**Author'sNote**

A thank you to those of you interested enough to bug me for more, it really helps get my butt in gear ;) I know this story has taken a long time, and there is still more to come, but hopefully you all enjoy this chapter and keep coming back for more. I love writing it, but find complicated life stuff and a hectic schedule to get in the way. It will eventually be finished (promise!)

Another great big thank you to my beta, foxotr, for taking time out of her own complicated life to help me with some edits. And for being a great friend and someone awesome to talk to when I'm freaking out at all my life changes.

Chapter XV: This Is Halloween

Before she knew it, a few weeks had gone by. Vee couldn't believe the time had gone by so quickly; but it was like that 'time flies' saying. She really was enjoying Edward's company. The two of them spent every day together. Pretty much if she wasn't at work or asleep, they were with each other. It was so nice to be with him. She felt comfortable and content with him. When she was apart from him, she felt like something was missing. Like she was homesick.

She distractedly wiped the counter down while immersed in thoughts. I just want to be with him constantly, and when I'm not with him I am thinking of him. Am I falling in love? Have I already fallen? This is so confusing. How can I be in love? And with someone who will never change, never grow old...never die. How could I ever be in an actual relationship with him? How could it ever work? If I knew what was good for me and for him, I would just force myself to stop liking him...but, how can I stop these feelings? How do you just turn this off?

She was pulled out of her doubts by Lydia's voice, "I don't think that counter can get any cleaner. Are you ok?"

Vee blinked a few times, coming back to reality. She laughed and replied, "Yeah, just tired. All done?"

"Yes! Finally." Lydia let out a dramatic sigh, and reached for her bag and coat.

Vee did the same. "Thanks for staying so late Lydia, that was crazy."

"No worries. It wouldn't have been so bad if Veronica had been able to stay."

They both walked to the door. Vee flipped the light switches as they walked out. She locked the door while saying, "Yeah, but did you really want to deal with that drama? She was in tears and shaking, that's really no condition to work in. Although, if I had known it was going to be so busy, I may have reconsidered my decision to send her home."

Lydia agreed with her as they walked to their cars, "Yeah, that Betsy is such a bitch. She really makes school a living hell. Veronica should just do what I do; ignore everyone."

"Maybe you can tutor her in that." Vee gave her a wink, and got in her car. "Goodnight Lydia, thanks again." Lydia bid her a goodnight as they both closed their car doors and drove off.

Vee cracked her neck and yawned, as she made her way back home. Her eyes flickered down at the glowing digital readout on the dash. She groaned; she would be getting home hours later than usual. At least it was the weekend, so Lydia was able to offer staying late to help. She probably would have been there all night if she had to do it solo.

Edward was probably wondering where she was by now. It's not like she could call him to say she would be a few hours late. Hopefully he had found something to do to occupy his time; and wasn't just standing amongst the trees waiting for her to arrive.

She pulled her car into her driveway, and parked. Her eyes scanned the trees and shadows, but met nothing but darkness. Getting out and locking her car, she called to him. Silence answered her. She felt a mix of emotions; worried that he wasn't there as she had expected him to be, and glad that he didn't wait around for her.

As she walked toward her house she briefly contemplated going inside to change into something more comfortable, but decided not to waste the couple minutes it would take. Instead she veered around it, to the backyard and started the familiar walk to his house.

It seemed to take longer than usual to get there. She was tired, and her body didn't want to cooperate by moving her up the hill. The thought of what was at the top kept her going though, and within a few minutes she reached the beloved creaky gate. It let out it's old familiar song as she pushed it open. She didn't have to look far. Within seconds of the noise, a nervous looking Edward appeared.

He looked surprised as he exclaimed, "You came!"

She chuckled, "Of course I did. I'm sorry; I had to work late." Before she could further explain her tardiness, he interrupted her.

"I waited for you, but you didn't show up, so I went to your house. You weren't there. I was worried..." He shifted his eyes down and didn't finish his sentence.

Her heart skipped a beat. He was worried about her well-being. She thought he may be wasting his time waiting around for her; but she never imagined he would be worried about her. It was so touching, to have someone care about her like that. It almost made her tear up.

