When they finally reached a turnoff, the blue glow of a torch lighting their path once more, Estelle reluctantly let go of Sebastian's hand.
"Sorry for being such a baby back there," she said, feeling her cheeks flush with embarrassment. Now that she was back in the light, she felt like an idiot for being so afraid.
"Don't be. Honestly I was a little creeped out too."
That made her smile. "I won't tell anyone if you don't."
"Deal."
They went through the maze together, keeping an eye out for the illusive golden pumpkin. The rest of the scares were tame in comparison – hands reaching out of the ground to grab at their ankles, a TV playing static with subliminal images flashing in and out, giant spiders. Well done, but standard haunted house shit. Not that Estelle was complaining. She didn't know if her nerves were up for any further abuse tonight.
They had covered a good portion of the maze and were discussing where to go next when they ran into Alex trying to climb one of the walls – and failing miserably.
"Hey Alex. Uh...what are you doing?" Estelle asked curiously.
He turned, face red and breathless from exertion. "Oh, hey Stelle," he said, pausing to look her up and down. "Wow, you look stupid hot."
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not? But thanks I guess," she said with a little laugh.
He grinned. "Definitely a compliment. Anyway, I'm trying to find a way onto that ledge," he said, pointing to an overhang above them. "There's something weird up there but I can't figure out how to get to it."
Estelle glanced at Sebastian. "Maybe it's the pumpkin?"
He shrugged without even looking up, his gaze fixed on the path forward. She glanced over as well, wondering what he was looking at – but there was nothing there. He was just staring into the distance. Weird.
She brushed it off and took a few steps back, scoping out the ledge for herself. Alex stepped back as well to show her what he saw.
"See look, right there!" he said, leaning close and pointing to direct her gaze.
Estelle squinted, tilting her head until...oh!
It was almost completely hidden, but she definitely saw a flash of gold when the torchlight flickered just right. It had to be the pumpkin – what else would be golden up there?
"That's totally it!" she said excitedly. "But how are are going to get up there? That ledge has to be like 15 feet high."
"Don't know," Alex said, tossing his hands up in defeat. "I've checked all around here for a hidden ladder or something but no dice. And these walls don't have any grips to climb up."
She looked to Sebastian for ideas, but he didn't seem to be paying any attention. What the hell was up with him all of a sudden? He's the one who wanted to find the damn thing in the first place.
"I could probably throw you high enough," Alex mused. "Can you pull yourself up with just your arms?"
"Uh, I can, but fuck that," Estelle said, shaking her head decisively. "My leg literally just healed. I'm not risking a two story fall over a pumpkin."
"Aw, you don't think I can do it?" he said, pouting.
"I don't care if you can do it," she corrected. "And even if I got up there, how would I get down? Hard pass."
"Just jump! I'll catch you."
"Alex, I don't know how many ways I can say absolutely fucking not before it sticks," she said, starting to get annoyed with his persistence.
"There has to be a way around," Sebastian said tersely, cutting off Alex's latest protest. About time he decided to join the conversation.
"Right. So I'm going to go look for it," Estelle said, stepping away from Mr. Amateur Shotput to stand next to Sebastian. "Oh, Haley is waiting for you at the entrance by the way."
Alex groaned, running his fingers through his hair. "What else is new?" he muttered irritably.
She grinned, glancing over her shoulder as she walked away. "Better get going! She's scary when she's pissed!"
When they were halfway down the path and safely out of earshot, Estelle rounded on Sebastian.
"So, wanna tell me what that was all about?"
"What what was all about?" he replied flatly.
"I dunno, your drastic mood swing and total lack of interest in finding the thing we're out here trying to find?"
"I still want to find it. I just don't like that guy."
Estelle gave an exaggerated gasp, covering her mouth and staring at him wide-eyed. "What?! You mean the emo kid doesn't get along with the jock? No fuckin' way!"
That got a reaction. Sebastian shot her an unimpressed look, and she couldn't hold back a giggle.
