Blood, guts, and gore were things that Chad was used to. Hell, he even liked them, he thrived on violence and aggressivity, having plenty of space to exercise it out in the pitch.
In regards to his cinematographic inclinations, the sight of blood and death made his heart thump in satisfaction. He loved seeing people go down as either heroes or villains, with everything out in the open, measured through a simple and direct fight scene. It never got to him, he never suffered loss or outrage, he merely celebrates the experience.
Spooky movies, on the other hand, got him very badly. Ghosts, gremlins, poltergeists, witches... Anything like that scared the shit out of him. He detested the fact that there is something that he could not touch, a battle he is only able to win through wit and arcane rituals. However, Chad is also a proud man. He did not want to be a coward and admit his fears, so he agreed when his girlfriend asked to put a spooky movie on.
Barbara had an agenda, of course. She had a bit of an inkling that he was not as fearless as he made himself believe when it came to the outworld, thanks to his overreaction when she was watching Supernatural at his TV. He had just got back from a class to find her catching up with a completely benign episode and immediately told her to turn the channel.
"What's wrong?" She asked innocently. "Don't tell me you're afraid of ghosts."
"I'm not afraid of fucking ghosts!" He exclaimed.
Barbara snorted and shook her head. He was totally afraid of fucking ghosts, but she decided to take pity on him. She changed the channel and let it go that day.
For that day, of course. There were lots of ways to weaponize that information, and Halloween seemed like the perfect opportunity.
So, she proposed they watch a horror movie, to celebrate the creepy holiday in style. For some weird reason, he agreed, after just a reasonable amount of resistance, which was curious. It could have been an attempt to show that he was a big, strong boy who was brave enough to fight ghosts, but maybe, just maybe, it had more to do with the fact that he wanted to get over his little phobia.
Oh, well, the college student decided to remain positive. Perhaps something good would come out of it. Life is strange and unpredictable, and he should be prepared to deal with situations in other manners than with his fists, his money and his privilege. And, well, it is fun to see him squirm a little. It is not as if the movie is going to hurt him.
So, Chad was nervous. A little bit. However, he was trying to keep a collected and casual demeanour, there is no reason to shame himself any further. He was sitting on the sofa, his arm draped across his girlfriend's shoulders while she laid her head on his chest and played with the ends of his shirt, helping him to calm down.
They were barely ten minutes into Paranormal Activity and the tension was killing him. Not just within the movie creepy climate, but also the slight pain in his shoulder, locked in a defensive position, while he waits for the scares and tries and prepare for them before they even happened. He was already regretting agreeing to watch this shit.
"You alright?" The young woman murmured quietly against his collarbone, her warm breath tickling the hairs on his chest.
"Yes." He confirmed. His voice came out much quieter than intended.
Barbara lifted her face up slightly and raised an eyebrow. He swallowed thickly and looked away to avoid meeting her gaze. He knew how vulnerable he sounded, and he hated himself for that.
"I'm, uh, I'm fine." He stutters.
It was hard to lie to her. She had that piercing cold gaze that could easily coerce grown men into revealing their secrets, but thankfully she knows when to press and when to let go, and so she did. Let him marinate in his frightened state for a little longer, perhaps then the macho attitude can be peeled off.
In the spooky silence, he felt his phone vibrating and almost jumped out of his skin. She giggled at him, clearly amused by his overreaction.
Chad glared at his girlfriend as if daring her to laugh anymore and took his phone out of his pocket. A few years shaved off of his life and all he has to show for it is a message from his mom asking if he could make it for lunch tomorrow, to which he replied with a very short, "Sorry, no" and placed the device on the coffee table.
With an awkward cough, he settled back in and tried to pretend he did not just almost shit himself. She smiled at him, obviously not fooled at all, but decided not to say anything else once again and focused on the screen again.
Chad sighed in relief and relaxed against the cushions.
As they watched, her hand found its way under his shirt and traced little circles on his skin, as she usually did when he needed comforting and, as always, would refuse to say anything on the matter. Slowly, he felt himself grow even calmer and more at ease.
Things proceeded fairly well, until it got to the bit when the Ouija board's planchette moves seemingly by itself.
Oh, fuck no. He bit his lip, tensed up once again and squeezed her hand tightly, to the point it hurt. She hummed in response and turned around to look at him.
"Scared?" She asked, playing it cool.
The football player opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but closing it again after realising that nothing was coming out.
He gave her a fake smile and continued to hold her hand. "Pfft, no. No. No way. I'm enjoying it so much."
He was still shaking inside, but he refused to show her. If he was being honest with himself, he was not having fun. Not at all. He could feel Barbara studying him, probably figuring out if he was lying or telling the truth.
