The Sweet-Dreamers' Sleepover

by DarkWynn

When a college student comes home for Christmas break, he finds that his past has been waiting for him - and the girls that he left behind have plans of their own. Features a nightmare, dormouse, bogey, and weresheep, along with cameos from several other monster girls. Modern setting - spin-off from "The Wildcat's Sister."

6. A Taste of the Future

Chapter 6: A Taste of the Future

Chrissie Coburg had always believed in love at first sight, but that belief had been like a child's concept of the ocean before they saw it for the first time: squiggled blue lines on a paper versus the roar of waves and a shimmer stretching to the horizon. In the same way, she had thought that falling in love would be sweet and gentle and soft - a hug that swept her up into cartoon hearts and pastels. She thought that her first love would be like sinking into the comfiest bed of all, warm and safe and dreamy.

But, for Candy, falling in love wasn't like that at all. It was sudden, and scary, and took her breath away with a mixture of joy and agony. It left her dizzy-headed and sick to her stomach, laughing loud and sounding like a complete fool. And it was wrong - deeply, terribly wrong. She had fallen in love with someone she could never have.

It happened at the end of summer break, her sixth-grade year. A few weeks prior, she had returned home from a two-week summer camp, exhausted and dirty and glad to be able to sleep in her own bed - but strangely exhilarated. None of her usual friends had been at that camp, and she had only gone because her dad forced her to, since he had gone as a child and loved it there. It was just as she had feared, when she arrived: run-down and grimy, a shadow of the memories her father wouldn't stop talking about. And, as she had instinctively known, the girls there had instantly sized her up - she was pretty enough to be a rival to older girls, but without a support group of friends to watch her back against gossip and bladed half-compliments. Still, she had always had a firm grasp on social politics, and so it hadn't taken her long to make a place for herself among the more ambitious girls at the camp.

But none of that had mattered to her roommate, a gloomy quiet girl who kept mostly to herself. Candy enjoyed a lot of the outdoor events and team activities, while the lavender-haired horsegirl tended to focus on the arts and crafts. Candy had dressed as provocatively as the counselors would allow (not that there were any boys to impress, since they came during the next two weeks after the girls had left), but the other girl had been content to blend in, or even to hide. Even though they had shared a bedroom, and thus occasionally spoke at each other, they practically lived on separate planes of existence to each other.

But one night, that had changed. Candy wasn't sure what had possessed her, but she had gotten into the wrong bed after she had gotten up to go to pee. She had always been a hard sleeper, and since she had immediately claimed the top bunk on arrival (without being contested - it was hardly like the centaur could climb the ladder for it anyways), she had probably just given up on actually ascending the ladder and had just slumped down on the other girl's wide mat. Specifically, she had ended up snuggled against the other girl's horse body. If things had just gone normally from there, it would have been merely embarrassing - but instead, it had been life-changing.

Candy had woken up in a dream world. It was like the camp, though it was empty; the normally-loud and chaotic environment mostly silent, except for the laughter and cheering of one girl's voice. Candy had followed those sounds to the lake that formed the heart of the campgrounds, curious as to where everyone else had gone - but those concerns had fallen away at what she witnessed there. Instead, she gaped at the sight of a single kayak on the water, moving at motorboard speed, as the single passenger had occasionally paddled and steered the boat through figure-eights and looping turns. The spray from the back of the boat formed a high arc that glittered down in rainbow droplets as the girl buzzed the shoreline, moving at impossible speed that kept her lavender hair streaming behind her.

Candy stepped onto the beach, wondering at what she was seeing. That very day the campers had indeed gone out onto the lake - but not her roommate, who would have had to settle for a larger canoe, for which there was a long line to claim a turn at. Candy had seen the girl sitting along the shore, watching the boaters, but had thought nothing more of it, but now… Despite herself, she smiled and laughed at the other girl's glee, and that brought the centaur's head whirling around at the sudden sound in the silent world. The boat had drifted past as her roommate had stared in shock at Candy, refusing to slow until the centaur had recovered her wits and rowed to shore at a much more manageable pace. When Candy had reached the place where she was going to come ashore, she had watched the girl step out of the boat without issue - something that should have been quite difficult for her, considering the shape of her body and the boat - and walk towards her over the sand with surer footing than Candy would have expected. "So, uh," the girl had started, frowning slightly, "sorry if it's rude to say it this way, but… how are you here?"

"Well," Candy drawled, looking around in confusion, "I think I need to know where 'here' is to answer that."

The other girl snorted at the reply, and a faint smile appeared on her face. "You're in my head," she explained, matter-of-factly, to Candy's increasing alarm. "I'm a nightmare, which means I can control my dreams." She motioned to the lake behind her. "Tonight, I wanted to try the boats for myself, so I made it work," she explained, "but I can dream up anything I can think of, and make it as real and detailed as I can imagine. I do it all the time at home, unless I'm super tired and need to let my brain rest." Her eyes narrowed as she considered the weresheep across from her. "But I didn't imagine you."

"It would be hard to; most people struggle to visualize perfection," Candy had smirked, shifting her stance to leave her hand planted on one hip. The nightmare's eyebrow had somehow lifted even further, and with a sigh, Candy had rolled her eyes. "I think I got into the wrong bed. Can people come into your dreams if they touch you?"

The other girl blinked at that. "I… don't know. I've never had it happen, but… my mom is a centaur, and the aunt that raises me is a unicorn, so I'm learning about my powers mostly on my own, since they don't understand them." Frowning, she absently reached down to tug gently at a lime-green cloth wristlet that she had worn each day at the camp. "I guess that makes sense…"

"Whoa, this is awesome," Candy said. When the other girl turned back to her, she noticed that the weresheep was holding a dripping ice cream cone, which she was eagerly attacking. "The dining hall had these the other day, but I didn't let myself have one-" She glanced at the nightmare, eyes wide. "Do dream calories count? Please tell me they don't."

"Do you actually care about calories?" The nightmare was more surprised that the other girl had managed to materialize something on her own. She stared at the ice-cream cone, which seemed a bit distorted, and focused her attention to clarify the object's image. As she did so, the ice cream got a little larger, and the weresheep all but squealed in glee.

"Well, I don't, but my mom does," Candy clarified, through a messy mouthful of ice cream.

"Well, I eat food in here all the time, but get hungry like normal when I wake up, so I'm pretty sure they don't," the nightmare explained. She chuckled at Candy's orgasmic reply - the ice cream was almost gone. "You've got a little - well, a lot, actually - right… yeah, there, pretty much everywhere…"

Once the last of the crispy cone had been disposed of, Candy wiped her face and turned to the other girl with a grin. "Well, that's about the handiest thing ever," she said approvingly. She stood with her hands on her hips, looking around. "But… is boating all you were going to do with this?"

The nightmare shrugged, hugging one arm across her chest as she looked away. "It just seemed fun, so…"

"Well, yeah, but… if you can make a boat do that, can you fly? Can you, like, breathe underwater?" Candy paused, tapping one finger on her chin. "Oooh, can you make this place into, say, Paris, or an island in Greece? Can you make other people? Can you-?" When she heard the other girl laughing, Candy paused her barrage of questions.

"Probably, probably," the nightmare laughed, shaking her head. "I've tried a few of those, but I have to have a really strong image of them to make them feel real. Otherwise, it gets all… wobbly and indistinct."

"Could I help?" Candy asked, stepping closer, her blue eyes alight. "If I concentrated too, could I help you make things appear?"

"Well…" The nightmare hesitated, and then grinned. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?" She smiled, her magenta eyes shining brightly in the sunlight, and she stuck out her hand towards Candy. "I know we talked before, but… I'm Nellie."

"And I'm Chrissie, but my friends call me 'Candy.'" Candy took Nellie's hand and shook it, beaming at the other girl.

And that was how Candy had earned a new friend - although, after a week of experimenting and playing and exploring Nellie's powers, it felt like more than just that. The other girls that Candy had met at camp, she would also have called friends, even though she knew they might turn on her at the drop of a hat. But this girl, sarcastic and teasing and creative and shy and stubborn - she was like no friend Candy had ever had before. Around her, Chrissie felt like she could be herself, not just the 'Candy' that she had become at school and elsewhere. She could be sarcastic too, and enthusiastic, unrestrained - the person she felt like she really was, underneath the mask. And so, it only took a week for Candy Coburg to have a new best friend, and she was deeply happy that they went to the same school together, and would be able to see each other even after camp ended. When it did, and she returned home to her own pillowy-soft Coburg-brand mattress, she had found herself sleeping uneasily, missing the presence of the friend that had given her permission to be just herself.

And so, just a few weeks after they both had returned to Shallow Creek but had maintained their friendship over the phone each day, Candy had arranged a visit to her friend's house. Candy's mom had tried to get her to push to instead have Nellie come visit her, but Candy had her reasons for preferring it the other way around for now. Despite her mom's warning that she would have to be polite and diplomatic, since Nellie's home would no doubt be far less impressive than her own - the Saddler family that Nellie's aunt came from wasn't a particularly wealthy one, and Nellie was a recent transplant to the area - Candy didn't feel ready for Nellie to see the Coburg home. Candy had spent much of her life surrounded by the glamour and comfort of the richer families in their area, but the 'Candy' that went to dinner parties at the McConnell's or the Graves's or the Weber's was not the Chrissie Coburg that had befriended Nellie. Deep down, Candy was afraid that being home would trap that mask on her face, and that would scare away her new friend… better, instead, to see Nellie where she lived, and stay the person that Candy had been at camp.

