A/N: Uploading a little early because I will be very busy tomorrow, as I imagine many of you will, too! Have a nice holiday and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I made myself laugh reading it, so I hope you like the new characters. They're fun. Thanks for reading, please review!

The following Monday is the start of the week before Christmas break. Sherlock (John, really) decides not to take any more cases because of final exams, the Christmas concert, and Christmas next week. John convinces Sherlock to give everything already on his plate his full attention.

When they get to school, they find out that Tom Jones was expelled from school, Vince is suspended until far after break, and Perry suspended for three days, plus they both have to write letters of apology to Sherlock. Sherlock claims he doesn't care about the letters, he just wants Vince to stay away from him, and Headmaster Card promises to do everything he can to ensure that happens.

Sherlock and John both do well on their first exams that day, and they go back to Sherlock's house very happy that evening.

"So," John says, watching Sherlock do more experiments in the snow. "My mum wanted me to invite you over for Christmas morning."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you know? Like usual."

"Even after…everything she's learned the past few weeks?"

"Yeah, of course. It's what we do every year. Christmas Eve at your house, Christmas day at mine."

Sherlock nods.

"She saw us kiss this weekend, Sherlock. When she got home, we were cuddling on the sofa. I'm absolutely sure she's fine with everything."

Sherlock nods again.

"So you'll go?"

Sherlock looks at him. "Yes, John. Of course. Just as long as you can make it clear to your cousin this year that I'm not interested."

John laughs. "Oh, right."

Sherlock smiles and turns back to his experiment.

"Are you excited for the concert on Friday?"

Sherlock looks at him and scowls.

"Hey," John laughs, "I didn't push you to take music again."

"But when you say, 'Hey, Sherlock can play the piano!' It makes people think I want to play the piano!"

John continues to laugh. "It's not my fault you're good at it. You could be with the violin group. At least you're the only one playing the piano."

Sherlock sighs. "I do suppose that is true. I just don't like it, John."

"Then I'm sorry for pushing you to do it," John says, kissing Sherlock's forehead.

John catches Sherlock's thin smile. He lays back on the snow once again and relocated his math notes to right in front of his face.

"So…" Sherlock starts after jotting down a few notes. "I'm, uhm...I'm going away over break."

John slowly lowers his book. "What?"

"My brother is taking me to Oxford for a few days, to try to convince me to go."

John bites his lip. "Alright," he finally says.

"Is that ok?"

"Well, of course it's ok. I can't tell you not to go. I'll miss you, sure, but I can't ask you to stay here with me all break."

Sherlock nods.

"We'll do something fun when you get back," John says. "Just you and I."

Sherlock nods again and smiles.

The next morning, Sherlock gets to school before John does. He doesn't know where John is, why he isn't there, and he's distracted as he's trading books in and out of his bag to locker. Finally, he shuts his locker and turns left to go to class.

But he walks right into two people.

"Umf—" Sherlock grunts, stumbling back while the two people stand perfectly still in front of him.

They both laugh.

Sherlock gains his bearings again and looks at the two identical blonde hair, green eyed boys in front of him. They're even wearing the same shirt in different colors and have the same coat on.

"We've been looking everywhere for you," one says.

"You're pretty hard to find," the second says.

"We've sent you a dozen emails—"

"But you haven't gotten back to us!"

Sherlock just eyes them. "Uh…ok?"

"We need your help," they say at the same time.

Sherlock adjusts the bag on his back and stands up straighter, suddenly interested. "Ok?"

The boys look at each other, suddenly in shock.

"We didn't even introduce ourselves—"

"That's so rude—"

"We never—"

"You didn't—"

"But you didn't—"

Sherlock clears his throat and they focus fast.

"Dane Deyes," the first says, holding his left hand out to shake.

"Duke Deyes," the other says, also holding his right hand out to shake.

Sherlock crosses his arms and shakes both of their hands at the same time. It makes them laugh.

"So," Sherlock says as they calm. "What can I help you with?"

"We have a secret admirer!" Duke (Sherlock thinks) says.

"We don't!" Dane (Sherlock's almost positive) says.

"Ok, ok, he does," Duke says. He then turns to his brother. "You know how much it hurts when you correct me on the 'we's'!"

Dane turns to Duke. "You know how annoyed I get when you think we get to share what we get!"