He kept his eyes on the TV and hoped that she would not ask why he would suddenly gone all pale and nervous. Typically, a traditional scary movie date night has the guy being all macho and unbothered and the girl being all wimpy and stuff like that, which was not happening with them. It was a role reversal of sorts. Being scared instead of her was fine, or so his Inner Barbara, the nagging voice inside his head, insisted with him.
Alas, Chad insisted. Throughout the whole movie, he claimed to be fine. He pretended that he was perfectly okay with all the creepy things that happened, that he was not really freaked out, and that he was actually having a wonderful time. He is not going to give her the satisfaction of seeing him flinch every few seconds. He knows he does not have anything to prove, but he still feels awkward in just letting it go.
Around three-quarters into the movie, she got up to get a drink and left him all by himself, leaving him to stare blankly at the screen as all the demonic shenanigans happened, with the only sounds in the room consisting of his breathing and the sound of the TV.
When Barbara returned, she placed her drink on the coffee table and tried to sit back on the couch, yet she found herself being pulled onto his lap and pressed against his body. She stared at him in surprise as his hands found their way around her waist, his thumbs tracing her hips.
"The end of a movie tends to be the scariest, y'know?" He explained, trying his hardest to come off nonchalant. "Just wanted to make sure you don't get scared or anything."
This time it is so obvious that she did not believe his reasoning at all that even he noticed the way her eyebrows were drawn together and her eyes narrowed suspiciously. He cursed himself internally for being stupid enough to think that she would buy it.
Of course, she had not bought it at all. She grabbed his chin gently, tilting his head up, forcing him to meet her gaze. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, and he knew that it meant trouble. He groaned inwardly but remained quiet as she leaned forward and kissed him.
"Thank you, babe. That's very sweet of you." She cooed and patted him on his cheek softly, before turning and leaning back against him so she could continue watching.
Using their new position to his advantage, Chad could use her midsection to hide behind. He would pretend he was really interested in kissing her shoulder or the curve of her neck and would tilt his head downwards, giving him enough time to casually take his eyes off the screen. Also, he could use her aromatic hair to obscure his vision and she could not see how his face changed into a grimace of fear.
It was perfect.
What was even better was that the movie was nearly over anyway. The credits rolled, and she heard the TV click off immediately.
Yeah, that was fucking done. No more. Absolutely no more.
"Well, I guess we should call it a night." The woman said, yawning exaggeratedly and stretching her arms above her head.
Chad nodded silently and wrapped his arms tighter around her. As he pulled her close, he rested his head on top of hers, feeling her soft hair brush against his cheek.
There was no way he was sleeping in a bed tonight, so he let all his weight dip to the left and flopped them both down so they were lying against the couch cushions. It was a tight fit, but it was how both of them liked it. He shifted slightly, so that he was on his side with his arm draped over her waist as they spooned.
"Goodnight, Barbs." He mumbled as he closed his eyes.
"Night, baby." She whispered softly, bringing his hand up to her lips to kiss his knuckles and then returning it to its previous position.
It seemed to Chad as if Barbara had immediately fallen asleep as soon as she closed her eyes. Himself, on the other hand, did not have the same luxury of sleepiness as her, so he stayed awake long into the night staring at the ceiling, coming and going with creepy thoughts in his head. What if the ghost demon thing jumped out of the TV and started shit? What could he do about it? Shoot it? Stab it? Scream at it?
With that in his mind, he took one deep breath, then another, and then another, until his eyes started feeling heavy. He blinked, and his thoughts became muddled, until he finally falls down asleep.
Suddenly, his eyes open again quickly. He does not know for how long he has been asleep, but his girlfriend was not there anymore, and he had a quilt thrown over him. She must have gone to bed, he concludes.
There was a noise coming from the windows and the front door that woke him up from his restless sleep. Deep in thought, he just assumed he was imagining the light scraping sound that came from behind him. When he turned towards the source, however, nothing appeared. He blinked a couple of times and looked around, but everything was still as silent as it had been a minute ago.
It must have been just his imagination. Right?
So, he just lays there thinking and hoping his nervousness would pass eventually and he could go to the bedroom and join Barbara under the soft covers. Maybe he would finally be able to sleep well if he stopped freaking out, but that does not seem that is happening any time soon.
The scratching noise began again, this time closer to where he was lying than before. He sat up slowly and scanned the room with wide eyes, but nothing was there. Panic rose up in his throat and his breathing quickened.
Then the door handle rattled. Chad gulped audibly and looked towards the door with trepidation. The scratching sounds were getting louder and louder until they stopped abruptly as the door slid open slowly. A flash of white illuminated the darkness of the room as the light turned on briefly as the door slammed shut. He froze in place. Everything seemed stuck in place around him, except for his racing heartbeat.
