A/N: I would just like to thank ThefadingdaysofMay for being awesome and pointing out that in England there is no Thanksgiving! So I edited that little portion of the chapter. Thanks!
Chapter 13: This is Halloween
Emma finished putting her curled hair up and looked at her reflection in the mirror. The red dress was a bit short for her taste, but that was the costume.
"Are you almost done Sherlock?" Emma yelled, walking into the main room.
"Just about." He called from the bedroom.
Sherlock walked out in black pants and blue sweater, his hair carefully gelled back.
"You look great!" Emma gushed.
"Can you help with the ears?" Sherlock asked, handing her the package.
"Yeah, come into the bathroom."
Sherlock sat down on the toilet seat while Emma tore open the package. She read the instructions carefully.
"OK we have to heat the glue and then put it on the tips of your ears, and put the silicon ear-tips on top and hold it there while it dries for three minutes." Emmaline grabbed the tube of glue. "I'm going to go heat this up."
She left the bathroom and went into the kitchen. She put the tube into the microwave and hit the time and 'start'. On the counter were four bowls full of assorted candies and chocolates. She and Sherlock had gone shopping days ago for it. Waiting for the glue to heat, Emmaline snagged a Butterfinger and ate the tiny candy.
"Mmm, that is so good!" She enthused in a hushed whisper. Sherlock had already berated her twice for catching her eating the candy.
The microwave buzzed and she pulled the glue out.
"Alright Sherlock, you ready to go Vulcan?"
"Yes!" He said with a smile.
When Sherlock had come home and told her that he had picked Spock and Uhura from Star Trek, she had not complained. They had gone and gotten their costumes the Saturday he had been back in London. Emma had not said a word about it because she was excited to see him excited about Halloween. She had a feeling that it was not a celebrated holiday in the Holmes household.
"Alright this might be hot." Emma warned.
Sherlock winced as the glue hit his ear. Quickly Emmaline grabbed the silicone ear-tip and pressed it on the glue.
"Please don't pick at your ears when I am done with this."
"Why would I pick at my ears?" He asked.
"I don't know, I'm just saying."
Emma looked at her watch. "Alright, time for the other ear."
She stepped around Sherlock and did the same to his right ear. When it had dried, she stepped back to admire her handy work.
"That looks great!"
Sherlock stood up and looked in the mirror. "It does look pretty good."
"Do the hand thing!" Emma implored.
"The Vulcan hand salute." Sherlock told her. He did, holding up his right hand, fingers apart just like in the show.
"Now say it." She urged.
"Live long and prosper." Sherlock said with authority.
"Just like Leonard Nimoy." Emmaline declared happily. "Come on its six o'clock – kids will be out by now."
She grabbed his arm and pulled him out to the kitchen where they each grabbed a bowl of candy and stepped out into the hall.
"Are you excited?" Emmaline asked.
"This is my first Halloween." Sherlock admitted. "We didn't celebrate it at home. Sometimes mummy and daddy would give us candy but we never got to go around asking for it."
"Well, next year we can." Emma promised.
"Aren't we too old?"
"You're never too old for Halloween." Emmaline told him, smiling.
"Trick-or-treat!" Two little girls approached them with open pillowcases.
"Oh you look so pretty!" Emmaline enthused.
She and Sherlock each gave them a piece of candy from the bowls.
"Thank you!" The girls trilled as they walked away.
"That was…fun." Sherlock said in a surprised tone.
When Emmaline had suggested doing Halloween he had thought it would be silly, but as the date had gotten closer, he had slowly started getting more excited about it. And now that he was doing Halloween, he was having fun.
More kids in costumes approached them all night, asking for candy. A few times kids would ask who he was and he would proudly tell them. Sherlock did not even care that they were confused about who Spock was. He was having fun. Something he had not had in a long time.
By nine o'clock when trick-or-treating had ended, Sherlock was hyped up. He wanted to go around giving out the rest of his candy. It took all of Emmaline's persuasive powers to get him back inside.
"When it's over, it's over." Emma shrugged. "You get to eat whatever is left." As she said this, she ripped open a Kit-Kat and bit into it.
"Are you just saying that because you want to eat the candy?" Sherlock asked seriously.
Emma laughed. "No; Halloween rules, I promise."
Sherlock sighed and sat down on the couch with a 'plop'. "I haven't had that much fun since I can remember." For the first time in a long time, Sherlock was not bored. He could not remember ever being not bored.