"I don't even want to share a girl!" Duke says.

Sherlock thinks about turning around and walking away, but if he's honest with himself, he's far too intrigued by the twins.

Dane rolls his eyes and they both turn back to Sherlock. "Anyway," Dane says. "I keep getting secret admirer letters and I'd like to help me solve who it is."

"Kay…" Sherlock says.

Dane turns his back to Duke and Duke reaches into Dane's backpack and pulls out a big manila envelope. He hands it to Sherlock.

"These are the love letters I've received," Dane explains. "All delivered into my locker every Friday since school started."

Duke cuts in. "The last says that if he doesn't figure out who she is by Christmas then she'll stop sending him letters."

"She?" Sherlock questions, opening the envelope. He glances at Dane. "What if it's a boy?"

"Then I get him," Duke cheerily states.

Sherlock looks at Duke and can't help but blush when Duke warmly smiles at him. Sherlock shakes his head and looks back at the envelope. "So…" he mutters.

"So are you single?" Duke asks.

Dane sighs loudly. "Not every boy is interested!" he shouts at his brother.

Sherlock answers his question anyway. "Uh, no actually."

"Oh," Duke mutters, audibly disappointed. "Girlfriend?"

"Stop it!" Dane shouts.

Sherlock, again, ignores Dane. "No."

Duke grins. "Well—"

Dane groans. "Come on," he says, turning around and grabbing Duke's elbow. "We'll be in touch, Sherlock!"

"Yes," Duke agrees. "We will!"

Sherlock follows them down the hall until he can turn into another hall to go to his class.

When he walks in, John is already there.

"Hey, where've you been?" John asks as Sherlock sits.

"I, uh…" he doesn't want to tell John he's got another case. He knows John wants him to focus on school and the concert and Christmas, but he can't help but want to solve something.

"What's that?" John asks, pointing to Dane's envelope.

"It's…uh…"

John glares at him. "You accepted another case, didn't you?"

Sherlock bites his lip and looks up at John through his thick eyelashes.

And really, John can't resist that look. The first time he was unable to resist that look was when they were eight and Sherlock absolutely needed John's favorite coat (for an experiment). John pulled it off while they were still sitting outside in the cold, and Sherlock ended up setting it on fire. Of course, Clement went out and bought John a brand new coat right away, and John didn't learn to say no to that look.

John rolls his eyes and sits down at the desk in front of Sherlock's. "Fine," he says. "Tell me about it."

Since their exam was on Monday, the boys spend the whole class discussing and going over Dane's envelope. John laughs at the love letters and Sherlock begins to get annoyed, knowing how serious it is.

John tells Sherlock he'll help with whatever he can, and Sherlock forgives him for laughing at the letters. He doesn't mention to John that Duke seems to like him, though, because he doesn't know what John would do.

That evening, they go over every single letter again. The Girl gives a few clues on her identity, saying she's in two of Dane's classes, that they have spoken before, and that she has blonde hair. Sherlock thinks that could help Dane narrow it down, so he decides to ask Dane about it in the morning.

After they go over the letters, they go outside to play in the snow, even though Clement told them not to. They end up getting so cold that Clement makes them hot chocolate and he lets them cuddle on the sofa. It's something that rarely happens, and John and Sherlock both enjoy it.

Sherlock finds Dane the next morning. He's alone at his locker, so Sherlock goes right up to him.

"Hey Dane," he says. "I have some developments."

The twin turns to him. "I'm not Dane, I'm Duke."

Sherlock nearly gasps. He was so sure it was Dane! "Oh, I…sorry…"

The twin smiles and laughs. "Just kidding, I am Dane!"

Sherlock eyes him. "I…uh…"

"I am, I promise!"

Sherlock shakes his head. "I need proof."

"Well, for one, I don't want to make out with you."

Sherlock cracks a smile and looks down at his shoes.

Dane laughs. "I'm not the one who wouldn't shut up about the brilliant Sherlock Holmes last night."

Sherlock blushes. "Well, I…"

"We heard what you and Watson did for Lily Fox. Super cool, dude."

"Thanks," Sherlock says, finally looking up at Dane again.

Dane smiles. "Anyway, what did you want to tell me?"

