#also Pogue and Caleb finally totally accept him into the group while Ty's :D

[dhampiravidi]

in--somnium​:

It didn’t take much for Reid to take off, and Cassia couldn’t help but give a soft laugh at his enthusiasm. He must have been having a pretty great night, all things considered: a fun Halloween out with his friends, tons of candy, and a date lined up for tomorrow. She hoped that that date went really well for him. Reid could be a bit much, but he was sweet, playfully, totally deserving of a girlfriend who could keep up with him instead of making him feel like he had to bring his personality down a notch.

Tyler and Aaron followed a short distance behind him, and Cassia watched the ease with which their hands found each others. She wondered how long they’d been dating. They’d clearly been flirting for as long as she’d known them. She might not be able to pick up on the cues when they were directed at herself, but when it was between others, she thought she was pretty good at spotting that bit of romantic attraction (which was probably why she felt nearly certain that her boyfriend was harboring feelings for his best friend- but that was a conversation for another time). Aaron’s question was met with a soft sigh from Tyler, the look on his face showing that he felt a bit embarrassed. “Uh… not yet,” He answered honestly. “I was gonna wait until I had a second alone with him,” So that if Caleb got upset about it there wouldn’t be a scene. And, more importantly, so that his friend wouldn’t feel like he was obligated to say yes just because he didn’t want the girls getting upset with him. “I kind of… asked Cass to casually bring it up with him, though. I thought it would give him time to think about it before I actually asked,” He paused for a second, glanced over his shoulder at the other two couples, eyes finding Cass’s. She gave him a smile, one he returned before looking back at his boyfriend. He was hoping she’d mentioned it to Caleb already, or, at least, that she was planning to do so soon. That smile had been encouraging, though. “I’ll ask him later, maybe before the corn maze.” Which was usually their last stop for the night and, hopefully, that meant Caleb would have had plenty of time to keep an eye on Aaron and consider giving him a chance.

Pogue wasn’t necessarily excited about the haunted house- it was fun, sure, but he’d done it every year (even participated once in high school). It wasn’t his favorite part of the night just… another stop along the way. But he’d kind of looked forward to having an arm around Jayn while they walked through it, feeling her press up against him when she got spooked, letting her hide against his shoulder. All that cute stuff. So he was slightly disappointed when she decided not to come along. “Ya sure?” He asked, stopping with her for a second. He absolutely wasn’t going to pressure her into going inside. He knew that this wasn’t really something she’d been looking forward to and he could understand why she’d be concerned about it. But the least he could do was wait outside with her. Maybe they could even find something else to do for a few minutes? Or just find a dark little corner somewhere and steal kisses until the others emerged. But he also didn’t want to insist that they spent every second of the night together if she was just looking for a moment apart from the group to call her parents. The haunted house didn’t usually take very long. 5 minutes, give or take, even counting the short wait to get in. Should he go like she’d insisted? Or should he push to stick here with her? He felt like he was taking a test he hadn’t studied for. It didn’t help that Kate had had a tendency to not always say what she meant. If she’d told him to go without her and he had, she would have been mad that he hadn’t ditched his friends for her. While he knew Jane certainly wasn’t Kate, that immediate kind of reaction was still embedded in him from his past relationship (and maybe a little from the way his parents treated him, too). “I can stay back with you, if you want. I don’t mind. It’s kinda the same every year,” That wasn’t really entirely true- they tried to switch it up and they were usually pretty good at it, too. But he wouldn’t mind missing it to spend time with her alone, instead. But if she insisted, again, that he go with the others, he’d give her her few minutes to herself (and hope like hell he made the right choice).

At the back of the pack followed Caleb and Cassia. Cass was keeping an eye on everyone, even if it wasn’t entirely intentional. Reid way up ahead, already getting in line. Ty bringing Aaron’s hand to his lips for a kiss as they walked with their fingers laced. Pogue and Jayn pausing (an action that made her hold her breath for a second, concerned that they might be getting into a fight or something before Jayn kissed Pogue and Cass felt she could relax again). Apparently, Jayn had chosen to sit this one out. She couldn’t blame the younger girl- haunted houses could be kinda scary and she was sure a place like Ipswich took it pretty seriously. Then her eyes drifted from her friends to the other people walking around. A man on stilts in a strange, monstrous, costume passed by a fair distance to the left, catching her eyes, her lips parted in a soft, nearly silent “wow”. Then a pretty blonde girl in a purple witch costume caught her eyes- thick legs, ample chest, glitter accents on her face, more in her hair.

But even with so many other people running around, catching her attention with their costumes, it was Caleb who held it. Tall. Handsome. Sweet. If it wouldn’t mess up their makeup, she would have stolen a dozen kisses from him already tonight. His question was met with a smirk, and Cass gently nudged him back. “Much better than you’d expect,” By which she meant she was very good with scary movies. They weren’t necessarily her preference, but she liked a good scare. “So, ya know, don’t worry if you get scared. I’ll protect you,” She joked, that smirk turning into a playful grin. Of course, it’s not like there was actually anything to be protected against in a place like this- it was just people in costumes, playing roles, trying to get a scream out of you. But in the off chance that anything ever did happen? Well, she knew Caleb was the kinda guy who’d rush to protect her… but she was far more capable of protecting herself than he knew. It was a far off thing to worry about but… she was kind of dreading the fact that she might someday have to tell him about her magic. Her parents had really lucked out in finding each other, she thought, because when the topic came up well, they were both magic wielders of a sort and it must have been sooooo much easier to talk about knowing that they were in similar positions.

