So I'm a little late with this but I'm sure you'll forgive the lateness. This just pretty much came out of nowhere while I was watching Frankenstein this evening while everyone else was out trick or treating. And I love peanut-butter cups the best...

I hope you enjoy and I hope everyone had, or is having, a lovely Halloween.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this...but I did base the dog off of my sisters Dog Sadie.

Charlie had her door unlocked and her light on and a bowl of peanut-butter cups sitting on the small table beside the door.

Halloween was one of her favorite nights of the year. When she was little she loved dressing up as all the different monsters and getting as much candy as she could lug around in her pillow case. Now she's grown and for the first time has her own place on Halloween. No parents, no collage roommate, just her and her dog; a light brown pittbull named Sadie who thinks she's a big baby.

Charlie chuckled when she looked at Sadie sitting on the floor at her feet. She had a purple and black cape tied around her neck and it was draped over her like a small blanket.

The weather was cold but the skies were clear so Charlie expected to have plenty of trick or treaters come by. She decided not to dress up herself this year, since she wasn't going out; she was just getting over a cold and hadn't felt up to a night out just yet even though Miles had invited her to the party he was throwing; so she was in her pajamas with her hair pulled up in a messy bun.

While she waited for the children to start ringing her doorbell, Charlie turned on her favorite movie to watch at Halloween; Frankenstein; and settled in to enjoy her night.

…

The monster had just come to life when her bell rang. Charlie paused the movie and walked to the front door and picked up the bowl of candy, smiling as she opened the door.

Her smile faltered slightly when she saw that instead of a child on her doorstep, it was none other than Bass Monroe, her Uncles lifelong best friend and one of her own very good friends.

"Hey." she said as she put the bowl back down on the table. "What are you doing here?"

Bass raised a brow and smirked. "Nice to see you too."

Charlie rolled her eyes and chuckled as she took a step back, inviting him inside. "Shut-up." she laughed. "I just meant I didn't know you were coming by."

Bass shrugged a shoulder as he stepped through the door. "I just wanted to come over and make sure you were alright. Miles said you had been sick the last few days." he added at her questioning look.

"Oh, yeah I'm good, just staying in tonight to pass out candy." she said, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, suddenly well aware of her state of dress.

Bass may have been a life long friend of the family, and he may be old enough to be her...well he's older, but that didn't stop the heat that rushed through her body whenever he was near, or the fantasies she let herself imagine when she was alone at night.

Bass nodded and glanced towards the tv where her movie was still paused. "Good choice." he said and she smiled. He had been the one to introduce her to the classic when she was a kid, he had even given her a copy of the book for her birthday one year that she still had and read every now and then.

"You can stay and watch it if you want?" she said. "I mean, unless you have other plans or something." she added, not wanting him to feel like he had to stay.

"Actually," he said. "My plans fell through, I was just going to tag along with Miles, but I think your offer sounds like more fun." he said with a smile as he knelt down to pet Sadie.

Those dimples are going to be the death of her.

…

Bass sat on one end of the small couch and Charlie sat at the other and Sadie had left them to go and curl up on her bed in the corner of the room. He loved this movie, watched it every year, but tonight he barely acknowledged it was on. He was too busy trying to not look at Charlie.

It happened gradually. First she was Miles kid niece, a cute kid that always wanted him to play dress up with her and read her stories when he came for a visit. Then she was a bratty teenager, always calling him or Miles to take her side in an argument against her mother; and he usually did even though he always said he wasn't getting involved. Then one day, without him noticing, she was a grown women. A beautifully grown woman that was charming and intelligent and he found himself seeking out her company more and more instead of the other way around.

He had lied, kind of, when he said his plans had fallen though. He had planned from the start to go to Miles party, but he hadn't planned on bringing anyone with him. He knew Charlie was going to go as well and he wanted to hang out with her. But when Miles told him she was staying home because she hadn't been feeling well, he told Miles his (imaginary) date had canceled, but he might still come by later. He hadn't said anything to Miles about coming to see Charlie.

Bass knew he had it bad when hanging out on her couch watching old movies was preferable to spending the night hanging out at the bar with Miles and fifty of their closest friends. But he wasn't delusional about it.

He knew that this was all one sided and to her he was just the same old Bass that had been hanging around her whole life. He didn't expect for it to ever be anything more.

But that didn't matter to him. He just like spending time with her.

…

"Ok, time for a scary one." Bass said when the movie ended.

Charlie shook her head. "huh-uh, I hate scary movies."

