Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, nor is the original idea for this story. That belongs to the Bob's Burgers episode of the same title. Happy Halloween!
Housetrap
A large orange leaf fell from a tall tree on Park Avenue and the wind quickly picked it up, buffering it along past the brick facades and swirling it around iron lampposts. The leaf hung in the air, momentarily bolstered by another gust that sent it sailing past a small child in a costume chasing after her mother. The child paused, delighted by the leaf, and jumped in the air to grasp it, completely unaware that her tiny legs wouldn't push her twenty feet in the air.
A blonde woman exited the lobby of her building and spared a small smile for the tiny witch. The smile disappeared, though, when the child froze at the sight of a stranger and hurried to her mother's side. CC rolled her eyes and continued walking to her car. She didn't notice the leaf spin and ultimately land in her car, trapped by the slamming door.
The leaf persevered, though, and escaped after CC slid into an open parking space and pushed open her door. A chill October breeze skittered the leaf along, hopping on the road and dancing around the blonde's feet. Her footsteps slowed as she approached her destination and saw a dark blonde woman step out of a car and hurry up the concrete steps. This other woman handed a styrofoam cup of coffee to the grateful man in the doorway and then pressed a kiss to his lips.
This happy, hopeful leaf that managed to survive a forty-foot fall and a twenty-block drive perished in a crackle that went unheard by the blonde woman, who was too busy grinding her jaw to pay much attention to what she stepped on.
Meanwhile, the receiver of the coffee lingered in the doorway and whether this was to stare wistfully at his new girlfriend as she drove off or to rub it in the face of his old nemesis, no one could quite tell. CC never hid her irritation well, though, and despite her efforts to look unaffected, Niles still smirked irritatingly as she walked up the steps leading to the manse.
"Good morning, Miss Babcock," Niles said in an exaggerated, lovelorn sigh.
CC spared a withering glance to him as she stepped over the threshold and into the vestibule where the vestiges of the leaf sat on the welcome mat, waiting to be vacuumed up later.
"Good morning, everyone!" Fran announced with a flourish as she entered the office. Maxwell looked up, eager for the distraction from the work he pretended to be doing. Niles smiled happily at his friend and CC rolled her eyes, realizing that she would once again be saddled with all of the work for that day.
"Ah, good morning, Miss Fine," Maxwell said appreciatively.
"Did you decide what we're doing for Halloween tomorrow?" Fran asked, hopping up onto the desk and crossing her legs. CC stood and walked over to Maxwell, proffering the contract she'd been looking over.
"Well, I thought we'd take the children trick-or-treating," Max responded, removing his glasses and leaning back in his chair. CC wagged the contract, waiting for him to take it.
"Well…" Fran began, dragging out the word into several extra syllables. "We could but Maggie is almost 17, Brighton's too old and he's banned from several streets anyway, and Gracie said all of the people in masks give her anxiety."
"Here, Maxwell," CC said, holding the contract out further. Niles abandoned all pretense of dusting the furniture and stopped to see how long Max would ignore his business partner.
"Well, that's rather disappointing," Maxwell said, glancing out the double doors to the terrace. CC sighed loudly and tapped the contract against his desk. Niles grinned in the corner.
"Well…" Fran repeated. "What if we went to a Halloween party?" CC cleared her throat, which Fran must have taken for agreement because the nanny glanced over her shoulder and smiled brightly at CC before turning back to Maxwell.
"A Halloween party?" Max repeated. "Who's hosting one?"
"Niles said Helen is…" Fran said carefully, as though suddenly aware of her audience. Niles and CC's heads both snapped to her.
"Really, old man?" Max asked, smiling widely at Niles.
"Yes, she is. She said that...everyone could come," Niles responded, looking over at CC for a split second. She'd since returned her gaze to Maxwell and the contract she held out for him and didn't look over at Niles. He didn't expect her to.
"Fantastic! What an opportunity to get to know her better," Maxwell said, clapping his hands together.