Chad looked back at the dark hallway leading to their bedroom and neither saw or heard anything, pointing to the assumption that Barbara was still resting peacefully. How in the hell was she sleeping at a time like this? What kind of person sleeps through this kind of nightmare scenario?
He does not want to run over there, wake her up and risk sounding like a fucking pussy. It might still be nothing, and even if there is something, what a short, thin girl like her can even do?
All of a sudden, the TV lit up again, shedding a long shadow behind the couch, and he could hear the familiar sound of static. His chest constricted as the screen flickered to life. His eyes widened, but he still remained absolutely still.
This is not real. He was clearly dreaming. Duh, that is why Barbara is not reacting.
"Oh, you're not dreaming yet, boy." A voice resounded through the room.
Okay, so now the ghost is speaking to him. Awesome.
It was a familiar voice, breathy and throaty, one that he heard sometimes on the shell of his ears. Barbara spoke to him like that sometimes, when he looked lost socially or before a big speech at the Investments Club, when he needed a little help or a confidence boost, she was there to give him some pointers. Or if she wanted to distract him during debriefs by saying something extremely dirty without the others knowing to make him blush.
However, this voice did not sound like hers, but rather what he would imagine her mother would speak like, if she had smoked for many years. It was slower. more threatening, more comically evil and witchy, but somehow familiar.
Chad tried to recall when and where he had heard this voice before, but all that came out of his mouth was an unintelligible croak.
"You really are quite cute, aren't you? I like that. Very adorable."
Suddenly, the lights went completely dark and the man screamed as loud as he possibly could. It was high-pitched and sounded ridiculous, but he did it anyway.
Unable to keep her facade up anymore, Barbara finally let out her giggle. It had been so difficult to keep it inside as she messed with him. She gingerly put her head through the front door to watch him squeal like a little girl, as her boyfriend covered his face and realised it was her the entire time.
"You're such an asshole." Chad whined and squeezed her tightly, making her squirm a bit as he buried his head in her neck.
"An asshole? Me?" The voice, which he now recognized came from his Bluetooth speakers on the kitchen counter, asks petulantly.
Well, shit. It was her horrible impression of Bette Middler in Hocus Pocus, that is where he recognised it from. She had connected her phone with the speakers and the TV, left for the front yard and woke him up by tapping on the window.
"Sorry, baby. I know it was mean, but your scream was hilarious." The woman said between laughs, coming through the door.
Chad sighed. "I hate you."
She giggled once more, laying back in the couch and turning to rest on her back, tugging him on top of her so she could envelop him entirely in her arms. One hand went to his hair to hold the back of his head while the other moved under his shirt to trace shapes against his lower back.
"Love you too, big guy." She purred into his ear, pressing a gentle kiss to his temple and grinning wickedly when his expression softened ever so slightly.
Her smile grew wider when she felt him relax against her and wrap his own arms around her, pulling her closer to him.
Barbara continued stroking his hair in silence for a while before breaking it and whispering, "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, whatever." He replied quietly, his nose touching the skin of her collarbone.
He was so close that she could feel his breath fanning against her neck, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin.
"Do you want to pick the movie next time?" She asked, her tone playful and innocent.
The football player hummed and nodded slowly against her skin. "More than anything."
He then plants a few kisses along her collar bone, earning an amused laugh from her. He lifted his head to look up at her, and her eyes met his for a brief moment before fluttering closed as he gave her a sleepy smooch on the lips. Her fingers tangled themselves in his hair as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss, and suddenly Chad had forgotten all about her prank. He forgot that he was supposed to be mad at her. He forgot everything as he kissed her.
"I love you." He breathed after pulling away slightly, glaring at her playfully. "And you're not going to scare me like that again, got it?"
Despite how funny she found it, Barbara smiled and nodded before leaning in for another kiss, only for him to stop her halfway. She blinked a few times and then frowned a bit.
She laughs. "Yeah, I promise. I'll only use my genius for good from now on."
That clearly was the answer he wanted as he closed the gap between them once again. Over time, the kiss became slower and lazier, each movement more languid than the last. She ran her hands through his hair absentmindedly, her nails lightly scratching his scalp. They would have to stop at some point.
When they did, it was just a matter of time before he would inevitably fall back asleep. Right now, however, he is not willing to let go of this moment, to let go of the warmth of her body pressed against his as she curled around him protectively.
Her name slipped from his mouth in barely a whisper, and she shushed him gently, placing a kiss on his forehead.
"Sleep." She cooed lovingly.
His eyes slowly closed and his body relaxed. His arms and legs went limp, and his breathing evened out. Barbara kept her eyes closed as she held onto him, listening to the calming beat of his heart mixed with the steady rise and fall of his chest. The sound of his scream replayed over and over in her head as she chuckled to herself.
Yeah, Chad was a big, strong guy and totally not a weird, skittish nerd. Totally.
