Hi. This was the product of TFP's Halloween prompt! It seemed like this fic would never get done, so just publishing this thing feels like a victory even if it sucks :/ Life has been ughhh crazy busy lately (in good and bad ways). Sorry to say that reading & writing FF has been on the backburner in the last two weeks, but I plan to go on a reading craze very soon! Fingers crossed that there will soon be more time for writing too.
Warning - this fic is silly & pointlessly long ;)
{ side note ... one of my first TV loves of all time - Shawn Hunter of Boy Meets World - is quoted near the end of this fic. You're officially my bff if you know it on sight }
Lucy is the first to arrive at Mason Industries on a chilly Tuesday evening in late October, peeling out of her coat and glancing around the facility to find it far emptier than usual. Before she can even begin to speculate about the lack of activity, there's a peal of bell-like laughter spilling from the hallway behind her, the sound of it announcing the arrival of Rufus and Jiya long before she can actually lay eyes on them. When they do emerge into view at last, she's glad that she'd been able to identify them by their voices alone because otherwise she might not have recognized them at all.
Rufus is the easier of the two to spot. He's in some type of cop's uniform, a tan collared shirt tucked into matching tan pants, a brown Western-style hat slouched low over his forehead, and if she's not mistaken, there's an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. Jiya, however, has Lucy doing a double and triple take before she can see past her altered appearance. She's in what appears to be a pale pink doll dress, a blue jacket, knee socks, and white sneakers. The whole ensemble looks like it's seen better days, dingy and tattered and frankly beyond salvaging in Lucy's opinion. But that's still not what throws her off the most; it's the absence of Jiya's trademark long locks that really has her so flabbergasted. She's not sure how she's done it, but somehow Jiya has hidden the entire mass of her dark hair and traded it in for what must be a buzz cut wig, which sort of seems at odds with the rest of the outfit.
"You...you didn't really do that to your hair did you?" Lucy finds herself stammering out before the couple even seems to be aware of her presence. "I mean you're totally pulling it off better than I ever could, but..."
Jiya laughs and runs her fingers along the short crop of dark fuzz. "No way! I practically had to resort to cornrows to get it all beneath this thing, but trust me, it's a wig. Not even I am that committed to Halloween."
"Oh, Halloween," Lucy says dumbly, nodding quickly as it dons on her. "I completely forgot - "
"Forgot Halloween?!" both Rufus and Jiya nearly shout in unison.
She glances down at her own boring choice of clothing, dark wash jeans and a v-neck sweater, then shrugs back at them. "Didn't get the memo. It's not really my thing, though."
Jiya looks like she's ready to pounce on her in protest, but Wyatt saves the day - unsurprisingly, seeing as that's sort of his job - by entering just then in clothing that is just as normal as Lucy's outfit.
He takes one look at Rufus and Jiya and both of his eyebrows are sky high. "Whoa, what the hell is going on with you guys? Jiya, you look like a little boy in drag."
Jiya just groans, rolls her eyes, and huffs away to go boot up her computer. Rufus is far from over it though, shaking his head as he examines his teammates with apparent distaste. "I should have expected as much from Wyatt, but Lucy...? You're supposed to be better than this. I'm ashamed to call either of you a friend right now."
Wyatt squints back at him like he still doesn't understand, but his words tell a different tale. "I don't get adults who do the Halloween thing. Makes no sense to me."
As it turns out, Jiya isn't done with them quite yet. She glances sharply at Wyatt from across the room. "Are you kidding me?! It's the best damn holiday of the year, dude! I can't believe you guys."
Lucy lifts an indifferent shoulder. "Sorry, but I've never been much for the whole idea of it. I mean...monsters, coffins, things that go bump in the night? No thanks, not for me."
Wyatt is officially fighting a grin, but it's not a battle that he's winning. "Isn't Halloween just an excuse for kids to get hyped up on way too much sugar and terrorize their parents?"
Lucy nods along. "Totally, until the parents made a comeback with those Jimmy Kimmel videos where they pretend to have eaten all the candy the next morning. Those are hilarious. Have you seen them?"
He turns toward her with a chuckle, his blue eyes catching the light as he laughs. "Yeah, I - "
"Oh my God, both of you need to get out more," Jiya interrupts petulantly.