And there was one more reason that she wanted to see Nellie's home. While Candy and Nellie had opened up to each other at camp and spent hours talking both in the real and dream worlds, there were a few topics that they had returned to, over and over again. For Candy, it had been her mom's efforts to introduce her into her social circles, including boys her age from those families. For the past two years, she had spent a lot of time around the McConnell brothers, Ritchie and Weston, the sons of a mine owner that was beginning to switch to lumber extraction. Both of the brothers were… nice, but annoying in their own ways, and that had led to plenty of stories to gripe about. Nellie, on the other hand, circled around one particular topic, a neighbor boy, and the glow in her cheeks spoke more about her feelings than her words did. Candy was looking forward to meeting this 'Ethan' and seeing if he truly was worthy of her friend - or was just another blowhard like Ritchie and half of the other guys she'd met.

And so, Candy first saw Nellie's home. She had prepared herself, but it was worse than she'd expected: the old Saddler house was run-down and faded, largely from having sat unoccupied for several years before Nellie and her aunt Marley had moved in. The paint was peeling or weather-stained, and the old porch sagged in spots, while the house was cramped and old-fashioned, though immaculately clean. There had been recent repair efforts to the house: new lumber had transformed the old stairs leading onto the porch into a ramp, and could be seen here and there in patchwork fashion throughout the home; it seemed Marley was friends with quite the handyman. Marley herself was a sweet woman, eagerly welcoming Candy into her home and treating her like family instantly. Though she had already had the impression from how she acted at camp, Candy could tell that Nellie didn't have many friends, and Marley was thrilled that her adopted daughter had made a new one. After seeing Nellie's room (which was much more exciting and personally-expressive than Candy's own sterile, pristine bedroom), they had shared snacks and talked on the couch for an hour. Finally, Marley had said that she was going to go over to visit with the Yates's, and offered to take the girls along - and they had both eagerly accepted, for similar reasons.

When they pulled up at the Yates home, the first thing that Candy noticed was the treehouse. Nellie had told her all about it - how she and Ethan would spend hours in it hanging out, how he had built the ramp just for her the summer she had moved there. The structure was legitimately spectacular, and the skeptical part of her that had sheltered quiet doubts that her friend might be exaggerating things quickly fell silent.

And then she saw something that put that doubting part of her to its death - the young man pushing the lawnmower to trim the yard under that treehouse, who turned to look at them in the SUV with an easy wide grin.

He was dressed in a sleeveless tee, damp with sweat, and shorts that showed the grass that stuck to his legs, and his black hair was mussed and gleamed in the summer sun, but… he was perfect. His smile had a guileless honesty that she recognized instantly but had rarely seen in her own life, and the way his body moved - despite the lanky awkwardness of his age - hypnotized her. He was far from the broad-shouldered hunk he would become, but the foundation had been laid. Even still-rounded with youth, his face was more rugged than the chubby smoothness of the boys she knew best, and his eyes were the warm dark brown of rich chocolate. She instinctively saw something in him, a singular prophecy of potential that strummed her heartstrings - less like a lute and more like a guitar. Her eyes widened as he approached - not the car, not the others, her, just her - and she felt a sloppy, uncontrolled smile spreading across her face. In that moment, her mask fell completely from her face, because how could it fit the giggling, wide-eyed, red-cheeked fool she instantly became?

The car stopped, and Marley and Nellie unbuckled their restraints and opened the doors to emerge - but Candy still sat spell-struck, staring at the young man walking closer. Realizing she was falling behind the others, she scrambled to get out of the car, and moved to stand beside Nellie as Ethan drew even nearer. Marley was moving towards the front door, and two people emerged from it - later she would learn that they were Ethan's parents Jason and Sabrina, but she didn't notice them now. Instead, she grinned as Ethan walked up to them, unconsciously planting her feet close together and tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear as she swayed nervously.

But Ethan turned to Nellie first, walking straight up to the nightmare. "Hey, Nell," he said, and his voice melted Candy more than the sun above. "Is this the friend you've been telling me about?" He turned that smile back onto Candy, and it felt like a deep breath after coming up from underwater. "Hey," he said simply - it was enough, she could hardly have stood any more.

"Hey…" she said back, far from fluent or eloquent, and laughed quietly. Her eyes flicked to the side, as if she couldn't look at him too long without blinding herself, and anxious energy made her swing from side to side. "I'm Chrissie - I mean, Candy," she erupted suddenly, grinning, and he smiled back, not looking away.

"Nice to meet you, Candy. I'm Ethan," he said, and stuck out his hand. She took it, gingerly, as if she was afraid she would break his larger, dirty hand like fine glass, but when he gripped back his hand was warm and strong.

Movement beside her distracted Candy, and when her eyes glanced in that direction… the world re-emerged from its hiding place. Nellie stood there, watching her strangely; her eyes were distant, like they had been when they had first met before the night they had shared a dream together, and Candy felt a cold chill settle over her like a cold tarp, heavy and smothering. Candy's grin crumbled like sugar in the rain, and - for just a moment - she felt a pang of horror, of realization. It would take her a little while longer to be conscious of the tragedy unfolding, but for most of the rest of the day there was a hollow place in the pit of her stomach.

"Well, come on, let me show you around the place," Ethan offered, and Nellie grinned once more - at him - and together they went towards the treehouse. They spent the rest of the day there, talking and exploring and sharing stories, and Candy felt herself relaxing into a new, wider friendship. Ethan was somehow a missing piece between her and Nellie; he didn't talk a lot, but when they disagreed on something, he was the one to offer a calm suggestion or ask the right question. Mostly, he listened, but that felt good too; aside from her parents, no one tended to listen to her much, preferring for her to be quiet, or at best to chime in with the chorus of opinions. And so, as the evening wore on, she relaxed more and more, and though he still called her by the name she had given him, she heard it as Chrissie - knew that she could be herself here, with him and with Nellie, and that made it feel like home.

When her mother picked her up there that evening, stopping to talk to Ethan's parents and Marley, Candy had dragged her feet. She wanted to stay with them, to stay Chrissie - the mask would hurt now. But she had to go, and so, casting longing glances back at the warm lights of the house, at the tower of the biggest treehouse she had ever seen, she let herself be kidnapped by her mother's driving, and didn't look away until the trees blocked her view.

But it was better this way - better to say goodbye. She now knew what had happened to her. It was - though she had never thought it would be like this - love at first sight. From the instant she saw Ethan, she loved him - irrevocably, powerfully, down to her bones.

But her best friend loved him. Had loved him first. And so, Candy decided to put away this first love; to store it in the back of her mind, tucked away behind boxes of other memories and pleasant dreams - pristine, unwrapped, undefiled. Chrissie would always love Ethan - but she was Candy now, and for the sake of the first true friend she had, she could ignore that feeling until something else came along and replaced it.

But nothing ever did.

---

Ethan was quiet as he came into the living room, his face a tight frown in the shadows of the nightlights that kept the space barely illuminated in case of late-night hunger attacks or movie viewings that ran closer to midnight. He glanced around, cautiously, like an animal afraid of a predator, and then moved to a closet near the couch. From it, he pulled pillows and a light blanket - the couch's reserves, for naps or visitors. With easy practice, Ethan made himself a bed of the raised portion of the couch, which was just long enough for him before it dropped to the sloping portion at the end of the mat for Marley and Nellie. Plumping his pillow, he readied himself to settle down into this makeshift cot, relaxing as he went, as if he thought the danger had passed.

The shadow watching him waited, eyes drinking in his every movement. Anne had failed, then - which was almost surprising, considering the bogey had been more determined than usual. But it had been inevitable, because she, like Melanie, lacked the will to push, to take what she wanted. The occluded watcher knew that feeling well - she had failed before also, her best opportunity stolen from her by an unwelcome intrusion, as well as her own wavering will.

But not tonight.

She detached herself from the wall that led into the kitchen, and crept around the couch slowly. Her hooves were padded by slippers, which kept her footsteps silent, and Ethan was still settling into bed enough that the faint noises she made didn't seem to register. Carefully, once he had turned to face out towards the television, she leaned forward and tiptoed around the side of the couch above his head, ready now, close enough that she could touch him-

The motion nearing him caught his attention, and he looked up, his brown eyes wide as he tried to read the features of the woman prowling towards his bed. They only grew wider as he recognized the shining golden gleam of her hair, and for a moment she could see something like fear in his eyes, a realization that he was up against his hardest challenge yet. Perversely, that hint of trepidation made her wet her lips with the tip of her tongue, and she let herself sway the rest of the way towards him, walking to the lower half of the couch. He threw back the blankets, ready to rise, but made the mistake of throwing them against the back of the couch, opening his body up to her - and she pounced.

