Halloween 2012
[Sam]
After the last text she sent to Spencer, Sam went to her bedroom to change into her bum-around-the-house clothes. She shimmied out of her dark jeans, but she kept her black camisole on. She pulled on her favorite thick Navy sweatpants, which glittered with traces of white cat hair from after the morning laundry session. She headed to her closet, pulled out her black Charmed pullover hoodie, and tugged it over her head.
"Nature's glitter," she muttered to herself, picking away the more noticeable strands of Lily's fur off herself.
"Meeeeeoooow…"
"Speaking of the furry devil," she rolled her eyes as Lily brushed her small body against the door frame. The cat's tail was curled like a question-mark as she strolled into the bedroom and hopped up onto the quilted comforter. A smile stretched along Sam's lips, "Hi, baby girl. How's my pretty kitten-pie?"
Lily murred, reaching up on her hind legs to put her paws on Sam's chest. The brunette happily buried her nose between the cat's ears, ruffling the fur on her sides fondly.
"D'aw," Sam nuzzled her companion, "I love you, too, Lil'."
Lily purred from the affection.
"Wanna' go make some popcorn and watch some Disney before Spencer gets here?"
Lily made a noise that sounded like a cross between a purr and feline "yeah" before she crawled onto Sam's torso. Sam adjusted her beloved feline on her hip, just like a mother with a toddler. She walked out of the bedroom as Lily rubbed her cheeks against her shoulder.
Sam went into the kitchen, opening the pantry. Her eyes scanned over the cans and boxes organized on the five shelves until she found the blue box full of buttery popcorn packages. She pulled a plastic-wrapped pack from the open box and went to the microwave.
She juggled between opening the package and adjusting Lily as the cat tried to sniff the buttery aroma of un-popped popcorn. Once she had successfully freed the folded popcorn bag from the wrapper and avoided Lily from chewing on the plastic, she stuck it in the microwave and set it for a few minutes.
Shortly after Sam had returned to the pantry to grab herself a soda, she heard popping from the microwave and a knock at the door. Lily growled.
"Oh, don't you start," she told Lily before settling the feline on the floor. She looked at the clock to find it was only fifteen minutes after six. It's too early for Spencer to be here yet. "It's probably just some kids."
Lily ran off into the bedroom as Sam headed for the door, grabbing the bowl heaping of mixed candy off the coffee table and leaving the red can in its place. She opened the door to be greeted by a chorus of "Happy Halloween!" from children in multiple costumes: a zombie, Iron Man, Batman, and a little girl dressed as Merida from Brave.
"Oh, look at those great costumes!" she squealed in delight, earning smiles from the two mothers and father leaning against the wall behind the children. She winked at the two super heroes and the Disney princess, "I hope you three will protect me from the scary zombie!"
The children laughed as she put a handful of candy in each of their bags, which brought big smiles to their faces. "Thank you!"
"Good night, kids!" she waved to them as the children followed their parents down the hall to the next apartment.
She put the bowl on the end table next to the door and headed to the living room. She picked up the remote and flipped through her recorded shows until she found Scary Godmother Halloween Spooktacular. She clicked it and went to the kitchen to check on the popcorn.
The inflated bag inside popped a couple more times then went silent. Sam turned the microwave off before the popcorn started to burn, and she pulled the bag out. The smell of buttery popcorn filled her nostrils, causing her mouth to start watering.
"Mmm…" she groaned happily. "Smells so good!"
She quickly grabbed a small black bowl with Halloween figures on it—witches, ghosts, pumpkins—and filled it with popcorn. The room was consumed by the smell.
She went back to the living room, placed the bowl on the coffee table, and settled herself on the couch, cracking open her soda. She took a sip, looking up at the screen to find the little girl known as Hannah running around and screaming because Bug-a-boo was chasing her.
Knock, knock.
"More treaters," she muttered to herself, heaving herself up off the couch. She glanced at the clock as it neared six-thirty, "Spencer should be showing up soon, too."
She went to the door and opened it…
Only to be immediately shoved back by a large hand.