"Yeah and preferably together," Rufus mutters not so much under his breath.
Agent Christopher appears then, calling out for all four of them to join her in the conference room, to which Lucy eagerly leads the charge before her face can catch fire at Rufus' last comment.
"Maybe Emma is celebrating tonight," Jiya exclaims with sudden excitement as she trails after them. "Seriously, what if you guys are going to Transylvania or something just because she's in the mood for a good scare? Or Salem in the 1690s. Holy crap, it could be Area 51 in - "
Denise cuts in with her back still to the rest of the team, "It's Baltimore. December of 1829. Sorry if that's a disappointment for some of you."
"Oh damn," Lucy singsongs with a delighted smile, "nothing haunting about that. We're probably dealing with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's inaugural trip. What a shame."
Jiya puts a conciliatory hand on Rufus' arm. "Well maybe the train will be haunted."
The train isn't haunted. Lucy feels pretty confident that brand new trains don't have ghost passengers, and five hours and a whole host of stress later, that assumption is definitely confirmed. She's drained from a long day of chasing after Emma through the streets of Baltimore in wintry temperatures, not to mention the added effort of lugging around her heavy heap of skirts and suffering unimaginable blisters from a pair of horridly cramped boots, but even in spite of all that, at least there weren't any damn ghosts or axe murderers on board.
It's a long walk back to the Lifeboat at the end of the jump, and Lucy is shivering and wincing every step of the way. She feels Wyatt's watchful gaze on her as she struggles, but she grits her teeth and keeps moving at his pace, refusing to wimp out even if her feet fall right off in the process.
"I can't believe I spent my entire Halloween night here," Rufus grumbles, gesturing around the barren city outskirts with a scowl. "December. I'm trapped in freaking 1820s December instead of celebrating my first Halloween with Jiya. Do you know how long I've been waiting to have a date on Halloween? To meet someone who would actually want to plan our costumes together? We've been talking about this for months, spent 10 whole minutes at that party, took one grainy ass picture, and now it's over. Dammit, Emma, is nothing sacred?!"
"Your costumes went together? I thought you were a sheriff or something, but Jiya...? No idea."
Lucy braces herself for an impassioned response to Wyatt's skeptical question, and Rufus doesn't disappoint.
"How the hell do you not know Stranger Things?! Everyone knows Stranger Things. It's a cultural phenomenon, man!"
Wyatt remains unimpressed. Rufus turns to Lucy expectantly, but she can't do much better.
"I've heard of it," she admits cautiously.
"Oh great, you've heard of it. That almost counts as cool points, Lucy, but still falls tragically short of the real thing." He rubs his head with a long-suffering sigh. "I was Jim Hopper, Hawkins Police Chief. Jiya went as Eleven. She's a girl with powers who - "
"Wait, so she wasn't a little boy in drag?" Wyatt questions with more than a hint of mischief in his expression.
"You're hopeless," Rufus snaps back with a shudder. "I just...I'm speechless."
But unfortunately he's not even close to speechless. They still have quite a journey ahead of them, and Rufus proceeds to use every minute of their walk to ramble about all things sci-fi, horror, and the like to his captive audience. Lucy struggles to follow his weaving monologue about the innovators and touchstones of each genre and sub-genre, and it's not just a lack of interest that keeps her preoccupied. It's just so damn cold. And her feet, her poor feet...
"We're almost there," Wyatt murmurs for her ears only, suddenly standing much closer to her than before. He wraps an arm around her waist and sandwiches her close to his side, simultaneously lending her a bit of his body heat while also taking some of the pressure off of her feet. "Throw those shoes out when we're back at Mason. No sense in ever wearing those shitty things again."
She wants to object to discarding the boots when they are most likely authentic artifacts - although probably the product of an era that's a bit later than this exact time period, if she's being technical about it - but she finds herself incapable of doing anything but nodding at the suggestion. They are miserably shitty, after all.
Rufus is still in his own world, trampling through the weeds ahead of them as he continues to pelt them with questions. "You guys have seen at least seen Frankenstein, right? That's considered an across-the-board classic."
Lucy's focus is now even more divided - cold temperatures, aching feet, and the distraction of Wyatt's solid body pressed up to the side of hers are all warring for her attention - but she manages to piece together a response to Rufus nonetheless. "Umm...don't think I've watched the movie, but I have read the book."