"Well, either way we know where the pumpkin is now. Any ideas on how to get to it?"
"I could toss you up," he deadpanned.
"Oh, you're hilarious."
The corner of his mouth quirked up, much to Estelle's relief. At least the shitty mood seemed to leave as quickly as it came.
"There has to be a hidden path somewhere," he reiterated. "Alex said there wasn't anything near the pumpkin, and there's no obvious walkway connecting to that ledge, so the entrance has to be sectioned off from the rest of the maze somehow."
"So...what? Just keep an eye out for anything out of place that could be a hidden path?"
"Unless you have a better idea, yeah pretty much."
She did not have a better idea, so they walked along the twisting lanes, checking uneven walls and messing with props to find any clue about how to get to the pumpkin. They came across a weird little hut in the far corner of the maze, a bubbling cauldron in front and unnerving, glowing eyes peeking out from the window.
"I'm gonna check this pot out," she said, trying to sound casual despite the way the glowing eyes unnerved her. That prop hit a little too close to home. "Can you check the hut?"
He agreed without noticing her apprehension, thankfully, but when he pushed the door open a chorus of screams erupted from inside. Estelle whipped her head around… and froze.
Not from fear, however – from the absolutely paralyzing levels of awkward. Soul-destroying, gut-wrenching awkwardness.
"What the fuck?!" Sebastian exclaimed, immediately turning away in a potent mixture of embarrassment and repulsion.
"Close the fucking door Sebastian!" Maru yelled, trying to cover her exposed body with her arms, and mostly failing. Penny had the sense to grab one of their discarded shirts to hold in front of her.
With one hand pressed over his eyes, he fumbled around for the doorknob and yanked the door closed, turning his back to it and stepping away as quickly as if it were on fire. Estelle chewed her lip to keep from losing it as Seb squeezed his eyes shut hard, like he could physically push the image he'd just seen out of his memory.
When he finally looked up to meet her gaze, his eyes narrowed immediately.
"Don't you fucking dare," he warned. But it was too late. Estelle's composure snapped and she exploded in a fit of hysterical laughter, wiping tears from her face as Sebastian glared at her.
"This never happened," he muttered, stalking past her and back the way they came.
"Hey wait up!" she called between giggles, struggling to catch her breath as she hurried to catch up to him. "Try to look on the bright side. I mean, at least they're both hot."
"Keep talking and the next time Natalie and Sam are fucking I'm gonna shove you into their room."
Her face dropped in mock outrage. "No fair! That's like two siblings instead of just one. At least you had Penny there to temper the horror."
"Penny doesn't do it for me."
Estelle arched an eyebrow, her amused smile twisting up into a smirk despite herself. "Oh? Then what does do it for you?"
"Not Penny."
"Cheater," she laughed. "Okay, you win. The last 5 minutes have been struck from the history books."
The next turn led them into a small room with no other exits. "Dead end," Sebastian said, getting ready to turn back.
"Hang on. Doesn't this seem weird to you?" Estelle asked, stepping into the room proper and looking around skeptically. "Like why make this a full room if it's just a dead end with no props?"
"Yeah, I guess that is kind of odd. Let's check it out," Sebastian agreed, crossing the room to check the other side.
Estelle began to examine the wall closest to her, looking for anything out of the ordinary. There wasn't anything else in here, so if there was a secret it had to be either invisible or on the walls. She ran her hand along the foliage as she walked, until finally she felt something out of place.
She paused, pressing both hands against the wall where it felt different. The thick, scratchy foliage here was softer, almost like a lush grass rather than the rigid bushes everywhere else. She pushed her fingers into it and found that not only could she get through, but there was cool air on the other side. A hidden door.
"Hey Seb! I found it!" she called excitedly. He came over and touched the wall himself, then turned to her with a grin.
"Ladies first?"
"Fuck that. If there's a jump scare on the other side, you're taking it for the team."