"Great! We'll all go! You," Fran said, gesturing to Max, "me, Maggie, Brighton, Gracie, Niles, and Miss Babcock!"
"Maxwell!" CC exclaimed, the volume of her voice much more amplified than she intended. Her boss looked at her inquiringly and, indeed, as though he just noticed she was there. "Here's the contract."
He took it from her and set it aside indifferently. "Well, CC? Will you attend?"
"Oh, I doubt it, sir. Halloween is a big night for her," Niles said, a smile in his voice, and CC knew it was because her business partner had just disregarded the work she'd been attempting to show him and had ignored her in favor of his nanny, and she knew he was laughing at the idea of her being a part of this group that welcomed others so easily but never quite did the same for her and this butler, this insubordinate servant, was probably so proud that he was in a relationship and she wasn't.
She felt her anger build, stoked by the image of that dirty blonde kissing him in the morning, and she turned to Maxwell with a bright, if fake, smile. "I'd love to, Maxwell."
Maxwell turned the car into the drive and CC tugged at her hem, regretting the costume that Fran had insisted she wear. The turn jostled the passengers in the backseat and CC pushed into Brighton with her elbow, ignoring his squeal of pain.
"Ow, Brighton!" Maggie cried, pushing her brother off of her.
"It was Miss Babcock!" Brighton exclaimed.
"It was not!" CC protested, pushing Brighton away from her again.
"Hey, hey!" Fran called out, consoling a nauseous Grace in the front seat. "We will turn this car around!"
"We're already there, Miss Fine," Maxwell pointed out.
CC glanced out of the window at Helen's country home, situated on the nouveau-riche New Jersey shore. It was a sizeable estate, CC granted, but bespoke the effort all new money took to appear old money. She sniffed her disapproval.
Maxwell parked next to the line of cars and the backseat passengers climbed gratefully out of the car.
"Brighton, you got your makeup on me," Maggie the ballerina complained, trying to wipe the white facepaint off of her pink costume. Brighton, the Joker a la Jack Nicholson, shrugged and adjusted his hat.
CC shivered a bit as the cold breeze cut through the fishnet stockings of her witch costume. She realized she was readily inviting the too-easy insults from the butler, but it was the only costume she had in her possession. She supposed that fact itself provided ample material for Niles.
Oh well. At least I didn't slap on a tux and call myself James Bond, CC thought, rolling her eyes as she saw Maxwell climb out of the car and straighten his jacket. She smiled as she saw Grace dressed as Sigmund Freud, replete with a tweed suit, a white goatee, and a fake cigar. Fran, as usual, provided an overwhelming feast for the visual sense, resplendent as a 70s flower child with wide sleeves, a too-short hem, and a headband nearly hidden by her bigger-than-usual hair.
Niles walked forward to greet the group. In the near-dark, he saw Fran best. "Miss Fine, you reached into your past for your costume, I see. You look wonderful."
"Don't be silly, Niles, I was born in the 80s," Fran replied easily.
CC folded her arms and spoke up. "You realize that makes you 17, right?"
"Well, let's go in, I'm chilly!" Fran announced loudly, walking off and holding Gracie's hand. The rest of the family followed her, while Niles stood, obviously waiting for CC.
"Reached into your past, too, huh?" Niles asked, his voice surprisingly kind.
CC grinned and eyed his costume. "While you just looked into your hopes and dreams for yours."
"Royalty suits me," Niles replied, puffing his chest out and tipping his crown saucily to one side.
CC smiled, glad that the darkness concealed her genuine pleasure. "You meant to say cleaning royal suits, right?"
Niles chuckled. "Something like that." They reached the front door and Niles stepped aside to let her go first, placing a chivalrous hand on her lower back. It warmed her nicely.
The warmth died quickly, despite the cozy interior of the house, when Helen walked over to them dressed as a queen. CC adjusted her hat and walked off while Helen linked arms with Niles.
