A/N: Lock, Shock and Barrel are not related (at least not here). This is a Lock/Shock fic and if ya don't like it then don't read. Hope all those fluffy Lock/Shock shippers enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Nightmare Before Christmas; it's Tim Burton's… dumbass lawyers…

Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel

"My dress!" An angry yell came from the kitchen of the tree house, home to Lock, Shock and Barrel. The oldest of the three thundered down the stairs, his red tail swishing violently behind him. As he reached the doorway of the creaky old eating room, he saw Shock holding out a section of her dress with pinched fingers, sticky and wet, while Barrel rushed around the kitchen trying to mop something off the floor.

"What happened here?" Lock asked as he crept along the floorboards, expertly avoiding the puddles of red and Shock's infuriated looks.

"Barrel here was stupid enough to knock over another carton of Blood Juice! And this was the last dress I have that fits me!" She yelped, throwing Lock a look that made his stomach twist up. He pushed it away quickly, as this was obviously not the time. "The rest were all destroyed when you had your growth spurt!" Shock seethed, through clenched teeth; her normally pale cheeks a bright fuchsia.

"Hey! I was clumsy…but not as clumsy as Barrel!" Lock shot back, ripping open the old refrigerator door and sifting through it for something edible. He knew if he actually looked Shock in the eye he'd probably burst out laughing.

" Were too!" Shock stuck out her tongue.

"Was not!" The devil argued.

"Were too!" His cohort gave him a face.

"Was not!" He yelled back, throwing a pickled frog leg at her. But she caught it and popped it in her mouth.

"Thanks loser!" She grinned, before marching out of the room and up the stairs to her room to change. Lock just rolled his icy blue eyes and fell into a huff.

Barrel gave an exasperated look to Lock's back as he threw some soaked towels in the garbage. Honestly, he thought to himself. It's like they don't even know they like each other! Though no one could actually tell, Barrel wasn't as stupid as he looked.

Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel Come back baby please come—we belong toget…

"Ew," Her statement was short and simple as Shock shut of the radio, almost as quickly as she had put it on. She muttered to herself and started to bustle around the now empty house, throwing her lavender dress, with it's now day old stain, into the sink for a good scrub. Try as she could, the Blood Juice wouldn't leave.

She had tried ghoul saliva. She had tried bat venom. And she had even used her scorpion-scaled scrubbing brush! Nothing was working. She sadly lifted the droopy garment out of the metal basin and flung it to the garbage pail with wrinkled hands, tired of hours forced into ice-cold water. It seemed as if she was stuck wearing mortal clothing, as most of Halloween Town favored in the middle of the colder weather they had each year.

Her tiny feet pattered along the dirty tile as she started to gather this and that from the old decaying cabinets of candy and food. She put down a set of ingredients on the counter and found her cookbook, "Cooking for Witches of the 20th Centaury". She flipped to a page, a good halfway through the 546 pages and began her work. Only stopping to close the window that had been blowing the cold, eternal October wind onto her bare skin. She contemplated getting her robe or a sweatshirt to throw over her thin, and quite revealing, silk slip, or even changing, but she became too wrapped up and preoccupied with her cooking and soon forgot about the idea of that.

But as she rushed around, Shock found herself waiting around on top the cushion of a patched, old stool, waiting for her brew to boil. She praised the gods that Barrel had left for his class trip earlier, and that Lock was out late, doing whatever shit he normally did. She would hate to get caught in this thing. I mean, they may not be her blood relatives, but them catching her walking around in a slip? I think not.

If only I could get this brew cooking already…then I'd actually have time to go and change! She thought irritably, rubbing her upper arms with her hands to generate heat.

Shock frowned, annoyed at the oversized pot sitting on the stove. She reached to take off the lid, but immediately jumped back at the touch of the fiery hot metal "Fuck!" She cursed, running some cold water to keep it under. But walking over to get a towel, she stepped on a firecracker tack that one of the boys must have left around, and the second it was lodged in her foot, it exploded. Not only did this leave a black mark on the floor, but it also left Shock sitting on her ass, holding her foot and wishing some quite violent things on the boys for leaving this out, and herself for not wearing boots.

