Spirit's Eve...

"Wow, look at that!"

Abigail beamed at Rowan as she marvelled the decorations and attractions that had been set up for the festival. "You like?"

"I love! This is one of my favourite times of year!"

Abigail laughed at that. "You're more excited than Vincent and Jas are!"

Rowan stuck out her tongue. "So, what's first?"

"Let's go check out the maze. It was so lame last year, so I hope it's better this year."

"Lead the way!"

Rowan and Abigail made their way into the maze, trying to stay together.

"Well, that didn't work..." Rowan looked around, but somehow she had gotten separated from Abigail. She looked around a bit, but before long someone grabbed her and pulled her back, hand over her mouth. She looked up, seeing Alex.

"Shh..."

Rowan nodded as he took his hand away, blushing at how close they were.

Alex peeked around the corner, sighing in relief when a mummy had passed by. He waited a moment, then looked back down at Rowan. "Someone has been going around the maze scaring the crap out of people. They've gotten Sam twice, Abigail is probably next."

Rowan looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "So kind of you to save me from the terrifying mummy."

Alex blushed, then realized he was holding her close to himself still. "S-Sorry."

Rowan smiled a bit and stepped back when he let her go, not minding that his hand was still on her hip. "So, what's next?"

"I heard there's something cool if you can beat the maze. Wanna go see if we can find it?"

Rowan nodded, grabbing his hand. "Come on."

"This is hopeless."

Rowan smiled and looked at Alex. "Let's keep looking for a little bit longer." She looked around, spotting a sign with a question mark painted onto it. "Hey, Alex, look at this."

Alex joined her. "What? The sign?"

Rowan nodded. "Here, help me look around, I think there's something here."

Alex nodded and looked around. "Rowan, look here."

Rowan looked at the hedge where Alex stood. "Hmmm." She looked it over, then pushed her hand forward.

Alex laughed as she squealed and fell forward, but he pushed through and offered her a hand up. "Here."

Rowan, blushing profusely, accepted his hand and stood. "Well, let's see where this leads."

Alex nodded, following her down the path until they reached a cave. "Whoah, it's really dark in there."

Rowan smiled. "Not afraid of the dark are you?"

Alex shook his head. "No, are you?"

Rowan smirked. "I've been down nearly to the bottom of the mines, Alex. If I was scared of the dark I wouldn't have made it very far."

"Fair point."

Rowan offered him her hand. "Hold onto me."

Alex took her hand, blushing. "How are we going to see though?"

Rowan lifted her free hand, watching her ring start to glow. "With this."

Alex watched as one of her rings started to glow and he smiled. "That's pretty cool. Is that a glow ring?"

Rowan nodded, leading the way through the cave tunnel. "Yup. It's really useful." She looked around and smiled. "Here, this way."

Alex held her hand, not letting go once as she led them through the tunnel and out into a small alcove. "Hey look, there's a chest."

Rowan opened the chest and smiled. "A golden pumpkin!"

"That's worth a lot of money, too!"

Rowan smiled. "Well, why don't we sell it and split the return?"

Alex looked at her. "You sure? You did all the work."

Rowan shook her head. "You helped plenty, it'd only be fair."

Alex rubbed his neck and smiled. "Alright then. Well, here, let me carry it back then."

Rowan handed him the pumpkin and offered her hand again. "Ready to get out of here?"

Alex smiled and took her hand. "Lead the way."

Rowan led the way back through the tunnel to the maze, letting Alex help her through the hedge so she didn't fall again. They walked together to the stand and sold the pumpkin to Pierre. Rowan gave Alex his half of the return, then used hers to buy the new scarecrow that was available.

"Want some help carrying that home?"

Rowan looked at him. "If you want. Don't you want to enjoy the rest of the festivities though?"

Alex shrugged. "Eh, the maze is the only good part to be honest. Everything else is kinda eh."

Rowan smiled. "Well, I won't decline your offer if you'd really like to help."

Alex took the scarecrow from her. "Let's get this to the farm then."

Rowan's smile grew and she led the way back to her farm. "So, how's everything going? I haven't been able to stop by town the last few days."

"It's good. Sucks that winter is coming, but hey, gives me plenty of time to train and read more books."

"That is true. It'll be nice to have a break from the crops for a bit."

"Farm life getting boring?"

Rowan looked at him and shook her head. "Not at all. If it was, I wouldn't be here. And that'd be a shame, 'cuz then I wouldn't have met you."

Alex blushed and was so glad that the dark of night was hiding it. "Oh ya?"

Rowan blushed, realizing what she had said. They made their way down the path to the field where she wanted to set up the scarecrow. "Well, ya. We wouldn't have become friends if I hadn't right?"

Alex helped her secure the scarecrow, seeing her ring begin glowing again to give them more light. "This is true." He stood back and walked with her to her porch. "Well, it's late. You should get some sleep."

"Ya, I need to get the rest of the harvest in. Tomorrow is the last day before winter hits." She hugged him. "Be safe going home?"

Alex nodded, hugging her back. He was surprised, they hadn't ever really hugged before- not like that. "I will. See you for karaoke tomorrow night?"

Rowan stepped back and nodded. "Mmhmm. See you tomorrow night."

Alex smiled, waving as he made his way back down the road into town. A chilled breeze blew through the trees and he found himself already missing Rowan's warmth. He realized he liked hugging her, holding her close to him. He rejoined the last of the festivities before heading home. He lay back in his bed, smiling. 'I'm totally crushing on her.'

Meanwhile, Rowan was laying in bed going over the night. Alex had taken her hand and offered his own without hesitation, he had "saved" her from the mummy and held her close, he had helped her through the maze and then helped carry home the scarecrow just as he had the week prior during the fair. She enjoyed being in his arms, holding his hand, his warmth. 'I really do have a crush on him.'