She walked past several men who seemed interested in talking to the mysterious blonde witch; she, instead, paid attention to the house itself. Entering the spacious room clearly intended to be the gathering point, CC walked up to the fireplace and looked at the pictures on the mantle. Mostly uninspiring pictures of a single, childless woman, but one caught her eye: a photo of Helen on horseback, riding alongisde a man on his own horse.
"Can ya believe it?" Fran muttered in CC's ear.
"I know, I thought she was si-" CC began before realizing that Fran wasn't even looking at the pictures. "What do you mean?"
"A Halloween party and no candy," Fran said. "I tell ya, you rich people don't make any sense to me."
"Yes, well, don't put her and I in the same category," CC replied, glancing over at the spread.
"I want candy," Fran whined.
"Calm down, Nanny Fine," CC said, tapping Fran on the shoulder in what CC clearly thought was a consoling way. "Maybe we can find some here."
"Like...snooping?" Fran asked, her yenta sense tingling.
"Not snooping, Nanny Fine," CC said, adjusting her pointed witch's hat. "Just...just looking around. You don't have a party and not expect people to look around."
"I'm in," Fran said. They walked together away from the mantle, passing the long table of food on their way out. "I mean, not even a pig-in-the-blanket. What sort of party is this?"
Fran and CC exited the main room, setting off down a long hallway. As they walked further down the hall, the noise from the party disappeared.
"Ooh, kinda spooky," Fran whispered. "Let's try this room."
CC reached forward and opened the door, revealing a small, wooded office. The walls housed built-in bookshelves full of bound books. "What does she need an office for? Does she even have a job?"
"I don't know," Fran said, glancing at the books on the shelves. "I don't know a lot about her."
"How does the biggest yenta on the east coast not know everything about her best friend's girlfriend?" CC spat out the last word as though she'd eaten a sour piece of candy.
Fran looked over at CC, grimacing at a photo of Helen on the desk, and felt a sympathetic pang in her chest.
CC glanced over at Fran and squared her shoulders. "What?"
"Nothing. Let's see what we can find out," Fran suggested. Neither woman said anything about their forgotten candy quest.
"Oh, look how this drawer just slid open," CC said, looking up at Fran innocently.
"Hmm, weird how that happened," Fran replied, walking over to join CC. She reached around her and pulled the drawer open fully.
CC smiled at Fran the way only two people doing something they shouldn't be could. Then she glanced down at the contents of the drawer, noticing a photo with the same man from the horseback riding picture. "Huh."
"What?" Fran asked, already feeling let down by the nothing she found in the drawer. Rich people were so boring.
"This is the same man from a photo on the mantle," CC said.
"Maybe he's her brother," Fran suggested, pushing around the contents and still finding nothing.
"Then why would it be in a drawer?" CC replied.
Fran shrugged and moved on to the other side of the desk, pulling open another drawer without any sort of pretense. "Helen Shadle," Fran read mechanically off of a piece of paper before dropping it back in the drawer with a bored sigh.
But CC looked up, brow furrowed. "Helen what?"
"Helen Shadle," Fran replied, glancing back at the paper. "Why?"
The gears in her mind sprang to life. "Didn't Niles introduce her to us as Helen Miller?"
"Heh? When?"
"When we met her, obviously," CC answered, irritation leaking into her voice.
"When was that?" Fran asked, wrinkling her nose.
CC sighed. "When Niles made the roast with those whipped potatoes."
The nanny's face brightened in recognition. "Right! Yeah, I think you're right. I think he said Helen Miller."
A sudden mechanical sound echoed strangely around the room and both women looked up curiously. CC stepped away from the desk and over to the far wall, noticing several clocks all along the shelves.
"What does she need so many clocks for?" Fran asked, closing the desk drawer with her hip.
"A woman who decorates her house with her own face does a lot of strange things," CC reasoned with a shrug. Then she looked closer at an ornate miniature grandfather clock. "Howard Miller," she read off of the golden inscription near the bottom.
"Howard Miller? The clock company?" Fran asked, flopping down into an armchair. She suspected that CC's continued interest in Helen came from a very different, more sustaining place than her own. Fran's pique, however, had faded long ago.