"What the fuck?!" she shouted, looking up at the man in ripped jeans and a plaid shirt. His face was covered by a withered grey werewolf mask. Her sensitive nose scrunched at the thick smell of liquor.
He kicked her door shut behind him as he stepped into her apartment.
"Who the fuck are you?" She wasn't asking. She was demanding.
He started to walk towards her, and she started to walk backwards towards the hallway to keep distance between them. She knew he was pushing her further away from an exit, but he didn't know what she had hidden.
Once she was close enough, she ripped open the hallway closet door and grabbed the metal baseball bat from within. She swung it at him, causing the intruder to jump back.
"Get the fuck outta' my house!" she yelled at him, swinging her bat at him as he continued to back away from her. "Get out!"
The werewolf man caught her bat mid-swing and yanked it from her hands. She felt her heartbeat pound in her ears as the bat was tossed aside, rolling along the carpet until it met the back of the couch. His hand reached forward to grab her.
She dove around him, but she was instantly yanked backwards by her hood. Pain bloomed through her back as she was thrown against the floor. The werewolf loomed over her, dropping to his knees and pinning her between thighs.
She thrashed her legs, to no effect, and swung her fists at him, only to be pinned above her head with one of his much larger hands. She continued squirming beneath him. She screeched at the top of her lungs until his other rough hand curled around her throat and slammed the back of her head against the carpet. The tip of the wolf's nose brushed against her cheek.
"He's coming for you," the drunkard's deep voice rasped in a sing-song tone. Her head hurt, and her vision was dazing. His breath reeked of alcohol through the thin black fabric that covered the back of the wolf's mouth. "He's coming to get you, Sammy-girl."
Her body pulsated with fear.
[Spencer]
Spencer was walking towards his apartment, shaking off the autumnal city chill from his bones. He figured he'd change into more comfortable clothing before heading over to his neighbor's apartment, at least dropping off his satchel. He was just about to out his key in the lock when…
"I said, get the fuck out!"
Crash!
"You fucking bitch!" a man's voice roared, outraged.
Spencer whipped around to hear more crashing coming from the apartment across the hallway.
Sam's apartment.
He dropped the satchel on his shoulder and bolted over, yanking the pistol out of the holster on his hip. The door was unlocked as he pushed the door open to find the brunette being slammed up against the wall near her kitchen entryway by a man in a werewolf costume.
"Freeze!" Spencer yelled. The werewolf whirled around, dropping the brunette in surprise, to be met with a loaded gun in his latex-covered face. She slumped to the floor, dazed; he could see a bruise forming on her left cheek. Spencer was furious, "On your knees and hands in the air!"
He kept his weapon trained on the werewolf as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He dialed 9-1-1 and gave the operator the address.
Ͽ . . . Ͼ
After the police had taken away the drunk werewolf man and had taken Sam's detailed statement as she was being taken care of by the EMTs, they allowed her to stay home and told her to come into the station the following morning. Spencer had gone to the kitchen to get his friend a glass of water, his jaw tightened from the incident that had occurred. He heard her shut the door after saying "good night" to the police officers.
"That was a nightmare," she sighed exasperatedly, gently prodding on at the bump on her head, as she leaned back into her couch cushions. "Thankfully, the apartment is carpeted."
Spencer handed off the glass to her, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a semi-truck," she joked, offering him a weak smile. Lily the cat let out a murr for them to acknowledge her presence as she jumped up onto the brunette's lap. Sam buried her face into the cat's fur. Her eyes were dimming. "Must've been a full moon tonight."
"Did you know him?" he asked, seating himself beside her. He rested his elbows on his thighs, wringing his hands in front of him.
She shook her head slowly, "No."
"Did he…" Spencer hesitated. "Did he—"
"No," she cut him off quickly, reaching behind her to grab the afghan from the back of the couch. Spencer carefully helped her wrap it around herself. "He just rattled me up, that's all."
Spencer swallowed thickly. He wasn't good at comforting people – he usually left that to JJ or Morgan. His friend had such a distant look on her face, like she was losing herself.