If his eyes had been wide before, they were platters now, as she lowered herself on top of him, trapping his broad body under the weight of her much smaller frame as she rested her knees on either side of his hips. There would be no easy escapes this time, and she had no desire to hide her intentions; she wanted him to know what she wanted, what she had always wanted from him, and she could tell from the shiver that passed through his muscular body that he did understand. Her face lowered towards his, dangerously, eagerly, and she offered him her sweetest, sexiest, most hungry smile.

"Mind if I join you?" Candy asked, leaving him no options at all as her soft chest rested against his.

"Candy, I - " Ethan swallowed, eyes darting rapidly as he searched in vain for an escape. "What are you doing out here?"

She let her face drift closer to his, capturing his eyes with hers as she rested one hand on the broad plane of his chest. "Oh, just waiting for you," she said, confirming his suspicions. "I just thought…" Her voice a purr, she let her cheek glide past his like ships passing in a narrow river, and turned her lips to breathe next to his ear. "We could pick up where we left off… back at prom…"

But, even despite her building lust, Candy winced at her own choice of words, and remembered why mentioning that night was a terrible idea.

---

"Ritchie McConnell is such an asshole!"

Candy punctuated her words by throwing a firm pillow end-over-end at the wall, and after a flattening impact it slumped down the smooth surface to join the pile of throwable-yet-not-breakable items that had met a similar fate in the past fifteen minutes of Candy's expletive-filled rant. Candy had already gone over the list of Ritchie's vices four times, but each pass helped her to find new items to add to the list - which had started at lengthy and had gradually progressed to encyclopedic.

"He is heartless and cruel, and he's a womanizer who looks down on monster girls and women in general, and thinks that he's supposed to be 'king of the whole world' just because of who his daddy is, and-"

"You forgot 'rude and tacky.'" Sitting on the bed, Anne Singer inspected the nails on one of her claws as she listened to Candy's litany begin for the fifth time. The bogey's body language spoke volumes to her exasperation with this cyclical recitation, but neither she nor the other two girls were in a rush to interrupt Candy's rage. They were there to support their friend, even if the words 'I told you so' were radiating from their pores. They had all seen Candy go through these exact emotions before, whenever her off-and-on boyfriend decided to show his true colors for the most recent time. Those occasions were frequent, to the point that they had each begged Candy to stop being around the younger McConnell at all, but each time they found her back with him within a few weeks.

And it wasn't even like he ever tried to sweep Candy off her feet to get her back. This wasn't a cycle of coldness followed by pleas for forgiveness and displays of eager affection - each time, Ritchie put in less effort to win back her attention, even as his offenses got worse and worse. Both Anne and Melanie struggled to think of any reason Candy - one of the most popular girls in the whole school and drop-dead gorgeous - would ever bother with a slimy creep like Ritchie, regardless of his money. Only Nellie stayed quiet in those discussions, privy to her own secret theories that she refused to share.

Nellie was even more silent this time, her eyes watching Candy carefully, as if she expected something to happen. Candy's oldest friend knew that the weresheep had reached a true breaking point this time, just as she knew why Candy had kept Ritchie in her orbit for all these years, but if she was right, this time would be different. It would be a threat to the status quo, and Nellie was struggling to sort out her own feelings on what she knew was to come. That was the reason she kept her own counsel, as she tried to decide which side of the coming debate she truly favored: Candy's interests, or her own.

"You don't even really like him, anyways! I've never seen you hug, or even hold hands," Melanie pointed out as she sprawled back on Candy's cloud-like bed, despairing at this fifth repetition - which had already produced six new entries to the list - and full of her own reasons to hate the lesser McConnell brother. While he had stopped bullying Melanie in high school, moving on to new targets and wary of how tense some of his friends got whenever he turned his attention to her, she had no reason to grant him forgiveness when he had shown no signs of genuine change. The dormouse looked at Candy with a sympathetic frown as the weresheep pelted a photo album against the wall. "Why do you even care who he is taking to prom?"

"It. Is. The. Principle." Candy snarled, more at the absent betrayer than her empathetic ally, punctuating each word with a launched stuffed animal. She was nearly out of plush objects to chuck, and seemed too angry to re-collect them to launch them once more, so her friends were protectively eyeing the sharper, smaller objects in the room that might do actual damage to the wall. "I honestly don't care that he dumped me for some human girl." Anne and Melanie exchanged glances, while Nellie's eyes fell to the floor. "I care that he did it with only a few weeks to go before the dance! I don't have time to find another date! And I'm not going to not show up, or go alone, because that would make that entitled, smug, vain prick think that I can't have anyone but him!" A heavier book thumped against the wall, and Candy whirled, looking for something else satisfying to fling.

Anne rolled her eyes at her friend, but offered her a kind grin. "Just give a hint to someone else. There's dozens of guys that would love to go to a dance with you. Nothing else, they'll go just because of the ego boost from taking one of the cheerleaders." She spread her claws wide, trying to calm her wrathful friend.

The next book thudded against the wall hard enough that the three sitting girls winced as the nearby hanging photos jostled, but Candy whirled before she could throw another. She paused, her chest heaving, and collected herself through strength of will. "Name one - one! - cute guy. Even decent. One guy who isn't already taken, or one of Ritchie's flunkies, or… creepy. Or a freshman, because I have standards." Melanie lowered her finger, caught on the brink of making a suggestion, but both she and Anne furrowed their brows as they started to comb through the catalogues of guys from their school, whispering to each other as they plucked out the unacceptable candidates.

"What about…?"

"No, he's dating…"

"And his brother?"

"Ugly." Both girls nodded, frowning deeper.

"There isn't one," Candy said, triumphant in her defeat. She plucked a picture up from her desk, another projectile in the making, but froze in place as she saw whose picture it was, and the fury bled immediately from her face as a pained expression took its turn. From her place kneeling beside the bed, Nellie sighed, knowing the game was up.

"Ethan."

Candy didn't move, her eyes widening, but both Anne and Melanie whirled on the nightmare in shock. Nellie didn't meet their gaze, instead staring off into space with a glum expression. Wordlessly, she started to climb to her feet, and the motion was what drew Candy to look at her. The weresheep's desperate, conflicted expression didn't find any respite in Nellie's iron silence - that one word had been enough.

"Nellie, I, uh… I don't know what you are-" Candy began haltingly, her emotions too chaotic to slip into her usual casual denials. "I mean, you know I wouldn't…"

Sighing again, deep from within her chest, Nellie turned her magenta eyes on her best friend like howitzers. "Candy, you can stop acting now. I'm not stupid. You haven't fooled me-"

"Nellie, please, understand-"

"Ever." Candy's words died on her tongue, and she lowered the picture she was holding as her whole body sagged under the revealed weight of her secret. She didn't know where to begin, what she could possibly say to her best friend - what excuses, what apologies she could offer. Before she could even try, Nellie started walking towards the bathroom connected to Candy's room. "I've always known, Candy. You have wanted this since the day you met him. You've wanted to have a shot at taking him for yourself."

Candy was silent. She had hidden her feelings, but denying this… it would be a very different sort of lie.

Nellie paused at the doorframe leading into the bathroom. "And he'll say yes. Because he's had a crush on you, off and on, since middle school."

"He… what? You… knew that, and you didn't…?" It was more of a plea, or a denial, than a question.

Nellie looked back one more time, and her eyes were distant and cold - but there was pain underneath, pain only a friend would see. "You're not the only one who gets to keep secrets, Candy." And she stepped into the bathroom, letting the door close behind her, shutting off the conversation.

Candy stared at the unhelpful door for long moments, her brain fighting to register what just happened. When she glanced back to Anne and Melanie, her friends shrugged - but there was that distance, that guardedness. Anne's smile had vanished, and Melanie's attention fell to her lap as she shrunk in on herself. It felt so wrong, so isolating…

Candy looked down at the picture she was holding. It was from a couple of years back, when she had gone to an amusement park with the Yates family. She was there, a tad overdressed for the occasion and nervously grinning, while Nellie wore her usual hoodie and was beaming at the camera. Between them, with the most exuberant expression of them all, was Ethan, his arm thrown over both girls. Behind them was a roller coaster, part of the source of Candy's anxiety in the photo - it had been horrible, and she had sworn never to go on any more of them. But there, she was pressed against Ethan's body, and - only she had been able to tell, she had thought - her eyes were turned to look towards him with open love. It wasn't the best photo, but… it was her happiest.

She could have more photos like that. She could have… more. She could have everything she had dreamed of, in silent nights away from her friends. Everything she had hidden, or lied to herself about. She could have him.

But… at what cost?

Candy looked up at the unyielding door, her fingers gripping the photo like a lifeline, and felt her heart tear in two.

---

"I'm sorry…"

Candy blinked at the pain in Ethan's voice, matched by the grimace he wore. He didn't meet her gaze, but she could see how haunted his eyes were. "Ethan, no…" she said, her lust cooled for the moment. She straightened, sitting back onto him - she was still straddling him, could not ignore that fact even now - and reached out to softly touch his face, turning it towards her. He went along with her guidance, but didn't manage to hide the guilt he felt as he looked up at her. "What happened that night wasn't your fault. I know you feel bad about how it ended up, but…" She smiled, genuinely, and leaned closer to his face. "You stood up for me, you did the right thing-" she could see the objection bubbling up within him, but before it could emerge, she laid one finger across his lips to shush him, "and I'm grateful for it." She leaned closer still, angling higher, and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. When she withdrew, she saw conflict lingering on his face, but it seemed mollified for now.

