*This is just a cute little one shot going back to about mid-story in Flight of the Raven, about two teens going to their first Halloween party :) hope you like it!*
~Saturday, October 30th~
Ella never really did Halloween.
As a kid, she never got to go trick-or-treating, and she never got to wear a costume.
The condo complex her and her parents (now just her and her father) live in doesn't allow trick-or-treaters either. Also now at 15, she figured she was too old to go out and enjoy the holiday.
The noirette sighed, packing up her bag.
The bell just rang, signaling it was time for lunch. All around her, Ella's classmates chattered on and on about their Halloween costumes and about their plans for the next day. The holiday was on a Sunday this year, so everyone was making a whole day of it to celebrate.
"So it's set! We'll all gather back in the courtyard tomorrow at four to have the party! The theme is partners in crime! Everyone has to bring some sort of food or drink or you can't come in!" Alya's voice washed over Ella, pulling the teen from her thoughts.
The redhead was standing at Ms. Bustier's desk, pointing her finger at the chalkboard- where ideas for costumes and food were listed.
Just how long had she been sitting there in a daze?
"About twenty minutes." Adrien's voice gently traveled over the chatter, drawing Ella's gaze up and to her right. The blond model stood at the desk opening, his bag in his hands.
"Did- did I say that out loud?" Ella whispered, her eyes darting back down to her bag.
"Yeah, but it's okay. I just wanted to see if you wanted to go to that café for lunch? Since Alya's done planning and making us stay." Adrien smiled, shifting his weight.
"Oh-uh-sure-"
The rest of Ella's sentence was cut off by Chloé's appearance, the girl throwing her arms around Adrien's neck.
"Adri-kins! We gotta pick our couples costume! I wanna be Ladybug so you have to be Cat Noir!"
"Chloé, the theme's not couples- it's partners in crime! And there's three people in the group so that won't work."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah- minor details! Anyhow, better go out and get your costume! I already have mine so you'd better be ready tomorrow!"
And with that, the blonde girl pressed a lip-glossed kiss to the model's cheek and sauntered off. And Ella couldn't help the giggle at the disgruntled expression on Adrien's face, or the way he hurriedly wiped the sticky gel off his cheek.
"So what's your costume plan?" Adrien asked, turning his gaze back to Ella... and he couldn't help the frown at her look of confusion.
"My costume plan?"
"Yeah- for the party. You're going right?" He urged, hopeful his crush would be going. Maybe he could convince her to pair up with him outfit-wise!
"Um... I don't think so... I-uh... I've never really participated in Halloween..."
Adrien's frown deepened at Ella's words, but he was determined to spend the fun holiday with his crush.
"Well you can start now!" He smiled, motioning for her to scoot over so he could sit, "I've never been to a Halloween party before either, so we can both brave the party together!"
"Is your father letting you go?" The noirette inquired.
"I'll ask him by the end of the day- now that the details have been finalized. Hopefully he'll let me- I know he will if you go with me!" Adrien's grin widened at the realization. His father hadn't stopped asking him about bringing Ella over, and to the teen, that meant the man liked her and determined she was a good influence for his son! So if she went to the party, Adrien could definitely get his father to let him go!
Ella broke at Adrien's smile, moving her gaze down and stuttering out a promise to be there. The blond voiced his thanks, pulling out his phone to text his father while asking Ella what kind of costume she wanted to wear.
"I-I don't know... I've never dressed up or anything..."
"Then how about, after school we go to the costume shop? I'm sure they still have a bunch of options there for us to decide."
Ella nodded, still in a daze at the turn of events, and continued to listen as Adrien told her Alya's plan for the party and everything Ella had missed when she zoned out. By the time he finished and Ella had asked the questions she had, lunch had ten minutes left. But neither teen minded, as they continued to chat and get along, oblivious to the stares their companionship drew from those returning from lunch.
There indeed were still plenty of options for costumes left in the shop, and Ella couldn't decide what she wanted to be. Since the theme was 'partners in crime', Adrien watched as Ella wandered through the store for almost an hour. He wanted her to pick something she liked, then he would find something; hopefully something to match. His green eyes followed her as she wandered before something seemingly caught her eye.
It was a black, fuzzy onesie: complete with flap-looking ears and a tail. Little black wings hung from the back and wide green eyes were sewn into the head.
Adrien recognized it as a 'Toothless' onesie, from the movie 'How to Train your Dragon'. And he couldn't stop the grin that settled on his face as Ella picked up the onesie and ran her fingers over the soft fabric and between the ear flaps.
So as she fell in love with the outfit, Adrien slipped around her and found a 'Hiccup' costume to match.
"Why did I agree to this!?"
Ella freaked, running her fingers over the twin braids she put her hair into. The dragon onesie sat folded on the bathroom counter, mocking her, while Kiismet took up residence on the sink faucet.
"Cause Adrien asked and you like him." The kwami answered simply, as if the answer wasn't obvious.
Ella groaned, resting her forehead in her hands. It was four o'clock now, and she could hear the party starting just through the door.
"You already said you'd go, you bought a costume. Just let yourself have some fun before someone gets akumatized."