"You a big clock enthusiast?" CC tossed over her shoulder.
"No, but even you'd know about it if you'd gone to temple and bragged about the new 'Harvey Miller' grandfather clock you got and that macher Vivian Goldstein ran off and told everyone about it," Fran responded, her nostrils flaring at the memory.
"Anyway," CC replied, shaking her head to rid herself of that information. "Maybe Helen married into the Miller family."
"Wouldn't we know if she was divorced?" Fran asked.
"Do you ask every woman you meet if she's divorced?"
"No, but I ask every man that," Fran replied reasonably. CC rolled her eyes.
"Howard Miller," a dreamy voice said near the doorway. Fran and CC both jumped and looked over.
"Excuse me?" CC asked with what Fran thought to be an extraordinary amount of poise, considering they were snooping through someone else's home.
"Howard loved Helen," the strange woman said. Her posture and voice led CC to conclude that she was a little more than tipsy.
"That's nice," Fran said kindly. "Could I get you some coffee?"
"But Helen didn't love Howard," she continued, her slightly dilated eyes not focusing on anything.
CC scoffed and turned away, but Fran leaned forward in her chair, looking closely at the woman. "What do you mean?"
"It rained. The railing on the widow's walk broke." She looked at Fran then, her eyes intense. "Howard died." With that, she turned and left the room.
"What the hell?" CC asked.
"Miss Babcock," Fran said, her eyes wide. "I think Helen killed her husband!"
Back in the main room, Niles glanced around, his eyes flitting from face to face.
"Looking for her, too, old man?" Maxwell asked, stopping next to his butler. Niles started.
"What? Who?"
"Miss Fine."
"Oh. Uh, yes," Niles responded.
"Nice party," Max remarked.
Niles quite disagreed but felt it poor form to say so. "I suppose," he settled on replying.
"I wonder where CC went off to," Maxwell said.
Niles rather agreed but, again, felt it poor form to say so. He settled on a shrug and a grunt.
"I saw her walk off with Fran," Maggie said, walking up to stand next to her father.
"Which way?" Niles asked. Maxwell looked askance at Niles, who immediately regretted the fervor in his voice. Maggie pointed over towards the hallway and sauntered off to find her siblings.
Niles and Max walked off together, pausing halfway down the hall at the sound of two familiar voices. Niles nudged Max, who grinned in silent understanding the way only old friends can and nodded his agreement. They snuck up to the door quietly.
"Oh, Nanny Fine, don't be ridiculous," CC said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"No, no, look!" Fran said, wielding the paper from the desk with 'Helen Shadle' on it. "This is a bank statement from two years ago."
"And?"
"And it says Helen Shadle and there's only $258 in the savings account," Fran said.
"I think the bigger mystery is why someone would keep a bank statement for two years."
"Look around! This is Helen's house? Awfully nice for someone who only had $250 to her name two years ago."
"Ok, so she was poor and now she's not. That doesn't mean she killed someone," CC reasoned.
"But Helen didn't love Howard," Fran recited in the same ethereal voice as the strange woman.
"She might be tacky and irritating and have terrible taste in butlers but that doesn't mean she's a murderer," CC replied.
"I'm getting a weird vibe, Miss Babcock," Fran said, looking around dramatically.
"That's probably the foie gras you ate earlier."
"No, that's not it," Fran said as she tried to cover up a hiccup.
CC looked at her knowingly. "All right, let's go. We're clearly not going to find out anything about this woman." CC stepped towards the door and paused when Fran spoke up again.
"What if she kills Niles?"
"Then we'll send her a nice thank you card. Maybe a gift basket."
"I'm serious!"
"What could she possibly stand to gain?" CC asked, rolling her eyes. "A week's supply of Windex?"
"She's tasted blood, Miss Babcock, she can't be stopped!" Fran exclaimed.
"Were you in the kitchen the last time Niles cleaned the oven?" the blonde asked, staring at Fran as though she were crazy. "Calm down, Nanny Fine."