"But I meant what we were doing before all of that," she clarified, still close to Ethan. The hand that had quieted his protests now drifted to the side, caressing his cheek, and he closed his eyes at the soft sensation, the gentle comforting. With his defenses down, she leaned closer, planting another soft kiss on his cheek, pulling back in time to see his eyes flash open in surprise. Her smile was small but indulgent as she hovered over him, still close enough to feel his quickened breath on her face. "Do you remember? On the couch, at the afterparty?" She let her chest rest against him, pressing her body close to his.

Candy watched a wave of changing emotions wash over Ethan's face. She could see him fighting the urge to glance further down than her face, which was all according to plan - she had left the button-up shirt was wearing partially undone at the top and bottom, and most of her impressive cleavage was on open display. Likewise, her bare legs were visible at his sides, and if he considered them for a moment he would realize that she wore only panties under the lower reaches of the shirt, meaning they were that much closer to touching skin to skin.

Beyond the lust he fought to contain - seeing that was like a gentle finger along her spine, giving her a pleasant shiver that made her want more - she could see the nervousness sawing at his reins. She was the third girl this evening to try to corner him, and each of them had weakened his resolve; he didn't know if he would be able to resist this time, and neither did she. He was ready to bolt, but she had him pinned to the couch, and she knew that he would never, ever hurt her.

The last emotion she saw was a desperate sadness, and that was the one she didn't understand. Maybe it was because of the other girls, but she could distract him - both of them - from that. It was a vulnerability that called to her, made her want to hold him to her and let him know that everything would be okay… and maybe he would do the same for her, too. And so she leaned closer, her face beside his once more, her breath ghosting over his neck.

"You know," she whispered, and he shivered under her, "I found out something interesting a while ago." She leaned back a little, moving one of the hands holding her upright to rest on the flat plane of his chest, and the feeling of the pose quickened her breath. In the darkness of the living room, her eyes gleamed down at him, and he watched her without looking away, just like she wanted. "Someone let a little secret slip to me." Her smile took on a wry edge, and her voice was huskily teasing. "Did you really have a crush on me in high school?"

Ethan's cheeks burned crimson, and he wouldn't meet her gaze. "Did Nellie tell you that?" he asked, clearing his throat. His reaction made Candy glow as his awkwardness only proved the truth of it, and her heart pounded like a drum in a cave. She leaned even closer, capturing his eyes, and her smile showed teeth that gleamed in the darkness.

"Maaaybe," she teased, and shifted atop him, reminding his body of their position and the pleasure that could come from it. "I never figured it out myself, I have to admit." She shrugged, her hand rubbing the hard muscles of his chest, drinking in the joy of touching him. "I just wish you had let me know somehow." Her tongue traced her lips, a quiet suggestion of what might have come of her knowing that much sooner.

A veil dropped back over his face. "Well… I couldn't, because you had…"

Candy couldn't keep her expression from souring. Ritchie. Just one more thing that miserable bastard had taken from her. She could only blame herself - and Ritchie, because he was horrible enough to deserve that and more. Letting a long sigh escape, she sank back down onto Ethan's chest, bringing their faces close and letting the flames of their mutual desire cool to a soothing warmth. She stared into his eyes, and, adjusting himself slightly, he shifted the pillow under his head to gaze back.

"Ethan," she started, her tone serious but soft, "I need you to know something. As much as I hated what Ritchie called me-" she saw his face harden instantly, "I couldn't say much, because I used him, too." Smiling at the kind confusion on Ethan's face, she reached up to stroke his cheek. "I dated Ritchie because I knew he would never want more from me. I stayed around him because he didn't love me - he knew he needed to marry a human girl, so he would never get serious with me. And I didn't want him to, because I knew I would never love him."

"Then why date him at all?" Ethan asked, his brow furrowed.

"Because of Mom. Because of the pressure that our family put on me, because of her." Candy's eyes drifted to the side as she let her fingers play with a lock of Ethan's black hair. "You've met Dad."

"Yeah; he's a good guy." Ethan smiled at the memory. "He showed me around your family's new factory a while back; even offered me an internship if I wanted it."

Candy nodded, knowing why her dad had made that offer. Her parents and younger sister had been the only ones she had ever told of her feelings for Ethan, and she had even tried to hide the extent of those emotions from them. "Well, once I told you about how he and Mom met-"

"He was a clerk at one of your family's first stores in the area." The Coburgs were part of a nationwide chain of textiles that produced sleepwear and related goods like sheets and pillows. Weresheep wool was known to enhance sleep, making those who wore their goods slumber more deeply and awaken more rested, never mind the fact that the wool itself was incredibly soft and warm. The Coburg clan produced wool that had a unique golden hue, and was rumored to be even more effective, and thus the Coburg Fleeceworks had quickly gained fame and fortune. Candy's mom was their representative in this region, but the wider family had branches across the nation, each reporting back to the main family as they tried to expand their market influence. "He was the hardest worker there, and impressed your mom with his diligence and good heart."

"Mm-hmm," Candy said, staring at Ethan with a warm grin that he seemed to not understand. "But, the problem was… he was just a clerk. My grandmother wanted her to marry someone with more influence and money, maybe someone that owned a business or property that we could use to expand. She wanted mom to have a good start to her life here, and she thought that marrying someone who was just an employee would make her life a lot harder. And she wasn't wrong. But Mom defied her, and married Dad anyways, and…" Candy shrugged.

"They seem happy," Ethan said, chuckling, and Candy blushed atop him. He wasn't wrong; her parents were incredibly lovey-dovey, despite their differences in background and tastes. Somehow, all of that made them work better together. Honestly, it was a bit alarming, since, as Candy had gotten older, she had begun to realize why her parents were so strict about bedtimes and their privacy, and she had always wondered how the two of them had ended up with only two daughters - she should have had as many sisters as Melanie.

"They are… but Mom didn't want me to go through that, so she tried to introduce me to boys like her mom had wanted her to date. She took me to all these high society events, even as a kid." Turning her head slightly, she rested it on Ethan's chest, and was pleased to quickly hear the sound of his heart beating. "I hated all of that."

Ethan nodded, and she jumped slightly as she felt his hand reach up to stroke her hair. The feeling immediately soothed her, and she nuzzled against his chest to show she appreciated the touch. "And that's how you met him."

Candy nodded, hating to let even the thought of Ritchie invade this blissful moment. "I didn't want to spend time with him, even as a kid, but… it was what was expected of me. And it felt nice to impress the rest of the family, and they all complimented us on what a good couple we made."

"So they never actually talked to him, then," Ethan said, a hint of a growl in his voice, and warmth spread in her chest.

"No, they did. They are just… well, like he is." Candy pushed herself up again, this time without the seductive hunger, instead staring into Ethan's eyes with a quiet peace. "And I'm not. For a long time, I was afraid… that I would end up like them. Like him." Her laugh was cold, but Ethan's hand had pursued her upwards, and as it stroked down the side of her face, she sighed in deep contentment. She looked down at Ethan, smiling in gratitude at the support she saw in his expression, the certainty that he believed she could never fall so far as that. "But, I ended up being just like Mom, instead. I walked down the same path she did - and I don't regret that at all."

Ethan frowned slightly, even as he continued to stroke her hair. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I mean, I understand that you would want to be like your mom; she's a great person, brave and strong-willed and smart." Candy nodded that at, glad he saw what she did in her role model. "But, when you say you took her path…"

"I mean…" Candy lowered closer to Ethan, her blue eyes twinkling in the dim light of the living room, "just like she did, I fell in love with a good man, instead of a 'great' one. My heart chose someone for me that makes me happy, and makes me a better person." She could see the doubt in his eyes, and an unspoken question. "From the first day I met him, I knew that he was the one who I wanted to spend my life with." She rose higher on Ethan, until her lips were right above his, her eyes staring down into his.

"And then… I was lucky enough that he asked me to prom."

---

'There is a single thread that runs from the prom dress to the wedding dress.'

It was an old saying among monster women, her mother told her. Her mom had told her that a dozen times, back when they had rushed from dress shop to dress shop, driving to the nearest big city in their desperate hunt for the dress. Candy understood what it meant: while many monster girls found their mates during school, prom was a last chance for those who had found the guy they wanted but had waited until it was nearly time to move on to the next stage of their lives. Prom night was always full of emotions and tension, bickering and promises, but for some lucky girls, it was the night where they claimed the man they sought, where they could begin their lives together. One dress led to the other for the fortunate few, and Candy wanted to be that lucky. Her mom had agreed, apparently: from the moment that Candy had told her mother that Ethan had asked to take her to the prom, there had been an intense light in Helia Coburg's eyes, and she had hunted with as much fervor as her daughter.

The dress - they had found it, and paid a fortune by the time it was adjusted - had to have been made with Candy in mind, somehow. It was perfect. It was long and sweeping, and mostly made of a shimmering white cloth that brought to mind the old saying. Other parts were accented in gold, which she complimented with one of her mom's gold-and-pearl necklaces. It was backless and dipped low in the front, and had a cut-out along one side that was decorated with golden threads. It felt like magic to Candy, and she did everything she could to tie every bit of her appearance to it: nails, her hair, shoes, make-up, down to her underwear, which had also been carefully chosen, only partially for that reason.