Cass furrowed her brows in curiosity when Reid circled around behind herself and Caleb, but she didn’t question it. She figured he must have had a reason- maybe it was to try to prank Caleb when they got inside? Or maybe it was just his way of herding the group together? Then she heard the crinkle of a candy wrapper and she understood what was happening. She glanced over her shoulder at him, quirked an eyebrow in amusement. Then she pressed a finger to her lips and winked at him to let him know she had no intention of tattling on him- it was their secret. Of course, being sick in the morning from a candy coma wouldn’t be ideal considering he had a date… but if he wanted to sneak a few pieces of candy while they were in line? Well, that would be fine, right?

Aaron wasn’t too put off by the fact that Tyler hadn’t asked Caleb about the two of them staying the night as a couple. If anything, he thought it was smart of his boyfriend to have Cassia start the conversation. He had a feeling that Cassia (and Jayn plus a very surprisingly accepting Reid) was pretty much the reason for Caleb letting him join the group for trick o’ treating in the first place. Aaron mirrored the friendly smile that Tyler gave her when she turned around. DND sessions would definitely be a little more interesting, now that their whole gaming club would know about the couple in their midst. 

“Thanks,” Aaron told Tyler, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, “And thanks for introducing me to your friends. It means a lot.” Tyler was the first guy he’d dated. Aaron was just happy that things were going as well as they had so far. Maybe he’d sneak Ty a couple of grateful kisses in the corn maze since it would be easy for them to find a lone corner in the jungle of stalks and scarecrows. At least he could get a little cuddly with him then if it turned out that Caleb didn’t want Aaron coming home with all of them.

Jayn studied Pogue’s face for a few seconds. She was very new to the whole relationship thing, and she’d heard a lot about how her boyfriend’s last relationship had suffered from miscommunication. She wanted to say the right thing, but she also wanted to make sure that her desires and his were always both respected. When he asked, “You sure?”, that could be him implicitly asking her to come inside the haunted house with him, because he’d do his best to make her feel comfortable. He was sweet, so that made sense. Then again, he could be telling her that he was fine with whatever she decided--after all, they’d talked about how she felt concerning scary things earlier. Jayn didn’t feel like overthinking it any more than she already had, so she gave him a choice.

“You can go inside with the others. But if you stay with me...you could say hi to my parents if you want. It’s only a couple minutes.” She was trying to imply that her parents couldn’t possibly interrogate Pogue in the space of five minutes (especially since they knew she wanted to enjoy her favorite holiday with her new friends). Jayn had already told both of her folks that she was dating a gorgeous, kind, funny, adorable, tall guy who happened to be a witch. They hadn’t asked to meet him yet, but they hadn’t not asked to meet him, either. If anything, they asked about Pogue whenever they talked to her on the phone. “My dad likes that you’re a mechanic and that you’re great at physics. He’s a science guy...dunno if I told you that before.” Okay, maybe she did want him to stay and talk to her parents. She shuffled her weight from one foot to the other, waiting for Pogue to choose what he wanted to do. She wasn’t pressuring him into anything. Was she?

Every time Caleb looked at Cassia, he fell a little bit more in love with her, as cliche as it sounded. She was so transfixed and amazed by everything Ipswich’s Halloween had to offer that there was this glint in her eyes: lighthearted joy mixed with some kind of mischievous delight. It was no wonder that everyone liked her the moment they met her. And she loved everyone in their small squad, looking to make sure each person was enjoying themselves. The moment she turned her attention to him, a giant smile found itself on his face. Her smirk took him back to when they’d been alone on his couch, her pressing her soft lips to his bicep. Caleb was typically someone who took things slow and then reserved the PDA for more private moments, but when she looked at him like that...he thought of becoming a different kind of person. Cassia made him crazy.

He laughed out loud when she said she’d protect him if he got scared. It actually had nothing to do with the fact that he was a witch with a whole foot of height on her, and everything to do with him not anticipating that response for some reason. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied, winking at her. She was sweet, and yet he wouldn’t put it past her to stick up for him if something went down. Cassia wasn’t some damsel in distress, who expected to be comforted and cared for at every turn. Maybe that was another reason why he liked her. 

She turned around and, on instinct, he followed her gaze to catch Reid inhaling a lollipop. Caleb merely sighed. Back in the day, he had tried to monitor his friend’s Halloween candy intake, since Reid was no stranger to the November 1st stomachache. But they were all in college now. As much as he had the usual urge to parent his friends, Caleb held back. 

“Would you be free to go out next weekend?” he asked Cass. He was already expecting her to say no since he vaguely remembered Pogue mentioning dreading some History project that he and Cassia would soon be assigned. Caleb just didn’t want her to think that he was stalling because he hadn’t been trying to commit for a while. Obviously, they both had feelings for each other, but they still hadn’t been on an actual date. 

Reid was busy crunching on his pineapple treat, so lost in the excitement of the night that he didn’t even notice a familiar malevolent face watching him from far away. 

“Hey, move up!” he mumbled to Cassia and Caleb through a mouthful of candy shards, noticing that the line had started to inch forward.