A/N: Writing this put me in a Halloween mood, and it's only August. Sighh
Gillian eyed her appearance critically. Perfect, she thought, her thin lips curling back from her incisors in a toothy grin. I look so badass! She was dressed as a pirate in a Prussian blue overcoat that went down to mid-thigh, a short, tattered black skirt, and a cream-colored blouse with a mound of frothy lace tumbling down the middle of her top. A giant hat crowned her silvery hair, with a single purple plume jauntily standing atop it. Tall black boots and a see-through eyepatch completed the look, along with a toy sword she had found in Antonio's room.
"Awesome," she told her reflection. As an afterthought, she smeared on some blood red lipstick. She marched downstairs and snagged the keys from the bowl on the kitchen table.
"You sure you don't want to come?" Gillian asked her little brother, who sat at the kitchen table, poring over a chemistry textbook. She glanced at the clock. It was nine thirty on a Friday night, and Ludwig was studying. How depressing.
"I have to study," he said, sighing.
"Aw, Luddy, come on! Sakura will be there! And you know who else will be there?" She grinned hugely, propping her elbows on his textbook so he had to look up, annoyed.
"Who?" Ludwig asked curtly, frowning.
"Feliciana Vargas," Gillian answered brightly, drawing a heart in the air with her fingers.
Ludwig turned bright red, but remained stubbornly oblivious. "I fail to see what that has to do with me," he returned snidely, attempting to remove his sister from his textbook, without success.
"Come on, Lud. I'm your schwester. I know these things. Now come on. You need to do something fun." She tugged on his sleeves until he stood up, sighing heavily.
"I will go, only because I know you won't leave me alone otherwise," he said grudgingly. "But I'm not wearing a costume."
"Oh, that's okay," Gillian said amiably, now that she had gotten her way. She led her much taller sibling out the front door to their sleek black car. "You can borrow something from Fran-Fran."
Ludwig looked like he was about to try to get out of the car as she rolled out of the driveway.
"Or not. Don't bail on me now, soldier," she said, grinning as she raced out of the suburbs towards Francis' house, on the outskirts of the city. "It's too late."
"I regret this decision already," Ludwig said, groaning. He finally took in his sister's attire and remarked, "That skirt is kind of short, schwester."
"Yup. Gotta show off my badass soccer legs," she returned, laughing at his mortified expression. "Don't make that face. We're going to have fun. Do you know what that is, Lud?" She reached over to ruffle his perfectly combed blond hair.
"Halt die Klappe," he returned sourly, staring out the window moodily.
Gillian laughed her typical booming laugh and turned up the radio as loudly as she could. This is going to be a good night, she thought to herself, grinning hugely.
Francis' elaborate, colonial-style house appeared in front of them at the end of the street, hidden away behind tall, wrought iron gates. Gillian drove through them after yelling at the speaker and parked in his driveway, far too close to his Aston Martin, and hopped out, grinning at the Halloween decorations. Francis had probably spent most of the afternoon stringing up the pumpkin-shaped lights that lit the sidewalk leading up to to the tall double doors. A fog machine from inside exhaled warm, milky air, leaking out from the open door into the cool night. Pulsing lights and muffled Halloween-themed music trailed outside, looking every bit the illegal teenage party. "Aw, fuck yeah," Gillian said enthusiastically. "Francis really went all out this year!"
She dashed inside, not waiting for her younger brother. She saw a bunch of class mates that she recognized, and a lot that she didn't—it must have been an open invitation, because she even saw some freshman lurking about awkwardly. She snorted. She spotted Feliciana and Sakura talking with some of the students from the swim team, and smiled. Feliciana was dressed as a chef, and she looked adorable. Sakura looked like some character from an anime, Gillian couldn't even begin to guess which one. Feliciana smiled when she saw Gillian approach.
"Hi, Gil!" She said cheerfully, her warm brown eyes shining with excitement. "It was so nice of Francis to let underclassmen come over!"
"Well, you two are alright," Gillian mused. Well, she mostly meant Feliciana. She really liked her. Sakura was kind of weird, but she was one of her brother's best friends, so she put up with her. "I managed to bring Ludwig along, too," she added, beaming. She looked over her shoulder and spotted him talking to some guys from their year, and smirked. "So you two keep an eye on him, okay?"
Both girls nodded obediently.