When the night came, she made Ethan wait a little too long when he had showed up to pick her up for their dinner reservations. But, her preparations had to be perfect, so she felt only a little bad, and anyways it had given her parents a chance to talk to Ethan. Both of them had offered her wide, enthusiastic grins as she had come down the stairs from her room, and Ethan had worn a brilliant blush - he wasn't used to wearing suits, obviously, and it wasn't the expensive tailored cuts she was used to seeing, but his frame filled the suit in such a way that her heart had hardly slowed since. She had taken the gleaming corsage he had offered her, and slipped her arm into Ethan's as they walked out to his car on their way to dinner together. Tonight was going to be her night, and she wouldn't let a single thing go wrong.

Except, after a marvellous dinner together and as soon as she entered the community center with Ethan by her side, it had all begun to careen off course. Eyes fell upon them immediately, and she basked in the attention - she was finally where she was supposed to be, with who she was supposed to be with - and she had beamed her best smile as they were announced. Together, they had walked in, and made their way towards an unoccupied table. Unfortunately, due to her earlier tardiness, many of the tables were taken, and so they had been forced to take one further back, and closer to a few faces Candy had hoped to avoid.

"Well, well, if it isn't Candy Coburg," came the barbed purr of Wanda Painter, a dusky-skinned werecat with a sardonic sneer. Her crimson dress stood out against the deep black of her fur, and her yellow eyes were narrowed at her fellow cheerleader. "For some reason, I hadn't expected to see you here tonight."

Candy bit back a sigh; she and Ethan hadn't even managed to sit down before they were accosted by Ritchie's parasites. Wanda had risen from her seat and brought her date along to intercept Candy and Ethan, and now Candy had to deal with them before they could reach their chairs. Behind the feline gossiper trailed a boy that Candy recognized from her classes, as well as the football field. Blaine Daniels was a handsome, broad-shouldered junior with cloying charisma, but she had never understood the reason that so many girls swooned over him; his humor was as cruel as Ritchie's (unsurprisingly, his close friend) and he was known for toying with their affections. He was a good match for Wanda, Candy decided, since the werecat was also a notorious gossip and backstabber.

"I can't imagine why," Candy said, letting her closer hand rise to rest against Ethan's side. "I've been looking forward to this one - I get to spend more time with people worth talking to."

Coming up to stand beside Wanda, Blaine snorted rudely. "I'm sure it'll be a great one-sided conversation," he snarked, and then glanced at Ethan. "But I have to say, Yates, even if you intend to just run away again, I'm surprised to see you picking up Ritchie's leftovers."

Candy started to reply, anger boiling within her, but something in the atmosphere changed as Ethan took a half-step forward, and Blaine took a full step back. She glanced up at Ethan, and his face was composed, calm even… but there was something missing there, his usual warmth, any hint of a smile. "Would you care to repeat that?" Ethan asked, so softly, almost inaudible over the music, and there was no threat in it - it was a polite request. Candy shivered all the same, and the bluster bled out of Blaine's expression like water out of a punctured jug as he looked up at Ethan.

"He said…" Wanda smirked, then glanced to the side to see that her date was now several steps behind her, looking for a reason to depart the conversation. Her eyes widened in outrage, but when she glanced at Ethan, she too blanched. "Forget it." Without bothering to recover her bravado, she marched over to her date and seized his arm, pulling him away without having to fight. Candy watched them go, the faintest smile on her lips, but it faded when she looked up to Ethan, who also was staring at the pair, his eyes still cold.

"I'm so tired of people like them," Ethan sighed, the tension leaving his square shoulders. He glanced down to Candy, and smiled, but she could see the weariness in it. "They feel like they can hurt whoever they want to, but they're all cowards."

Candy nodded, and wrapped her arm around his. "We're not like them," she told him, smiling reassuringly. "Let's have fun, and ignore them - let them be miserable on their own."

And they did have fun - more than Candy had ever imagined she would, even in her sweetest dreams of a night like this. Ethan wasn't the most comfortable at dancing - she had helped to teach him, back before the Winter Formal when he was nervous about being able to dance with Anne - but Candy's enthusiasm made up for it, and as far as she was concerned, they were the only people on the dance floor. She let herself dance freely, soaking in the way his eyes followed her, drank her up, and a heat suffused her whole body as she let go - of regret, of anger, of doubt. And when a slow dance came, and they blushingly clutched to each other, Candy begged time to stop right then and there, to lock in place forever, because surely she couldn't ever be happier than this.

Finally they had to sit down, and Ethan walked off to get them cups of punch. Candy collapsed into her chair when she knew he wasn't watching, and fanned herself to cool off, feeling the glow of tired muscles and contentment. She scanned over the crowd, noticing a few awkward couples making their way to the floor, and with a laugh she turned to tell Nellie and the others-

She glanced at the empty seats around her. Nellie hadn't come, had never intended to. Anne and Melanie had planned to come to the dance… but Candy had asked them not to. She hadn't wanted Ethan to be distracted. This was going to be her night. Her chance.

And that was why she was alone.

Candy couldn't even let herself indulge in self-pity. She knew what the other girls had to be feeling right now - the paranoia and fear that tonight might be the night they lose Ethan forever. Her dream was their nightmare. But best out of all of them, she understood what it was like to love from a distance, to deny herself what she wanted most - it was her turn to actually go for what she wanted. This was only fair.

Fair… but not necessarily right.

Aching, confused, she looked over for the one thing that could chase away these gnawing shadows - only to find even more fear. Ethan was still standing near the punch bowl, but he was talking to another boy, one shorter but still stout, dressed in a designer suit and with his golden ringlets shining in the dim light. Candy nearly bolted from her seat when she saw the expression on Ethan's face, but despite the obvious tension Ritchie was standing casually, reaching out to adjust Ethan's tie and pat him patronizingly on the chest. When the younger man turned away, she could see the sickening sneer on his face, and his eyes sought her out. Across the floor, he smiled at her, all teeth and cruelty, and she hated him more than ever. Say or do what he wanted to her, but Ethan-!

She was still glaring at him when she noticed Ethan drawing nearer, and she turned her attention back to her date, trying to compose herself. She looked at Ethan's face, and saw a paleness there, a hollowness that scared her, and she wondered what words Ritchie had used to wound him, what angle the entitled monster had gone after. "Are you okay?" she asked Ethan as he sat down, passing her a cup of punch, and she knew instantly that he would lie to her.

"I'm fine," he claimed, and the warmth returned to his eyes when he looked at her. "He… he doesn't matter."

"He never did," Candy proclaimed, and reached out to rest her hand on his. "Please… don't let him ruin this night for us."

"He won't," Ethan said, and she believed him, even as she still wondered what Ritchie had said that left the pain lingering in those sweet brown eyes. "Let's just-"

"Ethan!" cheered a voice from nearby, and they both turned to see another couple approaching their table. "I'm glad to see you could make it out tonight!" And the enthusiasm in the voice made it clear the words were honest; unlike his brother, Weston McConnell wasn't one for veiled hostility.

"Wes!" laughed Ethan, grinning, and the warmth in that expression drew much of the tension out of Candy. She followed as Ethan stood from the table, turning to greet Weston and his date. "Good to see you, man!" The two exchanged clasped hands and grins, while Candy offered a polite wave to the other girl, who meekly nodded in reply, standing slightly behind her date.

Weston wasn't dressed to the same high standards as his younger brother, but that made sense. After he had chosen to defy his father's orders to leave the girl he had fallen for, he had been kicked out of the McConnell home, and the half-year that had passed hadn't changed that. Instead, he had been taken in by his uncle, who Candy knew much less of since he stayed away from their family's operations. Candy had always liked Weston, even if she had never been attracted to him - he was a bit flighty and had been a show-off as a kid. Now, though, he seemed grounded, and the happiest she had ever seen him.

That happiness was largely due to the girl behind him, she knew. Lucy Davie, a candlegeist, had saved Weston when he had gotten lost in one of his family's abandoned mines during a dare, and the two of them had been together since. Lucy was a student in Ethan's grade, but she blended in so much that, along with her near-truancy, Candy had barely ever seen her before - almost like a ghost, just as the name of her race had suggested. Now, though, she stood out: her dress was a silver that gleamed with a mirror-like sheen, matched by elements of Weston's suit, and that made the soft, warm flame that emerged from the top of her head radiate across the darkened community center. Lucy was shapely and pretty, but kept her face downturned typically - tonight, she wore a brighter smile than usual, and even if she wasn't exactly outgoing, she still smiled at Candy, who considered that a victory.

Once the two boys were done slapping each other on the back, and complementing their respective dates, Weston turned to the real reason he had come to approach their table. "Hey, you know you both are welcome to come to the afterparty at my uncle's lakehouse, right? It's nothing big - there are a lot of bigger parties than this one for sure - but we're trying to keep it to close friends that we trust, and…" Weston's grin finished the sentence for him.

"We'd love for you both to come," Lucy chimed in with a warm smile, her voice surprisingly melodic. "We've decorated, and I made pastries and punch."

