempt to tell you who it is that...that loves you. Happy Valentines Day Charles.

Charlie was now way beyond shocked, there was actually a girl who loves him! And once more, this girl had loved him this whole time but had been scared to tell him! He was surprised, after all he was the type who would've been happy with anybody (well, except maybe Lucy) and with his lack of skills he thought it would've been easy for any girl to admit to her feelings to him. Then, he thought while walking up to his house, he had been stuck on physically pretty girls, maybe this girl wasn't physically pretty and so felt insecure. Well, he didn't care, the fact that she loves him alone made her pretty. Before he could open the door, it opened, and not by Sally but by Linus!

"Linus?" Charlie said, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Hiding." Linus explained. "Sally is still waiting for me in front of my house. I snuck out the back without her knowing and headed for your house. I would've kept our appointment at the brick wall, but I didn't want to risk Lucy seeing me and ratting me out."

"No problem, I understand." Charlie smiled. "You do realize that once Lucy comes home from ballet class she'll find out that you're gone and tell Sally. Then Sally might come here and find you."

"Eh, I'll take that chance. It's easier putting up with her than it is putting up with Lucy whenever she comes home from ballet anyway." Linus shrugged; he then chuckled: "Lucy thought she was going to be the star of the class but she's still in the corps de ballet, as they put it. This has made her crabbier than usual."

"And I thought she couldn't get any crabbier." Charlie shook his head.

"Me neither, but at least it gets her to leave me and Rerun alone. Most of the time at home she's locked up in her bedroom practicing her positions." Linus smiled. "We only have to put up with her during dinner or when she wants to watch a ballet performance on TV."

"At least you and Rerun get something out of this." Charlie smiled back. "Ballet has kinda come in handy for me too, Sally wants to take lessons but mom says that she can't until she brings her grades up. This has gotten her to take her lessons more seriously, which is a big help when she asks me for help with homework. Now she actually listens to me when I tell her how to do something."

"Cool...say, you got my Valentine didn't you?" Linus guessed, noticing the cards in Charlie's hand.

"I did, it was really kind of you and I really appreciate it." Charlie smiled. "And don't feel bad about not sending me one before, I understand your feelings about guys sending each other cards. Schroeder had the same feeling."

"Ah, that must be where the other card came from, but what about that heart you're holding?" Linus asked.

"Read for yourself." Charlie handed Linus the card.

Linus did, and was stunned.

"Wow, so there is a girl who loves you, this is great!" Linus said happily.

"Yeah, except I don't know who she is." Charlie pointed out. "She won't tell me until she gets braver about it, but I want to find her now and talk to her."

"Well, we know three things about her." Linus said, suddenly going over to the closet and pulling out Charlie's Sherlock Holmes outfit. "One: she has known you since you were at least eight. Two: she knows where you live, and has probably been to your house before, because the card didn't come with an envelope meaning that she hand-delivered it. Three: she calls you Charles." He continued as he put on the outfit; it was a little big for him though so he only stuck with the hat and cloak.

A.N. Here I should explain that the characters decided to step up with their Halloween costumes since regular sheet ghosts seemed too simple, so they now buy their costumes or have their moms make random outfits.

At that point, Sally arrived.

"So there you are, what are you doing here waiting for me?" Sally asked Linus.

"No, Charlie and I made plans to hang out today. Now if you excuse us, we have some important work to do." Linus said politely.

"Oh, is my sweet baboo going to help my big brother solve a mystery?" Sally asked flirtingly, noticing Linus's outfit.

"I'm not...! Aw forget it, I've said it so many times that I already feel like a broken record." Linus scowled, annoyed. "C'mon Charlie Brown, let's get out of here."

"Bye Sally, we'll be back before dinnertime." Charlie said, following Linus.

"Wait a minute, what's the mystery anyway?" Sally gently grabbed Charlie by the arm.

"We're going to figure out who sent me this Valentine." Charlie said, showing Sally the heart Valentine.

Sally was shocked as she read the Valentine.

"There's actually someone out there who loves you? Who in the world could that be?" Sally asked, surprised.

"Well, that's what we intend to find out." Charlie said, ignoring her tone.

"Bye Sally."

"Bye big bro, if mom comes home first I'll let her know what you're doing." Sally waved.

"Finally." Linus said once Sally had closed the door. "I thought we'd never get away."

"As I recall you were the one who was wondering if you could date Sally when you were both older." Charlie pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was when she was a baby." Linus retorted. "I had no idea what she'd turn out to be like."

"So then why did you want to date her in the first place?" Charlie asked.

"Because...because I wouldn't mind becoming your brother." Linus admitted.

Charlie smiled, flattered.

"Well in that case why change your mind? Come on, she's been faithful to you this whole time why not giver her a chance?" Charlie asked.

"Because she still has some maturing to do." Linus explained. "That and the fact that she's too clingy."

"You mean you empathize with Schroeder?" Charlie chuckled.

"Oh yeah, big time." Linus chuckled back. "Okay, back to the mystery. I think we should first make a list of all the girls who know you and have spoken to you before, and then figure it out from there."

"Good idea." Charlie nodded.

They decided to go to Linus's house to get a notebook and pencil. There they saw Lucy watching one of the ballet programs.

"You two had better not need the TV, because..." Lucy said warningly.

"Relax, we just needed a notebook and a pencil." Linus rolled his eyes. "We're solving a mystery."

"What, why you still can't let go of that...?"

"It's a vest now Lucy, maybe you should let it go!" Linus snapped.

"Uh, actually we're trying to figure out who gave me this Valentine." Charlie cut in before Lucy could yell back.

Lucy suddenly got up, shocked, and rushed to the window much to Charlie and Linus's confusion.

"What the heck are you doing?" Charlie asked.

"Looking for flying pigs." Lucy responded as if it was obvious.

Linus and Charlie groaned.

"Aw come on sis, why can't you leave Charlie alone?" Rerun frowned, coming into the living room with Darcie and Snoopy.

"Hey Snoopy, had a good time?" Charlie smiled.

Snoopy nodded with a smile.

"So if I heard correctly, someone gave Charlie Brown a Valentine." Rerun smiled. "It's about time."

"Oh come on, who could be in love with that blockhead." Lucy shook her head, rejoining the group.

"Apparently someone who's worried that Charlie won't return her feelings." Linus said. "It wasn't signed or anything. No return address even."

"Looks like she didn't want to embarrass herself." Lucy teased.

"Well at least Charlie got one, and how many have you gotten from Schroeder?" Rerun retorted.

See, Rerun got tired of Lucy bullying everyone, especially Linus, so he decided to be the 'stand-upper' of the family. Despite Rerun being the smallest, Lucy didn't physically retort because Rerun had always been clever with verbal threats. In fact the last time she physically threatened him, Rerun warned that if she harmed him he would embarrass her at her future wedding. This permanently prevented Lucy from ever threatening him.

"Come on Linus, we'd better go somewhere more peaceful." Charlie suggested.

"Good idea." Linus nodded.

"You want to come too Snoopy?" Charlie asked.

Snoopy nodded at first, but then pointed at Darcie.

"Sure Darcie can come too, if Rerun doesn't mind."

"Not at all, I need a break anyway. We played for hours and I could use a snack." Rerun smiled.

"Good idea, Snoopy and Darcie probably want a snack too so we should head for the stores." Linus agreed.

Snoopy licked his lips and nodded eagerly. Darcie didn't have Snoopy's huge appetite, but she nodded anyway.