She then proceeded to elbow her way through the crowds to find her host, who was flirting with a cute freshman by the refreshments table set up outside the kitchen. He was dressed as a Roman, or something, because he was barefoot and draped in a toga that revealed far too much skin for her liking. "Frannie," she said gaily, not liking the way he leaned over the adorable freshman. She didn't know her name, but she looked vaguely familiar. "What happened to your clothing, Spartacus?" She tugged at the flimsy cloth in disapproval.
He turned to her with a slight frown, irritated at the intrusion. "Excuse me," he said gently to the blonde. He looked back at his friend, and raised his eyebrows slightly. "I am Apollo, thank you, and I could ask you the same thing, ma petit," he returned, flicking the plume on her hat. "Trying to catch someone's eye, are we?"
For some reason, a certain Canadian came to mind, unbidden, and Gillian felt herself blushing before she quickly looked away with a dismissive, "Ha! I don't need a reason to look smokin' hot."
Intrigued, Francis grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her away from the confused freshman girl, leading her to the living room, where groups of people hung out, playing Mario Party on his Wii or talking in small groups. "That's quite a charming blush," he teased, a wicked gleam in his blue eyes. "Who is she? What fair maiden has captured the heart of my stoic German friend?"
"Shut up, there's no one," she growled, shaking off his hand.
Francis snorted. "Right. Maybe Antonio knows—"
Fortunately, Gillian was spared any further interrogation by the appearance of Maddie and another sophomore named Carlos. He was a boy of medium height with a stocky build, short, dark brown hair, and a slightly annoyed expression on his face. He was dressed as Iron Man. Next to him…
"Madeleine!" Francis exclaimed, pulling her into one of his smothering embraces. "You came! And you look so—"
"Adorable," Gillian blurted out, before she could stop herself.
"Oh, t-thank you," Maddie managed, gently prying herself out of Francis' hug and smiling at the older girl. She really did look cute. She was dressed as a cat, but not one of the risqué kinds of cats that Gillian often saw in adult Halloween stores. She wore black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt with a cute drawing of a cat and the French word for 'meow!' printed across her chest. She had dabbed what must have been pale pink lipstick on the tip of her nose, and she wore a pair of fluffy white cat ears atop her golden brown curls. It was obviously a homemade costume, but it was perfect for Maddie, who was never one for flashy clothing or showing off. It was sweet and modest, just like her. "Oh! Um, you two look nice too! This is my friend Carlos," she added, smiling warmly at the Iron Man next to her, who continued to regard her cousin with a great deal of distrust.
"How nice that the two of you could both make it," Francis purred, his fingers digging into Gillian's shoulder blades until she swatted his hand away, pink-faced and glowering. "My cousin?" He hissed into her ear, when Maddie and Carlos excused themselves to get drinks. "You have a crush on my baby cousin—"
"It's not a crush," Gillian said defensively, folding her arms across her chest and refusing to look at him. "I just think she's cute, is all," she mumbled.
"Bullshit," her friend told her flatly. The strobe light from the next room cast weird shadows on his disapproving face. "I mean it, Gil. If you hurt her—"
"For Christ's sake, quit being so overprotective," Gillian snapped, her temper rising. She stood on tiptoe so she could really get in his face. He didn't look impressed. "My track record with girls is a helluva lot better than yours, I might point out! She's my friend, alright? And anyway," she added glumly, fiddling with the hem of her skirt, "it's not like she likes girls."
Francis hummed in disapproval still, so she added pointedly, "At least I don't go after freshman girls."
Francis' eyes widened. "Lili? I wasn't hitting on her! We were just talking—do you really think I'd be stupid enough to hit on Vash Zwingli's baby sister?!"
"Yes," she answered immediately.
The two friends scowled at each other for a moment longer before the third member of their trio showed up, looking quite merry and a little buzzed. "Hola!" He said happily, putting an arm around each of them affectionately.
"Tonio, what are you wearing?" Gillian asked, edging away from him. "And I thought Francis was bad!"
"What?" Antonio asked innocently.
Antonio was dressed as a referee in a standard black and white striped shirt with black shorts, only his shirt was unbuttoned halfway and the shorts were quite a bit shorter than standard soccer shorts. His ref's whistle bounced against his chest as he laughed. "It's great, isn't it? Mathias suggested it as a joke, but then we decided that all of the soccer team should go as sexy refs! I had to borrow these shorts from Isabella." He tugged at the tight black material that only went down to mid-thigh, grinning mischievously.
Francis whistled.
The other two looked around the room and noticed that there did seem to be a rather high number of refs walking around, and that they were all with the soccer team. It was pretty funny, actually, seeing the tall guys like Mathias and Denzel walk around in tiny shorts that made their legs look even longer.