"I'm fine, nothing happened to me. I just had to work late because of some teen drama." He looked at her inquisitively. She laughed, forgetting that she needed to explain a lot of things for Edward. "I sent one of my employees home because she wasn't doing too well due to another girl. Just some crazy girl drama to have to deal with." She sighed and dramatically wiped her brow.

Edward raised his eyebrows and nodded in agreement. With a matter of fact tone, he said, "All teenage girls are crazy. It has something to do with glands."

His earnest statement, and it's context, made her laugh hysterically. He bewilderingly observed her as she calmed down, and wiped a stray tear from her eye. She agreed, "Isn't that the truth."

He gave her an unsure smile, and invited her inside where they drank some tea together and chatted about the day.

Eventually she yawned, saying, "I should really get home and get to bed." She glanced up at him with a mischievous smile and added, "You should get to sleep right away too, you need to be up in the morning."

His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "What for?"

She couldn't help the beaming smile. "It's Halloween, and I have a surprise planned out for you." He still looked confused and a little apprehensive, but agreed to it.

He walked her home, as always. They said their usual goodbyes, and she went straight to bed. She forced herself to sleep even though the anticipation was killing her; she had been planning this for weeks. She let herself imagine Edwards reaction tomorrow, and how special the day would be. The smile remained on her lips as she drifted off to sleep.

When the alarm blasted her out of her slumber, she wasn't annoyed like she usually was. There was none of the usual groaning or grumbling. She turned it off, and immediately jumped out of bed with a smile on her face. She went about her morning routine at a speed not yet practiced by her usual morning self. Before walking up the hill, she grabbed an overly full bag that was almost bursting.

The walk passed by faster than usual, and when she arrived at his castle she was a little out of breath. As she walked inside, she gulped in some air and yelled, "Edward! I'm here!"

He walked through the kitchen door to greet her, smiling happily at her presence. He eyed the bag suspiciously, and inquired, "What's the surprise?"

She responded by giving him a toothy grin, and started pulling items out of the bag. Most were various clothes. She stopped when she pulled out a couple plastic knife-laden gloves. She held one up for him to inspect. "Pretend blades to conceal your real ones. I brought you a Halloween costume! Here, let me help you put these on. You see, I've cut them to allow your real blades to fit inside."

Before he could respond to her excitement, or even what was happening, she had clipped the plastic blades over his own, and fastened the gloves to his hands. She exclaimed, "There! That worked out nicely. And look! You aren't nearly as sharp as usual. You do still have to be somewhat careful, and not slice through the plastic; but still...you don't have to worry so much about cutting me now." She paused briefly, then quickly added, "You could actually touch me."

He looked at her with shock. Grabbing his hands to make her point, she held them over her own, and lifted them up slightly. Proud that her ingenious idea worked, she beamed up at him. She couldn't help, nor did she want to try to stop herself as she leaned in and gave him a hug. To her surprise, he wrapped his arms around her back. Resting his sheathed blades against her back, he pulled her in even closer. He held her there for a while, and then said, "Thank you so much Vee. I love my surprise."

The closeness to him, with him initiating it like he did, was something very new and surprising to her. She would have liked to stay that way a little longer; but alas, they had a busy day ahead of them. She pulled away, laughing in response to his thanks, "No Edward, that's not the surprise. It is just the start. Here, let me help you with the rest of it."

She pulled the striped sweater over his head, and helped navigate his arms through the arm holes. He eyed the pants knowingly and said, "I can manage those." He stepped into them and pulled them up using one blade in each of the front belt loops. He gave her a proud smile.

She again laughed, and said, "Well at least let me help you button them." She zipped and buttoned his pants, flushing slightly while doing so. She took the last item from the floor, a black hat, and placed it on his head. He looked rather adorable in it, and she smiled in admiration. "Alright, you are all set. Now, I will just run to the bathroom to put mine on. I'll be right back."

He replied, "Okay." And patiently waited for her. She glanced at him once more before closing the bathroom door. He was inspecting his new clothes, and less sharp blades, with a smile. She shut the door and pulled her Vampira costume out, and quickly changed. Glancing down at herself, she wasn't sure if she could go through with it. She never wore such revealing clothes, but if she wanted to portray the Gothic vixen, she needed to show some cleavage. She took in some deep breaths of air and tried to allay her anxiety a bit. Walking to the door, she slowly opened it, and timidly stepped through.

