APtCH: Chapter 5

Today was finally Halloween afternoon! A few days have passed since Eddy's birthday on the 28th, and thankfully it turned out to be a good and relaxing party for everyone. Now that it was Halloween, everyone in the neighborhood was dressed up for the festivities and were also prepared for any trick-or-treaters that came visiting that evening. There was also a small hangout party in the middle of the Cul-De-Sac's parking circle. It was only going to be there for a few hours before everyone went back home for any visiting trick-or-treaters.

We soon zoomed in on Double D's house, where we could see him exiting his house with his family. Double D was dressed up as a masquerade phantom of some kind this Halloween (complete with a top hat, cape, and a white masquerade mask), Serena was dressed up like an angel of some kind, and Matthew was dressed up like a ninja. Their parents walked a little behind their kids, smiling at them.

"You know, I'm kind of surprised about the costume you chose, big brother," Serena started to say to Double D as they walked to the circle parking lot, "It's not something I would really see you wear."

Double D blushed a little bit under his maskbefore replying, "Well, I mostly chose it for the hat. It kind of looks like Mr. Layton's hat, but it's black instead of brown."

"Oh, is that the reason?" Serena asked, "I thought it was because of what it's based on. Uh… what was it based on again?"

"Arsene Lupin."

"Right! That guy!"

Matthew looked ahead to see if they could see any of their friends were already there. He could see Ed, Eddy, Zoey, and Marie already there; Ed was dressed like Luke Skywalker from Star Wars (complete with a lightsaber that lights up), Eddy was dressed like a pirate (with a plastic cutlass), Zoey was dressed like Sherlock Holmes with a longer coat, and Marie was dressed like a vampire.

Naturally, Ed and Eddy were play-fighting with their fake swords for fun until they saw their other friends arrive at the party. Ed made a big smile as he came over to their side, "Hiya!"

"Hello Ed," Double D greeted before noticing something, "Has Jennifer not arrived yet?"

"Nope, not yet," Eddy replied after he walked over to them, "Maybe you should check on her, the party's about to start soon!"

Double D made a small, worried face, "Maybe I should do that… Pardon me for a moment," he said as he walked off towards Jennifer's house.

Double D walked towards the playground so he could get to Jennifer's house nearby. As he continued to walk over to her house, he could see someone sitting on the bench in the playground. It took him a second to realize it was Jennifer, she was wearing a big steeple hat and a blue jacket that was almost like a robe; she looked like a mage of some kind, "… Jennifer?"

Jennifer widened her eyes a little before looking towards Double D. She started to act extremely nervous suddenly when she saw him, confusing him for a moment before realizing why, "Oh, I'm sorry," he took off his mask so she could see it was him, "I didn't mean to scare you like that…"

"O-Oh…" Jennifer calmed down when he took off his mask, "I didn't recognize you at all, Eddward."

"Really?"

"Y-Yeah…" Jennifer replied, "You're not wearing your beanie, and I can see more of your hair."

"Oh, I'm still wearing my beanie," Double D chuckled as he lifted his top hat to show his beanie, "It's just under the top hat."

"I see…"

Double D sat down next to Jennifer on the bench, "Are you feeling nervous again?" He asked.

"K-Kind of… But no, not really," Jennifer stated, lowering her head a little, "I've been worried about something lately."

He started to feel a little concerned for her about that statement but stayed quiet as she continued talking, "You see, my costume is based on one of my favorite characters named Vivi. He's a Black Mage that can cast a lot of strong magic. The game he's from deals with a lot of heavy subjects about mortality, the meanings of life, and how you live it…"

Jennifer glanced back to Double D a little, "Anyway, I was replaying the game he's in recently, and… And every time I see him now, I see you in his place instead; you two are kind of similar in a few ways."

Double D could start to see her tremble slightly, "I-I know it's just me overthinking too much, probably from too much stress from school, but I know what happens to Vivi throughout the game… And it keeps making me think you're going through the same thing he is, even though I know you're not."

Jennifer looked at Double D with a sad face, "Sorry, I know this probably sounds silly to you. I just…"

"Jen," Double D started to say to her with a small smile, "I know school has been stressing you out lately, but everything's going to be okay; for both you, me, and everyone else."

"… Yeah, I know."

The two teens got up from sitting on the bench, "We should go to the party now, everyone else is waiting," Double D said.

Jennifer nodded her head before reaching out to Double D's hand with a smile. The two started to walk back towards the circle parking lot to meet with the others. As they did, a car started to park near the Cul-De-Sac around the playground. We could see Vincent come out of the car, along with his wife Sheryl and their two kids.