"Well…" Ethan hemmed, his face falling. "I promised Mr. and Mrs. Coburg-" He glanced to the side, his eyes widening as he saw that Candy already had her phone out and to her ear.

"Hey, mom- yes, yes, it's going great, I'll tell you all about it later- yes, that good- no, the reason I'm calling is about an afterparty-" Candy held the phone slightly away from her ear at the piercing sound of her mother's joyous cry. "Okay, yeah, I'll be back tomorrow mor- afternoon, okay? Okay. Love you!"

Ethan watched her mutely, his eyes growing wider as she spoke, and swallowed loudly as she hung up and turned to face the others with a brilliant smile. "They don't mind at all," she declared, swaying back and forth excitedly.

"Well, ah, I need to ask Dad and Marley-" Ethan started, and blinked as Candy thrust her phone towards him, his dad's number glowing on the screen, and he heard the first rings as he pressed it to his ear. "Oh, hey, Dad," he began, his nervousness still in his voice as he chuckled. "I was wondering if…"

Candy offered her most grateful smile to Weston and Lucy as she fought to keep herself from shouting out in absolute glee. She hadn't wanted this evening to end, and they had just presented the best possible way for her to prolong it. Even better, it meant that she could have a chance to- oh, she couldn't even think it! But she could imagine it, in superheated flashes of agonizing need, and it could come true. Tonight! She bit her lip, and felt her heart beat in her chest like a drumroll heading for a crescendo.

Forget Ritchie. Forget his flunkies. Forget… everything else that worried her.

Tonight, she would finally have what she had wanted for years and years. When Ethan nodded, his face slightly pale despite his smile, she squealed and hugged him fiercely, and buried her face in his chest.

She would make him hers, tonight. Everything was going to be perfect.

---

"Candy…" Ethan said, and she could see the conflict in his eyes. "Candy, you… you deserve someone…"

She drifted closer, their lips almost touching. She smiled past his protests. "I deserve you," she purred, and she wet her lips with her tongue, ready for this - oh-so-ready for this.

"Candy, please, listen," Ethan protested, squirming under her - but not fighting. "I'm not-"

"Call me Chrissie," she whispered, an inch away.

He blinked. "All your friends-"

"You have always been more than that to me." She captured him with her gaze, and she could see the jugular now, was ready to strike.

He swallowed again.

Stared up.

Sighed.

Smiled.

"Chrissie."

And she leaned in, and pressed their lips together.

---

Ethan tensed, his arms coming up to wrap around Chrissie, as he felt her lips take his. He remembered this taste - had missed it. Her tongue was in his mouth, teasing and playful, and he joined in. His body sang with the joy of this release, whether or not it had been his idea, and at his primal core the sensation of her sitting atop him, nearly naked, was driving him crazy. He had been fighting for his life ever since she had climbed onto him, and now he knew for a fact that he was losing.

He wanted to keep trying to convince her this was wrong, even as his hand stroked the golden hair draped down her back. He wanted to confess to her why he had never taken things further after prom, to let her know the truth, but her hands were caressing his face, and she was shifting atop him, pressing him into the couch. He wanted to think- but her touch was too intoxicating for anything but feeling. And he felt… ready.

She broke away with a hungry gasp, and smiled down at him as her chest rose and fell. Her blue eyes glowed in the dim light as she drank him up with them, and he groaned as she rolled her hips once more. That made her bite her lower lip, and she leaned back in again. He had to take this chance to-

"I love you, Ethan."

He shivered, his throat thick, and he didn't hold back when she kissed him again. His resistance was crumbling like an abandoned sandcastle in a rising tide, even as other things hardened in eager anticipation - which she had clearly noticed, from the way she shifted to take advantage of it. He had spent all night - honestly, years - running away, but now he suspected he had finally been run down. He remembered a story he had heard once about a prince that had been turned into a deer, and now he understood how Prince What's-His-Name must have felt.

Candy pulled away again, but the fever was in her eyes now. She reached down and slid her hands under his shirt, pulling it upwards as she ran her fingers across his chest. She looked him over, drinking in the sight of him as if deciding where to go next, and he shivered at the need radiating off of her.

"Chrissie," he said, in one final attempt at salvation, one last desperate ploy - they had all worked, so far, on this chaotic night. "We shouldn't rush-"

"Rush?" she asked, her eyes widening as she laughed in manic incredulity. "Ethan, I wanted to do this at the lakehouse. I have waited months to finish what we started there." She leaned back in, her fingers tracing trails along his skin as she started placing soft kisses on the center of his chest and moving outwards. "And there is no one here to interrupt us, this time." She paused, glancing to the side.

But his heart clenched, because he knew he had been the problem then, even more than that interruption.

---

"Your uncle's place is really nice, Wes," Ethan remarked, blinking at the grand cabin. It was a mixture of simplicity and grandeur: the interior was lumber and granite, but the furnishings were plush and warm where they could be seen beyond the people filling the open living room. Ethan had never seen the lakehouse, since Weston hadn't been that close to his uncle before the falling-out with his dad. Now, though, Weston had finally found an adult who supported him without his father's dictatorial harshness, and seemed far more free to be himself, and much happier in his life with Lucy.

"Thanks, Ethan," Weston said, clapping him on the back. "I'm going to get everyone settled in, but you and me - we need to talk, when we get the chance. I heard you ended up choosing South-East Kentucky State? Big scholarship for football?"

Ethan nodded, his smile bittersweet. "Yep."

"Me too." Surprise widened Ethan's eyes, and now his grin was more honest. "We'll be teammates again." Weston offered him an even wider smile, and stuck out his hand once more, which Ethan eagerly clasped.

"I'm glad to hear it," Ethan said, a weight lifting from his chest - he would be gone, but he wouldn't be alone. "And don't you have a big speech to be writing? Salutatorian, man, that's big."

"I'll try not to put you to sleep before you have to walk across the stage. But, like I said, we'll catch up later, eh?" Weston said, nodding over towards the kitchen, where Lucy was busy pouring gallons of punch and clear soda into a bowl full of frozen yogurt and ice cream.

"Oh, Wes?" asked a voice from behind Ethan, and both boys turned to look at Candy, who had her hand pressed to one of her temples. "Is there a place that's a little quieter where I can rest for a bit? I've got a bit of a headache from all the music earlier…"

"Oh." Weston thought for a second, then nodded. "Second floor, there's a room that's used as an office. It's just next to the bedrooms on the left side - later, we'll have the girls crash up there if they want, while the guys can take the rooms down here. There's a couch in the office, though, and it should be a lot less noisy." He blinked, then smiled, and glanced at Ethan. "Would you help her up there?"

"Of course!" Ethan said, looking with concern at his date - mostly missing the mischievous wink that Weston shot to Candy, who was giving him a grateful smile. Ethan offered Candy his arm, and she took it with a beaming smile, letting him lead her up the wide staircase to the safety of the second floor. Behind them, Weston watched them go with an approving chuckle, before heading off to help his lover with her efforts in the kitchen.

The office was small, but just as peaceful as Weston had advertised. Situated along the right wall opposite a desk, the couch was wide and deep, big enough to nap in, and Ethan sank back into it before he realized how yielding the cushions were. His surprise continued as he felt Candy lean in and against him, her head on his shoulder. She shivered, probably cold - her dress did bare a lot of skin - and so he lifted his arm to let her settle closer against him, and when she did, he draped the arm over her shoulders and clutched her to him. Her sigh was audible, and she let her hand drift up to rest on his chest, right below the knot of his tie-

"She's too good for you, man. You're just another toy. Do you really think some sweaty nobody in a family-owned construction company is going to be able to afford the kind of things a girl like her likes? Who's going to be paying for dresses like that, huh?" In the darkness of the community center, Ritchie had leered up at him, sipping punch with a cruel grin.

"Jealous, Ritchie?" Ethan had growled. "Seems like she got tired of being an asshole's 'Arm-Candy' and decided to get rid of him for good."

"You think that stuck-up slut wouldn't come crawling back if I wanted?" Ritchie asked, spreading his hands. He laughed out loud, and then reached in to adjust Ethan's tie, ignoring the lethal glare the taller boy was shooting him. "You're more stupid than I thought, and that's saying something. Enjoy the evening and this shitty dance while it lasts." And with that, he had walked away, tilting up the cup of punch Ethan had watched him spike with a clear liquid from a flask just moments before. "Good punch, though."

"Is your head feeling okay?" Ethan asked, looking down at Candy with concern.

"Better in here," she replied, looking up at him with a soft smile. "But, if you wanted… my mom used to kiss it to make it feel better, and-" Her blue eyes were wide with affected innocence, and with a laugh he played along with her game, leaning in to gently brush his lips against her forehead. She sighed in pleasure, and snuggled closer to his chest, breathing in deeply and then relaxing bonelessly.

Ethan let himself relax for a moment, but he couldn't help but be aware that they were alone in the office, and on prom night, notorious for its romantic significance. His cheeks were glowing, and he tried to think of something to say, but his mind was being eaten alive by sheer sensation: the scent of her perfume, clean and bright; the feeling of her head resting on him, one of her golden horns nudging his shoulder; the thinness of the dress his fingers rested upon, and the naked skin turned towards him at the top of her dress - so much pale, soft, curving skin. This was dangerous, he decided, and it might be a good idea to go get some of that punch from downstairs-

As if she had sensed his attempt at avoiding the building tension, Candy looked back up at him, and he could see the mischief in her eyes. "You have to be warm in all of that… why don't you take some of it off, since we're not going to be going back out till tomorrow?"