"That's an 'if' statement, Kiisy."
"Yeah, so go have fun!"
"Fine, fine! Just promise you'll stay in my pocket?"
"Kwami's honor!"
With a shuddering sigh, Ella slipped the onesie on over her leggings and long-sleeve shirt, zipped up the front and pulled the hood over her space buns while the braids hung out the front opening. She pulled her boots back on, left the bathroom and tucked her bag in her locker.
"Here we go..." Ella whispered, pushing open the locker room door.
"Thank you!"
Adrien practically sprinted from the car when it stopped. It was just hitting four o'clock when he slowed to a walk, crossing into the courtyard of the school.
"Adrien my dude! You look great!" Nino approached, dressed as...
"Dude- it wasn't my idea. Trust me." Nino groaned at Adrien's expression, his hands clasped around the Cat Noir mask portion of his costume. Adrien couldn't help but laugh as Alya came up behind her boyfriend dressed as Ladybug, and Marinette behind her as Raven.
"Hey Adrien! Looking good! You're Hiccup from Dragons right?"
"Yeah."
"And what- Chloé's the blonde girl?" Adrien shook his head.
"No- I'm supposed to meet-"
"ELLA! You look adorable!" The redhead's exclamation interrupted Adrien's sentence, and redirected his attention behind him.
Oh. My. God.
She really was adorable.
The onesie fit her just right, being just baggy enough to be comfortable but also tight enough...
Adrien blinked, his face -he could feel- was as scarlet as Alya's costume. He watched Ella blush herself, her hand fidgeting with the tail's fabric as Alya fawned over her.
"Hicdrien and Toothla! It's perfect!" Alya declared finally, pushing Ella over to Adrien's side.
"Now smile! The pictures from tonight will be on the 'Ladyblog' later!"
Adrien smiled, shifting his weight towards Ella. His shoulder lightly brushed hers, and though he felt her tense a slight bit, she didn't move and gave Alya's phone a shy grin as the flash went off.
Over the next hour, Adrien (with Ella trailing after him) interacted with their classmates and students from other homerooms. Juleka, Rose, Max and Kim were four of the five members from the American show 'Teen Titans', Ivan and Mylène were the Big Bad Smelly Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood, while Alix, Nathaniel and another boy named Marc were dressed as their favorite artists: complete with paint and spray cans. Chloé had shown up dressed as Ladybug, and Sabrina in tow as Raven; Alya scolded the blonde girl for not listening to the planning so no copy-costumes happened, but the teen ignored the redhead in favor of screeching at Adrien's "poor" look and for not listening to what she wanted. After trying to explain he never agreed to match Chloé, the girl stormed out dragging Sabrina with her, screaming about the whole party being "utterly ridiculous"!
"You really do look cute, Ella."
Adrien smiled shyly at the girl once the pair secluded themselves to a corner of the courtyard, each with a cup of chocolat chaud in hand and a small plate of pomegranate macarons between them on the ground.
"Thanks..." The noirette matched his smile, taking a sip of her drink. Her eyes traveled over the students dancing and mingling with one another. But Adrien couldn't take his eyes off her. She looked so happy, so relaxed...
The way the light reflected off the braids hanging out the hood, her eyes were shimmering in mirth at what she was surrounded by. Seeing her like this, almost made Adrien forget all she was hiding... and all the questions he wanted to ask...
"Adrien?"
Her soft voice pulled him out of his daze, alerting him to the change in tone of the party.
A slow song was playing now.
"Huh?"
"I asked if you wanted the last macaron?" Ella held up the plate to his view, one dark pink cookie sitting on the little orange and black paper plate.
"Oh-uh-sure." He stammered, taking the sweet with a word of thanks. He ate the treat quick, an idea forming in his head.
"Hey Elle."
"Hm?"
"Wanna dance?"
The deer-in-headlights look almost made him laugh, but Adrien held it in, in exchange for standing and offering a hand.
"We don't have to go into the crowd- we can dance right here."
It took the girl a moment, seemingly arguing with herself before she reached out a hand and placed it in his own.
Gently pulling her up, Adrien wrapped his arms loosely around her waist, pausing to allow her to reject the position. But Ella just barely tensed before placing her own arms around his neck. Taking lead, Adrien began to softly sway the pair side to side to the music. After a moment, Ella's head rested on his shoulder, and in turn, Adrien placed his cheek against her hood-covered head.
He had so much he wanted to ask... but in this moment, he couldn't bring himself to disturb the perfect scene.
"I'm really glad you came..." He ended up whispering.
"I am too..." came her faint reply.
Luckily, the night ended without anyone getting akumatized, Adrien mentally cheered as he rested his head against the seat. Gorilla had just picked him up, and Ella had given him a goodbye kiss on the cheek after they spent the rest of the party dancing together in their corner.
"You're smitten~" Plagg teased quietly from his spot in Adrien's vest.
"Hush down there. And so what if I am?"
"It just think it's cute, kid. You love your girl just like I love my camembert!"
Adrien chuckled and shook his head at his kwami, turning his gaze back to the twinkling lights outside the car window.
This had truly been a fun night, and a really happy Halloween.