Good morning, good morning! Hopefully it's finding you well. I don't have that much to say today, except that I'm excited for you to read this chapter, because it was kind of fun to write haha. We're almost at the end of the road here- only six chapters left, excluding this one- which is crazy, right? I don't know; I thought so. :P

The chapter title comes from "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas, obviously. :P The AU we find ourselves in today is meeting at a Halloween party, which sounds lame, I know. But the actual scenario is hard to put into words, so we're going to leave it at that. Thanks for reading- I hope you enjoy!

say it once, say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice

"So I know it's not really your thing," Caleb says, pausing to take a sip from his water bottle. "But Hanna's throwing a Halloween party Saturday night and I wanted to see if you'd like to come."

Toby hesitates and sighs, "Not really my thing might be an understatement."

"Come on, Toby. You didn't come to our housewarming party last month-" Caleb lists.

"I sent you a gift in the mail." Toby points out.

"- or Hanna's surprise party-"

"I was out of town!"

"I know," Caleb replies. "But you can't avoid us forever."

"I'm not avoiding either of you," Toby tells him honestly. "I love you both. I just don't like parties."

"But it's Halloween," Caleb says. "What are you going to do, otherwise? Sit at home in your empty apartment and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters? Live a little, man."

Toby frowns. "I don't 'live a little,' Caleb."

"Well," He shrugs. "Maybe you should start."

Toby sighs and knows, without a doubt, that his best friend is right. He's gotten into such a habit of going through all the motions of being alive and not truly living that now, it's just second nature. Truth be told, he's always been introverted and private and situations like the one Caleb's presenting him with have always made anxiety creep into the back of his mind. Making small talk with strangers? Awkward dancing and alcohol? Forced merriment? Yeah, he'll pass. Or, usually he passes, and then people will stop inviting him and he always loses friends, this way. Caleb and Hanna are different; they call him out on his bullshit and never let him slip away from them. He supposes this is probably a good thing.

"Fine," Toby gives in. "What time do you want me to be there?"

Caleb grins. "I knew I could convince you; Hanna's going to be so excited."

"Yeah, yeah," He waves it off. "Do you need me to bring anything?"

"Well, if you're going to offer, I'm not going to say no," Caleb says. "Party starts at eight; you can come anytime you want."

"Okay," Toby nods and tries to ignore the trepidation already filling his veins.

"And remember, it's a Halloween party," Caleb says. "So you have to come in costume."

He frowns. "You didn't say anything about costumes."

"Well what did you think we were going to do?" Caleb implores. "Throw a formal Halloween party? Have people wear their swimwear? That's ridiculous. I didn't think I had to mention it; it kind of comes with the territory."

"Fine, I'll wear a freaking costume," Toby shakes his head. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Yes," Caleb nods. "We're having a costume contest and the first prize is a $50 gift certificate to Olive Garden."

"Olive Garden?" Toby chuckles. "Nice. What are you and Hanna going as?"

"You want me to tell you? And give you ideas?" Caleb shakes his head. "No way. You'll see Saturday. Just pick a good one, okay? It's not like you're going to beat us, but second prize is good, too. Movie tickets and a free popcorn voucher."

Toby smirks. "Who's voting?"

"We have an impartial third party," Caleb insists and Toby nods.

"Emily?"

"Yep."

Toby gathers his things and goes to stand. "Well… I guess I've got to go figure out my costume."

"Yeah, you should get on that," Caleb agrees. "You've only got a couple of days."

Toby shakes his head. "I'll see you Saturday."

"You're going to have a good time," Caleb vows. "I promise!"

Toby calls back, "I'm holding you to that!"

Regardless of the fact that they're in their early twenties, probably too old to be having a costume party, Spencer knows her best friend and knows for a fact that even though she'd left high school, it had probably never left her. Either way, she doesn't buy into the notion that you have to dress as a sexy profession or even in some form of lingerie in order to have a good costume. She's always used historical figures and delighted in telling people about them whenever they would ask; one time, in eighth grade, she dressed as Joan of Arc and at the height of one of her impassioned explanations, had actually lit herself on fire to prove a point. Her mother had not been pleased, but people talked about it for weeks afterwards.

And this year is, of course, no different. She decides to try a slightly altered approach, though; she's all for female empowerment and not once has she chosen a woman of weaker means to portray, so when she comes up with her character this year, it follows along the same lines as always. So, she shows up to Hanna and Caleb's new house in a long, flowing skirt, a tunic tied off with a belt, a crown and a handkerchief spotted with fake blood. Her hair is wild and unkempt and she'd done her makeup to the best of her ability to make her appear as though she were crazed and sleep-deprived. Hanna opens the door, dressed in black lingerie, gloves up to her elbow, tan fishnets and a pair of black bunny ears on top of her head. She's grinning but when she gives Spencer the once-over, it fades just a bit.