"Well, most of us thought it was funny, anyway," Antonio continued. "Vash didn't. And Lars didn't." He glanced over at his much taller, quieter team mate, who was talking with Mathias in a corner and smoking.
"Hey, I told him not to smoke in my house," Francis said crossly. "Smoke is impossible to get out—," He marched over to them and began to complain to the two taller young men, who looked mostly unfazed.
Gillian frowned, studying the quieter one with hazel eyes. "Lars…that name sounds familiar," she remarked to Antonio as Maddie and Carlos walked back over to them.
"Lars? Lars van Buren?" Maddie asked in surprise. "He's here?" She looked around curiously and easily spotted her lanky ex. "I suppose I should say hello," she mused.
"Don't, Maddie, that guy is shady," Carlos said, frowning.
"Just to be polite," Maddie said gently but firmly. "I'll be right back."
Carlos watched her go, with an expression similar to Gillian's.
"How does she know him?" The albino asked curiously, watching her cute friend approach the taciturn senior. She scowled when he smiled a little and playfully tugged on one of her fluffy cat ears. Unconsciously, she clenched her fists.
"They dated last year for a few months," Carlos supplied. "He's kind of a loser, in my opinion."
"He's…alright," Antonio said loyally, obviously feeling the need to defend his team mate.
"Please, you used to be scared shitless of him in middle school," Gillian retorted.
Antonio frowned at her. "What's up, Gil?" He asked, nodding at Carlos and leading his friend away. "You seem kind of edgy."
"Eh, nothing," she said, slightly ashamed of her outburst. "Sorry, Toni."
"Ah, it's okay," he said with his typical sunny smile. "Lars is kinda scary. But look, Maddie's coming back. I gotta go check on someone, I'll be around."
"Uh huh," Gillian agreed, watching him walk into the next room where some other seniors were gathered. Damn. She wished she had an ass like his. Life was really unfair sometimes.
Watching Lars loom over Maddie like that was more than Gillian could bear. Carlos was saying something to her, but she wasn't listening. With a determined expression on her face, the German girl marched over there and grabbed Maddie by the arm just as she was saying good-bye.
"There you are," she said, glaring at Lars. The older boy raised his thin eyebrows and regarded her with mild interest. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"But…I was just talking to you. Right over there," Maddie said, confused, gesturing to their previous spot a few feet away.
"It was nice catching up with you," Lars said coolly, smiling at his ex girlfriend fondly. "Mathias, you ready to go?" He turned to his slightly shorter friend, who was drinking beer as quickly as he could. He leaned on the keg and looked at Lars, frowning.
"I've only had two beers," the Dane complained.
Lars shrugged and headed towards the door. "Suit yourself."
"Hey, wait! Don't leave me, man!" Mathias cried, setting his plastic cup on the table and jogging after his friend.
Maddie glanced over at the fuming pirate queen next to her, who continued to glare after Lars, an unbecoming scowl on her thin lips. "Why are you glaring at Lars like that?" She asked, folding her arms and frowning slightly at her friend.
"He was being a creep," Gillian muttered, leading Maddie outside, where a group of people had set up a game of volleyball, despite the October chill.
Maddie huffed angrily, but sat down next to Gillian on the freshly mowed lawn in the Bonnefoy's expansive backyard so they could watch the game.
"We were just catching up. He's not a bad guy, you know. I don't know why everyone thinks I can't take care of myself," she added, pouting slightly. "You're just as bad as Francis."
Gillian choked a little, recalling her earlier conversation with Francis concerning Maddie. "Aw, don't be mad at me, Biride," she said in her normal teasing voice. "I'm just looking out for you."
Maddie's mouth remained in a stubborn frown for a moment longer, but she ended up smiling. "Yeah, I know," she said quietly. "You're a good friend, Gil."
Her words sent a rush of warmth through her body, and she felt her cheeks flush for the millionth time that night. "Of course," she said gruffly.
Maddie didn't reply. She was watching the volleyball game. She watched, cringing, as Amelia served the volleyball with unnecessary force right into the face of the tallest player on the opposing team, a junior named Ivan. "And she wonders why he doesn't like her," she mumbled. He smiled brightly at her, and it sent it back twice as hard, causing her team mates to scatter like startled birds as it plummeted into the ground. Interestingly enough, they had both dressed as mad scientists, although "Dr." Braginski looked quite a bit scarier. "Sorry Gil, did you say something?" She looked up at her friend, who laughed loudly at the Russian boy's expression.