"Fuck, fuck, and double fuck! Of all the days to get a burn and one of Lock or Barrel's stupid toys exploding in my foot it had to be this one!" She pulled herself up uneasily and hopped, one-legged, over to the cabinet under the sink, wobbling quite a few times and almost falling over on occasion. She was so preoccupied she didn't hear the clink of the basket elevator raising up.

Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel

Lock entered into the house quietly, as always, and set down his bag rather roughly. He'd been out walking through the town graveyard after school and before he knew it, the moon was out and he was halfway into the forest that held the doors to the other holidays.

He looked up at the clock on the wall with the broken second hand, and read 6:53, just as a crash came from the kitchen. He cocked one of his electric red eyebrows and slipped out of his black sneakers, tiptoeing to the frame of the door and hiding behind one of the giant urns so he couldn't be seen.

He had suspected that it was Shock cooking, but it looked a little more chaotic than that. She was bent over one of her feet wrapping it with a bandage, while her left hand was already covered in one. What happened here? Lock wondered to himself, making sure he didn't actually say the words out loud and reveal his hiding spot.

Just as she was done, she stood up, revealing the outfit she had on at the time. Lock practically felt his eyes bulging out of his skull. Shock looked…there were no thoughts or words to describe it. Her purple, spaghetti strap, silk slip was trimmed with black lace, and fell so short it hardly made it to her mid-thighs. Not the Shock he knew. Definitely not the same Shock he lived with. And certainly not the same girl he…well, you know…liked. Right?

It's nothing Lock…stop thinking those nasty little thoughts you caught with too often! She was probably um…maybe she got robbed? No, who would rob someone's clothes here? He spotted the sink full of bubbles though, and then the cleaning astringents surrounding it and it clicked in his mind. Cleaning! Her dress…duh! No, honestly Lock, she was walking around in undergarments for fun! Oh lord I'm having a conversation with my self…

Lock managed to tear himself away from his thoughts as him mind fell all the way to the gutter. He had noticed that Shock was searching for something…in the cabinet below the sink. She bent over, and her dress rode up in the back.

Just a little more…c'mon… He coaxed, as she dug deeper through the musty little dark space. Her skirt inched up a little more, and Lock grinned as he saw the trimmings of a pair of lacey, black laundray. His dark jeans suddenly felt a little tight and his cheeks flushed redder than red.

"Dammit!" He whispered to himself, not realizing what he had just done. He was occasionally exceedingly stupid, especially I times of, ahem, well…arousment. Oh course this was no exception. H should have remembered that Shock had hearing like a gargoyle. It wouldn't be surprising if she could hear the music allt eh way in town right now.

Shock reeled around and straightened herself up, hitting her head on the top of the cabinet in the process. "Shit! Who's there?" She cursed, walking forward towards the entrance as she held her tiny hand to the back of her head, among the tendrils of her black wavy hair. "Hey who's there? This isn't funny!" She yelled, suddenly aware that the only person who would be in here was Lock…and then immediately after, how incredibly naked she looked right now.

"Lock if your hiding I swear I'm going to rip of your tail and hang it on the wall if you don't get your ass out here right now!" She was sweating lightly, and now held her folded arms tightly across her chest.

Lock stood up from where he had been waiting for his stiffy to go away (thank the fucking heavens it did) and gave a slanted, uneasy grin. "Uh…h-hey Shock…um, what's up?"

"How…how long…have you been hiding there?" She muttered, giving him a look that seemed unnerving, and almost afraid. He saw her swallow a lump in her throat and tried determinedly not to let a red hot blush come across her face.

"Only a couple minuets…but um, what's going on Shock?" He asked, taking a step towards her. She looked upset, almost hurt, which was unusual for her. He would have thought she'd be angry at him…not look like she was about to cry!