The older of the two kids was a boy with short, dark brown hair and wore glasses over his bright green eyes: he had the same-colored eyes as Double D and Vincent. His Halloween costume seemed close to normal attire, a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. He had an acoustic guitar with him, it was attached to a strap that he had around his right shoulder. His name was Felix.

The youngest of the two kids was a girl with medium length, light brown hair, and hazel brown eyes. Her Halloween costume was her dressed as a baseball player, complete with a baseball cap and a foam bat; her parents did not want her to have a wooden bat. Her name was Ashley.

"We're here now," Vincent said as he turned to them, "It's not nighttime yet, but there's a small party we can all hang out at until then."

"Okay!" The girl smiled as she ran off towards the party. The boy followed closely behind her at a slower and more nervous pace.

Sheryl looked at her husband, "Vincent, you didn't tell them yet?" she asked.

"No, but I will once they meet him," Vincent replied with a sigh, "I didn't really know how to tell them about their half-brother…"

Ashely and Felix ran/walked over to the party with their parents closely behind them. They were all noticed by Aiden and Wendy.

"Oh, looks like you all got here earlier than we expected," Aiden stated to Vincent as he and his wife came up to them.

"You must be Aiden and Wendy Johnson?" Sheryl asked before she started to make a sad face, "I-I wanted to thank you two for saving Edward. Erica was a dear friend to me in college, and…"

"It's quite alright, Mrs. Peters," Wendy said to her with a smile, "We understand how you feel."

Felix was near his parents when they were talking with the other adults, 'Edward? Erica?' he questioned in confusion, 'Who are they talking about?'

Felix looked around at everyone at the small party. He could see his little sister starting to bother some folks dressed as a pirate and a detective, much to the pirate's annoyance, 'Looks like Ashley found someone to talk to.'

He looked around again, only to see a teen in a top hat with a mask and another teen in a mage hat standing nearby. It was Double D and Jennifer, 'Their outfits are cool…'

Double D turned to see Felix close by. He widened his eyes before regaining his composure, which confused Felix for a moment. He and Jennifer started to walk over to him, "Hello there," he greeted Felix with a smile.

"H-Hey…" Felix replied to him with a bit of nervousness, "Umm… My mom and dad brought my sister and myself here for Halloween this year, s-so I don't know anyone here, sorry…"

"That's alright," Jennifer said, "You must be Felix, right?"

"… Huh?!" he gasped in surprise, "How do you know my name?!"

"We both met with your father the other day," Double D stated as he took off his mask, revealing his face, "Sorry, I guess he hasn't told you yet."

Felix started to feel even more nervous and confused, "Umm, I-I don't know what you mean…"

"Feeeliiix!" called out his little sister as she ran over to them, "This place is neat! There's a detective and a pirate and a ninja and a vampire and a—"

Ashley looked at Double D and then back to Felix, "Oh cool! You both have the same eyes! How did you do that magic trick, Mr. Magician?"

"Oh, I'm not a magician," Double D chuckled before taking off his top hat to show his beanie underneath, "It's just a costume."

"Aww…" Ashley pouted a little in disappointment.

Felix looked back to the teen boy, noticing the beanie he was wearing. He remembered seeing his picture a few months ago on the news back in July, along with two other teen boys. It was a big incident on the news at the time. Besides the teen's beanie, the thing that stood out to him about the news was the fact that the three heroes were all named E-D in some way, which he thought was a weird coincidence.

"Ah, there you are!" Felix heard his dad behind him as he and the other adults came over to them, "Looks like you are all getting along."

"Umm, h-hello again, Mr. Peters…" Double D started to talk to Felix's dad but was interrupted by a hug from his mom, surprising both Felix and Ashley.

"It IS true, y-you're alive!" Felix's mom started to cry a little as she hugged Double D. She then separated from him a second later, wiping away her tears, "I'm so happy to know that Erica's son is still alive after all these years."

Both Felix and Ashley stood there in confusion. Their parents turned to them both, "Felix, Ashley. There's something we need to talk to you about," their dad stated.

Their dad started to talk to them about a woman he used to know named Erica, who was a very good friend to both him and their mom. He told them that Erica was his first love, and they were going to get married and have a child before she disappeared many years ago. It was only a few years later that both he and their mom got married and had Felix, and then Ashley. Ashley seemed even more confused (because she's 9), but Felix was stunned at what he was saying.

"It was only a few days ago that these folks here contacted me about where Erica went," their dad continued to say, gesturing to the two other adults beside him, "I learned from them that Erica passed away when she gave birth to her child… our child," they could see how sad he was when he said that, "I thought they were both gone forever, but now I know the truth," he looked towards Double D next to them, "This is Eddward. He's your half-brother."