The noise from the squeaking hinges caught his attention, as he turned to look. She acquired her best statuesque pose, and walked toward him. His eyes got very noticeably larger, as his mouth dropped open slightly. She got near him, and said, "I'm Vampira. She was one of the first celebrity vampires. And you are Freddy Krueger, not a very nice guy, but really the only thing I could think of that worked well with your blades. Do you like it?" She figured he may, seeing as how he was visibly enjoying the view created from her low cut neckline.

His eyes flicked up to hers, and he bashfully said, "Yes, very much so."

She walked to the door, looked at him with a smile, and asked, "Are you coming, or what?"

He blinked a couple of times, and asked, "Is it safe?"

She nodded at him. "You can trust me, Edward. Everyone out there will be expecting many people to be in costume today, and they won't think you are strange at all. They probably will hardly notice you."

"Really?" He asked, obviously shocked by such revelations.

She used her most reassuring voice, and said, "Why don't you follow me, and see for yourself? If you get uncomfortable we can come back, but just remember that I will be there with you the whole time. There's nothing to worry about, I will definitely keep you safe and sound."

She walked through the door and held it open. He uncertainly stepped through the door into the bright sunlight. He blinked several times, not being used the brightness.

She gasped, "Oh! I forgot all about these." She reached into her bag and produced some sunglasses. She laughed, "There, now you are a cool Freddy, but at least your eyes are protected."

He smiled at her as she put them on, then said, "Thank you."

The smile stayed on his face as the anticipation of leaving the property grew. It got even bigger, if that was possible, when she held her car's passenger side door open for him. He got in the car, and let her close the door. She joined him, and started the drive out of town.

He positively beamed as he took in the surroundings. Every house, every person, even every tree and rock appeared to be an absolute wonder to him. She felt so giddy watching his reaction to the outside world. And he was only observing it through a car window! She couldn't wait to get him to the fall festival.

They drove on, and Vee lost herself in her happiness with him. She became aware that she was singing along with the music. She had a 'She and Him' album playing, and was enjoying the music and the company. She stopped herself and looked up at him, he was observing her with a big smile. She wondered if he liked that she was singing, or the content in the love song that she had been belting out. It didn't really matter; she was happy. She chuckled at him, and continued to sing. It was strange how completely comfortable she felt with him.

They got to the town full of colorful costumed people, and decorations. She found a parking spot, and got out, running to his door to get it for him. He hesitatingly looked around, before timidly stepping out of the car. She waited there a moment with him, as he was adjusting to being somewhere new, with so many people walking past. No one made a scene about his presence there, just as she had predicted.

"Would you like to start walking? I think we should go that way." She pointed to the town's park. It had an impressive corn maze set up within it, and a happy commotion could be heard emanating from it. He nodded his head, and they walked towards it. She scooped her arm around his, linking their arms together, as they strolled to the park.

There were some vendors set up there, and she decided he should try some hot mulled cider for the first time. She ordered two, and asked for one straw. She handed him his drink, and watched his obvious enjoyment of the cider.

She happily sighed, "I love the Fall. This really is my favorite time of the year. The leaves are beautiful. There are amazing foods being cooked and baked; cider mulling. The smells are awesome. The sound of the crunching leaves when you walk is even great. And I really love Halloween, and getting dressed up. It's so much fun." He couldn't quite relate, but so far was loving it, and said so.

They both drank their drinks and viewed the town. His gaze kept drifting to the corn maze. It really was a large one, and there were several adults partaking in the fun, as well as many ecstatic children. He wistfully watched the squealing, excited kids running out of it. She noticed the way he was silently observing it, and the melancholy smile on his lips.

She got his attention by asking, "Do you want to go in?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, and blinked. "Can I?"

"Of course you can. Today is about giving you a chance to go out and do the things you normally can't. You don't have to just observe people living and having fun. You can actually join them."

