A/N: Hi. I don't know. I loved to write this chapter.

Reviews are my only reward for the hours of work, so thank you, and please keep them coming. Critics are totally welcome.

Also, if you had read my writing before you know that I drop hints of everything like from the 1st chapter. So if you like to read between lines, this chapter is interesting and keep your eyes very very open from now on! Hope you enjoy :))) - Natt

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of the Halloween Party.

Chapter 4: Like what? Twilight?

"Um." That was Darren's inevitable first impression.

It was a little overwhelming landscape for a Saturday morning. Part of the blame was on him, though, he had been so excited about his upcoming plan (Reopening Michigan's Hole as a race circuit with a gambling business) that he didn't think about the process in the middle of it.

To start, what it used to be the start of the race and where everyone gathered to watch it, a bridge; had been (apparently) used as a dump, and the amount of debris and garbage was covering almost half of it. He couldn't clean all of it, not even if he called the whole gang, despite most of them were eager to join him in that new arrangement. So he'd have to invest money on it, which was something he was trying to avoid. But he tried to rest importance to it. He'd earn it all back once he could start the races.

Darren walked back to his bike, but he grabbed his phone from the pocket of his leather jacket first. He had to text someone who knew it could be greater help for him now. As he did, he couldn't help that his mind wandered a long while back.

How long had it been since the last time they talked?

"Yes, mom." Lauren said, struggling to hold the phone between her shoulder and ear, while her hands were busy attempting to sew a shirt that seemed to be way larger and harder than what she expected. "We're all good in here. And you? Ouch!" She couldn't help but to exclaim after pricking her finger with the needle. "No, I had a cramp, mom. I'm okay." She lied.

"Ugh, you're useless. Give it to me." Caroline finally said, stressed, after observing her for a while, and taking the costume away from her.

Lauren sighed of relief. That had been a nightmare. She grabbed the phone with her hand now that she could, laying her back on the chair, more relaxed.

"You sure you're doing fine?" She asked, putting emphasis on this question. She knew her mom couldn't be very good. She hadn't been very good since she divorced her father, like a year ago. And even before that, she wasn't okay. She spent way too much time on her work, and despise she did was a successful lawyer; she ended up being too stressed to function in the family nor as the social housewife she was supposed to be. Lauren found her sometimes way too structured and old fashioned; but she was passionate and worked hard and that's what she knew she could learn from her. "Okay, tell me if you need anything. I love you. Bye."

She looked at Caroline, hanging up the phone. The girl finished sewing in a moment, her hands moved fast and skilled. Lauren wondered how she did it.

"So how do they look?" Lauren asked, trying to hide her excitement. She wasn't dying to go to the party, but portraying a character was an important part of her life anyway.

Caroline shrugged.

"They're okay for a one-day making." She threw it back to Lauren. She examined the black strapless blouse with a fancy sewed red A letter on the chest, the matching black short skirt, and the white kerchief. Although she chose to portrait a modern version of Hester Prynne, she wanted something that kept the essence of the original character. They were pretty adequate.

"Let me see yours."

Caroline put them over her clothes, like if she was actually wearing them, so Lauren could see the effect. It was perfect for her. A dress red as a cherry, black mountain boots, and a French beret. Not to add that her short hair (even though it was red, too) matched flawlessly. She was a replica of Amélie Poulain.

"It looks amazing, I'm upset." Lauren confessed, as her friend smiled and made a spin, making the dress move through the air.

"Don't worry." She finally said, walking to Lauren, and giving her a tickle on the back of her neck. "You'll look like a total adulteress, too."

The first ten minutes after they arrived were not cool, at all.

"If I have to explain once more who I am, I swear I'll explode." Caroline said, shaking her head and grabbing a beer from the nearest table.

The party was pretty crowded. Not that Lauren had gone to a million of parties, but the huge garden was full of people, including the garage, and you could spot some inside of the house too. There were lots of little groups everywhere, a sector of only Harley bikes in a corner, and a stereo with enormous speakers that gathered the majority of youths near the door of the house.

The night was calm, kinda fresh, and it was full moon.

"I knew you were French, that's a start." Julia said, shrugging. She was a classy Marilyn Monroe. And Dylan, smoking next to her, was Sherlock Holmes.