"… Halfbro?" Ashley questioned, looking to Double D again, "I don't get it."

"It means Eddward is also your brother, Ashley," her mom explained, "You're all related to each other, but he has a different mother."

Felix stood there in complete shock, not really knowing what to do or say.

"We came here today not only trick or treat, but for you two to meet him and become acquainted with each other," their dad continued to explain with a smile, "Eddward lives here, but we can try to visit each other when we have the time for now on."

"Ooo, that's neat!" Ashley gasped as she made a big smile, "This place is cool! There's a playground over there!"

Their mom made a smile, "You two should go say hello to Eddward's neighbors as well. It would be rude not to."

"Okay!" Ashley chirped as she ran off towards the party to say hello to everyone.

Felix's dad turned to him, "Felix, please keep an eye on your sister tonight. Don't let her run off too far."

"I-I won't let her go too far, I promise," Felix replied.

"Thank you," he stated before turning to Double D, "I want you to do the same if you don't mind."

He nodded his head to him, "Of course, Mr. Peters."

"Please, there's no need to call me that. We're not strangers anymore," Felix's dad replied, "You can call me Vince or Vincent; calling me Dad still feels a little weird, even if it's correct."

Felix glanced over to Double D and Jennifer beside him as his mom and dad walked away with the other adults, "So, u-umm… You're really my older brother?" he asked.

"Yes," Double D replied, "I learned a few months ago that your dad was also my biological father. I didn't really ask about meeting him until a few days ago…" he glanced down a little, "I was unsure if I wanted to meet him or not, but I also knew he would need to know what happened."

"I see," Felix muttered a little, "And your name is, umm…"

"It's Eddward, but my friends call me Double D instead, because of the two Ds in my name," Double D stated with a smile, "You can call me that too if you want," he gestured to Jennifer beside him, "This is my girlfriend, Jennifer."

"I-It's nice to meet you, Felix," Jennifer greeted with a small smile.

"Hey, Double D! Jennifer!" called out a voice nearby as they could see Serena come up to them, "There's a little girl here that keeps asking us a lot of questions, can you help us out with her?"

"Oh, oops!" Felix gasped as he ran to where the party was, "I'll go stop Ashley from being so nosey. She can be a little troublemaker sometimes, sorry!"

Serena looked to Double D, "I'm guessing that's your real brother and sister, huh? I remember Mom and Dad mentioning they were coming here today."

"Y-Yes, that's them," Double D replied with a nod of his head before turning back to the party, "We should go introduce them to everyone."

Double D, Jennifer, and Serena walked back over to everyone, where they could see Ashley talking to Ed, Eddy, and Zoey. Felix came up beside his sister, "Ashley, you don't need to bother everyone with so many questions…"

"Aww, but Felix! We don't get to talk to pirates that often!" Ashley pouted a little.

Zoey noticed Double D, Jennifer, and Serena coming up to them, "There you are!" Zoey greeted them, "I was wondering where you went off to."

"You know, I wasn't expecting any sort of trick-or-treater kids to get here this early!" Eddy grumbled a little.

"They probably really wanted some good candy this year!" Ed stated with a big smile, "I don't blame them."

Double D stayed silent to his friend's comments for a short moment, "Umm, about that…"

"Mr. Halfbro!" Ashley started to say as she pulled on Double D's cape to get his attention, "Which house is your house? I need to use the bathroom."

"Oh, it's the first house to your right, near the entrance of the neighborhood," Double D replied as he pointed it out to her.

"Thank you, Mr. Halfbro!" Ashley said as she ran off to Double D's house.

"… Did she just call you halfbro?" Eddy questioned Double D in confusion, "The heck does that mean?"

Ed was the one who noticed Felix with them and that he had an acoustic guitar, "Ooo! There's a musician here! Do you take any requests?"

Felix was caught off guard by that, "Huh?! U-Umm…"

It was Zoey who noticed that Double D's and Felix's eyes were the same color, "… Oh!" she gasped in realization as she turned to Double D, "You said you met your real father the other day, right? I didn't think he would travel here with his kids to see you today."

Ed and Eddy were silent to what Zoey said before it dawned on them, "… Wait, your real dad had other kids besides you?!" Eddy yelped, "Why didn't you tell us?!"

"Well… I didn't really know how to tell you all," Double D replied, scratching the back of his head as he did, "At least it makes for a nice surprise."

Zoey only sighed at her friends before turning to Felix, "So, what's your and your sister's name?" she asked.