"Hi!" Hanna exclaims and then falters. "What are you?"

"What are you?" Spencer wonders, stepping over the threshold. "You look like you just stepped off the set of Mean Girls."

Hanna shoots her a look, closing the front door. "I'm a Playboy bunny."

And then it all clicks into place. Spencer nods. "And Caleb is Hugh Hefner."

"Isn't it great?" Hanna chuckles. "It was my idea."

"You don't say?" Spencer teases and once again, Hanna prods her.

"And what are you?" She then pauses. "Wait, no, let me guess."

"Oh jeez."

"You're a flower child?"

"Not even close."

"A wench from the middle ages?"

Spencer deadpans. "Somehow, even less close."

"A serial killer?" Hanna wonders and when Spencer shakes her head, the blonde shrugs. "You've got the crazy-eyed, bloody napkin thing down."

"I'm Lady Macbeth," Spencer fills her in and to Hanna's empty look, adds, "You know, from Macbeth?"

"Jane Austen?"

"Shakespeare," Spencer corrects humorously. "Did you even pay attention in school?"

"I took one English class in college, we did two Shakespeare plays and I got a C-," Hanna tells her. "What do you think?"

"But 'out, damn'd spot'? Everyone knows that line, whether you've read it or not," Spencer says. "That's why I have the bloody handkerchief, Hanna."

"So…" She trails off. "Lady Macbeth was a murderer?"

"Lady Macbeth was a power-hungry, greed-induced feminist who took control of the kingdom when her husband failed to and was driven mad by her own transgressions," Spencer explains in perfect English-teacher form. "It's fascinating. Mostly because Shakespeare's female characters rarely ever got the spotlight and if they did, it was only for a wedding or a suicide."

"Wow," Hanna nods. "That's… supremely boring."

Spencer frowns. "It is not."

"I'm sorry; it totally is," Hanna shakes her head. "It's a cool costume, but I doubt anyone's going to know who you are."

"They will if they're well versed in Elizabethan literature," Spencer shoots back. "Let's go get a drink. As usual, you're killing me."

Hanna chuckles and leads the way, the party in full swing before them. Spencer lifts the ladle and fills her cup with some much-needed alcohol, drinking slowly and grimacing as it burns her stomach. She spots Caleb across the way, dressed in the maroon robe and slippers, holding a pipe, and chuckles, because somehow, he and his Playboy bunny play the parts perfectly. She doesn't understand it, but the two of them have always been completely in sync with one another; knowing what the other wants without having to ask, guessing the end of a sentence when they hadn't even heard the beginning, and so on. It's the kind of couple stuff she had never been a fan of, but she has to admit, it works for them. And as she's standing here, finishing her very strong drink alone, she finds herself wondering if she found the right person, would it work for her?

Toby adjusts the crown on his head and leans up against the wall, the floor vibrating with the thumping bass, making him feel as though he were in college again. The only parties he'd gone to back then had been the ones Caleb dragged him to, but even still, they'd never been his forte. He doesn't engage, much; he's much more content to stand idly by and people-watch. Both Hanna and Caleb thanked him for coming the moment he arrived and every now and then, one of them comes by to check on him, as if they're afraid he'll disappear if they don't tether him to the party. In all honesty, he's considering it; his costume is dumb, the music is dumb, parties are dumb.

He crosses the room into the kitchen to get himself a drink and as he's pouring himself a cup, a voice warns him, "Go easy on that stuff. I've had one cup and the entire room is spinning."

He smirks and turns in the direction it's coming from, his eyes landing on a beautiful brunette with sparkling eyes and a smile that could put the sun to shame. He nods and begins to ladle some into his own plastic cup. "Ah. You're a newbie to Hanna's party punch, huh?"

"No, not at all. She's been making this since we were in seventh grade," She replies. "I just always forget that she adds extra shots for special occasions."

"Really?" Toby asks and takes a sip, grimacing. "Oh wow. That's… Damn."

"Yeah," She nods knowingly. "You should've been here for our grad party. People were drunk before they even showed up and were throwing up in her closet and passing out in the bushes… It wasn't pretty."

"See, I usually skip these little get-togethers," Toby admits. "But you're really making me regret it, now."

She chuckles and then offers him her hand. "I'm Spencer. I've known Hanna since we could walk, basically, and you seem to know her pretty well too, and yet I've never seen you before tonight."

"Toby," He shakes her hand. "I was Caleb's roommate in college; that's how I met Hanna. And honestly, I do have a tendency to avoid the parties they invite me to."