Caroline offered Lauren some of her beer, but Lauren shook her head. She grabbed a coca cola instead. She surreptitiously looked around, but she couldn't find Darren anywhere. Maybe he didn't even come.

"He'll be here, you can be sure." Julia assured, like if she had read Lauren's thoughts. "Darren doesn't miss a party, and less if it's Jim's."

She felt uncomfortable at the assumption that she was only there because of him; so she tried to shrug it off.

"Oh, it's fine."

Lauren pretended to admire the Waldo costume of a guy walking next to them, as an excuse to cut the conversation. She thought she remembered him from somewhere.

She was right, the guy was Rick. He entered into the house, taking off the matching beanie and walking to the fridge.

"You know, there's a table full of alcohol outside." Darren commented from the sofa.

"I'm hungry." Rick complained, putting a hand over his stomach. He finally found some pizza leftovers, and carefully grabbing it he walked to the sofa too.

Brian, who was now an attempt to Edward Scissorhands; and Jeff as Aladin were in there too. Brian was struggling to grab a beer with his –literal- scissors hands (they were glued to his fingers with adhesive tape), and Jeff was cruelly laughing at him.

Rick frowned when he saw Darren. Understanding his costume took him a while. His black curls were messy (messier than usual), and his gray clothes seemed dirty and were torn in some parts. Then he saw the right-angled sign at his feet that read XY390. And he got it. Sirius Black.

"That's new." He said, stealing Darren's beer.

Before Darren could reply something, the door of the house opened again. Joe and Devin, -aka Sandy and Danny from Grease, walked inside holding hands. Joe was whispering something, and Devin laughed. The sound of her laugh was as graceful as he remembered it. When Joe saw Darren, he stood still from sudden. What? Was he shocked to find him? Why wouldn't he be there? He saw him swallowing and thinking what to do. Devin looked just as surprised as him; and Darren thought for some reason that nobody told her he came back. He finally decided that the smartest thing was to give everyone a quick greet with his head, and still grabbing her hand he walked to the counter, on the other side of the room. Devin could only wave awkwardly, still to shocked, before follow him.

There was an awkward, long silence. The only sound was the music that came from outside piercing the walls. Even Jeff and Brian had stayed quiet.

But Brian couldn't stand it anymore.

"You wanna talk about bad ideas? I really need to pee right now." He said staring to his scissor hands. Half to break the ice, half because he was drunk.

Jeff laughed loudly, but Darren didn't.

He stood up and left the house without saying a thing. And he knew Joe was watching him.

He decided to wait near the bikes, but his phone vibrated. It was the answer of that text he sent that morning. Darren grinned. Always late; it's like if nothing changed.

He looked around, between the people, but it didn't take too long to find what he was looking for. She was wearing a leather jacket, of course; and he could tell by the fog around her that she was smoking.

"You had to be that asshole without a costume that ruins everything." Darren said, pretending an exasperated but calmed voice, as he walked to her. She did so as well.

"Can't you tell I'm dressed as you? So yeah, I'm an asshole." She replied seriously, before smiling and wrapping her arms around him. "You're back, I can't believe it."

"I knew the longing was killing you." He joked.

"Ha, ha. Are you gonna tell me what happened?"

Darren grimaced. "Later. Now, we have more important things to talk about." He put an arm around her shoulder, leading her to a quieter place.

She was Rachel. Darren met her on his freshman year in college. She was actually the reason he became friends with Joe, she had gotten in the group at the same time as him. After a trimester something terrible happened though. They intended to make a prank that ended up causing a big mess, and there was conflict of interest involved if it happened to spread outside of the university, so to end the whole thing, Rachel took the responsibility completely. They expelled her. But she saved their ass. They couldn't think of a way to reward her, and she never allowed them to. She just claimed it was a matter of morals; so the best way to give it back was that they remained being who she thought they were.

They talked about everything. Darren's music video, Joe and Devin, college, and especially about how Darren was going to arrange Michigan's Hole again. Rachel, from her part, got a job as a waitress and was still performing in a theatre in Ann Arbor. She sounded wiser. She had always been smart, but she just sounded wiser now. There was a new scar on the olive skin of her arm, and her dark hair was wilder.