Bass furrowed his brow and shook his head. "You love Halloween, but hate scary movies?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, you don't need scary movies to love a holiday that's all about getting free candy in a pretty costume."

Bass laughed and shook his head. "I'll buy you a big bag of candy if you let me pick the next movie."

Charlie frowned but agreed anyway. "Fine, just nothing too scary please." she said, handing him the remote and going to make popcorn as he scrolled through netflix.

…

Charlie jumped and buried her face in her hands as she leaned against Bass' side. Somehow she had gotten from her end of the couch to his, sitting right beside him with her feet pulled up and tucked beside her.

Bass had an arm along the back of the couch and chuckled as Charlie jumped once again.

"Come on Charlie, it's not that bad." he said as he brought his arm down to pock her side, making her flinch.

Charlie raised her head, but stayed pressed to his side. "They just found a bunch of dead people in the walls, that's not exactly good." she said with a glare in his direction.

Bass chuckled again. "OK so it's not exactly good," He said, echoing her words. "But you've barely even watched any, you've had your face hidden the whole time." he said. "You're practically sitting in my lap."

The laugh died on his lips when he realized just how true his words are. Charlie glanced down to their laps and realized that he was right. She started to move back, an apology on the tip of her tongue, when she glanced back up at him and saw a look in his eye that she hadn't seen from him before.

Her breath hitched in her throat and her eyes landed on his lips. Bass let his own gaze settle on her mouth and saw when her lips parted slightly and she sucked in a shaking breath.

He reached out a hand and brushed a few strands of hair back from her face.

"Charlie."

His voice was low and gravely and caused Charlies pulse to jump.

Without thinking about the consequences of her actions, Charlie did something she had dreamed about doing for years. She leaned up and pressed her lips to his.

Whatever she might have thought would happen, was nothing compared to the groan she heard from the back of his throat as he brought his hands up, circling his arms around her and pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss; his tongue begging for entrance that she gladly gave.

When the need to breathe became too great, Charlie broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against his. Bass' eyes were still closed and he slowly ran his hands up her back.

Charlie pulled in a deep breath and leaned back, causing Bass to open his eyes.

"So." she said.

Bass nodded. "Yeah."

Charlie scooted away slightly. "So that just happened. Right?" she asked. "That wasn't just my imagination getting carried away again?"

Bass shook his head and started to chuckle but stopped when her words registered. "Again?"

Charlie looked up at him. "What?"

"You said, that wasn't your imagination getting carried away, again. You've thought about this before?" Bass asked.

"Well, I mean..." Charlie stammered.

Bass shook his head. "I thought I was the only one."

Charlie's eyes widened. "What?" she asked again, because clearly that kiss had made her stupid.

Bass smiled softly and reached his hand out once again to brush the loose strands of hair back behind her ear. "I've thought about kissing you like that, for a lot longer than I care to admit." he shook his head. "I never thought you that you would have thought about it too."

Charlie closed her eyes and shook her head, a look of disbelief on her face. "I've been thinking about that kiss for most of my life." she said, opening her eyes to look at him.

Bass was surprised. Sure it was natural that she might have had a crush on him when she was younger, but he never imagined that it ever turned into anything more.

He cleared his throat and tried to look serious. "So how did it hold up?"

Charlie raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

Bass shrugged. "Well apparently there was a lot of pressure on me that I didn't even know about, I mean, that kiss was a lifetime in the making." he said. "So?"

Charlie smiled, trying to hold back the giggle that threatened to spill out. "It was pretty good." she said. "Almost as good as I imagined." she said with a smirk.

"Almost?"

She nodded. "Yeah almost." she said. "You can't always get everything perfect on the first try."

Bass nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "That does make sense." he said and raised his brows. "Maybe we should try it again?"

Charlie scooted closer again and nodded. Bass smiled softly once again as he cupped her face in his hands and leaned forward to catch her lips with his.

After a moment he pulled back and looked at her, one brow raised in question. Charlie let out a soft sigh, her eyes still closed as she smiled. "Perfect." she said quietly.

…

They spent the rest of the night on her couch, not watching the movies that played, and the bowl of candy sat forgotten on the small table, the light long since turned off to ward off any small visitors.

And the next day, when Miles asked Bass how his Halloween was, he didn't question it when Bass said it had turned out to be a great night.

And when Bass turned up a few days after Halloween with a nasty head cold, Miles only reaction was to toss him a box of Kleenex and mutter a quick "Bless you" when he sneezed.

The movie Bass picked, in case you don't know from that very small insight, was A Haunting In Connecticut. I love that movie.

Anywho...thanks for reading.

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