"Oh, that's too bad," Spencer shrugs. "They're usually pretty fun."

"So they say," Toby replies. "I don't know. Parties aren't really my scene."

Spencer nods. "So what's your scene?"

He shakes his head. "You're going to make fun of me."

"I probably won't," Spencer grins. "But no guarantees."

"Well, I like to stay in," Toby admits hesitantly. "Watch TV. Read a book. And I don't mind hanging out with other people, just… Not like this."

To his surprise, she doesn't laugh at him or call him a freak as has happened many times before. She simply nods and smiles at him, saying, "That sounds like a pretty good scene. Really relaxing, actually. What do you read?"

"The classics, mostly," He shrugs. "I don't know. I'm not really into mainstream fiction. It's almost all exactly the same thing."

"Like nobody can come up with an original story," Spencer agrees. "And when they do, it almost always ties back to something that's already been told."

"Exactly," He nods. "I don't think anyone's ever agreed with me on that."

"Good books are hard to find," Spencer tells him. "I get where you're coming from, for sure. So which one's your favorite?"

Toby honestly doesn't know how he'd ever be able to choose. "Catcher in the Rye is up there. I've read it dozens of times. The Count of Monte Cristo is great, too. The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, anything Shakespeare… That kind of stuff."

"Those are all really great choices," Spencer says and then thinks a moment. "For me, I think it would have to be To Kill a Mockingbird, The Awakening, really anything by Jodi Picoult, even though she's not a classic; she gets a pass. And of course, I'm a Shakespeare nut too. I mean, look at my costume."

"I thought so, but I didn't want to seem like an overzealous English major," Toby chuckles. "Your costume looks very Elizabethan."

"Thank you!" She exclaims victoriously. "I actually made it myself."

"You did?" He wonders and when she nods, he adds, "Well, that makes me look cheap. I tried to channel some Shakespeare with mine, but I had very little time and the costume shop had very few options."

"Wait," Spencer halts him. "You're wearing a crown and holding a dagger-"

"A bloody dagger," He puts in, grinning. "Are we playing a guessing game?"

"Shh, I've got this," She assures him and demands, "Lift your neck."

He chuckles. "My neck?"

"Look at the ceiling," Spencer says and when he does, she notes a jagged line of fake blood that encircles his throat. Then she gasps. "Are you Macbeth?"

"Damn. You're good," Toby grins. "You know your Shakespeare characters better than I do."

Her eyes are still wide and he doesn't quite know why. That is, until he glances at her costume, really looks at it, and it hits him. "Are you Lady Macbeth?"

She nods, still paralyzed with shock, and Toby shakes his head. "So I'm Macbeth and you're Lady Macbeth."

"It appears that way," She confirms.

A pause and then Toby suggests, "Do you want to get out of here?"

Spencer nods. "Please."

They're laughing on the front porch now, away from it all, and Spencer begins to genuinely wonder if she's ever been this happy, if she's ever had this much fun. Toby has tears of mirth in his eyes when he asks her, "You seriously did that? You seriously lit yourself on fire?"

"Joan of Arc was burned at the stake," Spencer defends, grinning. "How else was I supposed to drive my point home?"

"I could list the ways," Toby laughs. "That seems like a legitimate safety concern. Why would you do that?"

"I was fine," She says. "I didn't burn myself. People actually really loved it. I was the girl with the flammable costume; it's kind of a legend."

"Every costume is flammable, Spencer," Toby tells her. "If you light it on fire."

"I was like thirteen," She chuckles. "What sense did I have?"

"Enough to make Joan of Arc a live show," Toby sighs. "That's hilarious. I don't even know what I would've said if I saw that."

"You would've thought I was bat-shit crazy," She fills in for him. "Everyone else did."

He sobers just a bit. "I thought you said everyone loved it?"

"Well, they did," Spencer shrugs. "But there's a difference between loving it for the message I was teaching them and loving it because I was making a spectacle of myself."

He frowns. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"No, that's okay," She's quick to assure him. "I didn't realize they were laughing at me, not with me, until much, much later. I was a pretty naïve kid."

"Well, I wouldn't have laughed at you," Toby says and when she smirks, he insists. "No, really. I wouldn't have. Trust me, I got laughed at enough as a kid that I never would've done it to anyone else."

"Really?" She wonders. "What would people laugh at you for?"

"You name it," He shrugs. "No friends, messed up parents, lack of athletic finesse that made me a disaster in gym class… I had it all."

"I'm so sorry," She lays a hand on his arm. "Kids can be really mean."

"Yeah, but that's life, right?" Toby replies ironically. "How else would we have these awesome stories to tell at parties fifteen years later?"