He shrugged and pushed through the hidden doorway. A moment later he declared the coast was clear, and Estelle followed.
The door took them outside of the maze, caught between the hedge wall and a rock face. A narrow pathway wrapped around the perimeter, and they followed it until they reached an entryway carved into the rock.
"Guess we go through here," Estelle said, peeking into the tunnel before them. Flickering torches lined the walls, thank Yoba, but she noticed these ones had golden flames instead of the blue everywhere else. Her lips curved into a smile. This was definitely the way to the pumpkin.
She was right. When they exited the tunnel they found themselves on a platform above the maze, which had to be the ledge Alex had been trying to get to. At the edge of the platform was a mass of vines concealing the golden pumpkin from below.
Sebastian chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief as he walked over and picked the pumpkin up. "You know, I've been looking for this thing since I was old enough to go into the maze. I was starting to think I'd never find it."
"Well congrats Seb! You did it."
"Because of you," he said. "You found the doorway. I would have just dismissed that room entirely."
"Okay, we both did it then. Estelle and Sebastian, Spirit's Eve Champions!" she said with affected grandeur. "We make a pretty good team you know."
His face softened. "Yeah. We do."
Estelle's heart skipped a beat as they gazed into each other's eyes. Was this it? Was this the moment she'd been waiting for? It sure felt like it.
The thought had only just formed in her mind when Sebastian glanced toward the tunnel they had come from with a weird, uneasy smile. "C'mon, let's go rub our victory in Sam's face."
Guess not.
It had been a little over an hour since they split off, so Sam and Natalie should be waiting for them at the fountain. Sebastian and Estelle were both in high spirits as they made their way back, arguing about where they were going to keep the pumpkin for maximum transformation potential, thanks to their opposing sleep schedules. Eventually they decided the living room was fine – Estelle was going to have a few celebratory pumpkin ales when they got back, so she would probably sleep in pretty late tomorrow. It was already almost midnight, and she had no intention of going to bed any time soon.
The playful banter died as soon as they reached the fountain circle, however. Sam and Nat were there, as expected, but they were not alone.
"There you are!" Abigail practically growled, face a mottled red mess of anger as she stormed over towards them. Every muscle in Estelle's body tensed up, her fight or flight response kicking in automatically with a 100% chance of the former.
"Sam said I'm out of the band? Wanna tell me what the fuck that's all about?"
Sebastian sighed. "Abby, you never came to practice. We booked a gig and you didn't show any interest at all. You clearly didn't want to be in the band, so we found someone else who did."
"So what, I miss a few practices and I get replaced by Sam's little whore?"
Natalie snickered. "Whore is the best you can come up with? Man, you are just aggressively mediocre aren't you?"
"Fuck you!" Abigail snapped, glaring at her before turning back to Sebastian. "I can't believe you'd do this to me Sebastian, after everything we've been through together. I thought you were different. Guess not."
Estelle saw the way Sebastian's shoulders slumped almost imperceptibly, how the glint in his eyes dulled. He was trying not to show it, but she saw how Abigail's words deflated him. She saw the years of pain and self-doubt clawing their way out of wherever he'd kept them hidden. She'd know that look anywhere – it was one she had worn so many times herself.
Estelle's jaw clenched with the dark rage coursing through her like acid in her veins. Knowing that Abigail hurt him was one thing – seeing it firsthand was another. He was trying so hard, and she just kept pushing him back down. Kept him just broken enough to be easily manipulated.
It took every last ounce of self-restraint to keep from punching that vile bitch in the face.
"Seb didn't do anything. I did," Sam said, tone uncharacteristically angry as he came to his friend's defense. "I kicked you out the second I found someone to replace you. You're a shitty drummer and an even shittier person, so fuck off Abigail."
Abigail stared at him in stunned silence for a moment before making an ugly snorting sound, like a pig sneezing in mud. "You know what, fine. I don't want to be in your stupid fucking band anyway. I'm leaving," she said, turning to leave in a huff.