"What if she invited us all here to kill us?" Fran shrieked.
"Oh, my God-"
"What if she's standing around the corner holding a knife?"
"You really need to-"
"What if she's right outside the door just waiting to-"
"Look, there's no one ther-"
"BOO!" Niles exclaimed, jumping into view. This time, it was CC who shrieked. She rounded on him, her closed fist connecting with the side of Niles' head. Maxwell shouted and jumped out of the way as Niles fell to the ground amidst Fran and CC's gasps.
"I'd first like to thank," Niles began from the couch, "Mr. Sheffield for jumping out of the way and allowing me to fall directly on my back."
"Sorry, old man, I panicked," Maxwell said.
"Secondly, Miss Babcock, for walloping me with her ham hands," Niles continued.
CC shrugged. "Anyone who opened a door and saw your ugly mug on the other side would have done the same thing."
"Thirdly, Miss Fine, for saying whatever you said to work up Miss Babcock so," Niles finished.
Fran sat on her hands and rocked back and forth, clearly near bursting point. CC flashed her a warning look and Fran nodded, silently confirming her ability to hold it together. CC nodded back, content.
"Niles, I think your girlfriend killed her husband," Fran said in one breath. CC threw up both hands and rolled her eyes.
"She's not my girlfriend," Niles protested. All three adults turned to look at him, surprise and confusion coloring their faces, before Niles realized he'd protested the wrong thing from Fran's exclamation. "I mean, she didn't kill anyone," he finished weakly.
Fran leaned forward, clearly about to tell her story, when Helen entered the room with a glass of water and a tube of pills. Fran clamped her mouth shut.
"Here you go, dear," Helen said, uncapping the bottle and shaking several pills onto Niles' upturned palm. Fran squeaked but remained silent, her eyes saying a silent goodbye to her best friend. Maxwell gave up trying to figure out the situation and stood, announcing his intention to find his children. CC stared into space, wondering what exactly Niles would call Helen if not his girlfriend.
"I'll join you," a teary-eyed Fran said to Maxwell. "Goodbye, Niles," she managed to say before running from the parlor.
"Uh, me too," CC said, not wanting to remain in the room with those two and whatever they were to each other. CC hurried to join Max and Fran, the jagged hem of her witch's costume swaying enticingly around her thighs. Niles, a little loopy from the pain and the pills and his empty stomach, watched her leave and realized too late the appreciative look he wore on his face. He smiled sheepishly at Helen.
"What happened?" she asked him, sitting down on a bare stretch of cushion.
"Babcock socked me," Niles replied. He blinked, already feeling his senses slowing.
"Why?"
"Ah, it was only a matter of time," Niles reasoned fairly. He blinked slowly and laboriously. "What pills were those?"
"But why would she hit you?"
"This time?" Niles asked, a smile lighting his face as he thought (albeit slowly) of all the other times CC would have likely hit him. He shrugged, and that movement sapped all of his remaining energy. "I think it's because Fran thinks you killed your husband."
"Well, that's silly. Why on earth would she think that?" Helen asked with a soft smile as Niles's eyes fluttered shut.
"He's dead he's dead I know he's dead oh god he's dead," Fran rattled off mechanically back in the main room. Many guests had left, put off by the screams and assault that had occurred earlier.
"He's not dead!" CC snapped, rattled.
"Now, tell me again why you think Niles's girlfriend is a murderer?" Maxwell asked Fran.
"She's not his girlfriend," CC felt the need to point out.
Fran rolled her eyes at CC's transparency. "All right, I'll explain it again." Fran took a deep breath, which she used to power her scream as the lights flickered and then went out.
"Fran? Are you here?" Gracie's voice asked from the darkness.
"SHE'S KILLED NILES AND NOW SHE'S COME BACK FOR THE REST OF US!" Fran wailed, flapping around like a beheaded chicken and succeeding in nothing else but alarming the remaining guests and slapping CC on the back.
"What? What are you talking about?" Brighton asked nervously.