"The book? Of course you have," Wyatt mutters good-naturedly against the top of her head.
Rufus tilts his head in sincere consideration. "Well I guess that counts for something."
"I've read The Shining too," she says with a shiver that stems from more than just a physical reaction to the icy December air. "Amy wouldn't leave me alone until I gave in and borrowed her copy of it. I slept with the lights on for weeks afterward."
She feels the pull of Wyatt's grin at her temple even though she can't see it.
"But you haven't watched the movie?" At her short shake of the head, Rufus is clucking to himself like disappointed mother hen. "Never seen The Shining. Inexcusable."
They've finally made it back to the time machine, and before Lucy can even think about hauling herself up there on her own, Wyatt has one foot braced on the outer frame and is whisking her along with him as he scales it in one fluid movement. She can't help the little gasping "whoa" that pops out of her mouth as he gingerly sets her feet down on the Lifeboat's floor.
"You okay?" he asks with an unreadable look in his eyes.
"Yeah, just..." she feels heat creeping into her cheeks but makes herself finish anyway, "uh, you made that look so easy. Thanks."
Now he's smirking at her knowingly and the flush of warmth multiplies in force. "Glad to be of service, ma'am."
"Can you two quit flirting and sit down?" Rufus calls out from where he's already beginning to flip switches at panel of the pilot seat. "The sooner we get home, the sooner I can start planning our scary movie marathon."
"Our what now?" Lucy asks with an embarrassing tremor in her voice. Wyatt guides her gently into her chair and starts in on the restraints, but for once she scarcely even notices the electric charge of his hands nudging against her. "I don't think so, Rufus."
"You're not getting out of this, Lucy. My Halloween must be salvaged, and since there are approximately zero cool costume parties scheduled for the first of November, we're resorting to plan B."
There isn't much opportunity for argument once the Lifeboat roars back to life and begins to slingshot itself through time, and then Rufus is rushing past both of his passengers as soon as they've touched down in the present. Lucy doesn't miss the fact that he's mouthing the words "double date" to Jiya before he's even cleared the opening of the time machine.
"Ignore him," Wyatt says quietly, his face still a little pinched from the usual bout of motion sickness. "Let's see what you're working with here."
He gestures down to her feet and she automatically grimaces in response. "If you think you're nauseous now, that will be nothing compared to how you'll feel if you make me take these damn shoes off right this second."
His responding smile unearths one adorable dimple. "I think you're forgetting that I've seen - and smelled - far, far worse."
Lucy tries to deflect that comment with an assertive frown, but he's already pulling her foot up into his lap and going to work on the shoelaces. Any remaining protest dies on her lips as she sucks in a harsh breath. Even though he's making an obvious effort to go easy on her, it still feels like an entire layer of skin has been left behind in the sole of the shoe that he's currently removing.
Wyatt's eyes flick up to hers and she sees her pain mirrored in his gaze. "Sorry."
He disposes of the second boot much faster than the first, and somehow that ends up hurting a whole lot less even though Lucy's not usually one to endorse the "rip off the Band-Aid" philosophy. He makes a quick examination of her blisters through the material of her stockings, then screws up his brow and lets out an over-the-top sigh. "Good news. I don't think we'll have to amputate."
She kicks his knee in reply to his teasing, but there's no power behind it. For starters, she can't kick him too hard or she'll probably make herself cry with the pain of it. Secondly, she doesn't actually mind the teasing at all...not from him, anyway. He sends her a lopsided grin before easing her foot back down to the floor. "We better get out there before Agent Christopher comes charging in after us."
Lucy takes his outstretched hand, allowing him to pull her up out of her chair, then does a better job of suppressing her amazement when he once again sweeps her right off of her feet and deposits her on the ground below without so much as a grunt of effort. She gets that he's strong. That much is obvious without looking twice, and she hasn't been able to erase the image of his well muscled torso ever since she'd stripped him out of his shirt when he'd been shot in 1865, but still...it's impressive. She's not used to being carted around like she weighs next to nothing, and while some part of her feels compelled to argue that she's not so hurt that she needs this much assistance, there's a much louder part that absolutely does not want him to stop touching her with such thoughtful care.