Sherlock goes on to tell Dane to, if he can, take down a list of every girl in each of his classes. He instructs Dane to just jot down a list while he's in each class, and that'll help Sherlock narrow down a list.

"Perfect. Thanks, man," Dane says. "Now, Duke wants to know who you're dating."

Sherlock can't help but laugh. "It's not really public knowledge right now for a reason, if you get what I mean."

"He's not out yet or what?"

"Yeah," Sherlock says. "Neither of us are really comfortable with the public yet."

"Understandable," Dane says. "I'll tell Duke it's none of his business."

Sherlock laughs.

Dane smiles and pats his arm. "I'll get you that list by the end of school, ok?"

"Sure," Sherlock says, saying goodbye to Dane and leaving.

Sherlock does well on his exams of the day, as expected. John grouses about his history quiz, but he mentions how great he did on his anatomy quiz, so he's quite happy.

As they're leaving the school, they hear their names being called from towards the football field. They both turn to see Duke and Dane approaching them quickly.

"Glad we caught you," Dane says, panting.

"We have the list!" Duke cheerily adds.

Dane stands up straight and turns to his brother. "We don't, Duke!"

John chuckles.

The boys both look at John.

"I don't believe we've met," Duke says, smiling.

"This is John," Sherlock quickly mentions, grabbing John's shoulder.

"Partner in crime?" Duke asks.

"You could say that," John says. "Your bickering reminds me of he and I, actually."

"Friends for far too long then?" Dane sarcastically asks.

John looks at Sherlock and laughs. Duke smiles at him.

"So!" Sherlock shouts far too loudly, hoping to distract Duke. "The list?"

"Here you are," Duke says, reaching into his brother's pocket and pulling out a folded up sheet of paper.

Dane rolls his eyes and lets Duke be the star. "I wrote down every girl by class period. I put a star next to the girls I secretly hope it to be."

"And I put a star next to the girls I secretly hope it isn't," Duke says.

Dane turns to him again. "What do you have against Sierra?!"

"She told me to stop acting so gay!"

"Well, maybe you could listen to that advice every once in a while!"

Sherlock and John glance at each other, wondering if Duke is going to be upset by that.

He isn't. "Well, maybe you should shove it up your arse, Dane!"

Dane shoves his brother, then Duke shoves back, then they shake their heads and turn back to their company.

"Sorry," Dane apologizes. "Duke likes to get a bit dramatic."

John chuckles and looks at Sherlock again, this time beaming less than he was a second ago. "Oh, I understand."

Dane and Duke laugh.

"Well," Duke says. "We'd better be off. We have that thing."

"Oh right," Dane agrees. "The thing."

John and Sherlock both look confused.

"See you tomorrow!" Dane cheerily says, turning to walk away.

Duke lingers, though. "Sherlock," he says, stepping towards Sherlock. "This is from me," he adds, handing Sherlock a folded up note. He winks, then follows his brother down the sidewalk.

Sherlock just looks at the note in his hand and tries to pretend John isn't there. He wishes John wasn't there, but he is—

"So Duke likes you."

Sherlock bites his lip.

"That's…interesting…"

"Is it?"

"It's just…" John pauses.

Sherlock turns to him. "John, I've been madly in love with you for a really, really long time. You have nothing to worry about."

John turns to him. He looks Sherlock right in the eye and says, "Ok, love. I know."

Sherlock leans forward and is about to kiss John when suddenly John is gone. As is the note.

"Sherlock's got an admirer!" John chants, nearly skipping down the street.

Sherlock grins and follows, finally catching up with John when John stops to cross the street.

While John is studying for his math exam at the kitchen island at Sherlock's house, Sherlock is re-writing Dane's list to show how many times a girl is in a class of his.

They finish about the same time, so they talk about Dane's list.

"It looks like five girls are in two of his classes," Sherlock says, naming the girls. Lily is one of them.

"Well, you can count Lily out," John tells him.

"Why?" Sherlock asks.

"Uh," John sounds, "Because she's dating Harvey…"

"But that doesn't—"

"It does, Sherlock. You don't go around sending other boys love letters, do you?"

"Well, no—"

"So you can count Lily out."

Sherlock nods in acceptance, finally crossing Lily off the list.

"Four then," John says.

"Yes," Sherlock agrees. "And the other clue to her identity was that she has blonde hair."