Felix could feel himself becoming nervous at the sudden attention he was getting, "M-My name's Felix and my sister's name is Ashley," he said as he twiddled his thumbs a little, "Sorry, I-I'm not good at talking with other people…"

"It's okay, Felix," Jennifer stated to him, "That also happens with me a lot, but I've been getting better at it… I think," she placed her hand on his shoulder, "Your dad told us that you were on the spectrum."

"… He's told both of you?" Felix asked sadly.

"Yeah," Jennifer replied with a nod of her head, "Don't worry, you're not alone on that. I'm also autistic. Your dad noticed how I was acting when we met the other day, saying you act very similar to me around other people."

Felix was really surprised to hear this, "Oh, I-I see…"

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Zoey started to say, "My name's Zoey."

"The name's Eddy," Eddy stated to Felix while puffing out his chest, jabbing his thumb into it, "I'm the leader of this group of misfits."

"Are you now?" Zoey stated to him with a snickering tease, "I'm pretty sure no one ever agreed on something like that."

"What the – That's always been a thing! Cut me some slack, Zoey!" Eddy retorted.

Their other friends sighed as the young couple bickered a little with each other, "I apologize about their behavior; they can both be like that sometimes," Double D stated.

"… Oh yeah! My name is Ed!" Ed greeted Felix with a shake of his hand.

"And my name's Serena," Serena stated with a smile, "My twin brother Matthew is around here as well, but I don't see him right now…"

"… You know, I also noticed that Marie is gone too," Jennifer said, looking around the area as she did, "Where did they go?"

After Eddy and Zoey stopped bickering with each other, everyone looked around to see if Marie and Matthew were nearby, but they could not be seen.

"It is a little weird, but I'm sure they're fine," Eddy stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

Zoey looked back to Felix, "Now that we all know each other's names, can you tell us a bit about yourself?"

Felix could feel himself being put on the spot again, "Umm… I like a lot of music. I don't have a favorite genre because I'm not picky about what I listen to."

"Ooo, that's neat!" Ed stated as he looked at the acoustic guitar once again on Felix's back, "Can you also play an instrument?"

Felix nodded his head, "Y-Yeah, I can play a few things. I like playing guitar the most."

"That's really cool!" Serena said with a smile, "You don't have to do it right now, but you should play something for us one day!"

"You know, that reminds me…" Eddy started to say as he turned to Ed and Double D, "Remember that one time Ed's parents tried to make him learn the violin? I'm pretty sure no one's ears ever recovered from that."

Double D groaned at the memory, "Please don't remind me…"

"… Oh!" Jennifer gasped a little as she looked to Double D, "Don't you also play something, Eddward?"

"Yes, I do," Double D replied before making a small face of annoyance, "When I was younger, my parents made me choose an instrument for me to learn how to play. Unfortunately, I picked the petal steel guitar because it looked neat. Then I sat down to learn how to play it and I instantly regretted it; it sounds annoying as an instrument to play by itself."

"Wait, really? A petal steel guitar?!" Felix gasped a little, "I-I've always been curious about playing one of those, but I could never find one in a local shop anywhere!" he looked at Double D with a big smile on his face, "You should show it to me sometime! I like learning how to play new things!"

Double D was a bit surprised, but could only smile at his enthusiasm, "Of course, maybe on another day when you and Ashley can come visit again."

A few minutes passed by before Felix realized something, "Has Ashley not come back from your house yet?"

Everyone was silent for a second before realizing he was right, "… Uh oh."

"Maybe she's still there?" Double D questioned a bit nervously, "I'll go check on her."

"We'll come with you!" Jennifer stated as she ran to his side, "Let's just hope it's not anything serious…"

All the teens started to walk over to Double D's house to check on Felix's little sister. As they walked to his house, Serena could see Matthew and Marie sitting on the bench at the playground, "Oh, there's Matt and Marie!"

They turned to see them, only to also see Ashley near the two sitting teens, playing in the playground. Everyone gave a small sigh of relief, "I guess she couldn't resist playing on the playground over there," Felix stated.

The group of teens walked over to the playground, right next to Matthew and Marie, "Hey Matt! Hey Marie!" Ed greeted them.

"Ah!" they both yelped in surprise as they turned to their friends behind them, "D-Don't scare us like that!" Matthew said to them with an irritated grumble.

"What are you two doing over here anyway?" Eddy asked, "I'd thought you two would stick around the party."

"Uh, we saw this little girl run off to the playground a moment ago, so we decided to keep an eye on her when everyone else was busy talking," Marie replied.