No such luck, though. As soon as they're both standing on solid ground, he releases her and is all business as he begins to answer Agent Christopher's rapid-fire questions. Lucy inserts her fair share of history-related commentary wherever necessary, but she's not doing a great job of concealing her shivering shoulders and chattering teeth, and soon she's being dismissed earlier than the rest of her team to go bundle up in her modern clothes.
She changes as quickly as she can with the hindrance of numb fingers, but she's still too slow to catch the end of their debrief meeting. What she catches instead is something she dreads far more than even the worst of debriefs.
Rufus and Jiya are sitting side by side at one computer, wildly scanning about a dozen different websites in a frenzy to compile a list of the most iconic scary movies of all time. Wyatt has propped himself up against the side of the table, his expression somewhere between amused and uneasy. "So when you guys talk iconic scary movies, are we talking actual horror movies, or those awful campy ones from the '70s and '80s with a bunch of horny teenagers running around like headless chickens, making terrible decisions at every turn? You know, the ones where you're almost rooting for the main characters to die because they're that stupid."
"Both are iconic in their own right," Rufus answers without looking up from the screen. "While the former provides better scares, the latter is classic too, especially if you're looking for a good makeout movie...and maybe you are, in which case - "
Lucy freezes on her way over to them, but Wyatt looks up just as she screeches to a halt, and then he's clearing his throat super loudly to cut off Rufus before he can elaborate any further.
Rufus sputters for just a split second once he raises his eyes to Lucy's, then immediately rallies as if she hasn't heard a word. "Lucy! Finally! The fourth member of our scary movie marathon party! Any requests?"
"Sure," she replies with a raised brow. "I'm partial to It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, so that's my choice."
He just snorts dismissively in response and continues adding potential choices. Jiya sends an actual smile over her shoulder at Lucy, a touch of sympathy in her gaze even if she's clearly just as into this as Rufus is. "We can watch that some other time, Lucy. I'm a Charlie Brown fan too."
"Everyone with a soul is a Charlie Brown fan," Rufus returns flatly, "but this is not the time nor the place."
He abruptly spins in his chair after another moment of clicking and scrolling, aiming a shifting grin between Wyatt and Lucy. "So Jiya's place. Tomorrow night. Or technically tonight seeing as it's already past two, so get your rest while you can, muahahaha."
Wyatt arches a lone eyebrow at Rufus. "That was the worst evil laugh I have ever heard."
"He's right," Jiya agrees with a snicker. "That was pathetic, babe."
"Aw, seriously guys?"
Lucy is still too unnerved by this entire venture to join in and poke fun at Rufus. "So um, what time did you say? Because I might have this other thing..."
Rufus squares his shoulders and takes a deep breath. "Be there at a quarter past witching hour, muahahahaha. There, how was that one?"
Jiya elbows him with a roll of her eyes. "Still lame. You can come over at seven, Lucy. Bring a snack if you want."
"Halloween-themed snacks only," Rufus cuts back in emphatically.
She thinks he's just messing with her at first, but the punchline never comes. He's entirely serious. "Uh...I'll see what I can come up with."
"I'll bring beer," Wyatt volunteers hastily, looking the slightest bit bewildered at the notion of Halloween-themed anything and clearly looking to avoid a similar fate as Lucy.
Rufus, however, is shaking his head adamantly. "Nope, not happening, scary drinks only. Witch's Brew. Voodoo Punch. Zombie Slime Shooters. You get the picture."
Lucy takes a physical step back with both hands raised. "Oh my God, I'm not coming."
Wyatt unexpectedly folds an arm around her shoulders, wrangling her back into their circle. "She'll be there."
"Awesome! See you guys tomorrow night...at a quarter past witching hour, muaha - "
Jiya smacks his stomach and Rufs ends his fake evil laugh with nothing but a pitiful ooof.
"Witching hour is no joke, you know," Lucy says with a wag of her finger. "There was a time in this country when a woman could be executed if she was caught outside during the witching hour without a good excuse. Do you know how many - "
Rufus presses his palms to his ears, shouting over top of her, "No, Lucy Preston, you are banned from ruining Halloween for me. No history lessons allowed!"
