A/N: So maybe I'm mellowing with age? Maybe it's that time of year? Or maybe, just maybe, someone has gotten to me. So here is a special Halloween add-on, to what was supposed to be a one shot, written as fluffily as I could manage.

Thoughts always welcome.

Enjoy.

Fall has a stealth about it: a tricksy sort of guile. And you can never quite remember when summer has loosened you from its lazy embrace, because it's as though the rusts and gold's of autumn are all you've ever known and the slice of pink on the dusky horizon the only beacon you'll ever need.

She can't quite remember when it really began, only that it did begin. ('Post pumpkin' Nichols insists 'and by the way, that was beyond lame, Vause').

But regardless, as beginnings go, it was pretty great.

They've drunk the best part of a pitcher of piss poor sangria (Nichols told me this place was good!) And picked at some of a small plate of cheese.

'Too much will give me nightmares' the blonde insists

'That's if you eat if before bed' Alex says, before she pauses and grins wolfishly, 'unless you're saying…..'

'Let's get the check shall we?'

'Whimp…'

Piper leans across the table, drops her voice to a whisper 'you only got me a pumpkin Vause, don't get ahead of yourself'

Alex grins, 'oh honey, you have no idea'.

They walk back through the park, the dew tipped blades of grass, twinkling like fairy lights. And the night is in full bloom: captivating and exciting all at the same time. It's a delicate sort of silence that pervades, gentle and easy, neither of them keen to break it, to snap them out of this spell.

They walk by the pond, pretty refractions bouncing off the icy surface and follow their noses to a stall selling toffee apples. 'I would offer' Alex says, 'but you don't strike me as a toffee apple kind of girl'

Piper laughs. She feels sort of giddy, her blood humming with an electric vibrancy. 'Oh really? So what kind of girl do I strike you as?'

Alex grins 'the night is still young, let's see if we can find out….there's a party across town…..but we can grab a drink first?' she pauses, watching Piper's face for a change in expression, hesitates momentarily before finishing her sentence.

'If you're game that is….' It's jokey, maybe it didn't need to be, but it affords her a protection of sorts.

Kind of.

And even though Piper knows this is going to make her late for Polly's own Halloween party, she finds herself agreeing, following Alex to a bar a brisk walk away from the park, almost skipping to keep up pace. And when Alex grabs her hand, a visceral thrill rips through her, so powerfully that for a moment, she's sure her legs are going to buckle.

But there's something devilishly delicious about it all.

Magical even.

Maybe.

The drinks are good and strong (a distinct improvement on earlier) and Piper is already feeling a little warmer by cocktail number two. She watches Alex chat to the barman with a lazy sort of ease, eyes sparkling with an odd kind of freedom and it's a bittersweet pang that she feels, awe, tinged with a slight undercurrent of envy.

But tonight is different. She can feel it already; in the rhythmical ebb and flow of the conversation, in the inviting intensity of Alex's gaze and the raw heat pricking at her own face.

So when Alex offers her 'one for the road', she accepts, feels bolder, orders a Margarita this time. Because…well…why not?

'Isn't it a little cold out for a Margarita?' Alex says, long, slender fingers wrapped around the neck of a beer bottle.

'Well I like to pre-game in style'

'Pre-game?'

'Uh huh'

'What, we in college now?'

'Maybe, you wanna be my prom date?'

'Traditionalist'

Piper gasps in mock horror- 'What a scary thought'

Alex chuckles, 'well it is Halloween'.

The moon is high and proud as they seek out a cab, trailing the glinting sidewalks and skipping around puddles. 'You'll like Nichols' Alex says, as she finally hails down an available cab. 'She's good people'. Piper nods, pushing the guilt about Polly to the back of her mind and pointedly ignoring the number of unread messages she now has on her cell.

The cab ride disappears in an inky smudge and they talk a bit more about Alex's friend, until the persistent buzzing of Piper's phone becomes a little too hard to ignore.

'Where's the fire?' Alex grins.

'Oh it's nothing…I'll turn it off' Piper says, fiddling about with the handset.

'Somewhere else you'd rather be?'

'Rather be? No. Should be? Yes'

'Oh? Well now you got me all intrigued..let me guess…secretly married?' she chuckles.

'God no!' Piper replies.

'Run away from the circus? Being sawn in half wasn't your thing?'

'Funny' she says rolling her eyes.

'Fugitive?'

'Shopping at Wal-Mart?'

'Well felons have to eat too don't they?'

'Idiot'

'Well am I getting warm at least?'

'I don't know, are you?' Her grin is wicked.

'Touché, but you know what I mean'

Piper sighs, stares down at her cell. 'My friend, Polly, she's having a party tonight and I'm supposed to be there…..like an hour ago, except…..'

'You're only human kid'

'Asshole'

'And yet you're choosing to bail on your friend's party to be with me'

'Well no one said I had good taste'

'Trust me' Alex says, leaning over, so Piper can feel the warmth of her breath on her cheek, 'it's impeccable'.

Nichols is just as crazy as Alex had described, but Piper immediately likes her, because there's no pretense and that's such a welcome change in her world.

And her gentle ribbing of Alex, the drink in Piper's hand and the rippling bass of a song that she vaguely recognises from college, is such a heady mix, that it makes her heart swell in a way that takes her a little by surprise.

And it feels nice.

Better than nice.

Good even.

'You want another drink?' Alex asks. She leans against the wall that Piper has her back pressed against, so the blonde turns to mirror her body language and for a second, unsaid words hang in the air like a fine autumnal mist; trapped in a moment from which neither wishes to escape. 'Should I take the silence as a no?' Alex finally says, snapping the delicate threads, holding them captive.

'I would love to….but'

'But?'

'My friend….'

'Ahhh….Molly….'

'Polly…'

'So I guess we should say goodbye?'

'Well that sounds a little final'

'Does it?'

'Yes, neither one of us is dying…'

'Only from a little heartbreak perhaps'

'Me? Or you?' Piper laughs.

'Let's call it evens. I'll get you a cab'.

The wind has picked up now, whipping around their ears with a spiteful fervency. The street has an ethereal glow about it, lit up with jack o'lanterns and pretty lights strewn across house fronts.

'Guess my cab will be here soon…you needn't wait for me, it's cold'

'What and leave you to fend for yourself?'

'Alex, we're in Flatiron district, hardly like it's the Bronx'

'Listen, the trick or treaters are vicious around these parts and don't listen to anyone that tells you otherwise…..'

Piper laughs. It's light and warm and it makes Alex's gut contort in a way she'd long forgotten it could.

'Piper…'

'Hey, my cab's here' she says, before turning back to face Alex. 'Thanks for a great night'

'My pleasure'

'See you around….?'

Alex nods. She knows she should say something, finish the sentence she started at least, but she's not sure how and suddenly the atmosphere has changed, thick with a tumultuous energy.

And then Piper's turned away, walking towards the taxi…..back into the night and it's enough to make Alex realise.

'Hey Piper'

Her head whips around instantly, eyes bright, hopeful. 'Yes?'

'Listen, I don't really do this, I mean it's all new to me….I don't know the rules….'

Piper smiles. But there's silence and Alex's heart is hammering so hard she can feel it reverberating in her throat.

The blonde takes a few steps forward, locking her in a gaze so penetrating, that Alex's is sure it could raise the goddamn dead.

'That's the whole problem isn't it?' Piper replies, the edges of her words softer than cotton candy, 'Rules aren't any fun'.

And then they're kissing. And everything is still.