"Don't worry about it," Gillian said affectionately. "I'm gonna grab a beer. Be right back."
"Kay," Maddie said absently, wincing as she watched Arthur attempt to hit the ball over the net.
When she returned, she handed her a red cup of beer and plopped down next to her, determined to enjoy her night.
Maddie took a sip and frowned slightly. "You got me beer?"
"The most awesome of beverages, ja," Gillian answered, taking a swig. "Ha! Braginski, your aim sucks!" She yelled at her old nemesis when he hit the ball out of bounds. He frowned and looked around for the source of the remark, and smiled his creepy smile at her. "Ah, Beilschmidt, you are so short I almost did not see you there!" He called merrily.
"Hey, fuck you," Gillian returned cheerfully, flipping him the bird.
"Gil," Maddie scolded.
"Loosen up, Mads," Gillian said lazily, knocking back the rest of her beer.
Maddie sighed and sipped on her beer, and they watched the rest of the game in relative quiet.
Amelia came over afterwards, dragging Arthur with her. "Hey, you guys wanna go in the maze Francis set up?" She asked excitedly, her blue eyes shining behind her doctor's glasses. "It looks totally cool!"
"It can't be that good, if that frog set it up," Arthur grumbled. He was dressed as one of the doctors from Doctor Who in a long trench coat, and he looked rather disdainful as he glanced around at the other people at the party. He never was much for parties.
"Looks like fun," Maddie agreed, brushing herself off and standing up. "Let's check it out."
A few yards away from the main party, the Bonnefoy's three-car garage loomed, looking creepy with smog leaking out from under the side door.
Gillian grinned. Francis couldn't have made it too scary, she reasoned, seeing as he was a complete pansy. Amelia led the way, opening the door to the garage slowly, in case anything should pop out.
The fog went as high as their heads, swirling around them like cool puffs of breath on a freezing winter's day. A strobe light hung from the flat ceiling of the garage, making everything around them look as if it moved in slow motion. It was surprisingly sinister, combined with the ominous soundtrack that played from somewhere in the back of the building.
"Don't worry, I'll totally protect you guys," Amelia declared loudly over the strains of the organ.
"Right," Maddie said sarcastically, and though she walked behind her, Gillian was pretty sure the Canadian girl was rolling her eyes.
They rounded the first corner of the narrow barriers Francis had set up and found themselves facing a very creepy mannequin tied to a chair, with fake blood streaming down from its eyes. Its clothing was tattered, and it sported what appeared to be bite marks all over its body.
"Charming," Arthur noted, sidestepping it and walking ahead.
"Whoa, that actually looks pretty realistic," Amelia mused, bending down to inspect its face. She lifted a hank of bloody hair to look at it more closely.
"Amelia—" Maddie began, reaching forward to stop her as she remarked, "Dude, that's freaky. It looks kind of like—"
Suddenly, the mannequin lifted its head and gave a horrific scream. Amelia shrieked and ran ahead, accidentally knocking Arthur into a corner with fake spiderwebs.
Gillian laughed. "You should've seen that one coming," she said, chuckling at her friend's expression. "Come on!"
"Okay, next," Amelia said shakily, tugging on Arthur's sleeve as they walked past the chair.
The next portion was lined with funhouse mirrors, and creepy laughter bounced off the thin walls of the garage. Grotesque masks faced the walls without mirrors, so they appeared to be surrounded.
"Even these mirrors can't make me look bad," Gillian commented as she followed Maddie down the short passageway. She struck a pose, tilting her pirate hat rakishly to the side and sticking out her hip. The giant bloated Gillian made a garish face right back at her, and she laughed appreciatively. "Whatcha think, Maddie? Guys?" She paused in the middle of her posturing and looked around. Maddie, Amelia, and Arthur had disappeared into the fog. She groaned. "Not cool!" She yelled petulantly.
The mirrors were suddenly a lot less amusing now, with a dozen red eyes following her every movement. Even though she liked her unusual eye color most of the time, she had to admit that with the combined effects of funhouse mirrors, strobe lights, and fog, it was downright petrifying. "Hey! Maddie? Amelia? …Arthur?" She jogged to the end of the passageway and turned the corner.
An eerie red light was the only illumination in the corridor, and it looked like someone's bloody footprints led to the doorway outside. She sighed in relief and headed towards it. Her oddly colored eyes darted around anxiously. It was a straight passageway, with what looked like gravestones and oddly familiar gas station signs on the walls and ceilings. Weird. Gravestones were creepy, but gas station signs? But it was completely empty—she would've been able to see anyone. Still, she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling of being watched, so she picked up her pace. She was only a few feet away from the door when suddenly, she heard a violent buzzing. She turned around and screamed, as someone swung down from the ceiling and waved a chainsaw in her face.