He couldn't contain his excitement as he wildly smiled in the direction of the maze, then started walking to it. She almost had to jog to keep up with him as he entered the stalks of dried corn. They lost themselves in the maze for quite some time. It was like she was a kid again. He had that effect on her. His childlike amazement and wonder at the world around them had a way of rubbing off.

They happily spent the day wandering around the town; eating, drinking, and joining in the activities. Right before dusk, they entered a scarecrow contest. The multitude of scarecrows propped up on stakes was an almost eerie site. They couldn't wait to add their own to it.

They got the materials they needed and claimed an empty stake as their own, and they busied themselves making the scarecrow. While Edward was valiantly trying to stuff it full of straw (and making a huge mess while trying), Vee looked around for some sticks. She found a few and tried to attach them to the wrist holes of its sweatshirt. She started to grumble in frustration as the sticks weren't cooperating and kept falling out.

He noticed her frustration, and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I was trying to make a scarecrow with scissors for hands."

He was genuinely confused. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I dunno, I thought it would be cute."

He frowned. "I don't think we should give him scissors for hands. He would be happier without them."

She stopped monkeying around with the impossible sticks, and looked up at him. "Aw, Edward, I'm sorry. We don't have to give him scissor hands." She tossed the sticks back towards the tree where she found them. "We can make him however you would like."

He stepped back from their creation and considered it. Finally he said, "I think he needs a hat."

Vee laughed and grabbed the one off his head, and gave it to the scarecrow. "There! Perfect!"

He joined in with her giggling. The lopsided, lumpy scarecrow was now wearing a hat. It topped off its red sweatshirt and yellow pant ensemble wonderfully. They had made a pretty ridiculous looking scarecrow, but they had such a good time doing it, that neither of them cared.

The crowd of people walking by carrying camp chairs and blankets caught her attention. "Oh, that's right! I almost forgot about the symphony!"

He looked at her with confusion. She smiled at him and exclaimed, "You are in for such a treat! C'mon!" She practically dragged him along to her car. She grabbed the blanket she had brought for the evening. They followed the throng of people and ended up in an open grassy area of the park. Surveying the area, she found a nice quiet spot near a tree that was overlooking the field and pavilion. She spread the fuzzy fleece blanket out and they both sat down.

The rich warm light of the sunset was just starting to fade into the evening when the symphony started. Edward intently watched them, mesmerized by the amount of musicians and the beautiful sounds they produced. Vee customarily watched Edward, entranced by his reactions. They were much more amusing than anything else she could see.

He took off his sunglasses just as a group of teenagers walked by. One of them straggled from the group and approached Edward, saying, "Cool costume! Freddy rocks!" When he got up close, he added, "Whoa, dude, that's kinda an odd take on Freddy though. What's with all the nasty scars? You 'sposed to be Freddy's son 'er somethin'?"

Edward questioningly turned to Vee, not knowing what to say. She responded for him. "Or something." She said dismissively, scowling at the rude intrusion. The kid shrugged and ran to catch up with his friends, who thankfully were just passing through.

For the first time in the entire day, Edward wasn't smiling. He pensively sat while not saying anything for a minute, then looked at Vee. His eyes glistened as he said, "I've been so happy today, that I forgot how much of a monster I look like."

She was so angry at that dumb kid, and so heartbroken for Edward. "Don't talk like that; you really don't look like a monster at all. There's nothing wrong with how you look. I've never been bothered by your scars, I just wish you could see past them as well. They are a part of you, and you are an amazing person."

She demonstrated how she felt by running her fingertips over a couple of the scars on his cheek. She ran her thumb along his bottom lip, it slid easily over the scar there. She breathlessly said, "You really are beautiful." And she earnestly meant it. He was an overwhelmingly attractive man, and the scars never did bother her. She moved her hand away from his face and wrapped it around the back of his neck, pulling his face to hers. She leaned in, and hesitated for a moment, unable to breath. Letting her doubts and fears fade away, she shut her eyes, and kissed his lips. She kissed him several times, loving the feel of the raised areas on his lips, where she knew he had scars. She wanted to show him that they really didn't matter to her. At first he didn't respond, he just let her kiss him, and then he started to kiss back. He wrapped his arms around her, his hands rested against her back, and he pulled her closer to him. They kissed as the music played, aware of nothing else in the world but each other.