"It's not an airport – no need to announce your departure!" Natalie said brightly.
Abigail didn't respond, just stormed off in the direction of town.
"Aww...she didn't say anything. Her garbage clapbacks are my favorite part," Nat complained.
"You good man?" Sam asked carefully.
"Yeah," Seb said, though his expression said otherwise as he glanced at Estelle. "Wanna grab a drink?"
She gave an ironic half-smile. "Is that rhetorical?"
"Mostly, yeah."
After a few rounds of pumpkin ale, the cheerfulness of earlier was eventually restored. Sam gawked over the golden pumpkin, much to Seb's smug satisfaction. Emily came over to take pictures of everyone in their costumes for the bulletin board. Natalie bet Shane that she could chug a beer faster than him, which was a loss for her but a win for everyone else. When Gus announced he was cleaning up around 2am, Estelle stole Seb's cape to smuggle out a few extra drinks for the road.
It was fun, and more importantly, Abigail hadn't managed to ruin anyone's evening. She'd tried, and she'd failed. Maybe things really were changing.
Too wound up to sleep when they got home, the four friends piled on the couch to watch a movie – Sam and Seb on the ends, Estelle wedged in the middle, and Natalie on Sam's lap, legs stretched across the other two. One day this little two-seater was going to collapse from being loaded up with double its intended occupants.
Just before the movie started, Nat held up her beer with a grin. "I propose a toast – to us, for being so awesome both individually and as a group."
They laughed and clinked. Sam went next. "To Natalie, for saving our asses with her mad drum skills."
"To Sam, for shaving 5 years off his life worrying these past few weeks," Estelle added with a giggle.
"That one's legit," Sam admitted, taking a drink. "To Estelle, our first groupie!"
Sebastian smirked. "Pretty sure those tweens you were chatting up at the fair are our first groupies."
Natalie shot him a look of both concern and amusement. "You were hitting on tweens?"
"They were hitting on me!" he assured her. "I wanted no parts of that mess."
"As much as I love watching Sam squirm, I'll vouch for him there," Estelle said, holding her drink up. "And to Seb, for being the brains of this operation and keeping us fools in line."
"Someone has to," he said with a chuckle.
Their impromptu toasts finished, Natalie leaned forward to hit play on the laptop. They really needed to buy a decent TV one of these days. "Okay now everyone shut the hell up. I heard the demons in this movie literally suck people's souls out of their mouths, and that is the quality content I signed up for."
"Yeah? Well I heard it's the cheesiest paranormal romance this side of sparkly vampires," Estelle countered.
"Everyone's a critic."
An hour into the film, however, Natalie had decided that it wasn't quite what she was looking for after all. "Okay you win, this is shit. I'm going to go to bed," she said, standing up and stretching. She walked towards the stairs, and after a moment's pause turned to look at Sam. "Sooo I'm going to go to bed..." she reiterated, raising her eyebrows expectantly.
"Oh! Uh, night guys!" he said, jumping off the couch and following her upstairs with enthusiasm.
Estelle rolled her eyes and pulled her legs up into the now vacant seat, squirming to find an optimal position. Seb's shoulder jabbed her in the back when she leaned against him, but she was tipsy enough that comfort took priority over maintaining an appropriate level of personal space. After failing to find a middle ground, she just reached over and grabbed his arm, pulling it around her to rest against her side.
"She's right you know. This is fucking terrible," she complained when she finally got settled. A vaguely sober part of her brain was aware that she'd tucked herself against Sebastian's chest in what was essentially cuddling, but the alcohol had dulled her capacity for embarrassment or inhibition.
Besides, he hadn't pulled away.
"Want me to put something else on?" he asked.
"Nope, you're comfy. Besides, now I need to know what happens to Nick."
"I think his name's Lucian? Lucane? Something."
"Nooo, not that boring pretty boy," she said. "Nick. You know, messy brown hair, the only one fuckin' doing anything?"