Felix made a sigh, "Thank you for that, my sister has the tendency to wander off sometimes. Ashley thinks she can go on big adventures by doing that, but also doesn't tell us where she's going…"

Matthew made a small sigh to himself in relief, which was noticed by Serena, '… Oh, were they talking about something over here earlier before Ashley got there?' she thought, 'I'll ask him about it later, I guess.'

The group of kids and teens decided to hang around the playground before it became nighttime for Halloween. The teens were all on watch duty for the younger kids that were visiting the Cul-De-Sac, making sure to keep them out of trouble and give them their candy from their front doors. A few hours later, it was 10 pm. Every kid was finally leaving to go home for the night, with the only exceptions being Felix and Ashely. The two of them were still around with their parents, with Ashley already falling asleep in the back of the car, exhausted from all the excitement that happened today. Felix and his parents were talking a little bit more with Double D and his parents; Double D, Serena, Matthew, and Jennifer were standing next to them. All their other friends went home for the night because of how late it was.

"I wanted to thank you two for the invite tonight," Vincent started to say to Double D's parents, "Seems like Ashley really enjoyed her time here. She doesn't get tired very easily."

"It's no problem, Mr. Peters," Wendy replied to him, "Feel free to come visit us whenever you want. I know it's a bit of a long drive from here to Oak Valley, but…"

"Oh, it's no trouble at all!" Sheryl chuckled before looking at her son, "What do you think, Felix? Do you want to come back here sometime in the future?"

Felix widened his eyes a little before saying with a small nervous smile, "U-Umm… Yeah, I do want to!"

"That's great to hear!" Aiden replied. He glanced at the watch on his wrists, "You should all get going soon, it's really late."

The Peters family nodded their heads as they walked away, waving goodbye to the group behind them before getting in their car to drive home.

Aiden and Wendy turned to their kids, "Well, I hope that wasn't too stressful for any of you," Wendy stated.

"Nope, not at all! It was cool to see big bro's real brother and sister," Serena said with a smile.

"That's good," Aiden sighed a little in relief. He turned to Double D and Jennifer, "You should probably walk Jennifer home. I'm sure her parents are waiting for her."

Double D nodded his head, "Y-Yes, I will," he turned to Jennifer with a smile, "Let's get you home, okay Jen?"

Jennifer smiled at Double D as she held his hand, walking back to her house with him. Serena and Matthew watched them walk away, "I'm glad everything worked out tonight for him and his real siblings," Matthew stated.

Serena chuckled, "Yeah, same."

Serena and Matthew started to walk back home with their parents, "… You know, I was gonna wait until we got back home to ask this, but…"

"Hmm?"

"What were you and Marie doing at the playground earlier?" Serena asked, "It seemed like you two were already sitting at the bench before Ashley came over to play there."

Matthew stayed silent for a second before a blush started to form all over his face, which was covered up by some of his costumes, "U-Umm… I was a-asking her something."

"… Asking her whaaat?"

"I-If she wanted t-to go to the m-movies to see s-something?"

Serena smiled to her brother, "Nice! What did she say?"

Matthew paused for a second before replying, "She said yes, but I could tell she seemed a bit hesitant…" he scratched the back of his head a little, "I-I just hope it works out…"

"Aww, I'm sure it will, Matt!" Serena cheered to him with a smile, "You just gotta have faith in yourself!"

"… I-I know, thanks Serena."

Meanwhile, back with Double D and Jennifer, the two teens were coming closer to her house nearby, finally reaching her front lawn. Both their hands were still clutched to one another tightly.

"… Umm, Double D?"

Double D perked up his head to Jennifer, "Yes, Jen?"

"I'm happy that everything turned out okay for you and everyone else," Jennfier started to say with a smile, "I hope everything continues to be like this for a long time…"

"I'm sure it will," Double D replied. He leaned in for a kiss, which she responded back to with her own. They separated a few seconds later, "I'll see you tomorrow, alright? Goodnight, Jen."

Jennifer nodded her head to him, "Goodnight, Double D."

She walked up to her front door to enter it, but not before looking back to Double D with a smile, closing it behind her as she did. Double D sighed a little to himself, 'I do hope that there's not that many troubling times ahead for any of us,' he thought to himself as she turned around to walk back home, 'I know high school years can be rough for everyone. But I'm sure we'll be fine.'

The End

Author's Note (October 27th, 2023): YAY! Finally another one in the books! The next story after this is actually almost done, so expect those chapters to come out soon! I do want to give a small warning in advance though about the next story… It's going to be the first M-rated story I've written, and it will probably be the only one like it I will write; mainly because of what happens in it. Anyway, look forward to it if you want to read it!