Ethan cleared his throat, but nodded - he wouldn't mind being rid of the tie, at the least. She leaned up to let him stand, but as he shrugged off his jacket and tossed it into a nearby chair, he noticed she too had risen. He turned to face her, and - that small smile still on her pink lips - she reached out to loosen his tie for him, gently sliding her fingers along his neck to loosen it as the knot surrendered. He lowered his neck to help her take it off, and she handed it to him - but as he was distracted with discarding it, she moved on, popping the top buttons of his shirt. "Uhh…" he stammered, looking down at her with widening eyes, not certain just how many items she had in mind to remove.

Her toothy smile told him her answer - every last one of them - and his breath was ragged as he realized what he was in for. "Candy…"

"Shh…" she said, and her arms snaked around his neck, pulling him towards her face. She stared into his eyes, searching for hesitation, for a reason to break away…

He smiled back, and kissed her first.

Their bodies pressed together, and the soft sounds she made in her throat let him know that she had wanted this - that no matter what he had feared, she wanted this from him. Her fingers were tearing at his buttons - she wanted it gone, wanted his skin like he wanted hers, pausing only to take one of his hands that was caressing her bare skin through the window at the side of her dress. She lifted that hand higher, and stared into his eyes to reassure him - and he gave in to what he wanted, cupping her, feeling that soft skin, slipping inside that beautiful dress-

"Sweaty nobody."

Candy cried out in a sweet voice, and lunged at his lips, kissing him desperately as he touched, tweaked, teased. She pulled back, and with a devilish grin that was the opposite of the angel she looked like, she slid her hand downwards, her fingers trailing over his belt. His eyes widened as he felt her grasp him through the thin fabric of his dress pants, and she wore a sloppy grin as she explored him, stroking and caressing.

"Enjoy it while it lasts."

He kissed her - he shouldn't - and he clutched her to him, fighting the voices in his head - they were right - and trying to keep his fear in check. Candy grabbed him back, pressing her body to his, and she craned her head to nuzzle against his, to kiss along his neck. She pulled away, panting, and he saw the decisive need in her eyes. Her hand dropped again, and as he watched her slim tongue trace her lips, she felt for the end of his belt, trying to work it free-

"She's too good for you."

"I should, ah, get us some punch," he blurted, pulling away. His chest heaved for breath, as did hers, and she stared at him in quiet horror, trying to understand why they were stopping. "I'm thirsty," he explained, trying to think of anything to say to hide the truth - running away again - "but I promise, I'll be right back."

"O-oh-okay," said Candy, uncertain and afraid, unlike herself. She forced a smile onto her face, and reached out to carefully touch him again, smiling more when he didn't pull away. "Don't be gone long? I'll miss… I'll be waiting."

Fighting valiantly to catch his breath, he nodded. Checking his composure - and making sure that he could hide what she had been clutching a second ago - he staggered out of the office, making his way for the stairs. The room was too bright, too loud, and he didn't pay attention to the people standing around chatting, or the music, or hardly even where his feet landed. His heart and head were in a blender, and nothing made sense. He wanted - he needed to - Candy…

"Are you okay, Ethan?"

At the sound of his own name, he glanced over to see the waxy-pale girl standing by the punchbowl, a silver ladle in her hand. She smiled at him, and the room glowed a little brighter, and for a moment the shadows gnawing at his thoughts backed away.

"Lucy," he breathed, and forced himself to straighten. "I just came for some punch."

"Of course!" She quickly poured him a deep cup of the punch, chunks of melting ice cream bobbing at the top. "Please, have all you want. And we have mini-hot dogs and taquitos and dip over here, and the pastries I made…" She paused, looking at him more closely. "Are you sure-?"

"I'm fine," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow with one shirt sleeve. "I just…" He blinked, and looked again at the candlegeist. "Hey, where's your tiara and sash?"

Lucy blushed, lights literally glowing within the pale skin of her cheeks. "I put them away," she admitted. "I… didn't want to get anything on them."

Ethan grinned, remembering the look on her face when Weston and she had been announced as Prom King and Queen. He also remembered the murderous glares on the faces of some of the other girls - but such self-entitlement was why they hadn't gotten many votes, so they only had themselves to blame. It was hard, on the other hand, to think of a person more humble than Lucy, and so he and Candy had both eagerly cheered them on when the chaperones had come out to dress them in their regalia. "You guys deserved it," he reassured her, and she looked at him with a downturned, shy smile.

"Thank you," she said, quietly. "You and Candy should have gotten 'Cutest Couple.' Is her head feeling better?" she asked, perfectly innocent.

"Ah… yes," Ethan surmised, though it had been his head she had been feeling. "I'm just getting her some punch, too."

"Oh! Here!" Lucy quickly doled out another tall cup, and handed it to Ethan. "And I have some advil in my little purse, if I can find it-"

"It'll be fine; she has some," Ethan said, waving her off with a grin. "But thank you."

"Anytime." Lucy waved slightly to him, the flame atop her head dancing joyously, and he turned away, leaving her to her punch bowl. He was glad Weston had found a girl like her.

The next face he saw was far less welcome. As he stepped back into the living room, he saw Weston with his back turned to him, standing tensely and speaking with a raised voice, and beyond him stood a trio of athletes Ethan recognized - including Blaine. When the dark-haired leader of the trio saw Ethan standing there with his two cups of punch, he grinned, and offered a cheeky wink in his direction. That smile drove ice into Ethan's gut, and he looked around the room for the missing piece of this puzzle, the heart of the threat.

If they were here, then so was Ritchie. But where-?

Ethan all but dropped the cups of punch onto a side table and took the stairs two at a time, trying to shake off the feeling of dread that was tearing at him. As he ran, he could hear the brash, cold laughter behind him, and he saw the door to the office was cracked open. He raced to it, but as he neared it, he could Candy's furious voice coming from within-

"-just pissed that Vicky slapped you in the middle of the dance floor and dumped you because you grabbed her ass, you-!"

Ethan threw the door open, and stood glaring at the spectacle within. Ritchie was indeed there, his right hand gripping Candy's wrist and tugging her towards him. In his left was some device that Ethan didn't have time to identify, silver and black and oblong. He was turned to face the door, and Ethan could tell from the redness on his face and the way he swayed unsteadily that he was decently drunk, though not wasted enough to have difficulty fighting to pull Candy towards him.

"Ritchie! Let her go!" Ethan roared, taking a step towards the struggling pair. The chains rattled, quaked…

"Well, look who it is," Ritchie taunted, leering at Ethan through narrowed eyes, still clutching Candy's wrist. "I figured you'd have pulled your usual chickenshit move and run off by now. Ain't that sweet?" he asked Candy, who stepped close enough to stamp with one of her hooves - she had left her high heels by the door earlier, and so her foot came down on the floor hard enough to dent it.

"Let go, or I swear to Lilith that I'm going to turn that foot into jelly," Candy snarled, but a threatening buzz from the thing in Ritchie's hand caused her to lean away once more. Ethan focused on it, and realized from the black guard at the end that it was an electric shaving razor.

"Hey, Yates," Ritchie crowed, glancing back to him, "Didja know what happens when one of these sheepies gets a haircut? Even a frigid barnyard bitch like Coburg here gets a little randy." He sneered at the expletives she showered him with. "Fucking imagine it. Sure, no touching, I get it, but even after years she won't send one single tit pic? What a fucking-"

"Last warning, Ritchie," Ethan growled, advancing on him like a rockslide.

"I'm doing you a favor, Yates," Ritchie proclaimed, his eyes wide with manic fervor. "With how big of a coward you are, and how Coburg likes to play hard to get, I figure this'll be just the thing you both need to settle down!" And the razor screamed as he cranked the setting higher, aiming at the long hair descending Candy's back-

The chains holding back his rage shrieked, and tore themselves apart into thousands of shards.

Ethan lunged, and Ritchie smiled, letting go as Candy yanked on her arm to try to pull away.

Candy careened, free, and landed with a squawk half-on the couch before sprawling onto the floor. Meanwhile, this freed Ritchie's right hand, and as Ethan grabbed for the razor, it came around in a vicious hook, landing squarely on the larger boy's jaw. The razor whirred a complaint as Ritchie tossed it aside, burying his left hand into Ethan's gut.

In a fair fight, Ethan could probably have taken Ritchie. He was bulkier, older, taller. But Ritchie had spent a long time being mean; he knew best how to fight dirty. He had tormented those weaker than him, and had let his anger out on the boys he and his flunkies had jumped more than once. He knew what hurt, what stunned, what brought out tears and what would make even stronger boys beg to be released. In a fair fight, Ethan might win - but in an unfair one, he didn't stand a chance.

Coward. Nobody. Stupid.

Another fist flew, and a head snapped around. Another, and blood was flung far enough to dapple a picture on the wall from a split lip. Another. Another.

Barnyard bitch. Arm-Candy. Stuck-up slut.