She fidgeted with her hands and quickly muttered, "Nothing. It's nothing! I…gotta go…tired…" She then turned on her heel and awkwardly dashed up the stairs, each one creaking as her weight shifted onto them. Lock was about to go after her, but stopped, just staring at the spot she had stood at just moments ago.

What had happened back there? What was wrong with Shock? I mean, it wasn't like he did anything. What could possibly make her react that way?

I mean it would make sense if she liked him…in a way. But never in a million years would that happen. Lock knew Shock, and she would never in a million years go for him right? She was too good for him right? That's why she'd always just been a dream…right?

Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel Lock Shock Barrel

Lock sat in his room, on the ledge of his open window that was blowing in the wind. One of his legs was propped up on the windowsill, while the other dangled over the edge. His eyes were hard and held no feeling but deep concentration as he looked out on the horizon of Halloween Town. The Harvest Moon was hanging high, illuminating the entire sky and all of its contents below.

A familiar sound of leaves crunching under footsteps began to ring in Lock's ears. He fixated his gaze to the ground below him, where Shock was now walking towards the old oak tree in their yard. Waves of orange, red, yellow and brow, swept alongside her, like they were playing tag with the stormy breeze. Lock noticed that her attire had changed, as she was now suited in a pair of baggy blue-jeans, combat boots, and a slightly oversized zip-up hoody, that was too long on the arms.

She was keeping her head down, as her raven locks flapped about her face. More than once she could be seen tucking a piece of it behind an ear nervously, like she was afraid of being seen. A small tune could be heard floating through Lock's window. She was humming to herself. Humming a quiet, velvety song with a beautiful voice. She had always been the best singer of the three. Ever since her voice changed at 14, going lower, and not so squeaky.

She fell onto the swing gracefully, it plunging downwards for a moment as she did. Both of her hands were wrapped around the rusty metal chains, connecting the wooden plant to the tree branch above, and for a while all she did was sit, and rocking the seat back and forth gently, humming to herself. One of Lock's ears perked up as he began to hear a soft lullaby voice.

"Tough, you think you've got the stuff…you're telling me and anyone you're hard enough," Shock sang to herself, so softly that Lock had to strain to hear it. "You don't have to put up a fight. You don't have to always be right… Let me take some of the punches for you tonight…"

She sounds so sad… Lock thought, resting an elbow on his knee and gazing almost longingly at the teenage witch below him.

"Listen to me now, I need to let you know, you don't have to go it alone." She paused, shivering slightly and tucking some more hair behind her ear. "And it's you when I look in the mirror…and it's you when I don't pick up the phone. Sometimes you can't make it on your own…"

A gust of wind blew as she sang the last line, her voice almost getting lost in the growling wind. Her song was so lonely, and it made Lock's throat twist up every time she belted out another line. "We fight all the time, you and I...that's alright. We're the same soul, but I don't need...I don't need to hear you say that if we weren't so alike, you'd like me a whole lot more."

The song was starting to ring something familiar in Lock's mind. We fight all the time…sounds exactly like me and her. Honestly, if I didn't know any better…

"I know that we don't talk, I'm sick of it all. Can you hear me when I…

Sing, you're the reason I sing, you're the reason why the opera is in me... But…where are we now? I've still got to let you know, a house still doesn't make a home. Don't leave me here alone..."

Who is she talking about? Er…singing about…honestly, one of these days I'm going to start saying these things out loud! Oh fuck this!

"And it's you when I look in the mirror, and it's you that makes it hard to let go…

Sometimes you can't make it on your own…no, sometimes you can't make it, the best you can do is to fake it.

Sometimes you just can't make it…on your own" Shock finished and just kind of hung her head, looking at the ground annoyed. She felt so pathetic, getting these stupid songs stuck in her head and fussing over Lock. It was all so…

Red. Red! Something red had just flicked in the corner of her eye. She turned around to see Lock sitting on the ledge of his open widow. Again…again, again, again! Why am I so stupid godammit? Shock cursed to herself silently. She turned away from Lock who had been staring at her the entire time she suspected.

