Mother had brushed through her hair nearly 100 times only stopping to cough up blood once. Jessica looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like a doll in the lavish dress that she'd seen movie stars in.
"Mama loves you baby, don't forget that." She said in a soft voice, her dark eyes wearily looking at her daughter's reflection in the mirror.
"Mama, is this my birthday present?" she asked turning to her mother. She looked surprised for a moment, and then gave her daughter a smile.
"Yes, for your twelfth birthday you get a makeover." She said brushing some hair behind her ear. There was a knock on the door and her mother frowned. "Your Mama loves you very much!" she said kissing her forehead.
The phone rang and Jessica shot up in a cold sweat. She was lying out on the couch with a book on her stomach, in a polyester fairy dress. She brushed her hair back trying to calm her breathing looking around for the phone. She spotted it under another book Spencer had left for her to read. She answered and smiled hearing Spencer's voice on the other end.
"Hey are you ready for tonight?" he asked as Jessica looked around at the goofy Halloween decorations around the apartment.
"Oh, I've got the dress on." She said sitting up and straightening out her dress.
"Good! I'll be home soon, hopefully before the kids in the apartment start trick or treating." Jessica could just hear him smile. He had been really excited about this day since September. "Do you remember where the candy is?" he asked and Jessica glanced at the large bowl full of candy.
"I'm not blind Spencer. You left it on the counter." She said standing up and walking to the bowl. She grabbed a Kit-Kat bar and started opening it.
"Are there any Kit-Kat's left." He laughed as she broke the two in halves. She stopped.
"Yes!" she said her voice a little higher as she stuffed one stick in her mouth and dug through the bowl to look for more. Spencer laughed.
"I'll see when I get there." He laughed. Jessica smiled devouring the candy.
After Spencer called, the "Mama Bear" visited all the doors they were going to stop by to see what rooms where going to give out candy. She was quite surprised to find Jessica there.
"So the um," she stopped probably thinking of words to describe Spencer. "the young man is your?"
"Roommate" she informed the woman. The woman nodded making a strange face.
"Oh, okay then. Well is it alright if the kids trick or treat you?" she asked pulling up her clip board. Jessica looked at it confused.
"Well yeah," she started but the woman interrupted.
"Do you have any healthy treats?" she looked at Jessica with wide eyes from her clipboard.
"Uh, we have candy pouring out of a bowl." She glanced at the candy.
"Oh, well, good thing I'm handing out toothbrushes." She snipped looking at her board. Jessica just cocked her eyebrow watching as she wrote on her clip board. "Well, would you mind handing out just one piece of candy then? It would be healthier for the children." She said looking up to Jessica. She smiled.
"Of course." She said sweetly, tilting her head to the side. "Spencer will be home soon. He really hoped to get to see the children." She smiled but the woman turned around.
"Well, the children will start at ten and take about an hour to finish. So he might see them if he gets here in time." She said walking off. Jessica gladly shut the door behind her. She glanced at the clock. He had an hour before the kids started trick or treating.
Jessica sat in the bathroom bored, a curling iron finishing the last curl in her hair. She pulled it out looking at the now curly hair. She did her make up earlier, playing for nearly taking twenty minutes. She walked out glancing at the clock on the night stand. The kids should have been trick or treating for ten minutes now. She looked at the bowl and she grinned. What that old witch didn't know wouldn't hurt. There was a knock and Jessica opened the door, not really expecting the kids this early, they were on a higher floor. She grabbed the candy and opened the door.
"Oh Jessica…You look uh," Jessica found Spencer looking at her outfit.
"I'm so glad you're here!" she said pulling him inside. She shut the door behind him. "The kids started at ten." She said taking his bag. "Hurry and get dressed." She said pushing him towards his room. She grabbed some bags and turned to the candy. She sorted the candy into the bags while she waited.
She was half way through the bowl when Spencer stepped out in his Dracula costume. His hair slicked back and plastic fangs in. Jessica just giggled as he approached in his act.
"I've never had fairy blood." He cackled, resting his hands on her bare shoulders. Jessica shivered and Spencer moved away. He looked down worried. He shouldn't have touched her like that.
"Here I told that stupid witch I would just hand out one piece of candy to the kids. You can give them more." She grinned. Spencer laughed. She was quite sly when she was irritated.
"Let's get ready for the kids." He smiled taking his candy. Even with a horrific case like the one he just finished, coming home to her made it feel like a lifetime ago.
Jessica took off her wings, throwing them on the floor. Spencer took out his teeth. He grabbed a pile of movies and flipped through them.
"So we can start with Frankenstein and then watch the Wolfman." He grinned taking off his cape. Jessica dropped her wand on the counter and fixed popcorn.
"Whatever you want Spencer." She said stealing another Kit-Kat.
"Did the kids get any?" he laughed. She smiled.
"I'm sure there were some in one of those bags." She said before eating the candy.
They settled on the couch, Spencer stretched out on the end and Jessica sat close beside him. He knew she didn't like scary movies, but she wouldn't tell him she didn't like it. She'd just hug him closer and hide her face at the parts she didn't want to see. She sat with her legs curled up on the couch. His left arm drooped over the top of the couch so his finger tips lightly touched her shoulder. She didn't shiver and didn't move, so his panicking seized for a moment as she sat picking at the popcorn.
"Spencer is it strange that two people live together and just be friends?" she turned to him and he shook his head.
"People do it all the time." He said taking some popcorn and popping into his mouth.
"Then why did that unpleasant woman give me a strange look when I said we were just roommates?" Spencer started coughing and sat up.
"Are you okay?" Jessica asked looking at him panicked.
"I'm fine." He said once he stopped coughing. "She ah, just probably thinks that we're doing, um, things that, uh, are intimate." He said his face red. Jessica just laughed leaning on his chest. He moved his arm around her shoulders, trying to chuckle. He was confused as to how she could just laugh it off. Of course she amazed him everyday with how she could adjust to life with him so easily. He eventually let his eyes find the movie. She was quiet for a long time before she lifted her head and looked at him.
"Can I talk about my mom, to you?" she asked. Spencer was surprised. She had never mentioned her past before.
"Yeah! Of course." He said turning to her. She gave a small smile as he prepared himself for the unknown.
"My mother was always sick." She started off. "She coughed a lot, and sometimes there was blood." She said as she started focusing on her memories. Spencer held her to his side, just listening.