"Ok," John examines the list. "Well, you can cross out this one," he points to a name. "She has red hair."

"And the others are blonde?"

John nods.

"Hmm," Sherlock says. "Well, the last clue is that she's spoken to Dane before. This could be easy if he isn't that social."

John laughs.

Sherlock pulls his phone out and takes the note Duke gave him.

"What are you doing?" John asks.

"Calling Duke."

"Why?" John questions.

Sherlock glares at him. "To talk to Dane, you clot."

John glares back, but Sherlock grows a grin and greets Duke on the phone, so John rolls his eyes and goes to the refrigerator.

"Listen, Duke," Sherlock finally says, after exchanging pleasantries with Duke for longer than necessary just to rile John up. "I was actually wondering if I could speak to Dane. I'm nearly finished with his case.—Uh huh.—Thanks, Duke!"

Sherlock smiles widely at John before Dane comes over the phone. "Ok, Dane. There are three girls we narrowed it down to: Heather, Margo, and Penelope. She says you've spoken to her before. Any of them?"

"Yeah," Dane says. "Heather and I talk all the time. She and I are close friends, but she has a boyfriend."

"Oh? Is there another?"

"Hmm…" Dane mutters.

He's silent a second before Sherlock hears: "Penelope would never send you a love letter in her entire life, and she's never even given you the time of day! It's Margo, you idiot!"

Sherlock can't help but laugh at Duke.

Dane gasps. "Yeah, she must be it!"

"So, what are you going to do?" Duke asks.

"I don't know," Dane says.

"Well," Sherlock interrupts. "Good luck."

"Thanks, mate!" Dane shouts. "I owe you one!"

"I know how my brother can pay you back, Sherlock," Duke says. "By letting you date his amazing brother!"

Sherlock laughs and blushes. "Oh, I…"

"He has a boyfriend!" Dane yells. "Ugh. Anyway, see you tomorrow, Sherlock! Thanks again!"

"Bye!" Sherlock says to the phone, then hangs up.

"Why are you blushing?" John immediately asks.

Sherlock sets his phone down. "It's just nice to be appreciated," he jokes.

John glares at him, then steps around the table and kisses Sherlock's cheek. "I appreciate you."

"Oh, really?" Sherlock questions, wrapping his arms around John's neck.

"Yeah, I do," John whispers against Sherlock's lips. "I love you."

Sherlock presses forward and kisses John lightly.

The next morning, Sherlock decides to check in on Dane. He plans to meet Dane at his locker, but when he turns the corning leading to the hall where Dane's locker is located, he sees Dane much closer and talking to Margo. Suddenly he kisses her, and she gladly kisses back, and Sherlock just smiles, knowing it's worked out.

He turns around to go back to his own locker, or to find John, but he walks right into Duke.

Sherlock stumbles back and Duke smiles down at him.

"It's nice what you did for Dane," he says. "He quite likes Margo. She had a star by her name."

"Oh, well, it wasn't that difficult," Sherlock says.

"You really are quite amazing," Duke says. "I mean, I'm sure my brother could have figured this one out if he really set his mind to it, but I've heard about other things you do. It's quite fantastic."

"Thanks," Sherlock says, cracking a smile.

"And although I do with you'd give me a chance and go out with me," Duke says, sounding pained, "I'm sure you and Watson are quite happy together."

Sherlock's chin drops. "How—"

Duke smiles wide. "You call it deduction, I call it…hmm…" he taps his chin and smirks. "Gay-dar."

Sherlock laughs. "Well, you caught me."

Duke laughs, too. "Good luck then, mate. And if you ever want to hang out sometime anyway, well…" he glances at his brother down the hall. "I guess I'm pretty free from now on."

Sherlock begins to frown, feeling sorry for Duke, but then Duke pats his shoulder.

"See ya!" Duke says, walking down the hall away from Sherlock.

Sherlock finds John and tells him about Dane and Margo, and John is very pleased. He also tells John that Duke figured out that they're together, and John is even more pleased.

Sherlock begs John for more cases, but John tells him that he really does need to focus on school matters. Sherlock disappointedly agrees, and when they get back to Sherlock's house after school, Sherlock practices the piano, as instructed. He isn't happy about it, but John loves listening to him play. After that, they have a nice, quiet evening with Clement.