"By the way," Rachel said with a smirk, once they walked back to the table to grab beers. "I brought my friend Kaylee with me." She pointed at a slim brunette who was chatting and laughing loudly a few feet away. "She is very interested into, um, knowing you." The way her eyebrows raised was more than enough for him to understand.

He smiled. "You are the best." He said. He left the sign of his costume between his feet to grab a half-eaten packet of French fries, trying to decode whether they would intoxicate him or not.

Someone cleared his throat behind him; and he thought he recognized who it was, but no, it couldn't be. He turned around.

It was.

Darren raised the palm of his hands next to his head. "Hey, I'm three feet away and my hands are over my head. Keep your restraining order to yourself." He said, and it wasn't clear if he was being sarcastically cruel or just making a joke.

Lauren had seen he was near, and to be one hundred percent honest, she had to take a moment to breathe and gather courage to walk to him. But she felt it was something she needed to do.

His response almost made her snap something quickly; but she knew she shouldn't. Instead, she explained calmly.

"I need to talk to you about what happened the other night."

Rachel sneakily walked away, but none of them noticed. Darren was surprised by her request.

"Uh… Okay." He finally muttered. He wasn't expecting that. "Let's go somewhere we can talk."

Darren walked back to the place where he just was with Rachel, not so far away from the rest of the party; Lauren behind him.

"So… Is your costume some kind of statement?" He said, raising eyebrows, as he continued walking; but a grin sneaked on his lips.

"Not necessarily." Lauren replied. "I think if I tell, the whole thing loses sense." She frowned, examining his costume. "And you are like a… beggar?" He stopped walking, showing the sign. "Oh." Lauren just said first. As far as she knew all Harry Potter costumes were overused and mainstream; but this one was pretty clever. Lauren wondered why he chose it. "Is this because of what I said?"

Would it actually be possible that her accusations inspired him to do a sort of performance?

"You know, it's pretty arrogant to think everything I do is a consequence of you, Lauren." Darren said with a smirk. Was it the first time he said her name like that, so casually? And why did she notice? "Besides, if I tell it loses the sense." He finished, mocking her tone.

If Lauren gave herself the luxury of responding to that, it'd be impossible that she apologized in some point of that conversation. So she chose to ignore that.

"Mm, so. I wanted to make clear what happened the other day at class." She tried to use an honest tone so he'd know it was serious. "You didn't do anything inappropriate. I acted like a freak. I don't know what happened. But I made a scene that was totally unnecessary, and you didn't deserve to get that treatment. And to receive Cameron's lecture. It was out of place from me. I'm sorry."

Darren listened to her very cautiously. He seemed to process and think about her words for a while. Then he finally grinned slightly (So subtly that you could barely notice), and pointed at her with a finger.

"You're crazy." He said. "You projected on me this whole time. You called me a psychopath, when actually it's you." He seemed very satisfied with this discovery. Lauren didn't like that prude grin on his face; but for the sake of peace, she just rolled her eyes. He let out a sigh of deadbeat, and continued, calmer, "I've been putting up this character, too. Let's agree that we'll be nice to each other from now on."

Lauren didn't know if that was a convenient long-term deal.

"Only if you accept that there can't be anything between us, and you think of some freaking context before you make a joke."

"Sounds fair." He didn't take the prude grin out of his face. "Can I put my rules, too?" He asked, and Lauren limited herself to raise an eyebrow, but Darren continued. "You can't a) Leave dramatically whenever we have a conversation, and b) You gotta actually listen to what I say."

"I do listen-"

"Respect my rules and I'll respect yours." Darren interrupted, and Lauren bit her tongue.

"Okay, Criss. It's a deal." She settled.

Darren seemed overly pleased. He made half a grin.

"Come on, I'll get you a drink." He said, while they walked back to the table.

Lauren could hear her mom's voice saying don't accept drinks from strangers in her head. Despite the last time she heard it was years ago, it kept coming back. But Darren wasn't a stranger, and she'd take only one to symbolize their peace settlement.

"So, did you choose the topic for your essay?" Darren asked, handing her a pink drink. Lauren liked the fact that he asked something about college in a party like that. It made her feel more adequate.