Wyatt steers her away with a chuckle, his arm still snagged around her as he leads them toward the exit. "I'll walk you to your car, Lucy. Wouldn't want anyone seeing you alone out there during witching hour and getting the wrong idea."
"Very funny," she grumbles back at him while also making no move to stop him. "You're still dressed for 1829, though," she notes tritely.
"Rufus was too excited about his movie list to let me get away any sooner than this. Volunteering to walk you out was really only a ruse to escape him."
"Oh, is that it? You're just using me then?"
There's no real accusation in her words, but something different - something intoxicating - is crackling between them anyhow. He gets the door for her and continues on into the parking lot, keeping her close to his side with only a fraction more room between them than he'd allowed two centuries ago in Baltimore. "Me? Using you? I would never..."
She grins up at him and momentarily lets herself be carried away by the idea that maybe this will be the time he puts a little action behind all of the subtext that's constantly swirling around them. It's been there for weeks, buzzing just beneath the surface of every tiny interaction that passes between them, a palpable anticipation that the persistent flirting and the subtle touching will finally spill over into something more.
"Guess I'll see you tomorrow then," he says as they reach her car all too soon.
"I wish I could say I was looking forward to it."
"Ouch," Wyatt retorts with a hand over his heart. "You could at least spare my feelings and pretend that you like hanging out with me to my face."
She doesn't even bother with the thought of trying to banter back at him. She simply makes a squeamish face and shakes her head. "I really don't like scary movies."
"Don't get too worked up about it. Just remember," he says with a squeeze to her shoulder, "they aren't real. You'll be fine, and if you aren't, I'll be there."
Her brain doggedly examines and reexamines that statement in just milliseconds - I'll be there, I'll be there, I'll be there - and there's no other way to take that, right? He's telling her he's going to protect her from whatever hellish movie Rufus puts on, and as juvenile as the whole thing sounds, it does make her feel better about it.
They lock eyes for a long moment, but just like every other time she's given into the futile game of hoping for something to happen, Wyatt pulls back a breath too soon, freeing her from his hold and inching backward over the pavement.
"So you want a ride tomorrow night?"
She purses her lips and seals off her heart as best as she can. "No thanks. I'll need my own set of wheels in case I decide to make a break for it about five minutes into the first movie."
Wyatt looks like he's going to argue with that logic, but she doesn't give him the chance. She ducks into her car before he can form a single word, calls out a hasty "goodnight" as she swings the door shut, and offers a quick wave right before jamming her keys into the ignition.
With one foot on the gas pedal and both hands on the steering wheel, Lucy's sure that distance is both the safest and the loneliest thing she can cling to, and she's clinging to it with all her might. The last thing she wants to do is just lose all control and hurl herself at him when he's least expecting it. She's got too much self-respect - and way too much fear - to let that particular impulse take flight without her permission. She wants it to be on his terms, needs it to come from him so she knows he's really all in on this whole possibilities thing that he's thrown out into the stratosphere once or twice before.
The next night Lucy finds herself staring at her reflection for far too long before she leaves her new apartment, overthinking every last aspect of her appearance while also berating herself for allowing Rufus to get to her head with his stupid claim that this will be a double date. Her hair isn't cooperating, her outfit is fairly casual, she keeps her makeup light, and none of it matters because it's not a date. It's not. It's four friends hanging out and watching movies, probably the most innocuous group activity to ever exist.
From the second she steps into Jiya's living room, she knows that they've been planning for this night to be anything but innocuous. The room is arranged differently than she's ever seen it before with only two matching love seats angled toward the TV from opposite sides of the room. No chairs, no couches, just a pair of two-seater sofas that are clearly meant for...coupling.
Lucy pins Rufus with an accusing look, but he's too busy messing around with the dimmer switch on the overhead lights to notice her objection.
"Jiya's in the kitchen," he calls out without glancing in her direction. "Ghoulish snacks and creepy cocktails are on the counter!"
Even though she's still far from enthusiastic about the evening, Lucy is pretty amazed with the spread that awaits her in the kitchen. There's chips and dip being served out of a giant jack-o-lantern, an entire skeleton made out of chicken wings and smoked sausages, strawberries dipped in white chocolate with little ghost faces painted on them, a cookie cake made to look like a huge spiderweb, a bowl of eyeballs that Lucy does not recognize as anything that could possibly be edible, and a full tray of red jello shots inside of plastic syringes.