"What the fuck?!" She shrieked as the chainsaw hit her shoulder, and she fell to the floor. She felt a dull vibration in her shoulder, but it was—obviously—plastic. A prop.
The person hanging from what must have been the attic let down a rope ladder, and nimbly climbed down, peeling off the Leatherface mask as they approached. "Not bad, huh?" She asked, revealing an almost feline face and matted brown curls. "Francis asked me to dress up as Leatherface. He said you'd appreciate it," Bella said cheerfully, giggling. The younger van Buren sibling looked quite pleased with herself, waving her chainsaw about.
"That fucker," Gillian growled, storming out of the garage, where her friends waited.
"Sorry, we must have lost you in the fog," Maddie apologized anxiously when the older girl stomped over to them, looking jittery. "I thought I heard a scream. Are you okay?"
"It was probably just Amelia," Arthur chuckled, looking rather pleased, as Amelia continued to hold onto his sleeve like a leech.
"That was you," Amelia insisted stubbornly. "Heroes do not scream."
"I'm fine," Gillian said gruffly, shivering in the cold. "Let's go inside. I'm freezing my ass off out here." It was now nearly midnight; only a few people were left outside, wandering about, messing with Francis' decorations.
Most of the present noise seemed to come from the living room, where the furniture had been cleared so people could dance. Gillian smirked when they walked inside and she spotted Ludwig sitting on a couch, talking with a very animated Feliciana. Her brother Lovino sat next to them, glowering as a group of teenagers began to dance to Thriller too close to him.
Impulsively, Gillian dragged Maddie's hand and dragged her to the center of the room and began to dance.
Maddie burst into laughter at her friend's antics. "You don't dance much, do you?" She asked, chuckling. The dim lighting made her violet eyes look even brighter than usual.
"You gotta dance, too," Gillian said bossily, grabbing her and twirling her around.
"That's not part of the dance," Maddie objected, laughing, as she nearly twirled into someone.
"Then dance!" Gillian said, lifting up her hands in what was a killer impersonation of the dancing undead, in her opinion. Watching Maddie look around awkwardly, trying to imitate the other teens, Gillian was hit with a sudden realization.
Francis was right, she thought, grinning when Maddie accidentally stumbled into the quiet junior from Cameroon and proceeded to apologize profusely. I definitely have a crush on her. Fuck. Why do I always have to like the straight girls?! A certain green-eyed brunette from the swim team came to mind, and she sighed deeply. Whatever. I won't ruin our friendship, she thought, determined.
The rest of the night passed without event—they ended up staying until three to watch Halloweentown in Francis' game room. Only about ten people were left by then. Gillian was squished between Maddie and Antonio, and she was about to nod off, but a sudden pressure on her shoulder made her eyes flash open. Carefully, she lifted her head, and saw that Maddie had fallen asleep on her shoulder, her mouth slightly open as she breathed easily. She had to resist the urge to adjust her glasses, which nearly slid off her nose.
Dammit, why do you have to be so adorable? Gillian thought, smiling slightly. Everyone else was getting pretty tired too, except Arthur and Francis, who felt the need to argue about some stupid plot point in the movie. She sighed. Those two bickered like an old married couple. It really got on her nerves sometimes.
The credits began to roll, and everyone sleepily got to their feet.
Reluctantly, Gillian nudged Maddie awake. "What time is it?" She asked drowsily, blinking. She looked rather owl-like behind her glasses.
"Time to go," Francis announced, standing up and turning off the TV. He frowned slightly at Gillian, as if it was her fault that Maddie had fallen asleep on her shoulder. She made a face right back at him.
Suddenly, Gillian remembered Ludwig. Where was he? She hadn't seen him in hours! Vati's going to kill me for not keeping an eye on him, she thought glumly. She got out her phone to text him and saw that he had messaged her nearly three hours ago. Going to Ihop with Sakura and Feli. Don't wait up.
Damn Sakura, that cockblock, Gillian thought, but felt relieved. Ludwig was nearly seventeen. He could look after himself, she reasoned.
"Alright, Frannie, we're going," Gillian said, standing up and yawning. She adjusted the sword at her hip and looked down at Maddie, who looked ready to fall asleep again. Antonio was sprawled next to her, out cold and drooling a little. "Mads? You need a ride?"