"Yeah, actually, I did that today. I went for Shakespearian romanticism." Lauren explained, then directed her lips to the straw.

He seemed to be momentarily jolted by that extreme overconfidence again.

"Really? So you followed my advice."

She didn't want to admit that the idea pop up in her mind since their talk at the Hard Rock Café.

"It didn't necessarily-"

"Oh, come on. Can't you just admit that it was a good idea?"

Lauren bit her cheek. "It was a good idea." She added quickly, "I plan to do a comparison with contemporary portraits of romance, like, you know, movies, Broadway plays and such."

Darren grimaced. "There aren't movies that know how to play out Shakespeare's romance without ruining it. That Romeo and Juliet version with DiCaprio what the shittiest movie of the 90s."

"It doesn't have to be obvious, you know. It can be any romantic movie." Lauren contradicted quickly. Her tongue was fast when it came to those subjects.

"Like what? Twilight?"

"You obviously haven't seen a good film in your entire life." Lauren wanted to hear what his lame response would be, but she couldn't help but to ask, "Where is the bathroom?"

"Entering, to the left, next to the stairs." Darren explained, but then warned seriously. "This conversation hasn't ended."

"Clearly," She stated, giving him the empty glass.

Lauren passed by Sandy and Danny making out when she entered to the house, so hurried that she hardly recognized them. She knocked on the door of the bathroom.

"Busy!" A male voice answered.

Ughhhh. She bit her lip, anxious.

"I don't think he'll go out soon, honey." A guy dressed as Aladin said, "He's literally got scissors on his hands."

Lauren cursed inwardly.

"Is there another bathroom?"

"Upstairs."

If she knew she had to climb stairs, she wouldn't have put on high heels.

"Darren?" A voice asked.

"I guess you're Kaylee."

The girl smiled. Her lips were a powerful red, and her voice, mischievous. "Listen, I'm with my girls now. But a friend of mine lives a few blocks from here, so when the party is over, why don't you give a ride over there?" The double sense of her words turned him on, and she sneaked a paper into the pocket of his leather jacket as she finished her sentence.

Darren smiled back. "You can be sure I will."

It seemed as if she wanted to add something more; but a loud babbling from the sidewalk prevented her. Darren understood it quickly, when he saw the car parked in the street. Those were Jim's parents. Jim's parents who were supposed to be away for the whole weekend. Jim's parents who didn't know about the party. Fuck.

The disaster happened fast during the next three minutes. Kaylee joined her friends and they ran to their car; and so did everyone. Some of them were disappearing running through the sidewalk or the gardens, the sound of the bikes flood the place, the most extravagant people were yelling for some reason. It was a gregarious movement.

The garden was quickly desolated, and the only movement was the garbage flying with the wind. But Darren didn't go crazy as everyone else. He'd hid in the back yard for a while, then he'd go to the address Kaylee gave him. The night wouldn't be such a waste whatsoever.

When Lauren went downstairs and heard old people's voices, she thought it was weird. The couple was busy yelling at Jim to notice her sneaking through the front door. She started to get anxious when she stepped outside, her gaze reached people disappearing from the house everywhere and through any method. But pretty much everyone was already gone.

She trotted to the sidewalk. The heels of her shoes echoed. How it all went so quiet and empty while she was in the bathroom? She looked around, and she did several times; but it was in vain.

Julia's car was gone.

Her hands were shaking a little when she took her phone out of her purse. They couldn't be gone without her, they couldn't have leaved her there alone. It didn't make sense.

The phone rang and rang, but nobody picked up. She started walking from one side of the lane to another, nervous; as she kept trying again and again for a long while.

Nothing.

She didn't even know in which direction her room was. The streets were deserted, and it didn't seem a very friendly neighborhood, starting by the fact that they didn't seem to invert a lot of money in lamp posts.

"Lauren!"

That call was so unexpected that she jumped slightly. Darren was carrying his bike next to him as he approached her through the path of the house door. He remained a few feet away, holding his bike and helmet, and that's when Lauren noticed that in her nervous walking she had moved almost to the next house.