"Oh, her friend?"
She hummed in affirmation. "Why do always do that anyway? The BFF's in these movies are always so much more interesting than the main dude," she said, furrowing her brow. "Like my man is just a normal everyday science nerd and he's out here slaying demons and shit, while Broody McBroodface actually has superpowers but isn't doing fuck all to help the situation."
"I...don't know?"
"It's bullshit," Estelle continued, the buzz making her chatty. "Like if girlfriend had any brains in her head she'd go for the guy who's obviously all about her and actually useful, instead of that whiny idiot who has nothing going for him except how he's soooo mysterious," she mocked. "It's so unrealistic."
Sebastian chuckled, obviously not expecting such an impassioned critique of this shitty teen flick. "Bullshit yeah, but I wouldn't say unrealistic."
"Oh? Do tell."
She felt him shrug. "Don't girls typically go for the bad boy over the safe bet?"
"Stupid girls maybe." A thought popped into her head and she smirked, shifting slightly so she could look up at him. "Is that why you wear all black Sebby? Trying to tap into the bad boy market?"
He laughed once, though it had a slight edge to it. "Nah. I'm very much aware of my nerd BFF status."
"Well good, 'cause we've established that they're way better anyway."
"But they still don't get the girl."
"Maybe they're trying to get the wrong one," she said softly.
A heartbeat of silence passed and something shifted between them, as tangible as if gravity had increased or time had slowed. The flurry of emotions she saw pass through Sebastian's eyes settled on only one, and her breath caught in her throat when she saw his gaze flick down to her lips and back. Was he going to kiss her?
She didn't have a chance to find out. It was as if her body had made the decision for her, before she had a chance to think twice or talk herself out of it. She was powerless to do anything else.
Estelle leaned in and gently pressed her lips against his.
The kiss was tentative and sweet, lasting only a moment before they both pulled back, staring into each others eyes with uncertainty. He must have found reassurance in hers, because his lips curled up into that sideways smile she loved before he brought them back down to hers again.
Estelle had kissed a lot of men in her life – and one particularly attractive woman – but it had never been like this before. She lost herself in it, gave herself over entirely to the sensation until the world fell away and there was nothing else but him. His lips melted into hers, warm and soft and urgent, while his hands came up to cup her face, her neck, her hair, running over her skin like he was trying to take in every inch of her at once.
She clung to him desperately as the kiss deepened, dizzy and breathless but unwilling to let go and risk this ending. His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her closer until she was nearly in his lap, and her fingers knotted in his hair as shifted his attention down the curve of her throat. Her head fell back instinctively, taking a shuddering breath as he pressed damp little kisses along the sensitive skin there, his hot breath a stark contrast to the chill of the room.
Sebastian captured her lips again, full of passion and desire and a raw longing that left Estelle weak, whimpering helplessly into his mouth.
That one little sound sent a jolt of clarity through the haze in her brain, ripped her out of the spell she'd been caught in. She pulled back from the kiss, resting her forehead against his for a moment until she remembered how to breathe again. His eyes were dark and hooded with desire, and she had to fight herself not to say fuck it and sleep with him right there on the couch.
But Sebastian meant so much more to her than a drunken hookup, and so Estelle reluctantly tore herself away from the one thing she wanted more than anything.
"I um...yeah," she stammered. "I should...probably go to bed."
Estelle gently brushed his hair back from where it had fallen into his face, and pressed one more soft kiss to his lips before retreating to her bedroom. She glanced back from the doorway to find him staring at her with a complicated expression, and she smiled, hoping it looked reassuring. She didn't want him to think she had regrets, but she had to get away from him before her tiny thread of restraint snapped.
"Night Sebastian."
The second her bedroom door closed she collapsed against it, sliding down to the floor with an incredulous grin on her face. She ran her tongue over her swollen bottom lip, where she could still taste him on her skin.
Fuck everything that had been holding her back. She was telling him tomorrow.