"Oh, it's nothing, sweetie. We're just in the house of a deranged psycho killer, that's all," Fran said in a faux-calm voice.
"What!" Brighton yelped.
A sudden glow from the doorway illuminated Helen's figure from the hall, the candlelight radiating off of the gold in her queen's costume. Fran roared a nasal, ear-piercing yell and, for the first time, CC felt a flicker of trepidation at the admittedly creepy sight.
"What did you do to him?!" Fran shrieked.
"He's resting," Helen responded.
"Eternally?" Fran gulped.
"What?" Helen asked, confused. A moment later, the power returned and light flooded the room once more. The remaining guests sighed in relief and smiled at Helen, clearly unsurprised by the occurrence (though admittedly surprised by the brunette with a Queen's accent). "I'm sorry, the wiring in this neighborhood isn't the greatest and any weather with high wind causes a power outage."
"Let's get out of here," Fran muttered, tugging on Maxwell's arm. Unfortunately, Fran's adenoids amplified her attempt at a mutter, and Helen looked at her askance.
"Niles isn't ready to go," Helen said.
CC clenched her fists. "Can't he rest in the car?"
Helen turned to face CC slowly and despite her tendency to not take anything Fran said seriously, CC couldn't help but feel a flutter at the look in Helen's eyes. "No, I don't think so."
"Well," CC said, her confidence building as she spoke, as she could usually rely on it to, "we'll go wait with him."
"Yeah!" Fran said, her voice strong considering she was currently hiding behind Brighton.
Helen opened her mouth to protest but never got to. CC walked by her, head held high, and heard Fran's stilettos clacking wildly behind her.
"MissBabcockMissBabcockMissBabcock," Fran said breathlessly. She caught up to CC and grasped her arm. "What if he's dead?"
"He isn't dead, Nanny Fine," CC replied dismissively.
"But why is Helen being so weird?" Fran asked, taking deep breaths as they slowed down outside the room Niles rested in.
"I don't know. Maybe dating Niles makes you weird," CC guessed, pushing open the door and jumping as Fran screamed at the top of her lungs.
"What's wrong?" Maxwell asked nervously from behind them.
"Niles!" Fran cried, falling to her knees and throwing her arms wide open.
Niles lay on the couch, his hands clasped across his chest and his face slack. For a quick moment, CC's own heart stopped, but then Niles's eyes fluttered and he glanced around, clearly dazed. The rest of the Sheffields and Helen stepped into the room while Fran, without any sense of shame, wiped her tears and stood up, smiling at Niles.
CC felt hot, ugly jealousy fill her as she saw Niles's face soften. She'd never seen that look on his face before and while she knew it was the pain medication lowering his defenses, she couldn't help but feel a confusing sense of regret while he looked that way at Helen.
She looked over at Helen, though, and found the woman looking at her sadly. When CC looked back at Niles and saw the butler was staring at her, she suddenly understood why Helen had been acting so strangely earlier.
Niles shifted from his funereal pose and held out a hand, blinking slowly and smiling stupidly. Fran rushed forward and tried to grasp it but Niles pulled his hand away from his friend and gestured towards CC. CC's face grew hot as everyone in the room turned to look at her.
"Go on," Helen said, her voice kind but sad.
"I…" CC said, intensely awkward and uncertain.
Niles's addled mind seemed to notice everyone else in the room and he smiled widely. "How's the party?" he asked.
CC glanced over at Helen but found she'd slipped out of the room silently. The kids, happy Niles was fine, fidgeted restlessly; Maxwell mirrored their movements, clearly unsettled by Niles's behavior. Fran perched on the edge of the coffee table, overcome by the roller coaster of emotions that had been her night.
"Ah, come on, children," Maxwell said. "Let's...let's go find the car." He rounded them up and left the room.
"Miss Fine, you're so colorful," Niles remarked, his eyes bright.
"Thanks, sweetie. I'm glad you're feeling better," Fran said. She whispered, "Let's get out of here before anything happens to you."