"It seems like you need a ride." He observed, which was also an excuse to look at her. Her outfit was almost designed exclusively for her figure. And damn, he still wanted her.

"No, thanks." Lauren replied, and cleared her throat after realizing her voice came out weak. If accepting someone else's drink was dangerous, can you imagine having them giving you a ride home?

"You sure?" Darren asked, raising his eyebrows and looking at her; wondering how she would go home.

"Yes, I'm sure."

But to be honest, it wasn't his problem. If she refused to go with him, then there's nothing he could do about it. She'd figure it out by herself.

He put on his helmet and started his bike; but he didn't go yet.

Lauren called Caroline for the hundredth time, as she kept walking anxiously.

A light was coming closer, and soon she descried a car in the street driving by. Music came from inside of it. To her horror, the car stopped right in front of her.

She knew she should run the fuck out in that moment; but the panic disabled her.

"Hey, doll." The man said from the car. "Want me to drive you somewhere?"

Her jaw trembled, and she couldn't move. Her chest hurt a little.

"Want my fist on your face?" Darren yelled from his place. His voice was heard noticeably over the sound of the bike. He drove from there until the front of the car's window; between the car and Lauren. "Get lost." He added, disgusted.

The driver directed him a nasty look, but he quickly looked back to the street and drove away.

There was a silence. Lauren stared at him; she didn't know what to say. She was still pretty nervous, but what he did was… She didn't know how to describe it.

Darren took off his helmet, and looked at her.

"Lauren, don't make this harder for both of us."

It'd be absurd to say she didn't need the ride. She didn't know how else to get home. She examined Darren's bike. It was big, and loud, and dangerous.

"I'm not sure I could go on this." She admitted.

"Why? Are you scared of bikes?"

"I'm not scared of bikes. I'm scared of going at 300 mph and hitting a lamp post and die."

Darren giggled; and handed her his helmet.

"It doesn't make it up."

"Still, use it." Darren said. "The statistics say the companion is tenth times more likely to die." Lauren frowned, staring at him. "It's a joke." He added, respecting Lauren's rule; but he was still the only one to laugh.

She accepted the helmet, and finally climbed the bike, quickly as if it'd all end with this. When she put her hands around his waist, she tried to just hardly graze him; as if touching him was a sin.

Darren accelerated quickly the bike, as if they were going to go, but they didn't move forward; so the bike jumped in its place. Lauren gasped, instinctively grabbing him tighter. He did this two, three times more; until Lauren couldn't stand it. He was doing it on purpose to scare her. And it worked.

"Can you stop being a damn jerk for five minutes?" She yelled, upset, and Darren smiled, without saying a thing, as he finally started riding.

Lauren realized he wasn't the most cautious driver. Skilled, maybe, but his overconfidence was dangerous. She swallowed her desire to tell him to go slower more than one time. She could count the pulsations of her heart, but time made it easier. Part of the fear disappeared within the way; and by the end she even started to trust him a little bit.

For Darren, it was liberating. The speed, the wind shaking them faintly, the landscape around him morphing from one to another. There was always a chance of risk, but wasn't that what made it special?

Lauren sighed loudly of relief when they made it to her apartment, without hiding she was glad to be still alive.

"Congratulations, you didn't die." Darren joked, as Lauren got off the bike.

She gave him the helmet, nodding.

"Thanks for… The thing you did today." She said honestly. She couldn't still find the right words.

"That was nothing." He shook his head. "So… about those movies you said." He wet his lips. "I'd love a recommendation."

"I'll tell you something, why don't you let me get some sleep, and come back later." Lauren suggested. "For education motives. You can't go on living thinking Twilight is the only romance movie in the world."

Darren grinned.

"That sounds great."

Lauren walked slowly to the gate. She turned around, and said, raising her voice to be heard:

"Just to make sure. It's not a date."

"Clearly." He replied, putting on the helmet.

Lauren smiled.

He didn't leave until she finished climbing the stairs, observing her through the gate; and she disappeared from his sight when she got inside of her room.

Before she could go and yell to Caroline for leaving her alone, she stayed a moment by the closed door, still smiling. She felt a weird sensation in her stomach and chest. And for only a second, she wondered if Darren felt it too.