Ritchie had signed up for an unfair fight that he could definitely beat Ethan in. But he had showed up for an ass-beating, and 'Ethan' wasn't holding the reins anymore.

"-stop! Ethan, stop! He's-!"

He could see Melanie trying to catch a book, flying back and forth. Anne, hiding her hands from their laughter. Candy, cringing away from Ritchie's crude comments.

And Ethan could have stopped it all - that's why he didn't stop punching until the face he was hammering stopped looking, to his mind's eye, like his own.

"-okay. You're okay, man." Ethan panted, his hands aching and his chest bursting for breath, and he dimly glanced to the side and saw Weston there. His friend was holding onto him, pulling him away from- oh, damn.

Ritchie was slumped against the wall, his face swollen and lumpy. One cheek had been torn, and blood drained from it, from his mouth, from his now-misshapen nose. One eye was swollen closed, and the other wasn't much better. Blood was splattered around - Ethan didn't know whose, his own face ached and the room was dim - but he was standing, and Ritchie wasn't.

"Ethan!" He glanced to the side to see Candy there, clinging to him, and she was trying to tear off part of her dress - not her dress, no! - probably to try to stop the blood that was running into his eye. He reached out to forestall her, but got distracted by the blood on his knuckles as the room swam.

"You're a dead man," slurred the heap on the floor. Ritchie pushed himself up, his face a mask of fury and blood. "Do you know how many people are going to come after you for this?"

"Let them come," Ethan hissed back, spitting out blood. "Let's see how many are more of a man than you were."

"Get out, Ritchie," demanded a different voice, and Ethan glanced back up to see Weston glowering at his brother. "You don't belong here."

If Ritchie had been furious before, the expression he turned on his brother was one of pure, unrestrained hatred. "Go back to the mountain, you and your waxy whore. That's where you belong."

Weston shook his head, and his words had the finality of a death sentence. "Go back to Dad, Ritchie. You two deserve each other. You can keep it all, for all I care, because you'll never be better than he is."

With a snarl, Ritchie moved past them both, headed for the door, dripping blood as he went, shoving spectators out of the way. Only when he heard the front door slam did Ethan let himself slump down to the floor, as Candy wiped at his face with a damp cloth someone had given her, saying his name over and over again, tears running down her cheeks.

She had seen… him. She was now just one more girl he had made cry. She had deserved a good night, good memories. She deserved…

Ethan closed his eyes, and let the pain take over for a while. It felt right, even if nothing else did.

---

"I'm still sorry…" he started hoarsely, looking away from her. He couldn't think back to that night without remembering - regretting - how he had let his rage take over.

"Ethan. Don't," Chrissie commanded sternly. Grudgingly, he looked back to her, and she frowned down at him. "I don't care what happened to Ritchie. You were defending me, he deserved it!, and these past few months since he and his dad disappeared to… wherever-in-hell… have been the most peaceful of my life." Ethan's eyes flicked to the side - he was one of a very few who knew how all that had ended, where Ritchie would be, and it wasn't his story to share. "If anyone 'ruined' part of my prom night, it was him, not you." His eyes slid back to her face, and she stared at him. "Nellie told me, yeah. I know that's why you backed off during the summer…" Her face flicked towards the stairs, and she seemed distracted.

No, it wasn't, Ethan admitted to himself. It had been him running away again - this time, from a girl who deserved better. They all did.

"But I'm here now. He isn't." Chrissie leaned closer, smiling, trying to pry him away from his stubborn retreat. "And I haven't changed my mind. It wasn't just what I was feeling then - I'm feeling it now."

"But I don't-"

"You do." One of her hands cupped the side of his face, making him meet her gaze as she smiled at him - still every bit the angel she had been that night, even just half-in one of his shirts. The other hand reached down to grasp his wrist, and a hungry light began to gleam in her eyes. "You deserve us- me." She winced, but shook her head, then fought to gather her courage, looking at him with a wide smile. "But there was one honest thing that bastard said that night… he was right about weresheep and razors. It was true that night, and it's true tonight."

Ethan blinked up at her, letting her guide his hand towards her body. "But…" He looked her over, and she preened at his inspection. "Your hair is as long as ever, and you never let your wristlets or anklets grow out, so…"

"So, if I'm acting this way, what did I shave?" Chrissie smiled sweetly at him, jaws ready to bite in and feast - and, placing her hand over his, guided it down her stomach. "Let me show you." His eyes widened as they slipped past the slim band of her underwear, along skin that was achingly smooth, and, as she raised slightly, to a gentle cleft-

The sound she made - soft, pleading, tremulous - wasn't the Candy he knew, bold and strong. It was Chrissie, needy and eager for him, and he knew he was lost, lost. He had been run down. He let his finger explore, and she made more of those sweet sounds, guiding him as her own hand reached up to hook on the edge of his shorts. She lowered close to his face, staring at him with gentle blue eyes as her hips shifted - and then his finger slipped in deeper, warm and wet and…

Her eyes widened from surprise at the volume of the cry she had let escape even as he continued to explore her, a bedroom moan that had echoed through the living room, through the house.

He watched those eyes widen larger, and she trembled. She looked at him, just in front of his face, and in that moment, he saw in her eyes an exact resonance of the sheer panic he had felt every time he ran away from them. She was terrified, shocked, and he didn't know why. In sheer desperation, her head tilted back- *****

Ouch! He reached up, blinking through pulsating stars, and his head hurt far worse than anything that had come from Ritchie's punches. He was a football player - cranial trauma was an old friend - but now he wondered if his skull had been split in half. Had she just… headbutted him?

When his vision finally stopped swimming in arcing loops, he looked up at her, trying to understand what had just happened. His own panic swelled as he found her sitting back on his lap, her lips tightly pursed, and her eyes… swelling with a tidal wave of moisture. And then she let the tears flow, an absolute flood, and as she bawled he stared up in terror, discovering a brand-new masculine hell as the girl he had been touching, and who had just nearly fractured his face, started unreservedly weeping on top of him.

"Chrissie, what-?" Ethan tried, reaching out to take hold of her, and still she cried, undeterred.

"Ethan - I, I, I can'! I wan' to, more than anythin'…! I wan' this!" Another wave of tears. "But I can'! I can' do tha to her… and them…!" Her eyes screwed shut, and fresh sobs assailed her.

"What… what do you mean?" he asked, frantically trying to decipher what she could possibly mean.

"Nell… Mel'nee… Anne… Ethan!" She gasped for breath, looking at him through bleary eyes, and then wailed again. "I'm sorry! I'm… I'm… I'm sorry!" And she was consumed by the wracking sobs, curling in on herself like a deflating balloon.

Ethan's jaw set, and he leaned forward. She cringed away, but let him take her in his arms, cradling her and rocking gently. "It's okay," he whispered to her, over and over again. "I'm sorry, too…"

"Please…" she begged, and the desperation in her voice broke his heart. "Don' make me… love you even more…" And now the tears were shared, but he didn't let go.

When he did, she slipped from his arms without a word, fleeing for the stairs. He could hear her sniffles as she went, and he stared after her, utterly lost as to what to do, how he could avoid making it worse…

He didn't know. He just had to do… what he always did. He grabbed his blankets and pillow, and headed for the door. He had to go, somewhere, anywhere…

And that was why, just a minute later, the door to the Yates home opened, and closed… and all else was silent.

---

Author's Note: Almost to the climax. I usually push to have an optimistic ending for my chapters, but… I need the tension high after this one, because this is close to the heart of the matter. Not many places left for Ethan to run…

As for this chapter itself, it was a break from my usual style, in a lot of other ways. I rarely do chapters with so much from the girls' perspectives, but Candy needed more time to establish why she is so much more forward than the others - how well she knows what is at stake, and why her moral conflict pushes her against Nellie so often. Also, if I hadn't been locked into the chapter title by my adherence to the titles of the work this is tenuously based off of, 'Punchdrunk' totally would have been a great title. Another time, perhaps.

One other story note of importance: There isn't much more to say here about Ritchie, Weston, or Lucy. Their tale is outlined elsewhere, in a story that spins off in its own direction. I can't say when I will get to "The Candle and the Darkness," but I will try to do it soon - I look forward to showing Weston's journey, and what comes in the days right after graduation. As for Blaine, his henchman, well… check "The Wildcat's Sister," and "...Rival," when I get it out.

Changelog: Removed a reference to Josh Carroll being interviewed by the football coach in chapter 4. The line implied he was in Ethan's grade, when he actually is in the grade above him - keeping all these characters in their proper grade is a bit of a headache, since the protagonists are all in separate years. Jake Carroll is a junior, Ethan and Weston are college freshman, and Theo (and Josh) college sophomores. For the female characters, Mattie and Valerie are juniors, all four Sweet-Dreamers (Nellie, Candy, Melanie, Anne) are seniors, and the girls of Triple Omicron are college sophomores, including Patty Hall.

To conclude: I hope you've enjoyed it, even if this chapter is a roller coaster. I admit, I crave feedback; I didn't hear much back from "'Tea Party," so please - let me know what you think. One last major chapter yet to go, and then a bit more to wrap things up… I hope you'll stay with me until the end of this journey.

But, tonight, my journey ends in bed. I desperately need… sleep…

~Wynn Pendragon