"Nanny Fine!" CC exclaimed. "She's not a killer."
"You don't know that, Miss Babcock," Fran replied.
"Where's Babcock?" Niles asked when he heard her name, the warm look coming over his face again. CC's gut clenched in a confused mixture of longing and anxiety.
Fran smiled again and squeezed Niles's hand. "She's right here, sweetie. Let's get ready to go." She released his hand to hold his arm and begin moving him into a sitting position. She glanced over her shoulder. "Can you help?"
CC nearly said no but then remembered it was technically her fault that Niles was injured, so she stepped forward.
"Babs!" Niles called out when she came into focus. He closed one eye, the better to view CC's outfit. "Letting your true colors show, eh?"
She opened her mouth to snap back but saw the purple bruise forming on his cheekbone. "Yeah, I guess so."
Niles rested his head against the cushion, already forgetting the plan to stand up. "You still look cute."
CC's cheeks flushed and she refused to make eye contact with Fran, who grinned at her. "Thanks, Niles."
"Come on, lovebirds," Fran said, hoisting Niles into a sitting position again. CC used her free hand to slap Fran's arm. Both women put one of Niles's arms on their shoulders and helped him stand.
Immediately, Niles slid his arm from CC's shoulder to her waist and rested his head against her shoulder. He sighed contently.
"God, Niles," CC muttered while Fran snorted at his behavior.
"I'm not God, I'm a king," Niles corrected playfully, bringing his hand forward to bop her on the nose with his finger. They emerged into the hallway and walked, Niles and CC somewhat awkwardly given that he rested more than half his weight against her.
"Ok, Niles, I take some responsibility for your injury, but I didn't break your ankle so can you just...oof," CC said, jutting out her shoulder to force him to stand up straight.
"Some resonpsbility?" Niles slurred in disbelief.
"Fran? I can't find my coat!" Grace called out down the hallway. Fran spared one look of concern for her dazed friend before she pat his arm and hurried off.
"Niles," CC sighed. She watched him sway and hurried back over to his side, slinging her arm around his waist. Niles steadied, remarkably quickly, and they began walking again. Niles replaced his arm around her shoulders and walked easily.
"Faker," CC mumbled as they reemerged into the main hall.
"Prove it," Niles replied with a shrug. He slowed his pace and she felt the muscles in his back tense slightly as they came upon Helen. She slid her arm off and stepped away from him while Niles shifted uneasily. "Um, Helen…"
She held up a hand to stop him and smiled amicably. "Niles, I figured it out pretty quickly when you kept asking where Miss Babcock was."
"It's just the pills," CC felt the need to interject.
Helen looked at her knowingly. "No, it isn't." She gave Niles one more regretful smile and walked off to interact with her other guests.
Niles and CC stood awkwardly, too far apart to touch but too close to be considered anything other than intimate. CC watched the family preparing to leave and felt unmistakably that time was running out.
Niles cleared his throat and winced as the movement jostled his bruise. He made eye contact with CC and smiled ruefully. "It isn't," he insisted.
CC bit the corner of her lip and eyed his bruise. She ran a tentative finger over it lightly, tracing the oval shape. "Well, even if it was, I'd still punch you in the face so you'd have to take them everyday."
"Gee, thanks."
CC shrugged. "You're a lot nicer on pain pills."
"Come on, you two," Fran called out, still eyeing Helen suspiciously.
CC started walking away when she felt Niles's hand on her shoulder. Looking over her shoulder, she saw him stumble slightly.
"I'm still feeling a little woozy," he told her, stepping closer and returning his arm to her shoulder. She smiled to herself and settled against him.
As the family walked away, no one noticed Helen walking quietly behind. She watched as the Sheffields climbed into the Lincoln, followed by Niles who seemed to only reluctantly let go of CC so she could climb into the car. The family drove off as the wind whipped around.
Helen stepped further out of her house and glanced up at the widow's walk. In the high winds, the railing of the walk wavered slightly. Helen sighed. "The next one, then," she said to herself before heading back inside her house.