As Lock looked on from his perch, his eyes glazed over at the expression she gave him what she looked his way. She looked like she was yelling at herself for letting him catch her again. For the second time that day, that is.

Lock curled his strong tail around the other side of the windowsill and lowered himself closer to the ground slowly, until he was only 7 feet above the ground. As he jumped down, he landed with a soft thud onto the dirt below. He quietly walked up to where the swing hung, and leaned against the oak slowly. Shock acknowledged him with a small glance, but nothing more.

"Shock how long are you going to keep on doing that?" Lock blurted out, not really meaning to.

"Do what exactly?" Shock asked back, not even bothering to send him a glance this time.

Might as well finish what you stared buddy… "That Shock! That's exactly what I mean! I think it's pretty obvious you're mad at me for something… For Christ's sake you won't even talk to me!" He bellowed, not realizing how upset he was by this.

"I am not ignoring you! And I'm not mad at you! I'm just…I just have a lot of stuff ogin on for me ok? Like I need time to think…to be alone."

"Shock."

"Yes?"

"Tell me what's wrong. I'm serous. I live in the same house as you. I have a bedroom next to yours. If this is about the whole seeing you in your slip thing, I understand. I mean, I've done your laundry it's not like I haven't seen it before." He let out a defeated sigh.

"Lock! Shut. Up. Just shut up ok? I get it. You're just being nice. Cause that's what friends do huh? And were just the best and oldest of pals, eh?" She snorted, as if she found it disgustingly amusing. Sickening in a way.

"Uh…"

"See? That's what I mean. No response huh? Tell em this Lock; did you ever stop to think that maybe it's not like that? Ever think I wasn't just your best friend? Ever stop and wonder that maybe one of us wanted more than just being the kid you live with?" She looked at him with a mixture of pain, sorrow and anger. Like all she wanted to do was go and cry in her room alone, but at the same time all she wanted to do was tell him off then and there. "Ever think about that?" She muttered quietly.

"Everyday." Lock whispered, staring back at her with a cool, collected manner. He stepped towards her a few paces, and offered one of his hands to her. Shock couldn't help but note his closeness. He was less than a foot away.

As she slipped her hand into his, he pulled her up off the swing. He cracked a tiny smile, noting how much smaller her hands were than his. Although it was barely larger than his palm, he knew if he got her angry, it would feel a lot heavier. How many times he'd been punched by her, he lost count within the first moth of living with her. But now was not the time for childish games.

As the two looked at each other, they locked eyes once more. Blue and purple, entangled in each other so they couldn't be drawn away. Almost intoxicating in a way. Lock's tail curled around the back of his legs, and suck onto the back of Shock's knees, forcing her closer to him. He didn't think she minded though.

Their bodies were now mere inches away from each other. Shock noted the difference in height now. Lock had at least a good six inches on her, but it didn't seem to matter anymore. Lock must have been thinking the same thing as he smiled a kind of lopsided smirk that made Shock's stomach do cartwheels. She didn't feel like the same person. She didn't feel like the same old Shock who was always tough, and always put up a strong face for the public. She felt…different, like she could finally be honest with someone.

The gap between the two finally closed, as Lock leaned downwards the slightest bit, drawing Shock into a kiss that seemed too good to be true. It was light, and it was soft. Perfect, I think the word is. She gladly returned the small gift, and wrapped her arms around Lock's neck. She felt his hand leave her side where it had been resting, and join the other at her lower back, massaging it just the slightest bit. As she tangled her fingers into Lock's flaming red hair, she felt his tongue run along her lower lip, as if it were a request for special entrance. Parting her lips, Shock felt his tongue slip into her mouth, making a wave of pleasure run down her back. Slowly, the kiss got gentler, and the two drew away, in desperate need of air. As they did, the two opened their eyes once again, to find their counterpart smiling just as much as the other.

In the end, Lock flopped down onto the swing, Shock sitting on top, and for the rest of the night they just giggled and talked, like most age old couples do.