She grins. "You've got me there."

After a moment, she turns to him and gestures in between their two costumes, asking, "Are we going to talk about this? Because this is some freaky, soul-mate shit."

He chuckles. "It actually really is. It's creepy. It's like we were in each other's brains but we didn't even know it."

"That's weird," Spencer insists. "But your costume is on point for being rented from a costume shop."

"Thanks," He nods. "It's lacking a bit in authenticity, but I couldn't figure out how to show up to the party headless, but still alive."

She erupts in giggles. "If you figure out a way, let me know, because I'm totally going as Anne Boleyn next year."

Toby grins. "That would be a good one. Although I don't know if you can top Lady Macbeth. She's kind of a badass."

"She's a total badass," Spencer corrects. "I mean, she's a psycho, obviously, but the way she takes charge and gets shit done, questioning her husband's manhood the entire way… She's a legend. An inspiration."

"And that makes Macbeth kind of a coward, doesn't it?" Toby thinks a moment. "Because in the moment that mattered most, he couldn't go through with their plan and she had to do it for him. Virtually unheard of, back then."

"That's why I love Shakespeare," Spencer gushes. "He used topics and motifs that are revolutionary now, let alone back then. I mean, feminism, ambiguous sexuality, mental illness… It's all there."

"And you love Macbeth, obviously," He fills in and she nods.

"Obviously," She smiles. "Hamlet's my favorite, but I couldn't go as Ophelia. She's weak."

"I should've gone as Hamlet," Toby smacks his forehead. "I didn't even think. Still as crazy as Macbeth and he still dies, but… No, pretty much the same."

Spencer chuckles and counters with, "Yeah, but if you went as Hamlet, we wouldn't have matched as perfectly as we do."

"I don't know," Toby says coyly. "I think we still would have."

Spencer grins and he grins back and she honestly doesn't know what's happening or who she is anymore, but this is really nice. It's the kind of couple stuff she's expressed her dislike for over and over, but here she is, taking part, wearing a matching costume with a perfect stranger, and yet he feels as warm and familiar as ever. She's been talking with Toby for an hour, easily, and the time has passed without either of them noticing. She almost feels like she's known him her whole life and it's scary but it's new and exciting and she doesn't know what made him come to the party tonight, but whatever it was, she owes her newfound happiness to it.

The front door opens behind them and Emily appears, dressed as Luigi, her paper mustache lopsided. "Oh, here you guys are. I thought I saw you go out here. Come on; we're just about to announce the costume winners!"

Toby stands and offers Spencer a warm hand, which she accepts graciously. They follow Emily into the living room, where the music's been lowered and Hanna's standing on the coffee table. "Hi everyone! I want to thank you again for coming out to our Halloween party tonight! Is everyone having fun?"

Cheers and applause ring through the air and she grins. "Awesome! That's what we aim for! And now, without further ado, Emily's going to announce the costume contest winners! Let's hear it for Emily!"

She steps down and allows Emily to take the limelight instead as the brunette announces, "Hi guys! So you all look really, really great tonight and if I could pick all of you to win, I would. Unfortunately, we only have the winners and the runner-ups. So, in second place- drumroll, please!"

A galloping sound is made against knees and tables when Emily announces, "Toby and Spencer, who came as… Well, I don't really know what they are. But they look great!"

Everyone claps for them as they accept their prize and Spencer says, "We're Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Come on, Em; you at least paid attention in English class."

"Let's hear it for Toby and Spencer!" Emily says instead and then announces, "And now, in first place…"

Cheers and applause are heard when Caleb and Hanna are crowned victorious, to no one's surprise. Toby turns to Spencer and says, "I think the vote was rigged."

"I'll say," Spencer agrees. "I guess… I guess we'll have to take care of them, Elizabethan style."

"Plotting and executing their murder and taking their victory and crown?" Toby suggests.

Spencer grins. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

He pours them each a drink and they clink glasses together before downing half each and wincing as it burns all the way down. "I forgot how gross this is."

"And strong," She puts in and then asks, "So what did we win?"

"Movie tickets," Toby replies knowingly. "With a free popcorn voucher."

"Oh," Spencer nods. "So you get one and I get one."

He agrees. "I guess so."

"Or," She bites her lip. "We could both use them. Together."

Toby smiles at her. "We could do that."

"Looks like you and I have a date, then," Spencer says and he nods, grinning.

"Looks that way," Toby offers her his arm. "Milady?"

"Milord," Spencer chuckles, taking his extended arm as they brace themselves for the crowd.

And it's cheesy, undeniably cheesy, but her heart is fluttering uncontrollably and she's pretty sure she's going to get used to the couple stuff.