"Um, Arthur's brother dropped us off," she said, looking across the room to her neighbor for confirmation.
"Hm? Did you say something?" Arthur asked, distracted momentarily from his argument with Francis.
"Is Alistair still coming to get us?" Amelia asked.
"Ah," Arthur said, frowning. "About that. Alistair hasn't actually answered any of my calls…" He scowled.
"It's cool, I can give you a ride home," Gillian told her. "And you two. Even you, crankypants," she said affectionately to Arthur. "Unless you want to spend the night here."
Arthur blanched. "No, thank you," he said stiffly, getting to his feet and dusting himself off.
"Well, then. Thanks for the party, Francis," Gillian said, stepping across a sleeping Bella to hug her friend. But it was only a side hug, because his toga had somehow moved down only to cover his lower torso. She shuddered a little. She would rather not see his armpit hair, although Lord only knew she had seen more of both Francis and Antonio than any sane person should see in their years together.
"Bye, Tonio," she said to the sleeping boy on the couch, ruffling his hair affectionately. She saluted the remaining teens—Bella, Lovino, and another student she didn't know. "See you lot around. Alright, kids, car's leaving," she told her friends, skipping down the stairs two at a time. Man, pancakes sounded really good right now, she mused, as she paused by the front door to take a fistful of candy from the bowl there. Maybe Ludwig had the right idea.
Gillian held her car keys high above her head, unlocking her sleek black car with an obnoxious beeping noise.
"That's your car?" Amelia whistled appreciatively. "It's nice, Gil."
"Thanks, bra," she said, sliding into the driver's seat. "German cars are the best."
"I'll have to disagree with you there," Arthur remarked, climbing into the back with Amelia. "Nothing is more elegant than a Rolls Royce."
"That's such an old man car, eyebrows," Gillian teased, making a face at him in the rearview mirror as she backed out of the Bonnefoy's driveway with a screech. "But then, you are kind of an old man. Where do you live, anyway?"
Arthur sighed heavily, evidently too tired to argue much with her. "On Bradfort Street, past the grocery store."
"Oh, you live by Maddie," Gillian chirped happily.
"I don't know if I'm comfortable with you knowing where I live," he grumbled, staring out the window as they flew down the highway.
"Please," Gillian snorted. "Who do you think TP'd your house the year before I left for Denmark?"
"That was you?" Arthur exclaimed.
Maddie chuckled at the memory. That had been quite the cleanup. It took them nearly a week to get all the toilet paper out of the numerous trees in the Kirkland's front yard.
"It was Toni's idea," Gillian said innocently. "Francis and I were just helping him out."
Amelia laughed too. "That was because we got Toni's house first," she said, and Gillian could hear the grin in her voice, even though she was watching the road. "Remember?"
"Of course," Arthur said, gracing her with one of his rare smiles when Gillian pulled up to his house. "Are we still going to the movie tomorrow?"
"Yep!" Amelia said cheerfully. "See you tomorrow, Artie!"
He smiled at her and nodded at Gillian. "Thanks," he told her, but scowled when she rolled down the window and sang out in an imitation of Amelia's voice, "See ya, Artie!"
He glared at her and turned away, putting up the collar of his trenchcoat against the cold as he walked up to the completely dark house.
"Ah, he's so easy to tease," Gillian said fondly, driving down the street to the cul-de-sac where the Jones-Williams house was. "I kinda missed that kid when I was gone. Alright, ladies, this is your stop."
"Thanks Gil. See ya at practice Monday!" Amelia said, slamming the car door hard enough to make the German girl wince.
"Sure thing!" She called after the blonde. She turned to Maddie and remarked, "You've been awful quiet tonight."
"Sorry," the Canadian apologized immediately, causing Gillian to roll her eyes. "I haven't been sleeping much lately. Anyway, I'm glad I came to your party, Gil. I actually had fun."
"I'm glad you did too. Happy Halloween, Maddie," Gillian said, hugging her quickly.
Maddie gave her one of her painfully cute smiles, and for a second, Gillian was tempted to lean across the armrest and cross the distance between their mouths. But she didn't. "Bye," she said, after Maddie had closed the door and followed her sister up to the house. "Sweet dreams, Birdie."
Wow, could I have made that ending paragraph any cheesier? Sorry ~
Bella and Lars van Buren are Belgium and Netherlands! Those are both fairly common fanon names, but I couldn't find their surname, so I picked van Buren because it's Dutch and van Buren was a president, and I am an American history major. Yeeeeah...
Please R&R if you like! And thanks for reading!