Emmaline sat down on the couch, lounging against the armrest and placed her feet in Sherlock's lap. She felt something hard against her back and reached behind her, pulling a book out of the couch.
"Here, read this to me." She tossed the book to him.
"Sleepy Hollow. Really?" Sherlock rolled his head to look at her.
"It's Halloween, that's a scary story. It's in the spirit of the holiday."
She popped another piece of candy in her mouth and handed him a Twix. "Just read it. I like it when you read to me."
Sherlock sighed but opened the book. Emmaline did in fact like listening to him read. He had a lovely voice and he did all the character voices.
Emmaline placed the bowl of candy on the floor and settled down to listen.
ᶓ
"Do you think it is too late to order takeout?" Emmaline asked as Sherlock finished the story.
"It's only ten-thirty." Sherlock looked at the time on his phone. He called their usual Chinese restaurant and ordered food.
"So how was your first Halloween?" Emmaline asked.
"I enjoyed it. Who will we be next year?" Sherlock asked enthusiastically.
Emma grinned at him. She was glad he had found something he could have fun at, even if it was only once a year.
"Well, next year I think I get to pick."
"That's only fair." Sherlock agreed.
"So we'll just have to see. I do not have anything picked out yet. I mean, Halloween did just end an hour ago."
There was a knock on the door that meant takeout had arrived. Emma got up and answered the door. She paid for their food and brought it back in, handing Sherlock his noodles and beef. She slid against the couch to sit on the floor.
"You can sit up here." Sherlock invited.
"I don't want to spill anything on the sofa and ruin it."
Sherlock thought this a good point and joined her on the floor.
"So, what did you normally do on Halloween?" Emmaline asked curiously.
"Sometimes Lestrade would call me in. Usually you get break-ins or murders on Halloween. It is nothing like Christmas though. At Christmas you get nice family murders, or suicides." Sherlock grinned delightedly.
"So that's how you spend the Holidays? Solving crimes?"
"Best present I could think of." Sherlock took a bite of his noodles.
Emma shook her head, a small smile on her lips. Sherlock was strange there was no doubting that. But his strangeness endeared him towards her. It was something she liked about him. She never knew what he would say, or what he would think of something.
"What about Thanksgiving? Do you see your family on Thanksgiving?" She inquired.
"No. We don't have Thanksgiving in England. That's an American tradition." Sherlock pointed out.
"Oh." Emmaline paused. "I guess I never thought about it but yeah, it is. So you don't have it at all?"
"No." Sherlock confirmed.
"We should have our own Thanksgiving." Emmaline said, picking her head up to look at him. "I could not come over in the day because I have school that day, but I could that night. For dinner we could have Cornish hens – those are enough like turkeys. And pumpkin pie!"
"Wonderful." Sherlock smiled. "My first Thanksgiving. My first Thanksgiving with Emmaline." He turned back to his food.
Emmaline smiled and her heart felt warm. He had said first, implying that there would be more. And she hoped there could be too. Already he seemed such a necessary part of her life. Emma hoped they could be friends for a long time.
They sat in a comfortable silence while they finished their dinner. When they were done, Emmaline took their containers and threw them away.
"I have to go home now; I have school tomorrow." Emma said, trying to stifle a yawn.
"You were over here too late." Sherlock reprimanded.
"Nonsense; there is no such thing as too late. I like spending time with you."
Sherlock walked her to the door and held it open for her.
"Goodbye Emmaline."
"Goodnight Sherlock."
She wrapped her arms around his middle, giving him a hug, before turning and walking down the stairs. Sherlock watched her go down the first flight before shutting his door.
His flat always felt empty once she left. Always he felt more alone. Before he had a friend he had not minded being by himself. Now the difference was palpable. Sherlock stepped into his bedroom and closed the door. He knew if he was going to get any sleep tonight he would have to take the drug.
He peeled the silicone ears off and washed the glue off his own ears. He took the sweater off and threw it into a corner of his room before settling down in bed to inject himself. Lately it had become something he had to do, and not just when he wanted it. It had become almost like a compulsion. Something that he had to put in his body to calm his nerves and get some sleep. Sherlock did not know if he could stop.
But all those bad thoughts went away as the needle pierced his skin and the liquid slid happily through his veins, warming his body. He sank against the pillows with a contented sigh and tumbled into the black tunnel that were his dreams.