"Hey… Spencer?" she asked softly, barely turning her head to look at him. "Can… can you stay here tonight?"
His chest tightened painfully at how small she sounded, like a little girl, "Of course."
"I should be fine for a little bit," she told him, pulling the afghan tighter around her body, "if you wanted to go change." She offered him a twitch of a smile, "I promise not to open the door until you come back."
She uses humor as a coping mechanism, he analyzed. He nodded, "Okay. I'll be right back. I shouldn't be any longer than five minutes."
She followed him out, and he heard her lock the door behind him. Instead of going straight to his apartment, he waited for a minute. He heard the soft thud on the other side of the door and her muffled sobs. His heart ached for her, but there was nothing he could do.
He quietly walked across the silent hallway and picked his forgotten satchel off the floor. He dusted it off as turned the key left in the lock to his apartment. He changed out of his clothes into one of his striped pajama-sets and pulled his maroon robe around him. He turned the safety on his pistol and buried it into the deep pocket of his robe.
She might not have known him, Spencer warned himself. But he knew her. There's no other reason to specifically attack her apartment.
He slipped on his shoes, locked up his apartment, and went back across the hall. He knocked gently.
When she opened the door, Spencer felt his chest tighten even more. Her face was flushed from the earlier tears, but he could tell she tried to wash any trace of it away. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she was sniffling.
But she still smiled, "Took you long enough."
In his absence, she had gathered a sheet, a couple blankets, and a pillow for him. She had it set aside for him. She had gotten him a glass of water, sitting on a coaster, near her own.
"Um," she said quietly but loud enough to catch his attention. He looked at her to find her shifting uncomfortably. "Is… Is it okay if we still watch at least one movie? I don't think I can sleep yet." Her gaze was focused on the ground, her toes wiggling slightly against the carpet.
He smiled softly at her, "Sure. Pick your favorite."
She had the faintest ghost of a smile touch her lips before she nodded and turned to look at her movie collection on the bottom two shelves of one of the bookcases. Spencer shed his robe and folded it neatly before he placed it on the pile of blankets she set out for him. He sat himself on the couch, taking a sip from his glass, as he watched her pull a DVD case out and popping it open. She went to the Blu-ray player on the shelf above the fireplace and set it up.
She adjusted the television settings then came over to the couch and sat beside him. She pressed a few buttons on another remote before the title screen appeared. He was able to read the title Halloweentown before she clicked the play button.
They sat in general silence as they watched the beginning of the movie. From time to time, Sam would reach forward to grab some popcorn or her water. Spencer nursed his own glass mostly, but he would still pop a piece of the cold popcorn in his mouth on occasion. He propped his elbow against the right armrest of the couch, resting his cheek against his palm.
It was mid-way into the movie, where Marnie and her siblings were gathering ingredients for their magical potion, and he felt his eyes starting to grow heavy from the long day when Spencer felt some weight lean against his left side. He looked from the corner of his eye to find his brunette friend fast asleep against him, snoring softly under her breath.
He was afraid if he moved her, she would wake up. He gently slipped his arm out from under her, pausing when she would shift from his movement, pulled the blanket over her. Her head rested comfortably against his shoulder and her legs partially stretched out across the rest of the couch.
Spencer rested his arm against the back of the couch and returned his gaze to the movie. He could feel her warmth radiate against him, and the smell of her shampoo under his nose. Lily come along, claiming a spot in a space between the back of the couch and Sam's curled legs.
Spencer fell asleep before the end of the movie.
(A/N):I'd like to thank Rookblonkorules for their positive feedback on the story so far; also, I really love the confusion you have towards really liking my story xD It cracks me up, and it's super refreshing. It actually got me back into writing the story again (absence do to medical issues, sorry).
Also, some of you have informed me about some details about Spencer. Please remember that this is only in season 8 so far. Any later season details are irrelevant at this point in the story, sorry. I have it marked as [S8] in the summary to inform you guys that it was season eight, plus I have added specific details to specific cases only in season 8.
Thank you all for sticking with me so far. I know the story is still short, but I appreciate you all.