"Lucy, hey!" Jiya is beaming at her as she stirs through some type of radioactive green liquid in a large punch bowl. "You made it!"
"Sorry that I wasn't overly creative..." she says with another wide-eyed scan of the kitchen. "I just bought caramel apples on my way here."
"No worries, I love caramel apples."
"Me too," Wyatt's deep voice suddenly echos from behind Lucy, causing her to almost jump out of her skin. "Plus I've been warned about your cooking skills, Lucy. Store bought will do just fine."
"Yeah well, you - " she spins around to address that little dig of his and unexpectedly finds him much closer to her than she'd anticipated. It's with a shaky breath that she finishes her retort, her face so near to his that she can see every gorgeous variation of blue inside of his eyes. "...you've yet to put your money where your mouth is when it comes to this supposed culinary superiority I've heard about, so until proven otherwise, I'll assume you can't cook either."
His grins down at her and cocks his head to one side. "If you wanted to have dinner at my place sometime, all you had to do was ask."
Jiya makes a muffled choking sound from behind them, and Lucy refuses to glance back and acknowledge their audience for fear that the floor will just swallow her whole on the spot.
"Tell me when and I'm there," she responds as breezily as she can muster, "but I'll be sure to have the number for Poison Control on speed dial just in case."
His eyes narrow as he stares her down, but Rufus comes bursting through into the kitchen before Wyatt can issue a comeback.
"Alright everyone, we're all cued up in the living room. Our first feature of the night is - wait for it - " he reaches over and flicks the lights on and off several times before he releases a cackle and announces - "The Shining!"
Lucy groans, Wyatt sends a supportive smile in her direction, and Jiya claps her hands together eagerly before patting Rufus on the back and telling him that his evil laugh has definitely improved in the last 24 hours.
"It shouldn't be too bad, right?" Wyatt asks as they start loading their plates with all manners of grisly snack food. "You said you've read it, so you should know what to expect."
"I've been trying to block that experience out of my memory for the last decade," Lucy mutters in return. "Plus seeing it actually play out on screen has to be so much worse than reading words on a page."
That prediction proves to be one hundred percent accurate. The first few scenes pass without incident, but as soon as the Torrance family gets settled into the isolated Overlook Hotel for their long off-season stay, Lucy is racked with a chaotic flutter of nerves. She almost flings her entire plate of food twice before Wyatt apprehends it and wedges a bowl of popcorn - Monster Munch popcorn, of course - between them instead.
"Should be safer this way," he whispers with a wink.
And naturally his oppressive proximity isn't helping matters. As she'd surmised, one love seat had been reserved for Rufus and Jiya to get all cuddled up and cozy on, which oh so conveniently left the other one for Wyatt and Lucy to share. Wyatt's broad shoulders crowd across his half of the cushions and overflow into her personal space. The enticing scent of his cologne is unavoidable. She can feel every subtle shift and flex of his body against the seat, reminding her of their brief - but ridiculously memorable - night spent in the same bed in 1934. If all of that isn't enough to have her heart racing in overtime, there's also a set of bludgeoned twin girls eerily speaking in unison on the screen every time young Danny is left to his own devices in the empty hotel.
Lucy holds her breath until those ghastly twins finally disappear and reaches for a handful of popcorn, thinking that the coast is clear for now and she can handle the concept of holding food again without throwing it. Her hunch about the movie is correct, but she isn't prepared for the brush of skin on skin as she reaches blindly into the bowl. She barely muzzles a shrill squeal, but Wyatt feels her violent flinch and most likely hears the minor echo of a squeak that breaks loose from her throat. He immediately pivots to face her, lifting his offending hand from the popcorn bowl and raising it straight into the air.
"It's just me, Lucy. We are supposed to be sharing, you know?"
"Sorry, I just..."
Wyatt leans in with a conspiring half-smile. "Just thought Rufus might have planted a severed hand in our popcorn?"
She chuckles in spite of the heightened sense of adrenaline that's still dashing through her system. "I wouldn't put it past him, that's for sure."
He laughs quietly in return and then gestures widely at the bowl that's nestled between them. "Go ahead, it's all yours."
