A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who favorited or decided to follow! (hugs you all) CartoonCaster21, I hope that this chapter is easier to read. Anyway- on with the mania! Reviewers will not have the terrible trio acting up in their houses at night! (…just kidding. Sort of. Behave, you three.) I don't own anyone in Halloween Town. Sigh.

Three noses left smudges on the windowpanes as six hands overcrowded the available gripping space on the sill. Barrel's eyes were big as thunder cracked nearby.

"It's really coming down." Shock turned to Lock. "Do you think we can get home in this?" The leader of the trio answered her with a confidence that he did not feel.

"Of course we can."

The three stared dubiously out at the silver-sheeted world. They could barely see Jack's yard, which was beginning to flood. A fork of bluish lightning, followed by a crack of thunder that sounded like the world was splitting apart, sent the trio scrambling back from the window. Shock clapped both hands over her ears. Lock cringed into an arm of the couch, and Barrel hid between two cushions. Jack's living room seemed twice as dark to their dazzled eyes once the fury had passed. As the door nearest the kitchen creaked open, they instinctively huddled into a clot and simultaneously turned to face the doorway. * * * *

Streaks of dark precipitation were reflected in Sally's worried eyes as she gazed out at the turmoil of howling wind and whipping rain. Every so often she'd take a step back to allow Jack enough room to finish his latest lap of pacing. The Pumpkin King's bony brow was furrowed; his sockets pinched with deep thought and concern.

"The weather's horrendous," he muttered, half to himself, "I wouldn't send out a cockroach on a night like this."

For a couple of minutes, the clicking of his bones on the tile and the hammering of the rain against the manor had the floor. Then, skeleton and ragdoll simultaneously blurted out, "Maybe-"

Jack stopped short. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sally-" His girlfriend twisted one hand shyly. "Oh, no, Jack- you go ahead…"

One short politeness war later, Jack ventured, "Maybe- maybe they should stay the night here."

A relieved smile spread across Sally's soft red lips. She'd been thinking the very same thing, but hadn't wanted to impose on Jack as she was a guest at the manor herself.

"I think that's a wonderful idea."

When he stared at her as if she'd sprouted wings, the gentle ragdoll added, "'Wonderful' meaning it's the right thing to do, and I'm proud of you."

He hugged her tight. "I'll go tell them." * * * *

Jack walked in. The trio noticeably tensed.

"Don't be afraid," the skeleton king told them. They continued to stare at him as if they were waiting for him to spit acid from his eye sockets. He knelt down and beckoned for them to come closer. Reluctantly, they shuffled a few feet towards him. Lock's hand slipped into his pocket and felt the reassuring weight of a stinkbomb. Shock looked ready to get between the king and the other two at any given moment. Jack picked up on the tension and spoke as gently as he could.

"With the storm going like it is, Sally and I have decided that we want you to stay here for the night."

Six eyes grew big as candied apples. Three mouths opened to launch protests that were quenched by another explosion of thunder. Tearing his eyes away from the group, Lock twisted his tail and muttered, "Alright."

Jack nodded and stood up. "If you follow me, I'll show you to your room."

The three trotted after the Pumpkin King as he headed upstairs. When they were partway up, Lock pointed. "Look!"

Barrel saw. "A light!"

"That must be it." Shock declared.

She led the charge to the top of the stairs and tore down a long hallway. The witch girl darted into the lit room with a cackle of delight.

"Look at that great bed! DIBS!"

"What?!" Lock stormed in after her. "You don't get dibs! Ido!"

While Lock and Shock bickered, Barrel crawled onto the bed and snuggled into the waiting blanket.

Jack watched from the doorway, looking a little bit lost. "That's my bed."

None of the trio heeded him. Shock started jumping on the bed, which irritated Lock because he hadn't thought of it first. Sally slid past Jack, touching his hand in a silent excuse me.

The patchwork redhead caught Shock in mid-spring. "Your room's down by mine."

Shock tipped her head. "You and Jack don't sleep in the same room?"

It was impossible to tell which grown-up was more flustered by the question. Sally ducked her head, twisted her ankles together, and stammered, "W-wuh-well, no. No. We d-don't."

"Heh-heh, we're not married," Jack added, laughing nervously and scrubbing the back of his skull with one hand as though he was hoping to get his head to a fine kingly sheen.

Sally set Shock down and practically fled from the room. The boys climbed down from the bed and joined Shock.

As the three trotted back down the hallway, Barrel whispered, "What's being married got to do with it?"

"I'll bet she snores, and they just don't want to admit it," Lock whispered back.

This thought made the three snicker all the way to their room. While Jack furnished their guest room with extra pillows and blankets, Sally showed the trio where the bathroom was and asked if they needed anything. She was met with three shakes no.

Her expression turned to one of surprise. "You don't want to brush your teeth?"

A group look of disbelief. More head shaking. Surprise turned to something straddling concern and squeamishness. "What about washing your faces?"

Lock looked at her as if she had suggested taking an indefinite vacation to Valentine Town. "Why would we do that?" * * * *

(Ten minutes later)

Lock scowled at the softly glowing nightlight. His arms were folded tightly over his tiny chest. "Oogie never made us brush our teeth."

"Or wash our faces." Shock mumbled.

"And he never scrubbed behind our ears," Barrel added, wincing. "Mine still hurt."

Lock nodded, looking almost sympathetic. "I never saw so much fuss over a few patches of mildew." They stared at the ceiling for a few minutes.

Then, Lock declared, "I'm not tired."

"Me neither," Shock and Barrel agreed.

Shock sat up. "Let's go out-"

Lock grinned. "And stretch-"

"-Our legs!" Barrel finished, grinning even wider. * * * *

Sally sat bolt upright in bed, her stuffed heart pounding. There it was again: a long series of thumps ending, if she really listened for it, a faint thunk. The sounds, she realized, were the reason she'd had nightmares of being trapped in a cabin during a hailstorm almost as soon as she'd gone to sleep. The rain was still pounding, but the other din was clearly audible. The clever creation strained her ears and made out muffled giggling. She relaxed without knowing that she'd tensed, and let out a silent sigh of relief. It was only Lock, Shock, and Barrel. But what in the world were they doing up? The clock in the corner read just after one in the morning. Sally listened again. It sounded like they were on the stairs. Sure enough, one too many squeaking, creaking steps later, the thumping started again. The quiet redhead laid back down and stared up at the ceiling in disbelief. They'd been at this for just under two hours?

As the footsteps creaked closer, Barrel's voice floated through the wall.

"Shock got to ride down fifty-nine times and I've only gone fifty-seven times!"

"Okay, okay, you can take an extra turn," Lock told him.

"O-kay!"

Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump

Sally jammed a pillow over her face and crushed either side against the sides of her head. At two-fifteen, she gave up, pulled a blanket over her nightgown, and took refuge in Jack's room.