"Thanks, but you still have to help me eat it. I'll pay more attention next time and try to keep the freak outs to a minimum."
"Okay, if you insist," he whispers back, his breath playing with the stray curl that borders her ear.
She tries to gulp down her physical reaction to his nearness, and when that doesn't work, she gulps down more popcorn instead. Unfortunately for her, the humiliating hand incident is far from over. It's probably the lamest cliche of all time, but they can't escape it - their fingers meet several times in the midst of popped kernels, candy corn, M&M's, and whatever else Rufus has concocted in his recipe for Monster Munch. As promised, Lucy really does refrain from panicking outwardly, but she's experiencing a different type of panic internally. She abruptly stops eating after it happens a fourth time, because dammit she is not going to accidentally hold his hand under these absurd circumstances.
Either Wyatt has his fill of popcorn or he's taken her hint, because he also calls it quits after another minute and moves the bowl to the floor on the other side of him, which means there's officially no barrier between them now. For anyone else, that might mean things were finally taking a turn for the romantic, but with the events on screen beginning to truly spiral out of control, Lucy can no longer be bothered to worry about what might or might not be happening between her and Wyatt. She's too busy clamping her hands over her eyes and trying not to scream out loud now that the axes are flying and the body count is on its way up.
Poor Wyatt takes the brunt of her anxiety, although he mostly suffers in silence with the exception of the occasional muted chuckle at her expense. She jumps and shudders violently every time there's a horrifying combination of a sudden scare and a jarring crescendo of haunting music, her knees and elbows jerking in every which direction, and she feels like she's apologizing to him every other second for how often she's haphazardly jabbing a limb into his side.
And then finally, just when it feels like this torture will never end, the snowy maze scene begins and Lucy is breathing a little easier because she's confident that the end is now in sight. She tilts her head to the side to ask if there's any Monster Munch left, but before she can get the question out, there's a flash of movement against her cheek that leaves her absolutely reeling.
"Uh, sorry," Wyatt whispers with a catch in his voice, "I...I was leaning over to say something and - uh, you leaned in too at the same time, so..."
She meets his eyes slowly, unsure of how to read his enigmatic expression as the colors of the movie flicker over his face. "Sure...no problem."
It's as if they've both been spooked into silence after that. Neither one of them makes any mention of what they had been planning to say before the collision of his lips on her face. At the first note of end credits rolling down the screen, Lucy makes a hasty escape to the bathroom before anyone can suggest a second movie. It's been bad enough trying to make it through one of those awful things, but the thought of surviving another is putting her over the edge, and it's just as much about Wyatt as it is about the notion of ghosts and bloodshed on the television. The suffocating seating arrangements, his hand constantly finding hers in that damn bowl, and now an accidental kiss to the cheek - it's too much for her to handle. She feels like a fool for being so dramatic, but enough is enough. She's well beyond her threshold for one night's worth of embarrassment. With a splash of cool water on her face and one last check in the mirror to be sure that her teeth aren't stained green from Jiya's Poisoned Apple Punch, Lucy sets out to make a graceful exit from the festivities and go home to decompress on her own. At this point nothing could sound better than a quiet bubble bath and a bottle of plain old Moscato, poisoned apples not included.
But she should have known better than to assume that any exit she makes could ever be graceful. She barrels straight into Wyatt as soon as she's emerging into the hallway, her body bouncing off of his with an audible smack before she finds herself flat on her ass in the bathroom doorway.
"Oh God," Wyatt groans from above her, already reaching down to haul her back to her feet before she can even process what's just happened. "I'm so sorry, Lucy, I didn't think you'd come out so - hey, are you okay?"
He's peering at her like she's made of fragile porcelain, both of his hands still locked around her upper arms as he awaits an answer. She glances down over herself, and once she's sure that she's more or less in tact, she returns his intent gaze. "Yeah, I'm fine."
There's an awkward pause between them, and then she forces herself to step aside until his hands fall away from her.
"Bathroom's free if you needed it."
"I didn't come back here for the bathroom," he says with a wan smile. "I came to talk to you."
"Me? Oh." She tries to clear away the lump of hope from her throat before speaking again. "I...I might be taking off in a little bit."
The disappointment on his face is blatant. "Really? Well yeah, I guess that shouldn't be too surprising. You didn't really seem to be enjoying yourself out there."
She gives an incredulous little snort. "Yeah, what gave you that idea?"
His grin doesn't quite reach his eyes. "It's not just the scary stuff, Lucy. You don't seem like yourself tonight...you're not relaxed at all or - "
"Okay, I have to interrupt you there," she says with a self-deprecating laugh. "When am I ever relaxed? That's really not a part of my genetic makeup."
He shakes his head with a rascally look. "I'm not buying it. You know how to loosen up, and don't even bother with arguing because I've seen it firsthand. You do wonders for the reputation of historians everywhere."
She glances down at the floor with a reticent smile. "Thanks, I think."
His hand closes over hers, drawing her attention back to him in an instant. "What I'm trying to say here is that I'm sorry tonight has been so...I don't know, lame. It's my fault. If we're gonna do this, go on dates or - "
"Wait, so this was a date?" she blurts out to her own shame.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about," he says with a deflated sigh. "You should never have to ask that question, not of me, not of anyone. I didn't mean for this to turn into a stupid guessing game. You're worth so much more than that."
Lucy readjusts her hand until her fingers are sliding into the spaces between his. "It's okay, Wyatt. I wasn't mad at you or anything. I just felt a little...lost."
"I wouldn't have blamed you if you were mad. That's what I deserve for letting Rufus and Jiya act as my unofficial wingmen."
"They mean well," she answers with an uncertain chuckle.
"They do," he agrees with a smirk of his own, but then his expression sobers. "I really am sorry, Lucy. It's just...being there for you in the day-to-day things is so easy, but I'm horribly out of practice on the finer points of starting an actual relationship. The concept of dating...honestly, it makes me feel like I'm 14 and clueless all over again."
She laughs at that, but it's with a glimmer of sympathy for the much younger teenage boy that she can suddenly see reflected in his face. "Don't be too hard on yourself. In my experience, the early stages of dating are hell at any age."
"Well if that's the case," Wyatt says as he inches closer, "maybe we should get past that stage sooner rather than later and spare ourselves the trouble."
She's barely capable of speaking now, but she gives it her best shot as he continues to move forward. "Sounds reasonable to me."
He doesn't hesitate once he has her stamp of approval. His lips are like a whisper against hers at first, a hint of apples on his breath and a mutual longing filling the air for one prolonged second, and then he's capturing her mouth with a whirlwind of assurance. She tunnels her fingers into the closely-cropped hair at the base of his neck and pours herself into the kiss, releasing a torrent of pent-up emotion from too many nights of imagining this exact moment coming to fruition. It's finally here now, and if it weren't for the sweet pressure of his lips acting as a tangible seal between them, she could easily be convinced that this was nothing but another irrational daydream.
A low whistle sounds from the other end of the hallway, and Lucy knows what's coming before she even manages to peel herself off of Wyatt for long enough to sneak a glimpse in their direction.
"Gotta love Halloween," Jiya sighs wistfully, "it really brings people together."
Rufus slings an arm over her shoulders and nods his agreement. "And here I thought we'd have to start Friday The 13th to witness that kind of action. They're really ahead of the game."
"Show's over folks," Wyatt says with a sly grin. "Move along, now. Nothing to see here."
Lucy waits until Jiya has bid them a salute and shooed Rufus away with her, then rises on her tiptoes to press a baiting kiss to the corner of Wyatt's mouth. "Walk me to my car? It's getting close to witching hour and I don't want to be alone out there."
His eyes remain closed even as she's backing away, and his expression is filled with nothing but bliss. "Count me in. Especially if there's any chance that I get to climb into that car with you and go wherever it is that you're going."
"I'm not much of a fortune teller, but I'd say the odds are definitely in your favor tonight."
"Can't help but agree with that," he answers smugly before reeling her back in for another fiery kiss.
And while everyone knows that it's been bound to happen eventually one way or another, Rufus and Jiya take every opportunity in the weeks that follow to remind the newly proclaimed lovebirds that their belated All Hallow's Eve celebration is the event that finally brought them together. Lucy still hates scary movies, but for the first time in more than a decade, she's all smiles any time she thinks of The Shining.